Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 362 - 222: Ancient Origin Immortal City

Since he couldn’t get the technique for consolidating a Spiritual Body from the Supreme Profound Sect, he could only look for another way.

He picked up some information from Liu Yun: in other domains, techniques for condensing the Spiritual Body had occasionally surfaced in the market. However, these things cost a fortune—without hundreds of thousands or even a million low-grade Spirit Stones, don’t even think about it.

While having them keep an eye out, Lu Chang’sheng also accumulated wealth, just in case the opportunity actually arose and he didn’t have the resources on hand to secure it.

The Lu Mansion’s business operations had already more than doubled in size; any more would be overkill.

Lu Chang’an had truly pushed the family business to its extreme limits.

Just those assets alone brought in roughly two hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones for Lu Mansion every year. After deducting daily expenses and cultivation costs, Lu Chang’sheng could stash away forty or fifty thousand Spirit Stones annually. At that rate, a million stones was only twenty years away.

You eat according to how big your appetite is. He had no desire to antagonize other families out of thin air—especially those Foundation Establishment clans.

Since Master Baiyun perished that last time, the Founding Ancestors of several Foundation Establishment families hadn’t set foot inside Immortal City; instead, they lingered around other Immortal Cities or the surrounding market towns.

They’re wary of being taken down by the Supreme Profound Sect under some trumped-up charge.

Sometimes, being too tall just means you’re afraid something will drop on you out of nowhere. Compared to that turmoil, Lu Chang’sheng seemed far more secure.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed. It’s now been more than three decades since Lu Chang’sheng arrived in the Spirit Realm.

Lu Chang’sheng lived with a strict routine—each day devoted either to cultivation or alchemy.

The pill shop was handled by Chang’an and Nangua; basically, there were no issues. All he needed to do was visit periodically to refine some of the rarer medicinal pills for them.

Lu Chang’an leveraged his reputation to gather quite a few loose cultivator alchemists; their grade was not high, but they helped fill the shop’s need for basic pills.

So Lu Chang’sheng only had to produce the higher-tier pills and the shop’s signature top-grade ones.

Thanks to this skill, the pill shop’s business at Lu Mansion was thriving.

The Spirit Stones kept rolling in, steady as ever, which reassured Lu Chang’sheng. With resources pouring in, both Lu Chang’an and Lu Ziyou saw clear progress in their cultivation.

About a month ago, Lu Chang’an stepped into the third stage of Qi Cultivation, while just a few days back, Lu Ziyou reached the fourth stage.

Compared with Lu Chang’an or even Lu Chang’sheng, Ziyou’s talent counted as quite respectable.

Finally, Lu Chang’sheng himself advanced a stage, cultivating his Magical Power up to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation.

However, Lu Chang’sheng could already tell that with his cultivation at the sixth level, gaining more Magical Power was far slower.

Luckily, he’d been mentally prepared all along, so there was no need to panic about it.

He kept his focus on stockpiling Spirit Stones, immersed in alchemy, either cultivating each day or studying the Alchemy Dao Jade Scroll left behind by Master Baiyun, his state of mind exceptionally steady.

Often he’d glean some subtle insights from Baiyun’s Jade Scroll, gaining a more unique understanding of some top-grade pill formulas.

"Maybe, if I keep reading Baiyun’s Alchemy Dao Jade Scroll every day like this, I might slowly push past my limits and reach Second Grade Alchemist."

Lu Chang’sheng mused inwardly.

At this stage, making progress was already exceptionally difficult, which was why he harbored such hopes.

Still, he understood that relying solely on Baiyun’s Jade Scroll was nowhere near enough—he’d need more of them to really forge ahead.

At the very least, it needed to be a complete system.

Then, with his Golden Finger’s ability to forcibly absorb experience, he could break through.

Unfortunately, that requirement was even harder than getting the Spiritual Body technique.

A Second Grade Alchemist’s Jade Scroll isn’t something you just stumble upon.

Lu Chang’sheng let the thought go.

He continued absorbing alchemical experience from the Jade Scroll and verified it against the Profound Turtle Alchemist’s Turtle Shell Map. The results weren’t bad at all.

All he needed was for his cultivation to reach late-stage Qi Cultivation, after which his Alchemy Dao could advance to Second Grade.

Lu Chang’sheng’s improving skills made the other True Seed candidates feel pretty vexed.

This was giving Elder Li and the others headaches.

"Take a look at these records." Elder Li, while on duty, reviewed the logs handed over by subordinates.

Six months ago, Lu Chang’sheng’s contributions completely exceeded Fan Shou’s, making him the top True Seed among the group.

He brought this up with the other two elders.

Elder Guo and Elder He both glanced them over, their faces just as ugly.

"We thought he was just a catfish—who could’ve guessed..."

They never approved of Lu Chang’sheng. The only reason they let him in was to add pressure and motivation for the other candidates.

And at first, that worked—the pace at which Lu Chang’sheng racked up contributions pushed all the other True Seeds into hyperdrive; their cultivation got way more diligent.

The three elders saw this and naturally thought their decision was spot on.

But now, looking back, there’s a bitter aftertaste—nothing you can say.

The catfish keeps the pond’s fish on edge, so they don’t get complacent.

But that’s no reason for the catfish to take over the whole pond.

Lu Chang’sheng had undeniable attainments in alchemy, but his limitations in Root Bone meant he was stymied by a huge bottleneck.

No one wanted to pour in all that support only to end up with another cultivator about the same as themselves, nothing more than camaraderie.

"Letting him receive the True Man’s legacy is our final limit. As for that other prize, Fellow Daoist Lu absolutely can’t compete for it."

Elder Li said.

"This still needs to be discussed with Elder Xiao."

"But, there’s no rush; we still haven’t made contact with Heaven-Burning Valley, so there’s no need to move so soon."

······

In a few days, the new year would be upon them, so Lu Chang’sheng dialed back his pill refinement.

He returned to Lu Mansion to plan on celebrating New Year’s with the family.

Soon enough, the year was up. The cold this year was harsher than most.

At the dinner table, Lu Chang’sheng reminded Lu Chang’an to send people out for cold-weather supplies once the holiday was over.

"Father, you’re worried the Frostwind Spirit Chills might be coming?" Lu Chang’an asked.

Lu Chang’sheng nodded, "Better to be prepared. We’ve got the space now, so there’s no need to wait until it actually hits to go shopping."

Lu Chang’an agreed right away.

Lu Chang’sheng also checked on how things were at the pill shop lately; Chang’an replied that all was fine. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The Immortal City was, after all, the Supreme Profound Sect’s main economic base, so they would ensure its security at all costs.

So there wasn’t much to worry about within Immortal City.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Soon, someone arrived to inform them that Patriarch Fang was here for a visit.

Every year during New Year’s, as long as the patriarchs were in Immortal City, they’d personally come bearing gifts.

These last few years, thanks to Lu Chang’sheng’s refined pills, the families had all been doing incredibly well; the patriarchs had piled up quite a stash of Spirit Stones.

"I wonder if you’d be interested in joining us for a trip to Ancient Origin Immortal City?"

Fang Yuan suddenly proposed.

"Ancient Origin Immortal City?"

"That’s right."

Lu Chang’sheng’s heart stirred. He’d heard the name—Ancient Origin Immortal City, located on the border of some ancient ruins, was famous throughout the Taiyuan Domain. Rumor had it, Golden Core powers held sway there, and its prosperity couldn’t be matched by remote places like Platinum Immortal City.