Chapter 10 The Crow’s Phone Call

Chapter 10: Crow’s Phone Call

In the dim living room.

Li Yi sat motionless on the ground, his eyes lightly closed, his breathing even. He was fully immersed in his cultivation.

The incomplete dao coin brought him an unimaginable advantage. Pure Cosmic Energy was continuously guided by his will into his body and then absorbed.

After receiving the nourishment of this energy, the body’s cells began to evolve on their own.

Evolved cells would divide faster, live longer, and be stronger than previous cells. This subtle change would ultimately manifest in the entire individual, thus making a cultivator’s physical strength greater, bones tougher, and of course, lifespan also increasing.

This was an all-encompassing transformation.

Therefore, cultivation was a process of self-evolution.

However, after Li Yi had been in meditation for about two or three hours, a strong sense of hunger came over his body, forcing him to open his eyes and interrupt his cultivation.

“So hungry,” he licked his lips.

His stomach rumbled, and a strong sense of hunger and thirst filled his entire body. The food he ate last night had long since been completely digested, and he needed to eat immediately.

Li Yi didn’t panic. He knew this was normal because as his body evolved, it consumed more energy. The most direct change was an increased appetite, so he had no choice but to get up and cook for himself, to fill his stomach first.

The milk, noodles, and instant noodles in the refrigerator were quickly swept clean, but he was still very hungry. In the end, even the white granulated sugar used for seasoning was dissolved in warm water and drunk in one gulp.

It wasn’t until everything edible in the house was gone that Li Yi’s hunger subsided.

“No wonder some people say that medical pods are not prepared for the Silent, but for cultivators. Now I understand. Cultivators can obtain a comfortable and stable cultivation environment after entering a medical pod. The medical pod can automatically adjust the air temperature, humidity, block noise, and massage your body to promote blood circulation, preventing illness from prolonged sitting. Of course, the most important thing is that it can automatically replenish the nutrient solution needed by the cultivator’s body.”

Li Yi glanced at the two medical pods in the room and thought to himself.

“A used medical pod is worth at least one million dao coins. If it’s a brand new medical pod, the starting price is over thirty million. The cheapest nutrient solution is one thousand dao coins per bottle, which can sustain a Silent for ten days of basic consumption. However, top-grade nutrient solution is one hundred thousand dao coins per bottle, simply liquid gold. That kind of nutrient solution should be for cultivators.”

“Otherwise, cultivators would be woken up by hunger every few hours to eat, which would greatly affect the efficiency of their cultivation.”

“So, if ordinary people want to cultivate, they must at least be equipped with a medical pod and a sufficient amount of nutrient solution. If they have more money, they would also hire Guiding Staff to help guide Cosmic Energy into the cultivator’s body, greatly shortening the time required for cultivation.”

“Calculating it this way, cultivation is full of expenses everywhere. It seems that most people are unwilling to cultivate not because they fear that cultivation is poisonous, but because they have no money. If they had money, these problems could all be solved.”

Li Yi finished the sugar water in his hand, smacked his lips, and was secretly surprised after a calculation.

“Therefore, the most urgent task is for me to find a job that can earn a lot of money quickly. Otherwise, even with this incomplete qi object, my cultivation path will be very difficult. And besides supporting my own cultivation, I also need to support my parents, allowing them to lie healthy and soundly in the medical pods, after all, I can’t feed my parents cheap nutrient solution for one thousand dao coins a bottle for a long time.”

“With money, I also want to get the latest and best medical pods and buy nutrient solution for one hundred thousand dao coins a bottle.”

His pursuits were different now, and Li Yi’s desires and ambitions grew greater. Now, he was absolutely not content with the meager salary he earned from his previous jobs.

“Continue cultivating. Tomorrow, I’ll ask Lin Yue how people who embark on cultivation earn money.”

Li Yi once again entered meditation, entering a state of cultivation.

The night passed quickly.

At dawn.

Li Yi left early. He was extremely hungry, and the food at home was gone, so he headed straight for the breakfast shop downstairs.

“Boss, twenty steamed buns first.”

His voice was loud and full of vigor. Although hungry, his mental state was surprisingly good, and his whole body felt very light and full of strength, without any of the fatigue he used to feel from working.

This was only the first day of cultivation.

Li Yi ate with his head down, thinking about how to earn money today. He still had over a thousand dao coins left, and his home was practically out of food. If he couldn’t bring back two bottles of nutrient solution before evening, his parents would also go hungry.

As he was thinking, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

Li Yi picked it up and saw that the caller was the unscrupulous intermediary who usually introduced him to jobs: Brother Yellow Curly Hair.

“Is this Li Yi?”

Upon answering, the voice on the other end was not Brother Curly Hair’s. The voice was very deep and familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

It came to him.

It was the not-so-familiar Crow.

Li Yi’s heart tightened, and his expression instantly became serious. He didn’t expect the other party to resolve the trouble with the Investigation Bureau so quickly. It seemed that this group of people were not ordinary cultivators; they had a certain status and background.

“It’s me, Crow.” He chose not to evade, but to confront directly.

“You ran really fast yesterday, vanished in a flash. Where are you now?” Crow asked.

Li Yi said, “Just speak directly, don’t beat around the bush. You’re not interested in a poor kid like me. You’re interested in the thing I brought back from the Waste District, right?”

“You’re quite sensible. Hand it over. That thing isn’t something you can have. Don’t go looking for trouble.” Crow’s voice was low, carrying a hint of threat.

“Am I looking for trouble or are you? You said you’d pay after the item was found, but I haven’t received any money yet. Did you think I wanted to run yesterday? You didn’t pay, and you wanted to silence me. You were the ones who broke your word. Bah, what a bunch of trash.”

“I’ll give you ten minutes. Transfer the money to me immediately. Otherwise, I’ll take this pile of stuff to the Investigation Bureau and say it’s stolen goods.”

Li Yi immediately became self-righteous, unleashing a torrent of words at Crow on the phone.

You can witness me from ten meters away, but you definitely can’t do anything to me through a phone screen.

Moreover, the more self-righteous Li Yi was, the more it proved that he had no guilty conscience and hadn’t taken anything of theirs.

Crow’s face twitched, and he was so angry he almost crushed his phone. Then he explained, “Liu Yan’s death was an accident. Although we killed her, she was possessed by a ghost at the time and was beyond saving. We had no choice but to eliminate her.”

“Whether she was possessed by a ghost or not is up to you to say. If I’m found by you now, I’ll most likely be ‘possessed’ too. You’ve lost your credibility. If you want your things back, you have to pay first. Otherwise, I’ll report the qi object and the stolen goods together. Nobody will have an easy time of it,” Li Yi said.

Crow on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then after a while, he replied, “Alright, I can transfer the money to you first, but you need to take a picture of the item and send it over so I can confirm it’s still in your hands.”

“Pay first, then see the goods,” Li Yi said.

Crow’s tone on the other end was very cold now: “You brat, you really value money more than your life. Do you really think I can’t do anything to you? If I can reach you by phone today, I can find your home tomorrow. You should know that there aren’t many people in Tianchang City’s Old City who own two medical pods. You’ve actually been exposed for a long time. I advise you to be honest.”

Li Yi’s heart tightened upon hearing this, and he immediately fell silent.

If something happened, he could run, but his parents were lying in medical pods and couldn’t run. This was his weakness.

“First, take a picture of the item and send it over. I’ll give you a sum of money based on its value,” Crow said. Although he threatened Li Yi, he didn’t dare to push him too hard.

If this kid really took the item to the Investigation Bureau, then their losses would be even greater.

They were cultivators, not worth being dragged down by a few worthless lives.

It was also fortunate that this was a safe zone. If it were in the Waste District, Crow would have really wanted to kill him to prevent trouble.

Li Yi had no choice. Under such a threat, he could only swallow his anger and compromise: “Okay, I’ll take a picture of what I got and send it to you.”

After speaking, he opened his backpack, took out a pile of tattered clothes from inside, took a picture, and sent it over.

Crow, who received the photo, immediately showed it to Ning Wu, who was beside him.

“This is the burial object Li Yi got from the second underground floor. Do you think it has any value?”

Ning Wu stared at the picture and said, “Those clothes are indeed not products of our world, and their material is very special. However, the probability of them being qi objects is very small because qi objects are very difficult to destroy, and those clothes are rotten and damaged, so they have almost no value. It seems our focus still needs to be on Wang Hu and Wei Li.”

“Is it possible that the other party lied and concealed something?” Crow said in a deep voice.

Ning Wu closed her eyes, recalling yesterday’s scene, then said, “The possibility of concealment is small. The number of clothes in the picture indeed matches the number of clothes Li Yi had in his hands yesterday. However, to avoid further complications, give him some money and retrieve the items.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Crow nodded, then continued his call with Li Yi: “What you have in your hand is a pile of junk, worthless. But considering the special nature of this matter, I’m still willing to pay ten thousand dao coins to buy it back.”

“Only ten thousand? Didn’t we agree on two million?” Li Yi almost started cursing.

Crow sneered, “Just a few broken clothes, you think you’re holding a qi object, daring to ask for two million? It’s just ten thousand dao coins, do you want it or not? If not, you won’t even get ten thousand dao coins.”

Li Yi gritted his teeth and squeezed out one word: “Yes.”

Even a mosquito’s leg is meat.

Sure enough, these guys were extremely black-hearted. If he hadn’t received the fifty thousand dao coin deposit earlier, he would have lost a fortune now.

“I guess you’re too scared to show your face, brat. Put the stuff in the mall’s locker, and I’ll send someone to pick it up,” Crow said.

“Okay.”

Li Yi hung up the phone, but the moment before, he was still gritting his teeth, and the next moment, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

He should have fooled them.

Although he didn’t know how long he could fool them, at least for a short time, Crow and his group wouldn’t be targeting him.

Of course, Li Yi also understood that it wasn’t how clever his methods were, but that the other party’s attention was drawn to Wang Hu and Wei Li, as the possibility of those two having qi objects was higher.

However, he also knew that as long as he continued to cultivate, the next time the other party encountered him, the fact that he had a qi object would most likely be exposed.

Because the difference in cultivation with and without a qi object was huge, far more than could be explained by simply saying he was a genius.

So, before that, he had to gain a certain level of self-preservation ability, at the very least, to be like that woman and awaken his Spiritual Medium.

Thinking of this, Li Yi took a deep breath, a strong sense of crisis enveloping his entire body.

After dealing with Crow’s matter, he immediately set off for Uncle Biao’s meditation room.

He still had a lot to learn about cultivation and needed to consult Lin Yue.