Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

PS: There was an error in the previous Chapter regarding age. Wei Yan was born when Wei Tu was twenty-six, so she is seventy-one, not sixty-one (this has been corrected).

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"Sister Hongying."

Wei Yan stepped forward to greet her.

In the Cultivation Realm, the strong are revered.

Cultivators of lower Realms must address those of higher Realms as "Elder."

However, this was only for Cultivators who weren’t close.

She and Kou Hongying had known each other since childhood, so calling her Sister Hongying was perfectly fine.

Not to mention, her own father, Wei Tu, was now a Foundation Establishment Master.

After offering the flowers, Kou Hongying came to her senses. She glanced at Wei Yan, who was dressed in mourning clothes, sighed softly, and said, "My condolences."

She had also experienced the death of a parent and knew the pain all too well.

"Uncle Wei, I went to the Yaolang Mountain Range some time ago and couldn’t return in time. I hope you won’t blame me..."

Walking up to the thatched cottage, Kou Hongying bowed slightly to Wei Tu and explained why she had missed the funeral.

After speaking, she slapped her Storage Bag, took out a Spiritual Object, and presented it as a belated funeral gift.

"Cultivators are not like Mortals. One loses all sense of time in the mountains. Missing the hour is no great matter."

Wei Tu shook his head, showing his understanding.

Unlike when she was in the Qi Refining Realm, Kou Hongying found she had even less free time after reaching Foundation Establishment.

For the past decade or so, Kou Hongying had been toiling away, not just to repay her debts to him and Fu Zhizhou, but also for the sake of her own path of Cultivation.

As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from an Immortal Sect with no particular specialized skills, her only way to obtain extra resources was to complete Sect missions.

Her situation was similar to that of Fu Zhizhou, the Assassin.

She rarely had a moment to spare.

After a few more sentences of small talk, Wei Tu invited Kou Hongying into the cottage to sit.

Standing to the side, Wei Yan took it upon herself to boil water and brew tea, pouring a cup of fragrant tea for both Wei Tu and Kou Hongying.

Soon, the two of them turned the conversation to the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

"Uncle Wei, choosing the Hee Mountain Huang Family was a good decision. They have a Golden Core Ancestor who is a Tier Three Array Master, making it arguably the safest place in Zheng Country outside of the Three Immortal Sects," Kou Hongying praised.

What she valued most was Wei Tu’s steady and cautious nature, never acting rashly.

If a Foundation Establishment Independent Cultivator chose the wrong Cultivation Family to join, it would, barring any unforeseen changes, affect their entire life’s path of Cultivation.

The fact that Wei Tu could make such a clear-headed choice, not swayed by great profit, was enough to place him above more than half of all other Cultivators.

Halfway through their conversation, Kou Hongying learned that Wei Tu and Zhao Qingluo had met six months ago. A thought struck her, and she brought up a new topic.

"Uncle Wei, when you spoke with Zhao Qingluo, did she ever mention... who the Foundation Establishment Master was that saved her all those years ago?"

Kou Hongying’s tone was urgent.

Over thirty years ago, when Kou Liang died, she had identified the Blood Elder Demon, who owned a Cyan Leaf Snake, as the culprit.

Then, not long after, she heard that the Blood Elder Demon had been slain by a Foundation Establishment Master, and that this same Master had saved Zhao Qingluo...

Upon hearing this news, she immediately wrote to Zhao Qingluo, asking about the incident and hoping to find the benefactor who had avenged her father.

But unexpectedly—

Zhao Qingluo was also vague about what had happened back then, only knowing that he was a Foundation Establishment Master, but not his real name, origin, or identity.

However, now that more than thirty years had passed, it was possible that Zhao Qingluo had uncovered new clues.

Hearing Kou Hongying bring this up, Wei Tu was suddenly on alert, realizing the slip-up he had unknowingly made.

He and Kou Liang were sworn brothers. If he had truly cared, he should have been just as anxious as Kou Hongying to ask who the benefactor was.

Instead, he had completely ignored the matter, not mentioning it at all.

’That’s right. Back then, I saw Zhao Qingluo in a disgraceful state. How could I have deliberately brought it up in front of her?’

Wei Tu sighed inwardly.

He never thought he, too, would one day face the saying: ’The net of Heaven is vast, but it lets nothing slip through.’

Thinking of this, Wei Tu pondered for a moment and decided to reveal the secret from all those years ago.

He was worried that if he didn’t say anything, Kou Hongying might go ask Zhao Qingluo for clues... which could lead Zhao Qingluo to notice the suspicious points about him.

By then, if he tried to explain, he would be in a much more passive position.

Besides, times had changed. Now that he was at Foundation Establishment, this secret was no longer fatal to him. Kou Hongying was also a trustworthy person, so revealing it sooner rather than later was better for everyone.

"Hongying, the one who killed the Cyan Leaf Snake and saved Zhao Qingluo back then... it wasn’t someone else. It was me..."

The moment these words were spoken, Kou Hongying and Wei Yan, inside the thatched cottage, were instantly stunned and remained dazed for a long time.

Intuitively, they found it hard to believe that Wei Tu could have slain the two demons with only his Middle-Stage Qi Cultivation strength, a feat only a Foundation Establishment Master should have been able to accomplish.

But after careful thought, they found it believable.

As Wei Tu’s daughter and niece, respectively, both Kou Hongying and Wei Yan knew that he was always reliable and never one to make empty boasts.

"My benefactor... was actually Uncle Wei..."

After recovering from her shock, Kou Hongying’s expression was complicated. Her tone was one of pleasant surprise, but also tinged with a sense of relieved ease.

She didn’t think Wei Tu was lying to her.

After all, there was no benefit for him to lie to her now.

If he had really wanted to deceive her, it would have been much better to do so before he reached Foundation Establishment.

As fellow Foundation Establishment Masters, she could hardly provide him with any significant extra help at this point.

"Dad killed the Blood Elder Demon when he was still in the Qi Refining Realm? He did something only a Foundation Establishment Master could do?"

Wei Yan, at the side, was also amazed.

It was as if she was seeing another side of her father, Wei Tu—a side completely different from his usual self.

...

After the two women had calmed down, Wei Tu gave a light cough and began to recount the details of how he "killed" the Blood Elder Demon all those years ago.