Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 383 - 238: Possession

The reactions from the major families of Platinum Immortal City were just as Lu Chang’sheng had expected.

With the arrival of the new Supreme Profound Sect elder—now the main combat force in Platinum Immortal City—the major families simply couldn’t spare much thought for such trifles.

At most, they’d wait until the Red Cloud Daoist affair blew over before seeking to settle the score.

But Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t all that worried anyway; first of all, he and Nangua had left no traces. There was simply no way these Qi Cultivation families could dig up solid evidence on them.

They might try to pressure him with their status, but in the past, even with people like Fang Yuan at his side, he never would’ve dared claim he could withstand the combined pressure of all the big Qi Cultivation clans. But now, as the future hope of White Cloud Pavilion, with Xiao Feng and the others standing by him, things had changed.

So, those Qi Cultivation families suddenly weren’t so important anymore.

Lu Chang’sheng felt steady as Mount Tai; his thoughts shifted to accumulating wealth instead. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"In the end, building up our resources is the real top priority here."

During this period, he’d occasionally received letters from Fang Yuan and the others.

Now that Fang Yuan, Qu Guang, and their group had arrived in the Taiyuan Domain, their situation wasn’t so great.

"Taiyuan Domain lives up to its reputation—resources are indeed abundant, experts everywhere. Even on the domain’s outskirts, we’ve met many late-stage Qi Cultivators, and even some Foundation Establishment powerhouses."

"And there’s no shortage of resources, but the domain’s hierarchy is strict. For family cultivators like us, without connections, it’s tough to get a foothold."

From the letters, Lu Chang’sheng picked up on a few hints.

On the way to Taiyuan Domain, Fang Yuan and the others did sometimes send back letters, but the wording had always been a bit guarded.

Lu Chang’sheng understood—even though they shared a good bond with him, they weren’t so close they’d divulge everything. So naturally, their words were reserved. But now, the tone in Fang Yuan and Qu Guang’s latest letters had opened up a lot more.

Proof that the journey had been seriously tough for them.

Of course, the most important reason for that change was that they had accidentally heard the selling price of a medium-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.

"A hundred thousand spirit stones!"

And to be clear, that’s a hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones.

Currently, everything the Lu Family owned amounted to maybe five or six hundred thousand lower-grade spirit stones.

Unless he absorbed all of the Lu Family’s resources into himself, there really was no chance of affording a medium-grade Foundation Pill.

"And with my aptitude, it’s hard to say whether just one Foundation Pill is enough for me to step into Foundation Establishment."

Lu Chang’sheng was self-aware enough to know that, even if he dragged things out to the end of his lifespan, his Immortal Dao Root Bone could at most reach mid-rank D.

Maybe upper D at best.

With that kind of talent, trying to break through to Foundation Establishment was exceedingly difficult.

Zhu Qing’s move had practically cut right through Lu Chang’sheng’s artery.

"But... soon enough!"

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

Once the Heaven-Burning Valley folks arrived, everything would fall into place.

That afternoon, Lu Chang’sheng and Nangua prepared some gifts and headed for the Gu Family residence.

Even though last night’s operation had been clean, for many people, it was obvious that the Lu Mansion had made a move.

He could disregard how the Gao Family and the other Qi Cultivation clans felt, but he couldn’t ignore the Gu Family.

"Visitors from the Lu Family?"

At the Gu mansion, Gu Shuang, her expression cool as ever, showed a trace of surprise, then promptly had Lu Chang’sheng and Li Nangua invited in.

Ordinarily, she wouldn’t care much for a Qi Cultivation family like the Lu Mansion, but since Lu Chang’sheng could now be considered a B-rank alchemist, she thought it over and decided to meet them anyway.

Soon enough, Gu Shuang saw the two of them walk in.

Her gaze lingered on Lu Chang’sheng a moment before landing on Li Nangua.

Compared to Li Nangua’s temperament, Lu Chang’sheng’s own seemed fairly bland. If not for his reputation, she really wouldn’t be interested in a cultivator who hadn’t even reached late-stage Qi Cultivation.

Even Lu Chang’sheng hadn’t expected that Gu Shuang herself would receive him—he was a little startled.

After all, Miss Gu was a person of no small status within the Gu Family. She’d spent years cultivating inside Supreme Profound Sect, and was recognized as a likely Foundation Establishment candidate.

It was a pity that, to this day, she still hadn’t stepped into Foundation Establishment.

Lu Chang’sheng dared not overstep; he took out the gifts he had prepared.

The house steward next to Gu Shuang took them and handed them to her.

Gu Shuang didn’t bother inspecting them. She waited a bit, and when the steward nodded, she smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Lu, you sure made a splash last night!"

Lu Chang’sheng gave a wry smile. "Fellow Daoist Gu, you flatter me."

Neither confirming nor denying anything.

If he denied it, the Gu Family would think he was toying with them, and if they took offense, it really might be impossible to keep things hidden.

But admitting it wouldn’t be wise either; that would be handing over leverage against himself for free.

A strange glint flashed in Gu Shuang’s eyes, but she didn’t push further and instead steered the topic back to Li Nangua.

A half-hour later, the two of them left the Gu residence.

Li Nangua shot Lu Chang’sheng a look of relief and said, "Good thing you came in person, Chang’sheng. Otherwise, who knows if the Gu Family would’ve kept us in mind."

Unlike the Qi Cultivation families, the Foundation Establishment clans actually had a decent chance of finding out the truth about such matters.

And really, if they decided to be unreasonable, there was little he could do about it.

Just like when Supreme Profound Sect moved against White Cloud Mountain Range, scaring all the Foundation Establishment ancestors in Platinum Immortal City half to death.

In the Spirit Realm, strength is what truly matters!

Lu Chang’sheng nodded in agreement.

"It may not be that simple. Otherwise, knowing the Gu Family, they’d likely have given us a good hard shake-down."

Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help thinking of the Red Cloud Daoist business at hand—something that could prompt several Foundation Establishment stage experts to step in was never going to be simple. It was already beyond his original understanding of Red Cloud Daoist.

"Hopefully it won’t interfere with the Heaven-Burning Valley meeting."

He thought to himself.

"Now that Zhu Qing has the Supreme Profound Sect elder supporting him, who knows what dirty trick he’ll pull? You all would do well to stay home for now."

"Relax, I’m not some little kid!" Li Nangua slipped her hand into Lu Chang’sheng’s and said softly.

Nowadays she was a seasoned Qi Cultivation seventh-layer cultivator; her strength really was no weaker than his.

Pity, when it comes to Puppetry Technique, Li Nangua just never had the knack. After all these years, she’d only barely reached entry-level proficiency.

Lu Chang’sheng knew Puppetry Technique and Li Nangua were just a poor fit!

Without Puppetry, there was simply no way for her to control high-grade constructs; with her current Spiritual Sense, she could barely handle some ordinary puppet beasts at best.

Thinking about it, Lu Chang’sheng couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

With his current strength, trying to support both of them ascending to Foundation Establishment was no easy task.

"Well, that’s fate. All we can do is try our best!"

Li Nangua seemed to sense something and gazed at his silent profile, face full of tenderness.

······

After taking care of the ’traitors’, business at the pill shop gradually started picking up—not that it would ever return to its former level while Red Cloud Daoist was still at large.

Lu Chang’sheng knew all too well that getting anxious wouldn’t help, so he buried himself in Barbarian Armor Technique practice instead.

With a late-stage Qi Cultivation puppet beast helping to temper his body, his experience with Barbarian Armor Technique was constantly improving as well.

However, the very thing he’d been worried might happen, finally did.

Several days later, Yu Hai and Wang Futian rushed to the mansion, bringing news for him.

"Red Cloud Daoist escaped again!"

"What! How can that be?" Even though he’d half-expected something like this, Lu Chang’sheng still found it hard to believe when it really happened.

He knew that there were at least three Foundation Establishment experts involved in the encirclement this time, as well as dozens of late-stage Qi Cultivators.

With Red Cloud Daoist surrounded, how could he possibly have escaped?

"It’s true. Red Cloud Daoist isn’t even human anymore!"

Wang Futian’s tone was grave as he spoke.