Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 50: Family Discipline and Service

"It looks like the most crucial factor in improving medical technique is actually practicing medicine!"

Reading the Anshi Book can also cut down on the time needed to cultivate, but compared to formally treating patients, it shaves off way less time.

Plus, the content of the Anshi Book is limited; once he’s memorized it all and thoroughly applied it, that variable’s benefit disappears.

But practicing medicine is different—it’s a variable with no cap.

As long as he’s still treating patients, that variable keeps working.

"Gotta open the clinic for sure!"

With that in mind, he threw himself completely into treating patients.

If enough people showed up needing help, he might be able to reach the entry stage in no time at all.

Too bad—

"All the clinics inside the city are tangled up in layers of interests. I can’t just barge in and cut prices!"

Unless he didn’t mind everyone in town ganging up on him.

"Whatever. Even if progress is a little slow, as long as I keep improving steadily, I’m good!"

After wrapping up, everybody got their spoils from this round—a book on blade techniques.

It’s called the Four-Sided Blade Technique.

The silver coins, as usual, had to be sent to the Black Mountain Camp at the South Gate.

But the blade technique could be copied down.

"The Four-Sided Blade Technique is a standard blade method. It’s not as valuable as Basic Stance Skills, but if you master it, you can take on ten at once!"

Liang Yun said after reading through the technique.

The martial arts halls have similar martial arts, all pretty basic stuff.

He told everyone to go ahead and learn it, just don’t go showing off too much.

Entry-level blade skills count as common knowledge—at least a fifth of the martial arts halls in Black Mountain Prefecture teach it. As long as you’re careful, there’s no need to worry about getting called out and landing in trouble.

Everyone made a mental note.

The next morning.

Lu Chang’sheng said his goodbyes to Liang Yun, Zhao Hu, and the others.

Now that they’d just taken over the South Gate territory, they obviously had to manage and secure their hold. All the valuable stuff from the Shaving Knife Gang was collected last night by the Black Mountain Army. The squad leader was actually pretty polite and even left a chunk of the loot behind, saying it was a reward for the brothers of the Three Red Gang.

Lu Chang’sheng figured Wei Feng had probably come to his senses and didn’t want to burn bridges, so he told his men to do it this way. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Seems like he’s got some brains after all!"

He thought to himself.

He’d assumed someone who’d served in the Black Mountain Army for years but was still a squad leader must have ability issues, but now it didn’t seem so clear cut.

"Another thing—I should’ve told you sooner. That’s my bad. Don’t blame Nangua or Black Monkey!" Liang Yun said with a wry smile as he was leaving.

He could tell Lu Chang’sheng was still a bit bothered, so he spoke up.

Lu Chang’sheng sighed and said, "It’s not really about that. We’re all on the same boat here. If we keep secrets from each other when something comes up, how’s this boat supposed to withstand the storms?"

"We really messed up on this one," said Liang Yun.

"You guys meant well—you didn’t want me distracted by stuff like this. But some things are unavoidable. Problems build up over time, and if left alone, they just get harder to fix!" Lu Chang’sheng said seriously. "Nobody’s perfect. I know I’ve got some skills, but why do I go out of my way to bring everyone together? Because that’s what it takes!"

Everyone looked at him, a bit puzzled.

In their eyes, Lu Chang’sheng’s talent was rare in the world. Guys like themselves were just riding his coattails, basking in his glory, and deep down, they felt a bit inferior.

Lu Chang’sheng seemed to know exactly what they were thinking. He sighed deeply, then said, "People have their limits. Sure, for now, maybe I can steer the gang or the group just fine—but when it comes to making real progress, no one does it alone! Getting everyone involved now is really about laying my own foundation!"

"You can’t build a thousand-foot mountain without a solid base. Without that, how can you ever grow sky-high?"

He reached out his hand, looking genuine as ever, and said, "The world has no shortage of obstacles. I hope you guys will walk this road with me!"

All around, dozens of people were moved as they looked at the young man’s figure bathed in morning light—lofty and dazzling.

"I’ve been knocking around Black Mountain Prefecture for over a decade and met people as numerous as fish in the river—but the only one I’ve truly respected is you!" Liang Yun took a deep breath and laid his slightly trembling hand gently on top of Lu Chang’sheng’s.

Everyone else didn’t hesitate either.

In an instant, the small hand was piled up with a thick stack of hands.

On the way back, Li Nangua’s eyes tracked the boy’s silhouette, never blinking once.

Yikes!

She tripped on a stone and almost tumbled. Good thing she was way nimbler than before—after a clumsy run, she caught herself and stood back up.

But the next second, her face went bright red—she found herself less than half a foot from the boy’s face.

"I—I tripped... over a rock—" she tried to explain, flustered; usually, she’s quick-witted, but now her mouth and brain seemed to be out of commission.

Seeing her like that, most of Lu Chang’sheng’s irritation vanished.

Still, thinking he shouldn’t let it slide so easily, he fought back a laugh and tried to keep a straight face, "If this happens again, family law—"

Realizing that might be a bit much, he just dropped it and shook his head, walking off.

But the girl’s eyes lit up instantly—bright as a spring lake, lively and attractive.

She’d followed Lu Chang’sheng for years, reading with him when he had time. After so much exposure, she wasn’t that little illiterate girl anymore, and she caught the meaning right away.

Family law, huh? Lu Chang’sheng’s gonna serve up some household discipline?

To anyone else, that sounded threatening. But to her, those words tasted like honey—sweet, with zero intimidation. Her mind was spinning with thoughts of discipline and service.

"Ouch!"

This time she really crashed into Lu Chang’sheng—hard.

The collision yanked her out of her daydreams, and seeing his confused look made her freak out. She zipped around him and bolted for the courtyard.

She was quicker than she’d been during last night’s brawl with the Shaving Knife Gang—definitely a breakthrough of sorts.

"This kid probably does have a decent knack for martial arts!" Lu Chang’sheng thought, watching her run off.

Before passing the advanced scholar exam, he couldn’t risk teaching Flood Stake to anyone—not unless he wanted to get everyone in trouble.

So, once he had the money, Lu Chang’sheng planned to send Li Nangua, Wang Heihou, and the others to train at a martial arts hall.

Anyone trying to survive in the gang life has to train in martial arts.

With the plan made, he used the last day of his rest to go to the government office and get a license for running a medical practice.

Here was where the perks of Child Scholar status paid off. Regular folks would have a hard time getting a license, and without one, there were tons of trades you couldn’t do in Prefecture City.

Shame was, most of the obvious benefits of being a Child Scholar had already been used up. To do any more, you’d need to be an Advanced Scholar.

The Great Yuan’s bureaucratic mindset still had a heavy grip on every prefecture in the empire.

If you had no influence, even if you were a business genius, it was tough to get anywhere.

And so, an ordinary little clinic opened up on a quiet street by the South Gate. The head doctor wasn’t anyone else but Wu Ji Yong, while Lu Chang’sheng worked as a temporary apprentice—helping out, occasionally assisting with some basic treatments.

Time slipped by quietly in that peaceful routine!