Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 251 - 166: Gathering Wealth and Building Strength
Upon learning the reason, he couldn’t help but laugh.
"Yan, you’ve taken such good care of me all these years, there’s really no need for this."
Feng Yan was someone who’d seen her share of big moments. By rights, she shouldn’t be so affected by Lu Chang’sheng’s status as an alchemist. The main thing was, Lu Chang’an had intentionally kept some things vague, not detailing exactly what rank Lu Chang’sheng currently held as an alchemist.
That was what set Feng Yan’s mind spinning.
Lu Chang’sheng hurried to say, "So, my mother calls you ’sister’—then I ought to call you ’aunt.’"
"That would make me sound old," Feng Yan said, covering her mouth to laugh.
Now that Nangua’s Dao partner was an alchemist, there was really nothing to worry about with Daoist Ming.
They were all alchemists here—even if Daoist Ming wanted to pull anything, the others would certainly take pause.
Pissing off a loner whose potential is capped by a lifespan is one thing. Angering someone with an alchemist backing them is an entirely different matter.
After the meal, Lu Chang’an and Li Nangua saw Feng Yan to the door.
Once she left, Li Nangua asked about all that had happened that day, her face suddenly full of wonder.
As for Daoist Ming, she couldn’t really say she disliked him. Even though she’d only passively leveraged his reputation, he had genuinely helped both her and Feng Yan out of real trouble.
"Let’s just leave today’s incident be. Tomorrow, once I’ve paid the art learning fee, I’ll head to Platinum Immortal City with you."
She’d learned quite a few techniques over the years. Had she still been a disciple of Fuyun Mountain, she wouldn’t have to pay any art learning fee. But since she was leaving, this cost was something she had to cover.
Luckily, she’d saved quite a bit over the years. Originally, she’d planned to stay on Fuyun Mountain until after the Spirit Realm and Great Yuan joined together, then leave. Yet Lu Chang’sheng showed up ahead of schedule.
But Lu Chang’an shook his head and said, "The road to Platinum Immortal City is far. If I hadn’t traveled with a merchant caravan, I wouldn’t have dared make the trip."
Every caravan traveling across regions has at least one, often several, late-stage Qi Cultivators holding down the fort. At the moment, Nangua was only at fourth-layer Qi Cultivation. To travel such distances would be extremely risky.
"Let’s wait until I can contact a merchant caravan first."
Lu Chang’an said.
But the next day, something unexpected happened.
The art learning fee—had gone up.
Mother and son stood in front of the Fuyun Mountain administration hall, their faces clouded with concern.
After Lu Chang’an discreetly slipped a small pouch of spirit stones to a manager, an official gave him a look and then walked outside.
Seeing this, Lu Chang’an followed out the main door, crossed a street, and saw the manager waiting for him.
The other said, "Think about it—did you offend anyone?"
Lu Chang’an instinctively thought of Daoist Ming, but on second thought, that didn’t seem likely.
Daoist Ming had a little fame in the outer circles, but to Fuyun Mountain, a first-rank alchemist wasn’t worth much. There was no way he could sway the administration here.
The manager shook his head and said, "All I can say is, this order comes from within Fuyun Mountain. That’s all I can reveal."
With that, he turned and left.
"From inside Fuyun Mountain!" Lu Chang’an’s heart skipped a beat. After rejoining his mother, he brought it up to her.
Li Nangua’s face went a bit pale, her voice unsure: "It can’t be, right? I’m just a little fourth-layer Qi Cultivator. Why would the Immortal Lady hold a grudge all this time?"
"For now, all we can do is wait and see," Lu Chang’an said, helpless.
He’d heard his mother mention that her former master was a Foundation Establishment elder of Fuyun Mountain.
······
"Could it be a Foundation Establishment cultivator is blocking us?"
Soon news came through the Sound Transmission Shell, and even Lu Chang’sheng found it difficult to believe.
After all this time, would a Foundation Establishment cultivator really be so petty as to still hold a grudge?
"You and your mother stay put for now. Let me figure something out."
Lu Chang’sheng said.
"It’s all right. As long as we don’t leave Fuyun Mountain, a Foundation Establishment cultivator won’t trouble us," Lu Chang’an replied.
After ending the shell transmission, Lu Chang’sheng’s expression turned grim.
What he’d thought would be a simple matter had taken an unexpected turn.
"If I want them to let her go, Qi Cultivators probably can’t help. At the very least, I’d need someone at the Foundation Establishment level to step in."
But what do I have to do with any Foundation Establishment cultivators? Who’d be willing to risk offending another Foundation Establishment to help, just for my sake?
"But... what if I show jaw-dropping potential? Would things change then?"
Lu Chang’sheng knew this was risky.
Human hearts are complicated. Stand out too much, and you draw a lot of unwanted attention.
Of course, there would be many benefits too.
"Still, if I play things right, it’s worth a try."
Lu Chang’sheng took a deep breath, put the Sound Transmission Shell away, and stepped out the door. Outside, rare and vibrant flowers were all blooming in wild profusion, so lovely he nearly forgot his troubles.
"If it’s not beauty to the extreme, how could it ever reach the halls of power?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
He smiled faintly, returned to his quarters, and had Lu Ziyou go notify the families involved.
This time, five families had chosen to cooperate. Once notified, they all gathered in Qingfeng Building.
In a private room.
Lu Chang’sheng sat at the head of the table, regarding the five family representatives.
Among them, the Qu Family was the most powerful. Their representative, Wan Yu, took the center seat, while the Fang, Chen, Zhao, and Huang families sat to either side.
"May we ask what purpose Alchemist Lu summoned us for?"
The families’ representatives each posed the question.
Lu Chang’sheng said gravely, "The reason I’ve called you here is to propose a deeper partnership."
He promptly explained his idea.
"As you all know, for us alchemists to grow the fastest, we need to refine as many pills as possible and build up experience."
The family heads all nodded, already guessing what Lu Chang’sheng had in mind.
Sure enough, after pleasantries, Lu Chang’sheng got to the point—bringing up the matter of borrowing funds.
Of course, officially, it wasn’t called borrowing—it was "investment."
When Lu Chang’sheng succeeded in the Alchemy Dao, that would be the time for them to reap what they’d sown.
"Up till now, there have been dozens of forces I’ve dealt with. In the end, only your families remain. On one hand, I chose you; on the other, you chose me. Clearly, you have a certain level of faith in me."
"If that’s the case, you should also have some confidence in my future." Here, he became solemn: "If you’re willing to enter into this partnership, to me, it’s as if rain fell during a drought. I’d owe you an immense debt of gratitude."
"In the future, you have my word, you’ll be repaid."
Seeing Lu Chang’sheng’s sincerity, the representatives sensed that he surely faced some kind of trouble.
If they agreed to this, they believed Lu Chang’sheng was not one to go back on his word easily.
But—Lu Chang’sheng was asking for a great deal. That meant they’d have to put up a considerable amount of resources. It was almost like getting something for nothing, and that made them hesitate.
"We’ll need to go back and discuss this with our people."
"Same here!"
······
The representatives all said.
This was a big deal—they dared not commit on their own.
Lu Chang’sheng understood fully, and scheduled the next meeting two days later, here again.
One by one, they left.
Soon after, though, Wan Yu called out to Lu Chang’sheng.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, we’re in-laws now—no need to stand on formality. I’m guessing you’re in some kind of bind, though I won’t pry. You can count on the Qu Family’s support."
"Starting tomorrow, I’ll have the resources delivered to Yun’an Institute in full. In exchange, I hope you won’t forget this favor I’m doing you."
Wan Yu put on a pitiful expression.
Lu Chang’sheng nodded gravely.
"Thank you, Madam, for your trust."
As Wan Yu turned to leave, Lu Chang’sheng hesitated, then said, "Your intentions, Madam, may not line up with those of the Qu Family, yes?"
Wan Yu sighed softly. "You’re sharp as ever, Daoist. Still, it’s not entirely that. Otherwise, with so much at stake, the decision wouldn’t be mine alone."
Lu Chang’sheng nodded, not pursuing the issue.
Still, he made note of Wan Yu’s favor.
In a blink, two days had passed. All five families kept their word and came as promised.
Though Wan Yu and Lu Chang’sheng had made arrangements in private, for appearance’s sake, she brought her people and was the first to publicly agree to the partnership.
The other four families exchanged glances, but instead of agreeing then and there, they negotiated with Lu Chang’sheng, looking to wring some extra benefit out of the deal.
Lu Chang’sheng didn’t mind. In his heart, he marked those four as transactional only.
If future repayments were on the table, Wan Yu would come first.
It took half a day to finalize everything.
