Got Paid

Qiu?

"What was that?" someone asked, confused.

Xu Ming said, "Qiu might be unfamiliar to everyone, but it has another name: Qiu Dragon."

"Dragon?" Everyone was instantly shocked.

Qiu Dragon was actually related to the dragons from myth and legend.

"Qiu Dragon isn't a dragon. It's a large snake with horns. This creature didn't originally exist here—it invaded our world from another realm after the Skyfall Event. That Qiu was found in a city's Danger Zone and hunted down by a group of cultivators working together. Its corpse was sold to a pharmaceutical company. Cultivation Pods were created through the dissection and study of various Extraordinary Creature corpses." Xu Ming explained.

"There are plenty of similar opportunities. If you're confident in your strength, you can try entering a Danger Zone. If you can capture or hunt an Extraordinary Creature alive, you can earn a handsome income."

Zhang Gao waved his hands repeatedly. "Forget it. With our physiques, going to a Danger Zone would just be feeding ourselves to them. We wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between those Extraordinary Creatures' teeth. I'd rather honestly work as a guide and earn money. Li Yi, don't you agree?"

Li Yi instead said, "Working is only a stopgap. Have you ever seen a worker get rich? If I had that ability, I'd definitely go to a Danger Zone and capture an Extraordinary Creature. As long as I succeeded, I'd earn enough money to last you a lifetime. If there weren't enough profits, how do you think that Qiu Dragon became a component of a Cultivation Pod?"

"Those cultivators who took the lead aren't fools. They must have seen profit in it before risking their lives to hunt Qiu Dragon."

Xu Ming nodded. "That's right. In the face of enormous profits, even powerful cultivators are willing to stake their lives on dangerous tasks."

"All right, everyone, eat first. The cafeteria has plenty of food. If you don't want to waste a lot of time eating, we also provide Nutrient Solution, but it can only be consumed in the cafeteria and can't be taken away."

Everyone saw that all kinds of exquisite food had already been prepared in the cafeteria on this floor: large amounts of steak, fresh raw fish, huge pots of meat soup, and piles of fruits and vegetables.

All of it could provide cultivators with abundant nutrition.

"Since there's food, of course I'm eating," Zhang Gao said. "Nutrient Solution is only suitable for use while cultivating. Since we aren't cultivating now, it's better to eat."

"Why? Isn't Nutrient Solution more convenient?" Li Yi asked.

Zhang Gao immediately explained, "That's because our bodies are transforming and evolving. Eating large amounts of food can activate our ability to digest and absorb it. If we drink Nutrient Solution for a long time, our digestive systems will gradually weaken and eventually fail to keep up with our bodies' evolution, leaving hidden dangers behind. We spend most of our time cultivating, so we already have few opportunities to train our digestive and absorption abilities. Therefore, whenever we can eat, we should."

"So that's how it is." Li Yi suddenly understood and learned another bit of new cultivation knowledge.

"Thanks for explaining. In that case, I'll eat too."

Zhang Gao immediately laughed and continued, "Li Yi, when you eat, you'd better choose meat like steak, chicken, and duck. If possible, try to eat it with the bones as well. That'll train our digestive systems more effectively."

"That's right. Some ferocious beasts in nature can even digest massive bones. We cultivators are constantly evolving, and sooner or later our bodily functions will surpass those of any beast in nature. Sooner or later, we'll master the ability to digest bones as well. Necessary training is indispensable. All right, enough nonsense—let's eat." Another cultivator beside them spoke up in agreement.

Before long, several people began frantically taking food, then found seats and sat down to eat.

Li Yi was not polite either. He casually took various delicacies. This time, he intended to eat to his heart's content, because he usually couldn't bear to eat many of the things here. Now that he had finally encountered such an opportunity, he naturally had to gorge himself.

"Li Yi, what happened before was a misunderstanding. I sincerely apologize to you here. I hope you won't take it to heart. If you ever need help with anything in the future, I'll definitely help."

At that moment, a cultivator carrying a tray came over and offered his apology solemnly.

His name was Lu Jue. He didn't want to completely offend a promising cultivator over such a minor matter, and he hadn't been the instigator in the first place. So he wanted to use this meal as an opportunity to resolve the misunderstanding.

If the misunderstanding wasn't resolved in time and the conflict erupted again later, they would truly become enemies.

After all, the cultivator circle in Tianchang City wasn't very large. They would inevitably see one another often.

Li Yi froze, set down his bowl and chopsticks, and looked at him calmly. "I'm not the kind of narrow-minded person who bears grudges. Since you took the initiative to apologize and are willing to resolve this misunderstanding, I'm happy to accept. We're all out here to make money, not to make enemies. Besides, you and I don't have any deep-seated hatred."

"Thank you."

Lu Jue took a deep breath, his whole body relaxing. "I was also pressured into it at the time. I didn't expect Wu Zhen to act like that."

"What happened before is in the past. Eat." Li Yi nodded.

Only the strong deserved to be treated well. The weaker you were, the more you would be bullied. He had understood that principle long ago.

"Li Yi, I also need to apologize to you. I should have stood up in that situation. I shouldn't have hidden in my room and ignored everything." Zhang Gao came over as well, looking somewhat remorseful.

Li Yi said, "This has nothing to do with you. There's no need to apologize. I never blamed you."

He wouldn't resent Zhang Gao for not helping him. After all, it had been their first meeting, and everyone had been strangers. It was normal for Zhang Gao to protect himself. In this world, there weren't that many good people who would step forward to help someone in danger.

"That's good. So misunderstandings should be resolved as soon as possible. Having one more friend when you're away from home is better than having one more enemy. Forget it, enough about this. Eat, eat." Zhang Gao laughed, then lowered his head and began stuffing himself.

Li Yi said nothing and continued eating and drinking heartily.

Yet Zhao Xiaoxiao, who had witnessed this from not far away, grew hesitant.

"Should I apologize to Li Yi too and resolve this misunderstanding?" she wondered, deeply conflicted.

"Would your apology even help?"

Wu Zhen, his face bruised and swollen, walked over with a cold laugh. "You looked down on him from the very beginning."

Zhao Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth. "I did look down on him at first, but I never intended to bully him. Besides, what's wrong with being a little worldly? I merely misjudged him."

"The process doesn't matter. You bear a share of the blame in this matter. You've already made an enemy of Li Yi. Instead of apologizing, you might as well think of a way to make him lose his job. His cultivation is going poorly now because he lacks money. If he saves up a large sum from this job and then takes advantage of the environment here to cultivate, it'll become truly dangerous."

Wu Zhen spoke as he tried to pull Zhao Xiaoxiao over to his side.

"If you want to deal with Li Yi, go do it yourself. I'm not letting you drag me down with you again." Zhao Xiaoxiao sounded irritated.

At that moment, the supervisor Xu Ming, who had just left, returned. Two assistants followed him, each carrying a case.

"Sorry to interrupt everyone's meal, but I still have other work to do, so I can only settle everyone's first day's wages here."

"We're getting paid? Great!"

In an instant, everyone stopped eating and gathered over one after another.

Xu Ming took out a payroll sheet and looked it over. "Zhang Gao, six hours of work, with no interruption to your guiding duties. Your total pay is fifty-four thousand."

An assistant then opened a case, quickly took out a stack of money, and began counting. Before long, the fifty-four thousand in wages was handed to Zhang Gao.

Although fifty-four thousand looked like a lot, it was actually only a small stack, because the largest denomination now was one thousand yuan, rather than the previous one hundred.

Even so, Zhang Gao was still thrilled after receiving it, because this was the largest one-day payment he had received since becoming a guide.

"Zhao Xiaoxiao, six hours of work, with no interruption to your guiding duties. Your pay is fifty-four thousand," Xu Ming said, continuing to have the assistant distribute the wages.

Zhao Xiaoxiao took the money, counted it, then nodded and put it away.

Lu Jue and another cultivator also received their wages afterward. They had earned fifty-four thousand as well.

"Wu Zhen, six hours of work, but you woke from meditation once during the process. Therefore, according to the contract, your pay is halved, for a total of twenty-seven thousand," Supervisor Xu Ming said. "I hope you'll be more attentive next time."

"I'll adjust my condition tomorrow." Wu Zhen's expression was somewhat ugly. After taking his wages, he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he glanced at Li Yi.

He wanted to know how much Li Yi had earned from six hours of guiding work.

After all, among the seven people, he was the only one who had signed the second contract. The second contract had no base salary; the amount earned depended entirely on how much Cosmic Energy one guided.

Li Yi was also very curious about how much money he had actually earned.

Xu Ming glanced at the payroll sheet, looking somewhat surprised. Then he said, "Li Yi, you worked for six hours. During that time, you guided a total of 2,200 portions of Cosmic Energy, so your pay is 220,000."

Two hundred and twenty thousand?

Upon hearing this, everyone else stared at Li Yi in shock.