Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

"Ninety Ku’s Magical Power now, but the speed of my magical power growth has dropped quite a bit."

Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t the least bit frustrated—this was inevitable. The higher your cultivation, the more everything rides on your Immortal Dao Spirit Root Talent. Otherwise, the Spirit Realm wouldn’t have so many low-level cultivators running around.

A D-level mid-grade Spirit Root Talent was considered middle of the pack in the Guangnan Domain. In theory, there was a chance to reach Foundation Establishment with it.

So, in other words, Lu Chang’sheng’s theoretical max was Foundation Establishment.

Of course, that was just theory. The reason people in the Spirit Realm say that is because there have only been a handful of actual examples—just a rare few with that fate.

Lu Chang’sheng didn’t think he was luckier than that tiny fraction of people in the Spirit Realm, but there was one thing that set him apart: he had a Golden Finger, so his Immortal Dao Spirit Root wasn’t locked at this level.

The longer he lived, the better his Spirit Root would get.

Sitting alone in his cultivation room, Lu Chang’sheng rubbed his smooth bald head. Thanks to his relentless alchemy practice, the hair on his head decided to stop seeing him long ago—now all that remained was a shiny, polished scalp growing brighter by the day.

What a scene. On top of that, reaching Great Success with the Barbarian Armor Technique made his body sturdier, so now his Magical Robe was practically a size too big.

"Decades ago, I used to be a gentle, refined man of reading and poetry."

He stared at himself in the mirror and let out a sigh of emotion. Luckily, his mindset was pretty good and he didn’t really care, so he popped on his alchemist’s hat and went to work on some pills.

He started by refining a few batches of Guiyuan Pill. Basically, every two batches of herbs produced at least one Perfect Pill.

Pills like the Guiyuan Pill had long lost their effectiveness on Lu Chang’sheng, but Perfect Pills were a different story. Plus, these pills were always in high demand out on the market, so whenever Lu Chang’sheng needed to refine first-grade pills, he’d pick something in this category to work on.

The higher your cultivation, the more resources you need—especially with extravagant cultivation like his. Every year, his resource consumption could put most late Qi Cultivation cultivators to shame. Until he got the True Essence Pill formula to Great Success, even Lu Chang’sheng was starting to feel the pinch.

After a period refining pills, Lu Chang’sheng sensed a real improvement. Even when refining pills at the Perfect Level, the process felt easier than ever.

There’s a reason why, in the common view of the Spirit Realm, alchemy demands strong cultivation.

After a while of working with first-grade pills, Lu Chang’sheng moved on to second-grade True Essence Pills. He’d reached Minor Achievement with this formula, but without Great Success, it always felt like something was missing—and a wrong move could mean losses. So he kept his True Essence Pill batches to a minimum, mostly relying on the sect’s Jade Scrolls on the Alchemy Dao to improve his skill with the formula.

Other than that, he mostly just refined True Essence Pills as a favor for the sect.

"Even True Essence Pill, a pretty run-of-the-mill second-grade pill, is way harder to perfect than anything first-grade,"

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

He’d realized ages ago that making second-grade pills took a lot more time and effort. That meant going forward, he’d have to be picky with what second-grade formulas to learn, not just take on anything like with first-grade pills.

He originally planned to finish refining the ten-plus batches of True Essence Pill materials he’d prepared, but during a break, a cultivator came looking for him.

"Alchemist Lu, there’s news from the Beast Institute."

"Finally?" Lu Chang’sheng immediately dropped his pill refining plans and got up to head out.

He took to the skies on his sword. On the way, he kept crossing paths with other cultivators zipping past, many looking harried or preoccupied. When they saw him, they all greeted him respectfully.

Alchemists from the Alchemy Institute held a high standing—especially Lu Chang’sheng as a second-grade alchemist.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you’re in a hurry—something urgent?"

A Foundation Establishment cultivator passed him and, seeing Lu Chang’sheng, called out. They chatted a bit, then Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help but ask.

"Isn’t it the whole Purple Ice Lake situation?" the cultivator replied.

"There’s progress?"

"Pretty much! If you’re interested, you should check it out. The place is buzzing these days." The Lin-named cultivator cupped his hands in farewell, then soon disappeared in a flash of light.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head. He knew plenty about this Purple Ice Lake business too. Ever since the Demon Calamity in Platinum Immortal City years ago, Good Beast Sect and Supreme Profound Sect had both ramped up their exploration efforts. But since the two sides could barely stand each other, their cooperation was as awkward as you’d expect. Of course, Guangnan Domain wasn’t just those two, so things never got violent enough for outsider sects to swoop in and steal the goodies.

With the two acting like petty rivals, the pace of exploration was pretty slow. Even the clues Gu Wei’s group found didn’t point directly to the Profound Turtle alchemist’s cave—something must have gone wrong, and follow-up expeditions were on and off ever since.

If they hadn’t occasionally found more Turtle Shell Map clues and cave relics, they wouldn’t even be exploring anymore.

"Can’t be anyone but the Profound Turtle Alchemist pulling Le Ziren shenanigans."

Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help reiterating his own philosophy.

Le Ziren’s cave? Even a dog wouldn’t go near that place.

The tricks across several millennia make it clear—trying to muscle in on any Profound Turtle Alchemist’s legacy cave was easier said than done.

Good Beast Sect and Supreme Profound Sect have spent twenty years and still haven’t found the Profound Turtle Alchemist’s cave under Purple Ice Lake—case in point.

"I’m not like them. I’ve got a clear path forward—no way I’d lose track of what actually matters like those guys."

Progress?

Maybe they found yet another lead on the Profound Turtle Alchemist’s cave?

Over the years, this kind of clue has popped up at least eighty, or maybe even a hundred, times already.