Chapter 31

Yun Lin naturally gave her full support to her son's efforts to recondense the failed pills and turn waste into treasure. Not only did this allow him to experience the various changes in the flames and master the ability to control fire more skillfully, but it also saved the pills she had failed to refine. This way, she could be more daring in her future pill refining, and even if she failed, it wouldn't matter; she could just hand the failed pills to her son, who could turn waste into treasure.

After refining the failed Threefold Reversion Pill, Song Li ate some of it. With the activation of the medicinal power, the Seed of Imperial Fire once again released energy, aiding his cultivation. Absorbing the energy released by the Seed of Imperial Fire, Song Li's realm improved, leaping from the peak of the ninth layer of the Body Tempering stage to the peak of the tenth layer!

After that, he ate quite a few more "Threefold Reversion Pills," but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break through his realm anymore!

Both his father, Song Xinghai, and his mother, Yun Lin, comforted him, telling him not to rush. The transition from the Body Tempering stage to the Qi Induction stage was the first and most important threshold in the long journey of cultivation. Crossing this threshold meant truly stepping onto the path of cultivation. Although reaching the Qi Induction stage didn't guarantee one's eventual ascension to immortality, it was at least the most critical step. At least seventy percent of cultivators failed at this stage and spent their entire lives as ordinary people.

A young man like Song Li, who reached the peak of Body Tempering at the age of sixteen, was considered quite exceptional even in the capital. If he could break through to the Qi Induction stage at such a young age, it would be an unprecedented feat in Saint Lion City. Prince Jing's eldest son, Song Mo Fei, was already considered one of the most talented cultivators in the capital, but he only reached the Qi Induction stage at the age of eighteen. However, the leap from the Body Tempering stage to the Qi Induction stage was extremely difficult, requiring the right timing, location, and people. Sometimes, it was just a matter of opportunity. Despite his repeated efforts, Song Li failed to break through, but he gradually calmed down, knowing that cultivation was something that couldn't be rushed. Perhaps one day, the opportunity would appear before him, allowing him to break through this initial major hurdle!

Since he couldn't break through for the time being, Song Li slowly refined the true qi in his dantian, making it more pure. The more full and pure the true qi stored in the dantian, the greater the chances of success when breaking through. Every small improvement was a quantitative change, and when accumulated to a certain extent, it could lead to a qualitative change!

While refining his true qi, Song Li devoted more energy to studying alchemy.

He had already started refining the simplest pills according to the pill formula. This process was entirely different from recondensing failed pills. When refining failed pills, he only needed to control the flames, but refining pills on his own required a combination of understanding the properties of the herbs, mental perception, and flame control. This was a more challenging task. Sometimes, knowing something in theory and putting it into practice were two different things. For a beginner like Song Li, starting to refine pills independently, it was inevitable to be a bit flustered and even make occasional memory errors.

Refining pills was an extremely precise task. Even a tiny mistake in one step could lead to a significant error in the final result. If it were a regular alchemist, such mistakes might ruin an entire batch of pills, but Song Li could always compensate for other mistakes with his superior flame control ability, eventually succeeding in refining the pills. Although the quality of the pills might be affected by various mistakes, they were still much better than failed pills.

As Song Li practiced more, his experience increased, and the number of mistakes decreased, while the quality of the pills improved. Yun Lin could almost sense her son's progress every day, and her mood was as sweet as honey.

Pang Da, that rascal, seemed to have disappeared for a while, probably because he had a lot of gold coins in his pocket. While Song Li was buried in his alchemy studies, Pang Da was out recruiting followers, gathering a group of subordinates who spent their days shouting and causing trouble in the capital, "upholding justice" and getting into conflicts with some of the more despicable young masters. He even won a few times. Although their leader, Song Li, was in seclusion, the name of the "Justice Alliance" was more prominent than ever.

One day, Song Li had just finished refining a batch of pills. After some practice, he rarely made beginner mistakes anymore. The process of refining this batch of pills was flawless, with no steps going wrong, so the quality of the pills was excellent. Song Li was overjoyed, extinguished the flames, and took out the pills, placing them in ceramic bottles, labeling them, and filling out the descriptions of their properties.

His mother wasn't in the alchemy room today, apparently accompanying his father to relax. But Song Li didn't skip any steps just because his mother wasn't there, recording the entire process for her to review later.

Just as he was about to go out, he heard Pang Da's sharp voice in the courtyard: "Boss, where have you been? I got beaten up!"

Song Li opened the door to the alchemy room and saw Pang Da standing in the courtyard, craning his neck and looking around, probably searching for him.

"Hey, you're out of money, so you remembered to come find me, huh?" Song Li walked over with his hands in his sleeves, a smile playing on his face.

"Boss!" Pang Da turned around, startling Song Li. His forehead was badly bruised, his left eye swollen, his nose and mouth red and swollen, and his mouth was bleeding. His hair was disheveled, and he looked like a ghost.

"Who are you? I don't know you!" Song Li instinctively took a step back.

"Boss, it's me, Pang Da. Don't you recognize me?" Pang Da pouted, on the verge of tears.

"Really? You're Pang Da?" Song Li pretended to be surprised: "Young Master Pang, did you get plastic surgery from some quack? How did it get worse?"

"Boss, don't make fun of me." Pang Da said with a sad face: "Do you think I wouldn't recognize you just because I have money? You misunderstood me. I actually came to find you a few times, but the princess told me you were learning alchemy from her and asked if I had any urgent matters. I thought you were learning alchemy, which is a very progressive thing, so I didn't want to disturb you."

Song Li coughed a few times, realizing he had indeed wronged this little brother. His loyalty had been tested many times and was beyond doubt.

"Who beat you up?" With his anger subsiding, Song Li naturally cared about Pang Da's injuries. He was very protective of his subordinates. Regardless of whether Pang Da was at fault, everyone in the capital knew he was Song Li's man. Beating Pang Da was like slapping Song Li in the face, and Song Li wouldn't let it go, no matter who it was.

"It was Huang Fei Hu, the son of the Chief Cabinet Minister Huang Tingxuan, and a few other young masters. A few days ago, two of them were harassing a civilian woman on the street and were beaten up by our Justice Alliance. I ordered my men to take action. Today, those two bastards gathered a group of people to corner me. I had fewer men, and Huang Fei Hu is very skilled, so we were at a disadvantage." Pang Da reported the situation and also told Song Li about the recent developments of the "Justice Alliance."

Song Li didn't comment on Pang Da's recruitment of followers. This guy was naturally a troublemaker who loved to show off. If he had money and didn't act tough, he wouldn't be Pang Da. However, Pang Da still adhered to the Justice Alliance's principle of fighting against the young masters, which made Song Li quite pleased. He knew about Huang Fei Hu. His father was the Chief Cabinet Minister Huang Tingxuan, a political ally of the Loyal Prince, so Huang Fei Hu naturally belonged to the camp of the three princes' eldest sons.

Even if your father is someone important, I won't let you off for beating my man!

Song Li waved his hand, bringing Pang Da to his cultivation room and having him sit cross-legged on a cushion. Huang Fei Hu had been quite ruthless, not only injuring Pang Da's face but also breaking several of his bones. Fortunately, Pang Da was tough; otherwise, he would have been lying on the ground, unable to move.

Song Li took out a ceramic bottle from the storage cabinet and poured out three "Threefold Reversion Pills." These were prepared for Pang Da, but he hadn't come, so they were only used today.

"Here, take these." Song Li made Pang Da open his mouth and put the few dragon-eye-sized, slightly red pills into his mouth. Pang Da swallowed them with a gulp.

"Boss, what are these? Healing pills?" Pang Da was a bit curious.

"Uh... These are low-grade Threefold Reversion Pills. They can not only heal your injuries but also stimulate your potential. If you're lucky, you might break through your realm like I did." Song Li said casually.

"Really?" Song Li spoke lightly because he didn't think the "Threefold Reversion Pills" were that precious. His mother had a lot of failed pills, which he had recondensed into good pills, and he had several bottles in the cabinet. The saying "rarity makes things valuable" also means that when things are abundant, they lose their value. For Song Li, giving a few Threefold Reversion Pills to his top confidant was no big deal, but to Pang Da, it was a tremendous blessing.

So Pang Da was immediately stunned, taking a long time to recover.

"Boss, you are my savior. Your great kindness, I don't know how to repay except to offer my life!" Once he recovered, Pang Da immediately started wailing. Damn, these were low-grade spirit pills, capable of reviving the dead and healing the injured, even transforming one's body and soul!

Boss was a living example. He used to be a cultivation failure, but after taking the pills, he became incredibly powerful, even beating Song Mo Ran. Thinking that he might also become such a powerful expert, Pang Da was so excited that he wanted to kneel and kiss Song Li's toes.

"Spit, spit, I'm not interested in men. Save your body for some beautiful woman in the future." Song Li was both amused and exasperated, saying: "Don't talk now. These three pills will be digested soon. Focus on guiding the medicinal power to heal your injuries and also to smooth your meridians. It might be useful for you."

Pang Da nodded excitedly, then closed his eyes and began to use the family's secret techniques to guide the qi.