Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 240 - 162: Taking a Master

The mountain where White Cloud Cave Mansion sits is exceptionally beautiful, even more breathtaking than Master Lu’s Bamboo Elegance Garden.

Soon, Lu Chang’sheng arrived at a spacious platform, where a Guiding Cultivator led him into Cloud Hall to begin the Entry ritual.

The so-called Entry ritual is rather particular, requiring the swearing of a Daoist Oath never to betray the sect; besides that, there was one thing Lu Chang’sheng hesitated over.

Namely, the retention of essence blood.

A cultivator’s essence blood is extremely important—some potent Magics can use it to affect the cultivator directly, including tracking, cursing, invading dreams, and more. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

It could be said, leaving behind your essence blood is handing the sect a piece of leverage over you.

Of course, if it were only this, most cultivators would probably resist such a rule.

After all, cultivating the Immortal Dao is in pursuit of longevity and freedom; no one wants a hold placed in another’s hands.

Thus, the rule only requires a minute amount of essence blood to be left.

Many Magics that use essence blood to influence a cultivator have certain requirements on the quantity.

The stronger the Magic, the more it demands.

A trace amount of essence blood has little impact on the cultivator themselves.

At most, it allows only for tracking methods.

"The origin of the Immortal Contract is actually an inevitable product of the Spirit Realm’s development. It’s said that, in the beginning, there was no such thing. Later, some powerful cultivators discovered that no matter how painstakingly they founded a sect, it would end up as nothing but a resource for talented leeches. If these cultivators had no constraints, whenever they encountered trouble or things didn’t go their way, they’d simply take off. Thus, the Immortal Contract came into being."

The sins of the forebear fall upon those who come after.

Lu Chang’sheng thought it over, and in the end chose to leave a sample of his essence blood.

Essence blood is the essence of the human body. Though mortals possess it, they cannot control it, and their essence blood rapidly withers as the body weakens.

If a person dies, their essence blood dissipates in an instant.

Once one’s Martial Dao cultivation reaches the Innate stage, they can sense their own essence blood; upon reaching the Martial Saint level, they can begin to manipulate it.

It is only after entering the Immortal Dao Realm that essence blood can be refined.

But essence blood cannot be lost in excess at once, or it will harm one’s foundation.

Lu Chang’sheng went to a side hall, spent a whole day, and extracted a drop of essence blood into a jade vial, handing it over to the cultivator.

"Your essence blood will be sealed in a vital place within the sect," the Guiding Cultivator nodded, not at all surprised by Lu Chang’sheng’s decision.

Though retaining essence blood seems harsh, in practice, it’s not unacceptable.

A trace amount, even preserved in a jade vial, will, at most, dissipate on its own within a hundred years.

Alternatively, once reaching Foundation Establishment Realm and attaining the body of Foundation Establishment, the essence blood that was lost naturally gets replenished and restored.

At that point, any essence blood outside your body simply turns into ordinary blood.

This is a rule that cannot be interfered with.

"Surely there’s a great secret hidden within the body’s essence..."

Lu Chang’sheng mused privately after hearing this explanation.

That was also why he chose to leave his essence blood.

Since trouble had erupted over at Fuyun Mountain, he had to manage things well here—it would serve as his foundation in the Spirit Realm.

He might remain here for a century.

Finishing the Entry ritual, Lu Chang’sheng suddenly asked, "By the way, fellow cultivator, do you know who can break this Sound Transmission Shell?"

The cultivator before him held the highest position among those he’d met at White Cloud Cave Mansion, so he seized the chance to ask.

But the cultivator merely glanced at him coolly.

"If you have no other matters, you may return to White Cloud Pharmacy by the way you came."

Lu Chang’sheng’s expression stiffened slightly.

Leaving the grand hall, gazing at the beautiful scenery all around, for a moment he felt the place had lost much of its charm.

"In the end, I’m just not strong enough!"

He might be relatively well-known at White Cloud Pharmacy, but in the Inner Sect, that counted for little.

After all, White Cloud Cave Mansion is a sect for Immortal cultivation, not specifically for Alchemy.

Alchemy is merely their main means of making money.

Thus, despite Lu Chang’sheng’s Upper Grade C rating and the many who came flocking to him in White Cloud Pharmacy, in the Inner Sect, he didn’t receive such treatment.

Thinking this, the feeling of joy from passing the assessment faded by more than half.

He hadn’t been gone from the hall long before another person exited after him.

Unlike how he’d been received, when the Guiding Cultivator saw the newcomer, his face broke into a warm, friendly smile.

"Ah, Junior Brother Zhou, why aren’t you practicing with your teacher? What brings you here?"

"The teacher asked me to fetch you over to White Cloud Hall," Zhou Lin replied.

"White Cloud Hall? Has the Old Ancestor returned?" the Guiding Cultivator exclaimed.

White Cloud Hall is where Master Baiyun cultivates; usually, only elders and their teachers can come and go freely.

Ordinary Inner Sect Disciples like them may only enter under special circumstances.

"Could it be because of the Purple Ice Lake affair?" he mused.

"What’s happened at Purple Ice Lake?" Zhou Lin asked in confusion.

"I’ve only heard rumors. Do you remember not long ago, that Cold Spirit Wind? Its source is the Purple Ice Lake, but I don’t know exactly what transpired."

The Cold Spirit Wind affected several Immortal Cities with its strange phenomena. If something is truly wrong, it’s hard to imagine the consequences.

"Hope nothing happens."

The two of them were uneasy.

Bear in mind, there are only a few dozen Immortal Cities in the Guangnan Domain, and that Cold Spirit Wind nearly impacted a tenth of them at once.

"With so many Immortal Sects around, surely nothing will go wrong,"

Zhou Lin said.