Chapter 89

Song Li returned home, just placing a pile of materials he had bought on the table when his mother, Yun Lin, burst into his room.

"Brat, where have you been wandering around? You didn't come home all day... Hey, why do you smell so much like alcohol? Damn, did you drink?" Yun Lin immediately became furious. How could this little thing learn to drink at such a young age? If he doesn't get a good scolding, what will become of him?

"Mom, you're cursing!" Song Li, seeing his mother about to pounce on him, quickly slipped behind the table and didn't forget to counterattack.

"Not only am I cursing, but I'm also going to beat you!" Yun Lin pointed at him viciously and scolded, "At such a young age, you're already learning bad things. I'll beat you to death!"

"Mom, look at this." Song Li picked up a piece of thousand-year-old agarwood and waved it in front of Yun Lin. In the long-term "struggle" with his mother, Song Li had accumulated rich experience in dealing with enemies and knew how to hit her weak spot.

"What the hell is this... It's so ugly and black. I'm telling you, don't try to distract me... Hey..." Yun Lin suddenly realized something, her eyes widening, and she stammered, "This... It can't be a piece of thousand-year-old agarwood, can it?"

Just as Song Li had expected, whenever anything related to alchemy appeared, his mother would forget everything else. This move was called "treating the symptoms, a great shift of the universe."

Song Li snapped his fingers and laughed, "It's indeed a piece of thousand-year-old agarwood."

Yun Lin snatched the piece of wood, examined it from all angles, and then ran to the alchemy room to roast it with fire. When she returned to Song Li's room, her look at her son had changed.

"Such a precious thing, where did you get it from?" Yun Lin's voice started to tremble.

Song Li pushed a pile of thousand-year-old agarwood to Yun Lin and said with a smile, "I bought wood at the market today, and the vendor gave this as a bonus. Buy one, get one free, and I didn't spend a penny. What do you think, isn't your son very capable?"

Yun Lin's eyes widened, pointing at the sandalwood and green sandalwood on the table, and exclaimed, "Don't tell me the vendor gave you this thousand-year-old agarwood as a bonus for those two types of wood?"

"I don't want to say it, but it's the truth." Song Li also found this matter too absurd. It's like buying a QQ car and the boss giving you a Ferrari as a bonus. But today he had encountered such a situation. Of course, the condition was that the unfortunate vendor didn't know he was giving away a "Ferrari" and thought it was just a broken bicycle.

Yun Lin's mouth formed an 'O' shape, and she stared at Song Li for a long time. She had never seen what a thousand-year-old agarwood looked like. This type of wood was extremely rare, and even with his father's abilities as a Saint Alchemist, he had only found one piece. But this brat, Song Li, casually went to the market and someone gave him a pile for free. If Song Li wasn't her biological son, she would really want to dissect him to see what he was made of, how could his luck be so good?

For alchemists, thousand-year-old agarwood was a dream fuel. It contained extremely abundant energy, with efficient and long-lasting flames, almost no waste. However, this item was so rare that Yun Lin had only heard of it but never seen it. Today, thanks to her son, she finally saw the real thing.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha..." Yun Lin, regaining her senses, laughed until tears almost came out. No matter what, they had made a huge profit, right? In fact, it wasn't the vendor's fault for being a wimp; it was just that thousand-year-old agarwood was too rare. If it weren't for Song Li's mother, who had a deep family background in alchemy, guiding him, he wouldn't have recognized this ugly thing as a treasure. As the saying goes, expertise has its own domain, and this is what it means.

Yun Lin was happy not only because her son had made a huge profit but also because she finally had the best fuel for alchemy, which meant a higher success rate and better quality. For alchemists, this was a dream come true.

"Mom, take a look at the herbs I bought today." Song Li proudly laid out the herbs he had bought on the table and listed their prices.

Yun Lin's mouth remained open. The herbs her son bought, whether in terms of age or efficacy, were top-notch. The most commendable thing was that he bought them at a very low price, much cheaper than what she bought at the auction house. This wasn't because Yun Lin's ability to appraise herbs was inferior to Song Li's; it was more a matter of awareness and habit. Yun Lin, being from a family of alchemists, was used to living a luxurious life and spending money freely. She was accustomed to buying from large-scale places and didn't care much about the price. Alchemists were the most money-burning but also the most profitable profession on this continent. Would she ever lack money?

Song Li was different. Although he was currently very wealthy, possibly even more so than his mother, he still retained some of his previous life's consumption habits, enjoying the thrill of finding good deals and buying high-quality, low-priced items.

Although Yun Lin didn't like to haggle at the market, it was a matter of habit, not that she liked to waste money.

Song Li was already a senior alchemist, and all alchemists were very wealthy. Selling a few low-grade earth-level pills at the auction house could earn a large amount of gold coins. Yun Lin herself was also vague about money; she didn't know how much she had. She would buy what she needed and sell some pills when her pockets were empty. Since she didn't care much about money, she never asked about her son's financial situation. Song Li had bought so many herbs and materials, which would cost over a million gold coins, but Yun Lin never thought about where the money came from.

Yun Lin didn't know that Song Li had been making and selling fire seeds. Song Li was also prepared to explain the source of the money. If his parents asked, he would say it was from selling the Three-Transcendence Reversion Pills. If his mother checked the accounts, he could report the pills he had given to Pang Da, which were enough to cover the cost.

However, Yun Lin didn't ask about the money. She said with a smile, "Brat, not bad. From now on, the task of buying herbs will be yours. I'm busy and don't have time."

Actually, she wasn't as good at buying as her son, but she couldn't admit it due to her motherly pride.

Song Li shrugged indifferently and said with a smile, "It's a small matter. I'll take care of it from now on."

Yun Lin leaned in and kissed her son's cheek, then rubbed his face into a ball, saying with a smile, "Oh, oh, who is this son? How can he be so cute? I really love you."

"Hey." Song Li escaped from his mother's grasp and protested, "I'm already so big, and you're still pinching my face? I could have grown even more handsome, but you've ruined it."

Yun Lin, hands on her hips, retaliated fiercely, "I was the world's most handsome when I gave birth to you. It's your own fault for growing up ugly. Can you blame me?"

The two of them bantered for a while, and then Song Li took out the Snow Mountain Black Mud Stem to show off. Of course, he didn't say that he had led a group of half-grown kids to rob the tribute, only that he had found it at the market. Yun Lin had already recognized her son's ability to find good deals, so her reaction was much better than before. Today, she had been surprised too many times and had developed some immunity.

All the materials were now ready, and Song Li told his mother about his alchemy plan. When Yun Lin heard that her son wanted to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill to help his father break through his realm, she was touched. Her son was becoming more sensible and knew how to repay his parents.

With the Snow Mountain Black Mud Stem as the main ingredient, the Foundation Establishment Pill could achieve its best efficacy. If her son could successfully refine it and in sufficient quantity, the possibility of Song Xinghai breaking through would be very high. After all, he had been at the peak of the Qi Induction stage for a long time and already had the conditions to advance.

"Mom, I need your help this time. I'm going to refine two batches of pills," Song Li invited his mother.

"But, you're refining a mid-grade earth-level pill. I'm not at a high enough level to help you. The Foundation Establishment Pill and the Six Yang Snow Fusion Pill are not easy to refine, and the materials are hard to find, especially the Snow Mountain Black Mud Stem. If we fail this time, it will be hard to find this ingredient again. After all, the Snow Mountain Black Mud Stem grows in the Angzang Great Snow Mountain, which is not in the territory of the Holy Lion Empire. Even if we go there, we might not find it. Is it so easy to find a hundred-year-old herb? For me, this is a trial that must succeed, not fail. The last time you冒险 refined a mid-grade earth-level pill, if I hadn't guided you, it would have definitely failed. This time, it's not an experiment but a must-succeed task. I have no confidence at all."

In fact, Song Li had long wanted to help his mother improve her fire control. If he gradually revealed the fire control techniques from the Scarlet Emperor Purple Flame Technique to her, her fire control ability would surely improve rapidly. In fact, his mother's overall alchemy skills were much higher than his. As long as her fire control improved, her alchemy level would also advance quickly.

However, he couldn't find the right opportunity. If he showed too much abnormality, his mother would definitely suspect him. It would be bad if she forced him to confess. He couldn't tell her that he was from another world and had the fire god Zhurong's imperial fire inheritance, could he? So he had to wait for the right moment to gradually reveal the fire control techniques of the Scarlet Emperor Purple Flame Technique, so his mother wouldn't notice anything strange.

"Mom, I suddenly figured out a few fire control techniques recently. I'll tell you, see if they help you," Song Li said calmly.

"What? You can figure out fire control techniques on your own?" Yun Lin was genuinely surprised. Fire control techniques were one of the deepest mysteries of the universe. Without great wisdom, even following a textbook was extremely difficult. Her son, at such a young age, could figure out fire control techniques on his own? This... This... This is too unbelievable. Is it because the heavens pity him for the many hardships he has endured over the past ten years and are compensating him all at once?