Chapter 110: The Contribution Points that Drive People to Death
Translator: 549690339
“Mahayana Realm? Never heard of it.” Ye Du scratched his head. Normally, one isn’t supposed to be so relaxed in an abandoned city overrun with zombies. Who knows, a zombie might already be targeting a person who’s let down their guard.
People crave to kill zombies to gain their brain cores, while the zombies also want to kill the enhanced and consume their flesh.
However, when he’s with Jiang Li, Ye Du always seems to unconsciously let himself relax.
After having conversed with Jiang Li for so long, there’s no way that Ye Wu couldn’t tell that this powerhouse was oblivious to zombies. Coupled with the fact that he speaks unusually and dresses as the ancients used to, Ye Wu posits a daring and ridiculous guess.
“A-are you from another world?” She stuttered, immediately realizing that her question may have pried into the big shot’s private affairs and had been presumptuous.
“Yes,” Jiang Li admitted without concealing, “I’m here to find a fast little thing.”
“Do you guys become stronger by absorbing brain cores?” Jiang Li asked again, “I see that you’re about to break through.”
Ye Wu understood Jiang Li’s insinuation. Even before he could finish his sentence, she proactively produced a third-tier zombie’s brain core.
Absorption of the brain core should ideally occur in a safe place, and there’s nowhere in the world safer than by Jiang Li’s side.
Ye Wu placed the brain core on her forehead, closing her eyes to focus, and then sensing the power within the brain core.
Strands of power drifted from the brain core, slowly nourishing Ye Wu’s body. She felt an unprecedented surge of power welling up inside her — her blood flow quickened, cells differentiated, and metabolism increased.
Jiang Li observed this process clearly. The spiritual power contained in the brain core equates to a Golden Core Stage cultivator. However, during Ye Wu’s absorption process, most of it dispersed into the air, with only a small portion entering Ye Wu’s body.
This resulted in Ye Wu being only able to advance from the late first-tier to the mid-second-tier through absorption.
“Is this how everyone absorbs cores?” Jiang Li asked Ye Du, “Isn’t there a more efficient method of absorption?”
Ye Du took it for granted and said: “This is already the fastest absorption method after several improvements.”
Seeing that Ye Wu was about to absorb a second-tier core, Jiang Li stopped her.
“Your body is now like a balloon about to burst. If you absorb even a tiny bit more power, you’ll die. Whether it’s a second-tier brain core or even a first-tier one. What you should be doing now isn’t absorbing power, but getting familiar with your body.”
Ye Wu had never absorbed so much power before. She and her brother had always relied on taking synthesized potions to strengthen themselves. They hadn’t even absorbed a second-tier brain core, let alone a third-tier one.
She had never heard of the idea of over-absorption to the point of bursting. However, she trusted Jiang Li’s words. He had no reason to lie.
“Haven’t you ever practiced on your own?” Jiang Li asked upon hearing from Ye Wu that they all strengthen themselves by mimicking core potions or by directly absorbing brain cores.
“Practice?”
“As in absorbing the power in the air.”
“That’s absolutely impossible.” Ye Wu was startled and quickly explained.
“Everyone knows that there’s power in the air, but no one dares to absorb that. The power in the air is mixed with zombie viruses. If you absorb too much, you’ll become a zombie.”
“Those who are still alive, have differing levels of antibodies against the zombie virus, and normal breathing won’t turn them into zombies. But if they absorb the power in the air, they’re basically looking for death.”
“Can’t you separate the zombie virus from the power in the air?” Jiang Li also noticed that the spiritual power here was incredibly filthy, but that was not an issue for him.
He stretched out his hand, and all the surrounding spiritual energy gathered in his palm, forming a liquid. The spiritual liquid, which should have been blue, turned black.
With a single thought, the black liquid was separated from the spiritual liquid, and the spiritual liquid returned to its original vibrant blue color.
“Like this.”
Ye Du’s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched this unfold.
Jiang Li hinted for Ye Du to absorb the spiritual liquid. Ye Du couldn’t believe that such luck would befall him as he absorbed the spiritual liquid and became a pinnacle first-tier enhancer.
On their way to Zone Three, Jiang Li and the siblings covered a lot of topics, which were mostly about cultivation methods.
It’s a cultivation system that is greatly different from that of Jiu Zhou, Jiang Li concluded.
Jiu Zhou cultivators incline toward conforming to nature, comprehending the Heavenly Dao, achieving Unity of Heaven and Man, and then absorbing spiritual energy, slowly improving their bodies.
However, people of the zombie-infested world use brutal and direct methods of cultivation, which merely involve forcibly absorbing spiritual power. This results in their inability to learn divine skills and spells. Second-tier enhancers can’t achieve the inward visualization of the Foundation Establishment Stage, and third -tier enhancers can’t achieve the unity of Qi and blood as Golden Core Stage practitioners can, with full control.
Moreover, this way of cultivating strikes at the root and reduces their lifespan, making it hard for them to live past sixty.
Jiang Li derived the conclusion about their lifespans. Their world had only practiced cultivation for ten years, and no one had died a natural death.
Jiang Li also understood that it’s hard enough for the inhabitants to survive, much less care about any damage to their roots when any given day could be their last, eaten by zombies.
“We’re here.”
Ye Wu led Jiang Li to the outskirts of Zone Three. Outside the city, numerous pallid and gaunt figures sat in tents, mainly elderly folks, their eyes reflecting desolation and dread.
“What are these…” Jiang Li frowned, looking at these people. Zone Three was relatively safe with seldom any zombies. But according to Ye Wu, there were occasional waves of zombies besieging the city. How could these people living outside the walls survive?
Ye Wu gave a helpless sigh, explaining, “Even if they don’t eat or drink and just stay in the city, they still have to pay contribution points. If they can’t pay, they’ll be driven out of the city. The lucky ones can hold on for a bit, but those who have the misfortune of encountering a wave of zombies…”
“Damn the contribution points!” Ye Du grumbled bitterly, “Contribution points are the common currency of all five zones. Those damn tycoons are mad for it and force us to pay up! Otherwise we wouldn’t risk our lives outside on a regular basis!”
“Little brother!” Ye Wu hurriedly restrained Ye Du. Bashing the tycoons just outside the walls of Zone Three was like signing a death wish.
“Why don’t these people have any contribution points, and what can they do to earn them?”
“Kill zombies and sell brain cores, work for corporations, engage in scientific researcn, sell valuable scavengmgs trom abandoned cities, and even do odd-jobs. All of these can earn contribution points. Most of those who get thrown out are the elderly or those handicapped from exploring outside. They can only toil in the city, working up to 18 hours in a day, earning a pittance of contribution points. At most, it’s just enough to buy food and afford life in the city.”
“In times of unforeseen circumstances where they miss a few days’ work, they immediately run into deficits and get driven out.”
“Those damn corporations, they set the price of food sky high. No other zone has this problem.. I heard that the price of food in Zone One is only one-twentieth of the price here!” Ye Du couldn’t help but curse, “Those bastards are just sucking us dry! So many people don’t die from zombies but from their relentless exploitation!”