Chapter 17 Salary Payment

Chapter 17: Payday

A Flood Dragon?

“What is that thing?” someone asked, puzzled.

Supervisor Xu Ming said, “While ‘Flood Dragon’ might be unfamiliar to everyone, it has another name: Flood Dragon.”

“Dragon?” Everyone was immediately shocked.

The Flood Dragon was actually related to the dragons of myths and legends.

“A Flood Dragon is not a dragon; it’s a large snake with horns. These creatures didn’t exist originally; they are Overmortal Creatures that invaded our world from another dimension after the Tian Qing Event. That Flood Dragon was found in a Danger Zone in a city and was jointly hunted down by a group of cultivators. Its corpse was sold to a pharmaceutical company. Cultivation pods were produced by dissecting and researching the corpses of various Overmortal Creatures,” Supervisor Xu Ming explained.

“There are many similar instances. If you are confident in your strength, you can try entering a Danger Zone. If you can capture or hunt an Overmortal Creature alive, you can earn a considerable income.”

Zhang Gao waved his hands repeatedly, “Forget it. With our physiques, going into a Danger Zone would be like going to feed them. We wouldn’t even be enough to stick in the teeth of those Overmortal Creatures. I’d rather honestly work as a Guiding Staff to earn money. Li Yi, don’t you agree?”

Li Yi, however, said, “Working is just a transition. Have you ever seen a worker get rich? If I had the ability, I would definitely go to a Danger Zone to capture an Overmortal Creature. If successful, the money earned would be enough for you to spend a lifetime. If there wasn’t enough profit, why do you think that Flood Dragon became a component in cultivation pods?”

“Those cultivators who are ahead aren’t fools; they must have seen profit to risk hunting the Flood Dragon.”

Supervisor Xu Ming nodded, “Indeed. In the face of immense profit, even powerful cultivators are willing to risk their lives to do dangerous things.”

“Alright, everyone, please eat first. The cafeteria has a variety of food. If you don’t want to waste a lot of time dining, we also provide nutrient solutions, but they can only be consumed in the cafeteria and cannot be taken out.”

Everyone saw that the cafeteria on this floor already had all kinds of exquisite food prepared, including large amounts of steak, fresh raw fish, big pots of meat stew, and piles of fruits and vegetables.

All of these could replenish a large amount of nutrition for cultivators.

“Since there’s food, I’ll definitely eat,” Zhang Gao said. “Nutrient solutions are only suitable for use during cultivation. It’s better to eat now when not cultivating.”

“Why is that? Isn’t nutrient solution more convenient?” Li Yi asked.

Zhang Gao immediately explained, “That’s because our cultivators’ bodies are undergoing transformation and evolution. A large amount of food can activate our digestive and absorption capabilities for food. If we consume nutrient solutions for a long time, our body’s gastrointestinal functions will gradually weaken, eventually failing to keep up with the speed of body evolution, thereby leaving hidden dangers. And since we spend most of our time cultivating, opportunities to exercise our digestive and absorption abilities are already few, so it’s best to eat whenever possible.”

“So that’s how it is.” Li Yi suddenly realized, learning another new piece of cultivation knowledge.

“Thank you for your explanation. In that case, I’ll also choose to eat.”

Zhang Gao immediately smiled, then continued, “Li Yi, when you eat, it’s best to choose meat like steak, chicken, and duck. If possible, it’s best to eat them with some bones, as this will have a better training effect on our stomachs.”

“That’s right. Some wild beasts in nature can even digest large bones. We cultivators are constantly evolving, and our bodily functions will eventually surpass any wild beast in nature, so we will also master the ability to digest bones sooner or later. Necessary exercise is indispensable. Alright, no more idle talk, let’s eat.” Another cultivator nearby spoke up in agreement.

Soon, a few people began to frantically grab food, then found a spot to sit down and eat.

Li Yi was also not polite, casually taking various delicacies. This time, he was going to feast, because there were many things here that he usually couldn’t bear to eat. Now that he finally had the opportunity, of course, he had to eat his fill.

“Li Yi, what happened before was a misunderstanding. I sincerely apologize to you here and hope you don’t take it to heart. If you need any help in the future, I will definitely assist.”

At this moment, a cultivator walked over with a tray, apologizing solemnly.

His name was Lü Jue, and he didn’t want to offend a potentially powerful cultivator over such a small matter. Moreover, he wasn’t the instigator, so he wanted to use this meal as an opportunity to resolve the misunderstanding.

If this misunderstanding wasn’t resolved in time, and conflicts erupted again in the future, they would truly become enemies.

After all, the cultivator circle in Tianchang City wasn’t large; they would inevitably run into each other again.

Li Yi paused, put down his chopsticks, and looked at him calmly, “I’m not a narrow-minded person. Since you’ve proactively apologized to me and are willing to resolve this misunderstanding, I’m happy to accept. Everyone is out here to earn money, not to make enemies, and you and I don’t have any deep-seated grudges.”

“Thank you.”

Lü Jue took a deep breath, relaxing, “I was also pressured at the time, and I didn’t expect Wu Zhen to do that.”

“What happened before is in the past. Let’s eat.” Li Yi nodded.

Only the strong deserve to be treated well; the weaker you are, the more you will be bullied. He had understood this principle long ago.

“Li Yi, I also need to apologize to you. In that situation, I should have stepped forward and not hidden in the room, ignoring it.” Zhang Gao also came over at this moment, saying with some annoyance.

Li Yi said, “This doesn’t concern you. You don’t need to apologize to me; I didn’t blame you.”

He wouldn’t resent Zhang Gao for not helping. After all, it was their first meeting, and everyone was a stranger. It was normal for Zhang Gao to choose to protect himself. How many truly righteous people are there in this world?

“That’s good. So, some misunderstandings still need to be resolved as early as possible. When you’re away from home, it’s better to have more friends than more enemies. Anyway, let’s not talk about this; eat, eat.” Zhang Gao smiled, then began to bury his head in his food.

Li Yi remained silent, continuing to eat and drink heartily.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaoxiao, who witnessed this scene from not far away, hesitated.

“Should I also apologize to Li Yi and resolve this misunderstanding?” She was very hesitant.

“Will your apology even work?”

At this moment, a bruised and swollen Wu Zhen sneered and walked over, “You looked down on him from the start.”

Zhao Xiaoxiao bit her lip and said, “I did look down on him at first, but I never thought of bullying him. Besides, what’s wrong with being a little snobbish? I just misjudged him.”

“The process doesn’t matter. You’re involved in this matter, and you’ve made an enemy of Li Yi. Instead of apologizing, why not think of a way to make Li Yi lose his job? He’s struggling with cultivation now because he lacks money. If he saves a large sum of money from this job and then cultivates in this environment, then he’ll truly be dangerous.”

Wu Zhen said, trying to pull Zhao Xiaoxiao to his side.

“If you want to deal with Li Yi, do it yourself. I won’t let you drag me down again,” Zhao Xiaoxiao said, annoyed.

At this moment, Supervisor Xu Ming, who had just left, returned. He was accompanied by two assistants, each carrying a box.

“Excuse me for interrupting your meal, but considering I have other work to do, I can only settle your first day’s wages here.”

“Payday? That’s great.”

Suddenly, everyone stopped eating and gathered one after another.

Supervisor Xu Ming picked up a payroll sheet and looked at it, “Zhang Gao, six hours of work, no interruptions in guiding work. Your total wage is fifty-four thousand.”

Then an assistant opened a box, quickly took out a stack of money, and counted it. Soon, fifty-four thousand in wages was handed to Zhang Gao.

Although fifty-four thousand seemed like a lot, it was actually just a small stack, because the largest denomination now was one thousand yuan, not the previous one hundred yuan.

But Zhang Gao was still excited after receiving it, because this was the largest daily wage he had received since becoming a Guiding Staff.

“Zhao Xiaoxiao, six hours of work, no interruptions in guiding work. Your wage is fifty-four thousand.” Supervisor Xu Ming said, continuing to have the assistant distribute wages.

Zhao Xiaoxiao took the wages, counted them, then nodded and put them away.

Afterward, Lü Jue and another cultivator also received their wages; they all got fifty-four thousand.

“Wu Zhen, six hours of work, but you woke up from your meditation once in the middle, so according to the contract, your wage is halved, totaling twenty-seven thousand.” Supervisor Xu Ming said, “I hope you’ll be more serious next time you work.”

“I’ll adjust my state tomorrow.” Wu Zhen’s expression was a bit grim. After receiving his wages, he didn’t leave immediately but looked at Li Yi.

He wanted to know how much Li Yi earned for six hours of guiding work.

After all, among the seven people, only he signed the second contract, and the second contract had no base salary; how much you earned depended entirely on how much Cosmic Energy you guided.

Li Yi was also very curious at this moment about how much money he had actually earned.

Supervisor Xu Ming glanced at the payroll sheet, now a little surprised, then said, “Li Yi, your work duration was six hours. During this period, you guided a total of two thousand two hundred units of Cosmic Energy, so your wage is two hundred twenty thousand.”

Two hundred twenty thousand?

Hearing this, the others immediately looked at Li Yi in astonishment.