The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 152 Alchemist, Cultivator, Sage, Are You Serious?

"Furthermore, when Lan Gong arrived here in 1790, in reality, Paris, France should have undergone tremendous changes several years earlier, with Louis XVI being beheaded, the Bastille being destroyed, and various revolutionary factions taking turns to fight."

However, here, the energy created by alchemy, phlogiston, is the foundation of the nation's survival, and both alchemy and phlogiston are controlled by the Royal Alchemy Institute.

Louis XVI's reign was thus prolonged, and Paris became a city of repression, where conflicts accumulated for over a decade. Consequently, Lan Gong did not have the opportunity to wait until the Bastille was stormed before his execution.

Zhang Chang'an stared at those lines of text, momentarily at a loss for words: "A timeline error is one thing, but this Master Lan, is he a fraud? An alchemist? Claiming that the talisman water is the Philosopher's Stone, and he's been fooling people in Paris for three years with just that?"

He said that Lan Gong's persona and image were always mysterious and strange, and his French level was so high that it raised his own level of speech.

To swindle and deceive the nobility, one must be eloquent and persuasive.

"So now this is—" Zhang Chang'an looked down at the burly man, René, who was still kneeling on the ground with a devout expression, and his lips twitched involuntarily.

"This guy just said, 'Eastern Sage'? Did Master Lan deceive his way all the way here?"

"Get up first." He reached out to help you up. "I have no favor to offer you."

René remained kneeling on the ground, not moving.

He raised his head, his face, full of fat, showing an unusually serious expression.

"Sage," he said, his voice low and stubborn, "you saved my life."

Zhang Chang'an was taken aback, suddenly feeling that something was not quite right.

René remained kneeling on the ground, his voice extremely low: "Three months ago, I contracted a fever that lasted for seven days and seven nights. The prison doctor came and said there was no hope. As for those alchemists, they had the ability to save me, but I couldn't afford the equivalent cost of curing my illness."

He stared into Zhang Chang'an's eyes: "It was you, the Sage of the East. You had just come in then and didn't know me yet, so you used the simplest ingredients to give me a bowl of water mixed with paper ash."

René's voice trembled slightly: "The fever broke that night. I'm completely recovered today."

He raised his head, his gaze intense: "Eastern Sage, I don't know what you're using. I don't understand alchemy or science. But I do know that you are a true sage, capable of bestowing genuine grace upon people."

Zhang Chang'an didn't speak, but he saw the surrounding brick walls twisting again:

T

"When Lan Gong was young, he studied internal and external alchemy techniques with the Quanzhen School for many years. He could use herbs, metals and minerals as medicine, using his mind as a guide and qi and blood as a medium. Although his time was short and his skills were not refined, he only passed on one out of ten of his knowledge. It was enough to cure common and serious diseases."

"After spending many years in the West, I was tried and imprisoned. Before that, an old friend asked me, 'You have such talent and learning, how did you become a fraud?'"

Lan said, "I do not wish to be a physician for the nobility. They regard me as an actor, as a jester. I would rather be among prisoners and the poor."

"Previously, in the Paris region of the West, many poor people had been influenced by what they called Eastern talisman water and the name of Eastern sages, hence the name."

Zhang Chang'an stared at the contents, increasingly dumbfounded. However, before he could fully process the information in his mind, a shout suddenly came from the other side of the garden.

"Lan Zhang!"

A guard stood at the gate of the courtyard, carrying a cloth bag in his hand, looking around.

Zhang Chang'an subconsciously responded, then realized that this was the way foreigners spoke; they were calling out the name of this ancestor.

He glanced down at René, who was still kneeling on the ground, reached out to help him up, and patted his thick forearm.

"Get up first, we'll talk again next time."

After saying that, he turned and walked toward the guard.

When the guard saw him coming, he looked him up and down, his expression neither good nor bad, and simply stuffed the cloth bag in his hand into his arms.

"It was brought in from outside."

The guard turned and left, while Zhang Chang'an looked down at the cloth bag in his arms. It wasn't big, made of coarse linen, with the opening tied; it weighed in his hand and felt quite heavy.

So he immediately returned to the tower, untied it, and took a look.

A few pieces of dried meat, wrapped in oiled paper, a small bag of dried fruit, and bread were placed together, along with some loose copper coins, rolling around at the bottom of the bag.

He picked up a piece of jerky and examined it. The edges were torn, clearly indicating that it had been ripped. The remaining piece was also missing corners and edges.

Judging from this, the guards must have already deducted the money.

However, the origin of these things is self-evident.

"Could this have been sent in by the common people of Paris? If that's the case, then Lord Lan really is a true Eastern sage who has bestowed favors upon us here—"

He pondered for a moment, then tied the bag tightly and turned to walk upstairs.

Behind him, René arrived at the tower's entrance, arms crossed, his fleshy face turned toward the courtyard with an unfriendly look.

In the courtyard, many people saw Zhang Chang'an take the things. Now, many people were itching to do something, but after his glare, they all withdrew their gazes.

Zhang Chang'an had just returned to his solitary cell, closed the door, and put the cloth bag on the ground.

Without a doubt, given the current situation, the people in Paris who might be sending things to Lan Gong, and these things in particular, are nothing more than the poorest ordinary people.

Opening the family tree again, he noticed that the skill page, which he hadn't checked carefully before, had suddenly changed, with a lot of information that didn't exist before slowly appearing.

"[Complete True External Alchemy Formula - Basic Level] (Good Quality) uses herbs, wood, metals and minerals as ingredients, and qi and blood as the medium. It can cure common diseases and produce countless effects. It is the method of transformation of things."

Price: 450 shards

"[Complete True Talisman Basics] (Good Quality) uses cinnabar and yellow paper as a medium, which can draw upon the energy of heaven and earth, communicate with all things, and achieve the effect of simple talismans."

Price: 350 shards

"[Eastern Debate] (Common Style) integrates the thoughts of Taoism and Confucianism, speaks with substance, and has unimpeded eloquence, able to associate with nobles and celebrities without losing their status. Observing words and expressions, and using clever words to flatter others, one can gain their trust."

Price: 150 shards.

Zhang Chang'an fell silent: "I guessed you weren't very good, but it turns out you're the best."

In retrospect, his initial idea wasn't entirely wrong; Lan Gong was the most unique of all the ancestors he had ever met.

However, he wasn't the worst, because he wasn't entirely a fraud. This ancestor started with two versatile Taoist skills.

He is truly talented, but at the same time, he also has his own unique ideas, which are skills that he has developed on his own through his speech, behavior and thinking.

He was not only a true Dharma master and sage, but also a sage in terms of thought.

"If that's the case, then the timeline error problem doesn't seem too difficult to solve."

The introduction states that Louis XVI and the Bastille both lived for about 10 years longer than expected, but these two events themselves are not important; the key is the reasons that led to them.

Alchemy protected the king's rule, but water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.

"If we want to leave this place, Lan Gong's knowledge of alchemy is definitely not enough. We need to find a way to learn alchemy techniques."

It's not just about becoming stronger. The people here have been oppressed for over a decade, and just because of these technologies, once my abilities improve, combined with Lan Gong's influence and ideas, leaving this place might not only be a matter of forcing my way out.