Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 95 - 92: Foreign Objects, Evil Objects, and Immortal Objects

Chapter 95: Chapter 92: Foreign Objects, Evil Objects, and Immortal Objects

"This is a booklet I wrote over my years of seeking immortality. It contains the Immortal Worship Formula and plenty of experience; read it, so you have some idea of what to expect."

"As for these evil objects, one of them has already lost its abnormal qualities. Aside from looking a bit strange, it’s useless now—put it wherever you like. But this white jade bracelet, you need to be a little more careful. For someone like you who’s mastered pile skill, it’s not a problem; however, if there’s someone around with weak willpower, this thing could easily cause some real trouble."

No wonder Dean Hong Yuan barely reacted when he saw this item. Turns out, even though it’s classified as an evil object, it doesn’t really do much harm—just stirs up the desires in people’s hearts.

"It seems like strange things always happen around these exotic artifacts. Why is that?"

Lu Chang’sheng suddenly remembered something and asked.

"That I’m not sure about. Maybe there’s some kind of sealing force inside these artifacts. Once it’s released, the thing turns pretty ordinary."

Hong Yuan replied.

They classified these abnormalities as a result, not the cause. Because of that, no one really thought too much about it.

After all, compared to those few exotic objects that can make up for the missing pieces in the Immortal Worship Formula, these things weren’t all that important.

"We suspect that Innate Martial Artists can affect the outcome of the Seeking Immortality ritual, so we’re trying to help you all reach the Innate stage as fast as possible. You’re already over twenty-five, and your root bone’s nothing special. If you want to use Five Treasures True Skill to enter the True Qi Realm, it’ll probably take until you’re past thirty!"

Lu Chang’sheng was slightly startled inside.

He thought to himself, "People always say Master Hong Yuan’s words are golden—turns out, it’s really true!"

If it weren’t for the fact that his talent and root bone had gone up by a point, he’d probably only manage entry after about five years of hard work.

Getting started in Five Treasures True Skill would mean reaching the True Qi Realm.

He had planned to tell Hong Yuan about his progress, but thinking about how hard it would be to explain, and how scary it would sound, he decided to keep quiet.

This involved his Golden Finger, so Lu Chang’sheng had to be extra careful. Even the slightest chance that someone might get suspicious, he wouldn’t risk it.

"Luckily, my root bone and talent will improve with time, and there’s evidence for that. I’ll wait a few more years to tell Master about my progress; that won’t sound so abrupt."

Thinking this, Lu Chang’sheng shook his head and said, "Master truly has a golden tongue!"

Hong Yuan’s face flashed with a hint of embarrassment, remembering the incident with Lin Shan last time. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

So, he just laughed. "Ha! In half a year, we’re taking a trip. I found you an exotic treasure that can boost your True Qi. That way, you’ll make it to the True Qi Realm even sooner."

Lu Chang’sheng smiled and said, "Thank you, Master!"

······

The world Great Yuan is in isn’t flat like an ancient map; in fact, Great Yuan’s own records say so. Some martial artists once sailed away from the coast, heading south. Years later, they came ashore again on the other side of Great Yuan.

So, the continent Great Yuan sits on is actually round or oval-shaped.

As for whether the sky is like Earth’s, with an atmosphere and, beyond that, endless space—without the means to fly or the ability to observe far enough, no one knows.

In truth, whether it’s cultivating immortality or scientific advancement, all of humanity’s explorations are driven by desire!

Take Zhao Xinghua right now, racking her brains for a way to marry into the Lu Family. Why? Because just recently, she heard from someone that Scholar Lu had become a disciple of the Martial Artist Institute’s dean.

At first, she didn’t understand the significance of this. Not until that night when Zhao Qing’s son, Chen Lin, sneaked in and tried to force himself on her. In her panic, she blurted it out, and in an instant, Chen Lin’s leering grin turned into sheer terror.

Zhao Xinghua snickered to herself.

Mr. Chen’s most "accomplished" son, Chen Lin, was older than Lu Chang’sheng by a few years. Still, from the moment Lu Chang’sheng became a Child Scholar, Chen Lin had been living in his shadow.

Mr. Chen would always talk about Lu Chang’sheng—when he was in a good mood, when he wasn’t, nonstop. From praise to anger, then sighs, respect, even awe eventually.

The old man who once singlehandedly supported the Chen Family... his attitude toward Lu Chang’sheng changed drastically every so often.

But his attitude toward Chen Lin went to the other extreme.

Other people’s kids are always the best—especially when it’s a widely acknowledged fact.

If Chen Lin hadn’t been Mr. Chen’s son, or if he didn’t have Zhao Qing as a mother, maybe things would be different.

But the Chen Family and Lu Chang’sheng are too intertwined.

That’s why this so-called star child of the family has always been slowly suffocated by Lu Chang’sheng’s shadow—unable to catch his breath.

For years, not making any progress gave Chen Lin the nerve to look down on Lu Chang’sheng at home. But when he found out Lu Chang’sheng had become Hong Yuan’s disciple, all his hope died.

He’s not like Zhao Xinghua—he knows next to nothing about Jixia Academy’s Martial Artist Institute. He passed the Child Scholar exam and enrolled in Jixia Academy, even tried to use his connections to get into the Martial Artist Institute, but his root bone wasn’t enough. The Chen Family’s decline meant he had no leverage left to pull strings.

So all he could do was stare at the Martial Artist Institute every day, green with envy and wild fantasies.

The more he learned, the deeper it got. Till he finally understood Dean Hong Yuan’s status and strength

.

That guy was scarier than Lord Xu Yuan from the prefecture.

Even the lord couldn’t just make him do things.

Seeing Chen Lin’s broken, hollow look, Zhao Xinghua started digging for info. One thing led to another—and wow.

Not even the lord of the prefecture could compare? Didn’t that mean it was higher status than the Xun Mansion?

After wasting more than ten years on Xun Zimo, ending up alone, Zhao Xinghua was brimming with resentment. Now that she had a better shot, how could she not be overjoyed?

As for Lu Chang’sheng, she had no idea what he was really like, but when it came to Lu Haozi, her odds were much better.

So even when Zhao Qing warned her days ago not to pester the Xu Family anymore, she couldn’t be bothered to listen.

"Zhao Qing’s close to out of patience with me. Figures, she was just using my body to get the Chen Family some benefit. In the end, you really have to count on yourself!" Zhao Xinghua thought to herself.

In her eyes, Lu Chang’sheng might be a hotshot, but he still had weaknesses.

For example: Mrs. Lu, and Lu Haozi.

"I almost had Mrs. Lu in the palm of my hand before. If not for this latest twist, would things look like this?"

Thinking this, she didn’t care that it was barely dawn. She got up, ready to change clothes—then noticed her outfit, torn by Chen Lin the night before. Her eyes lit up, and she just walked out the door toward Xiao Market.

Previously, she and Zhao Qing had plotted for ages and discovered that, every holiday, Mrs. Xu always went to a tailoring shop in Xiao Market for new clothes and to catch up with the tailor, an old friend. So this time, Zhao Xinghua decided to get there early. When Mrs. Xu arrived and saw her in such a miserable state, she’d have no choice but to lend a hand.

Halfway there, she suddenly felt a chill—then saw a limping wolf dash out from a side alley to her left.

Zhao Xinghua immediately turned to run. The wolf’s matted fur and bony frame made it obvious it’d been starving for days.

She was terrified it would eat her.

But instead, the lame wolf whimpered, glanced over, and disappeared behind the corner.

Zhao Xinghua stood there stunned for a second. When she came to her senses, she noticed that where the wolf had paused, it’d left behind a wolf cub.

"What an adorable little wolf cub!"

For reasons she couldn’t explain—given how much she usually hated stray cats and dogs—she fell for the little thing at first sight.

The main thing was—

"Mrs. Xu’s the soft-hearted type. If she sees me like this, with a pitiful, unweaned wolf cub, there’s no way she won’t melt!"

The more Zhao Xinghua thought about it, the more she felt it was destiny. She reached out to stroke the cub, and it even licked her palm with its tongue.

So cute and gentle—nothing like a wolf cub should be.

Clutching the little wolf, Zhao Xinghua hurried to the route Mrs. Lu would take to the tailor, then tussled her clothes a bit more to make herself look even more ragged.

Suddenly, she felt like she was being watched. She spun around and caught a shadow darting away between the houses.

She sneered, shook the two ounces of "meat" on her chest, and muttered, "What are you looking at? You can see ’em but never touch—starve to death, you damn beggars!"

As she cursed, suddenly footsteps came from the other end. She quickly wiped a handful of mud on her face, held back her disgust, and showed a dazed, pitiful look, pitiful enough to make anyone’s heart soften.