Chapter 74: Li Ye Has Never Been This Wealthy
Deep night, the Li residence.
A dim yellow candle, a single silhouette.
Inside the room.
On the wooden table before Li Rui lay a heap of items, nearly overflowing.
“Dragon’s saliva herb, Miao Ling branch, Silver Dragon iron.”
Spiritual herbs and spiritual metals were basic materials, mostly naturally formed, gathered by herb collectors or mountain folk and sold on the black market.
These people had no way to tell quality apart.
The goods were mixed good and bad, judged entirely by sight.
For several days, Li Rui had wandered the black market daily, rarely buying—but when he did, it was big hauls.
These spiritual herbs alone were worth at least two hundred gold, or two thousand silver taels—more than most wealthy families in Qinghe City possessed.
Poor middlemen, swept clean by Li Rui, would go weeks without landing any big finds, forced to scavenge scraps just to get by.
Gazing at the table of spiritual herbs, Li Rui’s heart pounded.
“I’ve never been this rich in my life.”
Thanks to his Spiritual Eye, he’d earned so much silver in just a few days.
Li Rui rubbed his chin.
“All herbs, and just one fist-sized piece of spiritual iron—pure luck.”
Salt and iron were state monopolies.
Most spiritual mines were seized by the imperial court and major factions; ordinary people had no access.
This piece of Silver Dragon iron was wrapped in stone crust, appearing no different from an ordinary rock, picked up by the vendor as a cloth weight.
That’s how Li Rui got it.
Spiritual herbs were far more common and the main target of black market middlemen.
Li Rui put away the Silver Dragon iron.
He’d just upgraded his weapon and bought soft armor; the Silver Dragon iron wasn’t needed yet, so he’d store it until he acquired more spiritual metal.
As for the spiritual herbs:
Two options.
Either sell them outright for silver, or find a pill alchemist to refine them into pills.
After weighing his choices, Li Rui decided to find a pill alchemist, provide the materials himself, and have the herbs refined into pills.
He was now Iron Bone; the next step was Golden Bone.
The number of pills needed to refine Golden Bone exceeded Iron Bone by more than tenfold, let alone the higher tiers like Jade Bone.
Find a reliable pill alchemist, pay him a fee for labor, and skip the middle steps.
Go straight to the worker, avoiding middlemen profiting off the markup.
And he had one Detianduhou advantage—the Heaven and Earth Alliance had its own pill alchemists.
Pharmacy Hall, back courtyard.
Aromatic smoke curled through the air, gray-white mist swirling like the legendary immortal realm.
“Master Li, such a small matter hardly warrants Master Zhang’s personal notice—just come straight to me.”
A sharp-eyed middle-aged man walked forward, smiling.
Li Rui glanced at the newly appointed Master Xu Xiang.
Inside: “Hmph.”
Had he not alerted Zhang Yang in advance, he might not have even found Xu Xiang’s door—let alone received this grand escort.
Everyone knew Xu Xiang only cared when dealing with orders from superiors.
“Master Li, you’re a favorite of Vice-Captain Zhang. You’ll have to speak well of me in the future.”
Xu Xiang’s tone carried a hint of flattery.
“Of course.”
Li Rui replied coolly.
Technically, Xu Xiang, as head of the Pharmacy Hall, had no direct connection to Zhang Yang, who oversaw introductions and Tianyi.
But all of this stemmed from Zhao Wei’s death.
After Zhao Wei died,
one of his three halls went to Ge Hong, the other two to Zhou Rui.
Unexpected turn.
Zhou Rui, once a sidelined man, suddenly received fortune—he regained his vice-captain status, even gained oversight of both the Pharmacy Hall and the Discipline Hall, wielding more authority than before.
Dao Xiong’s allocation had its reasons.
Zhao Wei was dead; the Qinghe branch needed stability, so actions must be minimal and involve as few people as possible.
Once they weathered next year’s imperial exam, reallocation could proceed smoothly.
Thus, Zhou Rui became the ideal candidate to take over.
But giving all three halls to Zhou Rui—the weakest vice-captain—would inevitably breed resentment.
So Dao Xiong gave the most important Civil-Military Hall to Ge Hong, and the other two to Zhou Rui.
Yet anyone with eyes could see:
Zhou Rui’s tenure as vice-captain overseeing the Pharmacy Hall wouldn’t last.
In a year, Zhang Yang would almost certainly replace him.
Xu Xiang had to plan ahead.
“Why did the previous Pharmacy Hall head voluntarily request an external posting to guard a post?”
“Didn’t he make too many enemies?”
“With a new vice-captain, he’d be stuck in constant petty harassment—he couldn’t even breathe.”
So Xu Xiang took heed: Li Rui had managed to get Vice-Captain Zhang to personally intervene—clearly they were close. This was his chance to curry favor.
Next year, he’d still be Pharmacy Hall head.
Thinking this,
the two arrived before a solitary building, neither temple nor hall.
“Master Li, Elder Jiang is inside the pill chamber.”
“Elder Jiang is obsessed with pill refining, eccentric in nature—if he says anything offensive, don’t take it personally.”
"Elder Jiang is obsessed with alchemy and has a peculiar temperament; if you offended Lord Li, please don't take it to heart."
Li Rui waved: “No issue.”
The Elder Jiang mentioned by Xu Xiang was the Qinghe branch’s only pill master, capable of refining eighth-grade spiritual pills.
“Rare skilled artisan—some temper is normal.”
“Good that Master Li sees it that way.”
Xu Xiang said aloud, but thought: “I hope you truly mean it.”
Elder Jiang was arrogant, held a unique status in the Pharmacy Hall, and barely deigned to speak even to Xu Xiang.
Xu Xiang often left furious, chest aching.
Even several vice-captains had nearly come to blows with him.
Had it not been for his unmatched pill-making skill and the branch’s dependence on him, he’d have been driven out long ago.
The two entered the pill chamber.
Dozens of pill apprentices bustled about; in the center, a crimson furnace, its lower half glowing red, made the air scorching.
“Three qian of Spirit Phoenix herb, one qian of Lingzhi powder, one Yangding Tian.”
A man with a goatee stared unblinking at the furnace, reciting herbs in rapid succession.
The pill chamber was a scene of intense activity.
Xu Xiang paused awkwardly: “Master Li, shall we wait outside for tea? Elder Jiang cannot be disturbed during refining—that’s the unwritten rule of the Pharmacy Hall.”
Xu Xiang paused awkwardly: "Lord Li, why not have some tea first? Elder Jiang’s alchemy cannot be disturbed—that’s the unwritten rule of the Pill Hall."
“It’s nearly done. Let’s wait a little longer.”
They waited about fifteen minutes.
A few faint pops came from the furnace.
A few soft bangs echoed from the alchemical furnace.
Elder Jiang’s eyes lit up; he hurried forward, using tongs to lift the furnace lid—intense fragrance burst forth.
“Eighth-grade spiritual pill?”
Li Rui, with his Spiritual Eye, instantly judged the pill’s grade by the spiritual essence within.
Watching Elder Jiang retrieve over a dozen pills,
Xu Xiang finally spoke: “Elder Jiang, this is Master Li of Tianyi Hall—he wishes you to refine a batch of pills.”
Jiang Cheng’s smile vanished like a mask torn off; he stared coldly at Li Rui.
Without even asking why, he simply said two words:
He didn’t even ask for the reason, simply saying two simple words:
(End of Chapter)
(End of chapter)
End of Chapter
