Chapter 4: Li Bao's Spotting
"Ooh? Resources? What resources?"
Li Fu was pleasantly surprised by this. His son was always cold and distant, but now it seems like he has gained confidence! His son was asking for resources, how could he refuse this?
"Father, I need a piece of paper."
After ten years of living in this region, Li Bai knew what grew and what didn't in this barren city. Li Fu ordered a servant to get a piece of paper and a pen. Soon after, the servant returned. He wondered what those were for. When he saw Li Fu giving it to the young master, he felt disdain. What a waste of energy, it was for the young master. Li Bai noticed this but didn't mind this servant's sneering, as he knew his rise to fame wasn't far.
Li Bai listed many plants and herbs on the list, with substitutes should the original be not available. Granted these substitutes weren't as good as the original ingredient, but Li Bai had a method of raising the pill's quality, regardless of the ingredient.
After a while, Li Bai listed so many that it seemed the price of all of these would be enough to support an entire clan for years! Li Bai finally finished writing what was seemingly an entire decade's worth of ingredients. Li Fu was hesitant to grant his son's request.
"Father, can you provide or not? Please speak candidly."
When Li Fu read the ingredients though, he discovered that all of them were very cheap! The worth of all the ingredients combined was akin to picking a grain of rice in a rice sack, it wasn't noticeable.
Li Fu was confused. Why did he need all of these? Li Fu wanted to ask, but when he saw his son's worried expression, he didn't pry further.
"Don't worry, son. Your father isn't as cheap as to not buy you these extremely low valued ingredients."
Li Bai was surprised. He wasn't expecting him to reject this request, but to make it seem like it wasn't a request at all, more like he was giving away nothing... this Li Bai old man was wealthier than he thought! He brushed these thoughts off and expressed his gratitude.
"Thanks, father."
What he didn't know was that it wasn't that Li Bai old man was wealthy, but that the ingredients were extremely worthless. They were classified as weeds! In truth they weren't, the people have just forgotten all of the uses these had!
.....
When the feast ended, Li Bao searched for her little brother but ended up exhausted. She couldn't find him. She assumed that Li Bai, her little brother, went home first. She came home and found Li Bai's room locked. It also had a do not disturb sign in front of it.
"What is he up to?"
Li Bao was confused. His brother didn't seem motivated by anything before, but now, he's enthusiastic about something. The taunts of the people were just something he would acknowledge as facts, but earlier today he retaliated, in fact, he even swore to the heavens that he will rise above them! How outrageous is that?
This sparked Li Bao's curiosity, and she peeked through the window to Li Bai's room. What she saw was something she didn't expect at all.
"Is he... making pills?!"
Li Bao saw her brother making pills - a thing even their father, the most intelligent in the clan, couldn't do! Their father just didn't have a strong enough soul. Who would've thought that Li Bai's soul was formidable enough to make pills! Adding to that, he was using common and shabby materials! These were seen everywhere, from their yard to even their flowerpots. To top it all off, he was doing it... in a makeshift cauldron! Everyone knew that even the most powerful pill makers were dependent on the quality of the cauldron. If they didn't have a good cauldron, they couldn't make a good pill.
"That humble cauldron, I wonder what level pills it can produce..."
Li Bao scanned the room more. When she saw it, she was in awe yet again. This once seemingly harmless brother of hers... made 10 pills already!
Li Bao wasn't sure of the quality, but when she looked closer, she saw 10 pure blue pills. She knew that pills were ranked according to their color: green, yellow, orange, red, violet, and finally, blue. The pills her brother made were of the highest quality. This almost gave her a heart attack.
Even though pill makers were scarce, pills weren't. Some higher level pills that were already used but can be used again trickled down from the powerful families. Although the level of these pills degraded to almost low level, they were still highly sought after.
When Li Bao thought about what would happen should this incident become public, she felt scared for her little brother. He would become a precious "resource" - he wouldn't even get treated as a normal human anymore. Everyone would fawn over him, and no one would interact with him normally anymore.
"If that happens... Li Bao jie-jie will be here for you..."
Inside the room, Li Bai was hard at work, easily creating pills one after another. It hadn't even been three hours yet, but he created 10 pills already. This is a monumental achievement for any normal pill maker, as the normal time needed for one pill was at least a day! To Li Bai though, this wasn't an achievement at all, but rather, a disappointment.
"As expected, not everything is related to the strength of one's soul when making pills. The level of cultivation is also taken into account. Hai, but this is the best I can do. I can't train my body at all."
A servant saw the beautiful Li Bao standing. She was the most beautiful in the entire city, everyone knew this fact. Even the most prideful girls admit defeat towards this goddess-like being.
This servant was in for a sight though, as he saw Li Bao standing outside the useless young master's room, staring inside the window. The servant was confused.
"What the...?"
Upon closer look, the servant saw her grinning. Li Bao was unconditionally getting prouder and prouder of her little brother. But of course, the servant did not know this and thought that Li Bao was stalking her brother. He came to the conclusion that Li Bao, the most beautiful girl in the city, was in love with the young master, her brother.
"What an illicit relationship!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone