At that moment, Lin Rong's face was beet red, it seemed as if his internal organs had been struck by a heavy blow, slightly displaced by the impact.
With a spurt, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
He looked at his followers, all sprawled on the ground, wailing in agony, and knew he had encountered a tough opponent today.
"Kid, you dare lay a hand on me? Just you wait!" Lin Rong clenched his teeth, his eyes flashing with venom.
He had been bullying his way through several alleys nearby, relying on his brother's reputation, and no one had dared to provoke him. He had never expected to be beaten bloodily by a skinny youngster today, causing him to lose all face.
Now, Lin Rong's only thought was to find his brother quickly. He wanted Chen Yuan to know the consequences of offending him!
Struggling, he got up from the ground and was about to leave.
"Did I say you could go?" Chen Yuan, completely indifferent to the thug's harsh words, spoke calmly.
Thinking back to how Chen Yuan's strike had made him vomit blood, Lin Rong regretted his rash threat and trembled slightly. "What… what do you want to do?"
"Give me all the money you have, then scram!" Chen Yuan had just been worrying about his lack of money and was thinking about finding a job, but now that Lin Rong had practically delivered money to his doorstep, how could he pass up the opportunity?
"Ah, money?" Lin Rong was initially stunned and looked at Chen Yuan warily before taking out his money.
"Is this it? You're really too poor." Chen Yuan looked unsatisfied at the two or three thousand yuan handed over. "And you call yourself a boss? Embarrassing."
Lin Rong suppressed his raging anger and asked in a low voice, "Can I go now?"
"Did I say you could go? Get out of here, and remember, I mean scram!" Chen Yuan's lips curled upward.
"You…" Lin Rong was about to burst into a rage, but recalling Chen Yuan's formidable strength, his courage deflated. He then actually rolled out, filled with an unstoppable sense of humiliation. 'Just you wait! I'll make sure you die a miserable death!'
Wang Zhilin and the landlady, among others, had still not recovered from their shock. Seeing Chen Yuan defeat Lin Rong and his group and then extort money from him, their faces showed a complex range of expressions.
"Brother Chen, thank you so much this time," the old man said gratefully, supported by Wang Zhilin as he rose.
The old man had been doing manual labor for many years and was quite robust, having suffered only minor superficial injuries.
"It's nothing, I'm glad you're okay," Chen Yuan said with a gentle smile.
"Ah, Brother Chen, it's me who has troubled you. That Lin Rong will surely seek revenge…" the old man said worriedly.
Those from the alley who had bullied Chen Yuan before, initially thinking about how to apologize, dismissed the idea upon hearing the old man's words.
Would there be any good outcome for beating Lin Rong?
After all, Lin Rong's brother had significant influence in Qingzhou.
Hearing this, Wang Zhilin suddenly looked anxious, "Grandpa, what should we do then? Should we call the police?"
Chen Yuan smiled reassuringly at the young girl, "No worries, they can't do anything to me."
"But…" Wang Zhilin's lips quivered, her eyes still showing worry.
"It's fine, I've told you, I'm going back to rest now," Chen Yuan said light-heartedly, patting the young girl's head, then swiftly walked back to his house under the slightly bewildered stares of everyone.
With a "snap," as soon as Chen Yuan closed his door, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he felt a wave of chest tightness and dizziness, with his limbs feeling weak.
Despite the exhaustion he felt after dealing with those guys outside, Chen Yuan had not wanted to show it in front of everyone.
"Why is this body so weak?" Chen Yuan looked down at the lines in the palm of his hand.
"It seems I need to hurry up and refine the elixir pills. As long as I can enter the first realm of the Cultivation World, the Foundation Establishment Stage, I can regulate Spiritual Energy for self-training," Chen Yuan thought to himself.
...
Having temporarily resolved his financial crisis, Chen Yuan soon arrived at the herbal market.
After wandering around the market for half a day, he found only the cheapest herbs, which, on Tianqi Continent, would not even be picked up.
Eventually, Chen Yuan reluctantly chose some herbs like Solomon's Seal, Drynaria, and Atractylodes, which, combined with his alchemy techniques, could initially refine a body strengthening liquid to enhance his physical strength, thus better absorbing Spiritual Energy.
He also casually bought a few small bottles for storing the potions.
Chen Yuan returned home and immediately began refining the medicine. As the pale white flame in his hand disappeared, the pile of herbs transformed into a light red liquid.
"Although this body fluid is the lowest level in the Tianqi Continent, it is miraculous for my current body condition," he thought, "By activating the cultivation technique, it should at least double my body's strength."
Chen Yuan slowly introduced the body-refining fluid into his body and began strengthening it…
As he activated his cultivation technique to assimilate the medicine, his body seemed to turn into a black hole, drawing various types of Spiritual Energy and power towards him. The room ominously seemed to freeze, even the air seemed to solidify.
An hour later, after absorbing as much as he could currently endure, Chen Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
"Hooo!"
Suddenly, a gust of air dispersed around him, almost causing the somewhat dilapidated walls of the room to collapse. His eyes glimmered with a faint blue light which receded slowly.
Chen Yuan stood up, his body suddenly making 'popping' noises like frying beans, and he looked at the traces of black dirt seeping from his body, smiling satisfactorily.
"The Heavenly Spirit Divine Map truly lives up to its name, no wonder it's acclaimed as the best method for Foundation Establishment," Chen Yuan muttered to himself. In his previous life, he had obtained the lost Divine Map in a secret realm when he was already at the level of Heavenly Venerate, making the technique of little value to him, but today it had proven to be quite useful.
He gauged his cultivation level, now having taken the first step as a Cultivator, the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Chen Yuan clenched his fists, feeling his body brimming with strength—an indicator of the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Just like Foundation Establishment, he was no ordinary person!
The realms for Cultivators are divided into nine major stages: Foundation Establishment, Consolidating Path, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Nascent Transformation, Divine Separation, Refining Void, Transcendence, and Mahayana. Each major stage is further divided into three minor stages.
In his previous life, Chen Yuan had cultivated for thousands of years, reached the Transcendence Stage, and shattered numerous cultivation records, becoming the top prodigy of Tianqi Continent.
Although the road ahead was long, the effects of the Heavenly Spirit Divine Map were enough to thrill him.
Due to the sparse Spiritual Energy in this environment, even after his recent cultivation session, he could barely sense any Spiritual Energy.
Chen Yuan frowned. The money he just obtained was all spent on herbs. Whether he planned to move somewhere else or buy better quality herbs to refine elixirs, more money was needed.
"How can I make money?"
He glanced at the two bottles of body-refining liquid on the floor and came up with an idea.
For Chen Yuan, these medicinal liquids were the lowest level and no longer effective for him. Nevertheless, to the people of this world, these liquids were extremely valuable, and with his extraction, these low-grade herbs could perform far beyond their usual effects.
Chen Yuan pondered and decided to try to sell the body fluids.
...