Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Weii Fei gazed at the coffin in the memorial hall, and a thought suddenly struck him.

For the first time, he felt a sense of urgency.

Of the three of them, it seemed that Fu Zhizhou, as an Assassin, faced the most danger.

But in reality, his Spirit and Martial Unity allowed him to overwhelm Same-Tier Cultivators. He also carried Life-Saving Talismans, so unless he encountered a powerful foe, he was unlikely to die.

As for Wei Tu, a Talisman Master, his personal combat strength wasn’t high, but with his many life-saving Talismans, he would also be hard to kill.

’And as for me, though I live a carefree life among mortals and am generally safe, if I were to encounter a crisis like Kou Liang’s, I fear I wouldn’t be able to escape with my life...’

...

Later that night, the family members left one by one to rest in their rooms.

At Wei Tu’s request, Kou Hongying pushed open the coffin, revealing Kou Liang’s remains.

Wei Tu walked up to the coffin, glanced at Kou Liang’s remains, then squeezed some black blood from the wound on his abdomen.

He used a technique to draw the black blood into a Pill Bottle. After sniffing it lightly, he placed the bottle inside his robes.

Seeing this, the look Kou Hongying gave Wei Tu softened considerably.

’Back when the Earth Essence Pill incident happened, I even argued with Father... I thought he shouldn’t have reciprocated with such a valuable gift...’

’Now I see that I was wrong.’

She thought to herself.

—The venom of a Cyan Leaf Snake was nothing precious. The only reason for Wei Tu to collect this "black blood" was to track down the killer and take revenge.

Seeing what Wei Tu had done, Fu Zhizhou and the others belatedly caught on and followed his example, collecting some of the black blood for themselves.

...

After paying their respects to Kou Liang, the three friends parted ways once more.

Weii Fei returned to the Divine Capital to be with Immortal Master Wu in his final days. The Immortal Master’s life was expected to end in a few years.

Fu Zhizhou had planned to return to Danqiu Mountain with Wei Tu, but after meeting with his eldest son, Fu Lin, he became entangled in family matters and told Wei Tu to go on ahead.

After leaving Nanhang City, Wei Tu considered his options for a moment. Instead of heading straight back to Danqiu Mountain, he changed direction midway and went toward Guangshun Prefecture.

Over more than a decade of Cultivation, he had long since mastered the Celestial Fragrance Luo Technique.

Just like with his Geomagnetic Spirit Body, his "Late Bloomer" Destiny Chart had enhanced his Xiangluo Nose. Now that it was perfected, it had developed a few extraordinary properties.

The range at which his Xiangluo Nose could detect scents slightly surpassed the three-li radius described in the Cultivation Technique, reaching five li.

Within a one-li radius, his Xiangluo Nose could identify scents even if they were masked by a Concealing Breath Talisman.

Therefore, Wei Tu was heading to Guangshun Prefecture, intending to use his Xiangluo Nose to find both the Cyan Leaf Snake that killed Kou Liang and the Cultivator who was raising it.

The reason he hadn’t asked Fu Zhizhou to accompany him was his complete confidence in his own abilities. With his Geomagnetic Primordial Light, he could fly and escape with ease, even if he couldn’t defeat his enemy.

Since entering the Cultivation Realm, he had never been in a true life-or-death battle, aside from killing the Tribulation Cultivator, Zhuo Yan.

This time, he wanted to hone his combat skills.

He needed to be prepared for any unexpected dangers in the future.

Two days later, Wei Tu arrived at the spot where Kou Liang had encountered the Cyan Leaf Snake.

’The scent of the Cyan Leaf Snake has almost completely dissipated...’

Wei Tu sniffed the air a few times.

He opened the Pill Bottle, took another sniff, then searched the surrounding thicket.

A quarter of an hour later, Wei Tu locked onto a direction and sped away.

After traveling for over ten li, Wei Tu turned into a ravine and came to a stop.

’The Cyan Leaf Snake’s scent is getting much stronger here. Looks like that Cultivator is hiding somewhere nearby.’

Wei Tu raised an eyebrow. He mulled it over for a moment, then took out two Talismans.

One was a Basic Talisman, the Concealing Breath Talisman, and the other was a Tier One Middle-Grade Talisman, the Earth Escape Talisman.

The method for creating the Earth Escape Talisman came from the Talisman Making Technique inheritance Tong Peipei had sold him.

After placing the Concealing Breath Talisman on his body, Wei Tu pinched the Earth Escape Talisman between his fingers and recited a short incantation.

A moment later, the ground beneath his feet softened and shifted like quicksand.

Seeing this, Wei Tu clutched the Earth Escape Talisman paper in his palm, took a deep breath, channeled his Spiritual Power, and sank into the shifting earth.

After traveling several hundred meters underground, Wei Tu paused. He took out the Middle-Grade Wood Spirit Stones Helian Xiong had given him and absorbed Spiritual Qi for a while.

Once his Spiritual Power was mostly restored, Wei Tu held several Attack Talismans between his fingers and carefully moved up toward the surface.

When he was about three meters from the surface, Wei Tu stopped again. He sent out his Guardian Map Divine Sense, carefully probing the activity within the valley.

Soon, Wei Tu spotted an old man in a blood robe inside the valley.

The old man had white hair and a white beard. He stood before a mountain cave, a majestic Golden Eagle perched on his left shoulder and a small cyan snake coiled around his right arm.

"Cyan Leaf Snake!" Killing intent flashed in Wei Tu’s eyes as he saw the small snake.

He instantly recognized its aura—this was the very Tier One Cyan Leaf Snake that had killed Kou Liang.

However, Wei Tu didn’t act rashly. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Judging from the blood-robed man’s aura and the two Spirit Beasts he kept, Wei Tu guessed his Cultivation was definitely at the Late-Stage Qi Cultivation.

Wei Tu remained hidden. After activating a Rock Shield Talisman, he crept closer to the blood-robed man, stopping five zhang away.

—Five zhang was the maximum range a Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator’s Guardian Map Divine Sense could reach.

As he got closer, Wei Tu saw why the blood-robed elder was standing outside the mountain cave.

It turned out a Female Cultivator, ambushed by the blood-robed man, was hiding inside. She was using a blue Spirit Bracelet to block the cave’s entrance, preventing him from pursuing her any further.

The blue Spirit Bracelet projected a shimmering blue light shield, like an overturned jade bowl, sealing the mouth of the cave.

"Princess Qingluo, there’s no need for this futile resistance. You’ve held up this Spiritual Power Shield for about four days. In another half a day, your Spiritual Power will be completely depleted..."

"At that point, not only will you be unable to stop me, you’ll also damage your own foundation."

"As long as you agree to become my Blood Slave and be at my command."

"I guarantee, I will not kill you."

The blood-robed elder began to speak.

’Princess Qingluo?’ Wei Tu was astonished. He never would have imagined that the Female Cultivator hiding in the cave was Zhao Qingluo.

At this thought, Wei Tu immediately considered retreating.

The blood-robed man had defeated a Celestial Pride of the Immortal Race like Zhao Qingluo. Even with his Geomagnetic Primordial Light, Wei Tu knew he would likely be no match for the man.

After all, he’d seen that the blood-robed man kept a Golden Eagle Spirit Beast.

With the Golden Eagle Spirit Beast around, his trump card—the ability to fly—would be far less effective.

"Blood Elder Demon, you’re delusional! Once the Foundation Establishment Master from my Qiyue Zhao Family arrives, you’d better start thinking about how to beg me to spare your miserable life."

Zhao Qingluo’s slightly weak voice drifted out from the cave.

From his vantage point, Wei Tu couldn’t see Zhao Qingluo’s face, but from her words alone, he could imagine her eyes were practically spitting fire with uncontrollable rage.

’Wait, Blood Elder Demon?’ Wei Tu seized on this key piece of information from Zhao Qingluo’s words.

He drew in a sharp breath.

His urge to retreat intensified.

The Blood Elder Demon was one of the top three most-wanted Demons on the Danqiu Mountain Marketplace’s kill-on-sight list. Rumor had it he was from the Blood God Sect, one of the Five Demonic Sects.

He had committed numerous atrocities within Zheng Country and was infamous for once slaughtering three Late-Stage Qi Cultivation Assassins in a single day.

But just then—

A figure both familiar and strange to Wei Tu approached from the other side of the valley.

"Zhao Qingluo, are you waiting for someone from your family to receive the Talisman you sent?"

"It’s already been four days. Haven’t you realized that I intercepted that Talisman?"

Geng Wen walked to the Blood Elder Demon’s side with a cold sneer. He turned his palm over, and a ball of light shaped like a Spirit Dove appeared in his hand.

Geng Wen then crushed it in his fist, and the Spirit Dove of light was instantly annihilated, dissipating into nothingness.

"Geng Wen? It’s you?" Zhao Qingluo’s voice was filled with horror and disbelief.

"Aren’t you afraid the Qiyue Zhao Family will execute you? Even your master would face a death sentence if he dared to provoke my family!"