Spirit Medicine

Inside an ancient, unadorned hall, a rich fragrance of pills hung in the air.

The Medicine Hall.

It ranked fifth among the Heaven and Earth Alliance's seven halls, but when it came to profits, aside from the Civil and Martial Hall, every other hall was left eating dust.

A single pill could cost anywhere from dozens of taels to a fortune.

The amount of silver to be made from it was beyond imagining. Countless martial artists toiled and ran themselves ragged for pills.

Li Rui stepped into the Medicine Hall.

Compared with the deserted Heaven One Hall, the Medicine Hall was far livelier.

Disciples of the Heaven and Earth Alliance came and went.

After all, one Cultivation Method was enough to practice for a lifetime, while pills were indispensable daily consumables.

Li Rui swept his gaze across the Medicine Hall. There were more than a dozen disciples in sight alone—truly enviable.

Quite a few Entering Rank martial artists would rather become Deputy Hall Masters in the Medicine Hall than go to Heaven One Hall.

"I want to buy pills."

Li Rui walked up to a disciple.

The sharp-mouthed, monkey-faced disciple saw at once that he was an old man and had not been inclined to pay him any mind. But when he caught sight of the bronze plaque engraved with "28" at Li Rui's waist, his smile immediately turned fawning.

"Sir, what kind of pills would you like?"

Seeing that Li Rui was unfamiliar and might be visiting for the first time, the monkey-faced disciple grew interested.

This was a fine chance to curry favor with an important man.

Anyone bearing "28" was at least a steward, not someone a mere disciple like him could afford to offend.

"Eighty percent of the pills in our Medicine Hall are ordinary-grade pills. Above those are Ninth-Rank pills and Eighth-Rank Spirit Pills. Spirit Pills are refined from Spirit Grass. They can extend one's lifespan by ten years, and so long as a person still has half a breath left, they can save him."

The monkey-faced disciple rattled on at great length.

Li Rui's eyes lit up.

Spirit Pills!

There truly were extraordinary things in this world.

According to the disciple, pill grades corresponded to the realms of martial artists. Pills above the Eighth Rank were known as Spirit Pills.

Heaven and earth possessed spirit.

The reason this world could give rise to extraordinary Martial Masters was not only because of Cultivation Methods and cultivation systems, but also inseparable from Spirit Grass.

However, Spirit Grass could only grow in certain Spirit Soil.

It was exceedingly rare.

Things were precious because they were scarce, so Spirit Pills refined from Spirit Grass were naturally expensive as well.

Though Li Rui was worldly and experienced, he had only been a Groom. Naturally, he had no way of knowing about matters beyond his station.

He keenly sensed that the Spirit Soil mentioned by the disciple had to be a strategic resource fought over by the major powers.

He asked curiously, "What rank is the Small Yuan Pill?"

"Ninth Rank. But it contains fragments of spirit medicine, so its effects are far stronger than those of ordinary Ninth-Rank pills."

"So that's how it is."

Li Rui understood. "Then how much does a Spirit Pill cost?"

"Spirit Pills range from five hundred taels to a thousand gold, depending on which kind you want, sir."

The skinny, monkey-like man's smile grew even brighter when he heard Li Rui ask about Eighth-Rank Spirit Pills.

For every pill above the Ninth Rank that Medicine Hall disciples sold, they received a commission. If he could sell an Eighth-Rank Spirit Pill, he would earn at least twenty taels of silver.

Li Rui clicked his tongue inwardly.

Five hundred taels!

He had originally thought that possessing one hundred and thirty taels of silver made him quite wealthy, yet he could not even afford half a Spirit Pill.

He glanced at the wooden board hanging above the Medicine Hall.

It was densely packed with tiny writing, clearly listing the names, grades, effects, and prices of the medicines.

Li Rui said, "I'll take two Small Yuan Pills and one Strengthening Bone Pill."

When he heard that Li Rui was only buying three Ninth-Rank pills, the skinny, monkey-like man's expression stiffened.

"One hundred and thirty taels in total."

Though one hundred and thirty taels was no small sum, the commission for Ninth-Rank pills was vastly different from that for Eighth-Rank Spirit Pills.

Selling twenty Ninth-Rank pills would not earn him as much as selling a single Eighth-Rank Spirit Pill.

Even so, he respectfully retrieved three exquisite little wooden boxes from the medicine room and presented them to Li Rui. Although Li Rui had not bought a Spirit Pill, he was still at least a steward—not someone a lowly Medicine Hall disciple could offend.

Li Rui left, satisfied, with the pills tucked away.

Old Li had never fought such a well-supplied battle in his life!

These three pills, combined with medicinal baths, would be enough for three months. After three months, his strength would surely rise greatly, and earning silver would become much easier then.

The road back to Heaven One Hall happened to pass by the main gate.

"I really know your Hall Master. Just let me in."

Li Rui found the voice familiar.

Turning his head, he saw Wang Zhao and Yang Yong standing at the gate. He froze for a moment, then walked over and displayed his token.

"So they're Hall Master Li's men. A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

The disciples guarding the gate that day recognized Li Rui and repeatedly apologized.

Li Rui led Wang Zhao and Yang Yong toward Heaven One Hall, asking as they walked, "How did you know I was in the Heaven and Earth Alliance?"

Wang Zhao and Yang Yong were no more than ordinary servants of the Zhu Family. There was no way they should have known about the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

Much less that he had become a Hall Master.

Wang Zhao hesitated for a long while without saying anything.

Li Rui gave a soft sigh. "Master Zhu, was it?"

Wang Zhao looked up in surprise. "Master, how did you know? The master told me not to say anything, but I didn't want to deceive you."

"Ah..."

Li Rui shook his head.

If not for Master Zhu of the Zhu Family taking special care of Wang Zhao out of consideration for him, someone with Wang Zhao's temperament would likely have been devoured by Zhu Lie until not even bones remained.

Meanwhile, Yang Yong's head kept swiveling around, looking every bit like a country bumpkin entering the city.

He had known that Li Rui was joining the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

But Li Rui had never said he was coming here to become a Hall Master.

So when he heard Wang Zhao was heading to the Heaven and Earth Alliance, he followed along. Then the two of them had been stopped outside the gate by the guards.

A quarter of an hour later.

The three arrived at Li Rui's courtyard.

"Old Li, you're about to become a master now!"

Yang Yong and Wang Zhao stared wide-eyed at Li Rui's grand four-courtyard residence, gawking at it for a long while.

Li Rui had Zhou Shulin prepare a few extra dishes.

He called the two over to sit and eat with him.

Yet seated in the bright, spacious main hall, Yang Yong and Wang Zhao felt somewhat restrained and did not dare lift their chopsticks.

Li Rui snapped irritably, "What, are you used to squatting on the doorstep and eating on tiptoe?"

Hearing Li Rui's words, the two instead felt closer to him. Grinning, they picked up their chopsticks and began wolfing down the food.

Once the meal was over, Li Rui finally asked, "Did Master Zhu have anything he wanted you to tell me?"

Yang Yong glanced at Wang Zhao.

Wang Zhao scratched his head. "He didn't say much. He just told me to come see how you were doing, Master."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

How could Li Rui fail to see Zhu Ping's intentions?

Zhu Ping was a businessman, shrewd to the bone. He knew Li Rui had left because he had suffered grievances in the Zhu Family. If Zhu Ping personally stepped in, he would lose face and likely achieve nothing. It was better to send Wang Zhao instead.

So long as their ties had not been severed, there was still room for reconciliation.

"Then take a message back. Tell him my health has been weak lately and I need pills to treat it—preferably spiritual pills."

"Okay."

Wang Zhao nodded obediently.

Li Rui did not mind restoring friendly relations with the Zhu Family, but mere verbal courtesies were useless. They had to bleed a little—bleed heavily!

Relationships were nothing more than give and take. Asking for something would instead put the Zhu Family at ease; otherwise, the two sides would surely become enemies.

The affairs of the martial world all came down to the human heart.