Chapter 14: Rod’s Thoughts

At the insistence of Sambik and the others, they quickly ate something and left the small shop. Carrying Rod, fearing his mouth might cause trouble again, they forced their way to Kambi’s home.
“Boss, what’s wrong? You’re not angry, are you?” Kambi asked anxiously, noticing Rod’s silence.
“We’re too weak. Do you really want to muddle along like this for the rest of our lives? Have you never thought about becoming stronger?” Rod pondered for a moment before asking them in a questioning tone. The appearance of the magician made Rod realize many things—just by having a certain status, one could command respect, while those who followed them acted arrogantly by taking advantage of that status. This made Rod deeply understand that strength was everything; everything else was fleeting.
“To become warriors, strength determines everything. Jerome, doesn’t your family have a copy of Red Lotus Combat Qi? Bring it out. Let’s train together, and we should start implementing the plan right away. Vidok and his gang are eyeing us closely—we can’t underestimate them. Training isn’t something that can be accomplished in a short time, so we need to focus on building our strength first. Only with enough strength to protect ourselves can we train with peace of mind!” Rod continued. Although he had known Jerome had Red Lotus Combat Qi before, no one had wanted to learn it back then. Now, he regretted it.
“Okay, I’ll make copies tomorrow so we can all study it. I’ll finish the plan anytime—it can start right away. Since it’s so urgent, let’s begin tomorrow!” Jerome replied quickly after some thought.
At the same time, Sambik and the others expressed their determination, which made Rod secretly breathe a sigh of relief. His stage was about to begin, and he felt a mix of anticipation and excitement.
After planning, everyone slowly left to go prepare for their tasks.
Back at home, looking at the empty house, Rod felt an indescribable emotion—something uncomfortable filling his heart. It was as if something was missing, or as if something was tightly pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Damn it, when will that old man return?”
Standing outside and glancing at the old man’s room, Rod felt a surge of longing. Shaking his head fiercely, he muttered to himself.

Unconsciously, he had come to regard the old man as his only family in this world. After traveling for so long, a sense of longing had grown in his heart. After all, Rod was still just a seventeen-year-old boy—he needed care and the warmth of a family. The old man was the one who could provide him with those things. Entering the room, he began to study the “Dragon Soul Meditation Method” and started practicing according to its instructions. Following each movement, step, and procedure, by the time he finished one round of practice, it was already completely dark. Breathing heavily, he felt refreshed as sweat poured down his body. As usual, after taking a bath with the medicinal solution, Rod lay comfortably on the bed and caught his breath for a while. Without time to relax, he plunged back into practicing his internal energy. After unblocking the meridians throughout his body and connecting them to his dantian, Rod practiced again and felt much more comfortable! Using the method of circulating energy inside and outside the body, he repeatedly controlled his internal energy, sending it from his dantian to wash through all the meridians, nourishing each one while continuously compressing its essence. Although his internal energy was quite substantial now, it was extremely thin—almost not even worthy of being called internal energy. Otherwise, such an amount would surely have made him a master! After countless cycles of washing and circulating the energy condensed from his breath, he felt that his internal energy, through continuous absorption and compression, had shrunk to one-third of its original size, yet it had become much purer. After another full 36 cycles, Rod finally felt he had reached a critical point. Realizing there was no point in continuing, he took a deep breath and drew his internal energy back into his dantian. Exhaling the stale air, he felt instantly much more relaxed. The sensation was so pleasant that he couldn’t help but groan in comfort. Opening his eyes, a flash of brilliance appeared! A faint smile appeared on his lips. It was already dawn; an entire night had passed unnoticed. Fortunately, practicing didn’t make him feel tired; instead, it replenished his energy greatly. Otherwise, no one could possibly withstand such practice! Rod thought to himself. Walking to the window and stretching lazily, he smiled excitedly. Today—yes, today—was the day the plan would begin. Everything would start from here!

“Vidoc, wait for me! I’ll be there to find you soon!”
A moment later, Rod’s gaze turned cold, a faint smile appearing on his lips as he murmured to himself.
Going outside to breathe fresh air, he took advantage of the remaining time to exercise again. Covered in sweat, he felt the slight soreness in his muscles. He glanced at the high sun and felt the warm winter rays, then exhaled. Back in his room, Rod took another shower, threw on some clothes casually, and left for Cambi’s house. There, he knew, the others must already be waiting for him. It was time to go over the plan in detail!
Upon arriving at Cambi’s house, after some discussion and Jerome’s persuasive speech, everyone was convinced. They decided to start their operation in the southeast part of Flaming City. Rod didn’t plan to set off right away; he was confident that those scoundrels wouldn’t pose a challenge to Jerome and the others.
With Jerome leading the team, everything finally came to an end. Rod felt relieved, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
“Boss, don’t worry. As always, I, Jerome, won’t let you down. Also, we’ll come back from time to time—otherwise, Vidoc will start to suspect something!”
With a determined look in his eyes, Jerome smiled. At that moment, he seemed full of confidence. Rod even thought the person standing before him wasn’t the original Jerome but someone else.
“It seems I’ve always underestimated this guy, Jerome!” Rod sighed inwardly. Jerome’s performance today made him realize that.
“Alright, then get started as soon as possible. Don’t waste time—we don’t have much time left!” After pondering for a while, Rod said to them.
“It’s all arranged. If nothing goes wrong, we’ll start tonight! Also, I’ve prepared what I mentioned yesterday. Here are some handwritten copies of ‘Red Lotus Combat Qi’—keep them!” After nodding firmly in response to Rod, Jerome’s expression became even more serious. Looking around to ensure no one was nearby, he carefully took out an object wrapped in fine cloth from his chest. Gently removing the cloth, he soon revealed the handwritten copies of ‘Red Lotus Combat Qi’ he had spoken of.

It may seem thin and simple, but no one dares to underestimate it. Though this kind of combat energy isn’t considered advanced and could even be described as ordinary, it remains a treasure they find hard to obtain. It holds the future and dreams of their successors.
“I don’t want it. You guys take it!” Seeing Sambik and Kambi’s excited expressions, Rod gave a faint, helpless smile before speaking calmly. Indeed, such combat energy was useless to him. Compared to the “Dragon Soul Art,” it was far inferior. Although he hadn’t read the rest of the “Dragon Soul Art,” based on his own experiences and the words of the Xuanyuan Sword Spirit, this art was already the most suitable for him.
Rod knew well that having too much was not beneficial—having just one that suited him was enough. Even if there were advanced combat energy techniques before him, he likely wouldn’t accept them.
“Boss, you…” Clearly unprepared for Rod to say such things, Kambi became anxious immediately. Sambik also stood there, stunned, not understanding Rod’s intentions. Perhaps only Jerome didn’t show any surprise, as if he had already known Rod would make this decision. He watched everyone with a faint smile.
“Hehehe… Let me not hide it from you. I met a master some time ago, and now he’s teaching me martial arts. So I already have combat energy cultivation techniques. This kind of combat energy is of no use to me. If it weren’t for that person saying those techniques are only suitable for me, I would have given them to you long ago! What? You don’t believe me? Haven’t you seen my obvious progress in these fights?” With a bitter smile, Rod forced himself to come up with an excuse after holding back for a while. Perhaps this wasn’t even deception—after all, what he said wasn’t much different from the truth.
“Don’t worry, boss. His techniques won’t be worse than ours. We’ll just train hard and not hold you back!” Seeing Sambik and Kambi still looking puzzled at Rod, Jerome smiled and helped ease the situation.
“Boss, seriously? You’re telling us this now? Damn it, no wonder you were the fiercest in those fights—making me suffer injuries along the way!” Rubbing the scar on his arm from the previous day, Kambi acted pitifully and shouted loudly. With Kambi’s words, the atmosphere relaxed, and the silence from earlier disappeared. Soon, everyone’s smiles returned.

After a fierce scramble, everyone left with a copy of the Red Lotus Combat Qi manual and an excited smile.
“Boss, we’ll start acting tonight. Sorry you have to stay here for now!” After pondering for a moment, Jerome said with a complex expression, giving Rod a wry smile.
“Damn it, go ahead. What could possibly happen to me? It’s a good chance for me to train hard too—I can’t let you kids surpass me!” With a playful smile, Rod was in high spirits. Everything was finally settled, and it was time to set off on the journey! Instead of feeling anxious, he felt somewhat relieved. It was a perfect opportunity to train hard, as the pressure on him had been immense.
Each of them had their own cultivation methods. Rod knew he would be left behind if he didn’t work hard. Being competitive, he didn’t want to see everyone become stronger than him. All day long, they stayed in Kambi’s small room discussing the details. After spending the whole day, they finally resolved all the issues. Now, it was time to take action.
…
The night was dark, and winter nights always brought a chill. Unconsciously, Rod tightened his clothes and exhaled a puff of cold air. Looking at the pitch-black sky dotted with a few stars, he took a deep breath of the cold air and shivered.
“Damn this weather!” After cursing inwardly, Rod carefully observed his surroundings. Once he confirmed everything was fine, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned his gaze to the others who also seemed relieved.
“Those bastards should be gone by now. Alright, it’s time for you to leave too. No need for more words. I’ll wait here for good news from you!” His voice sounded heavy. Although it wasn’t a farewell or a long separation, Rod still felt a hint of reluctance.
“Yeah, don’t worry. We’re going!”
Jerome, Sambik, and Kambi nodded firmly and said in unison. Taking advantage of the darkness, they packed up their minimal belongings and quietly sneaked toward the southwest of Flaming City.
“Has it started? Good. I hope everything goes well!” Standing there as they disappeared into the night, Rod muttered to himself with a wry smile. He walked back into the dark room. For some reason, he felt a bit heavy-hearted at that moment. Perhaps it was because he sensed a hint of loneliness.

It’s lonely, but not truly alone; there’s a clear distinction between the two! At least loneliness is temporary—he still has friends and isn’t by himself. A faint smile appeared on his lips as Rod secretly felt relieved.
Returning to his room, he didn’t slack off and continued with his training. He needed to keep working on his Qi control, and of course, he couldn’t neglect his physical strength either. He had to start training in combat energy as soon as possible. The appearance of several skilled fighters had filled him with anticipation. Blazing Fire City was small and not his goal; his goal was the entire continent. He wouldn’t allow his vision to be limited to such a small place.