"The Immortal can actually keep his injuries in check—it’s just, he doesn’t know when those Evil Cultivators might return, so he hopes to recover as quickly as possible to deal with them."
Yan Yun said in a lowered voice.
Lu Chang’sheng had also noticed the movents of the Black Mountain Army, which made him quite curious about the outco of Zhu Er’s battle with the Evil Cultivators.
But this sort of thing was classified, kept under wraps for fear of harming the troops’ morale, so it wasn’t spoken of openly.
Lu Chang’sheng suspected Zhu Er was still quite wary of them, so he didn’t press further, not wanting to draw any unwanted trouble.
Sure enough, a few days later, he noticed soone from the research team give him a nod and a look of satisfaction before turning and heading out.
Yan Yun was stunned for a mont, his face growing sullen as he cast a worried glance at Lu Chang’sheng.
That man was a student of an alchemist from the forr Saint Institute—apparently, he’d been sent over with so monitoring task as well.
This left him a bit displeased.
Thankfully, Lu Chang’sheng just smiled, acting as if he didn’t care in the least.
Later that evening, Yan Yun and another alchemist ca to pay him a visit.
"We had no idea about what happened during the day."
"Don’t worry about it, I completely understand. No need for either of you to dwell on it."
Lu Chang’sheng smiled as he spoke.
After the two left, he sighed inwardly.
He’d originally thought of cultivating so connection with the Empress, after all, the Great Yuan dynasty had ruled this world for ages—their foundation was anything but shallow.
Having learned from Nangua that this place once belonged to the Spirit Realm, he’d guessed certain people must still possess Immortal relics.
Should the two realms rge, that relationship might bring him so advantage.
Unfortunately, as things stood, it seed he’d overestimated his chances.
"The royal family is heartless."
He gazed out toward the bright lights in the distance, feeling a faint discomfort deep inside, but at the sa ti, a surge of determination.
"Right now, there are four ways I could make it to the Spirit Realm."
"First, by leveraging Zhu Er; second, by leveraging the Evil Cultivators; third, with Zhao Xing’s help; fourth, wait for the Spirit Realm’s natural fusion!"
"Of these four, the second is far too difficult."
If this were in the past, he might have stood the slightest chance. Now, that chance was essentially zero.
With Zhao Xing and Zhu Er’s arrival, the Evil Cultivators, under pressure, had banded together; to divide and conquer them one by one was now impossible.
As for cooperation?
It would be like asking a tiger for its skin—one misstep, and there’d be no coming back from it.
Not to ntion earning their trust or dealing with a group of treacherous Evil Cultivators. Even if all that worked out, once in the Spirit Realm, things would only get nastier.
No way in hell did he want to go to the Spirit Realm just to end up a stray dog; the entire Lu Mansion would be marked as disgraced.
And if his descendants had Spirit Root Talent but couldn’t join a good Immortal Sect because of it, Lu Chang’sheng would bear that guilt forever.
The third route was also tough. Though he never really understood why Zhao Xing didn’t want to take him to the Spirit Realm, that was just how things stood.
The fourth—well, hopes could be pinned there, but the uncertainty was too high.
As ti ticked by, Lu Chang’sheng grew more and more suspicious that the Immortal from Fuyun Mountain who’d taken Li Nangua away back then perhaps wanted to cut off his connection to her.
Thinking it all through, these four paths, the only reliable one seed to be leveraging Zhu Er.
"According to Yan Yun, Zhu Qing once considered introducing to Zhu Er. But after just one conversation with her, his attitude changed completely—perhaps due to my Spirit Root Talent."
Lu Chang’sheng glanced at his Light Curtain Panel.
Not too long ago, his Root Bone Talent had made a bit of progress, reaching eleven points.
Though still ranked as inferior Root Bone, it did make cultivating a bit smoother.
The better one’s Spirit Root Talent, the faster one could cultivate—and the higher their ultimate ceiling.
Given his current Spirit Root Talent, the third layer of Qi Refining Stage was probably his limit.
Of course, nothing is set in stone. With so stroke of fortune, maybe he could break through that ceiling—but honestly, the difficulty was worlds apart compared to soone with a gifted Spirit Root.
"It’s not great, but there are benefits, too."
This Spirit Root Talent had been a crucial factor in reaching the Qi Refining Stage at all. If not for his Root Bone Talent blossoming, allowing him to generate even an inferior Spirit Root, it wouldn’t matter how many Root Source Techniques he learned—he’d never beco a true Qi Cultivator.
In a way, the Spirit Root’s ergence granted him the key to the Immortal Dao, even if the gate he’d entered was crude and low-tier.
But that’s the difference between a re mortal and an immortal.
Aside from that, all his other talents had also improved a bit.
For instance, Alchemy talent.
Lu Chang’sheng hadn’t expected his gift in Alchemy Dao to be so high, already reaching upper C-rank.
Sure, there were two ranks above it—but even C and up were called geniuses in the Spirit Realm.
He was honestly thrilled to find himself this talented in sothing like this.
"If I want to leverage Zhu Er’s power to get to the Spirit Realm, I need to show so real value."
Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.
So, he cald his mind, set aside all distractions and worries, and threw himself into researching the Biyun Pill.
Alchemy is tough work, especially with an Immortal Pill like the Biyun Pill. Even a shoddy version would impress Yan Yun and the others.
If they had a few years to spare, the alchemists could probably create it with the right pills and recipe.
But clearly, that kind of ti wasn’t on the table now.
As the one in charge of this ss, Yan Yun was under imnse pressure—sleeping later than a dog, waking earlier than a chicken.
In just over half a month, his hair had turned much more silver.
Seeing this, so of those around him couldn’t help but urge him to get more rest.
Yan Yun just sighed and nodded.
But then, everything stayed the sa as before.
He wanted to rest, but neither the Empress nor Zhu Er would let him stop.
So of the alchemists in the know felt a bit indignant inside.
There was even so resentnt toward Zhu Er.
Back when Evil Cultivators were causing chaos in Jinghua Prefecture, the alchemists had at least been treated with so respect. With Zhu Er, they were being squeezed dry.
"Don’t overthink it, everyone. This caught us all off guard. Once it’s over, we’ll get back to how things were."
Yan Yun sensed a shift in morale and personally offered reassurance.
He didn’t want their R&D progress set back by a bad atmosphere.
Ti flashed by—another two months passed.
Yan Yun dragged himself, exhausted, toward his quarters—when he suddenly heard a boom from an Alchemy Room not far off.
He snapped to attention and rushed over, just in ti to see Lu Chang’sheng erge wearing a broad smile.
"Congratulations, Brother Yan Yun—the Biyun Pill has been produced."
"Are you serious?"
Yan Yun was stunned for a mont. It took several seconds for him to react; only then did his eyes go wide and he stared at Lu Chang’sheng in disbelief.
"Pretty sure. Take a look!"
Lu Chang’sheng took out a jade vial, revealing the freshly refined Biyun Pills inside.
They could barely be considered half a pill—enough of the Biyun Pill’s properties to count, but nowhere near the real thing. The only upside: the ingredients were dirt cheap.
And the alchemists’ ingredients for pill-making had all co courtesy of Zhu Er.
That’s why he’d tried making this pill—because the Treasure Vault’s Immortal Insect still kept a good haul of Biyun Pill ingredients.
Zhu Er had bought them off so Loose Cultivators before coming here.
A faint heat wafted over; after a few careful looks, Yan Yun finally couldn’t keep it in and burst out in excitent.
"Quick! Everyone, get over here!"
······
Main Courtyard of Shi Mansion.
Zhu Er turned to Zhu Qing on the side. "Any progress with the arrangents?"
"All the arms and armor from Black Mountain Prefecture are gathered, along with several surrounding prefectures. Right now, everyone’s stationed around the Shi Mansion. If those Evil Cultivators dare approach, they won’t return alive."
After Zhu Qing spoke, Jin Ke and several other Innate Martial Artists, including the old woman, stepped forward.
Jin Ke laid the completed defense map before Zhu Er.
"Please take a look, Ancestor."
Zhu Er studied the contents, an odd look slowly surfacing on her face.
Jin Ke’s heart skipped a beat, thinking there must’ve been sothing wrong with the defense plan. But contrary to his fears, Zhu Er’s face turned to one of satisfaction as she said, "Very good. This defensive layout would be top-notch even in so mortal cities of the Spirit Realm."
At these words, those present all looked visibly astonished.
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