Lin Feng's swift, brutal victory over Lin Wei sent shockwaves through the Outer Sect. The incident became the primary topic of conversation, displacing even the results of the minor pill competition. The "Waste Disposal Disciple" was no longer a negligible joke; he was a potential anomaly, viewed with a mixture of fear, suspicion, and confusion.
He utilized the immediate aftermath to his advantage, cultivating relentlessly in the secrecy of the Scrap Yard. The whispers about his sudden strength were still focused on "suspicious luck" or "hidden masters," not his actual method. He needed to push his cultivation to the next stage rapidly, before the Sect Elders initiated a formal investigation.
[Current Cultivation Base: 3rd Stage Mortal Body (35%)]
The very next morning, the mandatory Outer Sect Resource Gathering Trial was announced. This was a low-stakes competition designed to harvest foundational herbs, minerals, and common beasts necessary for the Sect's basic operations. All disciples in the 3rd to 6th Mortal Body Stage were required to participate.
Lin Feng, now officially a 3rd Stage cultivator, had no choice but to attend.
The disciples were gathered on the training field, receiving their official gathering maps and resource checklists. Lin Wei, his wrist tightly bound in a spiritual splint, glared daggers at Lin Feng from across the crowd.
The supervising Elder, Gao, was a harsh man known for his rigid adherence to rules.
"The objective is simple," Elder Gao announced, his voice booming. "Retrieve the most valuable collection of materials from the Azure Foothills within the day. Focus on Sun-Kissed Herbs and White Jade Stone veins. Any cheating or conflict will result in immediate expulsion."
Lin Feng accepted his map, reviewing the checklist. It was filled with valuable, high-demand, but intact resources. These resources were scarce, and the competition to find them would be fierce and dangerous.
I have no interest in fighting for meager herbs, Lin Feng thought. My strength is in the abundance of what others discard.
He left the main group and headed directly away from the areas marked for valuable herbs. He instead followed a winding, rarely used path that led to the Azure Foothills' Abandoned Mine. This mine had been closed fifty years prior, deemed "exhausted" of all valuable spiritual minerals. The ground was unstable, and the area was officially marked "Resource Depleted".
As he neared the mine entrance, he found the area littered with debris: piles of broken mining tools, discarded protective talismans, and large, dull chunks of mineral ore that had been tossed aside during the initial extraction fifty years ago, deemed too impure to process.
The conventional mindset dictated that once the usable spiritual Qi was extracted from a mineral vein, the remaining rock was worthless. But Lin Feng saw the potential.
He targeted a large chunk of rusted, impure Iron Ore.
[Target Detected: Impure Mineral Ore (Discarded). Contains Trace Metallic Dao Essence and High Density of Inert Earth Essence. Estimated Gain: Low, but Stable.]
Absorb.
A cold, heavy wave of energy flowed into his core. It wasn't the clean, medicinal Qi of the Herbal Hall scraps; this felt raw, grounding, and hard. The System strained slightly, attempting to filter the sheer inert density of the earth elements.
[Filtering Stability Low. Scrap Qi Consumption: 5% of reserve expended to purify Earth Elements. Gain: Low.]
The absorption was inefficient, but the sheer volume of mineral waste was staggering. There were mountains of these rejected chunks.
"The goal isn't to find the highest quality of residual essence," Lin Feng realized, tapping into his Scrap Essence Focus. "The goal is to find the highest quantity of discarded mass."
He spent the next three hours at the abandoned mine, moving with his grabber like a dedicated prospector. He didn't bother with the dangerous depths; he focused on the surface piles of rejected waste rock. He systematically absorbed the minute metallic and earth essences from hundreds of chunks of discarded ore and mineral dust.
[Refined Metallic Essence absorbed. Progress: Continuous, High-Volume.]
The repeated absorption of the dense Earth and Metal Essence had a profound effect. It didn't just boost his cultivation; it actively reinforced his muscular tissue and bone density, directly benefiting the physical aspect of the Mortal Body stages.
As he worked, a familiar figure appeared at the mine entrance—Lin Wei, who had followed him using tracking charms. Lin Wei's face was pale with restrained fury, his splinted wrist cradled against his chest.
"I knew you were cheating, you filth!" Lin Wei spat, standing a safe distance away. "This mine is exhausted! You're clearly using some kind of evil artifact to drain the remaining spiritual veins, aren't you? That's why you won the fight—you're a cheater!"
"I am gathering materials, Cousin," Lin Feng said, not pausing in his work. He held up a handful of mineral dust. "These were discarded decades ago. They are worthless to everyone but the waste disposal disciple."
Lin Wei sneered, his eyes darting around the huge, empty piles of rock. He couldn't see any spiritual light, and the area was officially certified as depleted. He pulled out his checklist. "You need Sun-Kissed Herbs and White Jade! You're failing the trial! I'm going to report you to Elder Gao for wasting time and attempting to illegally mine a protected site!"
Lin Feng simply nodded. "Go ahead. I'll continue my gathering."
Lin Wei, unable to provoke a reaction and unwilling to engage in another physical conflict, stormed off, planning to leverage this failure with Elder Gao.
Lin Feng watched him go, a faint smile touching his lips. Lin Wei had confirmed his materials were worthless to everyone else. He then resumed his work, absorbing the essence of two massive boulders of mineral slag, pushing his cultivation to the threshold.
He had gathered no herbs, no jade, and nothing on the checklist. He had gathered volume.
[Current Cultivation Progress: 3rd Stage Mortal Body (98%)]