The First Pot of Gold

The back wall of the Tianhai Third High School infirmary, a narrow alleyway piled high with discarded medical waste.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant, rotting matter, and some kind of chemical agent.

Lin Xiao leaned against the cold, damp, stained wall. His right arm had been re-stabilized by Fatty Wang with relatively clean gauze and hastily found cardboard. The pain had lessened, but the soul-deep weakness from exhaustion was like a maggot clinging to his bones, pressing down on him heavily.

Every breath felt incredibly difficult, and small flashes of golden stars occasionally flickered before his eyes.

Source Energy Points: [-1.4].

This bright red number was like the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. A cold prompt intermittently echoed in the depths of his mind, warning of "Core Functionality Restricted" and "Unpredictable Consequences."

Repairing a fractured bone required 3.0 points?

He was struggling just to stay conscious!

He had to find an energy source as soon as possible!

Fatty Wang squatted beside him, carefully peeling a cold bun he'd snagged from the cafeteria. He broke off half and handed it to Lin Xiao. "Brother Xiao, have a bite first? You took the medicine, and your wound's been treated. What do we do next? That bastard Zhao Hu is crippled, but his lackeys are still around, and then there's the Blood Wolf Gang…"

Lin Xiao took the hard, cold bun and mechanically chewed it, the taste like ash.

His gaze, however, sharply swept over the occasional student figures passing by the alley entrance, his mind racing despite his weakness.

Su Qingxue… he couldn't cut off this connection yet, nor could he push her too hard.

That woman had just experienced the shock of her talent being modified; her emotions were extremely unstable. Going to her now to demand Energy Stones was too risky.

Besides, he needed to maintain the long-term value of this "friend" status.

But he could dig for information!

"Fatty," Lin Xiao swallowed the last bite of the bun, his voice still hoarse, but his eyes had regained their wolf-like focus. "Keep an eye on Su Qingxue for me."

"Huh? Su… Miss Su?"

Fatty Wang blinked, his small eyes widening. "Brother Xiao, you're not actually into her, are you? She's a martial artist now! And at the cafeteria entrance…"

"Enough nonsense!"

Lin Xiao cut him off, his gaze sharpening. "I'm not asking you to bother her. See where she trains usually, who she interacts with, and especially, pay attention to whether she uses or mentions things like 'Energy Stones'."

"Energy Stones?"

Fatty Wang looked utterly bewildered. "Aren't those legendary treasures only possessed by major families? I heard they're ridiculously expensive. A piece the size of a fingernail could buy a house next to our school!"

"Yes, that's the stuff."

Lin Xiao licked his slightly chapped lips, a flash of greedy glint in his eyes. "See if she wears any special accessories, or goes to specific places in the school, like the training quiet rooms in the Martial Dao Hall. If you notice anything unusual, tell me immediately."

This was the most reliable source of information for now.

"Oh… Oh! Got it, Brother Xiao!"

Although Fatty Wang didn't understand why Lin Xiao was suddenly so interested in Energy Stones, seeing that familiar, unquestionable light in his eyes, he immediately patted his chest and promised, "Leave it to me! Skinny Monkey is well-informed; I'll have him help keep an eye out too!"

After sending Fatty Wang away, Lin Xiao leaned against the cold wall, feeling the waves of dizziness from exhaustion and the dull ache in his right arm.

Waiting for news from Su Qingxue was too passive; he had to take the initiative!

Source Energy Points, not a single bit could be missed!

His gaze, like a cold probe, swept over a few furtive, shifty figures peeking from the alley entrance.

It was those useless little followers of Zhao Hu!

With Zhao Hu crippled, they had lost their leader and were now like stray dogs, both fearing Lin Xiao's revenge and harboring resentment, only daring to watch from a distance.

"Heh…" Lin Xiao's lips curled into a cold, roguish arc. A bunch of trash, perfect for being used as trash!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the weakness in his body, and forced himself to straighten his back, trying not to look so pathetic.

Then, he started walking, with a deliberately created air of casualness yet immense pressure, towards those figures at the alley entrance.

Seeing Lin Xiao approach, the group flinched like startled rabbits, instinctively wanting to flee, but the alley was narrow, offering no escape.

"Stop." Lin Xiao's voice wasn't loud, carrying a husky magnetism from his recent life-or-death struggle, but it cut clearly into their ears, like cold iron striking the ground.

The group stiffened, their faces instantly turning pale.

The one in the lead, a lanky guy with dyed yellow hair, mustered his courage and shouted with a false bravado, "Lin… Lin Xiao! What do you want? What happened to Brother Hu… it has nothing to do with us!"

"Brother Hu?"

Lin Xiao walked up to them, tilting his head slightly, his signature roguish smile on his face, but his eyes raked over their terrified faces like knives. "Where is Brother Hu now? Only a sick cat I stepped on."

He paused deliberately, savoring the instant loss of color and the fear in their eyes.

"He's crippled."

Lin Xiao's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a tangible chill. "Guess if he'd really want to know what his 'loyal' subordinates were up to while he was lying in the hospital?"

The yellow-haired guy and the others shivered all over!

The threat in his words was all too obvious!

If the enraged and heavily injured Zhao Hu found out they hadn't contributed anything, or worse, might have been used by Lin Xiao, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"You… you're talking nonsense! We didn't do anything!"

The blonde-haired guy's voice trembled.

"Is that so?"

Lin Xiao took a step forward, the invisible pressure causing the blonde-haired guy and his companions to instinctively retreat. "I'm a bit short on cash lately, and I'm not in a good mood either. You guys tell me... if I'm in a bad mood, would I want to 'visit' Brother Hu in the hospital, and maybe have a chat with him about the 'loyalty' of his brothers?"

Barefaced extortion!

The blonde-haired guy and the others turned green.

They knew Lin Xiao was absolutely capable of doing it!

This guy had even crippled Zhao Hu; crippling a few of them would be as easy as playing a game, right?

"You... how much do you want?"

The blonde-haired guy's face fell, and he completely caved.

"Money, Energy Stone Shards, or... anything else worth money, something with 'energy'."

Lin Xiao got straight to the point, his sharp gaze sweeping over their bodies. "Give me everything you've got. Don't try any tricks with me, I'm really in a bad mood."

Under the absolute fear and Lin Xiao's palpable killing intent, the lackeys tremblingly started to empty their pockets.

They scraped together about seven to eight hundred yuan in cash.

There were also a bunch of miscellaneous items: low-quality cigarettes, a small razor blade, and a few stones of irregular shape, dull in color, and no bigger than a thumbnail – these were the low-grade Energy Stone Shards Lin Xiao needed!

Lin Xiao unceremoniously snatched everything, weighing the fragments in his hand. They felt cold and rough to the touch, containing extremely weak and mixed energy. A flicker of barely perceptible desire flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"Get lost," he spat out the two words coldly.

The blonde-haired guy and his cronies felt like they had been granted amnesty. They scrambled out of the alley, not daring to look back.

Watching their retreating figures, the cold, roguish smile on Lin Xiao's face vanished instantly, replaced by a violent coughing fit and a deeper sense of weakness. The imposing aura he had forced out had almost drained his last bit of strength. He leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

But as he looked at the dull, unremarkable Energy Stone Shards in his hand, a surge of immense joy instantly washed away his exhaustion!

Source Energy Points! There was hope!

He immediately dragged his heavy steps to a more hidden, dirtier corner of a garbage heap and curled up.

After confirming that no one was around, he eagerly picked up the largest shard and clutched it tightly in his palm.

Concentrate!

Buzz!

The faint blue screen in his mind appeared with difficulty, dimmer than before and flickering unsteadily.

[Detected low-purity energy source...] [Absorb? Estimated conversion rate: extremely low...]

"Absorb!" Lin Xiao roared in his mind! Even a mosquito's leg is meat!

[Command received... Energy being drawn... 1%... 50%... 100%...] [Conversion complete. Gained Source Energy Points: +0.05.]

The cold prompt sounded.

An extremely weak, almost negligible warm current flowed from his palm into his body, slightly alleviating the deep-seated exhaustion in his soul, like a drop of dew falling into a parched desert.

It worked! It really worked!

Lin Xiao's spirits lifted, and he immediately grabbed the second shard!

[Detected low-purity energy source... Absorbing... Conversion complete. Gained Source Energy Points: +0.03.]

Third shard: [+0.01]

Fourth shard: [+0.01]

After absorbing all five shards, he had only gained a total of 0.1 Source Energy Points!

[Current Source Energy Points: -1.4 + 0.1 = -1.3]

Still a glaring negative value!

The overdraft warning continued to hum in the depths of his mind!

But as Lin Xiao watched the number on the screen change from -1.4 to -1.3, he let out a long, slow breath of stale air.

A tremendous sense of relief, as if he had narrowly escaped disaster, washed over him.

Even though it was only 0.1 points, a drop in the bucket!

But it proved that his path was correct!

Energy Stones (even low-grade shards) were the source of Source Energy Points!

This 0.1 point was like the first handful of muddy water found in a dry riverbed; though turbid and bitter, it gave him the hope to live!

More importantly, the gnawing exhaustion and dizziness originating from the deepest part of his soul, which felt like a persistent parasite, had indeed lessened slightly due to the injection of this 0.1 point!

Although still weak, he at least felt a bit of strength injected back into his body, enough to keep going. The feeling of being on the verge of death, ready to collapse at any moment, had temporarily receded.

"Damn it... finally... I can catch my breath..."

Lin Xiao leaned against the foul-smelling garbage heap, a tired yet fierce and satisfied smile pulling at his dirt-stained face.

He spread his palm, looking at the few fragments and residue in it. They had completely lost their luster, turning a dull gray-white like ordinary stones, even covered in cracks.

The cost was huge (2.5 points), the reward meager (0.1 points), and the path ahead remained perilous (overdraft, Blood Wolf Gang, the watcher)...

But the spark of hope had been ignited by this first "bucket" of Source Energy Points!

The wolf-like greed in his eyes flared up again, burning hotter and more persistently than before!

Just then—

"Brother Xiao! Brother Xiao! We've got news!"

Fatty Wang's voice, deliberately lowered but still unable to hide his excitement, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, came from the alley entrance.

Lin Xiao looked up sharply, a flash of brilliance in his eyes!

Was there movement from Su Qingxue's side?