Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

It's been over twenty years since we moved from Platinum Immortal City to Good Beast Immortal City, and some of the younger Lu Family kids have already grown up.

Lu Chang'sheng and Nangua didn't want to waste too much energy on family matters, so when they came over, they let the family branch off.

Only a few of the closer ones, like Lu Chang'an and Lu Ziyou, are able to interact with them.

Even for this family meeting, only the closest folks were allowed to attend.

At the dinner, Lu Chang'sheng looked at the few people beneath him, feeling a bit sentimental and helpless.

Chang'an sat in the secondary seat, his hair already showing streaks of silver.

By contrast, Lu Ziyou looked much younger.

As their direct bloodline from him and Nangua, these two brothers naturally received far more attention.

With Nangua letting go of the family, the two had become the old generation in the clan.

Lu Chang'sheng simply asked them about their lives.

The brothers, thanks to their different personalities, inevitably took different paths.

Chang'an had great prestige among the younger family generation, second only to Lu Chang'sheng and Nangua, while Lu Ziyou kept more to himself.

These years, he cultivated in the Good Beast Sect, yet since his talent had limits, his cultivation hadn't progressed much.

Lu Chang'sheng didn't lend much of a hand. Of the brothers, Lu Ziyou had the best talent, but his Spirit Root Talent was only rank D-, so no matter how many resources, it couldn't be sustained.

He scanned the room and didn't see Lu Fan; only then did he realize Lu Fan had left the family a few years back.

"Lu Fan wanted to go out and see the world. I tried to stop him, but in the end let him go," Lu Ziyou said.

Lu Chang'sheng didn't pay it much mind either.

The Lu Family bloodline will grow more and more numerous in the future; there's no way he could manage all of it.

Later on, he'll need to head to the greater domain to develop, and what he can leave for the Lu Family is basically only their connection to Good Beast Sect.

As for the rest, his descendants will have their own fortune.

······

The clamor of Foundation Establishment soon faded, and early in the morning Lu Chang'sheng rode a beam of spiritual light to the main peak of Good Beast Sect.

He'd come today to collect his reward for Foundation Establishment.

Good Beast Sect gives special privileges to new Foundation Establishment cultivators, especially someone who broke through after joining the sect.

Unfortunately, the reward was only one technique, one spell, and a grade two magical artifact.

As for techniques, Lu Chang'sheng didn't lack them.

Though Master Baiyun's White Cloud Cave Mansion can't compare to Good Beast Sect, in terms of techniques, Master Baiyun's own are no worse than the sect's.

After all, he hails from Heaven-Burning Valley, a Nascent Soul True Man lineage, and the Cyan Essence Immortal Technique is pretty fierce.

Luckily, if you don't pick a technique, you can choose another spell instead.

Lu Chang'sheng looked through the options and finally chose a grade two body technique and a grade two spell.

The body technique was "Tiger Flood Dragon Technique"—wolf, tiger, leopard, and heavenly flood dragons, all top-tier beasts in the Spirit Realm.

This Tiger Flood Dragon Technique, when mastered, grants the power and defense of tiger and flood dragon beasts—a big deal indeed.

The spell was Sword Control Technique, but only grade two.

Foundation Establishment techniques are rare—even Good Beast Sect has few grade two inheritances to pass down.

"If I want better Foundation Establishment spells, I'll probably have to head to the Greater Domain."

Back at his residence, Lu Chang'sheng thought for a while, and some ideas started forming in his mind.

But that region is tough to traverse—even with Foundation Establishment, Lu Chang'sheng couldn't just throw himself in without preparation.

"Most of the fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect have gone to the Greater Domain. When they return from Purple Ice Lake, I'll ask them about it."

Lu Chang'sheng mused to himself.

In the meantime, his main focus was stabilizing his Foundation Establishment, and practicing Spiritual Needle and the two new spells.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Messages kept coming back from Purple Ice Lake; the fighting was growing more and more intense.

Back then, everyone got their Guiding Array Plate, and entered the Inheritance Spirit Array via the plate to receive inheritances.

Later, someone found the very nodes of the Inheritance Spirit Array, which led them to the actual location—so the array was exposed to everyone at last.

Fortunately, the Inheritance Spirit Array has defenses. Though everyone found its location, they couldn't breach it from the outside.

It so happened that, at this time, something went wrong inside the array—some array-specialist cultivators among the Immortal Sects suddenly discovered some flaws in the array.

Following these flaws, they uncovered treasures left by the Profound Turtle Alchemist.

Such as, for instance, the medicine garden.

Any strong alchemist would build their own medicine plot and cultivate rare herbs.

Lu Chang'sheng had one too, but since most of his herbs were bought from the sect, he didn't really bother maintaining it.

This is one of the hidden perks of being in an Immortal Sect.

Of course, he just hadn't gotten his hands on any valuable herbs worth cultivating—otherwise he'd definitely put in the effort.

The cultivators at Purple Ice Lake were the first to discover a medicine garden.

As soon as they saw the words "medicine garden," a swarm rushed in, and immediately spotted some treasure medicines.

Outside the Inheritance Spirit Array, there were countless Immortal Sect cultivators—and seeing such fortune, there was a mad scramble.

Some sects tried to mediate the situation, but when they saw a few ancient grade two herbs inside, they lost their minds too.

One round of slaughter dragged in more and more Immortal Sect disciples.

Even Good Beast Sect couldn't escape this disaster.

Ordinary grade two herbs are already rare—these that have survived for thousands of years are treasures among treasures, everyone wanted to grab them for themselves.

Good Beast Sect even more so—the last few centuries have seen their Foundation Establishment cultivators decline, and if they don't fight for it now, they might even lose their spot among the Three Immortals.

By now, even Foundation Establishment cultivators had fallen—two dead so far.

Among the Qi Cultivation disciples, casualties were even heavier.

"It's insane!"

On hearing this news, Lu Chang'sheng couldn't help but click his tongue secretly.

Fortunately, he preferred to play it safe and hadn't gone—that way, he might have ended up as one of the fallen.

With so many Immortal Sects caught up in a chaotic brawl, only late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators could count on coming out unharmed—everyone else was at risk.

Plenty of people had mentioned how dangerous the fighting was, but once a certain rumor got out, the leaders of the Immortal Sects could only grit their teeth and press on.

Because, the rumor said, someone spotted a Purple Blood Vine.

Purple Blood Vine is a top grade two herb. Plenty of Immortal Sects have seen stuff this fine before—but the effects of this one were special.

It's one of the key secondary ingredients for refining Crystal Pills.

So came the whispers: "The Profound Turtle Alchemist was already preparing to refine Crystal Pills before he passed."

And Crystal Pills are crucial for trying to break through to Golden Core—their effect is similar to Foundation Establishment Pills.

That was why everyone threw caution to the wind.

"Greed moves the heart... The Guangnan Domain and nearby areas—it's going to be stormy for a while."

Lu Chang'sheng couldn't even imagine how chaotic Purple Ice Lake was by now.

With things like this unfolding, inevitably people sought help—Good Beast Sect was sending more and more cultivators.

Lu Chang'sheng was starting to worry he'd get dragged in himself.

······

"Open your eyes!"

A few days later, as Lu Chang'sheng was cultivating, he suddenly felt a slight tremor in his mind, as if a spike had scratched at his sea of consciousness.

A misty white haze appeared before his eyes, then in a flash, condensed into a faint swirl.

At that moment, Lu Chang'sheng felt his spiritual sense branch off into a needle, hovering in the sea of consciousness.

Guided by spiritual sense, the needle shot out, flying over thirty yards ahead before dissolving.

Afterward, a subtle fatigue settled in.

The Spiritual Needle spell doesn't come without a limit—right now, if Lu Chang'sheng went all out once, he'd have to rest for quite a while.

Fortunately, he only tested it lightly just now, not using his full strength.

All in all, Spiritual Needle has limited range and you can't cast it repeatedly in a short time.

But its hidden, intangible quality makes it a rare spell indeed.

"Though it's only entry-level right now, with my mid-Foundation Establishment spiritual sense, I can make most cultivators at this stage lose focus for a moment."

At Foundation Establishment level, even a brief daze in battle can mean death.

And this loss of focus is deadly—since even trigger-type defensive magical artifacts need to be linked to spiritual sense.

Once you lose control of your heart and mind, spiritual sense can't fully unleash its power.

But cautious as ever, Lu Chang'sheng felt he lacked a truly decisive attack.

"Sword Control Technique is somewhat lacking—unless I master it fully, it won't do as my trump card."

Lu Chang'sheng sighed in his heart, figuring he really needed to pick up some stronger Foundation Establishment spells in the future.

"Chang'sheng!" At that moment, Nangua's voice called out.

"Nangua—what's up?"

"Something's come up at Purple Ice Lake. Elder Yan wants you at the main peak for a council."