Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 147 - 117: In That Year of ’49, The Current State of the Lu Family

Chapter 147: Chapter 117: In That Year of ’49, The Current State of the Lu Family

Made countless people drop their jaws in shock.

After all, in the previous few years, the Empress’s faction had absolutely stolen the spotlight amid their struggle with the traditional side—their martial prowess was impressive, earning her the title of Martial Emperor of Great Yuan.

Yet a figure like that went out of her way to build an official road of little actual value, all for a former top scholar.

It was straight-up mind-boggling.

Many who had no idea what was really going on dug around through all sorts of channels, and only then did they get the Empress’s reasoning.

Turns out, Lu Family Manor’s Scholar Lu had shattered the True Qi barrier years ago, becoming an Innate Martial Artist.

With someone like that, just how high had he climbed now?

Just imagining it was scary.

In Jinghua Prefecture there were even people who compared Scholar Lu to that legendary Innate Genius Lin Daosheng.

Lu Family Manor, now famous across the land, naturally drew hordes of admirers.

They didn’t dare disturb Scholar Lu’s personal life, so could only settle down in villages several kilometers around the manor, just to catch a glimpse of his elegance. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After a few years of this, a new cluster of villages sprang up around Lu Family Manor—much bigger than the old Zhao Family Village.

The Lu Mansion in the center formed its own distinct district, standing out like a crane among chickens.

And Lu Haozi, in these ten years, averaged about five new concubines a year, growing the Lu Mansion’s family tree in all directions.

By now, he had at least fifty children under his roof.

Mr. and Mrs. Lu were completely numb at this point.

Luckily, thanks to Lu Chang’sheng’s careful orchestration, half a year ago, Lu Haozi married a new concubine—the daughter of a seventh-rank official from Black Mountain Prefecture’s city.

This woman’s temperament was pretty much like Guan Fu’s granddaughter—tough, bold, not afraid to cause a stir, well-versed in high family rules; soon after joining, she had Lu Haozi, his dozens of concubines, and official wife Ma Xiaocao all firmly in hand.

Only then was Lu Haozi’s runaway concubine situation finally put on pause.

What’s more, this lady was sharp—she knew Lu Chang’sheng had expectations for her, so she didn’t stir up any drama, and actually managed everything in Lu Mansion thoroughly. Total housekeeper material.

Seeing this, Lu Chang’sheng handed over the entire inner residence to her, so he could immerse himself wholeheartedly in cultivation.

Ten years ago, he began studying alchemy under Guan Hongxiu, and in less than half a year, mastered alchemy to the point of great success.

Knowing alchemy relies on grinding through years of practice, reaching the Great Success Realm in such a short time was just too freaky—he decided not to let his teacher know about it.

Otherwise, who could say how Guan Hongxiu would react?

The old man wasn’t young, and even with top-notch True Qi, he couldn’t muster much of it anymore.

Lu Chang’sheng worried that if he wasn’t careful, he’d crush his teacher’s spirit to death—now that’d be failing Elder Guan big time.

"Martial Dao draws on the power of flesh and blood, so even if your True Qi is far richer than before, you can’t bring out your peak strength."

Lu Chang’sheng, now at the pinnacle of Martial Dao, was well aware of the path’s limitations.

Some people who practiced especially explosive Pile Skill techniques got affected even worse after their peak years.

That’s why martial artists who spend their lives fighting in armies often don’t live that long.

He glanced at the light curtain panel.

"Name: Lu Chang’sheng"

"Age: 49/120"

"Root Bone (Main): 9/10 [Unknown]"

"Root Bone (Side): 9/9 [Martial Dao, Genius, Next Tier Talent: None]"

······

"Method: Five Elements Divine Skill (Great Success), Five Treasures True Skill (Great Success)······"

"Technique: Alchemy (Great Success), Wandering Dragon Body Technique (Great Success)······"

"Less than half a year left before I hit fifty," Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself, a deep anticipation stirring inside.

With half a year, his main Root Bone would reach a full ten points. Who knows, maybe a Spirit Root talent would awaken then.

He looked up, fiddling with the object in front of him—a huge pill furnace.

All these years, he’s kept collecting medical knowledge, tinkering with and improving alchemy, trying to push it to another level.

As for Five Elements Divine Skill, he’d run smack into a wall—no matter how much he expanded his martial repertoire, he couldn’t break through.

One method through, all methods through.

Soon after perfecting Five Elements Divine Skill, he realized that all the martial arts sent to him by the Martial Artist Council—even True Qi level ones—he could see traces of Five Elements Divine Skill in them.

If Five Elements Divine Skill was a spring, all those martial arts were just streams flowing from the same source.

At their core, they belonged to the spring.

Lu Chang’sheng tried out dozens of martial arts, but had to admit that none of them held any real value for him anymore.

Instead, the "technique" side of things looked nowhere near maxed out.

Technique and method are fundamentally different; technique is skill, method taps the underlying power.

So technique is way easier to comprehend than method.

Had it been ten years ago, Lu Chang’sheng wouldn’t have been able to pierce the fog holding him back—but ever since his Root Bone talent hit eight, that mist started to gradually lift.

He felt enlightened: after Great Success, techniques could be pushed to a brand-new level.

So for the next stretch, he separated himself from method cultivation and dove into techniques.

Blade arts, spear arts, body techniques—all manner of "technique."

Naturally, what Lu Chang’sheng valued most was alchemy.

"No matter blade arts, spear arts, body techniques—they don’t hold a candle to immortal techniques."

These years, he exchanged messages several times with Nangua through the Sound Transmission Shell, consulting about Spirit Realm cultivation.

But cross-realm communication burned resources fast; Li Nangua didn’t say much.

He only said: "Martial Dao doesn’t compare to Immortal Dao."

Lu Chang’sheng bristled a bit at that.

He always liked Martial Dao more than Immortal Dao.

In the novels of his past life, "attaining immortality through martial arts, conquering immortals with martial power"—that’s all the rage. How come Martial Dao fell short in this world?

Just then, Li Nangua apparently picked up on his attitude, and didn’t mind shelling out extra to explain: "Martial Dao and Immortal Dao aren’t split the way you think. Immortal Dao is just Martial Dao at a higher level—when Martial Dao attains immortality, it isn’t Martial Dao anymore; it’s Immortal Dao!"

Lu Chang’sheng went silent.

Clearly, Immortal Dao in this world wasn’t as narrow as in some of those old novels.

If you could become an Immortal by cultivating it, it was Immortal Dao.

If you couldn’t, it was just a mundane technique.

Lu Chang’sheng had tons of questions, but with Sound Transmission Shell usage being pricey, they barely got to chat once a year, so they couldn’t waste time on exposition.

"How’s life over there? Need more spirit stones?"

"Anyone bullying you?"

······

Simple, homely words, but they made Li Nangua over on the other end ridiculously happy.

"Doing fine—not short on spirit stones, and just recently I took Fairy Yunxia as my master. She gave me a bunch, otherwise I’d never be able to afford this shell."

"Master Yunxia is really good to me. Once you reach the Spirit Realm, you’ll meet her too."

"No one bullies me—my master’s a major cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm, so of course everyone gives her respect."

"Mm~ How are Chang’an and Ziyou? Do they still remember their mother?"

"Of course they do! If they dare forget, I’ll spank their butts!"

This line was practically a must every time.

And whenever Lu Chang’sheng used the Sound Transmission Shell each year, he’d have the two brothers hurry home to chat with Li Nangua.

Lu Ziyou was fine, still young, but Lu Chang’an felt pretty awkward about it.

Hearing his parents’ banter, he’d reluctantly say, "Dad, I’m not a little kid anymore—how could I forget what my own mother looks like?"

He’s in his twenties already, with Advanced Scholar status, and thanks to Lu Chang’sheng’s reputation, the Empress’s faction favors him greatly. He’s already a seventh-rank official. For an Advanced Scholar his age to hold such a post is vanishingly rare.

And considering he still has a shot at the top scholar exam and could be reassigned afterward—he might well go even higher.

At this level, wherever you go, you’re somebody, so hearing his old man threaten to "spank his butt" left him embarrassed and stranded.

"Tsk tsk, look at you—starting to get a little attitude?" Lu Chang’sheng glared.

Good thing, at this point, Li Nangua would always interject: "Give the kid a break! Don’t bully him like that!"

Lu Chang’sheng would break into a wide grin and let it drop.