Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 150 - 119: Nangua’s Encounter

The so-called Communication Technique involves using objects intimately connected to oneself as the spiritual medium for carrying out the spell.

It’s usually crafted for juniors by elders in the Immortal Sect; once an urgent matter arises, you can activate the object via the Immortal Worship Technique, and then return to the Immortal Sect.

Of course, that’s just the standard use.

You can also use it to communicate with Immortals, trade items, or get lessons in Immortal Techniques.

Take those monsters, for example—they’ll scatter the medium among mortals to lure greedy folk into their territory, and then devour them.

Granted, in the Spirit Realm, few monsters dare try it, because if the medium falls into Immortal Sect hands, it’ll be a huge problem for them.

"In the Great Yuan world, since there are no Immortal Sect folk, monsters there have far fewer scruples and toss out mediums at will."

Lu Chang’sheng gave a small smile.

These years, the Martial Artist Council has grown ever more formidable, and the only job Lu Chang’sheng set for them was to hunt for strange objects.

"In the Spirit Realm, most Immortal Sects have monster-hunting missions. When the time comes, all those mediums turn into spirit stones!"

With the Council’s help, Lu Chang’sheng has gathered at least a hundred exotic items over the years.

He’s just about swept the entire Great Yuan clean of anything odd.

Only a few factions still had a handful left that he hadn’t gotten his hands on.

"You gotta let people drink a little soup, at least."

Lu Chang’sheng didn’t care to stir up public outrage, so he didn’t go in with any iron-fisted, thunderous tactics.

That empress, in recent years, has been winning public favor and moral backing by appeasing and nurturing her citizens; if he went wild, she’d definitely take issue with it.

Lu Chang’sheng isn’t afraid, but he had to consider his family.

"With the Spirit Realm and Great Yuan about to merge, it’s better not to get too flashy."

Even if it’s still another decade, Lu Chang’sheng feels like there’s not much time left.

"Still, lately, new strange objects have been popping up more and more often; I wonder if the two realms are picking up some kind of resonance?"

According to Nangua, the closer the realms are, the better the odds for those monsters scraping by in the chaotic spatial currents.

They can up the rate at which they send out mediums.

Or maybe dial it back.

Anything could happen.

And there’s something else.

Once the two realms merge, it’s going to be a massive test for the Great Yuan world.

Compared to the Spirit Realm, Great Yuan is just dust drifting in the heavens, always shifting positions; if luck runs cold and it lands somewhere dangerous, Great Yuan might face annihilation.

On the bright side, Li Nangua previously mapped out the Spirit Realm’s surrounding realm, and there’s not many dangerous spots; as long as luck isn’t abysmal, most likely it’ll be fine.

The only thing to watch for after the merger is the man-made risks.

Back at the hillside where the troop of monkeys lives, Lu Chang’sheng let Lu Chang’an and Lu Ziyou take Vermilion Fruit, successfully raising both to the True Qi Realm; that way, he could rest easy letting them roam abroad.

Come nighttime, he excitedly pulled out the Sound Transmission Shell, and finally got Li Nangua’s voice on the other end.

Turns out, she’d been off on a task with a few Daoist friends, hunting down a monster, so she hadn’t had time to reply.

Hearing her story, Lu Chang’sheng felt a pang in his heart.

He cautioned, "Be careful on missions—if you can avoid them, do."

If you walk along the riverbank, your shoes are bound to get wet.

He really didn’t want Nangua to run into some freak accident one day.

"Got it! By the way—I’ve got something for you."

Lu Chang’sheng furrowed his brow in confusion.

Something for me?

We’re not even in the same world—how?

Before he could finish the thought, a flash of bright light erupted from the Sound Transmission Shell, and then a note appeared before Lu Chang’sheng, bathed in that glow.

In the next instant, the note transformed into a jade vial.

"What kind of magic is this?"

"It’s another flavor of the Immortal Worship Technique, but since it’s just a little trinket, the cost isn’t high and the requirements aren’t so strict."

Lu Chang’sheng opened the jade vial—inside sat another Longevity Pill.

"Chang’sheng, you better wait for me to come get you."

"I will!" Lu Chang’sheng’s heart warmed. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

He hadn’t expected Li Nangua to go out of her way, using magic, to send him a Longevity Pill.

"Even if the cost isn’t huge, it’s still a big deal, right?"

If it was really as easy as Nangua made it sound, she wouldn’t have waited till now to send it over.

"It’s fine—I’m not short on spirit stones these days."

Lu Chang’sheng could only half-believe and let the matter rest.

Honestly, what he really wanted was a technique from the Spirit Realm, but even Li Nangua couldn’t manage that.

"The requirements for passing on a technique are sky-high. With my current strength, I can’t do it."

Seeing her answer, Lu Chang’sheng didn’t push her any further.

After hearing back from Li Nangua, his mood soared.

"Tomorrow, I’ll make a trip down to Jinghua Prefecture!"

If you asked what was left in the Great Yuan world that still held his interest, aside from strange objects, it had to be the Saint Institute’s library.

Word is, the Saint Institute has a special department that crafts pills for the royal clan. This trip is to pay them a visit and swap alchemy tips.

······

Spirit Realm.

Fuyun Mountain.

Inside a cave manor’s courtyard, when Li Nangua heard that Lu Chang’sheng had received the pill, she immediately stepped forward to give thanks.

"Thank you, Elder Linghua."

Standing in front was a woman with delicate features, but she wasn’t the Elder Linghua Li Nangua referred to—she was the steward, responsible for managing all affairs in the Linghua Cave Mansion.

Linghua is a Foundation Establishment grand cultivator, and even among the immortals of Fuyun Mountain, she’s a big deal.

Immortals of that tier rarely step outside—one meditation retreat can last years, even a dozen years. Naturally, she wouldn’t show up in person to see Li Nangua, a Fuyun Mountain newbie.

"Immortal Linghua said, no need for thanks—this is just the payment she promised you."

Ten years ago, Fairy Linghua needed a rather special ingredient for alchemy. It wasn’t a high-grade item, just troublesome to obtain, so she offered a favor as the reward.

It hung on the mission stone for ages without a taker—until the new arrival, Li Nangua, accepted it.

She spent eight whole years to finally finish the task.

Watching Li Nangua leave, the Linghua Cave steward shook her head.

The mission was to cultivate an Eight Spirits Flower.

Raising the Eight Spirits Flower is a real headache—it needs to be nurtured with pure magical power.

But typically, a cultivator’s magical power is tinged by their spirit root attribute, so it’s not truly pure.

The only way is to use magic to refine your power.

The effort required is staggering.

Condensing pure magic like that is bound to impact your own cultivation.

With so many disciples on Fuyun Mountain, few are bold enough to take this mission—the hit to cultivation is one factor; the slim odds of success is another.

No one expected a rookie to take it on.

And actually pull it off.

"Only, Fairy Yunxia is not going to be pleased about this."

The steward shook her head.

Fairy Yunxia, like Fairy Linghua, is also a Foundation Establishment grand cultivator. Years ago, she took Li Nangua as her disciple.

But she’s got a tough personality; not only is she strict with disciples, she’s also fussy about rules, and among the Fuyun Mountain grand masters, she’s not very popular.

For newcomers like Li Nangua, the moment they come under her wing, Yunxia will always require them to boost their cultivation within a set time frame.

By doing this, Li Nangua was bound to get on Yunxia’s bad side.

At the end of the day, that’s not Fairy Linghua’s problem.

Grand masters don’t need to fret about each other.

Sure enough, that very afternoon, a figure shot over like a streak of crimson cloud, revealing Fairy Yunxia.

She immediately confronted Fairy Linghua, demanding to know why she’d made her disciple take on such a task. Then, the two began a magical duel in midair, red clouds tangled with flower petals everywhere.

For miles around, the area was awash in energy from the two grand masters’ battle.

It finally took several more Foundation Establishment cultivators mediating before they separated.

Since Yunxia didn’t have the stronger argument, she couldn’t get the upper hand; in the end, all her anger landed squarely on Li Nangua.

"You’re not welcome as my disciple—you can just leave!"

Li Nangua hadn’t expected things to end this way.

Since joining, she’d never even met Fairy Yunxia; she didn’t know there was such a rule in her sect, but she knew—arguing with Yunxia was pointless. So, apologizing, she departed and became an ordinary disciple of Fuyun Mountain.