Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation

Chapter 387 - 232: Ling Changqing: At Worst, I’ll Just Stay With You...

Inside the Zhao Family’s Pill Hall.

An Azure Gold Pill Furnace, about ten feet tall, stood firmly in the center of the hall. Its design was archaic and majestic, exuding a faint air of ancient vicissitude.

Layers of array patterns covered the surrounding floor and walls. As the multicolored Spirit Flame blazed beneath the Pill Furnace, the complex Array Restrictions all lit up, filling the space with searing heat.

Ling Changqing sat cross-legged before the Pill Furnace, his jet-black eyes filled with concentration. From time to time, he would form a series of profound and complex Spirit Techniques, expertly controlling the heat of the Spirit Flame.

In a corner of the hall stood a pair of twin sisters, as dazzling as the bright moon and lustrous pearls, dressed in snow-white gowns. Their fair skin looked so delicate it might break at a touch, their picturesque faces were identical, and their curvaceous figures were the epitome of grace and beauty.

Their two pairs of sparkling, beautiful eyes were fixed on Ling Changqing’s every move. They subconsciously held their breath, not daring to even breathe too loudly.

Beside them stood that stunningly beautiful matron, along with several trusted maids. All were concentrating and calming their minds, not daring to make a sound.

’...Sister, this young man you brought back is quite skilled in the Alchemy Dao. He seems much stronger than that shameless Hua Alchemist.’

Zhao Wanyi communicated with her via Divine Thought.

Her younger sister, Zhao Wanqing, replied impassively, ’Indeed. I originally just wanted him to give it a try. I never thought I’d really hit the jackpot!’

That Third Rank Honored Alchemist who ran off, Zhao Hua, was a Third Rank Middle Grade Pill Master. Since he wasn’t very old, his Realm wasn’t yet stable, and his alchemy failure rate was a bit high.

He was originally a disciple from a side branch of the Zhao Family. Ever since his talent for the Alchemy Dao was discovered, he received focused nurturing from the family’s upper echelons. He was given the best of everything, with lavish resources and treatment; he got practically anything he asked for.

To train him, the Zhao Family’s leadership had invested a massive amount of resources over the past century.

The value of the medicinal ingredients he wasted just to get enough practice and build his experience was an astonishing figure.

But the man’s appetite grew ever more greedy. Not only did he frequently embezzle and pocket precious Third Grade medicinal ingredients, but he also secretly took on private jobs behind the family’s back, even consorting with Cultivators from the rival Qin Family.

Worse, he was not only greedy but also utterly lecherous. He took over a hundred concubines and wouldn’t spend a single night without a woman, even if it meant neglecting his duties.

In the Marketplace, if he so much as saw a visiting Female Cultivator with even a hint of beauty, he would use any means necessary to abduct her, forcing the family’s leadership to clean up his mess afterward.

With a scoundrel like him around, all the Female Cultivators in the Marketplace lived in constant fear. In recent years, many of them didn’t even dare set foot in the Zhao Family’s Marketplace anymore.

Recently, that bastard even set his sights on the Zhao Wanyi sisters. He demanded that the Zhao Family Patriarch marry both of them to him and that the family provide him with the resources to break through to the Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm.

Having reached the end of his patience, the Patriarch gave him a harsh reprimand and ordered him into seclusion to reflect on his misdeeds.

As a result, the ungrateful bastard held a grudge. Spurred on by the incitement and promises of a Qin Family Elder, he finally decided to betray the Zhao Family. Before he left, he even ruined several of the family’s most important Medicinal Gardens.

This sudden turn of events was a devastating blow to the Zhao Family. For the next twenty to thirty years, they would have to purchase most of the Elixirs needed for the Cultivation of their many clan members from outside sources.

Furthermore, if a new Third Rank Alchemist didn’t appear in time, the family’s developmental lifeline would largely fall into the hands of outsiders.

Those profit-driven merchant guilds were easy to deal with in normal times, but they were almost never reliable in a crisis.

To squeeze more profit out of the Zhao Family, these factions wouldn’t hesitate to use any trick in the book, from hoarding goods to drive up prices and arbitrarily hiking costs to creating all sorts of difficulties and bottlenecks.

Meanwhile, the Qin Family was loudly proclaiming that the Zhao Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestor was nearing the end of his life, that the family’s future was bleak, and that the Qin Family would inevitably take back everything that should have been theirs.

Therefore, one could only imagine the psychological pressure the Zhao Wanyi sisters had been under recently. Someone with a less resolute mind might have already collapsed.

’...Sister, if this person is really reliable, then the family should find a way to make him stay, right?’

Zhao Wanqing whispered.

Back then, that Zhao Hua had given her an extremely uncomfortable feeling from their very first meeting. His shifty eyes had done nothing but stare at her body, filling her with disgust.

But the feeling Ling Changqing gave her was much more comfortable. His distant, profound, and tranquil yet mysterious aura made her feel quite relaxed, and she found herself subconsciously willing to trust him.

Zhao Wanyi mused, ’I’d like that too, but it also depends on whether he is willing!’

Just by looking at Ling Changqing’s extremely skilled alchemy techniques, Zhao Wanyi simply didn’t believe he could be without a master or background. How could an ordinary Independent Alchemist possess such a level of skill?

A moment later, a low rumble came from within the Pill Furnace. A large mass of milky-white vapor billowed out, swirling up to the ceiling as a rich, fragrant Pill Qi filled the space.

"It’s done so quickly?"

Zhao Wanyi’s expression brightened with a hint of joy. This was less than half the time she had estimated it would take for the pills to be completed.

Seeing the Pill Furnace’s lid slowly rise to reveal nine thumb-sized, golden Elixirs, Zhao Wanyi immediately used an Object Control Technique to retrieve them all and seal them inside a White Jade Pill Bottle.

This was a batch of Third Grade Heavenly Flower Rejuvenation Pills. Taking a single one could extend a Core Formation Cultivator’s life by twenty years.