Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 348 - 214: Departure

White Cloud Pharmacy wants to squeeze him dry, but hasn’t he, too, wanted to use the pharmacy as a way to obtain new pill formulas?

The harder they push, the faster he gets his hands on new formulas.

The more skills you master, the more paths you have to walk.

In Lu Chang’sheng’s view, every single pill formula that could be researched must have its purpose.

In the future, who knows when it might come in handy.

Of course, he hadn’t let his cultivation fall behind; each month, he’d set aside time to refine Spirit Recovery Pills.

As for Guiyuan Pill, since he hadn’t reached Minor Achievement yet, using materials to refine it would just be a waste.

Soon, another five years slipped by, and Lu Chang’sheng’s Immortal Dao Root Bone increased by one point again.

He’d already lived more than twenty years in the Spirit Realm.

Because of the Immortal Dao Spirit Root, his cultivation hadn’t advanced much; but about a year ago, he managed to elevate the Guiyuan Pill formula all the way to the realm of Great Success.

With the Elixir Ascension Technique, he even had a good shot at refining top-grade pills.

The Spirit Recovery Pill and Qi Storage Pill—these two pills used for cultivation—could no longer give him any help with his practice.

So, he switched over to Guiyuan Pill a long time ago.

Just as Lu Chang’sheng had expected, even the first time cultivating with Guiyuan Pill, the effect was far from impressive.

More than a year of cultivation, and he’d only boosted his magical power by three or four units.

While he cultivated, Lu Chang’sheng felt as though his body was a swamp, with magical power sluggishly creeping through.

"If the Immortal Dao Spirit Root is a path, then mine is a mountain road thick with thorns,"

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

Everyday cultivation left him a bit helpless. If he didn’t know that his talent would one day improve, he might’ve really given in to despair.

With his cultivation nearly stalled, Lu Chang’sheng could only pour himself wholeheartedly into the art of alchemy.

Over the years, Luo Ming would sometimes assign as many as six tasks in a single month.

And that was just a few months ago.

Lu Chang’sheng knew Luo Ming must be feeling the pressure, trying to test his depth.

It wouldn’t be long before he reached the limits of what he could refine.

Sure enough, the next day, Luo Ming walked over with a blank face and handed Lu Chang’sheng the alchemy task list.

It held ten alchemy assignments in total.

After Luo Ming left, Lu Chang’sheng looked at those ten. He gave a quiet sigh, almost feeling reluctant.

He knew it was about time for him to leave.

All these years, he hadn’t only focused on alchemy—he’d stockpiled a lot of materials too.

Within the mountain gate, they cut his resource quota, but materials for alchemy were still delivered in full.

Every time he refined pills, leftover materials would accumulate in varying amounts.

After so many years, he’d built up quite a stash.

He estimated that he could sell them for tens of thousands of lesser spirit stones.

Meanwhile, he’d gradually noticed that this year, new alchemy assignments dropped off fast—most were repeats from before.

Though staying meant plenty of advantages, none felt essential anymore.

With that thought, he began to fire up the furnace for alchemy.

Another two months passed; he’d finished all the tasks at hand.

At the same time, he leveled the Soul Gathering Pill formula up to Great Success.

"The Soul Gathering Pill’s refining rate is sure steady," Lu Chang’sheng thought.

Without overthinking it, he sought out Luo Ming and handed over the pills he’d made.

Luo Ming’s brows jumped as he saw the row of ten jade bottles in front of him.

Each one bore a label; he opened them one by one, feeling genuinely moved.

They thought they’d finally nailed Lu Chang’sheng’s limits—with ten tasks, surely there was no way he’d finish before three months passed.

And yet, once again, they’d guessed wrong. Lu Chang’sheng was like a bottomless pit; you couldn’t see his depths.

Sadly, he’d been held back by the Immortal Dao Spirit Root.

Luo Ming stowed the pills away, and once Lu Chang’sheng departed, he turned to leave. In no time, he reached the Immortal Sect and found Steward Yang in a courtyard.

On hearing that Lu Chang’sheng had finished their special assignments so fast, Steward Yang was taken aback.

He promptly said in a cold voice, "Hiding quite the talent, aren’t we? In that case, just pile on more tasks."

Lately, Alchemist Lei had been pushing nonstop, and Steward Yang’s patience had worn thin.

He couldn’t even bother with whatever misgivings still lingered in his heart.

"This—he almost feels bottomless," Luo Ming thought, with no small measure of resentment.

Lu Chang’sheng was nearly becoming Luo Ming’s own heart demon. These days, cultivation was hard to focus on; thankfully, he wasn’t in the middle of a breakthrough, or all his work would’ve been for nothing.

"Pile them on, just keep adding more. He’s not listed in the official register, so the others’ workloads don’t need to change. Even if he causes a scene, we’ve got our reasons."

"Push it up to fifteen."

A flash of mania passed through Steward Yang’s eyes.

Luo Ming felt a jolt of fear, staring hard for several seconds. Seeing Steward Yang’s mind unchanged, he finally turned and left.

"He’s gone mad," Luo Ming thought, but he had no choice; unless he quit as steward, he’d have to keep up with Yang’s madness.

Right away, he went back to White Cloud Pharmacy to draft up the list. Several times, pen and ink lingered over the paper, but finally he produced a list packed full of alchemy tasks.

"So many alchemy assignments—not since the foundation of White Cloud Pharmacy has there been anything like this."

He reached for his seal, stamped the document, and then headed straight for Chao Yun’an Institute.

Late autumn brought a chill to the air.

Lu Chang’sheng strolled through the corridors of the garden, casting his gaze on the distant scenery and feeling a surge of emotion.

Far off, a few alchemists busy chatting spotted him; at once, they rose and hurried away, as if they’d just run into a streak of bad luck.