2: Chapter 2: The Contractor's First Pot of Gold

That voice rang in her head again, cold and indifferent, stating that the novice mission was complete.

The evaluation was "Barely Passing," criticizing her for using trash materials, crude techniques, and having a low energy conversion rate.

The reward was given, however: 100 merit points, and a system mall was opened as well.

Jiang Ning's mind was completely hooked by the word "Mall." She closed her eyes, and a light screen popped up in her Sea of Consciousness, similar to the setup in the sect's Mission Hall.

The light screen was divided into several sections: Personal Information, Mission List, System Mall, and Technical Database.

She first clicked on Personal Information.

Host: Jiang Ning

Cultivation: First Level of Qi Refinement Stage (Spiritual Energy Depleted)

Cultivation Method: Azure Cloud Art (Incomplete)

Skills: Formations (Foundation Establishment Level), Artifact Refining (Qi Refining Level), spirit plants (Qi Refining Level)

merit points: 100

There wasn't much information, but the dire situation was clear at a glance. First level of Qi Refining with depleted spiritual energy meant she was no different from a mortal.

She then clicked on the System Mall. A dazzling array of goods appeared, but unfortunately, most were greyed out, either showing "Insufficient merit points" or "Permissions Not Unlocked."

Only the novice area was lit up, containing just three items.

《Elementary Spirit Plant Cultivation Method》: 500 merit points.

《Introduction to Artifact Refining》: 500 merit points.

Low-grade Storage Pouch (One Cubic Meter): 100 merit points.

Jiang Ning's gaze fell on the Storage Pouch and couldn't move. Her own Storage Pouch couldn't be opened without spiritual energy, and all her belongings were stuck inside, which was worrying her. Although this thing was small, it was exactly what she needed for this emergency.

"Exchange," she thought silently.

Her merit points instantly dropped to zero, and a dusty little cloth bag fell into her hand. Jiang Ning skillfully sent in a strand of divine sense, and a one-cubic-meter space appeared before her eyes. It was a bit small, but it was indeed a Storage Pouch.

"Not bad, it's not too much of a rip-off." Jiang Ning felt a bit more at ease.

With this thing, she could collect the useful junk from the construction site without having to carry it wherever she went.

She stuffed in the decent-looking rebar, copper wire, and several intact stone slabs she had picked out earlier. These were trash in the eyes of others, but to her, they were treasures for future Infrastructure Construction.

Just as she finished, her stomach growled thunderously, and her legs turned soft like noodles. She finally remembered that she hadn't touched food or water for a day and a night, nor had she closed her eyes.

In this godforsaken place, she had to find food and a place to stay first.

She walked out of the abandoned construction site and onto a main road. The city was brightly lit at night, and the iron boxes racing past left her dumbfounded.

"Are these... Dharma Treasures?" she guessed. These iron boxes ran incredibly fast and didn't even use spirit stones; it was truly strange.

The pedestrians on the road were dressed in all sorts of ways; the fabric was pitifully sparse and the styles were simple, a completely different world from the flowing robes of the cultivation world.

Jiang Ning looked down at her own sect disciple uniform, which was tattered and torn, looking conspicuous no matter how she saw it.

She hunched her shoulders and blended into the crowd, mimicking the way the passersby walked to avoid being seen as a freak. She was a quick learner; after watching for a while, she roughly understood how to cross the street.

After walking for nearly half an hour, a waft of food fragrance drifted over.

She followed the scent and found a brightly lit stall. A middle-aged man was stir-frying something on an iron plate with a spatula; that's where the fragrance was coming from.

Jiang Ning's stomach growled even louder.

She walked up to the stall, looking at the unfamiliar food, feeling a bit at a loss.

"Little girl, want a portion of fried rice? Ten yuan with egg and sausage," the stall owner greeted her warmly.

"...Money?" Jiang Ning was stunned. She remembered now; in the mortal world, buying things required something called "money."

But her pockets were cleaner than her face; let alone money, she didn't even have a scrap of silver.

Seeing her confused look and strange clothes, the stall owner sighed, taking her for a child who had run away from home. He scooped a portion of fried rice from the pan into a container and handed it to her.

"Forget it, forget it. You look quite pitiful, kid. This portion is on me. Go home quickly, don't make your family worry."

Jiang Ning didn't expect to meet such a kind person. She blankly took the warm fried rice, her heart filling with an indescribable feeling. In the sect, besides her master, no one had ever been this nice to her; between fellow disciples, there was nothing but competition and calculation.

"Thank you," she said softly, her voice a bit raspy.

"Eat up, then hurry home." The man waved his hand and went back to attending to other customers.

Holding the fried rice, Jiang Ning found an empty corner and began devouring it ravenously.

This was the first meal she had eaten since arriving in this world. The taste was strange, but it was delicious and very warming.

After finishing the meal, she finally had some strength. Watching the cars racing through the streets, she began to ponder her next steps.

First, she had to get an identity, otherwise she'd be an undocumented person, making it difficult to go anywhere. Second, she had to find a place to live and a way to earn money; she couldn't rely on charity forever.

Ultimately, she still had to do the work assigned by the system to earn merit points. Only with more of those could she exchange for good items, restore her cultivation, and have a chance to go home.

"I still have to do Infrastructure Construction," Jiang Ning figured it out.

This was her old trade and the path pointed out by the system.

She had a feeling that this place called "Earth," although devoid of spiritual energy, was like a piece of unpolished jade, hiding countless possibilities. If many of the materials and technologies here could be combined with cultivation knowledge, who knows what new things could be created.

For example, those fast-moving iron boxes—if she carved a Haste Formation on them, would they go even faster? Those tall buildings—if reinforced with formation arrays, would they be immune to earthquakes?

At the thought of this, Jiang Ning's "contractor" heart couldn't help but heat up.

It wasn't that she liked working; she just enjoyed the sense of achievement from turning a pile of junk into something good. In the cultivation world, she worked herself to death for the sect, just to exchange for those pitiful cultivation resources.

But here, perhaps she could work for herself and build her own territory.

While Jiang Ning was planning for the future, she didn't notice two people in a black car across the street watching her with binoculars.

"Target confirmed, it's her. The source of the energy fluctuation was in the abandoned construction site, and she's the only one who walked out."

"Her clothing and demeanor are severely out of touch with society. Need to report immediately and request further instructions."

"Received. Continue monitoring, don't alert her."