Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 365 - 224: The Red Cloud Calamity

Other alchemists might overlook Alchemist Lu because he spends so much time cultivating in the Alchemy Room, but those of us responsible definitely can’t ignore him.

All these years, I’ve submitted tasks here for Lu Chang’sheng at least eighty, if not a hundred, times.

That frequency is truly rare.

This proves that Lu Chang’sheng’s progress in alchemy far exceeds the likes of Fan Shou and the others—he might even be stronger than Xiao Feng, Elder Li, and such.

The moment he realized this, the steward himself felt a little startled.

He respectfully welcomed Lu Chang’sheng inside.

Lu Chang’sheng nodded, took out the pills, and placed them in front of him.

"Thank you for the trouble, Alchemist Lu," the steward said.

Lu Chang’sheng followed the protocols, unsealing the jade bottle. When the steward saw how many pills were inside, a rare look of surprise flashed across his face.

He glanced at Lu Chang’sheng and asked carefully, "Alchemist Lu, did you maybe forget how many Guiyuan Pills are required for this task?"

"Of course not."

"So why is there only one pill?"

The steward hadn’t expected this to be intentional; every time Lu Chang’sheng turned in a task before, he’d never been short on pills. Now, seeing there was just one, he thought it quite odd.

Usually, in such cases, it’s basically just forgetfulness, so he wanted to gently remind him.

Red Bull Alchemist might joke around sometimes, but most cultivators knew exactly how big the gap was between themselves and Alchemist Lu; obviously, no one would want to antagonize Lu Chang’sheng over it.

"This pill—it’s a bit unusual. It should count for the task,"

Lu Chang’sheng said.

He was sure the steward before him didn’t understand the difference between a Dao Pill and a spirit-patterned pill. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Maybe even Elder Li and the others have no idea,"

Lu Chang’sheng said to himself.

Seeing Lu Chang’sheng speak with such certainty, the steward studied it closely a few more times, but still couldn’t pinpoint any obvious difference—only the spirit patterns seemed a little out of the ordinary.

Even so, he dared not be careless. As a seasoned Grade B alchemist, Lu Chang’sheng was one of the top talents in White Cloud Pavilion right now.

He thought: I’ll just have the clerk make a special note about it.

"Alchemist Lu, forgive me—I can’t tell the difference here, so for this task, I’ll have to submit it to the Elder Pavilion. What do you think?"

The steward said.

"That works."

Lu Chang’sheng replied with a slight smile.

This was exactly what he wanted.

He could have brought the pill to the Elder Pavilion himself, but the Elders weren’t there every day, and making another trip just to miss them would be a hassle.

Of course, he knew that Fan Shou and the others didn’t wish him well and might try to stir up trouble, so he decided to head over to Xiao Feng’s residence instead.

Xiao Feng’s cultivation in alchemy wasn’t bad either—if he recognized the pill, then surely the flames aimed at himself would burn even brighter.

Lu Chang’sheng guessed, whether it was Elder Li, Xiao Feng, or whoever, everyone had their own scales for weighing the situation. As long as the weight on his side of the scale tipped the balance, then victory in this competition would be his.

"Lu Chang’sheng here. Is Elder Xiao available?"

Soon, Lu Chang’sheng arrived outside Xiao Feng’s courtyard.

The gates stood open, and Liu Yunxi, dressed in loose-fitting clothes, walked out and said, "My husband left earlier this morning."

"Do you know when he’ll be back?"

"No idea. Is there something important you needed from him, Alchemist Lu?"

"Nothing too urgent," Lu Chang’sheng replied, chatted a few words, then turned and left.

Having spent so much time on alchemy, one or two days wouldn’t matter much more.

Maybe it was because he’d refined a Dao Pill—Lu Chang’sheng was feeling more relaxed now and didn’t feel like going back to the furnace either.

He walked out of the courtyard and wandered the street; before long, he arrived at his own family residence.

There he happened to bump into Lu Chang’an, rushing over in a hurry.

"Father." Worry clouded Lu Chang’an’s face.

Upon asking, Lu Chang’sheng found out it wasn’t a business issue.

It was related to Red Cloud Daoist.

"Lately, Red Cloud Daoist has been roaming around the outskirts. Many clan businesses in the city have suffered a huge impact."

A large portion of alchemy materials come from outside the city.

Platinum Immortal City does produce some materials, but most of those go straight to the major family powers, like the Zhu Family, who control the biggest medicine fields.

"It’s not just the Lu Family—other families are being affected as well. Who knows why Red Cloud Daoist is hanging around here? Isn’t he worried about making everyone angry?" Lu Chang’an said with a frown.

"What are the other families thinking?"

Lu Chang’sheng motioned for him to calm down and asked.

Lu Chang’an’s own cultivation might not be much, but backed by the Lu Mansion, he’d managed to enter the top tier of Platinum Immortal City, and regularly dealt with other families.

After what happened with the Zhu Family, Lu Chang’sheng was inclined to grow quietly for now, so he didn’t mind this arrangement at all.

"Red Cloud Daoist may have failed at Foundation Establishment, but he can still fight Foundation cultivators. So everyone’s just watching for now, hoping the Wang Family’s Foundation grand elder will handle it," Lu Chang’an said.

Lu Chang’sheng nodded—there was nothing wrong with that logic.

Most of the families Lu Chang’an dealt with were Qi Cultivation clans, their strongest barely at late-stage Qi, so it made sense for them to be especially cautious about getting involved in Foundation-level disputes.

"But if this keeps up, in less than two years, our pill shop’s business will take a hit."

Lu Chang’an sighed.

Without a supply of materials, a clever housewife can’t cook without rice, as the saying goes.

When that happens, our shop’s profits are bound to plummet.

On this, Lu Chang’sheng didn’t have any good solutions either. He could only say, "Temporarily limit the sales of all mid-grade and above pills; once things clear up, we’ll figure out the rest then."