First, the farmland needed a rest; the next batch of mutated wheat wouldn’t be harvested for another four months.
Second, her physical strength was still 30 points short of being maxed out, which would require at least 300 years of lifespan.
Then, her mental strength was always three times the cost of physical strength.
To reach 500, she would need 3000 years of lifespan!
Li Yang wrote down one urgent note: “For now, I need to… burn life force!”
Without mutated wheat, she had no choice but to go after wild plants.
Li Yang couldn’t leave campus yet, so she had to find a solution within the school. She searched the forum for keywords: rapid cultivation, killing mutated plant or star plant.
She actually found something, muttering to herself:
“Combat training camp… sounds pretty good.”
It was clearly a hot search term, with many posts charging fees. Li Yang looked at her meager 5 merit points…
Better save what she could.
She decided to ask someone.
Li Yang called He Song and asked, “Teacher, do you know about the combat training camps?”
He Song immediately asked, “What, you want to join a special training?”
He admired her talent and hard work.
No wonder she had surpassed others.
Li Yang nodded, saying, “Yes, I just reached second rank and want to improve my physical strength.”
He Song replied, “Ah, the combat training camp has both solo and group modes. For you… solo mode would be better, it’s more efficient but also more expensive.”
Li Yang, upon hearing the fee, felt her head spin, but she steeled herself and asked, “How do they charge?”
“For second rank, it’s about 10 merit points per hour.”
Li Yang was taken aback, gasping in the summer heat.
She asked with a bitter face, “And for first rank?”
“First rank is cheaper, probably around 7 merit points.”
That wasn’t much of a discount!
Li Yang asked again, “How do they train in these combat rooms?”
He Song explained, “It’s simple, you just choose the异植 or异兽 you want to fight, and kill them.”
This was a relief for Li Yang. She asked, “Is there a limit on the number of battles?”
And so, her journey continued.
“There is no limit on quantity, only time,” the instructor said nonchalantly.
Li Yang blinked, a touch of concern in her voice.
“But what if I kill too many…?”
“Don’t worry,” He Song reassured with a smirk.
“Even if you manage to kill dozens of mutant beasts in an hour, there will still be enough stock in the training room to go around.”
Li Yang’s curiosity piqued, she asked, “Teacher, where do these mutant plants and beasts come from?”
He Song cleared his throat lightly and explained, “The Beast Control Department’s research facility produces large numbers of mutant beasts and plants every day. All of them are sent straight into the combat training camp for practical use.”
Li Yang was stunned for a moment before she chuckled.
“I see. It’s quite a well-established industry chain.”
She paused and thought for a moment.
The Beast Control Department was known for researching ‘beasts,’ but now she couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
She asked, “I only want to kill the mutant plants. Is that alright? Will there be enough of them?”
“Plenty!”
He Song answered confidently.
“Does the Beast Control Department also cultivate mutant plants?”
Li Yang asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“Heh, the Beast Control Department doesn’t cultivate anything,” He Song laughed.
“They just research how to… well, how to ‘evolve’ things.”
“…Huh?”
Li Yang was even more puzzled.
He Song gave her a knowing look.
“It’s quite literal. They study how to change the original form of things. Not mentally ‘evolving,’ though—though, I will admit, the people in that department aren’t exactly… well, normal.”
“I see…” Li Yang murmured, now truly enlightened.
“By the way,” He Song suddenly added, “Add me as a friend. I haven’t transferred your reward for the bounty mission yet.”
Lei Yang’s eyes lit up.
“Thank you, Senior! You’re really a good person!”
The bounty reward this time was quite generous—70 points of merit.
He Song immediately transferred 60 points to Li Yang and explained, “This is a unanimous decision.
If you hadn’t pushed that self-destructing cultist away, we would have all been dead.”
Li Yang, deeply in debt, didn’t hesitate to accept.
“Thank you, Senior!”
With the 60 points of merit, Li Yang immediately navigated her way to the combat training room, eager to test if she could ‘harvest’ some more life force.
***
The combat training room appeared to be an ordinary teaching building from the outside.
Inside, a laid-back administrator handed her a safety agreement, which was densely packed with text. In short, it essentially stated—if you lose, call for rescue; if you’re late, you’re responsible.
The 10 merit points were gone in a flash, and Li Yang winced in pain at the loss.
Taking the key and finding her designated room, Li Yang entered.
Inside, there was an operation panel with a simple interface.
“Please select a mutated creature.”
The options were quite numerous, categorized by realms, ranging from beginner-level 1st-tier to advanced 2nd-tier beasts and plants.
Li Yang cautiously selected a 2nd-tier beginner-level mutant plant.
A countdown began, and soon, a mutant plant with a blood-red maw emerged.
Li Yang quickly activated her “Hidden Shadow” technique, concealing her presence.
The plant didn’t sense her and stood still.
Li Yang quietly snuck around behind it, and with a quick movement, her star-powered spear pierced through its vulnerable point.
The mutant plant whirled around, trying to bite her, but she swiftly raised a wooden shield to block.
After a brief clash, several light blades shot out, each one hitting its weak spot perfectly, and the plant was swiftly dispatched.
Li Yang exhaled, glancing at the timer.
“Six minutes. That’s not bad… If I kill one every six minutes, in an hour, that’s only about 10 creatures.”
Then, the system chimed in: Lifespan +10 years.
“What?!”
Li Yang stared at the numbers in disbelief.
“System, come out here! Shouldn’t a 2nd-tier low-level mutant plant yield 20 years?!”
The system stayed silent.
A terrible thought struck her.
“Is it because I’ve advanced to 2nd-tier? What if a 1st-tier mutant wheat… could only give me a year’s worth of lifespan now?”
Gritting her teeth, she rushed to the control panel again and selected a 1st-tier beginner-level mutant plant.
It turned out to be a familiar face—another man-eating plant.
Li Yang didn’t bother using her Hidden Shadow technique.
As the plant lunged at her, she slammed her wooden shield into its open mouth, then shot out several light blades, piercing it through.
Lifespan +1 month.
Li Yang froze, the sound of a buzzing in her head as her worst fears were realized.
A 1st-tier beginner plant, originally supposed to grant a year of life, now only offered a month!
This meant her 1st-tier mutant wheat would only add a month of lifespan as well!
“Sky! Has the sky fallen?!”
She quickly dispatched another 1st-tier intermediate mutant plant.
Lifespan +1 month.
A 1st-tier high-level mutant plant:
Lifespan +1 month.
A 2nd-tier intermediate mutant plant:
Lifespan +20 years.
A 2nd-tier high-level mutant plant:
Lifespan +30 years.
Li Yang collapsed, panting heavily in the training room.
Her star energy had run out, and the time in the room was also running out.
But more importantly, she had figured out the pattern.
It seemed that the harvesting of life force wasn’t as simple as she had hoped.
After advancing in rank, all plants lower than her realm gave only 1 month of lifespan, while plants of the same realm gave the proper lifespan reward.
Of course, if she had the strength to kill a higher-tier mutant plant, she could still receive double the lifespan rewards.
It was the classic case of a storm hitting when things were already bad.
Li Yang had invested heavily in her own life force, but the returns from the combat training room had plummeted.
She sighed.
“Fighting through the training room is too inefficient… 10 merit points per hour, and I barely earned 100 years!”
She needed a new plan.
Perhaps researching the mutant wheat was the key…
Li Yang dashed back to the Agricultural Department and shouted mentally, “Teacher! Teacher! Is our department only studying 1st-tier mutant wheat? Do we have 2nd-tier ones? Any other crops?”
After a moment, Si Kui replied, “Yes.”
“Where are they?!”
“…In the research institute.”
“Wait, we have a research institute?” Li Yang was overjoyed. “Where is it?”
“Well, I didn’t have money to maintain it, so the school reclaimed it. Now… I think it’s in the Alchemy Department.”
Li Yang couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, do we have any other treasures scattered elsewhere?”
“Eh…”
“ERO…”
“You can’t use it right now. Maybe later.”
Li Yang shook her head.
Her teacher might be petty, but at least she was dealing with a “big hearted” person, and that was… well, complementary in its own way.
The Alchemy Department, huh…
Li Yang quickly scoured the forum for more information about the research institute.
It turned out that the research institutes were not exclusive to the Agricultural Department.
Every department had its own research facility, including the Alchemy Department, the Weapon Forging Department, and the Beast Control Department.
The school allocated funding to each department’s research projects, which was quite a substantial amount every year.
The Agricultural Department had lost its personnel, so it was no surprise that the research results were no longer forthcoming.
Two years ago, the Alchemy Department had purchased the research institute for a hefty price.
Li Yang found out that the Alchemy Department had spent 500,000 merit points to acquire the institute.
She stared at the screen in disbelief, her eyes widening.
“Is this… merit points? 1:10,000 exchange rate?”
50 million…!
Her hopes of buying back the research institute were crushed instantly.
But Li Yang, ever resourceful, had a sudden idea. “What if I choose a minor specialization?”
She had already reached 2nd-tier and was now eligible to choose a minor specialization.
Originally, she had hesitated between the Alchemy Department and the Weapon Forging Department, but now, without a second thought, she decided—Alchemy!
She could enroll as a minor specialization student and see if she could sneak out any research data on crop cultivation from the institute.
Not only that, she could even make money by flipping alchemy materials!
She had too little life force left to afford this.
But she would secure her place as a minor student first!