Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

Suddenly, her expression shifted slightly. She stood up and said to Gu Chan, "Gu Chan, there are some personal matters I can’t discuss with you for now."

"That’s all right, Nangua," Gu Chan replied.

Once Li Nangua disappeared, a strange look flashed in her eyes. As a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, there was no way she hadn’t felt that surge of energy.

"Someone’s breaking through the late stage of Qi Cultivation,"

Gu Chan’s heart pounded. If anyone in the Lu Mansion could break through at this moment, it’d have to be Alchemist Lu.

As for anyone else, they just didn’t have the right circumstances.

······

A few days later, Lu Chang’sheng walked out of the cultivation chamber, immediately spotting Li Nangua, Lu Chang’an, and Lu Ziyou together.

"You’ve reached the seventh level of Qi Cultivation?"

Meeting Li Nangua’s expectant, delighted gaze, Lu Chang’sheng smiled and nodded.

"Father was already as strong as a seventh-level cultivator at the sixth level. Now that you’re at the seventh, you’ve at least got the strength of someone at the eighth or even ninth level," Lu Chang’an said happily.

"It’s not that easy," Lu Chang’sheng broke his illusion.

Lu Ziyou added, "Father’s combat power is all tied up in his puppet beasts—until you upgrade those, I doubt your actual strength will change much."

Lu Chang’sheng shot Lu Ziyou a surprised look, not expecting him to think deeper than Lu Chang’an.

Looks like my youngest is becoming more mature, too.

But Lu Chang’an had his own take. "I wouldn’t say that," he replied.

"Chang’an is right. I think handling an eighth-level cultivator shouldn’t be much trouble for me now," said Lu Chang’sheng.

Lu Ziyou was still influenced by Gou Dao, and instinctively tended to underestimate Lu Chang’sheng’s power.

After all, Gou Dao was all about underestimating their own side and overestimating the enemy—that’s how you make sure nothing goes wrong.

But the truth was, after stepping into the seventh level of Qi Cultivation, both his spiritual sense and magical power had grown by leaps and bounds.

Now, when it came to magical power, he had far more than most at this level.

Probably about twice as much.

In terms of spiritual sense, since he cultivated the Cyan Essence Immortal Technique, he was stronger than most cultivators at the late stage. Add in his Puppetry Technique, and right now, his spiritual sense was already on par with most ninth-level cultivators.

This boost to his spiritual sense also made him even sharper when controlling his puppet beasts, and he could now handle two at once.

Put simply, he’d mastered the art of multitasking with the puppets.

Facing Lu Chang’sheng was like facing three cultivators at the seventh Qi level; most at the eighth level wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Of course, this was only for now—once Lu Chang’sheng swapped out his puppet beasts sometime later, that would be a whole different story.

Reaching the late stage of Qi Cultivation was a big deal for any faction in the Platinum Immortal City, and Lu Mansion was no exception.

However, these were trying times; with the cold, chill spirit winds still sweeping through the skies and casting a shadow over everyone’s heart, Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t in the mood to throw any sort of advancement banquet.

He just had a simple family dinner.

At the table, Lu Chang’sheng asked everyone about the situation outside, and quickly got a general sense of things.

The cultivators who went to Purple Ice Lake hadn’t come back yet, but there were rumors that the search had reached a particularly crucial stage.

There were also scattered stories—someone had accidentally found a Turtle Shell Map left behind by the Profound Turtle Alchemist, or someone else had run into a demon beast and died on the spot.

And so on.

Purple Ice Lake was considered a dangerous zone in the Guangnan Domain. In the past, even the likes of Master Baiyun—a Foundation Establishment powerhouse—had died there. That says it all.

"Miss Gu of the Gu Family is here!" Suddenly, someone outside announced.

"Is it Gu Chan?" Li Nangua smiled.

"Yes, it’s Miss Gu Chan."

Remembering her gift of pills, Lu Chang’sheng nodded for his guest to be admitted.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, so you’ve finally made it past this hurdle."

Soon, Gu Chan saw Lu Chang’sheng, her beautiful eyes lighting up.

"Thank you again for the pills," Lu Chang’sheng said. He knew the Gu Family had surely figured out he was cultivating the Cyan Spirit Technique.

After all, his motives had been too obvious last time when asking Gu Chan for Cyan Spirit Pills.

But Gu Chan didn’t mind at all. She squinted her eyes in a playful smile. "The Cyan Spirit Technique isn’t exclusive to the Supreme Profound Sect, so you really don’t need to worry."

Lu Chang’sheng let out a breath of relief. Looks like the Gu Family really had figured it out.

He’d been worried the Supreme Profound Sect or Gu Family might turn on him because of it.

"So, may I ask what brings Miss Gu Chan here?"

Lu Chang’sheng asked.

"You entered the late stage of Qi Cultivation, and as Nangua’s friend, I wanted to come congratulate you in person." As she spoke, Gu Chan hurriedly handed over a carefully prepared gift.

As she left, she glanced at the others in the Lu Mansion. Her face looked a bit awkward.

Clearly, she hadn’t come at the right time.

Li Nangua invited her to stay for dinner, but she took off even faster.

"She’s a good kid," Li Nangua said fondly to Lu Chang’sheng.

"Yeah, it’s rare to meet someone like that in the Spirit Realm," Lu Chang’sheng replied, for some reason thinking of Qin Wan, who he hadn’t seen in ages—the two of them seemed to overlap in his mind for a moment.

Li Nangua opened her mouth to speak, but the words got stuck. She knew Lu Chang’sheng had no interest in taking a concubine, and if she brought it up now, it’d probably backfire.

She felt a little jealous inside, but after all these years she’d delayed Chang’sheng, she figured she should be grateful enough.

······

Business hadn’t changed much—it had just been a ten-day seclusion, after all. But Lu Ziyou did mention that things at the White Cloud Pavilion had gotten pretty hectic.

After Li Changmei paid his art learning fee and left the White Cloud Pavilion, the place had grown restless. If Lu Chang’sheng hadn’t told Duan Ming to make a statement, the situation would’ve been even worse.

The next day, when Lu Chang’sheng went over, he saw an old cultivator in a floral robe walking up, saying he wanted to leave the White Cloud Pavilion.

"You’re leaving too, Fellow Daoist Fang?" Lu Chang’sheng frowned.

This wasn’t a good sign.

While the man’s skill in alchemy and cultivation were both a bit below Li Changmei’s, he had seniority and was fairly respected at White Cloud Pavilion.

Having someone like that leave dealt a major blow to the pavilion’s current circumstances.

"You know, it’s better for us if we leave early," Fang Ping sighed.

He felt a bit guilty about the decision, but thinking about his future prospects, he had no choice.

"I understand," Lu Chang’sheng didn’t try to stop him or persuade him otherwise.

Had to be pressure from the White Cloud Mountain Range side.

The earlier they switched allegiances, the more benefits they’d get from the other side. They needed to set an example, so the rest would leave the White Cloud Pavilion as soon as possible.

"This—this won’t do," Duan Ming objected to Fang Ping’s departure.

He pulled Lu Chang’sheng aside and said, "Elder Lu, can you talk to him again? Even if you just hold Elder Fang here for a bit—he’s not like Li Changmei. If he leaves, it’s going to hit us really hard."

In Duan Ming’s view, at least wait for Elder Xiao Feng and the others to return.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head. "There’s no talking someone out of this."

Everyone has their own ambitions. If he’s brought it up to my face, he’s probably already made up his mind.

Trying to talk him out of it would be pointless.

Besides, Lu Chang’sheng didn’t want to waste his energy or time on these people either.

"White Cloud Pavilion’s only been in decline half a year and they can’t wait to leave—so even if they stay, what’s the point?"

Duan Ming fell silent.

Lu Chang’sheng patted his shoulder. "We already said we’d give everyone five years. If they don’t even trust that, having them stay would just embarrass everyone."

Duan Ming let out a deep sigh, exhaustion written all over his face.

"Time to try refining a second-grade pill."

Breaking into the seventh level of Qi Cultivation had removed the last bottleneck holding back his alchemy Dao, but to actually advance to the second grade, he had to successfully produce a second-grade pill.

But making a second-grade pill required quite a bit of preparation.

Lu Chang’sheng walked into the Alchemy Room.

Before trying for a second-grade pill, he needed to get familiar with his new state.

For example, controlling the Pill Fire.

His breakthrough meant the Pill Fire was much stronger now, and if he didn’t get used to it, there was no way he’d be able to refine a second-grade pill.