Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 293 - 186: The Alchemy Dao Insights of the Profound Turtle Alchemist

Chapter 293: Chapter 186: The Alchemy Dao Insights of the Profound Turtle Alchemist

If this were any other time, Zhu Zhen would have kept as far away from Red Cloud Daoist as possible. Anyone who could escape the grasp of a Foundation Establishment master was no joke.

But now, Red Cloud Daoist probably had two Golden Core-grade treasures on him, and was surrounded by so many late-stage Qi Cultivators as allies.

This gave him a tremendous boost of courage.

The other late-stage Qi Cultivators felt much the same.

Even if a couple of them were thinking of backing out, looking at the situation, Red Cloud Daoist obviously wasn’t about to let anyone walk away—especially not those late-stage Qi Cultivators.

Soon, the whole crowd began attacking Red Cloud Daoist.

Tempted by Golden Core treasures, even the merchant vessel was ignored. Waves of magical power kept blasting against the ship’s hull.

A few early-stage Qi Cultivators who couldn’t dodge in time were killed outright by the stray blasts.

"Fellow Daoists, how about helping me escape?"

Lu Chang’sheng said.

He realized he was the most likely to get away; chances were, there were demons lurking below the water, so for early-stage Qi Cultivators, the ship was crucial. If it got wrecked and they fell in, the risk shot up.

But for Lu Chang’sheng, Fang Yuan, and Qu Guang, this wasn’t a problem.

Another point: their presence hadn’t been exposed yet, so Red Cloud Daoist hadn’t noticed them.

This was the perfect moment to break away. If the battle’s shockwaves reached the three of them and they kept fending them off, slipping out would become much harder.

However, the moment he finished speaking, both Fang Yuan and Qu Guang showed a flicker of hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, I have a puppet that should be able to get you to shore. Once things wrap up here, we’ll come find you."

Fang Yuan flicked his finger, and a puppet beast appeared on the deck. It was a spider-shaped puppet, which he directed to slip into the water.

Lu Chang’sheng sighed inwardly, realizing the two were thinking about fighting for the Golden Core-grade treasure as well, and he didn’t insist further.

Golden Core treasures were just too valuable—if they snagged one, they’d have Foundation-level resources for days.

That kind of temptation was huge. Not many could resist. With that, he didn’t linger, but jumped straight into the water, keeping low under cover of the merchant ship.

Fang Yuan and Qu Guang dodged on deck a bit longer, but when they couldn’t avoid it any more, they too slipped into the river, waiting for a chance to strike.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Who knows who will truly win in the end? Getting involved in this mess is a major risk." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Beneath the river, Lu Chang’sheng held his breath, carefully concealing his magical power—so he wouldn’t attract other cultivators or demons.

Cultivators and certain strange demons were extremely sensitive to spiritual light. If you let it loose, you could move freely, but you’d also become easy prey.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he saw a corpse, bitten clean in half, float not far away. Just moments ago, the guy had been using magical power-laced light to dart through the water. Now he was dead.

"I really do need to be more careful."

From then on, Lu Chang’sheng ignored the fighting behind him, staying focused and calm as he moved through the water.

The puppet beast under his feet pushed him along and even helped fend off some aquatic beasts. After about half an hour, he finally felt something solid below and quietly surfaced from the riverbed.

The shockwaves of battle in the distance had faded; late-stage Qi Cultivators could fly by sword, so the fight was bound to move elsewhere.

Which meant he was much safer now.

"Though Fang Yuan and Qu Guang don’t have much chance of taking Golden Core-grade treasure from Red Cloud Daoist, it’s not impossible. If they get it, they might start having second thoughts about me."

Lu Chang’sheng stood on the riverbank, looked at the puppet beast at his side, and severed the connection before turning away.

Even if the odds were slim, he couldn’t afford not to be cautious.

Over the next stretch, Lu Chang’sheng got a real lesson in just how deadly the wilderness could be; from time to time, he ran into man-eating demons, and if he hadn’t made it to mid-stage Qi Cultivation, things could’ve gotten very dicey.

After a dozen days, he reached Platinum Immortal City, with a few new oddities in hand.

They weren’t high-level, so for now he kept them with his Treasure Vault Immortal Insect.

······

He soon slipped quietly back into White Cloud Pharmacy.

Stepping through White Cloud’s front door and seeing Alchemists come and go, his heart finally settled down.

At Yun’an Institute, Lu Ziyou was practicing puppetry technique. Lu Chang’sheng glanced at him and was surprised—Lu Ziyou’s progress with puppetry was far faster than he’d imagined; he was nearly at Entry level.

"Does this kid have some unknown gift?"

If not, there was no way to explain how fast he was advancing with puppetry.

Bear in mind, Fang Yuan’s puppetry technique was only at Great Success, and still quite a ways from being perfected.

Of course, this was just Lu Chang’sheng’s guess. The truth was anyone’s guess.

Fang Yuan would never easily reveal his trump cards.

Lu Chang’sheng cleared his throat, wanting Lu Ziyou to show off a bit. Unexpectedly, Ziyou held back.

"That kid—this Gou Dao way is sinking deeper into his bones; he’s even keeping things from his own father now."

Still, on second thought, it wasn’t a bad thing, so he let it go, but offered a few words: "Your puppetry skills are still pretty shallow, and since my cultivation’s much stronger, if I look carefully I can spot it."