Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 275 - 178: Peach Blossom Banquet, Perfect Qi Storage Pill!

Chapter 275: Chapter 178: Peach Blossom Banquet, Perfect Qi Storage Pill!

He had already met one of the two requirements to become a Grade B Alchemist; the only thing left was to increase his cultivation.

For Lu Chang’sheng, reaching mid-stage Qi Cultivation was a massive hurdle—his Spirit Root Talent greatly restricted his ability to break through realms.

Fortunately, his progress on the Alchemy Dao was still surging forward at a rapid pace.

Over the span of a year, his mastery in refining the Qi Storage Pill had reached a rather advanced level.

He was getting closer and closer to perfection.

This was thanks to his relentless acquisition of Jade Scrolls on Alchemy and his habit of maxing out his daily pill refining practice sessions.

By now, through a little over a year, half of the Platinum Immortal City’s marketplace had begun passing around stories about him. He’d even single-handedly driven up the price of Jade Scrolls on Alchemy, doubling them.

Some new loose cultivators, still uncertain about which craft to pick, were influenced by this and chose the Alchemy Dao.

After all, if you really didn’t have the talent, you could always transcribe Jade Scrolls on Alchemy and sell them.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chang’sheng just shook his head in private.

He wasn’t a fool; he knew that just about every valuable alchemy Jade Scroll on the market had already been bought by him. Any further purchases would only yield negligible improvements—it was as futile as scooping water with a sieve. So, he sensibly paused this method for now.

At the very least, it would take eight to ten years before it would be worth buying again.

However, as the year drew to a close, he found he had to slow his cultivation in the Alchemy Dao, because the Qu Family, the Huang Family, and several other major clans had run out of funds.

"The demon calamity isn’t over yet, so our clan must cough up a good amount of money to handle the matter. Therefore—"

The patriarchs of several families looked at Lu Chang’sheng with troubled faces.

Even the Qu Family was in the same boat.

Although the Qu Family’s patriarch, Qu Sheng, had managed to buy a few more years of lifespan with an Everlasting Pill, his looming death hadn’t been completely averted. Their current plan was to go all out in this round of demon calamity, collect enough mission rewards, and exchange them for second-grade pills capable of healing wounds.

The other clans were in much the same situation, except they aimed to exchange their rewards for Grade Two Foundation Establishment Pills.

None of these patriarchs had reached peak ninth-layer Qi Cultivation. Exchanging for Foundation Establishment Pills was the best way to maximize benefits—in a pinch, if the pills went unused, they could always trade them for lesser items, or simply sell them off for a tidy profit.

This was exactly why the clans were getting poorer—their assets all tied up, saving up for better rewards to exchange.

Lu Chang’sheng understood this very well.

A family isn’t like an individual; it can’t gamble everything on a single path. Now that there was another path open, of course, they would split their focus.

"At least I still have some pills saved up."

Lu Chang’sheng cast his gaze at the treasure vault immortal insect.

All these pills were ones he’d refined, using his Upper Grade C resource quota. Aside from the portion he had to turn in for missions, he kept the rest as backup for emergencies.

"By the way, I’ll be leaving Platinum Immortal City for a few days."

Lu Chang’sheng gave the patriarchs a heads-up in advance.

The patriarchs didn’t ask much, except to remind him, "With all these monsters outside, Alchemist Lu, try not to wander off too far."

After a quick inquiry about his destination, they calmed down when they heard he was headed to Liuyun Immortal City.

Liuyun Immortal City was only about eight hundred li from Platinum Immortal City, and in the complete opposite direction from Purple Ice Lake. There weren’t nearly as many monster sightings in that direction.

Still, Lu Chang’sheng didn’t get careless—before leaving, he made sure to deftly avoid being seen by the people from White Cloud Pharmacy.

He only managed that thanks to Steward Mo’s assistance.

"Sure enough, even people who aren’t as strong or well-placed as you have their uses."

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

Soon, after a careful disguise, he arrived in front of a storefront nestled in a bustling area of Platinum Immortal City.

This was one of Glazed Glass Trading House’s branch locations.

"I wonder what business, friend, are you here to tend to?" As soon as he stepped inside, a steward came up to greet him.

"I’m waiting for some people," Lu Chang’sheng replied.

The steward smiled and motioned for a neatly dressed female cultivator to serve him a cup of spirit tea, then withdrew.

"No wonder he’s a steward for a big trading company—he’s thorough to the last detail." Lu Chang’sheng glanced at the steaming spirit tea on the table, a hint of approval in his heart.

Obviously, the steward had noticed his disguise. Even if he wasn’t sure who Lu Chang’sheng really was, he had no qualms about offering spirit tea worth several low-grade spirit stones.

If the visitor had truly been an ordinary cultivator, he’d probably just have been served a pot of regular tea instead.

Before long, several cultivators entered and met up with Lu Chang’sheng for identity verification.

These cultivators were from the various families, each possessing mid-level Qi Cultivation—a backbone of their respective clans.

They were there to serve as Lu Chang’sheng’s escorts.

······ 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Two days later, the Glazed Glass Trading House caravan departed Platinum Immortal City, bound for Liuyun Immortal City.

A massive dragon-head ship sailed down the river.

Lu Chang’sheng stood on the deck, watching other ships pass by, a flicker of amazement crossing his eyes now and then.

"It seems, friend, that this is a rare sight for you?"

Lu Chang’sheng looked back to see the trading house’s steward walking over, all smiles.

The family cultivators escorting Lu Chang’sheng gave the steward a cursory glance, showing no reaction.

As per the trading house’s rules, every journey had to have at least one late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator on board. If the steward had any ill intent, their presence alone wouldn’t be enough to resist.

"That’s right. I seldom travel much," Lu Chang’sheng said with a smile.

"A pity, really. If you ever get the chance to see our trading house’s main merchant caravan, you’ll be truly amazed."