Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

With this, Fang Shan and the others could see things clearly now.

"I heard Chen Ming took his people and bailed. Wonder what’s going on with him now?"

Fang Shan, as if suddenly remembering, turned to Lu Chang’sheng and asked.

"No idea~ hopefully things work out for him." Lu Chang’sheng shook his head.

Gu Feng was splattered head to toe in demon fluids, looking a bit worn out as he wandered the area with two other cultivators. Spotting Lu Chang’sheng, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

Fang Shan and the rest saw this and couldn’t help but show a bit of ingratiating smile themselves.

The dozens of cultivators who’d come over with Gu Feng earlier had been posted to guard different stretches of the city wall. From what could be seen, the attacks here had been notably weaker than expected.

Obviously, that had something to do with Lu Chang’sheng; at the very least, Fang Shan and the others had no reason to doubt it.

"Alchemist Lu, how about I host a small gathering tonight?"

A cultivator walked over, smiling.

This was Luo Dong, patriarch of a minor family.

Platinum Immortal City had no shortage of families like this—like the Lu Family. If Lu Chang’sheng weren’t a rank-B alchemist, even with Li Nangua at seventh-layer Qi Cultivation, the Lu Family would barely rate a mention.

"Sounds good!" Lu Chang’sheng replied.

Word had come from the Gu Family: they could catch a breather before midnight tonight. There were still a couple hours to go, so a relaxing get-together made sense, and also gave everyone a chance to prepare more.

The Gu Family and the Supreme Profound Sect had specially notified them, hoping folks would exchange their demon hunt contributions for battle-boosting resources.

At night, one of the courtyards in the Imperial Garden got lively, with cultivators stationed elsewhere also gathering for their own casual get-togethers.

The Imperial Garden was usually just a rest spot for the Gu Family’s patrol squads, but thanks to the Gu Family’s and Supreme Profound Sect’s deep pockets, the grounds were sprawling.

It was even bigger than the Lu Mansion, which Lu Chang’sheng had forked out tens of thousands of spirit stones to buy.

After a bit of conversation, a Foundation Establishment cultivator dropped down from above, with Gu Feng and a few Gu Family cultivators right behind.

Lu Chang’sheng also saw Gu Chan and Gu Shuang among them.

"Time to verify the demon hunt contributions. Better not fudge your numbers."

Fang Shan reminded Lu Chang’sheng.

Since it was the latter’s first time taking part in a Supreme Profound Sect mobilization.

"In past mobilizations, some tried to game the system, but they were quickly found out. The consequences were never pretty."

Luo Dong chimed in.

Through the chatter, Lu Chang’sheng picked up quite a bit. Most screw-ups happened with newbies who thought they’d found a way to milk the Immortal Sect, not realizing it was a dead end.

The Immortal Sect’s methods were far more advanced than most loose cultivators could imagine. They could tell at a glance whether the demon materials submitted were freshly obtained or not.

Lu Chang’sheng just nodded—he’d never planned on walking that risky path anyway.

Soon enough, it was Lu Chang’sheng’s turn for verification.

"Alchemist Lu, your demon hunting contribution totals 88 points."

Gu Chan tucked away the materials Lu Chang’sheng handed over—proof of his demon kills, soon to be sent to the Immortal Sect.

"Thank you, Miss Gu Chan."

Lu Chang’sheng hurried to say.

Faced with Gu Chan’s bright smile, a guilty Lu Chang’sheng suddenly found himself unable to meet her gaze.

He quickly lowered his head.

Beside him, Gu Shuang noticed, feeling an inexplicable irritation stirring deep down. She shut it down almost instantly.

She smiled and said, "Little Chan is always worried about Alchemist Lu’s safety, you know."

Gu Chan’s pretty face flushed a little, shooting Gu Shuang a playful glare.

"Thanks for caring, Miss Gu Chan."

Gu Chan didn’t seem too used to the attention either, dragging Li Nangua aside for a chat. Watching how happy they looked deep in conversation, Lu Chang’sheng let out a quiet sigh.

The gathering didn’t last long; mostly, it was about verifying contributions and exchanging them for treasures from the Supreme Profound Sect.

Soon enough, Lu Chang’sheng had the exchange list from Gu Feng in hand.

"No wonder they’re called an Immortal Sect—the wealth is staggering."

Looking at the inventory, Lu Chang’sheng’s eyes sparkled.

The biggest prize, of course, was the Foundation Establishment Pill at the top. No matter the era, this pill was a hot commodity—scarce and priceless.

But the contribution points needed were huge—a jaw-dropping eighty thousand.

"No way I can afford that! Not a chance!"

Lu Chang’sheng looked away; no wonder the Fang Family and Qu Family had thrown everything at demon hunting for years but still couldn’t buy one.

Of course, things were different now compared to the last time. Last time’s demon calamity, anyone below late-stage Qi Cultivation couldn’t take part in the larger battles—just running around killing stray demons, with lousy efficiency.

This kind of fortress defense, waiting for demons to attack, saved them a lot of effort. Plus, Foundation Establishment Pills last time weren’t allotted at fixed rates—they were auctioned off for contribution points once the calamity ended.

Naturally, prices ran even higher that way.

"Compared to the Foundation Pill, some of these other items are a way better deal."

Lu Chang’sheng kept scanning down—lots of things he could use. But his contribution points were limited, so he had to spend them wisely.

Top-tier magic, top-grade magical artifacts, premium pill furnaces, precious techniques.

There were plenty of top-quality pills that late-stage Qi cultivators drooled over, but they didn’t tempt him at all.

After all, he was a rank-two alchemist now.

"Now this pill furnace is nice—high quality. Good enough to barely handle rank-two pills."

He was in dire need of a decent furnace. With this one, he could try improving the variables on the True Essence Pill formula.

He could study the Turtle Shell Map and Master Baiyun’s alchemy legacy to boost the variables some, but it was still slower than actual alchemy practice.

If he wanted to max out his mastery of the pill formula, he’d have to keep refining pills. But the cost of True Essence Pills was sky-high; at this rate, even if he dumped all his income into it, he might never reach Great Success with them before his lifespan ran out.

Without Great Success, the profit wouldn’t be much better than now, and by then, Foundation Establishment would be out of the question.

"If only I’d made it into Heaven-Burning Valley, I wouldn’t be stuck like this."

He still felt a bit sore about the Heaven-Burning Valley business. To be fair, he’d pushed himself as far as possible; in the end, they’d picked Zhou Lin over him. Nothing more he could do.

There were plenty of nice things at the top of the list, but he just couldn’t afford them right now—most of the best stuff cost well over a thousand points.

He had only eighty-eight, light years short.

"Looks like I can at least afford some talisman papers."

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head. Talisman papers were single-use and nowhere near as valuable as the other goods, but he wasn’t about to waste his limited points on them.

He already had a stash, bought with spirit stones or traded for pills.

But just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye.

"Catalytic Treasure Liquid."

Could be used as an aid for refining materials.

A jade vial cost only fifty contribution points.

"Now this stuff is rare!" Without hesitating, Lu Chang’sheng cashed in immediately.

Catalytic Treasure Liquid boosted fusing certain materials, speeding up refining puppets, alchemy, crafting spirit array plates, and more.

If you had enough of it, it worked even better.

Of course, it was hardly ever used for alchemy. Alchemy demanded meticulous control: most alchemists relied on their own pill fire, managing intensity to the decimal. Using Catalytic Liquid just brought too much unpredictability for any alchemist.

Simply not worth it.

But for making puppets or spirit array plates, you didn’t have to worry about that.

And right now, Lu Chang’sheng was running out of time. He already had all the puppet beast materials he needed, and was just a step shy of perfecting his puppetry technique—maybe any day now.

The appearance of Catalytic Treasure Liquid couldn’t have been more timely.