"Lin Hao wore a blank expression, looking somewhat flustered.
This was the first time in his life that he had been dumped, causing his tone to be rather nervous and awkward.
Yet he gradually calmed down afterward. In fact, ever since the month of their college graduation, he had sensed changes in Li Yan; every time they were together, she appeared absent-minded and declined his dates with various excuses.
Once, right after she turned down his date, he happened to see Li Yan getting into the car of a playboy.
At the time, however, being busy preparing for his internship, Lin Hao did not think much of it, assuming Li Yan was simply attending a classmate gathering.
"Lin Hao, who do you think you're fooling? I'm just notifying you tonight! From now on, we have nothing to do with each other, and please stop pestering me in the future!"
Lin Hao paused for a moment and said, "Give me a reason!"
They had been in a relationship since their freshman year, and Li Yan was his first love.
Back then, Li Yan was relatively innocent. Lin Hao was tall, handsome, excelled academically, and was exceptionally skilled at basketball, radiating masculine hormones.
To Li Yan, these were the shining traits that made Lin Hao so attractive.
Countless other girls in school also liked Lin Hao at the time, which stirred up Li Yan's competitive spirit and made her all the more determined to win him over.
Thus, driven by Li Yan's deliberate pursuit—and given that Lin Hao also held a certain fondness for her—the two naturally ended up together.
Whether because of Lin Hao's popularity at school or simply enjoying the jealousy of other girls, dating Lin Hao had been deeply satisfying for Li Yan.
Yet pleasant times are always fleeting, and people gradually change.
As the time to step out into society approached, the glory of school days and the vanity brought by the envious glances of other girls quickly faded away.
Faced with the temptations of countless designer bags and luxury clothes—things Lin Hao was powerless to provide—
All of Li Yan's romantic fantasies and idealized filters regarding Lin Hao in their relationship were instantly shattered into pieces.
Yet Lin Hao had been oblivious to all this; he never expected Li Yan to break up with him.
Over the phone, Li Yan shouted, "To tell you the truth, I'm Young Master Wang's girlfriend now. I simply can't find any sense of security being with you. After graduation, I'd still have to slave away to make money for a house and a car, becoming a lifelong slave to a mortgage and a car loan. I want to eat well, wear nice things, and have fun. Can you give me any of that? The phone I'm calling you on right now is the latest model Apple phone Young Master Wang bought me, which cost twenty thousand yuan just for the fancy number. If I stay with you, I'll never be able to afford such things in my lifetime. What Young Master Wang can give me, you will never be able to provide! Do you know how my best friends looked at me when we went out before? Being with you makes me lose so much face. Do you understand?"
With a complicated expression, Lin Hao said, "Are you with him purely for money?"
"Right! What woman doesn't like money? I've been with Young Master Wang for just under half a year. Not only does he buy me designer bags and clothes, but he also promised to buy me a luxury car. You're just a loser! Compared to Young Master Wang, you're not even worth a fraction of his pinky finger!" Li Yan screamed.
"What! You two have been together for half a year?"
Lin Hao had never imagined that Li Yan had been cheating on him for more than half snow-white months, and a surge of anger instantly ignited in his heart.
"So what if we have? Lin Hao, I'm warning you, if you ever dare to harass me again, Young Master Wang won't let you off. Goodbye!" With that, Li Yan hung up directly.
Putting down the phone, Lin Hao smiled self-deprecatingly.
He had not expected his first love to end just like that, and a sudden sense of loss welled up in his heart.
Lin Hao had attached great importance to this first love, genuinely believing that Li Yan would be the one to walk down the aisle with him and grow old together.
Yet now that he had received the inheritance of Xianyimen and possessed extraordinary medical skills, would he ever lack money in the future?
Originally, he had planned to share his joy with Li Yan and look forward to a bright tomorrow together.
Never had he expected that after not contacting each other for so long, the very first connection would bring a breakup.
Standing by the window and looking at the bright moonlight outside, Lin Hao took a deep breath and gradually let it go.
Perhaps this was for the best; everyone goes through such things, right?
Besides, it had allowed him to see Li Yan's true colors. Fortunately, he cut his losses in time, saving himself from unnecessary trouble down the road.
Calming his mind, Lin Hao reviewed the Pill Recipe once more, then set up his pot to refine pills.
Chapter 26: The Socialite Ex-Girlfriend
Lin Hao carefully dropped the prepared medicinal herbs into the electric cooking pot he had bought today.
This being his first time refining pills, he went into the operation fully prepared to fail. After all, according to the requirements of the Pill Recipe, refining Great Return Pills required a pill furnace of a certain quality.
The problem, however, was where on earth he was going to find a pill furnace in this day and age. Fortunately, the Great Return Pill was not some high-tier elixir; in his estimation, an induction cooker and an electric pot ought to be sufficient.
After placing the first batch of herbs, Lin Hao added a small basin of water into the electric pot and pressed the switch on the induction cooker.
After five or six consecutive failures, accompanied by the beeps of the induction cooker, Lin Hao excitedly lifted the lid once more.
Soon, he spotted three or four pitch-black pills, about the size of sheep droppings, resting inside the electric pot.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Hao took out a pill from the pot with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension, tossed it directly into his mouth with his eyes closed, and swallowed it down with a gulp.
As soon as the pill entered his stomach, it began to grow hot. Lin Hao hastily crossed his legs on the bed, mobilized the true qi in his dantian, and began to circulate the Hongmeng Scripture.
Following the circulation of true qi, the medicinal power of the pill began to diffuse through his body. Soon, his dantian reacted, boiling as violently as slaked lime.
The true qi within Lin Hao's body grew increasingly robust, and at that moment, he felt as though his vital blood was being roasted over a fierce fire.
Yet that burning sensation quickly vanished, replaced by an indescribable wave of comfort that spread and flowed from his dantian throughout his entire body.
As time passed, the true qi inside Lin Hao multiplied, and the pleasant, euphoric sensation gradually faded.
It was replaced by a feeling of swelling, as if he were a hydrogen balloon pumped with excessive gas, on the verge of bursting at any second.
Lin Hao's handsome face turned the color of cooked liver. Just as he was at a loss and on the verge of failing to hold on,
A cracking sound suddenly echoed from within his body, as though breaking some kind of shackles in the world.
The feeling of being on the point of bursting disappeared entirely, and only then did Lin Hao let out a long sigh of relief.
He hurriedly channeled his spiritual sense to look toward his dantian, only to see a solitary blue droplet resting quietly right there.
At the same time, the true qi within his body continued to converge toward his dantian in an endless stream.
So that was it.
It was only then that Lin Hao realized he had just undergone the transformation of true qi from a gaseous state to a liquid state.
According to the records of Xianyimen, this exact condition was the state of a cultivator achieving Foundation Establishment.
Overjoyed, Lin Hao seized the opportunity presented by his current meditative state to swallow the remaining two Great Return Pills into his stomach, concentrating with all his might on circulating the Hongmeng Scripture in an attempt to refine more liquid true qi.
Cultivation knows no passage of time. When Lin Hao awoke from his meditation, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that there were already a full five droplets of liquid true qi resting in his dantian.
He understood that he had not only successfully stepped into the Foundation Establishment Stage at that moment, but had also thoroughly consolidated his realm, becoming an Early Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
"If I ran into my past self now, I could take on ten of them!"
Experiencing the thrill of growing stronger, Lin Hao could not help but marvel at the might of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator; he felt that he was now more than ten times stronger than before.
Meanwhile, what excited Lin Hao even more was that his spiritual sense perception range had actually expanded to five meters.
With a wicked smirk at the corner of his mouth, Lin Hao immediately channeled his spiritual sense to probe the room of his female roommate next door.
Sure enough, by this point he was able to perceive everything inside the adjacent room with crystal clarity.
Unfortunately, however, the great beauty next door, Wang Xuewen, was not in at the moment, leaving Lin Hao with a twinge of regret.
Yet when Lin Hao saw that the time was already four o'clock the following afternoon, he realized that Wang Xuewen should still be at work.
After getting out of bed, taking a refreshing bath, and styling himself up, Lin Hao hummed a little tune and headed out the door.
He still remembered that Xu Wei had invited him to dinner tonight at the Qiao Jiangbei Grand Hotel.
Hailing a ride-hailing car, Lin Hao soon arrived at the hotel entrance.
Although the Qiao Jiangbei Grand Hotel had only opened this month, its in-house cuisine was unrivaled in Jiangbei, quickly attracting throngs of customers.
The hotel spanned a massive area, adopting Jiangbei's unique royal garden-style architecture. At first glance, it radiated an air of romantic ambiance and high-end luxury.
"Heavenly Chamber Number One."
Entering the hotel lobby and reporting the room number booked by Xu Wei, Lin Hao was promptly led by a very respectful waiter into a private dining room.
Xu Wei had not yet arrived, so Lin Hao asked the waiter to pour him a glass of mineral water first, then quietly observed the room's environment after the waiter departed.
Having grown up lonely in an orphanage, Lin Hao had never set foot in such a high-end establishment in all his years.
Looking at the luxurious Heavenly Chamber Number One private room, Lin Hao could only sigh that ordinary people truly could not fathom the joys of the wealthy.
After sizing up the place for a while, Lin Hao sat down on the leather sofa nearby, browsing short videos while waiting for Xu Wei.
Just as he was watching a young woman twist her waist in a short video, Dong Tiande's call came through.
As soon as Lin Hao answered, he heard Dong Tiande say in a polite tone, "Once again, thank you, Divine Doctor Lin, for saving my son's life. Didn't I mention before that I wanted to give the five-star hotel the Dong Family just built to Divine Doctor Lin? I wonder where Divine Doctor Lin is right now? I've just finished the paperwork, and if Divine Doctor Lin has time, I'll come right over to handle the handover procedures with you."
Lin Hao replied, "I'm having dinner in Heavenly Chamber Number One at the Qiao Jiangbei restaurant."
Dong Tiande immediately exclaimed over the line, "What a coincidence! The very Qiao Jiangbei Grand Hotel I want to give to Divine Doctor Lin is right there. Wait for me there, I'll be right over."
After Dong Tiande hung up the phone, Lin Hao could not help a wave of emotion. Given the scale of the Qiao Jiangbei Grand Hotel, it would take at least three to four hundred million yuan to acquire it.
Yet simply because he saved his son's life, the man was bestowing such a heavy gift. There had to be hidden reasons behind this, but Lin Hao could not be bothered to look into them.
He simply hadn't expected that in a mere two days, this five-star hotel would soon belong to him, and he was about to step into the ranks of billionaires.
Just two days ago, Lin Hao had still been a poor fellow worrying about becoming a fully qualified doctor. He could not help but marvel that life is truly full of surprises everywhere.
He wondered what kind of expression Li Yan would wear if she found out he had become a billionaire.
To that, Lin Hao was also quite looking forward to it.
At that very moment, the sound of a man and a woman laughing came from outside the door.
Thinking that Xu Wei had arrived, Lin Hao turned his head to look, only to see a young man and woman walking right up to the entrance of Heavenly Chamber Number One.
The man sported a slicked-back hairstyle, wore a golden suit and golden leather shoes, balanced a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, and wore a massive golden watch on his wrist—the spitting image of an upper-class successful gentleman.
The woman beside the man was decked out in head-to-toe designer labels, carrying a Louis Vuitton bag and adorned with jewelry, cutting quite the socialite figure.
"What are you doing here?"
Upon recognizing the woman's appearance, Lin Hao asked with a trace of surprise.
He did not know the man, but the woman was none other than Li Yan, his ex-girlfriend who had broken up with him just last night.
Chapter 27: Young People Are Just Ignorant and Immature
Lin Hao never expected that they would run into each other today, barely a day after breaking up last night, especially when she had been utterly unreachable no matter how he tried to contact her previously.
"Lin Hao, why are you here too?" Meeting gaze for gaze, Li Yan was stunned for a moment.
Then, an expression of sudden realization dawned on her. "You actually tracked me down! I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. I already told you we broke up—seeing you pull this stunt makes me sick!"
"Get the hell out of here right now! Don't ruin my appetite for dinner with Young Master Wang!"
With that, Li Yan strode into Heavenly Chamber Number One. Taking in the ultra-luxurious decor of the private room, her jaw dropped in utter shock.
When Young Master Wang told her after their passionate night that he would bring her here to dine, she had been so excited she could barely sleep.
At the same time, she congratulated herself on dumping Lin Hao; had she stayed with him, she might never have been able to afford such a high-end place in her lifetime.
As soon as Li Yan's words fell, a blazing fury ignited in Lin Hao's chest. Even a clay figurine has a sliver of temper—wasn't Li Yan crossing the line?
Back when they were together, Lin Hao had lived frugally every single day, taking on multiple part-time jobs in his spare time just to buy Li Yan various expensive items.
Throughout their four years together, Lin Hao had practically held Li Yan in the palm of his hand. Yet what did his sincere devotion get in return?
To be treated like a dog, summoned at a whim and dismissed at a wave?
Thinking of everything in the past, Lin Hao suddenly found it somewhat ridiculous, feeling deeply resentful of his former self.
Looking at the arrogant expression on Li Yan's face, Lin Hao said with a hint of disgust, "Li Yan, let me tell you solemnly: I didn't track you down, I came here to eat. What right do you have to tell me to get lost? Besides, since we've already broken up, where I am is none of your damn business! Get lost!"
From this moment on, Lin Hao no longer wanted to have the slightest shred of connection to Li Yan.
"You!" Li Yan stomped her foot in rage.
At this moment, the young man who had accompanied Li Yan stepped forward and said, "Kid, one look at your outfit tells me you're a waiter here. Who gave you the guts to tell my girlfriend to get lost? Do you still want to keep your job?"
Before coming out to his appointment today, Lin Hao had specifically searched online for information about the Qiao Jiangbei Grand Hotel and knew it was a high-end venue.
He had dug out and worn the suit he specially bought back when he went for an interview at the Jiangbei Hospital.
Back then, his funds weren't very abundant, so the suit Lin Hao bought was rather cheap. Wearing it to a place like this made him look like a waiter in a uniform at first glance.
The young man glanced at Lin Hao and immediately concluded that he was a waiter here.
"So you came here to be a waiter! I was wondering how on earth you could afford to come to a place like this," Li Yan sneered.
With that, she intimately clung to the young man's arm and said, "Darling, he's the ex-boyfriend I mentioned to you before—Lin Hao. He kept pestering me back then, and since I couldn't get rid of him, I had no choice but to agree to be his girlfriend. But don't worry, Young Master Wang, he's already been dumped by me!"
Then, casting a disdainful look at Lin Hao, she said, "Let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend, Wang Junlang, the young master of the Wang Family. His family runs a logistics company, you know."
"An ex-boyfriend? Yanyan, I really can't fathom what was going through your head back then. How could you pick such a pathetic loser for a boyfriend? You've got nerve." Wang Junlang glanced contemptuously at Lin Hao.
Flatteringly, Li Yan said, "Junlang, I was just young and ignorant back then! Don't talk about me like that!"
"If you don't want me to talk about it, that depends on your performance tonight. I just learned a few new moves recently, hehe..."
Just as Wang Junlang finished speaking, Li Yan seemed to associate it with something, her legs instinctively tightening a bit as she leaned against Wang Junlang's embrace with seductive, watery eyes.
The scene before him utterly disgusted Lin Hao. Unable to hold back any longer, he stood up, intending to kick the two of them out.
"Ah!"
At that exact moment, Wang Junlang let out a sudden scream, pointing at Lin Hao in fury: "These are custom-made pure handmade Italian leather shoes that cost me over 50,000 yuan! I don't even have the heart to wear them usually, and you damn well stepped on them! You're courting death!"
As it turned out, just moments ago when Lin Hao pushed and shoved to drive them out, he had "accidentally" stepped on Wang Junlang.
Seeing the dust mark on his leather shoe, Wang Junlang felt his heart ache fiercely.
Lin Hao said, "So what if I accidentally stepped on you? I haven't even pursued you for bursting into my private room and harassing me. Fine, let's leave it at that. You guys go, I don't want to argue with you anymore. You're giving me a headache!"
"Pursue us for our responsibility? Leave it at that?"
The moment Lin Hao finished speaking, Wang Junlang's expression twisted as he snapped, "Are you fucking kidding me? You stepped on my expensive leather shoes and dare say you won't hold it against me? Who gave you that kind of courage?
Judging by your pathetic look, you probably can't afford to pay for them. Today, out of the goodness of my heart, I'll spare you if you lick my leather shoes clean!"
Relying on his family's wealth, Wang Junlang had played with countless women—and virgins at that.
Looking at the man who had taken Li Yan's virginity, Wang Junlang felt a burning itch of hatred in his heart. If not for Li Yan's skills hitting the spot and serving him to the point of ecstasy every single time, he would have dumped her long ago.
To vent the frustration in his heart at this moment, Wang Junlang naturally wouldn't let slip the chance to fiercely humiliate the fellow before him.
Lin Hao's expression instantly turned icy as he roared, "Get out!"
Li Yan immediately shrieked, "Lin Hao, don't be ungrateful! You soiled Young Master Wang's leather shoes, and he's not even making you pay for them. You aren't thankful, and now he's simply asking you to lick the leather shoes clean—why don't you know what's good for you?
Besides, you're just a waiter here. Isn't serving guests what you're supposed to do? You filthy loser, how can you not even know your own place? I really must have been blind back then!"
Hearing Li Yan's words, Lin Hao instantly felt an urge to vomit.
*You* were blind? *I* was the damn blind one back then!
Yet what comforted Lin Hao was the realization that fortunately, the two of them had already broken up; otherwise, wouldn't he have been plagued by eight lifetimes of bad luck?
Unwilling to entangle himself with the two of them any longer, Lin Hao said darkly, "I'll say it one last time: get the hell out of here immediately, or else I won't be polite!"
Instead of getting angry, Wang Junlang laughed in reverse. "Giving you face and you don't want it, refusing to lick, huh? Fine! Just wait until I call your manager over—I'll make sure you can't even keep your job as a waiter!"
Following right along, Li Yan chimed in, "Hear that? That's the gap between you and Young Master Wang! You must have put in a lot of effort just to manage to land a waiter job here, right?"