Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

"Well—I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Sect Leader. Chang'sheng isn't interested in this position at all, just wants to quietly pursue alchemy and cultivation." Lu Chang'sheng deliberately showed a hint of hesitation, if only to make his words sound less harsh.

After all, both the Sect Leader and the Alchemy Institute Dean had come to personally invite him. Refusing straight out could easily leave a bad impression.

Hesitating a bit shows that he'd really considered the matter seriously.

"Chang'sheng's talent in cultivation was never as outstanding as all of you, fellow Daoists. If I don't focus fully on my cultivation, I'll probably just stagnate, so—"

Lu Chang'sheng looked at Yan Yu.

If it involved his personal cultivation and Yan Yu had even the slightest objection, Lu Chang'sheng would throw away every bit of good impression he'd built up before.

After that, leaving the Good Beast Sect would mean truly breaking all ties with them.

Luckily, Yan Yu didn't let him down, only sighed and said, "Daoist friend, to have cultivated to this stage, you truly didn't just rely on luck. If that's the case, then we'll just have to select someone else."

"However—who do you think should be the Dean?"

Yan Yu's words shifted suddenly as he asked directly.

Lu Chang'sheng was slightly shocked in his heart; this move by Yan Yu really showed just how highly he valued his opinion.

He could at least compare to Huang Yun, the almost Dean of the Alchemy Institute.

It's just—he himself was in no position to bring it up; it'd easily offend people.

"Chang'sheng has entered the sect for the shortest time, and definitely doesn't know the Alchemy Institute's Daoist friends as well as the others."

At this moment, Huang Yun spoke up: "How about He Feng as Dean? Whether in alchemy or cultivation talent, He Feng is excellent, and he's just half a step away from becoming a second rank Alchemist."

"Fellow Daoist He Feng really isn't bad." Lu Chang'sheng smiled and agreed.

With Huang Yun taking the initiative, he didn't need to worry about anything else.

Once they settled on He Feng as Dean, the three of them continued discussing the Alchemy Institute's future affairs.

Currently, the Alchemy Institute was severely lacking in talent; once Huang Yun left, the only second rank alchemists were Lu Chang'sheng and Zhong Mountain.

He Feng barely counted as half a one.

So Huang Yun and Yan Yu wanted Lu Chang'sheng to take on most of the alchemy tasks.

Of course, it wasn't as if he'd have to do everything—just hoped he'd devote a bit more heart and mind to the matter.

Everything would depend on Lu Chang'sheng's own intentions.

To this future pillar of the Good Beast Sect's Alchemy Institute, Yan Yu still gave him all due respect.

As for Lu Chang'sheng, he was more than happy with this; after all, he'd need more alchemy practice to improve his own skills.

Finally, the issue of Foundation Establishment Pill refining came up.

The Foundation Establishment Pill is the core resource of any Immortal Sect.

And every alchemist wants to try making this pill, to master its formula.

Yan Yu and Huang Yun's plan was that, in the future, the Good Beast Sect's Foundation Establishment Pills would be split into three portions: sixty percent, thirty percent, and ten percent.

Sixty percent would be sent to other domains to hire second rank alchemists to refine, thus greatly lowering the cost of obtaining these pills.

Immortal Sects need Foundation Establishment Pills badly; every year, plenty of late-stage Qi Cultivators line up to exchange for one to try to break through to Foundation Establishment.

Even though less than one in a hundred succeeds, the pills must still be provided—after all, what competition would the Immortal Sect have with those clan forces otherwise?

Plus, it keeps the sect's economy circulating.

They provide the herbs, ask an alchemist to refine the pills, and it saves the sect a lot of expense.

Thirty percent would be given to Lu Chang'sheng to refine himself.

The remaining ten percent would go to He Feng, Zhong Mountain, and other promising alchemists for practice.

"Sixty percent sent elsewhere for refining? That's a lot!" Lu Chang'sheng's expression changed slightly upon hearing the split.

Yan Yu was afraid Lu Chang'sheng would be upset and explained, "There's just no other way. Once Fellow Daoist Huang Yun leaves, no one in the sect can refine Foundation Establishment Pills. If we don't get outside help, the cost will skyrocket."

The Foundation Establishment Pill is still a second rank pill; even for a top Immortal Sect in a small domain like the Good Beast Immortal Sect, simply buying them is a heavy burden.

In theory, they could bring the herbs to a larger domain and ask Huang Yun to refine them, but with Huang Yun near the end of his lifespan, Yan Yu didn't want to waste his remaining time.

Huang Yun should prioritize improving his own cultivation from now on.

Getting to mid-Foundation Establishment could still extend his lifespan by fifty years or so.

"That's not what I mean. I just think—there might be another way,"

said Lu Chang'sheng.

In his upcoming cultivation plans, improving the Foundation Establishment Pill formula ranked among the highest priorities.

He had his eyes set on all the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill quotas. Giving a portion away for others to practice with was just the rules, which he could understand.

Otherwise, if other alchemists couldn't get any practice, whenever he left, the Alchemy Institute would just hit another bottleneck.

But giving away sixty percent of it to unrelated alchemists—now that couldn't be accepted.

"Wait, do you maybe know a second rank alchemist willing to help?"

Yan Yu's face lit up with hope.

Huang Yun also knew several second rank alchemists who could help, but they had little interest in Foundation Establishment Pills and charged high prices to get involved.

So Huang Yun had also fretted about who to ask for help.

If Lu Chang'sheng knew someone, perhaps he could leverage his own connections to get a better deal.

Seeing Yan Yu's expression, Lu Chang'sheng realized the misunderstanding and simply didn't hide it: "To be honest, I can also refine Foundation Establishment Pills."

Lu Chang'sheng glanced at the interface screen.

He'd already reached Entry in the Foundation Establishment Pill formula long ago; only about a year to go before Minor Achievement.

He'd wanted to wait till reaching Minor Achievement before revealing it, but Yan Yu was actually going to hand over sixty percent of the pill materials to outsiders.

So he couldn't care about the rest now.

You have to realize, the Good Beast Sect produces only a limited amount of Foundation Establishment Pill materials every year; if the biggest share went to someone else, he'd be losing sleep over it.

As for waiting till after Minor Achievement to take over this matter—there was no point.

Who knew whether Yan Yu would sign a Spirit Contract with another alchemist?

Even if not, breaking such an agreement out of the blue would, at best, burn bridges; at worst, offend a second rank alchemist.

In any case, that would be the worst-case scenario.

It was better to speak up early and head off any unnecessary drama.

It was just—a little surprising, that's all.

Lu Chang'sheng looked at the two whose eyes suddenly widened with shock and sighed inwardly.

Showing off like this was really not something he wanted to do.

"Wait—can Fellow Daoist Lu really be serious?"

Yan Yu's eyes seemed like he was trying to see straight through Lu Chang'sheng.

Lu Chang'sheng nodded and said, "I've been working on the Foundation Establishment Pill for many years now, but my progress was limited by my own cultivation. I hit the last bottleneck, and now that I've reached Foundation Establishment, breakthrough was naturally just a matter of course."

Yan Yu glanced at Huang Yun, who hesitated for a moment before nodding, then suddenly slapped his thigh hard.

"Surprise! What a fantastic surprise! Fellow Daoist, you truly are the blessing of our Good Beast Sect!"

Yan Yu was truly excited inside, looking at Lu Chang'sheng with such feeling that if he were a woman, he might've just married him on the spot.

"But—" At that moment, Lu Chang'sheng didn't forget to pour a bucket of cold water on them, lest Yan Yu got too carried away.