Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 331 - 205: Tongling Wood

"Do you have his contact information?" Lu Chang’sheng nodded, but felt a bit hesitant in his heart. Leaving the Immortal City at a time like this was far more dangerous than before. Even someone like Fang Yuan, who was at the late stage of Qi Cultivation, had almost gotten taken out. For someone like him, only at the fifth layer, the risk was much too high.

"Forget it, better wait a bit longer."

Lu Chang’sheng got the contact info; when he arrived at Liuyun Immortal City, he could use it to reach the person.

However, for now, he had no intention of contacting them.

"If it comes down to it, I can at least buy a couple of top-grade magical artifacts for my own protection."

With his current assets, he could afford a top-grade artifact for ten or twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones, so he headed to the market and spent a whole day picking out two defensive magical artifacts.

One was a triggered artifact—Golden Light Shield. If attacked, it would instantly unleash a golden barrier that lasted about ten seconds.

The other was for protecting his spiritual sense and mind.

The two items together pretty much drained all the spirit stones he had.

If not for the decent profits from Lu Mansion’s business, he honestly wouldn’t have been able to purchase two top-grade artifacts at once.

With these in hand, he felt a lot safer.

Lu Chang’sheng also felt a bit more relaxed.

As for the Tongling Wood, he would have to wait a while longer, at least until Fang Yuan and the others dealt with the Zhu Family enemy.

Lu Chang’sheng figured there were plenty who didn’t like him—like those in the Thunder Cauldron faction, or Huo Zun’s group too—but none would risk making a move on him.

All in all, only the Zhu Family would likely dare.

·······

One month later, at Liuyun Immortal City.

A cultivator opened the door, looked at the steward collecting rent on the street, and felt a dull ache in his gums.

"Could you wait a few more days?"

He glanced at his Treasure Vault Immortal Insect, then helplessly handed over a dozen low-grade spirit stones—all he had left.

The steward forced out a stiff smile. "Fellow Daoist, you must be joking. This is Zhou Family property—I can’t be lenient just because I want to."

The cultivator left the house with a sullen face, watching the steward lock up and walk away, gloom clouding his features.

Places to stay inside the Immortal City always had someone watching, so no matter how gutsy he was, he wouldn’t dare sneak in.

But thinking about just having enjoyed the spirit array for barely over a month, losing it like this felt maddening.

"Why hasn’t he come yet?"

He muttered in his heart.

He was originally a loose cultivator at a small market outside the city. Just over a month ago, a mysterious man approached him for a deal—to tip off people from the Glazed Glass Trading House.

About the Tongling Wood, specifically.

He’d played bait plenty of times before, so he knew what the man was after.

To reassure him in playing the lure, the man even showed off some late-stage Qi Cultivation tricks, and supplied him with spirit stones to rent the place.

Tongling Wood was rare—without real skill and backing, you couldn’t get a whiff of this kind of news.

The mysterious man had splashed out for it.

He was told the target would show up within a month, and when they did, he just needed to bring them to a designated spot.

But he’d waited here for over a month, and the so-called target still hadn’t arrived.

Easy to get used to luxury, tough to go back to plain living!

Remembering his prior days, bitterness surged in his heart.

Just then, he suddenly saw a somewhat familiar figure walk by; eyes lighting up, he immediately ran over.

"Fellow Daoist! The person you mentioned still hasn’t shown. Can you extend my stay a bit longer?"

The newcomer’s gaze turned a shade colder, but he hid his impatience and said, "That won’t be necessary. The person is already on the way. Come with me."

The cultivator was on guard, but the lure of spirit stones made it hard to resist. He followed, and soon enough, they left the Immortal City.

"Fellow Daoist, this is far enough. Any further and we’re in the wilds."

Not long after leaving the city, the cultivator sensed something off and stopped warily.

But in the next instant, the man ahead suddenly spun around, and a streak of silver light flashed by like a whip.

The loose cultivator was only at Qi Cultivation 3rd layer—how could he fend that off? There was a sickening sound as his head and body were instantly separated.

The man seemed to have expected this. He used a hand seal, and a ball of orange flame engulfed the corpse, then fished out a Treasure Vault Immortal Insect.

"Pathetic!"

He shook his head in disgust at the contents and pocketed the immortal insect.

Still, an immortal insect could net some spirit stones—better than nothing.

What really bugged him was the failure of this mission.

"So? Still no word?" He waited another half month at Liuyun Immortal City, but the Sound Transmission Shell brought no useful reply.

Now he was getting irritated: "I don’t have this much time to waste."

"Relax, Fellow Daoist Beiming. Looks like that Lu’s gotten wise. You know, he acts way more cautious than any regular B-Class alchemist."

Zhu Zhen’s voice came through the Sound Transmission Shell.

Beiming had to agree.

Even among White Cloud Cave Mansion’s B-Class alchemists, some would rarely go out, but Lu Chang’sheng was known for spending years inside without stepping out at all.

Even when tempted with things he actually needed, he wouldn’t leave.

Plus, none of those old ancestral heads from other families showed up either.

"For this extra time, I’ll compensate you sufficiently with spirit stones."

The words from the Sound Transmission Shell brought a hint of satisfaction to Beiming’s face, and his tone softened.

"Getting someone to come out is your job. I only need to be ready to strike."

"Of course!"

Zhu Zhen severed the connection, face dark as he surveyed the area—a wild, barren land more than a hundred miles from Liuyun Immortal City. He wasn’t alone; several other figures were present.

All were late-stage Qi Cultivators, including the Zhu Family’s old patriarch Zhu Ren, a master at Qi Cultivation’s ninth layer. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Clearly, they’d gathered here to ambush Lu Chang’sheng. Worst case, they’d at least take out a couple of the family ancients who followed him.

"Lu Chang’sheng not showing up isn’t surprising, but Fang Yuan and the others didn’t come either, which I can’t figure out."

"From what I know of Lu Chang’sheng, he should have sent Fang Yuan and co. instead."

······

After hearing Beiming’s update from Zhu Zhen, everyone fell silent, troubled and confused. It was as if they’d carefully set up a master strike, ready to hammer their enemy—only to find their opponent didn’t even show to the duel.

"Wait. When dealing with them, we need to have patience," the Zhu Family’s old patriarch finally said.

Lu Chang’sheng had no idea any of this was happening.

Day after day, he was still fascinated by alchemy, though his focus had shifted from Barrier-Breaking Pill to Rejuvenation Pill.

With the aid of Rejuvenation Pill, his cultivation was progressing at a fairly swift pace.

Just as he was about to give up on tracking down more Tongling Wood, Liu Yun showed up with a pleasant surprise.

"Tongling Wood, I’ve got it!"

"Lucky break, really. It surfaced near Supreme Profound Immortal City, and my people happened to spot it and snatched it up."

Liu Yun was grinning ear to ear.

"Steward Liu, you’re a lifesaver," Lu Chang’sheng said, a little excited.

"Not at all! Still, I have a favor to ask, Fellow Daoist," Steward Liu replied.

"Go ahead, Steward Liu."

"I managed to get some Barrier-Breaking Pill ingredients through my connections. Would Alchemist Lu be able to refine a batch for me?"

"Of course, but my Barrier-Breaking Pill technique’s only at Minor Achievement. I’ll probably burn through more ingredients than usual. You sure you want me to try?" Lu Chang’sheng looked surprised.

For a big firm like the Glazed Glass Trading House, it was basically impossible not to have an alchemist who could produce superior Barrier-Breaking Pills.

Business was about maximizing profits. Normally, with good ingredients, they’d ask an alchemist at Great Success to handle the job—wouldn’t that earn them more?

Why bother asking him?

But less hassle is better, Lu Chang’sheng didn’t dig further. Seeing Liu Yun’s nod, he took the ingredients and entered the trading house’s alchemy room.

Two days later, he walked out smelling like ash and smoke, holding two bottles of pills.

"Mediocre luck," he said.

"Good enough, good enough," Liu Yun answered quickly.

He’d given Lu Chang’sheng ten portions of herbs—to get two furnaces of pills was fair enough. As for whether Lu Chang’sheng had secretly kept any, it didn’t really matter to alchemists.