The heavy iron door of the Disposal Wing clicked shut behind him, sealing Jin Ryeong inside the belly of the beast.
He was alone. Elder Baek had retired to his chambers, leaving the "rat" to scurry through his refuse. The room was cold, lit only by the bioluminescent moss lining the stone walls. It hummed with a strange, dissonant energy—the collective spiritual residue of a thousand failed experiments.
Jin Ryeong stood before the Disposal Chute.
It wasn't a garbage can. It was a massive stone trough running along the back wall, leading down into the subterranean incinerators. But before the waste was burned, it sat here, fermenting.
The smell was atrocious. It was a cocktail of sulfur, rot, charred herbs, and metallic blood. To a normal disciple, it was vomit-inducing. To Jin Ryeong, it smelled like opportunity.
"Let's see what the elites throw away," Jin Ryeong whispered.
He approached the first bin. It was filled with black, soot-covered clumps. Pill Slag. When an Alchemist failed to refine a pill, the medicinal energy didn't just vanish. It collapsed into impurities. The Inner Sect threw this away because extracting the remaining energy was too difficult and dangerous.
Jin Ryeong picked up a chunk of slag. It was warm.
[System Activation: Diagnosis Eye]
[Item: Failed Blood-Clotting Pill Residue] [Grade: Trash] [Composition: 80% Toxic Ash / 20% Active Medicinal Essence] [Effect: If consumed, restores 5 Qi but causes 'Meridian Silt' (Constitution -1 temporarily).]
A normal cultivator would look at this and see poison. "Meridian Silt" clogged the pathways, making future cultivation harder. It was a fast track to becoming a cripple.
But Jin Ryeong smiled. 'My meridians are already clogged. You can't dirty a sewer.'
He wiped the soot off the chunk and tossed it into his mouth.
Crunch.
It tasted like charcoal and pennies. He chewed grimly, forcing the dry, powdery mess down his throat. His stomach churned. The toxins hit his system, trying to stick to his stomach lining.
[System Alert] [Toxic Material Ingested.] [Constitution Check... Passed (8).] [Processing...] [Your body adapts to the filth.]
A small burst of warmth bloomed in his gut.
[Qi Restored: 0 -> 2/2] [Qi Overflow: +3 (Temporary Storage in Dantian)] [Current Qi: 5/2 (Overcharged)]
Jin Ryeong gasped, leaning against the trough. It worked. He was a bottom feeder, a scavenger fish cleaning the tank. The toxins would hurt him later—he could feel a dull ache in his kidneys—but for now, he had energy.
He moved to the next bin. This one contained Organic Waste. Jars of severed beast limbs, failed graft experiments, and organs that had been rejected by their hosts.
Jin Ryeong's eyes scanned the gruesome buffet. Most of it was useless necrotic tissue. But near the bottom, half-buried under a pile of Spirit Rat tails, he saw a glass jar that had cracked but not shattered.
Inside was a heart. It wasn't beating, but it wasn't dead. It was suspended in a yellow preservation fluid.
[Item: Heart of a Stone-Skin Ape (Juvenile)] [Status: Dormant] [Defect: The heart valve is malformed. Discarded by Elder Baek.] [Potential: Contains trace amounts of 'Earth Essence'.]
Jin Ryeong's hands trembled. Earth Essence. The element of defense. Durability. Ma Goo had speed now, thanks to the Fire Ant Oil. But he was fragile. If he got hit, he folded.
Jin Ryeong carefully lifted the jar. The preservation fluid leaked onto his fingers, stinging like acid. He couldn't use this yet. He didn't have the surgical tools or the skill to perform an organ transplant. But he could extract the essence.
He tucked the jar into his sash.
He continued his scavenge. He found a half-empty vial of Paralysis Powder (accidentally mixed with sugar). He found a bundle of Silver Needles that had bent tips (repairable). He found a discarded scroll titled "The 12 Meridian Points of the Dog" (useless for humans, but good for anatomy study).
By the time he was done, his sash was bulging, and his pockets were heavy. He felt like a king. A king of garbage.
[Inventory Updated]
Pill Slag (x5 chunks) - Emergency Qi batteries.
Ape Heart (x1) - Crafting Material.
Bent Needles (x10).
Paralysis/Sugar Mix (x1 vial).
"Time to check on the patient," Jin Ryeong muttered, patting his loot.
The Sect Infirmary was cleaner than the Disposal Wing, but somehow more depressing. Rows of cots were filled with disciples groaning from broken bones, internal bleeding, and crushed egos.
Ma Goo lay in a bed near the window. He looked terrible. His skin was still flushed red from the oil, but his lips were blue from the frostbite. He was wrapped in thick wool blankets, shivering violently.
"R-Ryeong..." Ma Goo stuttered as Jin Ryeong approached. "I... I c-can't stop sh-shaking."
Jin Ryeong sat on the stool next to the bed. He checked Ma Goo's pulse. It was erratic. The Fire Ant Oil was fading, but the damage to the nervous system was done. Ma Goo's hands were twitching uncontrollably, knocking against the bed frame. Tap-tap-tap.
"You won," Jin Ryeong said simply. "You are in the Finals."
"I... I d-don't care!" Ma Goo hissed, his teeth chattering. "Look at me! I'm a mess! The d-doctors said I have 'Meridian Shock'. They said I shouldn't fight tomorrow."
"But you will," Jin Ryeong said, taking a chunk of Pill Slag from his pocket. "Eat this."
Ma Goo looked at the black lump. "What is t-that? Coal?"
"Medicine from Elder Baek," Jin Ryeong lied. "It will warm you up."
Ma Goo opened his mouth obediently. He was too broken to argue. Jin Ryeong popped the slag into the brute's mouth.
The toxins in the slag were bad for cultivation, but the raw, chaotic energy was hot. As Ma Goo swallowed, the heat spread through his chest, combating the lingering frost Qi from Yeo's palm. The shivering subsided slightly.
"Better?" Jin Ryeong asked.
"A l-little," Ma Goo breathed, sinking back into the pillows. "Who... who is the Final opponent?"
Jin Ryeong's face darkened. He had checked the bracket on the way over. "Jian."
Ma Goo's eyes widened in genuine horror. "The Sword Freak? No. No, no, no."
Jian. The prodigy of the Outer Sect. He didn't use flashy elemental arts like Yeo. He didn't rely on brute strength like Ma Goo. He used a sword. A real, steel sword. In the Outer Sect tournaments, wooden weapons were standard. But Jian had special permission to use live steel because he "couldn't control his aura" with wood. He had crippled every opponent he faced. He didn't kill them; he severed their tendons.
"He will cut me," Ma Goo whispered, gripping Jin Ryeong's sleeve. "Speed doesn't matter against him. He has Sword Intent. He can cut the air. If I get close... I lose a limb."
Jin Ryeong pulled his arm away. Ma Goo was right. Agility was useless against an Area of Effect attack. If Jian swiped his sword and projected his Qi, Ma Goo would be sliced open before he could land a punch.
"We need armor," Jin Ryeong mused.
"Armor isn't allowed!" Ma Goo cried. "Only robes!"
"I know," Jin Ryeong stood up. He felt the weight of the Ape Heart in his sash. "I wasn't talking about wearing armor, Senior Brother."
He looked at Ma Goo's trembling, twitching body. The vessel was cracking. It couldn't take much more modification. If Jin Ryeong tried to graft the Ape Heart into Ma Goo, the rejection would kill him instantly.
But... there was another way. The [Anesthetic Touch] allowed him to numb pain. The Needles allowed him to redirect blood flow.
"Jian cuts tendons," Jin Ryeong murmured, his eyes losing focus as he entered a trance of calculation. "He aims for the wrists and ankles. The weak points."
"So?" Ma Goo asked.
"So," Jin Ryeong looked down at Ma Goo. "What if we moved them?"
Ma Goo blinked. "Moved... what?"
"Your tendons," Jin Ryeong said, as casually as discussing the weather. "If I rearrange the attachment points of your muscles... I can hide the tendons behind the bone. It will limit your range of motion—you won't be able to straighten your arms fully—but if he slashes your wrist, he'll hit bone, not the lifeline."
Ma Goo stared at him. The horror in his eyes was absolute. "You want to... surgically alter my anatomy? Overnight? In a hospital bed?"
"I have Elder Baek's token," Jin Ryeong showed the black skull. "No one will disturb us. And I have anesthetics now. You won't feel a thing."
"You're crazy," Ma Goo whispered. "You're a monster."
"I am a businessman," Jin Ryeong corrected. "And you are my investment. I won't let a Sword Freak depreciate my asset."
Jin Ryeong placed his hand on Ma Goo's forehead.
[Skill Activated: Anesthetic Touch.]
"Sleep now, Senior Brother. When you wake up... you will be a tank."
Ma Goo's eyes rolled back. The tension left his body. Jin Ryeong pulled out the bent needles and the scalpel he had stolen.
He looked at the moon outside the window. The Finals were tomorrow at noon. He had twelve hours to redesign a human being.