Outrageously Rich

Dinner was still the same cheap, high-calorie, high-protein meal, quickly replenishing the strength he had used up.

After filling his stomach, he didn't leave directly as usual. Instead, he turned toward the Xinhuo Hall-run pharmacy beside the cafeteria, its lights blazing as people streamed in and out.

The shop was spacious and bright, like a small supermarket. All four checkout counters had lines, and the air was filled with a strange medicinal fragrance from the mixture of various supplements.

This was the first time Li Wen had entered here by himself to buy Qi-Blood Potions. Before, his parents had struggled to scrape together the money to buy him those few "luxuries" at an ordinary pharmacy.

The dazzling shelves were lined with bottles and jars that gleamed with an enticing yet aloof sheen, each marked with a steep price.

Li Wen kept his eyes straight ahead, suppressing the trace of longing in his heart, and headed straight for the busiest area: the "Qi-Blood Potion Section."

As soon as he got there, he spotted a Middle-Aged Man dressed in Xinhuo Hall's dark standard-issue member uniform.

The man was lean and powerful, his aura restrained, yet the pressure he exuded made the air around him feel heavier.

Simply standing in front of the shelves, he made Li Wen feel an invisible pressure.

The member bent down and casually grabbed more than twenty exquisitely packaged, pale-red potions from a shelf marked "Level 2." He handled them as casually as if he were buying bottled water.

The man's brazen manner made Li Wen's eyelid twitch.

"One, two, three... That's probably twenty or thirty, right? One Level 2 Blood Qi Potion costs twenty thousand. A whole armful of them..." Before he could finish doing the math in his head, the member was already heading for the checkout.

Li Wen took a deep breath and forced himself to look away enviously. He bent down to the very bottom shelf, marked "Level 1," and with extreme care and solemnity, took only... four relatively plain-looking, pale-white potions.

These were the ammunition for his cultivation tonight, as well as his provision for the next few days.

Twelve thousand yuan was a "huge sum" to him. He couldn't bring himself to spend it all at once; keeping it tucked in his pocket seemed to give him a little more security.

"Buying that many at once... What if I drop them, or they break, or something happens on the way..." All sorts of absurd yet plausible "what ifs" churned in the mind of a poor kid like him.

This wasn't pettiness. It was the deep mark left by countless nights watching his parents fret over medical bills—he was terrified of being poor.

Clutching the four Level 1 Blood Qi Potions, so light in his hands yet so heavy with meaning, he quietly queued up behind the Xinhuo Hall member.

At that moment, the numbers on the checkout screen danced as if by magic, finally settling on an astronomical sum that nearly made Li Wen stop breathing: 1,200,000.00.

The cashier gave him a sweet, professional smile. "Hello. Your total is one million two hundred thousand yuan. Would you like to pay with points or currency?"

"Card." The member's voice was so calm it didn't waver in the slightest, as if the price tag showed only three digits. He casually handed over a card.

Waiting behind him, Li Wen felt like he was watching a performance from a social class he didn't belong to.

"Certainly, one moment." The cashier worked quickly, tapping at the computer. Her smile grew even brighter. "Hello. Thanks to your esteemed status as a Level 3 Xinhuo Hall member, you're eligible for a twenty percent discount on this purchase. After the discount, your total comes to exactly 960,000 yuan."

"Twenty percent off?! That's a straight-up savings of 240,000?!" Li Wen's pupils shook violently. The discount hit him like a sledgehammer.

Nine hundred and sixty thousand! How many Level 1 potions could the 240,000 he saved buy? How long could it cover his father's medical bills? How much could it ease the burden on his family?

The enormous shock made him instantly realize just how valuable it was to be an official member of one of the Four Great Factions! The discount on potions alone could save more money in a year than an ordinary family would ever dare dream of!

"I have to raise my skill realm as quickly as possible! Once I reach the Unity Realm, I'll be eligible to apply for an early contract! The sooner I join, the more money I'll save! I have to grind! I have to grind like my life depends on it!"

An unprecedented surge of motivation, mingled with intense longing and frustration, burst into flames within his chest.

"Hello. Four Level 1 Blood Qi Potions, two thousand yuan total. Are you a member of our store?" When it was Li Wen's turn, the cashier's polite question brought him back from his shock.

"...I'm not a member. Card, thank you." Li Wen came to his senses and pulled out his bank card, his movements a little stiff.

The balance on the card suddenly seemed immeasurably small beside "960,000."

"Certainly. Your total is two thousand yuan. Please take your potions, and we hope to see you again."

As the cashier recited her formulaic farewell, Li Wen carefully tucked the four individually packaged Qi-Blood Potions into the innermost pocket of his backpack, as if hiding precious treasures, then hurried away from this "land of riches."

The crowded evening bus rocked back and forth. By the time he got home, dusk had fallen, and neon lights shone across the streets outside.

Li Wen opened the door and heard his father, Li Hong, speaking quietly on the phone out on the balcony:

"...How's Old Zhao doing? Ah... The hospital's asking for payment?... There's nothing they can do?... Then... when will the compensation come through? We can't keep dragging this out... He's still lying in there!... Sigh, all right... We'll just have to hang on a little longer..."

His father's voice was weary and helpless, his back slightly hunched beneath the dim balcony light.

The grievous injury suffered by his father's coworker and the troubles that followed had cast another shadow over a family that had only recently escaped disaster.

Li Wen's heart tightened. He called softly, "Dad, I'm home."

Li Hong seemed startled. He quickly said a couple of words into the phone—"We'll talk again"—then hung up. When he turned around, he had already managed to put on his usual smile.

"Little Wen's home? Dinner's warming in the pot."

"Yeah, I've already eaten, Dad. I'm going to my room to cultivate." Li Wen didn't want to say much about his father's coworker's tragic situation, so he went straight to his room.

He shut the door, cutting off the faint light from the living room.

He took the Qi-Blood Potions out of his backpack and opened the individual packaging on one of them, then placed the glass vial, carrying both hope and weight, within easy reach on his desk. It would be what he needed to restore his body's energy after tonight's push.

Next, he changed into a looser set of old clothes, took off his shoes and socks, and stepped barefoot onto the worn-out yoga mat in the middle of his room. Its color had faded from washing, and its edges were frayed. It was his dedicated "arena" for cultivating the Basic Method, the Fracture Edge Gold Sha Method.

Since he had reserved only half an hour of [Absolute Focus] for tonight's Basic Method practice, he would have to rely on his own condition to tough it out during the early stages of cultivation.

Li Wen calmed his mind and steadied his breathing, then assumed the Fracture Edge Gold Sha Method's unusual stance, which used his spine as the great dragon while setting the bones and muscles throughout his body trembling in resonance.

Hum... A faint but distinct force of qi and blood began to stir inside him and circulate, making his body tremble slightly. His skin, muscles, tendons, and bones all felt a stinging sensation, as if rubbed by invisible grains of sand.

This stinging pain, accompanied by the consumption of his qi and blood, was an unavoidable path to strengthening himself.