Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 220 - 152: Borrowing Money

He shuddered.

"You can lose your hair by cultivating immortality?"

"Of course! Normally, our Immortal Bodies wouldn’t shed hair, but when it comes to alchemy, you’re exposed to all sorts of fire toxins. That ends up stunting hair growth. If you quit midway, wait ten or twenty years, your hair might grow back. But alchemy is a road of no return—after all that investment up front, who’d want to give up?"

"Convincing someone to practice alchemy deserves a lightning strike!"

Niu Xi shook his head with a sigh and wandered off. Before leaving, he asked Lu Chang’sheng if he wanted to grab drinks that night.

"Father, this Immortal Niu is kind of interesting."

Lu Ziyou said.

He was wilder than Lu Chang’an, so he liked these easygoing types.

"Yeah, he is!" Lu Chang’sheng said with genuine emotion.

Soon, the three of them walked out of the row of houses, taking a purposeful stroll through Platinum Immortal City. The focus was on taverns, teahouses, markets—the spots where all kinds of people from every walk of life gathered.

Information is at the root of every plan.

So, no matter how urgent things are, you can’t just rush in blindly.

Pretty soon, it was already afternoon.

Lu Chang’sheng stopped in front of a little shop, staring at the pile of rice, feeling a pang of despair inside.

Back in the territory of Great Yuan, he’d felt rich—hell, even those evil cultivators only had a few dozen low-grade spirit stones each. He had two hundred! By Spirit Realm standards, that was a nice chunk of change.

Thinking back now, that was wishful thinking.

"Evil cultivators could drop dead any day. No wonder they don’t bother saving spirit stones."

Lu Chang’sheng glanced over again.

"Low-grade spirit rice: 1 low-grade spirit stone per pound." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Mid-grade spirit rice: 1 mid-grade spirit stone per pound."

"High-grade spirit rice: 1 high-grade spirit stone per pound."

Only samples of the mid-grade and high-grade rice were available to look at. If you actually wanted to buy, you had to place an order.

"Spirit rice is the staple for cultivators. It nourishes your body, and if you eat it long enough, you might even turn into a Spiritual Body."

"It’s also usable as a cultivation resource."

Great stuff, but my pockets are empty.

"Let’s hurry up and contact Nangua, get her to find a way to bring us to Fuyun Mountain."

There’s a big shot to lean on, and she’s my wife—why not cling tight?

Lu Chang’sheng wasn’t shy about it in the least.

"I’ll get a hundred pounds of premium rice."

A hundred pounds only cost one low-grade spirit stone.

The price was definitely steep. Back in Great Yuan, this top-shelf rice was rare, but a couple taels of gold could buy you hundreds, even thousands of pounds.

"The more developed the immortal region, the crazier the cost!"

Lu Chang’sheng could only suck it up.

That night, after dinner at home, the three sat together inside, trading information.

Two main topics.

One: making money to survive.

The other: notifying Li Nangua to come get them.

"I asked around by the river today. To work as a warrior, you gotta have someone vouch for you." Lu Chang’an shook his head.

The docks were full of work. Tons of ships came in every day. But loose cultivators in Platinum Immortal City were everywhere—everyone was fighting for the chance to be a warrior.

"You need at least Martial Saint-level strength or nobody will bother recommending you."

Lu Chang’an’s face was a little grim.

Most of the stuff shipped in was huge and weighed a ton. Without Martial Saint-level skills, you’d get flattened.

Innate level might barely qualify, but with so many people around, everyone wants reliability.

Martial Saint is the bare minimum.

"I checked out the shops selling cultivation techniques too. Root Source Technique is cheap, just one spirit stone. But real immortal techniques are another matter—a basic one that gets you to third layer Qi Cultivation costs at least five hundred low-grade spirit stones."

Lu Chang’sheng sucked in a breath, then looked to Lu Ziyou.

"I met with more than ten people from White Cloud Cave Mansion and the Gu Family today. One of them told me that cracking these one-way Sound Transmission Shells is a headache. If you want someone to handle it, it’s at least ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. Gu Family charges even more—fifty thousand."

Lu Chang’sheng took a deep breath, his eyes dark and thoughtful.

Looks like White Cloud Cave Mansion really wants a deal. Gu Family’s just making excuses.

Probably trying to save face for Lu Ziyou by throwing out ridiculous prices.

"Sorry about that." Lu Chang’sheng patted Lu Ziyou on the shoulder.

"It’s fine. I remember what the guy looks like. Dad, when you strike it rich, I’ll make him pay it back!"

Lu Ziyou grinned wide.

"Grown guy already, still not acting mature." Lu Chang’an glared at Lu Ziyou.

To him, this was just small potatoes, not worth stressing about—no need to drag trouble to the Lu Family.

"I know, I’m just talking."

Lucky for them, they always stuck to writing when they talked. Otherwise, you’d really worry about eavesdroppers.

Right then, an odd noise suddenly echoed out, making the three grown men awkward as hell.

If they weren’t blood relatives, it might be a good topic for a joke or two—but all related, it was just super awkward.

"Once we earn some money, gotta move somewhere else—and snag a few Sound Insulation Array Plates!" Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

The card game sounds from next door got louder and louder. Eventually someone snapped and shouted, "Turn it down! If you’re gonna play poker, at least turn on an Array Plate!"

"I like it loud! What the hell does it have to do with you?" boomed a gruff voice from next door, full of magical power.

"Whoever that is, he’s got strong magical power—definitely not a nobody!"

Lu Chang’sheng tensed up inside.

He figured the guy was about on par with Zhu Er—third layer Qi Cultivation.

To Lu Chang’sheng, people like that are bad news as neighbors.

The first guy who spoke was clearly spooked and kept quiet. Still, if he wouldn’t talk, others would.

"Building 1984, right? Want to come down and have a chat?" A chilly voice rang out.

This guy was even more experienced and careful than the loud one—didn’t reveal his own place, used some tricks to keep his voice untraceable.

But his aura was long and thick—definitely not lacking in magical power.

"Another one at Qi Cultivation third layer."

Lu Chang’sheng sighed inwardly, feeling like he’d stepped into a tiger’s den.

Luckily, nobody dared raise hell in Platinum Immortal City. Gu Family worked hard to build and maintain this city’s reputation—they wouldn’t let anyone wreck it.

Soon, more voices chimed in to back them up. The troublemakers in 1984 realized the crowd was pissed and got quiet—could’ve turned on the array plate or just shut up, but either way, they didn’t make any more noise that night.

The next day, just as Lu Chang’sheng was heading out, he heard people talking about the cultivator’s poker games in Room 1984.

Supposedly, they hired someone from Phoenix Cry Pavilion, paying Fellow Daoist Lei ten low-grade spirit stones.

"Phoenix Cry Pavilion, huh?" Lu Chang’sheng furrowed his brow, then brushed it off as idle gossip.

"Right now I’ve only got a little over a hundred low-grade spirit stones. Definitely not enough to contact Nangua."

Thinking that, he forced a smile and headed to the Zhu Family shop.

In a bit, he saw Zhu Er.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Lu! How’s life been these couple of days?" Zhu Er seemed more like a shopkeeper since they last met.

Environment shapes people.

Lu Chang’sheng exchanged some small talk, then got to the point.

"Borrow money?"

Zhu Er’s smile faltered a little but he recovered quickly.

"Daoist, you scavenged two evil cultivators’ stashes, plus I gave you that reward back in Mayfly World. Budget it well, and you should be fine for a year or two!"

Lu Chang’sheng felt a chill run down his spine.

Zhu Er obviously didn’t want to lend him money.

But he was ready to pull out his Fuyun Mountain card.

"If I was just scraping by around here, I’d get by for a year or two. But Fellow Daoist Zhu, you know, the Sound Transmission Shell I have is a one-way shell. Years ago, my wife told me her cultivation hit a crucial moment, so under her Foundation Establishment master’s care, she went into seclusion. If I want to notify her, I’ll have to pay a chunk of money to get people from White Cloud Cave Mansion to crack the shell," Lu Chang’sheng explained.