Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 333 - 206: Clearing Away Obstacles! (Part 2)

Chapter 333: Chapter 206: Clearing Away Obstacles! (Part 2)

"Among our families, the Zhu Family is the trickiest to deal with. If we wipe out the Zhu Family, the others can be handled easily."

The Zhu Family’s ambush caught everyone off guard, and even those lying in wait hadn’t expected Fang Yuan and several other late-stage Qi Cultivation patriarchs to arrive together.

From the Zhu Family’s high council’s perspective, the cooperation among these families was only superficial, limited to certain areas—they never imagined anyone would get involved in the Zhu-Fang rivalry.

But now, thanks to Lu Chang’sheng mediating, these families had agreed to a full alliance, leaving the Zhu Family completely unprepared.

Time was tight, and the longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for the alliance.

Once the Zhu Family discovered the full extent of this cooperation, they’d definitely use it as an excuse to reach out to other enemy families.

Previously, there was little chance of any alliance, but now, faced with five united families, even old enemies might be willing to join forces.

That very night, the patriarchs rapidly assembled cultivators from their clans.

To prevent any leaks, they didn’t disclose details—only ordered all cultivators at or above the second level of Qi Cultivation to return home immediately.

The gathering was swift, especially since they’d already abandoned their various businesses outside the city.

In less than an hour, all eligible cultivators from the families within Platinum Immortal City assembled at their respective clan halls.

Then, as planned, they set off toward the outskirts of Immortal City at the designated time.

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The Immortal City in the Spirit Realm wasn’t bound by curfew; dusk and darkness didn’t close the city gates, and for cultivators, night was little different from day.

Of course, there were still patrols to maintain order.

Overall, Platinum Immortal City belonged to the Supreme Profound Sect; every street and household paid taxes to them.

Therefore, the Supreme Profound Sect enforced the city’s rules—and as their appointed representatives, the Gu Family never shirked this duty.

At this hour, a squad of Gu family cultivators was making their rounds atop the city wall, led by a female cultivator, Gu Shuang.

Clad in a pale blue magical robe, she appeared cool and serene under the moonlight.

She noticed a few new cultivators gathering below, and a guarded look flashed in her eyes.

Groups of cultivators at night were rarely a good sign.

"Shisan, those seem to be Fang Family cultivators."

A cultivator approached—he looked older than Gu Shuang, but was actually seven or eight years her junior.

"Is the Fang Family planning to reclaim their lost businesses with that formation?"

Gu Shuang shook her head, feeling somewhat relieved.

Bands of cultivators weren’t always a threat; loose cultivators or Foundation Establishment clans warranted more caution. But a Qi Cultivation family like this was less concern.

If they did cause trouble, the Gu Family could settle accounts in time.

So, unless desperate, Qi-stage factions wouldn’t mess with city rules—that’s the difference between those with nothing to lose and those with reputations to protect.

Still, she didn’t think much of the Fang Family’s move—clan powers rarely gave up businesses outside the city, because once lost, reclaiming them was nearly impossible.

But before long, she spotted another group of cultivators approaching from a different direction and was taken aback.

"Those are Qu Family cultivators."

Every Gu Family patrol included some elders; their talents might be lacking, but they were walking directories of the city’s clans, big and small.

One look was all it took to identify the group.

Gu Shuang’s brow furrowed tightly.

One elder said, "I heard the Qu and Fang Families have been cooperating a lot lately. Perhaps this time—"

"Impossible," another elder interrupted. "Those clans have choices; why would they even consider joining up with one another for something like this?"

If this were just about fighting over businesses, there were lots of possible allies—including us and other Foundation Establishment clans.

In recent years, the Foundation Establishment clans have often swallowed up small families’ businesses with these tactics.

Even a mosquito is meat, after all. And running them isn’t required—just send someone with average cultivation to collect annual fees. Why not?

Foundation Establishment clans still care about their reputations.

So during infighting, when a clan saw it couldn’t keep its holdings, it would rather sell to a big family and recoup whatever it could.

The rules were complicated—the Supreme Profound Sect turned a blind eye to much, as long as things didn’t exceed a certain limit.

The others all nodded in agreement.

But as time passed and more and more family clansmen arrived, Gu Shuang and her group grew more and more surprised.

"A five-family alliance—such things are rare," an elder remarked in awe.

"No, it’s six families!" Gu Shuang’s eyes suddenly fixed on someone in the crowd, a hint of surprise in her stare.

"Six? Who’s the other one—"

"The Lu Family!"

The others were puzzled, even the elders in the patrol found this strange.

"It’s no surprise you haven’t heard of them. The Lu Family is pretty much unknown—but all of you surely know one man: Lu Chang’sheng!"

"You mean Alchemist Lu from White Cloud Pharmacy?"

"He’s always been cautious. I heard he’s been a B-class alchemist for years and has barely ever left Platinum Immortal City."

"He apprenticed under Lin Yan, and Lin Yan’s famous for that cautious approach. Given that, his behavior makes sense."

"What the hell do you mean, ’makes sense’? Lin Yan’s only prudent in alchemy. He acts totally different elsewhere—this Lu guy really is just timid."

Gu Shuang’s expression turned odd. She’d only just resigned from Supreme Profound Sect, so she knew of Lu Chang’sheng by name, but had never heard any of this gossip. Now she glanced at Lu Chang’sheng, curiosity tinged in her gaze.

At that moment, Lu Chang’sheng below seemed to sense something and looked up, his eyes meeting hers directly.

"That’s the Gu Family patrol."

Qu Guang whispered in a low voice.

Lu Chang’sheng nodded and looked away.

As the groups faded from view in the night, Gu Shuang and her team resumed their rounds; clashes among rival clans were common, and as long as city rules weren’t broken, they left it alone.

Once out of the Immortal City, the teams sped up—their goal this time wasn’t the Zhu Family’s businesses, but their ancestral land itself.

All cultivators at mid-Qi Cultivation and above controlled their swords, moving out slightly ahead of the late-Qi patriarchs.

By the time midnight neared, they finally crossed into the Zhu Family’s domain.

Once inside, there was always a risk of running into Zhu Family patrols.

Bearing this in mind, Fang Yuan sent an Earth Rat Puppet Beast ahead as a scout.

Sure enough, before long, he signaled everyone to halt.

"There’s a minor problem ahead. Wait a moment."

Everyone landed. Fang Yuan released another puppet beast.

In Lu Chang’sheng’s spiritual sense, Fang Yuan’s connection to the Earth Rat Puppet Beast grew faint and subtle.

It made Lu Chang’sheng inwardly marvel.

"Fang Yuan’s mastery of the Puppetry Technique is close to perfection, even if it isn’t complete yet."

Once you reached the Great Success stage in Puppetry, Lu Chang’sheng understood, the main benefit became expanding the spiritual sense.

With a stronger spiritual sense, manipulation became easier—the most obvious sign was multi-control.

That meant handling two or more puppet beasts at once.

Soon, Fang Yuan returned, a faint whiff of blood about him.

For a late-stage Qi Cultivator, dealing with small fries was a breeze.

With those easy obstacles gone, the team quietly advanced closer toward Zhu territory, relying on their late-Qi abilities.

"Alright, this is where we split up."

When they were less than fifty miles from the Zhu Family patriarch’s compound, Fang Yuan and the others spoke.

Lu Chang’sheng was an alchemist—and they had no intention of letting him be exposed to danger.

Yet, if Lu Chang’sheng didn’t come, they’d feel uneasy; but if he came, they really didn’t want to see anything happen to him either.

"Take care, everyone,"

Lu Chang’sheng said.

Li Nangua also stayed behind.

This group of mid-Qi cultivators would need a late-stage cultivator in case of trouble.

And with Li Nangua, another late-Qi cultivator, here, Lu Chang’sheng would be protected.

After making arrangements, Fang Yuan and the other late-Qi Cultivators vanished into the night. For an assault on the Zhu family patriarch’s seat, caution was essential—an open attack would be suicide. The plan was to ambush key targets first for an early advantage.

Lu Chang’sheng’s group advanced slowly, cautiously creeping forward.

"Take out the Zhu Family, and the crisis hanging over me in Platinum Immortal City will finally be over,"

Soon, they were less than twenty miles from the Zhu stronghold. With their mid-Qi abilities, they could already make out the outline of a small market town in the distance.

Clusters of lights spilled a steady glow across the landscape.