Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

’The Five Elements Spirit Body, this Immortal Skill, can help External Martial Masters find Qi Sensitivity and enter the Qi Sensing Realm?’

Hearing this, Kou Liang and Weii Fei glanced at each other. The dejection from failing to make any headway in the Cultivation of the Immortal Skill vanished, replaced by a rush of excitement.

As things stood, among the four brothers, Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou—the two youngest, the third and fourth brothers—had already entered the Qi Sensing Realm. They had generated Inner Qi within their bodies and become Martial Artists of the Qi Sensing Realm, cultivating both internal and external arts.

Only the two older ones remained, languishing outside the Qi Sensing Realm, unable to cross the threshold. As the eldest and second eldest brothers, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of failure, as if they were a step below Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou.

But now, that gap was about to close, because the two of them also had a chance to enter the Qi Sensing Realm.

Even if the chance was small and the hope was slim, it was still better than the utter hopelessness of before.

Furthermore, after entering the Qi Sensing Realm, their Martial Arts prowess would increase. They could follow Wei Tu’s precedent, participate in the Military Examination, and be appointed as Eighth-Grade Military Officers.

For them, this was a chance for a meteoric rise.

"From this, we can see..."

"My two sworn brothers, you must not neglect your Cultivation of the Immortal Skill."

"Even if we don’t become Immortals, after becoming Innate Martial Masters, we’ll still have a lifespan of two hundred years."

After stating his theory, Fu Zhizhou paused, his gaze falling upon Kou Liang and Weii Fei as he offered his advice.

’Five years of cultivating the Immortal Skill without the slightest progress... Before I found my Qi Sensitivity, I had even considered tearing up the Immortal Technique Manual and refusing to waste any more of my life on it.’

Judging others by his own experience, Fu Zhizhou thought to himself, ’If even someone with my resolute will felt that way, then it goes without saying that Wei Tu and the other two must feel the same.

They must be on the verge of giving up.’

This was also why, the moment he made a breakthrough, he had immediately sent a messenger to ask Wei Tu and the others to gather at Xuanhe Tower.

"As for you, Third Brother..." After advising Kou Liang and Weii Fei, Fu Zhizhou turned his gaze to Wei Tu, momentarily at a loss for what to say.

He could persuade Kou Liang and Weii Fei to cultivate the Immortal Skill by using the prospect of finding Qi Sensitivity as a reason, but Wei Tu was different. Wei Tu had already found his Qi Sensitivity long before him; his Martial Arts Realm had surpassed Fu Zhizhou’s for six whole years.

’So for him to continue cultivating the Immortal Skill... it seems... there’s no longer any point.’

"My ambition lies in Cultivation. I won’t let a few wasted years bother me."

Seeing the look on Fu Zhizhou’s face, Wei Tu, who had worked alongside him for a long time, immediately guessed his thoughts. He just shook his head, smiled, and replied.

’I have the ’Late Bloomer’ Destiny Chart on my side; becoming an Innate master is a certainty. When that time comes, I’ll have at least one hundred and fifty years of Lifespan to pursue the Immortal Dao. I certainly won’t lose my drive over a temporary setback.’

"That’s good to hear." Hearing Wei Tu’s words, Fu Zhizhou smiled, letting out a sigh of relief.

Only then did it occur to him. ’Though Wei Tu usually wore a stern, unsmiling expression, he never went to taverns or brothels to drown his sorrows.

Clearly, he wasn’t weighed down by too many worries.’

The thought of brothels made Fu Zhizhou glance at Weii Fei, and he couldn’t help but shake his head.

Over the past five years, both he and Kou Liang had started families, marrying and having children.

But Weii Fei had yet to do so.

Even when Wei Tu tried to persuade him, Weii Fei remained unmoved, saying only that he didn’t want to achieve Great Success with his Immortal Technique only to watch his wife and children grow old and die before him.

With no wife at home to restrain him and living alone in Qingshan County Town, Weii Fei gradually developed a habit of frequenting brothels. His body was beginning to show signs of being drained by wine and women.

’Second Brother knows his limits,’ Fu Zhizhou mused. ’Now that he has a chance to enter the Qi Sensing Realm, he should be able to give up his vices and focus on his training again.’

...

The banquet at Xuanhe Tower ended in the afternoon.

Seeing that a table of good food had gone untouched, Wei Tu couldn’t bear to let it go to waste. He had the Shopkeeper pack it up, then carried the food box home.

The moment he stepped through the courtyard gate, he heard Xinghua singing a nursery rhyme through the door and windows, accompanied by his daughter’s babbling.

Four years ago, in the twenty-eighth year of Qing’an, seven years after Wei Tu and Xinghua were married, they finally had their first child.

The child was a boy.

But tragically, he was fated for misfortune. Frail and weak, he did not survive his first month.

After more than a year of recovery, Xinghua and Wei Tu tried for a second child.

The second was a baby girl.

Once she had survived past her first birthday, following old customs, Xinghua gave her the pet name Yanyan.

"You’re back?"

Inside, hearing the familiar footsteps, Xinghua stopped rocking the cradle, rose to greet him, and casually handed Wei Tu a hot towel to wash his face and wipe away his sweat.

"Yes," Wei Tu replied simply, taking the hot towel and wiping the sticky sweat from his body.

They say marriage has a seven-year itch.

He and Xinghua had been married for eleven years. The passionate affection of their early years was long gone, replaced by the comfortable bond of inseparable family.

With a single gesture or a glance, they each knew what the other was about to say.

That evening, while washing Wei Tu’s back, Xinghua hesitated for a moment before telling him about a private matter between the women.

"A few days ago, Xiaofang came by again. She wants to arrange a betrothal for our daughter."

"A betrothal?"

Hearing this, Wei Tu frowned, falling silent as he sank into thought.

Xiaofang was a concubine Shan Yanggong had taken seven or eight years ago, an arrangement made by Mrs. Min of the Shan Family.

However, Xiaofang proved to be fertile, giving birth to a son not long after joining the Shan Family.

At first, this boy was doted on by Shan Wuju and his wife and was seen as the heir who would continue the family’s incense. But unexpectedly, two years later, Shan Yanggong’s Main Wife also gave birth to a son.

The struggle between the heir of the main wife and the heir of a concubine is a tale as old as time.

Shan Wuju and his wife were very pragmatic. Before long, they had shifted all their affection from their first grandson to this second grandson, the son of the Main Wife.

"I have no objection to a betrothal with the Shan Family, but... to Xiaofang’s son? I would never agree to that..."

Before Wei Tu could reply, Xinghua huffed, her words laced with displeasure.

Times had changed. With Wei Tu’s appointment as an Eighth-Grade Military Officer, the social standing of the Wei Family and the Shan Family were no longer the same.

Based on the Shan Family’s status alone—ignoring the personal relationship between Wei Tu and Shan Wuju—marrying the daughter of an Eighth-Grade Military Officer would be considered marrying up.

So for a mere son of a Shan Family concubine to ask for her daughter’s hand in marriage, Xinghua was naturally quite unwilling.

"I suspect Brother Yanguo’s wife deliberately sent Xiaofang here. Her real goal is likely to arrange a betrothal between her own son and our Yanyan..."

"Her son is five, and Yanyan is three. The ages are a perfect match..."

Wei Tu shook his head, laying out the scheme for Xinghua.

"Then, Brother Wei, what are your thoughts? Do you agree to a betrothal with Xianshou?"

Xinghua pressed him for an answer.

Xianshou was the name of Shan Yanggong’s second son.

His birth had coincided with Shan Wuju’s seventieth birthday celebration.

Thus, Shan Yanggong seized the opportunity, naming his second son "Xianshou"—literally "Presenting Longevity"—as a way to congratulate Shan Wuju.

"If the Shan Family makes the offer, even if I don’t agree, I won’t be able to refuse."

Wei Tu sighed.

With his memories of a past life, he naturally wanted his daughter to be free to love whomever she chose and live a happy life.

Unfortunately, the social customs of this world wouldn’t allow for it. He could refuse a proposal from an ordinary family, but a proposal from the Shan Family... that was something he absolutely could not turn down.