After a brief moment of surprise, Su Yuan came to his senses.
Could it be that the two teachers, Li Ziquan and Zhuge Tie, had seen him so diligently cleaning up the leftovers and mistaken him for a poor, hard-up child who had to survive by eating other people's scraps?
He was poor, yes, but he would never stoop to something so tasteless!
Should he go explain?
But wouldn't that make him look like a thief caught red-handed? If the teachers asked Chu Lanxi and discovered that he didn't have a pet at all, wouldn't he only make things worse?
So he decided to pretend he knew nothing.
In any case, an increase in favorability wasn't a bad thing.
Su Yuan consoled himself with that thought, and just then, a ding-dong rang out in his mind.
[Ignoring the prejudice and mockery of others and bearing humiliation with fortitude, you truly live up to the title of Demon Venerable. The system gives you a favorable review!]
Oh? Thanks, I guess.
Su Yuan perked himself up and continued collecting the students' leftovers. He changed garbage bags one after another, and the Task Progress climbed rapidly.
By the time the cafeteria was almost empty, the Task Progress had finally reached its limit.
[Task Progress: Resources Plundered (100/100)] [Task Reward: Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit (Issued)]
The next second, a vast amount of information appeared in Su Yuan's mind—the complete knowledge of the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit.
At the same time, the Spiritual Essence within his body began circulating along the trajectory of the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit on its own. It was as if he had practiced this demonic technique thousands of times and had long since turned it into a bodily instinct.
He also completely understood the effects of this demonic technique.
[Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit: Consumes Spiritual Essence to extract the spiritual energy contained within a designated item and condense it into a Spirit Pill. Depending on the item's properties, the resulting Spirit Pill will have subtle differences in effect.]
Without a doubt, this was an evil technique that extracted the Spiritual Essence of all things and made it one's own. It fully deserved to be called a demonic cultivation technique.
However, when Su Yuan noticed the several bags of leftovers at his feet, he suddenly realized that the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit might also be a miraculous technique for turning waste into treasure.
He had collected so many leftovers without knowing what to do with them. They did contain a fair amount of spiritual energy, and throwing them away seemed a shame.
Now, he could use the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit to draw out the spiritual energy within them and turn it into miraculous Spirit Pills for his own use.
At that thought, Su Yuan came to another realization:
"In ancient times, for the universally despised Demonic Cultivators to rise up, they probably had no choice but to steal the heavenly treasures left behind by orthodox cultivators, lie low, and cultivate. The Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit may well have been born under such circumstances."
"So ancient Demonic Cultivators were actually just a bunch of scavengers, and I inherited their legacy?"
At the thought, Su Yuan's heart filled with indescribable strangeness.
But soon, he shook his head and suppressed the bizarre idea.
As a poor man, if he wanted to carve a bloody path through the armies of his peers and enter a top-tier immortal academy, wouldn't he have to rely on every resource available to him?
The Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit had arrived at exactly the right time.
He looked around and saw that the cafeteria workers were all busy cleaning up. No one was paying attention to him, so he immediately lugged the huge pile of leftovers to a corner without surveillance cameras.
He opened the garbage bags and gazed at the leftovers mixed into a single mass and giving off a strange smell. Yet Su Yuan looked at them as if they were treasures. He pointed his hand at the food scraps and activated the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit.
The Spiritual Essence in his body was rapidly consumed, while specks of light rose from the leftovers and slowly gathered toward his hand.
Each speck of light was extremely pure spiritual energy, leaving Su Yuan secretly amazed.
When the densely packed points of light converged into one place, condensed into a solid object, and fell into Su Yuan's hand, the effect of the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit ended.
The leftovers, meanwhile, were like charcoal that had burned to ash, reduced to empty husks.
Su Yuan eagerly spread open his palm and looked at the object that had appeared there.
It was a dark-blue pill about the size of a fingernail.
The moment he saw it, a description popped up on the System Panel before his eyes.
[Unnamed Blue Pill: After consumption, greatly increases digestive-system function and muscle-growth speed. Automatically adjusts the body's muscle groups for aesthetics and functionality. Side effects: extreme mental excitement, no sensation of fatigue, and the top of the head becomes pointy. Lasts two hours.]
Su Yuan: "..."
What the hell kind of terrifying medicine is this?
Let me ask you this—let me ask you this—are you male or female... Ahem, is this medicine even legal?! Won't I get arrested for failing a drug test after taking it?
I don't want the top of my head to become pointy!
And why had something like this been refined from cafeteria food?
Didn't it say that the effects of a Spirit Pill would differ according to the properties of the item refined? Were the cafeteria's seasonings secretly made from the Nine Dragons?
Just as he was thinking this, another line of small text appeared beneath the description.
[Note: Spirit Pills refined by the Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit contain no medicinal toxins whatsoever. Under certain circumstances, the side effects may also be regarded as the medicine's effects! Please rest assured and consume it!]
Rest assured my ass!
Su Yuan angrily closed the System Panel and almost threw the Blue Pill in his hand away.
But in the instant before he tossed it, Su Yuan stopped himself!
He forced himself to calm down and carefully read through the Blue Pill's effects once more.
Leaving aside that somewhat bizarre side effect, the pill's actual effects were quite impressive—practically a holy medicine for body refinement! If he could eat this Blue Pill regularly and steadily, his Physical Education results ought to improve rapidly... right?
"The first class this afternoon is Physical Education. Should I put some faith in a product from the Dog System? If the side effect really is unbearable, I can just stop taking it afterward."
Su Yuan pondered this secretly.
In the end, he steeled his heart, clenched his teeth, and decided to take the pill!
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Su Yuan swallowed the Small Medicinal Pill in one gulp. It melted the moment it entered his mouth.
The next second, Su Yuan felt a warm current rise in his abdomen. Then he felt the food in his stomach being digested at an utterly terrifying speed!
The muscles all over his body visibly began growing and strengthening. Even the stubborn fat he had never been able to lose, no matter how hard he tried, slowly transformed into energy that promoted the strengthening of his body.
Holy crap! Is this the effect of technology... no, of having a cheat enabled?
It was more than several times stronger than simply exercising! If he took the pill while exercising, would his Physical Body's rate of improvement become even more obvious?
While he was still marveling, Su Yuan suddenly felt a wave of hunger surge over him like a rising tide.
Oh no! The medicine is too potent—my body's nutrition can't keep up!
Su Yuan hurriedly looked toward the food-serving windows. Seeing that the food inside had not yet been completely cleared away, he immediately charged over!
Before you continue