Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

「A quarter-hour later.」

Once the Military Officers had boarded the Cyan Lotus Leaves and reclaimed the weapons they’d surrendered at the hall, Immortal Master Wuk flicked his sleeves. Using Instant Body, he appeared at the tip of one of the leaves. He then began to chant a Curse, urging the Cyan Lotus Leaves beneath his feet to fly.

However, to the disappointment of the Military Officers present, the Cyan Lotus Leaves flew quite slowly. They were slower than a running man, moving at a turtle’s pace.

Nearly half an hour passed before they barely cleared the Prefecture City’s walls.

They had covered less than half the distance.

As if sensing the unexpressed disdain from the Military Officers, Immortal Master Wuk’s face flushed slightly. "If I were traveling alone, I would arrive in an instant," he explained. "But with all of you mortals in tow, it’s inevitably a bit slower."

Hearing this, everyone felt relieved.

Some of the more blindly loyal Military Officers even felt deeply ashamed for slowing Immortal Master Wuk down.

Wei Tu didn’t buy it. As Immortal Master Wuk was explaining, Wei Tu’s gaze fell upon the two Innate Martial Masters standing beside the Immortal Master, and he studied them for a moment longer.

’Most convincing lies can fool the liar himself, but not the people who know him well.’

Although the two Innate Martial Masters concealed their expressions well, the corners of their mouths clearly twitched after Immortal Master Wuk finished speaking.

Seeing this, Wei Tu immediately came to a conclusion: ’Immortal Master Wuk isn’t as powerful as he claims.’

’It’s just as I first suspected. Among Immortal Masters, he’s likely at the bottom, with little status or power.’

"After we achieve victory, if any of you perform well, I may see fit to take you on as Servants and teach you an Immortal Skill."

Along the way, seeing the Military Officers’ morale was somewhat low, Immortal Master Wuk thought for a moment before making his promise.

As soon as he said this,

the Military Officers’ eyes lit up. Their morale soared, a far cry from the dead silence of a moment ago.

Most of them would willingly serve the Court’s high officials like dogs and horses, to say nothing of an Immortal Master to whom even Governor Liu had to grovel.

It was no disgrace to become the Servant of an Immortal Master.

After all, even a Seventh-Grade Official at the Prime Minister’s gate holds power.

By becoming Immortal Master Wuk’s Servants, perhaps they too could become Innate Martial Masters in their remaining years and gain Longevity for a lifetime.

Wei Tu remained silent. He found an opportunity to give Fu Zhizhou a look, shaking his head slightly.

Fu Zhizhou understood at once and secretly relayed Wei Tu’s meaning to Kou Liang.

The three had been friends for many years. While they couldn’t read each other’s minds, a simple exchange of glances was more than enough to guess each other’s general thoughts.

Soon, the three of them reached an agreement. They would ignore Immortal Master Wuk’s empty promises and prioritize their own survival once they reached the battlefield.

...

「An hour later.」

Immortal Master Wuk landed the Cyan Lotus Leaves in a valley outside the Prefecture City, settling the group of Military Officers there.

He said, "This spot is about six li from the Rebel King Woo Yisan’s Central Army Tent. It’s easy to defend and hard to attack. After I lure the enemy’s Immortal Master here, you will help me hold this valley and block the rebel soldiers. Do not let them get near me."

Hearing this, Wei Tu raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the distant Rebel Camp.

More than twenty years had passed since the battle at Siyang Town. He was no longer a low-ranking Military Officer new to warfare; he now had a decent understanding of battlefield formations and terrain.

After a brief survey, Wei Tu’s confidence in Immortal Master Wuk grew slightly—

the valley he had chosen had a narrow entrance, allowing only a dozen or so men to enter at once.

It was a strategic pass where one man could hold off ten thousand.

By setting an ambush here, even with only thirty-odd men, their individual martial prowess should make it easy enough to withstand an attack from tens of thousands of rebel soldiers for several hours.

’But if Immortal Master Wuk loses the fight, he can escape. We Military Officers will be trapped here, surrounded and annihilated by the Rebel Army...’

At this thought, Wei Tu shook his head again.

He wouldn’t bet his life on Immortal Master Wuk’s so-called confidence.

Besides, even if Immortal Master Wuk won, it was unlikely he would have the Residual Power to escort them, the Military Officers, out from a siege by a massive army.

Wei Tu scanned the terrain, already planning a suitable escape route.

This valley was a military Forbidden Land. For ordinary people, being trapped here was a certain death sentence.

He, however, was different. He was an Innate Martial Master. Although he couldn’t fly, scaling the cliffs and walls of the valley for a short time was no difficult task for him.

A quarter-hour later, Wei Tu had found two suitable escape routes.

He summarized his findings and, using his Innate True Qi, carved them onto two pebbles hidden in his sleeve. Then, he found an opportunity to pass them to Kou Liang and Fu Zhizhou.

At that moment, Immortal Master Wuk finished his preparations in the valley. With a pained expression, he took two yellow Talisman Papers from his sleeve and handed them to the two accompanying Innate Martial Masters. "Take these two Thick Armor Talismans," he said. "You must delay the rebel army at all costs."

After these brief instructions, Immortal Master Wuk once again spurred the Cyan Lotus Leaves into flight, leaving the valley and heading for the Central Army Tent where the Xiaoo Mountain King, Woo Yisan, was located.

This time was different from before. Immortal Master Wuk flew as fast as a galloping horse, and the Cyan Lotus Leaves beneath his feet had shrunk to the size of a millstone.

「After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.」

Wei Tu and the others suddenly heard a loud explosion from the direction of the Rebel Army’s Central Army Tent.

Immediately after, their vision was filled with a dazzling Sea of Fire that spread across the landscape.

"Wuk Xinghai, you old coot! Instead of hiding in your Spiritual Land waiting to die, you dare come to Shannan Dao and ruin my Jia Family’s great enterprise? You’re courting death!"

As the sharp voice cried out, hidden in the valley, Wei Tu and the others couldn’t help but look up at the sky. At some point, two glowing orbs, one yellow and one cyan, each the size of a lantern, had appeared in mid-air.

The yellow orb was relentlessly pursuing the cyan one, letting out an angry curse from time to time.

Wei Tu looked closer and saw that the cyan orb was Immortal Master Wuk, while the yellow orb was a scar-faced, middle-aged man carrying a blade on his back.

Soon, in the heat of the chase, the scar-faced man was led by Immortal Master Wuk right into the valley ambush.

This time, Immortal Master Wuk stopped fleeing. He gave a light chuckle, took a small gray banner from his sleeve, and shook it forcefully.

The surface of the gray banner instantly emitted a blinding gray light. At the same time, a transparent, gray, jade-like bowl suddenly materialized in the valley, inverting itself to cover both Immortal Master Wuk and the scar-faced man.

"A Small Spirit-Banning Array!" The scar-faced man’s expression changed abruptly when he saw the Array, and he called out its name.

The Small Spirit-Banning Array wasn’t an exceptionally powerful Array, but with it active, the Spiritual Power in his body would be suppressed, greatly affecting his combat strength.

Furthermore, the Array also had a restraining effect. To escape, one would have to use a powerful technique to shatter the Small Spirit-Banning Array’s Light Shield.

"But if you think you can scheme against me with just this, Wuk Xinghai, you’re not worthy!" the scar-faced man roared in anger.

He chanted a few words of a Curse, and a pale yellow shield immediately rose around him. At the same time, the long blade that had been on his back was now in his hand.

The blade was over seven feet long and blood-red. As he channeled his Spiritual Power into it, the spectral image of a blood-red tiger’s head emerged. It was about ten feet tall, and its roar shook the heavens and the earth.

...

Seeing this, Wei Tu immediately looked away, no longer watching the Magical Combat between the two Immortal Masters. His gaze shifted to the area outside the valley.

Two li outside the valley, the torch-wielding Rebel Army looked like a fiery python stretching for more than ten li, slowly squeezing into the deep, secluded valley where they were hiding.

Soon, the battle was imminent.

Under the command of the two Innate Martial Masters, Wei Tu and the others defended the pass to the death, beginning their clash with the elite Rebel troops who had been hastily assembled.

Before long, nearly a hundred bodies of Rebel Army soldiers were piled up in the narrow valley passage.

Seeing his chance, Wei Tu seized the moment to stealthily strip the Armor off a dead Rebel Army soldier. Tucking it under his arm, he exchanged a look with Fu Zhizhou before quietly retreating deeper into the valley with Kou Liang.

Because of the dim light, the other Military Officers with Wei Tu simply assumed that he and his friends were exhausted from fighting on the front lines and were just falling back into the valley to rest.

They never would have imagined—it would have been impossible to guess—that Wei Tu and the other two harbored treacherous thoughts. The three of them were risking the extermination of their Three Races to escape from this deathtrap of a valley.

"Now that Immortal Master Wuk and the two Innate Martial Masters are tied up with the enemy, this is the perfect time for us to retreat."

"There’s no time to lose."

"If we wait too long and the other Innate Martial Masters in the enemy army arrive, it’ll be difficult for us to escape."

After a few brief words, Wei Tu tossed the enemy Armor to Kou Liang, telling him to change quickly.

He had his Martial Arts to protect him. Once he escaped the valley, he would be like a fish back in the ocean; finding another set of Armor to change into wouldn’t be hard.

Right now, Kou Liang needed this enemy Armor more than he did.

A grateful look appeared in Kou Liang’s eyes when he saw the Armor. He thanked Wei Tu and hurriedly began to change.

Next, Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou wasted no more time. They took Kou Liang and followed their pre-planned escape route, climbing down the steep cliffs of the valley.

「Half an hour later.」

The three of them had changed into the Armor of the Xiaoo Mountain King Woo Yisan’s personal guard and blended in with the Rebel Army outside the valley.

"First Brother, Third Brother, wait a moment." Just as the three were about to flee for their lives, Fu Zhizhou stopped Kou Liang and Wei Tu.

"Fourth Brother, what is it?"

Wei Tu was slightly surprised.

Sunrise was still nearly an hour away, making this their best time to escape. Once the sky brightened, the risk of their infiltration of the Rebel Army being exposed was high.

Besides, this desertion was a huge risk. They needed to get to Xiaoyi Prefecture as soon as possible to help their families escape the fallout.

Therefore, they couldn’t afford any delays.

However, Wei Tu trusted that Fu Zhizhou wouldn’t have stopped him and Kou Liang at a time like this for a trivial matter. There had to be another reason.

"That person standing next to the Xiaoo Mountain King... I recognize him, I’ve seen him before..."

Fu Zhizhou said in a low voice.

"He’s the Vice Tower Master of Wuyun Tower, a relative of Xie Qing—Xie Yuanshan!"

he added.

Following Fu Zhizhou’s gesture, Wei Tu also saw him: an elderly man of seventy, standing beside the Xiaoo Mountain King, Woo Yisan, about five hundred paces away from them.