"Look at me," said Brother Rou, gesturing to his body. "This is the result of my pursuit of immortality. I can't get up, work, or go to the bathroom on my own. My grandfather isn't always here to take care of me. When I need to use the bathroom and he's not home, I have no choice but to soil myself." He gritted his teeth. "It's so humiliating!"

Fang Ruxue looked at him with calm eyes. She understood that he was trying to warn her. She had never considered that becoming a cultivator could leave someone crippled, and it was surprising, though not unexpected. Cultivators transformed their very bodies and souls, and any misstep could result in catastrophic damage. Fang Ruxue admitted it was a frightening thought. She couldn't imagine being helpless in bed, unable to walk or even get up. However, while she appreciated his warning, she had already steeled her resolve. She had seen her family slaughtered by an unfeeling cultivator and had decided to pursue power not only for revenge but also to protect her new family. She would become a cultivator, whether Brother Rou or even Liu Xing wanted her to or not.

With eyes that shone with sharp focus, Fang Ruxue nodded. "I appreciate your warning, Brother Rou. However, my life is my own. And for now, I intend to become a cultivator."

"Someday, you'll regret your decision."

Fang Ruxue heard the unspoken words "like me" at the end of his sentence.

For a moment, they gazed at each other, their eyes cold and full of conviction, as if fighting with their stares alone. After a while, Brother Rou averted his eyes and sighed. "What information do you want?"

Fang Ruxue decided she had won their small battle of wills. In an instant, she wiped the serious expression from her face and flashed him a warm smile. "I'm not from this island, so I want to know the power structure of this city in detail. I know that this city is split between three powerhouses: the Jin clan, the Qing clan, and the Academy. However, I also know that the governor holds power."

At first glance, it seemed easy to grasp, but the more information she gathered, the more confusing the city's power balance became. For instance, while the governor technically ruled all of Water Tower City, the clans held more power in specific locations. However, there was no clear border where their influence began or ended. It was akin to several rocks being thrown into a still lake, their ripples overlapping. Moreover, there was the Academy. On paper, it was a neutral place where the clans and the government had no hold, but from the information she had gathered, the principal of the Academy actually had considerable influence in the city.

Brother Rou nodded. "In the past, the governor was affiliated with the Jin clan. But, about twenty years ago, he began distancing himself from them. At first, many people thought he would soon be dead, but he was smart, cunning, and talented. He built his own power and his own army, and nowadays, he's considered the fourth powerhouse in this city."

"How about the Academy?" she asked.

"As far as I know, they are neutral as a whole, but the teachers have their own relationships and influence with the different powerhouses."

"I see," she nodded. "I assume this means that in terms of power, they are all equal?"

"If you ask the Jin clan, they will tell you that they are the strongest. The Qing clan would argue that they are stronger. The governor would say that, power-wise, the clans are stronger, but he has influence over the whole city. However, if you ask the Academy, they will say that their influence is the greatest because they nurture the future powerhouses within their gates."

She pinched her chin. "So, are they all equal?"

"In a way, yes," he nodded, "though comparing all of them at the same time is like comparing four different fruits."

"What if we disregard the Academy and the government?"

"Between the Jin and Qing clans, I would say that the Jin clan has more members, but the Qing clan has better combatants. If they fought, it's hard to say who would win. But personally, I would hope the Qing clan would win."

She nodded. Whatever had happened to Brother Rou had happened within the Jin clan, so it was clear he held a grudge against them. Fang Ruxue rubbed her chin, trying to catalog all of this information. What he said was more or less what she had gathered from people in the market, but it was nice to have it confirmed by Brother Rou. After all, he was more familiar with the clans and the cultivators within the city. As she organized the information in her mind, she began to imagine a conflict erupting between all the powerhouses and Liu Xing. Power-wise, she imagined the Academy and the governor would not be problems for Liu Xing. While their influence was great, he would win in a direct confrontation. As for the clans, she had already seen how easily Liu Xing could decimate large numbers of people, which meant quality was more troublesome than quantity. Hence, the Qing clan was the more dangerous enemy.

"Is that all?" Brother Rou asked.

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"Ah, no, there are many things I want to ask, for example—"

Fang Ruxue began to ask about the strongest person in each powerhouse, and Brother Rou gladly listed them. However, while she asked this question, she didn't really care about the answer. She was using it to mask her true question, which she asked after Brother Rou answered her queries about their territories, the shops each clan owned, the number of soldiers the governor commanded, and many more.

The question was simple. "I heard that pills are a key resource for cultivation. Is that true? And between the Jin and Qing clans, who do you consider to produce better and more pills?"

Since Liu Xing was trying to get a specific pill, it was likely that this pill belonged to one of the powerhouses. After all, a pill was not something that occurred naturally; it was created by a person. So, the likelihood that this pill was currently in the possession of one of the clans was higher than, say, an individual pill maker within the city.

Brother Rou crossed his arms. "It's the Jin clan, without a doubt. If I'm not mistaken, there are at least ten alchemists within the Jin clan, while there are only one or two within the Qing clan. And regarding pills as a key resource for cultivation, you're absolutely correct. There are myriad pills in this world. Many contain potent qi and can increase your cultivation, some make you stronger, some unlock your potential, and many more. In fact, the reason I'm crippled is because of a pill."

"What kind of pill was that?" she asked, a little curious about Brother Rou's condition.

"It's a pill called the Flawless Heart Pill. It's a valuable reward given to those who contribute the most to the clan. Its effect is miraculous. Once you consume it, you achieve a clear and calm state of mind. It's perfect for increasing your chances of breaking through to the next realm." He balled his hands, though he successfully reined in his emotions. "There were only two candidates who had a chance of obtaining this pill. One of them was me, and so, to determine the winner, we fought. Unfortunately, my opponent was the patriarch's nephew, and he hated me to the bone. So he humiliated me and, in the end, crippled me."

Fang Ruxue schooled her expression. When she heard that the pill had crippled him, she had imagined that Brother Rou had eaten it and that some mischance had caused it to wreak havoc inside him. The truth was quite different from her imagination.

"Brother Rou, if the Jin clan has better and more numerous alchemists, shouldn't that clan have taken over this whole city by now?"

He had said that pills were the key resource for cultivation, and she understood the concept. It was a resource that could either make a cultivator stronger outright or have a miraculous effect that would aid them in becoming stronger. If the Jin clan truly dominated this aspect, they could raise more powerful cultivators.

"It's not that simple. To create even a single pill, an alchemist needs to procure many, many herbs. Some of them are rare, and some are outright impossible to get if you're not from one of the great sects. The Jin clan does indeed have more alchemists and more pills. But that's meaningless if they don't have the herbs and materials to make better, high-quality pills. Coincidentally, while they have more alchemists, the Qing clan actually has more and easier access to valuable herbs, so in the end, it balances out."

"How about the most valuable pills within the Jin and Qing clans? Do you know about them?" she asked.

"Ah, that's secret information known only to the most important people within the clan, as well as the one who makes them. But there are lots of rumors about miraculous pills. One was so absurd that I thought it was a legend. It's about a pill that steals from heaven itself. Rumor has it that a person who eats this pill would have their innate talent increased."

Fang Ruxue furrowed her brows.

"You seem confused. Understandable. After all, you're a mortal. You wouldn't know the importance of innate talent and why this pill is legendary. You see, a person's innate talent is settled from the moment they are born. Some people have high innate talent, but some do not. It is what determines how high a cultivator can reach."

She tried to digest his words. "So, it's some kind of ceiling on your capability as a cultivator?"

"Yes," he nodded. "A lot of people have no innate talent to reach the Core Splitting realm. It's a high realm that only a handful of people can achieve. However, in the grand scheme of things, it is merely the second realm on the path to immortality."

"So, in conclusion, people with no innate talent to reach the Core Splitting realm will never become a Core Splitting realm cultivator?"

"Ah, no," he shook his head. "Talent is one thing; resources are another. It's possible for a person with low innate talent to achieve a higher realm with sufficient resources. However, innate talent is like the width and depth of a river. The wider and deeper it is, the more water it can handle, which means a deep and wide river can fill a lake faster than a small stream. Some pills and treasures can make the current faster, but the width and depth of the river—a person's innate talent—is determined at birth. Increasing your talent forcefully would be akin to rebelling against heaven, since it is heaven that decides your innate talent at birth. And so, this pill, which is rumored to increase one's innate talent, is considered a heaven-defying pill. Consuming it would make you face a lightning tribulation, but if you succeed in consuming it and surviving the tribulation, you would surely change your fate."

Fang Ruxue's heart hammered inside her chest as she listened to Brother Rou's explanation. She finally understood the implication of such a pill. To simplify it in her head, she imagined talent as the family that births and raises you. People with high innate talent were like those born to rich parents, while people with low innate talent were like those born to poor parents. Of course, in the real world, a poor person could become rich and vice versa, but if she ignored that, it all made sense. Increasing one's talent was akin to changing one's financial condition from poor to rich. And as a rich person, you would have more chances to become successful in life. In this case, success was becoming an immortal.

If she could get that pill...

She shook her head. She couldn't get ahead of herself. While something like that was valuable, she wasn't even a cultivator yet. She couldn't think that far ahead. However, perhaps, just perhaps, this was the pill that Liu Xing sought.

"Brother Rou," she said, "give me all the information you have about that heaven-defying pill."

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