Chapter 1

Rust Lake.

Federal Special Waste Disposal Site No. 23.

Also known as the "Dharma Treasure Graveyard."

As the cultivation civilization continued to develop, the dharma treasures that were once high and mighty, only accessible to cultivators, entered the homes of ordinary people, becoming essential tools for daily life, travel, study, and work.

While bringing convenience to life, this also generated a large amount of scrap dharma treasures and metal waste.

These waste dharma treasures mostly retained a significant amount of spiritual energy, which could easily cause radiation pollution. The talisman arrays that constructed the dharma treasures were also extremely unstable, with the risk of explosion. If left unchecked, they would cause significant environmental damage.

Therefore, around every major city in the Federation, several "Special Waste Disposal Sites" were set up to specifically handle scrap dharma treasures.

Special Waste Disposal Site No. 23 was located in the southern suburbs of Fuguo City, a major cultivation center in the Federation.

Under a dim yellow sky, a polluted purple swamp emitted a strong stench. Metal fragments formed mountains, resembling the backs of over a hundred dinosaurs emerging from the swamp. The mountains were dotted with broken flying swords, and beside them sat rusty crystal puppets. The hollow eye sockets, where the spiritual fire had long since extinguished, now housed small insects that fed on spiritual energy, cautiously surveying this perilous "Dharma Treasure Graveyard."

"Boom!"

Not far away, inside a waste mountain, the talisman array of a discarded dharma treasure ruptured, and the residual spiritual energy exploded, sending half the mountain skyward.

Countless metal components scattered like flowers, triggering a chain reaction of collapses in several nearby waste mountains, raising a cloud of dust that obscured the entire sky, like demons dancing.

This place seemed to be a no-man's land, where only insignificant cockroaches and worms found it a paradise.

However...

Li Yao crouched behind a waste mountain, licking his dry lips. His sandy yellow windbreaker was covered in dust, blending him into the environment.

Glancing at the rising explosion cloud nearby, the young man's clear eyes showed no emotion, calm and composed.

Only when the dirt and metal fragments splashed onto the waste mountain where he was hiding did he slightly retreat deeper into the pile and put on a wind visor that covered half his face.

"They're here!"

When the spirit particle watch on his wrist vibrated lightly, the young man's spirits lifted, and a slightly sinister smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

It was 3:52:38 PM, the daily waste disposal time, and also the moment of狂欢 for "waste bugs" like Li Yao!

The spirit particle watch on his left wrist was a hunting-specific model launched by the cultivation sect "Feiling Sect" three years ago. He had found it in the waste mountain and spent two months repairing it.

Besides telling time, it had a powerful function to record specific frequency vibrations and notify the owner when such vibrations were detected nearby.

This function was originally designed to alert hunters to the presence of powerful beasts.

However, after Li Yao's modifications, it now alerted him to the approach of waste ships.

A moment later, accompanied by a faint buzzing sound, several black dots appeared on the northern horizon.

The dust from the explosion had yet to settle, and the black dots were indistinguishable amidst the haze.

Li Yao sniffed and lightly touched a rune on the side of his wind visor. "Swish," the surface of the visor turned blood red.

Under the red light's scan, the round shapes of the waste ships hidden in the dust became clearly visible.

The hunting function of the spirit particle watch also locked onto the specific vibration frequency of one of the waste ships.

"Waste Ship No. 1327, it's you!"

From birth to the age of ten, Li Yao had lived in the Dharma Treasure Graveyard, knowing every inch of the land and every waste ship in the sky. The "Waste Ship No. 1327" was specifically responsible for collecting waste from the "Upper East District" of Fuguo City.

The Upper East District was the most luxurious area in the city, home to many cultivators. The dharma treasures they discarded were the most valuable.

Many dharma treasures were even intact, discarded by cultivators and the wealthy simply because they were slightly old or a new model had been released.

To Li Yao, these were not just waste ships but treasure ships loaded with gold mines!

"Whoosh!"

Li Yao pushed off with both feet, shooting forward like a bullet, sprinting between the waste mountains, heading towards the dust and "Waste Ship No. 1327"!

Surrounding him were unstable waste mountains, and beneath his feet was a toxic swamp bubbling with bubbles. Li Yao, however, moved like the most agile monkey in the forest, using protrusions on the waste mountains to gain leverage, each step propelling him dozens of meters forward, his movements fluid and graceful.

"Li Yao, you bastard, you're competing with me again for food!"

At that moment, over a dozen figures emerged from behind several waste mountains, dressed similarly to Li Yao but without the advanced blood-red wind visor and spirit particle watch.

Each of them held a shovel or iron rod, coming at him aggressively.

They, like Li Yao, were "waste bugs" who relied on the "Special Waste Disposal Site No. 23" for survival.

Where there was profit, there was conflict. A ship full of scrap dharma treasures might be just waste to the high and mighty cultivators, but to these impoverished people, it was a hope for survival. Li Yao, being the best "waste bug" in the Dharma Treasure Graveyard, was naturally a thorn in the side of most other "waste bugs."

However, Li Yao was completely unfazed. He chuckled, suddenly exerted force in his waist, and his body twisted oddly, turning ninety degrees without warning. He dodged a fat, angry youth and even managed to stomp on the fat face, using the momentum to leap another thirty to forty meters.

"Fat Dragon, we're all here to make a living. You need to lose some weight!"

The fat youth's face was marked with a huge red imprint, his nose almost buried in the fat. He roared in anger, directing his subordinates to chase after Li Yao. They soon entered the dust cloud.

This area had just experienced an explosion and was extremely unstable. The waste mountains could collapse at any moment, and even the ruthless Fat Dragon and his gang slowed down, watching helplessly as Li Yao sped through the dust.

Fat Dragon spat.

"This bastard, he's really known for risking his life for money. If the heavens have eyes, a lightning bolt should strike him dead..."

Before he could finish, another explosion occurred inside a nearby waste mountain, and tens of thousands of tons of metal components and broken dharma treasures surged down like a mountain flood!

"How lucky!" Fat Dragon and his gang were stunned, at a loss for what to do!

Suddenly, a scream came from the dust: "Xiao Hei, save me!"

A black beam, darker than the night sky, shot out, spinning around in the metal flood before shooting into the air. It was a rusty, chipped, and pitch-black flying sword with a large guard like black wings. Li Yao, like a drowning man clutching a straw, awkwardly clung to the flying sword, surrounded by black light, and shot towards the sky!

In the sky, the shapes of a dozen waste ships were now visible. Each ship was hundreds of meters long, with a round body like the legendary turtles that supported the earth. The "turtle shells" were engraved with thousands of talisman arrays, glowing with colorful light, helping these ten-thousand-ton behemoths resist the force of gravity.

"Swish!"

The cabin doors on the bellies of the "big turtles" opened, and a deluge of metal components and broken dharma treasures poured out, slamming into the ground.

For a moment, the spiritual energy in the entire area churned wildly, creating a massive wave!

Even the ten-thousand-ton waste ships swayed and jolted in the spiritual energy wave, forcing them to spread out to reduce interference.

Fat Dragon and his gang dared not approach easily, fearing being caught in the chaos.

Li Yao, still riding the black flying sword, darted through the spiritual energy wave, looking extremely狼狈 but as agile as an eel.

He certainly didn't dare to face the massive wave head-on but used his years of survival experience to find relatively calm and safe areas between the waves, aiming to get as close as possible to the landing points of the dharma treasures, taking advantage of his proximity.

Finally—

After nearly ten minutes of dumping, the waste ships roared like giant beasts, turned around, and lazily headed back, the dust gradually dissipating.

Fat Dragon finally managed to climb into the center of the dense waste dump and saw Li Yao comfortably sitting on a new waste mountain, smiling at him.

"Damn it!" Fat Dragon's face twitched, but he was conflicted.

Li Yao had chosen a clever waste mountain, not the largest or the one that seemed to have the most resources.

There were still dozens of other waste mountains scattered around, containing valuable dharma treasures.

And the "waste bugs" were not just their two groups...

If they continued to tangle with Li Yao here, other "waste bugs" might benefit.

Other "waste bugs" were already appearing in the distance, and cheers were heard from several waste mountains, indicating that someone had found something valuable.

Moreover...

Fat Dragon had heard that Li Yao, this brat, was a student at the famous "Chixiao Affiliated Second High School" in Fuguo City.

Chixiao Sect was a well-known major sect in the southern Federation, with formidable strength and many experts.

While Li Yao might not have learned any true secrets, he was not someone to be dealt with in a few punches. Otherwise, he wouldn't have survived for over a decade in the Dharma Treasure Graveyard, still lively and even earned the nickname "Vulture"!

But if he just walked away, where would his face be? His nose was still embedded in the fat!

While he was conflicted, a gust of wind passed, and Fat Dragon instinctively caught something cold in his hand—a fist-sized scrap crystal brain.

Li Yao smiled and said, "Fat Dragon, we're all here to make a living. It's not like I killed your father just because I took a 'Starlight' grade crystal brain from you last time. Look, I just found a 'Qinglong Gate' made 'Snapdragon 17' model crystal brain, the most advanced model, capable of processing over five thousand thoughts per second. Even though it's burned out, I estimate it can still sell for three to four thousand. Consider it my tribute to you, Fat Dragon. From now on, we're even. What do you say?"

"You..." Fat Dragon was taken aback by Li Yao's move, scratching his fat face in disbelief.

"Hey, look over there, the 'Wild Wolf Gang' is almost here. They're not like me, a lone wanderer. They'll clean out dozens of waste mountains, leaving you not even a screw!" Li Yao pointed to the west.

Fat Dragon's face changed, squinting his eyes and observing for a long time before finally making up his mind. He gave Li Yao a thumbs up and said, "Good kid, you've got guts! Let's go, let's start scavenging!"

The group of "waste bugs" scattered, rushing towards the waste mountains in all directions.

"Phew..."

Li Yao let out a long breath, sitting down in the waste pile, sweat rolling down his forehead, his smile instantly turning into a frown.

"Fat bastard, I found that 'Snapdragon' grade crystal brain with great effort, and you got it for free!"

"Just wait, I, 'Vulture Li Yao,' am not so easy to take from. One day, I'll make you spit out what you've eaten and return what you've taken, with interest, at a high rate, so you'll know why everyone calls me 'the Vulture who risks his life for money'!"

"I can't let this continue. I need to speed up. The 'Wild Wolf Gang' is even more unreasonable than Fat Dragon!"

Li Yao pulled off his wind visor, hung it around his neck, rubbed his hands, eyes gleaming, licked his lips, and dove into the freshly dumped waste pile!