A wage of 220,000 for six hours?
What a joke.
Everyone was thinking about slacking off at work and muddling through an hour for 9,000, but you suddenly started working yourself to the bone?
Although you signed the second contract, there was no need to throw your life away over it.
And 2,200 portions of Cosmic Energy—was that even something a human could accomplish?
"So much?"
Li Yi was also pleasantly surprised. To be honest, he had no idea how much work he had actually done in six hours.
"This is your wage. I hope you can maintain this condition tomorrow as well. What we employers need is a large amount of Cosmic Energy. As long as you can capture large quantities of pure Cosmic Energy, we won't shortchange you by a single cent."
Supervisor Xu Ming spoke while also giving Li Yi a reassurance.
"Don't worry. With wages this high, I'll risk my life doing the six hours of guidance work." Li Yi now wore the unmistakable face of a model employee.
Xu Ming said, "Among the guides who signed the second contract, your efficiency is extremely high. If you can maintain it, I'll recommend that the employer sign a long-term contract with you and increase your unit price."
"All right, everyone's been paid. Please continue your meal. I won't take up any more of your time."
Before long, he left with his assistant.
Li Yi held the thick stack of money, his heart sweet as honey.
This was the largest sum of money he had ever earned in his life. Previously, after risking his life for Old Crow and the others, he had only received 60,000 yuan in total.
Thinking about it now, it had hardly been worth it.
"Li Yi, you're incredible. Two thousand two hundred portions of Cosmic Energy in six hours—that's not something an ordinary cultivator can do. Tell us, did you get lucky and run into a massive outbreak of wormhole energy?" Zhang Gao was both astonished and envious.
Lu Jue, who was beside him, also said, "I don't think this was luck. Li Yi, your cultivation value must be extremely high. Your efficiency at guiding Cosmic Energy is at least three times that of an ordinary cultivator. Otherwise, there's no way you could have earned 220,000 in six hours. Let me make a bold estimate of your cultivation value: 180 percent."
A cultivation value of 180 percent?
As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone froze again. Then a word sprang to mind.
Genius.
Cultivators whose cultivation value reached 100 were already relatively rare. But if a cultivation value could reach 200 percent, then that cultivator was unquestionably a cultivation genius.
If Li Yi's cultivation value was truly 180 percent, then even if he wasn't a genius, he was practically one.
Lu Jue was actually shocked as well, but he knew that his estimate was conservative. If he were a little bolder, he even wanted to say that Li Yi's cultivation value exceeded 200 percent.
Not far away, Wu Zhen fell silent. His cultivation value was only 60 percent, making him a very ordinary cultivator. If Li Yi's cultivation value was really that high, then it was more than three times his own, and that gap would also be reflected in their cultivation speed.
So unless something unexpected happened, Li Yi would leave him far behind in the future, to the point where he wouldn't even be able to see his back.
Unless Wu Zhen's family also had a Cultivation Pod and could afford to hire a guide.
But if his family had those conditions, why would he have come out to work odd jobs?
"Damn." Wu Zhen couldn't help cursing inwardly, while an inexplicable fear began to rise in his heart.
Forget finding an opportunity to take revenge on Li Yi—he now had to worry about whether someone else would take revenge on him.
"H-He's actually that high?"
Zhao Xiaoxiao felt bitter as well. This figure filled her with despair.
Previously, although she had estimated that Li Yi's cultivation value was not low, she had thought it was at most around 80 or 90 percent. It was absolutely impossible for it to exceed 100 percent.
But once this wage was laid out before her, she realized how naïve she had been, and how much she had underestimated him.
Although wages could not represent everything, guiding 2,200 portions of Cosmic Energy in six hours was enough to leave people gazing up at him. Even if she herself encountered an outbreak of Cosmic Energy, she still could not have done it.
An individual's value was right there. If you couldn't do it, then you couldn't do it.
That was the limit of innate talent, and it had nothing to do with anything else.
Li Yi now understood that his first attempt at guiding Cosmic Energy had gone somewhat beyond the norm, which was why everyone else was so shocked. Moreover, his cultivation value was not as high as Lu Jue had guessed. His cultivation value was 80 percent, and that was with the aid of a wondrous artifact.
But since this misunderstanding had arisen, he might as well let them continue misunderstanding it, lest he arouse suspicion.
With that thought, he smiled and said, "I don't know my cultivation value either. I found a meditation room in the Old Town District and started cultivating there. I only took classes for three days, so I don't really understand much about cultivation."
"Damn, you reached this level after taking classes in a meditation room for three days? And you still say you're not a genius? Comparing people really is infuriating." Zhang Gao couldn't help swearing.
Lu Jue was somewhat curious. "Li Yi, with talent like yours, you should have quite a few relatives, and your boss would be willing to support your cultivation. Didn't any relatives or friends in your family want to invest in you?"
People with high cultivation values easily attracted investors and sponsors.
After all, this world was different from the past. If one could establish a mutually beneficial relationship with a cultivator of immense potential, it would provide a guarantee in various aspects in the future.
Li Yi shrugged. "I don't have lives as good as yours. Both my parents are Silent Ones, and they've been silent for six years. Our family is now impoverished to the point of having bare walls, and we can barely afford Nutrient Solution. Where would I have had the time or energy to cultivate? If a friend hadn't lent me a hand, I'd still be working odd jobs now and wouldn't even have had the chance to cultivate."
That was what he said, but he knew very well that his cultivation relied entirely on the wondrous artifact. His talent was not especially high. Without the wondrous artifact, he would have needed two or three years just to get started. And who would have paid for the food, expenses, and his parents' Nutrient Solution during those two or three years? His whole family would probably have starved to death in their house, their corpses rotting away completely.
"Both your parents are Silent Ones? No wonder." At that moment, everyone suddenly understood.
To become Silent Ones meant that they had once been cultivation geniuses themselves. And when both parents were geniuses, their child's cultivation talent would absolutely not be low either.
That was bloodline inheritance, something others could only envy.
Thus, they also understood why Li Yi lived in such misery despite having such a high cultivation value.
Supporting two Silent Ones for six years—how could he not be miserable?
"Li Yi, now that you've embarked on the path of cultivation and possess such a high cultivation value, you'll definitely be able to enter the Golden Academy in the future and become an extraordinary great figure. Right now, you're merely a hidden dragon in a deep pool. Sooner or later, you'll soar into the heavens." Lu Jue spoke earnestly.
"I think so too. You're different from people like us. Your current predicament is only temporary. Once you escape these hardships, your future will be boundless." Zhang Gao felt more and more that his judgment of Li Yi yesterday had been correct.
Li Yi merely smiled. "I'll take your good wishes. I hope so."
In reality, he was secretly wiping away his sweat.
What kind of genius am I?
But for now, he had to keep up this genius persona.
He would be relying on it to make money later.
Everyone continued eating, but Li Yi could clearly feel that the others had become far more enthusiastic and polite toward him. Even the other cultivator came over to apologize for what Wu Zhen had done earlier.
Only Zhao Xiaoxiao was still struggling with something.
What Zhao Xiaoxiao was struggling with now was not whether to apologize, but how she could apologize enough to smooth over their previous misunderstanding.
An ordinary apology would at most earn a verbal "it's fine." In reality, a barrier would still remain. If she wanted to resolve the misunderstanding while also drawing closer to him, it would not be simple.
Li Yi had no time to care about their previous conflict. All he wanted now was to make money, and no one was going to stop him.
Supervisor Xu Ming's words had given him motivation, while the genius persona he had established could prevent suspicion.
If he didn't make a killing while he had the chance, who knew whether he would get another opportunity later?
So after finishing his meal, Li Yi hurriedly left.
"You eat first. I'm full already. I'm going back to my room to cultivate and make up for all the time I lost earlier."
After Li Yi left, the others began sighing with emotion.
"It's one thing that Li Yi is a cultivation genius, but he's actually more hardworking than us too. He deserves to become successful in the future." Zhang Gao was both envious and impressed.
"He should have been cultivating for a very short time, and he doesn't know many basic cultivation concepts. What a pity we can't measure his cultivation value. I think my earlier estimate was already conservative."
Lu Jue continued while eating, "However, I should be able to infer it with reasonable accuracy from his later wages. After all, there's a certain element of luck in a first guidance job. But no matter how lucky he was, his cultivation value definitely exceeds 150 percent."
Zhao Xiaoxiao came over at that moment and asked, "Do you think there's still potential to uncover in Li Yi's cultivation value?"
Lu Jue glanced at her and smiled. "Who knows? Maybe he's more than just a genius. Maybe my assessment is too high as well. Aren't you a cultivator too? Go see for yourself. Don't ask me."
Zhao Xiaoxiao was stumped. She said nothing and silently turned to leave.
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