Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 350 - 215: True Man’s Successor

Huo Zun and the others’ intentions were clear—they were here to invite Lu Chang’sheng to join the White Cloud Pavilion.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, White Cloud Cave Mansion is backing Zhou Lin all the way, and they won’t tolerate anyone who walks a different path. There’s really no reason for you to hold onto that place anymore."

"That’s right. We know Alchemist Lu is a man of loyalty, but White Cloud Pavilion is just as much an inheritor of the Cave Mansion’s legacy. You can still repay Master Baiyun’s kindness in teaching you here."

The group said these things one after another.

Lu Chang’sheng hesitated no more and replied, "Thank you all for thinking so highly of me. In the future, I hope you’ll look out for me."

Huo Zun and the rest were pretty thrilled; Lu Chang’sheng’s skills in the Alchemy Dao were top-notch. Back in White Cloud Cave Mansion, he’d made quite a name for himself, or else they wouldn’t have kept coming to invite him.

"Let’s raise our cups for this!"

Li Changmei let out a loud laugh.

For years, this matter had lingered on their minds—almost become a genuine worry.

That very afternoon, Lu Chang’sheng went with the crowd over to White Cloud Pavilion.

A few years had passed, and White Cloud Pavilion was finally running smoothly.

The mountain gate was marked by a massive estate, with the characters "White Cloud Pavilion" emblazoned at the entrance.

To speak of grandeur, it honestly couldn’t match the scale of the White Cloud Mountain Range, and the richness of Spiritual Qi wasn’t even close.

But as the face of White Cloud Pavilion, it couldn’t afford to look shabby, so Elder Xiao Feng and a handful of late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators spent considerable resources to buy a gigantic estate from the Supreme Profound Sect, and the Spiritual Qi concentration was actually pretty good.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, honestly, you hid your skills deeper than we ever imagined." They chatted with Lu Chang’sheng along the way, and in the end, Huo Zun sighed.

"Just luck, that’s all." Lu Chang’sheng replied.

"You can’t play down your Alchemy like that, you know."

Li Changmei shot him a glare.

"We were stunned when we first saw your performance in the courtyard, even Elder Xiao Feng got wind of it, and it totally changed his impression of you." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Lu Chang’sheng nodded, understanding what Huo Zun was getting at.

Xiao Feng had always been one of the higher-ups in White Cloud Cave Mansion. His attitude toward Lu Chang’sheng at first was pretty much the same as the other elders—the only difference being that Lu was brought in by Lin Yan and naturally closer to their side.

Plus, Lu’s skills as a Grade-B Alchemist were the real deal, so Xiao Feng had actually reached out to him at the beginning.

But after being declined, Xiao Feng stopped coming in person; only Huo Zun, Li Changmei, and a couple others who got along with Lu would occasionally drop by to check in.

So when Huo Zun mentioned "changed attitude," he clearly wasn’t talking about just any Grade-B Alchemist.

······

Sure enough, before long, Lu Chang’sheng saw Xiao Feng in a courtyard—a burly man built like an iron tower, a true Warrior.

His muscles looked like steel, and the bits of bare skin were tinted with a brass glow.

When he saw Lu Chang’sheng, admiration flashed in Xiao Feng’s eyes.

"I admit it, I underestimated you. To refine over a dozen different Pills in just two months—that’s not something any Grade-B Alchemist could pull off."

Saying this, he was clearly moved; he remembered how Lin Yan had mentioned Lu Chang’sheng to him and wanted to recommend that they foster him heavily.

Unfortunately, no one paid Lu Chang’sheng any mind, and Lin Yan’s suggestion just faded away.

Once the Thunder Cauldron branch started pushing Zhou Lin into the spotlight, everyone scrambled to find someone who could counter Zhou Lin’s growing influence.

Lin Yan brought up Lu Chang’sheng again, and by then Lu had started to gain some reputation—but compared to the real prodigies, he was still lacking.

Ultimately, they ignored Lin Yan’s advice again, picking out a few candidates to train intensively. Results were decent, but compared to Zhou Lin, they still lagged behind.

Now, though, Lu Chang’sheng had finally caught Xiao Feng’s Dharma Eye.

After some casual chatting, Lu Chang’sheng noticed Xiao Feng had grown quiet, signaling it was time to leave, so he turned and headed out.

Outside, Huo Zun and the group were lounging on courtyard chairs, chatting. When Lu Chang’sheng emerged, they got up to take him to meet others and get familiar with the place.

Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t unknown, but if he didn’t make the rounds officially, some reclusive cultivators might not know he’d joined, which could cause unexpected issues down the line.

"So, Fellow Daoist Lu, what did Elder Xiao Feng say to you?"

Huo Zun asked.

The others all looked over, eyes full of curiosity and a hint of envy.

Lu Chang’sheng found it puzzling—curiosity made sense, but why envy?

After some questioning, Huo Zun finally sighed and said, "It’s normal for you not to know. For the past few years, Elder Xiao Feng has been searching for a worthy successor to the True Man. That way, when he left White Cloud Mountain Range, it wouldn’t feel like a disgrace."

Huo Zun spoke in a low voice.

Lu Chang’sheng understood what he was getting at. To many, White Cloud Pavilion couldn’t compare to White Cloud Cave Mansion—which still controlled the mountain gate. But if White Cloud Pavilion could produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator, everything would change.

In the Spirit Realm, power is what matters most.

"If we’re guessing right, you’re probably one of the candidates for successor now."

Right then, the group arrived at an empty courtyard. A few cultivators who’d come along had already left, so only three remained: Huo Zun, Li Changmei, and Sima Qi.

The three sat together on stone benches, chatting in the courtyard.

When the topic of successors came up, all three showed clear envy.

Seeing this, Lu Chang’sheng began to get a sense—this talk of a successor was probably tied to the late Master Baiyun.

"What exactly do you mean by ’successor’?"

"The True Man’s successor. White Cloud Mountain Range uses pretty much the same term. Both sides want to train up a powerful cultivator who could rival Master Baiyun, hoping to claim the orthodox legacy."

"Liu Jiu’s side has Zhou Lin, while we’ve been falling behind. So Elder Xiao Feng keeps searching for new candidates, hoping for a genius who can outshine Zhou Lin."

"But real prodigies are rare," Lu Chang’sheng shook his head.

His Mayfly World had millions of people, yet only a few dozen were fit to cultivate—and honestly, even that figure was questionable.

Out of millions, lots of folks didn’t even know about Spirit Root testing.

Some falling through the cracks was perfectly normal.

Still, it couldn’t be that much more than that.

"No—aren’t you exactly the genius they’ve been looking for?"

Suddenly, Li Changmei spoke up.

······

Meanwhile, in a grand hall, Xiao Feng sat straight-backed on a jade chair.

Three cultivators sat around him.

Just like him, they had once been elders of White Cloud Cave Mansion. After the recent bet, they’d all left together to found White Cloud Pavilion.

"Lu Chang’sheng—are you really going to give him a slot?"

The cultivator to the left frowned deeply.

They knew all about Lu Chang’sheng’s performance at White Cloud Pharmacy—it was only with their approval that he was brought over.

A Grade-B Alchemist with late-stage Qi Cultivation combat strength deserved their attention.

But just because they valued him—was it really okay to let him get involved in something like this?