Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Wei Tu was grateful.

He gave his unfinished Spirit Tea to Immortal Master Wuk.

Through such exchanges,

the two became friends despite their age gap.

However, during their interactions, Wei Tu never mentioned how he had taken advantage of the chaos during the battle in the valley to flee, effectively "abandoning" Immortal Master Wuk.

...

Wei Tu hadn’t forgotten about switching to the Little Spring and Autumn Technique.

Once he had some extra Spirit Stones, he went to the Cultivation Technique Pavilion in the Marketplace and bought this rather obscure Earth and Wood Attribute technique.

This Cultivation Technique

cost Wei Tu a full twenty Spirit Stones.

In truth, during the Inner Collection, Wei Tu had already heard about some Independent Cultivators who possessed this technique. However, for the sake of his cultivation path and his own safety, he chose to buy it from the Cultivation Technique Pavilion, which was directly operated by the Supreme Profound Sect.

’The key to condensing an Earth and Wood Spirit Body with the Little Spring and Autumn Technique is a Plant Spirit Seed.’

’Using this Spirit Seed as a medium, earth generates wood, condensing the Earth and Wood Spirit Body...’

Wei Tu flipped through the Cultivation Technique manual.

The preface of the Little Spring and Autumn Technique mentioned that when condensing the "Earth and Wood Spirit Body," the better the chosen "Spirit Seed," the higher the potential of the resulting Spirit Body.

The technique also listed the five most common Upper-Grade Spirit Seeds available during the Qi Cultivation Stage.

’A Geomagnetic Wood Spirit Seed.’

Wei Tu set his sights on this particular Upper-Grade Spirit Seed.

Compared to the other four Spirit Seeds, the Geomagnetic Wood Spirit Seed was the easiest to obtain. Furthermore, its growth potential was ranked in the middle, so it wouldn’t be too bad.

Wei Tu didn’t have extravagant hopes for his Immortal Fate. After all, he had languished in the mortal world for over twenty years before finally entering the Cultivation Realm.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, you have some mail."

Just then, Immortal Master Wuk’s voice came from outside the Cultivation Room.

Wei Tu pushed the door open, took the letters from Immortal Master Wuk’s hand, and thanked him.

Communication between the mortal world and Danqiu Mountain wasn’t possible. Letters could only be carried by acquaintances traveling between the two.

However, communication was possible between the two major Marketplaces, Danqiu Mountain and Bai Shihu.

There were three letters, one from Kou Liang and two from his own children.

Wei Tu opened Kou Liang’s letter first.

In the letter, Kou Liang started with some pleasantries before moving on to boast about his daughter’s cultivation achievements.

In the past year or so,

Kou Hongying had reached the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer and successfully promoted from an Outer Sect Disciple of Jingshui Pavilion to an Inner Sect Disciple, receiving corresponding improvements in her treatment and status.

At the end of the letter, Kou Liang briefly mentioned Fu Lin, saying that he would help Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou take good care of Fu Lin, the eldest son of the Fu Family.

After reading the letter,

Wei Tu shook his head.

From the words expressed in the letter,

he could tell that Kou Liang had misunderstood his attitude toward Fu Lin.

He didn’t hold such high expectations for his nephew.

However, Wei Tu didn’t plan to correct Kou Liang on this matter.

With Kou Liang’s means, the most he could do was help Fu Lin with daily life; he wouldn’t be able to provide much in the way of Cultivation Resources.

After all, the Kou Family’s own resources were already stretched thin.

And if it was only help with daily life, there was naturally no need for him to say anything.

Next,

Wei Tu opened the two letters from his children.

The first parts of both letters were largely the same, paying respects and asking after his well-being, as well as recounting some minor events at home.

The differences appeared in the latter halves.

In her letter, Wei Yan mentioned one additional thing.

Wei Yan wrote that she had broken through to the Innate Realm a month ago and was now facing a choice of path. She hoped that Wei Tu, as her father, could offer some advice to help her avoid making mistakes.

After reading the letters,

Wei Tu thought for a moment, then compiled his insights on the Talisman Dao into a booklet and enclosed it with his reply.

In the letter, he also included the making techniques for the "Water Talisman," "Calm Heart Talisman," and "Thorn Cage Talisman."

The Water Talisman and Calm Heart Talisman were both Basic Talismans from the Talisman Dao Introduction.

The "Thorn Cage Talisman" was one of the two Tier One Talisman making techniques he had acquired from his trade with Tong Peipei.

All three talismans suited Wei Yan’s Water and Wood Spirit Root.

Wei Tu hoped that, if possible, Wei Yan would follow in his footsteps and pursue the path of a Talisman Master.

For someone with a Lower-Grade Spirit Root to reach Foundation Establishment,

they either needed a great Opportunity, a special skill, or had to risk life and limb like Fu Zhizhou did as an Assassin.

...

After writing his replies,

Wei Tu went to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in the Marketplace, bought a Geomagnetic Wood Spirit Seed, and began cultivating the Little Spring and Autumn Technique.

Half a month later,

Aided by the Spiritual Qi in his Cultivation Room, Wei Tu finally achieved a preliminary mastery of the Little Spring and Autumn Technique and began the process of transforming into an Earth and Wood Spirit Body.

*Little Spring and Autumn Skill·Earth Magnetic Spirit Body (1/100): With three training sessions a day, completion will be achieved in fifteen years.*

This line of text appeared on his Golden Purple Destiny Chart.

"Fifteen years?"

Wei Tu’s face filled with astonishment when he saw the timeframe. He never imagined that switching cultivation techniques would take so long.

From what he had heard, most Cultivators who switched techniques could complete the conversion within a few years.

’Could it be...’

’...that there’s some mystery to this that I don’t understand?’

Wei Tu mused.

He sat down cross-legged and began to circulate his Spiritual Power according to the Little Spring and Autumn Technique, while simultaneously looking for any "abnormalities" appearing on his Golden Purple Destiny Chart.

Soon,

he discovered the crux of the matter.

With every circulation of the technique, his Golden Purple Destiny Chart would flicker and release a wisp of faint golden aura, which then merged into the Geomagnetic Wood Spirit Seed stored in his Dantian.

After circulating the technique several times,

Wei Tu observed the Geomagnetic Wood Spirit Seed again and found its surface shimmering with Spiritual Light. A faint, mysterious pattern had appeared on it, vanishing in an instant.

’The Late Bloomer Destiny Chart actually has such a miraculous effect?’

’Could it be that because this Spirit Seed has become a part of my "foundation," the Destiny Chart is releasing that faint golden aura to alter it?’

Overjoyed, Wei Tu made his deduction.

He had a gut feeling that this Geomagnetic Wood Spirit Seed would be the key to him surpassing Cultivators with Middle-Grade and Upper-Grade Spirit Roots.

...

Just as Wei Tu was planning to hole up in his room and grind away until his Spirit Body transformation was complete, Wei Fei paid him a visit half a month later, temporarily interrupting his cultivation.

"Immortal Master Wuk?"

When Wei Fei arrived at the small courtyard on Lark Street, he couldn’t help but be surprised to see Immortal Master Wuk.

He hadn’t been selected as one of the Military Officers from the Governor’s Mansion for the battle in the valley. However, he had later learned about Immortal Master Wuk’s appearance from Wei Tu and the other two.

The person before him looked almost identical to the Immortal Master Wuk that Wei Tu and the others had described.

And he also had the surname Wuk...

Seeing Wei Fei lose his composure slightly, Wei Tu frowned, pulled him into his room, and explained everything.

Having been friends with Wei Fei for many years, he knew that of their four sworn brothers, Wei Fei was the worst at maintaining his composure.

"What a fucking coincidence."

Wei Fei clicked his tongue and remarked with emotion.

Over ten years ago, Immortal Master Wuk had nearly gotten the four of them killed.

But who would have thought—

that after ten years, Wei Tu would, by a stroke of luck, end up living in the same small courtyard with Immortal Master Wuk, under the same roof, and even become friends despite their age difference.

After the explanation, Wei Tu brought Wei Fei back out to continue their conversation with Immortal Master Wuk.

But it was obvious that the atmosphere of their conversation was no longer as harmonious as before.

Wei Tu immediately understood that the shrewd old Immortal Master Wuk had become suspicious of him.

Seeing this, Wei Tu cleared his throat, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face, and confessed what had happened all those years ago.

Back then, he had led Fu Zhizhou and Kou Liang in a desertion from the valley. Although his actions were understandable and had little impact on the battle’s outcome...

...Immortal Master Wuk had lost an arm to the cultivator surnamed Jia and was severely injured afterward. In front of the man himself, he of course found it difficult to speak about it frankly.

"It was a small matter." Immortal Master Wuk shook his head with a smile and waved his hand, indicating that he had already forgiven Wei Tu.

"Let’s drink, let’s drink."

Wincing at the cost, Wei Tu went to the Jingyun Inn to buy some good wine and treated Immortal Master Wuk.

A few days later,

A strange expression appeared on Wei Fei’s face. He glanced at Wei Tu a few times and said, "I hope you won’t get angry at what I’m about to say, Third Brother."

"What is it?"

Wei Tu was slightly surprised and a little confused.

"Well..." Wei Fei scratched his head, looking a bit uneasy. "Elder Wuk said he wants to take me as his disciple and pass on his inheritance..."

"But he said there’s a condition. Before he passes on his inheritance to me, I’m not allowed to tell you anything about it."

As his words fell,

Wei Tu was struck speechless.

Back in the mortal world, he had already sensed that this guy Wei Fei possessed some kind of Immortal Fate. After all, Wei Fei was the one who had discovered both of their cultivation techniques.

He, Kou Liang, and Fu Zhizhou had searched for over twenty years and hadn’t found a single one.

But he had never expected that Wei Fei’s Immortal Fate this time would actually be related to him.