Life Essence

".This again? This time, there were Essence Fragments of the Toxin Module (Demonized Ivy) and Essence Fragments of the Regeneration Module (Demonized Monkey Bread Tree)."

By the time Lu PingAn had the chance to check the system notifications, it was often already after the fact.

After another battle, the beasts on the ground began to turn to ash, and only then did Lu PingAn have time to inspect his gains.

It was not the first time he had seen Essence Fragments of an XX Module.

When he had used the Touch-Me-Not Mine before, Lu PingAn had discovered an "Essence Fragment of the Explosion Module (Demonized Touch-Me-Not)" in his miscellaneous inventory.

But he could not use it. Twenty-six digits were piled up in the system warehouse, and they could not be withdrawn either.

The investment target, the Demonized Touch-Me-Not, has died. The investment has completely failed.

Entering liquidation mode. Liquidating its remaining assets. Insufficient assets available; its Life Essence will now be extracted to offset the debt.

Extraction successful. Obtained one unranked Essence Fragment of the Explosion Module.

That was all. There was no more detailed explanation.

In Lu PingAn's understanding, it meant that his bank had invested in someone, and when they went bankrupt or even died, it would scrape together whatever it could from their inheritance.

Whatever was recovered became the bank's assets.

"Very capitalist. Very lamppost. But the question is, how am I supposed to use these essences?"

And the term Life Essence reminded Lu PingAn of Gardeners.

They planted seeds, carefully nurtured them, waited for the fruit trees to grow, and harvested the fruit.

The three kinds of Essence Fragments already totaled nearly fifty, yet Lu PingAn still could not find a way to use them. They did not even have physical forms, so he could not take them out.

He had asked Chris. She said she had never heard of them, did not know, and was not interested.

Perhaps she had some guesses, but after being cut off from the show, she had begun to lack initiative again.

"At least this means the Life Force I spent has brought back some returns. I'm not losing out. Not at all. I'll leave them there for now; I'll find a use for them eventually."

Since he could not find a way to use them now, Lu PingAn could only console himself like that.

Calling the useless items in his warehouse "not a loss" made him look just like a mobile gacha player who had failed their pulls.

".Should we rest for a while, or keep going deeper?"

After cleaning up the battlefield, Xue En came over and handed him the Spoils of War left behind by the monsters.

According to mercenary rules, he only had the right to a share afterward and could not directly claim the Spoils of War.

Lu PingAn packed away those first-tier, worthless Spoils of War, then glanced at the sky. It was about time to make adjustments.

"Let's go. We'll wait by the main road. Hopefully, we'll run into them today."

This was already the morning of their third day here, and nearly half of his precious week of pre-exam cramming had been used up.

Lu PingAn had not turned back along the way. With Xue En's cooperation, he had conducted hunting training efficiently. Poor Cat Cat had been stood up, but after making one wasted trip, she probably would not come again.

There was no helping it. Communication across secret realms and worlds had always been an unsolvable problem.

Even if she entered to look for him herself, it would take too much time, and there was a high chance she would come up empty-handed.

Still, as the saying went, anything could stop except investments and profit-sharing. They were the foundation of Lu PingAn's rapid growth.

"This time, the buff costs fifteen hundred? Fine, we'll take it. Will there be more tomorrow?"

"Not sure. We'll see."

This was the main road through the forest zone. Lu PingAn and the two first-tier Gardeners completed their transaction, and both sides were satisfied.

Yesterday, at the same spot, the buff had been given away for free.

After all, within the limited time they had in this vast forest, it was not easy to find two Gardeners willing to accept buffs from strangers.

They were a man and a woman, both first-tier students here for training. The two classmates had formed a party together and brought along two combat-oriented companions or mercenaries.

Watching the Gardener students leave under the vague protection of their companions, Lu PingAn felt that Xue En had probably been putting it mildly. The problem with low-tier Gardeners was not that they lacked combat ability—they were simply burdens on the battlefield.

In the memory fragments from yesterday's profit-sharing, Lu PingAn had seen several occasions where the two Gardener "bosses" ran into danger and their companions had desperately rushed in to save them.

".Those guards look like they have it pretty rough."

"This is what normal Gardeners are like. Their companions are not losing out, either. They train through combat while taking a share of the Gardeners' earnings. It's basically an opportunity to cultivate with all logistics covered and free healing."

Low-tier Gardeners lacked combat ability. Their goal in coming here to train was actually to seek out, cultivate, and harvest all kinds of magical plants.

Hiring combatants to protect themselves during the harvesting process was the normal path for Gardeners of the Logistics Department.

Lu PingAn had shared plenty of experience with them regarding the cultivation and harvesting of magical plants. Even his skill with the Gardener's Three-Piece Set had improved considerably, and he had become more adept at controlling magical plants.

"Heh. So we're the abnormal ones."

Laughing as they spoke, the two prepared to return to the depths of the forest and continue the day's training.

But suddenly, Lu PingAn frowned. He had spotted something unpleasant.

The Gardener group ahead had been stopped. A group of people blocked their way; some were asking questions, while others held up a Wanted Order for the "Bomb Demon" and said something.

".Those bastards."

Xue En spat on the ground, his face full of disdain.

"They're looking for the Bomb Demon again?"

Lu PingAn sounded thoughtful, with a pointed implication in his words.

Hearing that, Xue En smiled.

Lu PingAn's abilities were right there for all to see. He had long figured it out, but he chose to play dumb.

".Looking for the Bomb Demon? With a rough sketch drawn on the spot? They're just using it as an excuse to make some extra money. Just watch."

Things unfolded exactly as Xue En had expected. In the end, the two Gardeners took out their bags of Spoils of War and magical plants with miserable expressions and showed them over. A whole pile was picked out and taken away.

And that was not the end of it. When they headed back, they would not be spared the toll at the entrance and exit.

The Dragon Snake Gang members seemed dissatisfied with the amount. Cursing, they kicked the male Gardener, and the two sides nearly came to blows.

But one side had seven or eight people, while the other only had four, two of whom were burdens. In the end, they did not fight. Another batch of items disappeared from the Gardeners' little bags.

Then, when their gazes turned toward their next targets—Lu PingAn and Xue En—

"What the hell are you looking at, trash?"

Xue En spat onto the ground again, not giving them the slightest bit of face.

Yet the Dragon Snake Gang members acted as though they had not seen it, simply walking past and completely ignoring Lu PingAn and Xue En.

"This..."

"They're just a bunch who bully the weak and fear the strong. If the people behind them were not a little troublesome, they would've been dealt with long ago. Heh."

The people behind them? There was actually backing behind something like this? Weren't they just a bunch of immature punks banding together and pretending to be some lively social organization?

Lu PingAn asked, and Xue En did not hide anything. It was a "secret" all the old hands here knew.

"Isn't there a Green New Pharmaceuticals shop at the entrance? Some middle manager or professor of theirs needs a large quantity of low-tier magical plant materials for experiments, preferably freshly picked ones. But they don't want to spend money, so... you get it."

Green New Pharmaceuticals? Wasn't that Senior Zhao Ying's stall? Was it their professor, mentor, or team leader?

".Is that really necessary? Just for this? No one does anything about it?"

"Who would? To the people at Green New Pharmaceuticals, the entire secret realm is their company's property. They merely tolerate this bunch; it helps them proclaim ownership and authority, and lets them handle some dirty work along the way. Anyway, the only people they can offend are newcomers. As long as nobody actually dies, even if someone can't stand it, there's not much they can do."

Seeing that Lu PingAn still did not quite understand, Xue En continued.

"For example, if one of Green New's enemies enters this secret realm, some High-Level Professionals calling themselves the 'Dragon Snake Gang' will come in and kill them. Senior Brother will give you one more piece of advice: the Inner World has never been a peaceful modern society. A lot of people kill casually because they find things troublesome. When hiring mercenaries, you must understand their character and sign contracts beforehand. You were lucky to run into me."

Senior Brother Xue En took the chance to teach his Junior Brother a lesson. Knowing it was well-intentioned, Lu PingAn silently nodded to show that he understood.

The journey back into the forest was utterly uneventful. Then, on the evening of that day, the objective of Lu PingAn's trip finally came time to bear fruit.