Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 319 - 199: Puppetry Technique at Great Success!

Chapter 319: Chapter 199: Puppetry Technique at Great Success!

Lu Chang’sheng stood among the crowd, sipping spirit tea as he chatted with a few familiar fellow Daoists.

After becoming a Grade B Alchemist, some cultivators who used to be close with Lin Yan tested the waters a few times. Seeing that Lu Chang’sheng’s attitude remained calm, and knowing he didn’t care about those years when Lin Yan had been cold-shouldered, they decided it wasn’t a big deal.

So, they started getting close to Lu Chang’sheng as well.

After a bit of back-and-forth, everyone grew much more familiar.

Lu Chang’sheng certainly wasn’t foolish enough to push people away. No matter what, those cultivators with high status in White Cloud Cave Mansion all had real skills. Who knows—maybe in the future he could do business with them.

Zhang Qing of the Supreme Profound Sect watched Lu Chang’sheng covertly, without drawing his attention.

"Life’s about to get rough."

Huo Zun walked over, sighing.

Lu Chang’sheng nodded along with the others.

"With the True Man gone, White Cloud Cave Mansion’s going to have to give up a lot of things."

Li Changmei, standing nearby, grew visibly paler.

Chang Mei’s surname was Li, given name Changmei. Of the four major arts of cultivation, he specialized in artifact refining. Because he often worked with the artifact refining fire, he always looked gleaming and a bit greasy, with copper-toned skin.

Of course, maybe it had something to do with his body technique practice, too.

Master Baiyun was the pillar of White Cloud Cave Mansion and its sole Foundation Establishment True Man. With his death, any cultivator thinking they could cling to their current resources was fooling themselves.

"No choice. Let’s see what the elders want to do."

They counted as upper rank at White Cloud Cave Mansion, but not the real core—the elders were still the ones making decisions.

Zhang Qing from Supreme Profound Sect said some irrelevant niceties and then left, leading the brothers Cheng Nan and Cheng Wu away by sword control.

The only useful bit was that Supreme Profound Sect, recognizing Master Baiyun’s contributions, would offer protection for White Cloud Cave Mansion’s legacy.

Hearing that, Lu Chang’sheng felt a surge of thoughts.

At first blush, Supreme Profound Sect seemed generous. But Zhang Qing’s promise had plenty of loopholes.

First, about rank. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Zhang Qing was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator at Supreme Profound Sect—he couldn’t speak for the whole sect. If the Supreme Profound Sect chose, they could easily come up with a hundred excuses to scrap that promise.

And then "legacy."

The word could mean anything. Without specifics, it could refer to the mountain gate, or all the industries under White Cloud Cave Mansion’s control.

"No matter what, the fact that Zhang Qing said it proves one thing—Supreme Profound Sect doesn’t want to go too far. They want to avoid gossip. Even if they’re set on swallowing White Cloud Cave Mansion, they’ll do it like boiling a frog in warm water."

Immortal Sects in the Spirit Realm still cared about their reputation. Otherwise, at the Peach Blossom Banquet, those Golden Core cultivators wouldn’t hold back the mockery.

"Peach Blossom Banquet, huh~" Thinking of that, Lu Chang’sheng felt a little eager, wondering if he’d be able to make it to the next banquet.

It was a major event in every domain.

Which was why it attracted countless cultivators—not just for status, but, most importantly, because the peaches served at the Peach Blossom Banquet were extraordinary treasures. They were exactly what Lu Chang’sheng hoped for to improve his innate Spirit Root.

Time slipped by, and Daoist Heitu began to preside over the proceedings.

Daoist Heitu, rumor had it, wasn’t originally named Heitu. He’d changed it to honor Master Baiyun’s mentorship—his family name was ’Zhen.’

His strength lay at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. Because of how powerful he was, people called him "True Man."

But compared with Daoist Huanglong, his title as "True Man" still didn’t carry much weight with outsiders.

Still, it showed just how formidable Zhen Heitu truly was.

"True Man was slain by the Mirage Demon, ascending to immortality, but White Cloud Cave Mansion can’t just fall apart. If anyone thinks True Man’s absence means they can do whatever they want, they’d be very wrong."

Zhen Heitu looked serious, his words echoing across those gathered.

Lu Chang’sheng’s expression froze for a moment.

Just then, he noticed Huo Zun and the others around him tense up for a split second.

"With an opening like that, the future’s going to be rough for White Cloud Cave Mansion."

Really rough!

Because Lu Chang’sheng had caught a whiff of power struggle.

What do cultivators want most?

Longevity!

And what does longevity need?

Resources!

As the master of White Cloud Cave Mansion, whoever controls the resources holds enormous power. Master Baiyun founded the sect and managed all resources personally—everyone else just took what they were given.

Every rank had its own allotted share.

Before, with the True Man around, nobody dared think too much—but now, more and more hearts were beginning to stir.

Lu Chang’sheng could already see that, in the coming days, undercurrents would surge through White Cloud Cave Mansion.

Zhen Heitu stood among several elders, faces all grim. They’d seen this coming, and tried probing first instead of saying it outright—but the outcome was worse than they’d feared.

Besides, those elders might not even be on the same side.

Resources move the heart—since, after all, they decide longevity.

······

As dusk fell, Lu Chang’sheng flew out from White Cloud Pharmacy with some alchemists, barely back at Yun’an Institute before Huo Zun showed up.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, what’s your read on what happened today?"

Lu Chang’sheng led him inside. Huo Zun glanced around, dropped a sound insulation spirit array, and said—

"What’s there to say? I might be a Grade B Alchemist, but my cultivation’s still far behind. In this situation, it’s best not to get involved."