The cold steel wall of the shipping container dug into Lin Xiao's back. He slumped onto the muddy ground, covered in oil stains and gravel, gasping for breath.
Every breath felt like it was dragging across a broken bellows, scorching pain spreading from his throat to his lungs.
His left arm, after the full-powered punch he had just thrown, was now swollen and sore as if filled with lead. The muscle fibers silently cried out.
The dull pain from the fracture in his right arm seemed distant beneath the dizziness of exhaustion.
Most deadly of all was the feeling of depletion deep in his soul, as if it had been hollowed out. Along with the glaring -1.6 in his mind, it clung to him like a bone-boring parasite, gnawing away at the last of his strength.
His vision kept going black, and the world seemed to spin.
That lightning-fast struggle had drained the last bit of potential from his ruined body.
"Brother Xiao! Brother Xiao, are you all right?"
Fatty Wang came rolling and scrambling over to Lin Xiao's side. His plump face was deathly pale, and his voice trembled with tears.
He fumbled as he tried to help Lin Xiao up, yet dared not touch him. His terrified gaze swept over the thin wound oozing beads of blood beneath the torn back of Lin Xiao's school uniform, then fell on the blue-black dart embedded in the concrete, its tail still trembling faintly.
"Poison... A poisoned dart! Brother Xiao, you've been cut! We have to get you to a hospital! Right now!"
"Shut up... Fatty..."
Lin Xiao's voice was so hoarse it was barely recognizable. He forced up his heavy eyelids, his gaze like that of an injured lone wolf, and fixed it on the shadowed direction where the masked man had disappeared, confirming that his opponent had no intention of doubling back for another attack. Only after he was certain it was safe did he struggle to raise his still-mobile left hand and point at the wound on his back. "No... no poison... Just a superficial cut..."
He could feel only a burning pain from the wound, without the numbness or chill characteristic of poisoning. His opponent had clearly meant only to cut him and cause confusion. The eerie blue glow on the dart might have been meant to intimidate him or serve as some kind of marker.
"Th-That still needs to be treated!"
Fatty Wang relaxed slightly, but seeing Lin Xiao's ashen face and the cold sweat constantly seeping out, he remained frantic with worry.
"First... see... what that guy... dropped..."
Lin Xiao panted as he laboriously withdrew his gaze from the shadows and shifted it to the spot where the masked man had been blasted away and crashed down.
Under the dim light, besides a few drops of fresh blood, the concrete floor seemed to hold a faint, somber gleam unlike the surrounding grime.
Fatty Wang followed Lin Xiao's gaze and immediately understood.
Suppressing his fear, he cautiously edged toward the area like a startled rabbit and searched carefully by the dim light.
"Brother Xiao! There's something!"
Fatty Wang lowered his voice, excitement creeping into it as though he had discovered treasure. Beside a piece of broken stone, he picked up a rough pouch about the size of a palm, sewn from some kind of tough beast hide.
The pouch was very light, with a little dirt and bloodstaining it.
He hurriedly brought it back and handed it to Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao took the pouch in his left hand. It felt rough and cold.
Enduring the dizziness, he used his teeth and left hand together to clumsily undo the leather cord tied around the opening.
There was not much inside:
Several crumpled hundred-yuan bills stained with sweat.
A small glass bottle containing several pills with pungent odors and bizarre colors, possibly stimulants or poison.
Finally, there were two stones slightly larger than a thumbnail. They were irregularly shaped and a dark reddish-brown throughout, like clotted blood!
Energy Stones! And they were clearly better-quality low-grade Energy Stones than the fragments he had extorted from Zhao Hu's underling last time!
Lin Xiao's heart gave a violent leap!
An immense, indescribable ecstasy instantly swept away part of his exhaustion and dizziness!
Source Energy Points! He finally had something worthwhile!
He eagerly grabbed one of the dark-red stones.
It was cold and rough to the touch, but the skin of his palm clearly sensed faint, extremely chaotic energy fluctuations within it, carrying a scorching heat.
Though weak, these fluctuations were far more distinct than those dull gray fragments from last time!
"Fatty... stand guard..."
Excitement made Lin Xiao's voice even hoarser. He struggled upright, leaned his back against the cold shipping container, and clenched the dark-red Energy Stone tightly in his palm like a drowning man clutching the last piece of driftwood.
Focus!
Buzz!
Deep within his mind, that dark-blue light screen struggled to appear. It was even dimmer than before, flickering unsteadily like a candle guttering in the wind.
The glaring Source Energy Points: -1.6 in the center seemed to mock his greed.
Low-purity energy source detected (fire-earth mixed attribute)... Energy impurity level: high... Absorb? Estimated conversion rate: low...
"Absorb! Absorb it for me!"
Lin Xiao let out a silent roar in his heart!
Impure? Inefficient? He was a traveler on the verge of dying of thirst. How could he care whether the water was muddy or clear?
Command received... Energy extraction in progress... 1%... (Slow speed)... 30%... 60%... 100%... Conversion complete. Source Energy Points obtained: +0.15. Current Source Energy Points: -1.6 + 0.15 = -1.45
A warm current far "thicker" than the one from absorbing the fragments last time suddenly surged from his palm into his body, carrying a strange sensation of heat mixed with the earthy smell of soil!
The energy was impure, but it was real!
Like boiling magma poured into a dry, cracked riverbed, it brought powerful "vitality" in an instant despite the searing pain!
The suffocating feeling of depletion deep in his soul was fiercely scoured by the torrential heat.
Though it could not completely fill that enormous hole, the dizziness and near-death sensation that seemed ready to drag him into an endless abyss rapidly receded like the ebbing tide.
A long-lost feeling of strength returned to every limb and bone, supporting his body once more!
Even the dull pain from the fracture in his right arm seemed to ease a little!
"Phew..." Lin Xiao exhaled a long, deeply satisfying breath, feeling as though he had been forcibly dragged back from the brink of drowning!
He was still weak, but at least he was no longer on the verge of collapsing at any moment!
It worked! It worked incredibly well!
This was a true Energy Stone!
Even if it was only a low-grade one!
The wolfish greed in his eyes burned like a wild fire newly kindled, blazing fiercely!
Without hesitation, he immediately grabbed the other dark-red Energy Stone from the pouch and clenched it tightly once more!
Low-purity energy source detected (fire-earth mixed attribute)... Energy impurity level: high... Absorbing... Conversion complete. Source Energy Points obtained: +0.15. Current Source Energy Points: -1.45 + 0.15 = -1.3
Another scalding, impure warm current surged into him!
The feeling of spiritual depletion eased further!
The weakness in his body lessened by at least thirty percent!
He was still far from his peak condition, but at least he now had the strength to struggle and move!
Current Source Energy Points: -1.3!
Although the number was still negative, it showed Lin Xiao hope unlike anything he had ever seen before!
Two low-grade Energy Stones had provided 0.3 Source Energy Points!
That was far more efficient than those fragments he had extorted before!
"Haha... hahahaha..." Lin Xiao could not help laughing under his breath. His voice was hoarse, yet filled with the ecstasy of surviving disaster and an almost fanatical excitement.
That signature rogueish grin reappeared on his dust- and sweat-covered face. This time, it held undisguised greed, like a hungry wolf fixing its eyes on a fat sheep!
Energy Stones! This was the source of power!
This was the only path that could fill the hole in his soul, keep him alive, and make him stronger!
"Brother Xiao? You... you're okay, right?"
Fatty Wang watched Lin Xiao grit his teeth with his eyes closed one moment, then foolishly grin at a stone the next. He worried that Lin Xiao had been hit so hard he had damaged his brain or been poisoned.
"Okay? I'm great!"
Lin Xiao suddenly opened his eyes. Their sharp light flashed. Though fatigue still remained, the despondent aura of a dying man had been swept away, replaced by an exhilaration ignited by overwhelming temptation!
He casually tossed the completely drained Energy Stone, now gray, dull, and covered in cracks, onto the ground. It broke with a crisp sound.
Then, struggling and bracing himself against the cold wall of the shipping container, he swayed to his feet with Fatty Wang's support.
He moved his still-aching left arm and felt the warm current within him, impure yet undeniably real. His blazing gaze locked onto Fatty Wang. "Fatty! Has Skinny Monkey confirmed the information about Old Ghost? The back entrance of the secondhand market?"
"Y-Yes... He confirmed it!"
The fiery light in Lin Xiao's eyes startled Fatty Wang, and he hurriedly nodded. "Skinny Monkey said Old Ghost usually wanders around there around dusk. He's missing the little finger on his left hand, and he always carries this strange smell of sulfur mixed with rust! He really does have good stuff, but... but Brother Xiao, that place is full of all kinds of people, and we just finished a fight..."
"That's exactly why we have to go now!"
Lin Xiao cut him off, his voice filled with unquestionable excitement and viciousness. "Scarface Qiang's men took a beating. They definitely think I'm half-dead and hiding somewhere! I'm going right now to catch them off guard!"
He licked his slightly cracked lips, which had even begun to bleed from his earlier outburst. The motion carried a wild greed and impatience.
"Energy Stones..." Lin Xiao's gaze seemed to pierce through the ruined industrial district and reach toward the deeper chaos of the secondhand market. He murmured, yet it also sounded like a declaration to Fatty Wang, "I'm taking them all!"
He straightened his back. Though his body remained weak, the fierce aura ignited by the Energy Stones and his desire to survive had returned to him like a drawn blade.
He patted Fatty Wang's tense shoulder and grinned, revealing teeth streaked with blood:
"Let's go! Lead the way! Let's pay that 'Old Ghost' a visit!"
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