Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

But what made Lu Chang’sheng’s face turn dark was that the Little Fire Cloud Beast sifted through the pile of items he’d offered, then expertly picked out a Perfect Pill and popped it into its mouth like it was candy.

The look on its face seemed quite satisfied, putting a nervous look on the people around.

Accepting the gift meant the Little Fire Cloud Beast was pretty happy with it—an encouraging start.

But the next scene left everyone dumbstruck.

After taking the gift, the chubby Little Fire Cloud Beast plopped down on the ground and let out a loud burp, with a small puff of black smoke wafting out.

Then it turned its head away and totally ignored Lu Chang’sheng’s presence.

Lu Chang’sheng squinted, just as a Beast Institute disciple nearby said, "Steward Lu, the Little Fire Cloud Beast doesn’t seem very satisfied with you, you see—"

The Beast Institute disciple was in charge of looking after Fire Cloud Beasts’ daily lives, so he naturally lowered his posture in front of Lu Chang’sheng, a second-rank Alchemist Steward.

"Did Fire Cloud Beasts act like this before?"

Lu Chang’sheng turned and asked.

The Beast Institute disciple wasn’t quite sure what he meant. "Steward Lu, you mean?"

"I mean, it took the gift, but refused to sign the Spirit Contract," Lu Chang’sheng clarified.

"Well, it’s not unheard of."

"So, it’s not that common?"

"Right."

Lu Chang’sheng more or less understood. From his angle, he could see the Little Fire Cloud Beast was watching him out of the corner of its eye.

He turned away and walked back, spotting a few of the other quota holders outside, all of them looking pretty excited.

"Don’t lose heart, Fellow Daoist Lu. If this Fire Cloud Beast doesn’t work out, you can wait for the next one. I heard Fellow Daoist Cui’s Fire Cloud Beast has been restless lately—maybe it’s in heat, so when the time comes—"

"Yeah, don’t be discouraged. Who knows what the future holds."

Zhong Mountain and the rest saw Lu Chang’sheng coming over and hurried to comfort him.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head and said, "I hope you all get what you wish for."

"Much appreciated!" Zhong Mountain, the loudmouth, jumped in first.

Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help but wonder what secret weapon he’d prepared.

Just then, another steward returned empty-handed. After glancing around, he finally headed toward Lu Chang’sheng’s direction.

Failing together naturally brought some mutual understanding, while the others were different—even if they put on comforting faces, the sly upward curve of their lips was impossible to hide.

The two exchanged a few words. Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t exactly sure what the other guy had offered. When he went up, just like Lu Chang’sheng, he’d taken out a whole pile of items—it was all luck which one the Little Fire Cloud Beast would choose.

"I was luckier than you, Fellow Daoist. The Little Fire Cloud Beast didn’t take a single thing from me." As he spoke, he couldn’t help smiling.

Lu Chang’sheng’s expression froze for a second—suddenly this guy looked pretty obnoxious.

Luckily, Lu Chang’sheng quickly got over it.

When it was Zhong Mountain’s turn, the Little Fire Cloud Beast grabbed a bunch of stuff and sprawled out over it.

Zhong Mountain’s face lit up and he shot the crowd a wink, but it didn’t take long before he was hit by disappointment.

The Little Fire Cloud Beast didn’t spare him a glance, and even tilted its head slightly, with a look of contempt glimmering in its eyes.

"Seems like this Little Fire Cloud Beast is smarter than the usual."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just look at its manner. Normally, a Fire Cloud Beast’s intelligence grows with its cultivation and age, topping out once it hits Foundation Establishment. But this Little Fire Cloud Beast, I bet it could reach a regular Fire Cloud Beast’s intelligence even before Foundation Establishment."

"You definitely don’t see human-like expressions like that in most Fire Cloud Beasts."

The cultivators around grew serious, but couldn’t help smirking a bit—after all, Zhong Mountain had failed too.

After two minutes, the Little Fire Cloud Beast hadn’t reacted at all; in fact, it seemed downright annoyed, swishing its tail nonstop.

"Something’s off, really off. How could this happen?"

Zhong Mountain came off the field, still in disbelief, sure he couldn’t have failed.

A friend nearby asked, confused, "Isn’t failing pretty normal? Every Fire Cloud Beast has a different personality. From what I saw of your gifts, that little guy seems to prefer pills and the like."

"In that case, Fellow Daoist Lu clearly had the upper hand compared to you all."

"Hard to say, hard to say. That Little Fire Cloud Beast feels pretty wild to me."

"Looks like it’s not meant to be for us."

"I’m curious—Zhong Mountain, what exactly did you give it?"

Everyone turned to look. Zhong Mountain had been so confident, set on winning over the Little Fire Cloud Beast, but who’d have thought he’d lose too?

Zhong Mountain looked majorly depressed, didn’t want to say, but with everyone urging him on, he gave in: "Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. It was a fire-element Perfect Pill."

"What! That’s pretty generous—the Perfect Pill is super rare. You didn’t go all the way to the Greater Domain, did you?"

"The Greater Domain’s a mess, and even with a few Perfect Pills, there’s no guarantee they’ll do the trick."

······

"Of course I didn’t go to the Greater Domain—I’m not that dumb. I just got lucky a few years back in Platinum Immortal City, met some cultivators and bought them there."

"Too bad there weren’t enough. Otherwise, that Little Fire Cloud Beast would have no choice but to give in."

"Running into a Perfect Pill here in the Guangnan Domain is pretty good luck as it is."

"Didn’t you ask those cultivators where they got that batch of Perfect Pills?"