Only at the Mahayana Stage Does the Reversal System Appear - Chapter 110

Chapter 110 Contribution Points for Forcing Someone to Death

“Mahayana? Never heard of that.” Ye Du scratched his head. Logically, such a relaxed attitude shouldn’t be displayed in a ruined city overrun by zombies. Perhaps a zombie would target someone who had let down their guard.

People longed to kill zombies for their brain cores, and zombies, in turn, wanted to kill the enhanced and consume their flesh and blood.

However, around Jiang Li, Ye Du always unconsciously relaxed.

After talking with Jiang Li for so long, how could Ye Wu not see that this great man knew nothing about zombies? Combining his words with the ancient clothing, Ye Wu had a bold and absurd guess.

“You, you are from another world?” she stammered, then realized that this question touched upon the great man’s privacy and that her question was presumptuous.

“Yes,” Jiang Li said without disguising. “I came to your place to find a fast-moving little thing.”

“Are you relying on brain cores to become stronger?” Jiang Li asked again. “I see you’re close to a breakthrough.”

Ye Wu understood Jiang Li’s meaning and, before he could finish, took out the brain core of a third-level zombie.

Absorbing a brain core should be done in a safe place, and nowhere in the world is safer than with Jiang Li.

Ye Wu pressed the brain core against her forehead, closed her eyes, and concentrated, sensing the power within.

Strands of power drifted from the core, slowly nourishing Ye Wu’s body. Ye Wu felt an unprecedented surge of power, her blood flow accelerating, her cells dividing, and her metabolism increasing.

Jiang Li observed this process clearly. The spiritual energy contained in the brain core was comparable to that of a Jindan cultivator, yet as Ye Wu absorbed it, most of it dissipated into the air, with only a small amount entering her body.

This absorption method resulted in Ye Wu only being able to advance from the late first stage to the middle second stage.

“Is this how you all absorb energy?” Jiang Li asked Ye Du. “Is there no more efficient way?”

Ye Du replied matter-of-factly, “This is already the fastest absorption method after several refinements.”

Seeing Ye Wu trying to absorb a second-level brain core, Jiang Li stopped her.

“Your body is like a balloon about to burst. If you absorb even a little more power, you’ll die, let alone a second-level brain core, even if you absorb the power of a first-level brain core. What you need to do now isn’t to absorb power, but to familiarize yourself with your body.”

Ye Wu had never absorbed so much power before. She and her brother had always relied on potions to grow stronger. They had never absorbed a second-level brain core, let alone a third-level one.

She had never heard of anyone bursting one’s brain by absorbing a brain core, but she believed Jiang Li’s words. There was no need for a big boss to lie to her.

“Haven’t you practiced on your own?” Jiang Li heard Ye Wu say they all relied on potions modeled after brain cores, or simply explained that they grew stronger by absorbing brain cores.

“Practice?”

“It means absorbing the energy from the air.”

“That’s absolutely impossible.” Ye Wu was startled. She thought the boss was asking her to absorb the energy from the air, so she quickly explained.

“Everyone knows there’s energy in the air, but no one dares to absorb it. The energy in the air mixes with the zombie virus. If you absorb too much energy, you’ll become a zombie.”

“Those who have survived until now have more or less developed antibodies. Normal breathing won’t turn you into a zombie, but absorbing the energy from the air is courting death.”

“Can’t you separate the zombie virus from the energy in the air?” Jiang Li also noticed the filthy spiritual energy here, but that wasn’t a problem.

He extended his hand, and the surrounding spiritual energy gathered in his palm, forming a liquid. The spiritual liquid, which should have been blue, glowed black.

A thought flashed through his mind, and the black liquid separated from the spiritual liquid, returning to its original vibrant blue.

“Just like that.”

Ye Du stared at the scene with wide eyes, incredulous.

Jiang Li gestured for Ye Du to absorb the spiritual liquid. Ye Du had never imagined such a good thing would happen to him. After absorbing the spiritual liquid, he became a peak-level first-level enhancer.

On the way to District Three, Jiang Li and the siblings chatted extensively, mostly about cultivation techniques.

This was a cultivation system vastly different from that of Jiuzhou, Jiang Li concluded.

Jiuzhou cultivation emphasized conforming to nature, understanding the Way of Heaven, and achieving unity between man and nature, then absorbing spiritual energy to slowly improve the body.

The people of this zombie world, on the other hand, practiced a crude and simplistic method. They didn’t cultivate anything, simply absorbing spiritual energy. This method prevented them from mastering many Taoist techniques and abilities. A Level 2 Enhancer couldn’t achieve the inner self-awareness of the Foundation Establishment stage, nor could a Level 3 Enhancer achieve the unifying Qi and blood of the Golden Core stage, allowing for unfettered control.

Furthermore, this cultivation method damaged the very foundations of the body, decreasing lifespans rather than increasing them, making it difficult to reach fifty.

Jiang Li had personally observed the longevity issue; only ten years of cultivation had been conducted in this world, and no one had yet reached natural death.

However, Jiang Li also understood that even survival here was a struggle, with the possibility of being devoured by zombies at any moment. How could they care less about damaging their foundations?

“We’re here.”

Ye Wu led Jiang Li to the outskirts of District Three. Outside, many sallow-faced people, mostly elderly, sat in tents, their eyes gleaming with despair and death.

“What’s this…” Jiang Li frowned, looking at them. The area around District Three was safe, usually devoid of zombies, but he’d heard Ye Wu say that waves of the dead frequently invaded the city. How could those living outside the walls possibly survive? Ye Wu sighed

and explained, “Even if we starve and live solely in the city, we still have to pay contribution points. If we can’t, we’ll be driven out. With luck, we can still survive for a while, but if we’re unlucky enough to encounter a zombie wave…”

Ye Du said bitterly, “Contribution points are the universal currency of the five districts. Those chaebols are desperate for them, forcing us to hand them over. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be so desperate!”

“Little brother!” Ye Wu quickly grabbed Ye Du, saying he was saying bad things about the chaebol outside District Three and hating his life.

“Why don’t these people have contribution points? How can they earn them?”

“You can earn contribution points by killing zombies and selling their brain cores, working for a consortium, doing scientific research, selling useful items found in the abandoned city, doing odd jobs, etc. Most of those kicked out are elderly people or those disabled from exploring. They can only desperately work odd jobs in the city, working eighteen hours straight to earn a few contribution points, barely enough to eat and live in the city.”

“If something unexpected happens and they miss a few days of odd jobs, their contribution points will immediately be insufficient and they will be kicked out.”

“Damn consortium! They set the food prices too high. This isn’t the case in other districts. I heard the food in District 1 is only one twentieth of what it is here!” Ye Du couldn’t help but curse. “This consortium is simply a blood-sucking ghost! How many people died not at the hands of zombies, but were forced to death by them!”

(End of this chapter)