Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Lin Zhi Shou Awakens

During the three days of waiting for the medicinal materials, Zhou Luo visited Lin Zhi Shou daily.

Treated by the family elders and some healing potions, his injuries were slowly recovering, yet he remained unconscious.

According to the family head, even if he awakened, he likely had only half a year left to live.

Because of this, the recently calmed family once again churned with undercurrents of unrest.

Both the main house faction and the Great Elder faction pondered how to ensure the next Sixth Elder became one of their own after Lin Zhi Shou’s death.

For now, Zhou Luo stood as the best candidate for the next Sixth Elder.

Because his cultivation level was low, his age and experience insufficient, he would be the easiest for both sides to control.

Regardless of opposing voices within the family, his innate talent and potential guaranteed both sides would push him into the Sixth Elder position.

Therefore, both factions sent people to test the waters these past few days.

To this, Zhou Luo simply shut his door and refused to meet anyone, claiming that with his master grievously injured, he as a disciple was so heartbroken that he couldn’t eat or drink.

His actions left others powerless to compel him.

Three days later, Lin An delivered all the materials to Zhou Garden as promised.

This batch cost Zhou Luo nearly a hundred spiritual stones, with the Lifespan Pill main ingredients naturally being the most expensive.

But thankfully, the family’s recent cultivation reward had greatly replenished his funds.

With the materials in hand, Zhou Luo headed straight to the third-floor alchemy room.

Before the furnace, looking at the materials on the table, his desire to forge the Lifespan Pill grew even more urgent.

Because within just these few days, his two fathers-in-law, Lin Ze and Lin De, had almost daily sought him out for discussions, overtly and covertly probing his stance on the upcoming Elder position.

Besides them, countless high-ranking figures had visited under the guise of courtesy calls, including numerous Pill Masters.

And this was merely while his master lay comatose.

Should his master truly pass suddenly, the conflict would undoubtedly escalate, forcing him to pick a side.

If he were at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, becoming Sixth Elder and wielding family authority might be advantageous.

But he was only at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement; facing these powerful figures, he was doomed only to become a pawn in their games.

He resolved not to live this life of helpless manipulation; he must find a way to extend his master’s life.

Not only to repay the nurturing kindness he had received, but also to secure his chance to continue growing safe and undisturbed.

Zhou Luo placed some materials into the furnace, channeled his spiritual energy, and summoned flames.

Whoosh—

Leaping flames danced within the alchemical furnace, beginning to refine the herbs’ essence.

Since this was for a top-quality potion, Zhou Luo dared not be careless. He focused intently, controlling the flames meticulously during the refinement.

Once this was complete, he took out the remaining herbs. Guided by the process stored in his memory, he added them sequentially.

Pill forging involved five precise steps:

Adding herbs in strict order, refining their essence, fusing the extracted liquids, guiding the mixture with the pill formula, and culminating in the pill’s formation.

Every step was crucial; any slight negligence would affect the quality of the final patheon.

Until the last main ingredients were put into the furnace, Zhou Luo expanded his mental strength, carefully extracting all the medicinal properties.

After some time, all the herbs inside the furnace had turned into a mass of golden liquid, shining brightly and continuously boiling.

It seemed like just a mass of liquid, but due to the differing medicinal properties of the various herb materials, intense collisions were occurring within.

At such a time, it was essential to rely on the potion-maker’s mental strength to perform the fusion of the liquid.

Therefore, the strength of mental strength was a key criterion for judging a potion-maker’s skill level.

Zhou Luo’s mental strength was not weak to begin with, and combined with his fourth-level body refinement, it allowed him to control these steps even more effortlessly.

After the fusion of the liquid came the guidance of the pill formula.

All changes circled around the method; the technique of patheon-making was the foundation of all potions.

Precisely because the Lifespan Pill’s method was controlled by the Immortal Sect, even if everyone knew its material composition, they couldn’t forge it.

Zhou Luo’s lips moved slightly, relying on the pill formula to manipulate spiritual energy while releasing a large amount of mental strength to guide the golden liquid into its final fusion.

After about half an hour.

A thick fragrant aroma of potion drifted out sporadically.

The Lifespan Pill was successfully forged.

His face pale, he relaxed his focus mentally, and without even having time to check the potion’s quality, he plopped down backward onto the round chair.

This patheon-making had greatly strained his mental strength, and a wave of exhaustion surged through him.

The Spirit Xiyu on his chest emitted a faint glow, sending a cooling sensation into his body, but his spirit remained somewhat sluggish.

It was only one furnace of patheon; if this had occurred in the past, it would never have happened.

Could it be due to forging the antidote a few days prior?

But that couldn’t be it.

Because the antidote was only a mid-grade potion, it didn’t consume much mental effort at all.

That wasn’t the main reason.

"Could it be because of the recent high frequency of intimate relations?" Zhou Luo murmured to himself.

Lately, he hadn’t had much to do, so in order to partake in more lottery draws before going out and win some good treasures.

He had been striving hard every night.

As a result, he hadn’t won any prizes, but instead, he had collapsed first.

This was still because he was practicing body refinement.

If he hadn’t undergone body refinement, he probably would have been completely drained.

Indeed, affairs between men and women harmed yin and yang; without the dual cultivation technique, one truly couldn’t sustain such frequency.

No wonder the hit rate had decreased.

For now, he planned to slow down temporarily, waiting until his master awakened to begin Closed-Door Training.

After resting for a bit, he finally stood up and gazed at the alchemical furnace.

Three golden Lifespan Pills lay quietly in the furnace.

Due to the materials, these Lifespan Pills could only increase lifespan by three to five years.

Zhou Luo planned to give one of them to his master to take.

As for the remaining two pills, he had absolutely no need to use them.

After all, his own lifespan had already been increased to one hundred and forty years old.

Adding two or three more years was truly a waste.

When he went out on this trip, he would sell them off, and then he could recoup some money.

Four more days passed, and Lin Zhi Shou finally woke up.

Zhou Luo quickly came to Shouchun Garden, bringing the Lifespan Pills with him.

Apart from him, the other family elders had also arrived here.

The group gathered together in the room, each with their own thoughts.

"Sixth Elder, this is the innate snow lotus I obtained from the ancestral land. It is very beneficial for your condition," Lin Tian Xiong spoke first.

He took out a pure white, radiant snow lotus and placed it beside Lin Zhi Shou.

"You are thoughtful, family head," Lin Zhi Shou said weakly, with gratitude.

"You have made such a great contribution for the family this time. It is I who should thank you," Lin Tian Xiong said gently.

This family head, who was usually very authoritative, was surprisingly gentle and amiable today.

At the same time, the elder beside him—the Second Elder—also took out a spiritual item beneficial to the condition and said something similar.

The other elders all came forward one after another and took out the things they had already prepared.

Zhou Luo watched silently in the crowd.

"Thank you for your concern, elders. However, I am very clear about my own physical condition. Giving me these things is also a waste. Please take them back."

Lin Zhi Shou leaned against the bed, repeatedly declining.

Their hearts stirred slightly.

Indeed, the Sixth Elder would not hold out much longer.

"Master, your disciple also has something to give you," at this moment, Zhou Luo suddenly spoke up.

The high-ranking individuals all looked in the direction of the voice.

Zhou Luo stood there respectfully.

"Disciple, why would your master take something from you?" Lin Zhi Shou directly refused.

After experiencing this betrayal, he felt even more that Zhou Luo, this loyal disciple to the family, was precious. Originally, he had been thinking, after he returned to the Heavenly path, whether he should pass on his position to an outsider.

Now, he no longer needed to worry at all.

"Master, this thing of mine is greatly beneficial to you. You will surely need it," Zhou Luo insisted.

The other high-ranking individuals showed expressions of doubt, thinking, what could this youngster possibly offer that would shock people?