First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 287: Got Money? Buy It. Taste the Flavor, See What It’s About!

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Bai Hemen nodded firmly.

“I promise I’ll complete the mission perfectly!”

“Alright, off you go. I need to get back to the cultivation chamber. Keep an eye on any news from the training facility too.”

“If they call us back and I haven’t come out yet, come get me.”

Leveling up can’t stop.

Not just updating spells and techniques.

His realm had to keep up too!

It had to be steady upon steady.

Matching peers in the same age group, same realm, and same batch of Cultivators of Qi wasn’t Lu Ding’s goal.

What he wanted—

Was endless late-game overtake, constantly catching up to the ones ahead, drawing closer, aligning with them, and eventually surpassing them.

Besides, Lu Ding had a feeling that his rampage in the Monster Room this year might trigger some uncontrollable consequences.

After all, his plan was to wipe out all the geniuses except those from the Great Han.

That was bound to provoke other countries.

And the Tianli Cult—three Deputy Leaders being captured or killed were all linked to Lu Ding.

If that Cult Leader ends up going ballistic—

No one could say for sure.

It was safer to raise his realm.

Bai Hemen took the mission and left.

Lu Ding returned to the cultivation chamber.

At this point, he couldn’t cultivate in his own dorm anymore.

Too much noise.

One slip-up and he’d wreck the place.

He sat cross-legged.

Opened his phone.

Tapped open the menu.

This time, he wanted to taste some high-end goods again.

Cultivating on his own, building bit by bit, sure, it saved Contribution Points.

But Lu Ding wasn’t really into that.

His time was valuable.

Might as well pile on the rare spiritual treasures.

Save money for emergencies?

Turning it into strength was more important.

Spend three thousand now, Lu Ding would earn thirty thousand later!

Other people feared medicinal overflow, toxins building up in their body.

But Lu Ding could absorb it all, 100%. He wasn’t afraid of that stuff.

The ‘Menu’ popped up.

Lu Ding started browsing for some heavenly treasures he liked.

After flipping through four or five pages—

His eyes were clearly conflicted.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to buy!

It was that he wanted to buy everything he saw!

Humans are just pathetic like that.

End of the month, broke, searching on your phone: [How to survive a week with five bucks]

[Can I still drink instant noodle soup that’s been out two days?]

[Does sleeping more mean eating less?]

[What about grilling some maggots?]

And finally digging through the ashtray, finding the longest leftover butt, lighting it while cursing yourself, “Why the h*ll did I pour that water out?”

Start of the month, got money?

[Wild Gourd Baby, only 998]

Eh!?

Interesting, huh. Buy one, see what kind of “wild” it is.

[Einstein’s brain—buy it and it’ll grow on yours]

Eh!?

Kinda funny, huh. Buy one.

That’s Lu Ding right now—wants to buy everything he sees.

Until finally—

His gaze locked dead onto his phone screen.

Right now, he was Hawkeye!

[Shuangliu River Convergence Great Tonic Bath]

You soak in it—like boiling yourself in a huge pot—and you can drink it too.

Lu Ding took one look.

Hey, I know this stuff.

I’ve boiled it before. Let me see what it’s really about.

He tapped it open.

D*mn, a good thousand words or so.

Describing all kinds of medicinal blends, extremely potent effects, mainly for investigators at the Si Ming Realm and above.

If you don’t have your Si Ming Avatar to help absorb it, don’t buy it—they’ll need to rescue you, waste of resources.

Also, the [Shuangliu River Convergence Great Tonic Bath] uses heavenly treasures from two of the most famous rivers within the Great Han as its primary materials.

The Huang River, and the Long River.

As the names suggest—one’s yellow, one’s long. No further explanation needed.

And with this kind of bath—

Lu Ding’s absorption efficiency was even scarier than others.

Because he absorbed it 100%.

[Price: 3500]

Seeing that price—

Lu Ding could only say, “You cheeky little bath, you’ve got your eyes on my fat wallet, huh!”

Good stuff ain’t cheap, and cheap stuff ain’t good.

Money’s a b*stard—you spend it, but you can earn it back.

Got money? Buy it. Taste the flavor. See what it’s about!

[Contribution Points successfully deducted]

[Detected current location: Cultivation Chamber. Please prepare. Do not resist. You will be teleported in thirty minutes.]

“Teleportation?”

“The Bureau’s got tech this high-end now?”

Lu Ding sat upright the moment his phone screen went dark.

Half an hour flew by quickly.

Then, the ground beneath his crossed legs opened into a large hole.

He instantly dropped down into it.

Since he had been notified ahead of time, he didn’t resist.

At that moment—

Lu Ding suddenly understood. So this is what they meant by teleportation?

Sliding through a winding, twisting pipe.

A set of mechanical arms, long prepared, stripped off his clothes.

Then with a loud bang—

He dropped into a man-sized tank filled with sapphire-blue liquid.

Looking around—

It was all lab-coated researchers.

Beyond the transparent walls, he could see all kinds of rare spiritual beasts and demons, heavenly treasures he’d only ever heard of but never seen in real life.

Dragging Lu Ding into a place like this—

What difference was there from putting Sun Wukong inside the Peach Garden?!

Unfortunately—

He could only look, not touch.

Otherwise Lu Ding would have to act like the Equal-to-Heaven Great Sage for once.

“Identity confirmed!”

“Welcome, Investigator Lu!”

“Activate geothermal heating!”

“Start the mixer!”

“Seal the lid!!”

Heating, stirring, sealing the lid!

They’re actually stewing me for real!?

Lu Ding wasn’t scared, but this whole process just sounded super weird.

As the lid was sealed—

The stirring began.

The temperature rose.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, purified and extracted, began to pour in continuously through a special pipeline into the tank.

Though the quantity wasn’t as great as what Lu Ding could pull in on his own,

The quality—

Was clearly higher than the mixed-grade Spiritual Energy he absorbed freely before.

There were also artificial sensors constantly adjusting the injection speed based on how fast Lu Ding was absorbing it.

Now—

Lu Ding was finally enjoying the perks of modern advancements.

Medicinal energy and Spiritual Qi surged through his body.

He sat cross-legged in the tank.

Alright then—bring it on!

He formed a hand seal, activated his technique.

The Si Ming Realm—true to its name, governs fate and destiny. The words “Si Ming” also refer to a celestial star.

The six southern stars, led by the First Palace of Heavenly Mansion, are under the domain of the Si Ming Star Lord.

They serve under the Great Southern Longevity Emperor.

Cultivating in the Si Ming Realm meant lighting the Life Star, and enriching one’s Si Ming Avatar.

This included, but wasn’t limited to, channeling star power to refine the Si Ming Avatar, increasing its size, etc.

Everyone’s Si Ming Avatar was different.

Just like how people had unique Aperture-Unlocking abilities.

Lu Ding was also looking forward to what his own Si Ming Avatar would become.

His realm was steadily rising.

Lu Ding looked up.

Gazing into the sky.

As the six stars of the southern sky slowly emerged overhead—

In the corner of his eye, in the north, seven stars appeared.

A violent surge of star power flooded directly into his Si Ming Avatar.

Compared to the six southern stars, soft like a nurturing mother, the seven northern stars were like a stern father.

Lu Ding was puzzled.

Why?

Apertures, Linghai, Divine Palace, Si Ming—it made sense for those to change.

He thought that would be it.

But just as he was preparing to break through from the first layer of Si Ming, another surprise struck.

What exactly is this refinement trying to turn my Si Ming Avatar into?

After thinking it over—

Lu Ding could only come up with one explanation that made sense.