Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 178 - 131: Jinghua Prefecture Falls

So, he made a direct bid, instantly pushing the auction to its climax.

"Thirty pieces of mystical items!"

The crowd froze for a moment.

At this moment, a slightly resentful gaze landed on Lu Chang’sheng.

Lu Chang’sheng looked over and realized it was Xu Zhuqing.

He gave an awkward smile, and since no one else continued bidding, he just graciously accepted the armor.

Earlier, when he had the Martial Artist Council search for mystical items, it really drained the inventories of quite a few martial artists, especially those like Xu Zhuqing who had dealings with him.

"I’ll make it up to them if I get a chance."

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

After all, these mystical items were still extremely useful to him.

Now came the second Immortal Object—a pendant.

The bidders grew even more frenzied.

After all, compared to the dimly lit armor, the pendant—despite a single crack—looked far more intact, attracting many martial artists to target this item.

In an instant, the price reached thirty mystical items.

"Damn it! If I hadn’t given Immortal Meng so many mystical items earlier, I’d have way more right now."

"Ugh, if I’d known I’d be fighting Immortal Meng, I wouldn’t have spent so many mystical items."

······

Many True Qi Realm martial artists, watching the others fight over the pendant, felt a pang of regret.

Back then, they were afraid Immortal Meng would only show up once, so they rushed to hand over all their mystical items.

Now, they deeply regretted it.

"Where the hell did Scholar Lu get so many mystical items?" At this moment, a recently eliminated True Qi Realm martial artist said sourly.

He suspected Lu Chang’sheng knew the spot where Immortal Meng stashed mystical items and went to secretly take them.

As soon as this was said, several other True Qi Realm martial artists’ eyes flickered.

If that was true, who knows if the auction could even continue.

The allure of Immortal Objects was too strong—no one was willing to let go if there was even the slightest chance.

Unexpectedly, a nearby True Qi Realm martial artist suddenly sneered, "You can drop that idea. Scholar Lu has been collecting mystical items using martial arts and silver coins for over a decade. It’s hardly a secret."

"Damn—Scholar Lu really does have foresight." That martial artist gave an awkward laugh.

That kind of talk was a spark for further speculation.

It’s easy for people to start imagining Lu Chang’sheng had advance information, or, going even further, that he had some kind of connection to Immortal Meng.

Too bad, no one backed him up.

Nobody here was stupid. Given Scholar Lu’s strength, provoking him would just land them in a different mess.

After all, there were quite a few True Qi Realm martial artists here who were on friendly terms with Lu Chang’sheng.

Soon, only three bidders remained.

The price climbed to as many as eighty mystical items.

Lu Chang’sheng was truly surprised.

But seeing one person constantly communicating with a group of True Qi Realm martial artists nearby, he instantly realized: that guy must’ve teamed up.

Same for the other one.

If they didn’t join forces, they stood no chance against Lu Chang’sheng.

Too bad for them, Lu Chang’sheng’s supply of mystical items was far greater than they’d imagined.

Soon enough, he secured the pendant with a bid of a hundred mystical items, bringing the auction to a close.

The hundred-plus mystical items from the sale, naturally, were divided up among the group.

"Perfect haul."

Lu Chang’sheng thought inwardly.

All of Meng Ping’s relics were now in his hands. Once the time was right, he could transform these things into raw power, giving him a fighting chance against Immortals.

But—before that, he might be able to scrounge together another haul of mystical items.

Lu Chang’sheng, sharp-eyed and keen-eared as ever, had already noticed the True Qi Realm martial artists talking about him earlier.

He knew many top-tier True Qi Realm martial artists weren’t aware of his mystical item collecting, so he said with a smile, "It’s true, I did collect mystical items for some time back then, but only for Immortal Worship—you all know, worshiping Immortals uses up mystical items. Now, most of mine have been spent, so I’m still in need of more."

The other True Qi Realm martial artists brushed it off.

Even the mystical items Immortal Meng was collecting were likely for other uses, so most present were eager to hang on to their mystical items and spirit medicine.

But as Lu Chang’sheng continued speaking, many True Qi Realm martial artists grew interested.

"Earlier, someone asked me why I’ve progressed so quickly with Elephant Armor Skill. After some reflection, I realized one key reason: I’m an Innate Extreme martial artist."

"The martial path is many roads leading to one. Master one art, master ten thousand. In martial arts, there’s a saying—higher-level artists learning beginner techniques can pick them up faster."

"Of course, Elephant Armor Skill is higher than Innate Martial Arts, but if you aren’t at a certain level, there’s no way you can grasp more advanced martial arts."

"It’s just like a martial artist with Great Success in Pile Skill—no matter how much he studies Innate Martial Arts, he still can’t perceive their essence."

"As for myself—not that I’m anything special—but I happen to have an Innate Martial Art on hand. If anyone’s interested, you can buy it for mystical items."

Lu Chang’sheng’s words hit these True Qi Realm martial artists right where it counted.

By his estimation, across Great Yuan, the only ones with Innate Martial Arts were the imperial family and himself.

If these folks wanted to advance, they had to get the skills from one of the two sources.

But due to information gaps, the imperial family clearly wasn’t involved in this.

The others didn’t even know that the imperial family was sitting on Innate Martial Arts.

Which meant Lu Chang’sheng was offering them a unique opportunity.

Immediately, four or five martial artists stepped forward to buy Five Elements Divine Skill from Lu Chang’sheng. To guard against them teaching it secretly, he had them all make vows.

He also told them, breaking the vow could impact their heart and mind, and cause problems in their future cultivation.

Of course, he wasn’t sure vows really worked, but as long as it gave them pause—even for three or five years—it’d be worth it.

By then, Innate Martial Dao would be old news to him, nothing of consequence.

Seeing this, the remaining few also forked over mystical items to buy Five Elements Divine Skill, allowing Lu Chang’sheng to reclaim nearly a hundred mystical items.

That night, everyone left one after another.

Hong Yuan said to Lu Chang’sheng, "Chang’sheng, I just got word—there’s trouble in Jinghua Prefecture."

Lu Chang’sheng was only mildly surprised, thinking it couldn’t be too serious. With the empress and several Innate martial artists present, surely nothing would go terribly wrong.

But once Hong Yuan spoke with a grave face, Lu Chang’sheng’s eyes widened.

Because this news was just too shocking.

Jinghua Prefecture—has fallen!

Half a month ago, several Immortals flew straight into the imperial palace and, with overwhelming force, slaughtered many palace guards.

The blood ran like rivers.

If it hadn’t been for the last-ditch effort by a handful of Innate martial artists and imperial guards, even the empress would’ve died.

"Immortals?"

"Yeah! Who else could pull this off?" Hong Yuan’s face was gloomy, his voice tinged with grief.

As the former Dean of the Martial Artist Institute, he still felt a sense of loyalty to Great Yuan—especially now, when the people and government were striving for peace and stability.

Now that these so-called Immortals had descended, all that tranquility had been shattered.

"Immortals? More like evil cultivators!" Hong Yuan spat, furious.

Evil Cultivator was a term Lu Chang’sheng coined based on his experiences from his previous life—it was meant to counter the threat of Immortal Meng. Now, Hong Yuan used it outright.

Turns out, he was right.

Lu Chang’sheng felt a sinking sensation in his chest.

The Jinghua Prefecture incident made him realize the true strength of the imperial family; if he ever came into conflict with them, he’d have no choice but to run—he simply couldn’t win.

Those Innate martial artists and all the palace guards—he alone, even as Innate Extreme, couldn’t face them head-on.

"So what do we do now?" Xu Zhuqing said, her heart and mind unsettled.

Over a decade ago, Xu Yuan resigned as Lord of Black Mountain Prefecture and joined Jinghua Prefecture’s central administration; the Xu Mansion gradually relocated to Jinghua, leaving only Xu Zhuqing and a few elders in Black Mountain Prefecture.

With Jinghua Prefecture fallen, she couldn’t help but worry about Xu Yuan’s safety.

"Lord Xu isn’t part of the imperial family. Those evil cultivators wouldn’t kill everyone—they’re basically after money. So he should be fine."

Hong Yuan added, "That’s right. I hear many ministers have fled Jinghua Prefecture. Your father’s probably among them."

"Damn, we only just had a few peaceful years, and now calamity strikes again."

Hong Yuan sighed.

Right now, he just felt utterly exhausted.

Next, everyone got busy.

Hong Yuan and Xu Zhuqing stayed in Black Mountain Prefecture to gather intel—their network was broad enough to get news either way.

Lu Chang’sheng, meanwhile, returned with the others to Lu Family Manor, bringing people into the forest so that, should the evil cultivators show up, he could avoid the worst of the attack.