Chapter 15

Song Li hastily stopped the flow of medicinal energy. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead like raindrops, and he felt as if red-hot irons had been inserted into his meridians. The searing pain from his bones made his soul tremble. In such pain, most people might have given up, but Song Li, who had lived two lives, knew the importance of strength. In any time and space, only a powerful man could control his own destiny. In the previous Earth, power and wealth were revered, and in this world, it was one's cultivation strength. Therefore, he forcibly suppressed the urge to give up, using great determination and resilience to grit his teeth and persist.

He endured the burning pain, silently recited the incantation, and slowly diverted the scorching energy flowing into his meridians, bit by bit, into the side channels. This gentle method indeed produced results. Not only was the energy in the meridians gradually digested, but it also slowly seeped into other meridians, generating true qi in the process. The pain gradually subsided, and eventually, the initially scorching energy turned into a warm current, making Song Li feel as if he were soaking in warm water, feeling lazy and comfortable.

It seems to be really effective! This realization made Song Li ecstatic, but he forcibly suppressed his joy. During cultivation, the most taboo thing was emotional fluctuations. A slight mistake could lead to a mental breakdown. So, Song Li adjusted his breathing, gradually stabilizing his emotions while continuing to digest the energy drawn from the flame, gradually transforming it into true qi, and then storing it in the dantian along a fixed route.

The method of controlling fire and converting flame energy into true qi came from the legacy of the Fire God Zhu Rong, named "Red Emperor Purple Flame Technique." This cultivation technique was immensely powerful, and Song Li's initial trial produced immediate results.

After an unknown amount of time, Song Li finally digested all the energy, converting it into true qi and storing it in the dantian. As the true qi in the dantian increased, Song Li felt a surging power throughout his body. With this surging power, he felt his strength growing, quickly breaking through the peak of the sixth level of Body Tempering to reach the seventh level.

After advancing one level, the surging power continued. Song Li, of course, would not miss such a good opportunity. He guided the energy to continue breaking through, advancing from the seventh level of Body Tempering to the eighth level, and then to the ninth level. The energy did not stop there, continuing to push to the next level. With a burst of energy, Song Li guided it to break through to the peak of the ninth level of Body Tempering, where the energy was finally completely exhausted!

Wow, just absorbing a small stream of energy from the flame, he instantly advanced three levels. Song Li clearly felt that although the flame was small, the fire energy it contained seemed boundless. If he cultivated like this every day, his future achievements would far exceed everyone's imagination!

However, Song Li clearly felt that because all the medicinal energy stored in his body had been drawn by the flame energy to help him recover from his injuries, transform his body, and break through his cultivation, his body's reserves were completely depleted. This time, even with such powerful energy assistance, he only advanced three levels. He believed that if the small flame absorbed the medicinal energy of higher-grade pills, the released energy would be even more terrifying, and he might have already advanced to the Qi Drawing stage.

It seems I need to solve the problem of medicinal pills as soon as possible. Now, it's like I have a world-class sports car, but without fuel, it's useless.

This cultivation session was not short. Song Li ended the technique, stood up, and paced around the room, pondering the path ahead. At this moment, Pang Da's sharp voice came from a distance: "Boss, Boss, are you home? I'm here."

The corners of Song Li's mouth curled up, and he couldn't help but smile. Pang Da was truly a treasure, always leading with his loud voice, making his presence known before he was seen.

He opened the door, and the sunlight immediately streamed in. Song Li was taken aback. He remembered it was night when he entered the cultivation room, but now the sun was shining brightly, and a day had passed. How could it feel like such a short time? Truly, cultivation makes one oblivious to the passage of time.

Pang Da had already entered the courtyard. When Song Li opened the door, he saw the boy, who looked like a starving beggar who had just seen a succulent roasted chicken. His face was full of excitement and enthusiasm as he rushed to Song Li's side, grabbed his arm, and opened his eyes wide, exclaiming: "Boss, I heard your family made a big splash in the Golden Hall yesterday. My father came back from the Golden Hall and told us about the situation. I was so excited, I wished I had been there to cheer you on. At the age of thirteen, you could strategize in the Golden Hall, defeat enemies from a thousand miles away, knock down a group of ministers with one punch, and kick three princes with a 360-degree spin kick. The most important thing is that your parents are the most powerful in the world. I heard the Duke of the County punched Duke Levi and kicked the Captain of the Nine Gates, causing chaos in the capital, and was eventually released without any charges, striding back to the County Duke's mansion. The Duchess of the County was even more impressive, scaring the ministers into fleeing and leaving the princes helpless. She is truly the top heroine of our dynasty... My admiration for your family is like the water of the Kang River, continuous and unending, and like the flooding of the Holy River, unstoppable..."

Song Li wiped his face, dissatisfied, and said, "You're good at flattery, but can you stop spitting on me?"

Pang Da carelessly wiped his chin, flicking off a glob of saliva, and grinned, staring at Song Li for a few moments. Then he naively counted on his fingers, looking up at the sky, muttering to himself.

"Is this kid crazy? Why is he acting so weird?" Song Li waved his hand in front of Pang Da's face, trying to snap him out of his trance.

"You're the one who's crazy," Pang Da rolled his eyes, continued counting on his fingers, and said happily, "I'm counting money, the money I'll have in the future to marry many wives."

"Money? Where do you get the money?"

"I don't have it, but you do."

"Me?" Song Li pointed to himself, puzzled.

"Yes," Pang Da nodded vigorously, affirming, "Boss, you've recovered your cultivation talent and gained fame in one battle. You will become even more powerful in the future. You are the leader of the Righteous Alliance, and when the leader is powerful, the Righteous Alliance will also be powerful. When the time comes, will there be a lack of money? With money and power, the world will be at your feet. You can buy whatever you want, cut down whoever you want, and have as many beautiful women as you want. Such a life will be so glorious!"

Seeing Pang Da's intoxicated expression, as if he already had such a life, Song Li felt both amused and exasperated. It seemed that the tendency to indulge in fantasies existed in any time and space, and Pang Da was a typical master of indulgence, pre-empting the climax before the action even began.

However, Pang Da's words made him fall into deep thought. Although this world revered cultivation strength, money was still essential. At the very least, with money, he could buy enough medicinal herbs to refine pills that would accelerate his cultivation, thereby enhancing his strength. In any time and space, only the powerful could do as they pleased and become the ones who set the rules, while others could only follow them.

He recalled the conversation with his parents today. His father said he didn't expect such a big incident to end without any trouble, thanks to their quick thinking. His mother said, "Don't be naive. If it weren't for my father, the Grand Alchemist, those people would have found a way to deal with the compensation. I said the non-existent supreme holy pill was left by my father to remind them that we have a background. The strength of a Grand Alchemist is not something they can provoke. They fled so quickly and abandoned the charges against you, and the Holy Emperor did not pursue your crimes. The fundamental reason is this."

Song Li felt that his mother's words were very reasonable. The princes and ministers in the Golden Hall, which of them was not a shrewd person? If it weren't for his mother's background as a Grand Alchemist, would they have retreated just because of his baseless claims and extortion of money? With their cunning and malice, they would have found a way to deal with it. Imagine if it were ordinary commoners in the Golden Hall; would they have the capital to extort ministers? They would likely face certain death no matter what they said.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary student, a small figure among the masses, living like an ant, trampled by others. In this life, he had received the imperial fire legacy from Zhu Rong and possessed the "Red Emperor Purple Flame Technique," which could manipulate the forces of nature. His ambition began to expand infinitely, and becoming the ultimate supreme of this continent was his goal.

To achieve this goal, he must gradually become stronger. To become stronger, he must learn to make money. Without money, there would be no rare treasures, and without rare treasures, there would be no high-grade pills. Without pills, the imperial fire seed would have no fuel, and without fuel, it could not release energy, making his cultivation difficult. The principle was that simple.

The immediate priority was to make money.

However, he was still a sixteen-year-old boy with no business experience from his previous life. Making money sounded easy, but he had no idea where to start. Song Li thought for a moment and decided to ask Pang Da, who always had many ideas, for his opinion. He said, "It's good to have money to spend, but we need to find a way to make it. Do you have any good ideas?"

Pang Da looked up at the sky, rolling his eyes continuously. Song Li knew this was his unique expression when thinking. He secretly laughed, thinking how lazy the guy was, even when thinking. Compare him to the clever Ichi, who could draw circles on his head to come up with good ideas, while Pang Da could only roll his eyes.

After thinking for a long time, Pang Da's eyes suddenly lit up and said, "Why don't we rob and extort those rich brats..." He immediately felt it was inappropriate, shook his head, and muttered to himself, "No, no, we are the 'Righteous Alliance.' How can we do such low-quality things?"

Song Li flicked him on the forehead and said, "Who told you the Righteous Alliance can't rob and extort? Do you know what 'robbing the rich to help the poor' means?"

Song Li thought of the martial arts novels he read in his previous life, where the heroes had the habit of "robbing the rich to help the poor." Otherwise, how could they have so much silver to spend? In his view, "robbing the rich" was not considered robbery, just as Kong Yiji said that a gentleman stealing books was not stealing. Robbing the rich was not only not shameful but also gratifying, making the heroes' light shine even brighter.

The term "robbing the rich to help the poor" was clearly not widespread on this continent, and Pang Da had never heard of it. So, he blinked and asked, "What is 'robbing the rich to help the poor'?"