Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 224 - 154: Target—White Cloud Cave Mansion

Chapter 224: Chapter 154: Target—White Cloud Cave Mansion

"As for your wife, I’ve heard a bit about her situation. It seems her master expelled her from her sect, so now she’s just an outer sect cultivator at Fuyun Mountain."

"Outer sect cultivator?"

"Outer sect cultivators barely count as half disciples of Fuyun Mountain. They have more of a cooperative relationship with the mountain."

Very quickly, Lu Chang’sheng figured out the details regarding these outer sect disciples of Fuyun Mountain.

To put it simply, they are a group of cultivators who once trained at Fuyun Mountain but, for various reasons, withdrew from the mountain’s core. Aside from still being able to cultivate on Fuyun Mountain’s spirit veins, they basically get none of the other disciples’ benefits.

Hearing this, Lu Chang’sheng felt heavyhearted.

Leaving the shop, he took Lu Chang’an and Lu Ziyou back to the inn. After resting the whole night, they went into their room.

The lamps were blazing bright.

Even the shabbiest inn could keep an ever-burning lamp lit, and here in the corridor they even had something called a "fish glue lamp."

These lamps were said to be made by refining a special kind of monster, and when lit, they filled the air with a sandalwood-like scent that was calming and soothing.

But at this moment, all three in the room found it hard to calm their hearts.

"Mother definitely isn’t having it easy over there. Let’s go find her as soon as we can!"

Lu Ziyou spoke up.

"We’d like to go right away too, but that’s just not realistic."

Lu Chang’an shook his head, his face full of worry.

Originally, they had planned to go through the Zhu Family to get to Fuyun Mountain, but now, that route was clearly gone.

Without the Zhu Family, they didn’t know how long it would be before they could reach the lands of Fuyun Mountain.

"We don’t have many spirit stones left. Otherwise, maybe we could look into some other ways."

Lu Chang’sheng silently nodded to himself.

Lu Chang’an was thoughtful and, along with Nangua, was just as sharp-minded as Lu Chang’sheng.

After all, he was someone who’d made it to advanced scholar on his own; back in Great Yuan, many scholars agreed that Lu Chang’an was very much like his father and had the makings of a top scholar.

Unfortunately, just like Lu Chang’sheng, a few years after passing the exam he got caught up in the evil cultivator mess and had his academic road cut off.

Seeing both of them looking stressed, Lu Chang’sheng suddenly said, "Looks like I’ll need to make a trip to the White Cloud Cave Mansion."

"It’s been a while... I’m not sure if Mother can hold on over there..." Lu Ziyou blurted out.

The alchemy test at White Cloud Cave Mansion was held once every five years, and the next one was less than half a year away. So Lu Ziyou figured their father wanted to wait for the next five-year test.

But Lu Chang’sheng shook his head. "Half a year is doable."

Lu Chang’an and Lu Ziyou were both startled.

Lu Chang’sheng had mentioned it before, but they’d thought he was joking.

They knew a bit about their father’s alchemy skill, but the Spirit Realm was a whole different world from Great Yuan, and with less than half a year until the next White Cloud Cave Mansion test...

Going from crafting basic pills to making proper, recognized grade-alchemy pills wasn’t easy at all.

At first, they hadn’t thought too much about it. But lately, after going out to help Lu Chang’sheng buy materials and dealing with other cultivators, they found that several people who sold them alchemy material were quick to give passionate advice: Don’t do alchemy if you can help it.

Because it’s just not worth the pain!

"Do we really have to act so soon?" Lu Chang’an couldn’t help licking his lips. For a moment, he felt his lips go dry.

Earlier, Lu Chang’sheng had handed over part of the family money for him to manage.

So he’d become extremely sensitive about spending.

Entry tests cost money.

One try cost 100 low-grade spirit stones, and win or lose, you didn’t get your money back.

"We really don’t have many spirit stones left."

"I’ll figure something out."

Lu Chang’sheng took a deep breath and spoke.

"C-level alchemy talent is nice and all, but to get a proper pill up to a passable standard takes plenty of resources, effort, and time."

Lu Chang’sheng glanced at his data panel.

Compared to when he’d just arrived in the Spirit Realm, there was more info on it now.

"Alchemy: Qi Storage Pill (Grade One, Low): Time to entry, 2 years.

Time to minor achievement, 10 years.

Time to great success, 32 years. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Time to perfection, 100 years.

The Qi Storage Pill is the most widely used cultivating pill for those in Qi Cultivation realm—always in demand, but the profit margin drops compared to rarer, more unique pills.

"Because I have some skill in alchemy and decent talent, my entry time is much shorter."

Lu Chang’sheng had already checked: If you could get a pill to entry-level proficiency, you could barely make money—though, of course, you might also lose money.

Still, even so, among Qi Cultivators, only a tiny fraction ever get a pill formula up to entry level.

The White Cloud Cave Mansion’s past tests have all required entry mastery of a pill formula.

"The two years is based on my regular method. If I pull out all the stops, I could cut the time down."

Before, due to lack of spirit stones, he’d been extra cautious with variables.

Now, there was no other way except to go all in.

"The next while’s going to be tough on you two." Lu Chang’sheng looked at his sons.

"It’s alright, Father. You’ve got it even harder; we’re glad we can help."

Lu Ziyou and Lu Chang’an said.

Lu Chang’sheng felt truly comforted. His two kids really did carry on the good family ways, saving him countless worries.

"If I can, I’ll still try to get them into a good Immortal Sect. Even if they can’t become Foundation-level or higher cultivators, at least they’d have a better shot at a long life."

The next day, the three of them left Platinum Immortal City, traveling dozens of miles before settling down in a small marketplace.

Marketplaces weren’t allowed near Platinum Immortal City, so they’d had to walk that far.

As soon as they left the Immortal City, the air felt immediately worse. Their bodies felt uncomfortable.

It was because the Spiritual Qi in the air suddenly dropped off.

Lu Chang’an and Lu Ziyou didn’t feel it much—they hadn’t started down the path of cultivation yet, so their sense of Spiritual Qi was dull. Lu Chang’sheng, on the other hand, felt like a fish yanked from deep water into a shallow pool—unbearably suffocating.

Thankfully, with time, he gradually adjusted.

Once they were settled, Lu Chang’sheng immediately began refining Qi Storage Pills.

Lu Chang’an, meanwhile, commuted daily to Platinum Immortal City. Lu Ziyou, now at Innate Martial Artist level, became a Warrior thanks to accepting low wages.

Every day at the docks, he hauled cargo—monthly pay was about ten low-grade spirit stones.

Of course, if you couldn’t take the drudgery, you could always go into the wild to hunt monsters and sell the raw materials.

But most Warriors wouldn’t do that—anywhere with monsters was incredibly dangerous for Qi Cultivators at the initial stage. One wrong move and you could lose your life.

Meanwhile, Lu Chang’an found a job minding a shop.

During that time, he managed to hit it off with a rather capable female loose cultivator, who helped him get a post at a shop. His job was to keep the place clean and sometimes greet customers when the shopkeeper was away.

Still, he was too embarrassed to tell Lu Chang’sheng directly—so every month, the Lu Family suddenly had an extra few dozen low-grade spirit stones in their income.

Luckily, with Lu Chang’an handling the money for now, he didn’t have to explain himself much.

Just like that, three months went by in a flash.

Platinum Immortal City entered winter.

"Heard that Master Lu and several Foundation Establishment cultivators traveled to other regions to spend the winter!"

"Seriously? A Foundation Establishment expert needs to do that?"

"No choice—there’s precedent here in Platinum Immortal City. If that kind of freezing wind blows again, Foundation Establishment cultivators won’t really get hurt, but their bodies still get uncomfortable, right?"

"Nature’s power really is incredible—sometimes terrifying!"

Inside a tavern at the market, Lu Chang’sheng and his two sons ate while listening to all kinds of odd tales from the other customers.

Frozen Spirit Winds had swept through this region of Platinum Immortal City more than a few times before. Even Foundation-level Spirit Arrays couldn’t hold them back.

Funny enough, it was sometimes the most common things that helped block the chill.

So, when winter approached, any pampered cultivator would take off for other regions till spring.