C5 There Are Different Levels of Contempt

"Let's head down to the clinic first," Hu Yang said through clenched teeth.

"You're injured? No way, Zhao Hu didn't even land a punch on you!"

"Take a look at my hand..."

Hu Yang's pain was so intense he couldn't continue. His fingers had swollen up like steamed buns, and it was unclear whether any bones were broken.

Wan stared at his alarmingly swollen hand, seemingly unable to grasp the situation.

Moments before, he had seemed invincible, but now he appeared frail, barely able to stand against a breeze. Hu Yang's steps were even unsteady.

The effects of the Little Demon Spirit Fruit were wearing off, draining the vitality from his body and leaving him utterly exhausted. Wan, however, was oblivious to this.

At the clinic, the young female doctor couldn't confirm whether Hu Yang's finger bones were broken due to the lack of equipment, but she was certain there was no dislocation.

"Look at you, so skinny you could be knocked over by the wind, and still picking fights. Do you have a death wish?" the female doctor chided while bandaging Hu Yang.

"You'd never guess, but my brother Yang here won the fight!" Wan boasted proudly.

"Did you pick on an elementary kid?" the doctor asked, her gaze dripping with scorn.

Wan froze, realizing the doctor had mistaken her for a young student too.

Just then, the numbers in the system began to climb: +50 Disdain from Zhang Ling!

A roadside clinic doctor was contributing more points than Zhao Hu!

Curious, Hu Yang inquired, "Dr. Zhang, you don't normally work here, do you?"

"How did you know my last name is Zhang?" The doctor was taken aback, then self-deprecatingly added, "Did my mom tell you? I'm usually at the city hospital. I'm just covering for my mom tonight because she had an emergency."

She was a doctor from a major hospital!

A realization dawned on Hu Yang. Perhaps the system in his mind categorized people by status. Street thugs like Chi Bo were probably deemed the lowest by the system, making their disdain the least valuable.

Every time Lin Xin's sharp-tongued mother scorned him, she inadvertently contributed over 100 points to his tally.

She clearly wasn't just any ordinary housewife; there had to be something more to her background.

If that were true, to quickly rack up more points in the future, he might need to start rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty.

At that moment, the tally in his cerebral system had surged past 800. Hu Yang instinctively accessed the Heavenly Demon Temple, where the "Body Transformation Spirit Fruit" icon was pulsating eagerly, as if it couldn't wait for him to make the purchase. With a mere thought, a dark red pill, the size of a pigeon's egg, tumbled into his Devil Storage.

The points plummeted to 136.

A twinge of regret hit Hu Yang; it felt like a vast fortune had vanished in an instant.

Back home, Wan eagerly tugged at Hu Yang, pleading for a pill that could swiftly boost her strength.

Hu Yang wavered. The last Little Demon Spirit Fruit had come from a spin of the roulette, and it had taken four tries to get just that one.

Now, with a mere 136 points left, he could afford only one more spin.

It was worth a shot.

Internally, Hu Yang commanded the roulette to stop, and out flew a black card, thin yet seemingly metallic, with six golden characters embossed on it: "Ancient World Demon Card."

What could it mean? Literally speaking, would an ancient person emerge from the system?

Ding! The system chimed: "The Demon Card has unlimited uses!"

Unlimited uses? That could mean a windfall!

A wave of elation swept over Hu Yang.

"Would you like to extract it?" the system prompted with a new line of text.

"Extract!" he responded.

I spent 100 points to win it; of course, I'm going to extract it!

"Would you like to use it?" came the immediate system prompt.

"Use it!" Hu Yang replied, his excitement palpable as he nodded vigorously.

But then, the system threw a curveball: "Insufficient balance. You need 100 points to use this feature!"

Seriously? It was trying to swindle my points again!

Despite his annoyance, Hu Yang's curiosity was piqued. What exactly would unfold once he activated this Demon Card that only required 100 points to use?

Hu Yang was down to fewer than 100 points, leaving him with nothing to do but fret. To his surprise, Wan was even more frantic than he was.

"Come on, Hu Yang, don't be such a miser. Give me that mysterious fruit already! I know you have it; you can't fool me!" Wan pleaded, twisting his arm and shooting him a look of betrayal.

Reluctantly, Hu Yang produced the Rebirth Spirit Pill, explaining that it was all he had left and admitting he hadn't tried it himself. He wasn't sure if consuming it might turn someone into a monster.

"If you're not going to share, at least come up with a believable excuse, something that could fool a middle schooler!"

Wan shot him a scornful look, snatched the spirit fruit, and gobbled it down in one bite.

Wan's scorn just went up a notch, +8!

"You insisted on eating this, so if anything goes wrong, don't blame me!"

Hu Yang's anxiety grew. The Rebirth Spirit Pill had no off-putting odor; in fact, it was quite fragrant. Still, the uncertainty of what could happen after eating an unfamiliar substance lingered.

"If you're fine after eating it, why wouldn't I be?"

Wan seemed unconcerned, clenching her fists and scanning the area like a little bandit.

"What are you looking for?" Hu Yang inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"I need to find a target to test my new strength," Wan replied, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

Hu Yang paused before cautioning her, "This spirit pill isn't the same as the one I took earlier."

"What's the difference?" Wan paused, then suddenly doubled over and dashed for the bathroom, clutching her stomach. "I... I think I'm going to have diarrhea..."

Something was happening!

The bathroom quickly filled with an unbearable stench...

Could it be a mishap?

A sense of unease washed over Hu Yang. He glanced instinctively at the cerebral system in his mind when a string of small letters emerged from the Devil Storage.

He scrutinized the text and discovered it was the usage instructions for the Rebirth Spirit Pill: To be effective, a second pill must be taken within two days!

And if only one pill was taken?

The instructions were silent on that.

Hu Yang's unease persisted, but he tried to reassure himself. If two pills could induce a complete rebirth, maybe one pill could at least get the process halfway there.

Halfway through?

It's not like shedding skin like a snake, is it?

Hu Yang was startled. He needed to quickly find someone to scorn him; that was the only way to gather enough points to buy another pill.

As he came to, something felt off. His attention quickly shifted to the four gray boxes inside the Heavenly Demon Temple. On the box from which the spirit pill had been sold, there were words and numbers!

It read: Rebirth Spirit Pill, 6,800.

6,800!

Hu Yang nearly leaped out of his skin. That was an incredibly high number!

Typically, the disdain from an average person would net him a mere ten to twenty points. How on earth could he amass such a vast sum in just two days?

Was he really going to be pushed to the point of visiting Lin Xin's home to willingly subject himself to her mother's contempt?