"Twenty-one Alm points," Apollo muttered, looking at his Alm points. In his hands were the bronze coins that had rolled to his side, thanks to the Wish Me Luck item.
After playing with the coins for a while, he assessed his own body.
"It will probably take a few days to heal the wounds with my current physical capabilities," Apollo mumbled. He considered whether to buy a health potion but decided against it.
His wounds would heal, and waiting for just a couple of days wouldn't hurt, right?
With this in mind, he left his beggar spot and looked around to make sure no one was watching before he ran to the nearest alley.
His clothes were torn, and Apollo wanted to find some replacements in the trash. Although there were clothes in the system store with great features that could even save his life, he felt that buying items that could protect or hide him in his beggar spot was more worthwhile at the moment.
The Beggar Spot was going to be one of his foundations, especially when the System seemed to place great importance on it.
"I still need sixty more Alm points to buy that item," Apollo recalled the item he was saving up for while rummaging through the trash in the alley.
Dilemma of the Passerby. It sounded cool, and it was the cheapest of the items for his Beggar Spot.
After a while, Apollo took out some oversized clothes and robes. Using a metal plate he found on the ground, he made them fit him.
"Good enough," Apollo nodded to himself. Then he carefully went back to his beggar spot. It was already past midnight, and the Filly Restaurant was closed at this time.
Time to cultivate again! Apollo closed his eyes and followed the pattern of the Simple Breathing Technique.
He had just come back from a fight, and although his body wanted some rest, Apollo decided to take this chance to further progress his breathing technique.
The system store had almost everything one could think of. There were all kinds of items that could make anyone a strong cultivator instantly without any struggle, but the prices were so high that even Apollo gave up on buying them.
He wasn't talking about hundreds or just thousands of Alm Points. The minimum for such items was hundreds of thousands!
Apollo sighed as the qi around him started to get absorbed. With every inhale, qi entered his mouth and nose.
It reconstructed everything as it entered, strengthening every cell. This also made his mind at peace, causing him to lose track of time.
The fight with the thin man, Bernie, made him want to get stronger as fast as possible. Fighting that guy was already tough. What if the time came when he had to finish the mission and fight the man in the robe who had thrown him in the alley? That man in the robe was definitely stronger than Bernie! There was no way his father, who had sacrificed himself so Apollo could live, would let a weak man protect Apollo, right?
After his mind wandered for a bit, he relished the pleasure of getting stronger.
...
As the sun rose on the horizon, the morning people went about their routines. Slowly, the streets of Klown City filled with its citizens.
The northwest part of the city was where some of the wealthy and affluent families resided. They had their own plots of land and greenery that made those who saw the place marvel. But there was one place where they would only feel empathy and pity.
A carriage with a serpent insignia on its side made its way outside a grand mansion. The scenery of trees and grass passed by its windows.
The driver of the carriage glanced back at the mansion. The mansion was burned, and there was a big gap in the rooftop. The mansion had basically crumbled to the ground, with only its foundation remaining, though they were black from being exposed to intense fire.
The garden beside it is nothing but a pit of holes, a scene of utter destruction.
The once powerful Leone family is gone, June thought. The Leones were one of the city's wealthiest families, with businesses that spanned the entire city and even reached neighboring areas.
Of course, their success made their competitors envious.
"Those greedy bastards!" Bel shouted inside the carriage. She was looking out at the scenery with a frown, biting her nail in frustration. "Can't they just wait and confirm everything before they make a move?"
"There's nothing we can do about it," June sighed, feeling the same frustration.
"If I were at Qi Condensation, they would never treat me like a child!" Bel clenched her fist.
They had just come back from a meeting with the other families about what to do with the Leone's businesses. The meeting place was the Leone mansion, and when Bel heard about this, she couldn't help but smile bitterly. They were basically rubbing salt in the wound.
The meeting was about dividing up the remaining Leone businesses. Those businesses were likely to fail soon, so the other families wanted to merge with them as quickly as possible. Bel agreed with this idea in general, but when she found out there was still a chance that a Leone heir might be alive, she protested. She wanted to confirm whether an heir existed first. If there was one, she wouldn't participate in their plans and would even try to dissuade them.
Bel had no interest in business; she just wanted to participate in case there was a hidden master in any of the Leone's businesses. She loved fighting, and this was supposed to be a great experience for her. But if there was still an heir, then interfering would be wrong. It was different if the business didn't have a leader. In fact, it was actually good that others wanted to take it over so the workers could keep their jobs.
But if someone was still going to lead the Leone workers, they had no right to meddle in their business.
"They don't care whether a Leone is still alive," June said. "At the end of the day, there's going to be only one Leone."
Bel sighed after hearing this. "Where did they even get this news?"
"Who knows," June shrugged. "So what are we going to do now?"
"Hmm…" Bel put a hand under her chin. "Why don't we find the lost Leone? We can also confirm if the news is true."
"But your studies… your parents wouldn't like it if they found out you were neglecting your cultivation," June reminded her.
"Don't worry about it!" Bel smiled proudly, her eyes never leaving the scenery. "I'm only a breath away from becoming a Half-Step Qi Condensation Cultivator."
"I see," June said before he went quiet.