Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

...

「Seven days later.」

Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou arrived near Danqiu Mountain. Fu Zhizhou dismounted his horse and trailed behind Wei Tu, waiting for the Tribulation Cultivator Ying Bing to appear.

However, their luck wasn’t great.

They didn’t run into Ying Bing by himself outside Danqiu Mountain.

At the entrance to Danqiu Mountain, the two of them met up again.

"Next time I run into Ying Bing out here, I’ll kill him," Fu Zhizhou threatened.

As he spoke, he dismantled the Bright Silver Long Spear, which was covered in several Talismans, back into two pieces. He then placed them in a satchel and slung it over his shoulder.

"The Fu Family Spear Technique, Spirit and Martial Unity?"

Watching this, Wei Tu couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. ’No wonder Fu Zhizhou is so confident he can ambush and kill Ying Bing,’ he thought.

Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage didn’t have many techniques at their disposal; they certainly weren’t capable of moving mountains, overturning seas, or parting rivers with a wave of their hand.

Therefore, Innate Martial Artists who became Cultivators would often combine Mortal Martial Techniques with Immortal Techniques to fight their enemies.

This practice was known among Cultivators as Spirit and Martial Unity.

Cultivators who achieved Spirit and Martial Unity often possessed combat power that could crush Same-Tier Cultivators.

However, it generally wasn’t easy for a Cultivator to achieve Spirit and Martial Unity to a level effective in combat...

It was very possible for their unfamiliarity with integrating Spirit and Martial arts to create an opening, leading to the tragedy of being killed by their enemy.

For Fu Zhizhou to be able to combine Mortal Martial Techniques with Immortal Dao Techniques and achieve Spirit and Martial Unity in just ten short years showed he had exceptional combat talent.

’There is great terror between life and death,’ Wei Tu reflected. ’My fourth brother worked as an Assassin, experiencing life-and-death situations. That’s how he was able to achieve Spirit and Martial Unity and become a dominant force in combat... within our tier...’

The Celestial Dao is impartial.

He and Fu Zhizhou both started as Innate Martial Artists, and his own Martial Arts mastery was even a bit better, since he had broken through to the Innate Realm using External Cultivation Techniques.

But with their different circumstances... Fu Zhizhou had managed to catch up in terms of combat power and, with his Spirit and Martial Unity, now held a clear advantage over him.

Although they had never fought, Wei Tu reckoned that without the help of his Rock Shield Talisman and High-Quality Earth Spike Talisman, Fu Zhizhou would likely decapitate him with his spear within ten moves.

’But I don’t need to sell myself short.’

’A Talisman Master’s way of fighting is inherently different from an Assassin’s. We win by using more high-grade talismans.’

’If I tried to learn my fourth brother’s Spirit and Martial Unity, I’d actually be putting myself at a disadvantage.’

Wei Tu shook his head, burying this stray thought deep in his heart, and strode into Danqiu Mountain.

...

On the first floor of the Supreme Profound Sect’s office, Steward Liu took Wei Tu’s Descent Token. He glanced at the date and said with a chuckle, "You went down the mountain in March of last year and returned this September. Almost a year and a half has passed."

"You’ve exceeded your descent allowance by seven months."

Generally speaking, as long as a Cultivator in Danqiu Mountain didn’t descend without permission or cause any trouble in the mortal world, exceeding the descent allowance by a bit wouldn’t result in any severe punishment.

At most, they’d be fined some Spirit Stones.

"Steward Liu, I encountered a Tribulation Cultivator when I descended the mountain," Wei Tu explained truthfully. "I had no choice but to temporarily go to the Bai Shihu Marketplace and seek shelter with an acquaintance."

As he spoke, Wei Tu also subtly hinted at the identity of the person whose protection he sought when he went to Bai Shihu.

This time, when Kou Hongying joined the Yee Society, she had explicitly told Wei Tu and the others that they could act under her name when they were out.

As long as they didn’t tarnish her reputation or bully others with her influence.

After the meeting, Kou Hongying had also specifically reminded Wei Tu not to be hesitant to mention her name to others just because she was his niece.

In the Cultivation Realm, a powerful background was very important.

Therefore, Wei Tu hadn’t deliberately refused and simply accepted this favor from Kou Hongying.

"So, Fellow Daoist Wei has such a connection—a niece who is a disciple of Jingshui Pavilion?"

Steward Liu was slightly surprised to hear this. He lifted his right hand, moving the tip of his pen away from the "Punishment" column in the register.

A disciple of a Foundation Establishment Master wasn’t a major figure, but doing them a favor might prove useful to him in the future.

"That Tribulation Cultivator—does Fellow Daoist Wei know who it was? I will have the Law Enforcement Team deal with them right away," Steward Liu asked.

"I do not know."

Wei Tu shook his head, suppressing the urge to report Ying Bing.

The real culprit who tried to kill him was Geng Wen, the second disciple of Alchemist Shu. Ying Bing was merely a minor nuisance, a pawn.

Between the two of them, he and Fu Zhizhou were confident they could ambush and kill Ying Bing to eliminate this threat, as long as he dared to go out alone.

Therefore, reporting Ying Bing would not only be useless, but it would also alert the grass and startle the snake, putting their great enemy, Geng Wen, on guard.

—With nothing but some groundless accusations, they had no way of dealing with a Pill Master of Geng Wen’s unusual status within Danqiu Mountain.

Alchemist Shu was a highly respected Tier Two Alchemist in Danqiu Mountain.

He was also a proper Foundation Establishment Master.

And although Geng Wen’s Alchemy Mastery was far inferior to his master, Alchemist Shu, he was still a Tier One Middle-Grade Alchemist.

"What a pity," Steward Liu sighed. He had been planning to use his position to put Wei Tu deeply in his debt.

...

After resolving the issue with his descent, Wei Tu returned to his shack and, using Hu Yao’s network, spread the news that he had promoted to the Middle-Stage Qi Cultivation and had become a Tier One Lower-Grade Talisman Master.

Now, with his background and strength, announcing that he was a Tier One Talisman Master would not only avoid trouble but would also add a layer of security.

「A few days later.」

A few Independent Cultivators came to visit Wei Tu with gifts, hoping to leave a good impression on him.

The gifts were mostly inexpensive.