In the end, Ye Li still couldn't get past the hurdle of Chengdu.
When you do something once, you'll do it again!
Strength could be trained back, but once your principles were gone, they'd never come back!
He already had a cheat. He couldn't throw away his principles just for the sake of strength!
Besides, this was a martial arts world. Who knew whether the little medical tidbits from his old life would even work here?
Looking at the pill in his hand, Ye Li could only sigh that poor Little Flower wouldn't get to enjoy it, then swallowed it in one gulp!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Almost as soon as he swallowed it, Ye Li felt a medicinal force surge from within him, stimulating his blood and qi to surge and race.
It was as if a second heart had appeared inside him, pounding with a wildness he had never felt before.
Buoyed by it, Ye Li immediately struck a stance.
Taking advantage of the momentum, he began to drive his blood and qi!
As he trained, he kept his eyes on the realm panel.
"Mortal (416...417...418/864)"
The experience that used to take an entire hour to increase by a single point was now climbing before his eyes at a visible pace!
At the same time, with the Body Tempering Pill's help, even the parts he usually couldn't temper were growing stronger.
Ye Li could feel his strength increasing!
While Ye Li was training hard, elsewhere, things were unfolding.
The other disciples were also gradually returning from the gang.
Wang Xian had just arrived home when he saw his father, Wang Ganshi, sitting in a grand armchair and sipping tea.
When Wang Ganshi saw him return, he continued brewing tea and said calmly, "You're back. I've had the servants prepare dinner. Go change and come eat."
Wang Xian agreed, then followed the steward to the inner room to change out of his Azure Dragon Gang uniform.
His family had been merchants for three generations, building up a substantial fortune.
As the family's only son, once his father passed away, the business and estate would all be his. With his thoroughly average talent, there was no need for him to practice martial arts at all.
He had joined the Azure Dragon Gang simply to put his name down and show goodwill.
Half a year later, he wouldn't have to guard territory like the others. Instead, he would return home to do business as a registered disciple of the Azure Dragon Gang.
With that status, he could contribute a portion of his profits to the gang each month and travel under the Azure Dragon Gang's name, which came with plenty of advantages.
After changing into something comfortable, Wang Xian returned to the main hall. The table was already laden with dishes.
As his son started eating, Wang Ganshi asked casually, "How has this month in the gang been? Anything different from last month?"
"Not much. Every day it's just martial arts, martial arts, and more martial arts."
Wang Xian spoke as he ate. "My talent's nothing special anyway, so I'm just doing enough to get by."
Seeing his son's careless attitude, Wang Ganshi shook his head helplessly. "What about that Li family young master who shares your room?"
"Him? He's got a terrible temper. I can't talk to him."
"Good. Keep your distance from him in the future."
Wang Ganshi nodded. "I had someone look into him. That newly risen young master of the Li Family, Li You, was originally from a concubine's branch. He seems to have a grudge against Li Xi's birth mother. Don't get dragged into it."
"Yes, yes." Wang Xian kept eating as he replied. "By the way, a newcomer moved into my room this month. At the end-of-month assessment, he scored five points of penetration and took first place."
As he said this, Wang Xian recalled the look on Li Xi's face, as if he'd swallowed a fly, and nearly laughed himself silly.
As roommates who got along fairly well, he and Zhao Yan had already learned Ye Li's score when they saw him packing his things that morning.
They hadn't said a word the whole time because they wanted to watch everyone's expressions change. As it turned out, the "face-changing" performance had been quite a success.
"Five points of penetration..." Wang Ganshi was clearly startled. "What young master joined the gang? Does he eat Body Tempering Pills like rice?"
"He's no young master."
"He's not?"
"No. His family lives in the South District."
"The South District..." Wang Ganshi stroked his beard, deep surprise in his eyes. "Even so, he could be someone's illegitimate son, left in the care of a family there?"
With a thoughtful look, he turned to Wang Xian. "Tell me about this fellow disciple in detail. What's his background like? What kind of person is he? What has he been doing this month?"
Wang Xian looked up helplessly. "Dad, I'm still eating."
"Idiot, do you think I can't spare you a bite?" Wang Ganshi smacked the back of his son's head without ceremony!
With a helpless sigh, Wang Xian had no choice but to tell him everything he had noticed about Ye Li over the past while.
After listening to his son's account, Wang Ganshi rubbed his chin and said:
"So your roommate has no background at all, and without taking pills, he's surpassed the Li Family's legitimate heir through talent and hard work?"
"That's right. I told you that Li Xi was useless. Even after taking pills, he—"
Wang Xian hadn't finished speaking before he got another smack on the back of his head. Wang Ganshi scolded him, exasperated, "Is that the point, you blockhead?"
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then his eyes shifted. "How about this? I'll go to the Hundred Treasures Hall later and buy ten Body Tempering Pills. When you go back to the gang, give them to him for me."
Wang Xian's eyes widened. He stared at his father in disbelief. "Dad, you've never been this generous to me! Those Body Tempering Pills would be enough for me to try to break into the ranks of the core gang members!"
"What are you trying to break into? With your talent, a wild boar couldn't digest fine grain!"
Wang Ganshi shook his head, exasperated. "A Body Tempering Pill costs ten taels of silver. To cultivate you to the point of entering a realm, you'd need sixty or seventy of them."
"And with your aptitude, even if you had all the Body Tempering Pills you wanted, would you reach the Post-Heaven Realm in this lifetime? It's cheaper to get there through steady effort."
"Being a genius is all about knowing how to spend money wisely."
"Look at Ye Li. One pill might be worth three for you. Why don't you learn from him?"
Rendered speechless by his father, Wang Xian mumbled as he pushed the food around his plate with his chopsticks:
"There's no need to rush so much. It'll just make us look like we're sucking up to him."
"Fool, haven't you realized that's exactly what I'm doing?"
Wang Ganshi was so exasperated with his son that he was ready to have another child. "Do you think he'll stay in the gang for half a year like you?"
"If you don't curry favor now, in a couple of months, once he enters a realm, you won't even see his shadow!"
"Those ten Body Tempering Pills might not even catch the eye of the Post-Heaven Realm elders, but right now, they can buy you a huge favor. And you're still not satisfied!"
"With that brain of yours, how am I supposed to entrust the family fortune to you in the future?"
"Oh..."
Wang Xian didn't dare say anything more after his father's scolding. He could only nod meekly.
"Phew~~~~~"
After a set of Azure Dragon Force and a few breaths, Ye Li had completely steadied the blood and qi surging through his body.
He clenched his fist. He could feel that this single pill had increased his strength by about twenty percent.
He looked up at the figures on the panel:
"Mortal (456/864)"
"Azure Dragon Force (1425/100)"
"One pill saved me forty hours of hard training. It really was close to three days' worth."
Ye Li couldn't help marveling. "If I ate ten more, I could enter a realm today!"
Of course, Ye Li knew that was just a joke.
It wasn't as if he knew where to find such a generous person to give him ten pills.
And even the Body-Tempering Pill could only be taken once a day.
Taking more could cause the meridians to bleed, making it more trouble than it was worth.
With his blood and qi brimming, Ye Li trained in the wooden hut for another hour before reluctantly returning to the courtyard.
But as he approached, he found that the entrance to his place—which had once been so quiet that sparrows could settle there—was now bustling with noise!