Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 136 - 113: Change and the Future

"Chang’sheng, buddy, it’s almost time."

Yu Hai’s voice came from outside the house.

The time for the once-every-five-years gathering had arrived.

But this time, the meeting place had been changed to the Black Mountain Prefecture’s city.

The main reason for the change was because of Lu Chang’sheng’s strength.

Five years had passed, and even among everyone, the most talented aside from Lu Chang’sheng—Xu Zhuqing—still hadn’t reached the Innate Martial Artist stage.

The Innate stage isn’t so easy to reach.

So, because Lu Chang’sheng became Innate, it was especially remarkable.

Plus, since Hong Yuan, Guan Hongxiu, and even Daoist Ruyi were all in Black Mountain Prefecture, it made sense to hold the gathering there.

Lu Chang’sheng had someone bring a carriage, and together with Yu Hai, Guan Hongxiu, and Li Nangua, he boarded and set off toward the city.

The mountain roads from Zhao Family Village to the city weren’t easy to travel, but thankfully, no one was in a hurry.

A few days later, they arrived at the city.

The first thing Lu Chang’sheng did was go see Hong Yuan.

"These days, the Martial Artist Institute feels a lot more like the old days."

Walking through Jixia Academy, Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, like he was revisiting old haunts.

He caught up with Hong Yuan for a bit, and then the others arrived one after another.

Then they talked about their martial training, with Lu Chang’sheng naturally taking center stage.

Kong Yuzhen and the others gave all the martial arts they’d gathered recently to Lu Chang’sheng, some even from the Saint Institute in Jinghua Prefecture.

Lu Chang’sheng was genuinely delighted and shared his martial arts training experiences from the past few years.

Afterward, he noticed everyone giving him complicated looks.

"What’s up? Is something wrong?" He looked at everyone, puzzled.

In the end, it was Hong Yuan who shook his head with a wry smile and said, "You’re improving too fast. Makes us feel like we can’t keep up."

They were all still stuck in the True Qi Realm, while Lu Chang’sheng had already surpassed even the Innate Martial Artist level, leaping ahead again—no wonder they felt immense pressure.

Lu Chang’sheng could only laugh it off, thinking to himself, Guess from now on at these gatherings, I’d better keep my progress to myself.

No need to discourage everyone.

They spent half a month exchanging insights about the Martial Dao, then finally discussed seeking immortality.

Since those odd items from last time didn’t work for the Immortal Worship Ceremony, they could only try different artifacts.

Almost everyone had tried several different objects for the Immortal Worship Ceremony, so they’d all share their experiences, just to get a better sense of things.

In the end, they chose two items as the new artifacts for the ritual, then planned to attempt it five days later.

But still, they failed.

This time’s ceremony was even less eventful than the last one.

Everyone sighed and went their separate ways.

On the way back to Zhao Family Village, Yu Hai found Lu Chang’sheng and said, "You know, I think that Kong Fei doesn’t really care much about chasing immortality anymore. I bet she won’t come next time!"

Lu Chang’sheng nodded.

He’d noticed, too, that Kong Fei seemed impatient during the ritual this time around.

Looks like she had something else on her mind.

"Everyone gets to choose their own path. This immortality business—there’s no guarantee of success, so it’s normal for some people to walk away."

"Yeah, I know... but honestly, after the old folks gave us so much, it just feels weird for the group to break up like this." Yu Hai clearly cared more about the friendships.

The group returned to the village.

That night, Lu Chang’sheng felt a wave of heat stir inside him, and when he glanced at the Light Curtain Panel, he saw his root bone talent had increased a bit again.

"Still at the genius level... Guess from here on out, until the main root bone hits 10, my talent rank probably won’t visibly change anymore."

But even if the display didn’t change, his talent was definitely improving.

Where it used to take six or seven days to master an ordinary pile skill, now it took just a few hours.

"Now I can max out a regular pile skill within a single day—no way anyone else can keep up with that, right?"

Lu Chang’sheng’s anxiety over the failed pursuit of immortality eased quite a bit.

If things kept going like this, in ten or so years he’d reach a truly formidable level.

But there was one thing that really weighed on his mind.

His parents’ age.

The two of them were already in their seventies. Especially Mr. Lu—ever since he accidentally fell from a chair last year, his health had never fully recovered. Even with Lu Chang’sheng using the best medical techniques, it wasn’t enough.

Lu Chang’sheng knew this was a matter of lifespan—not something ordinary medicine could fix.

For that, he’d need the Immortal Dao.

"Just wait a little longer—once I reach Late Innate, I can try Old Wolf’s method!"

Lu Chang’sheng felt truly torn up inside.

Ever since last time, Old Wolf hadn’t shown up again.

And the method he’d mentioned was actually meant for Li Nangua.

Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help worrying—if he secretly used that method for his own ritual and failed, wouldn’t he be cutting off Li Nangua’s chance at immortal fate?

That night, back in the house.

Li Nangua was playing with their younger son, Lu Ziyou.

Three years ago, the two of them had a second son and named him Lu Ziyou.

When it came to naming kids, he’d never really cared much, as long as it wasn’t something embarrassing.

That’s why his oldest son’s name ended up so similar to his own.

He just didn’t care.

And now, with their second son, Lu Ziyou, it was the same.

Lu Ziyou was sitting on the floor, giggling as Li Nangua played with him, his chubby little face glowing with happiness.