Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 61: In That Moment, I Became the Overwhelming Force

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: In That Moment, I Became the Overwhelming Force

"Chang’sheng!"

Lu Chang’sheng and Li Nangua hadn’t gone very far when they ran into Du Meng.

The two walked and chatted as they went, soon arriving at the crossroads. Du Meng was about to head off, but then heard Lu Chang’sheng say, "When’s the Lantern Festival happening?"

"Huh? The lantern—Lu, you finally came around!"

Du Meng was startled, then quickly realized what he meant, his face lighting up in delight.

Plenty of child scholars would butter him up, but the only person he truly considered a confidant was Lu Chang’sheng.

Lu Chang’sheng nodded, smiling. "With such lively scenes, how can I not go take a look?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"So why’d you always turn it down before?"

Du Meng didn’t say this out loud, worried Lu Chang’sheng might change his mind.

"No way, not today! I’ll come find you another day, but for some reason, it’s chilly as hell today. Must be some sort of omen!" Du Meng shivered and spoke.

Lu Chang’sheng shot him an amazed look. Even with his minor achievement in medical technique, he couldn’t detect the slightest sign that Du Meng was catching cold.

Now that’s weird!

He walked on for a while and suddenly had a feeling in his chest. Looking down—

His Root Bone Value had gone up again.

"Fifteen years old!"

Lu Chang’sheng grinned.

Li Nangua saw him so happy and asked, "Chang’sheng, what are you smiling about?"

"Just smiling because I’ve grown another year older!"

Li Nangua’s heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she felt as if Chang’sheng was drifting farther from her again.

······

This time, the boost in Root Bone brought some real surprises to Lu Chang’sheng’s panel.

"A whole new talent stage just showed up!"

"Genius!"

"Name: Lu Chang’sheng"

"Age: 15/55"

"Root Bone (Main): 3/10 [Unknown]"

"Root Bone (Side): 3/4 [Martial Dao, Inferior, next tier talent: Average]"

"Reading (Side): 3/4 [Reading, Genius, next tier talent: None]"

"Archery (Side): 3/4 [Archery, Genius, next tier talent: None]"

"Slacking Off (Side): 3/4 [Slacking Off, Genius, next tier talent: None]"

"Root Bone (Side): 3/4 [Medical Technique, Genius, next tier talent: None]"

"Root Bone (Side): 3/4 [Blade Technique, Talent, next tier talent: Genius]"

······

"Inferior talent, huh? Finally higher than the average martial artist’s Root Bone!"

This meant his progress in Martial Dao would speed up by quite a bit.

"Once the exam ordeal passes, I can focus on cultivating!"

Lu Chang’sheng looked to his new stage—’Genius.’

"Never thought reaching Genius would change me so much!"

As his Root Bone Value ticked up, a flood of memories hit his mind.

Slacking Off, archery, medical technique, blade skills, reading—everything he’d ever studied flashed back like he was flipping through them all over again.

Especially reading.

Things like archery and blade technique always needed more training, but reading was mostly about comprehension.

One boost to Root Bone Value felt like a thorough review of the lot.

Anything he’d skimmed in the past was now vivid in his mind. If he had to take the Advanced Scholar exam again, he was ninety-nine percent sure he’d take first place.

The remaining 0.1 percent? That’s just "respect" for the examiners’ whims.

"If this keeps up, my odds just went up again!"

Lu Chang’sheng smiled, gazing up at the sky, feeling a little lost.

Seeing him like this, Li Nangua’s heart twinged and she asked, "Chang’sheng, did you hit a roadblock?"

"Sure did! I cast my heart to the bright moon, but the moon only shines down on the ditch!" Lu Chang’sheng laughed helplessly. "Sometimes, living in the Jianghu, you really aren’t your own master!"

Li Nangua suddenly understood a little, "Is it because of the imperial examinations?"

Lu Chang’sheng was caught off guard. "What makes you say that?"

Li Nangua said, "Your whole heart is wrapped up in the exams. Nothing else could worry you this much."

Lu Chang’sheng felt a gentle warmth inside and nodded. "You’re right. Back in the village, Zhang Village folks told me, Black Mountain Prefecture was full of strict ranks and would eat you alive. I didn’t believe it then—thought, with my skills, why shouldn’t I rise? But real life showed me I was too naïve!"

Li Nangua’s heart throbbed and she said, "You’re doing great already. If things get too tough, let’s just go home."

You’ll farm, I’ll weave, and we’ll have a heap of chubby kids!

She didn’t dare say that last line out loud.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head and laughed, "Now, that won’t do! In the past, whenever something cropped up, the first thing I’d worry about wasn’t how to solve the problem, but whether solving it might catch some big shot’s eye and mess everything up."

"Looking back, that’s not always wrong, but you can’t keep thinking that way forever! Sometimes, attention from the powerful might cause trouble—or maybe it’ll be a stroke of luck."

Li Nangua blinked, puzzled, staring at Lu Chang’sheng.

He gave a soft smile, "I’ll go back to the village, sure. But not with my tail between my legs—I’ll go back with my head held high!"

"They want to block my path? I’ll punch through—with thunder and dignity!"

Li Nangua saw that light flash in Lu Chang’sheng’s eyes and her heart fluttered, convinced he was about to grab his blade and fight his way out.

If Wang Heihou or Niu Dazhuang said this, she wouldn’t hesitate to bop them on the head for being idiots.

Trying to brawl your way out on their turf? You must be crazy!

But faced with Lu Chang’sheng, her brain just turned to mush. "I’ll fight my way out with you!"

Lu Chang’sheng froze, then burst into laughter.

"Alright! We’ll fight our way out!"

······

Back home, Li Nangua didn’t say a word—she started grabbing her gear: bow, arrows, and a fine steel blade.

She figured Chang’sheng was going to take on Black Mountain Prefecture’s heavy hitters in a bloody showdown—heads rolling, blood gushing everywhere.

The fine steel blade would probably get dull.

So she took it to the kitchen.

Lu Chang’sheng was in his room, focused on reading, when suddenly he heard the sound of sharpening in the kitchen. He poked his head in and found the girl squatting there, sharpening the blade over and over.

She paused, checked the blade, shook her head, and kept sharpening.

"Why are you sharpening that thing?" Lu Chang’sheng asked.

"For chopping people, duh!" Li Nangua replied offhand, "Hand me your blade so I can give it a sharpen too!"

Not that she wanted Chang’sheng to be able to chop folks more efficiently. Just if hers got dull, she could swap in his instead.

Lu Chang’sheng instantly got what she was thinking. He tapped her head lightly, said with a smile-and-cry, "When did I ever say we’d have to chop people like that?"

He took the knife from Li Nangua and slid it into its sheath.

Seeing Li Nangua’s blank-faced confusion, he explained, "Titles, fame—that’s all I’m after now. If I can’t win ’Skill,’ I’ll get ’Name’ first—make my name a blade, and someday I’ll cut down the word ’Skill’ as well!"

Li Nangua looked even more lost.

Lu Chang’sheng saw this and kept it simple, not wanting her to worry. "You remember last year’s Heaven-Reaching List champion, Qingming from Jinghua Prefecture?"

"Sure! His reputation echoes through the Thirty-Six Mansions—everyone knows about him!" Li Nangua nodded. With Lu Chang’sheng’s hints, she finally started to piece it together. "Chang’sheng, you mean you want to earn fame—as a shield!"

"Exactly!"

"But what if they don’t play fair?"

"Then we’ll let the ones willing to play fair deal with them!" Lu Chang’sheng replied.

Li Nangua was baffled again.

"Who’d be willing to do that?"

"Where there’s evil, there’ll be justice. Where there’s darkness, there’ll be light. Right now we’re in the shadows—once we break through, the light will stand up for us!"

"And if the light doesn’t show up?" Li Nangua asked.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head with a gentle smile. "Then they won’t get a choice! You remember what happened with the corrupt official?"

Li Nangua nodded emphatically.

"If the light won’t come, the darkness will run wild! Once the Heaven-Reaching List comes out, I’ll be the force tipping the scales!"

Lu Chang’sheng chuckled softly, speaking slowly.

Li Nangua’s body trembled. Suddenly, the boy before her shone brighter than ever.