Chapter 94 - 86: Encountering Tribulation Cultivators
Hearing Wei Tu’s reply, Fu Zhizhou shook his head and thought no more of it. He put down the Demon Beast Flesh he was carrying and left.
Wei Tu only had a son and a daughter to help. Even if he were to support them both until they reached the Innate Realm, it would cost thirty or forty Spirit Stones at most.
But he was different. With one wife and three concubines, he had a large family of three sons and four daughters.
Furthermore, none of his children showed any particular aptitude over the others.
He simply... couldn’t afford to help them all.
...
「Half a month later.」
Next door to Wei Tu, another wave of Spiritual Power fluctuations erupted—the kind produced by consuming an Earth Essence Pill.
Unlike the previous times, however, this wave of Spiritual Power contained a faint, oppressive aura.
’Fourth Brother has reached the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.’
Wei Tu shook his head, suppressing a pang of envy. He closed his eyes and returned to his arduous Cultivation, not wanting to rashly head over to Fu Zhizhou’s shack to offer congratulations.
After ascending to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, Fu Zhizhou would need time to stabilize his new Realm. He was undoubtedly short on time for Cultivation, and of course, Wei Tu wouldn’t be so tactless as to disturb him.
「A month passed.」
Wei Tu successfully painted another Rock Shield Talisman.
At this moment, Wei Tu had a total of two Tier One Rock Shield Talismans and five High-Quality Earth Spike Talismans on him.
’Time to return to the mortal world.’
Wei Tu stood up, tucked the seven Talismans into his sleeve for easy access during a fight, then left the shack and locked his door.
As he left, he glanced at the closed wooden door of Fu Zhizhou’s shack, shook his head slightly, and chose not to disturb him.
...
After leaving Danqiu Mountain, Wei Tu rented a swift horse at its base and rode off.
A quarter of an hour after Wei Tu departed, a masked woman and a tall, thin man emerged from the dense fog shrouding Danqiu Mountain.
"This kid really cares about his mortal relatives. On average, he comes down the mountain once every two years."
The corners of the masked woman’s mouth curled up as she stared intently in the direction Wei Tu had gone.
"Should we make a move on him?"
the tall, thin man inquired.
"If we don’t act now, it’ll be too late! In the few years he’s been on Danqiu Mountain, he’s already traded for two Earth Essence Pills. If he gets one more, he might... reach the Middle-Stage Qi Cultivation."
"It won’t be this easy to go after him in the future."
the masked woman said coolly.
With that, the masked woman produced a Talisman, slapped it onto her body, and transformed into a pale red Escape Light, chasing after Wei Tu.
Seeing this, the tall, thin man didn’t hesitate. He used the same technique and followed closely behind her.
...
Meanwhile, on the main road from Danqiu Mountain to Jade Dragon Prefecture, Wei Tu suddenly yanked his reins, bringing his swift horse to a halt.
’Just as Fellow Daoist Hu said.’
’Some Tribulation Cultivators have me in their sights.’
Wei Tu glanced at the two red Escape Lights that had abruptly appeared behind him. With a cold sneer, he leaped off his horse, stomped his foot, and used Instant Body to disappear into the forest beside the road.
He then found a patch of mud, rolled around in it, and after applying a Concealing Breath Talisman, he raced back toward Danqiu Mountain.
—These were secret techniques for evading Tribulation Cultivators, all of which he had obtained through trade with the Cultivators who attended the Inner Collection.
"That kid’s aura... it’s gone?" The masked woman arrived where Wei Tu had abandoned his horse. She sniffed the air a few times, a look of astonishment on her face.
"Damn it!" The masked woman seemed to realize something, her expression turning to one of terror. "Quick! Get back to Danqiu Mountain! That kid knew we were targeting him; he deliberately lured us out..."
"Stop him!"
she yelled to the tall, thin man.
Hearing this, the tall, thin man’s expression changed. He slapped his chest, and with an audible CRACK of joints, his slender frame suddenly swelled by several sizes. Muscles bulged and stacked upon each other, making him look like a giant.
The entire transformation took but an instant. The tall, thin man then raced back toward Danqiu Mountain at several times his previous speed.
At the same time, the masked woman followed Wei Tu’s trail and plunged into the forest.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, there’s no need to hide."
"I’ve already found you."
The masked woman stood on the branch of an old tree. She glanced around, chuckled softly, and tried to bluff Wei Tu into revealing himself.
However, after several moments passed, the forest remained completely still.
’He’s already far away?’ The masked woman’s slender eyebrows arched. She prepared to set off and continue the pursuit toward Danqiu Mountain.
But—
At that very moment, a sudden chill ran down her spine. At the same time, she heard the sharp whistle of an arrow tearing through the air.
’Not good!’ The masked woman’s expression changed. With a light tap of her foot, she moved from the branch to the main trunk of the ancient tree.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Two sharp arrows, shimmering with Spiritual Light, flew past the masked woman’s cheek, hitting nothing.
They plunged into the ground at an angle.
"Found you," the masked woman snarled, turning and moving quickly in the direction the arrows were fired from.
There, she saw the figure of Wei Tu hiding in the jungle.
At the same time, hidden from view, a silver hairpin shimmering with the light of a magical restriction appeared in her sleeve.
The moment the masked woman landed, she yelled, "Go!" The silver hairpin shot out from her sleeve, becoming a sharp, silver streak that vanished in a flash.
However, the outcome was not what the masked woman had expected.
Wei Tu was not struck in the head by the silver hairpin, causing his skull to burst open like a watermelon in a gruesome death.
A yellow, square shield the size of a millstone had abruptly appeared in front of Wei Tu, blocking the vicious strike.
"A Tier One Rock Shield Talisman?" The masked woman recognized the yellow shield in front of Wei Tu, her face filled with astonishment.
A Tier One Earth Attribute Defensive Talisman could be called a turtle shell for someone in the Middle-Stage Qi Cultivation. Even a Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator would need at least three full-powered strikes to break the yellow shield it formed.
And she was only at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer; she was only confident she could break it after more than ten strikes.
’I can’t believe this Wei Tu can actually paint a Tier One Talisman. He hides his skills well.’
The masked woman grew incredibly excited.
Her strong desire to kill Wei Tu vanished. Now, she just wanted to capture him, imprison him for life, and force him to paint Talismans to fund her Path of Ascension.
However, just as the masked woman was contemplating how to break Wei Tu’s "turtle shell," a powerful surge of Earth Spiritual Power erupted from the ground beneath her feet, shooting straight upward.
"A High-Quality Earth Spike Talisman?" The masked woman leaped into the air and looked down at the several spikes, each over ten feet tall, with a disdainful sneer.
Back on Danqiu Mountain, she had already learned that Wei Tu had High-Quality Earth Spike Talismans as his life-saving trump card.
Now that she was prepared for the Earth Spike Talismans, it wouldn’t be so easy for Wei Tu to hurt her.
But—
in the next instant, the masked woman froze, her face draining of color. She stared in horror at the dense forest of earth spikes that had erupted in a radius of over a hundred feet beneath her as she was airborne.
Flying through the air was an ability only Foundation Establishment Masters possessed. During the Qi Cultivation Stage, one could only perform brief leaps.
"No!"
the masked woman shrieked.
Her face filled with panic as she watched helplessly, her body falling toward the forest of wickedly sharp spikes below.
SQUELCH—
A dozen earth spikes, like tentacles of flesh and blood, tore through the masked woman’s clothes and body, pinning her firmly to the ground.
"Spare me, Fellow Daoist Wei! I’m willing to warm your bed... to be your servant and attend to your every need..."
"I also have several hundred Spirit Stones stashed away elsewhere. As long as you spare my life, Fellow Daoist Wei, I’ll give every last one of them to you."
The masked woman’s body was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, her breathing faint. She glanced at Wei Tu, several hundred paces away, and begged in a low voice.
’Warm your bed?’
’Several hundred Spirit Stones?’
Wei Tu frowned, unmoved.
The masked woman was decent-looking, but she was a far cry from Hu Yao, to say nothing of the Female Cultivator Gong he had seen that other day.
’Why risk keeping an enemy by his side—rearing a tiger only to be devoured by it—over something that could be solved with a dozen or so Spiritual Sand?’
’As for several hundred Spirit Stones...’
Wei Tu scoffed at the idea.
’If the masked woman truly had hundreds of Spirit Stones, she would have been peacefully focused on her Cultivation, turning those stones into power, not risking her life as a Tribulation Cultivator.’
With this in mind, Wei Tu held back no longer. He silently recited a Spiritual Spell, and one of the earth spikes pierced through the center of the masked woman’s forehead.
The masked woman’s head exploded.
She was utterly and completely dead.
Wei Tu then walked over to the masked woman, picked up the Silver Hairpin Magical Artifact she had just used, and tucked it away at his waist.
Next, he searched the masked woman’s Corpse Body and found three and a Half Spirit Stones, along with a palm-sized piece of tanned Demon Beast Hide.
The Demon Beast Hide was covered in writing.
’Celestial Fragrance Luo Technique?’
Wei Tu gave the Cultivation Technique a quick look. Seeing it was just a common, run-of-the-mill technique used by Tribulation Cultivators to track other Cultivators’ auras, he wasn’t particularly interested. Shaking his head, he casually stuffed it into his robes.
A moment later, the yellow shield in front of Wei Tu vanished, reverting to a Talisman with a dim Spiritual Light.
’I can still use it one more time.’
Killing the masked Female Cultivator had cost him roughly three High-Quality Earth Spike Talismans and half the use of a Tier One Rock Shield Talisman.
It was a heavy loss.
That one fight had cost him the equivalent of over thirty Spirit Stones.
’Still, with this Silver Hairpin Magical Artifact, I’ve more or less broken even. It wasn’t a total loss.’
Wei Tu weighed the Silver Hairpin Magical Artifact in his hand.
Although this Silver Hairpin Magical Artifact was only about sixty percent new and was a Tier One Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact, its market price was still twenty to thirty Spirit Stones.
Of course, buying a new Lower-Grade Magical Artifact wouldn’t be possible with just twenty or thirty Spirit Stones; it would cost at least fifty or sixty.
From that perspective, he had come out ahead.
’There’s still the tall, thin man who was after me. He split up with the masked woman, probably to intercept me at the entrance to Danqiu Mountain.’
Wei Tu left the scene, contemplating his next move.
The masked woman and the tall, thin man splitting up had disrupted his plan for dealing with them.
Returning to Danqiu Mountain.
He would inevitably run into the tall, thin man.
With his Rock Shield Talisman, he didn’t really need to fear the tall, thin man—if the masked Female Cultivator couldn’t break the Rock Shield Talisman, there was no reason to think the man could easily bypass its defense.
He could use the Rock Shield Talisman to fight a retreating battle all the way back into Danqiu Mountain. Once there, he could find the Law Enforcement Team to resolve the crisis and bring the tall, thin man to justice.
But then,
he would inevitably expose his attainments in the Talisman Dao.
He had already faced hostility from competitors in the shacks.
For instance, Talisman Master Maoo had instigated Tong Peipei to cause trouble for him.
At the level of a Tier One Talisman Master,
if a peer held malicious intent toward him, they could use the resources they already controlled to crush him. He would be no match for them and would be at their mercy.
As for trying to kill the tall, thin man all by himself...
Wei Tu wasn’t willing to take that risk.
He only had two of his offensive Earth Spike Talismans left, which didn’t feel safe enough.
’I should move my family near the Bai Shihu Marketplace... find Big Brother Kou Liang and have him help me buy another Earth Essence Pill...’
’Then, in the Bai Shihu Marketplace, I’ll go into Seclusion and break through my Cultivation. Once I reach the Middle-Stage Qi Cultivation, I can return to Danqiu Mountain...’
After a moment of contemplation, Wei Tu decided to take the safer route.
The Cultivation Realm was filled with countless potential Tribulation Cultivators.
He couldn’t possibly kill them all.
The correct path was to first increase his own Cultivation and then deal with his enemies later.
As for reaching the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer,
he was only one Earth Essence Pill away.
Trading for an Earth Essence Pill on Danqiu Mountain would easily attract the attention of other Cultivators, but in the Bai Shihu Marketplace, he wouldn’t have that concern.