Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Upon hearing this, the expression on Wei Tu's face softened slightly.

"Since it was just a jest from the Second Miss, I won't pursue the matter."

"I shall take my leave."

With that, amidst the strange looks from Huang Caiyu and Artifact Master Xia, Wei Tu flicked his sleeve and left without a hint of hesitation.

"Second Miss, what was your intention just now, offering to sell my Cyan Yang Furnace to Talisman Master Wei?" After watching Wei Tu leave, Artifact Master Xia turned to Huang Caiyu with a frown.

He might be a bit slower on the uptake than the average person, but that didn't mean he was stupid.

He quickly understood what Huang Caiyu had been plotting just now, even though Wei Tu hadn't exposed it.

Without waiting for Huang Caiyu to reply, Artifact Master Xia snorted coldly, began packing up his stall, and left her side with all his belongings, not looking back once.

There were plenty of other women in the world.

With his status as a Tier Two Refiner, finding a few charming Qi Cultivation Female Practitioners wouldn't be difficult at all.

「A short while later.」

On the pavilion terrace, only Huang Caiyu remained, stunned and alone.

...

「Soon.」

Wei Tu found a half-used, Tier One Pill Furnace at another stall.

This stall was set up by the Ancestor of a Foundation Establishment Family that was attached to the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

Wei Tu bargained as usual.

He acquired the half-used, Upper-Grade Pill Furnace Magical Artifact for the price of two hundred and seventy Spirit Stones.

"I wonder if Fellow Daoist Liu has any suitable Pill Formulas on hand?" Wei Tu asked casually after placing the Pill Furnace into his Storage Bag.

Even a broken ship is worth its nails.

Although a Foundation Establishment Family was nothing compared to a Golden Core Family, one with a long Inheritance was bound to have accumulated some good things.

"Pill Formulas?" Liu Yang's eyes lit up. He immediately took out a Jade Scroll and handed it to Wei Tu. "My ancestors were a family of Pill Masters. If we hadn't failed to find a suitable successor with talent for alchemy, we wouldn't be selling off our Pill Furnaces."

"The Pill Formulas recorded in this Jade Scroll are the rarest of the rare."

Liu Yang boasted.

Hearing this, Wei Tu felt a small flicker of joy. 'Did I just stumble upon a hidden treasure?' he wondered.

Expressionlessly, he pressed the Jade Scroll to the space between his eyebrows and carefully examined the Pill Formulas within, wanting to see if they were as remarkable as Liu Yang claimed.

But soon, Wei Tu was disappointed.

The Pill Formulas in the Jade Scroll were all for Tier One Lower-Grade Elixirs. In terms of variety, they were far inferior to the Pill Master Inheritance from Geng Wen.

'That's right, Alchemist Shu is a Tier Two Alchemist. The Pill Formulas he gave Geng Wen couldn't possibly be matched by what ordinary people have,' Wei Tu thought, and the disappointment in his heart subsided.

He handed the Jade Scroll back to Liu Yang, shook his head, and walked away from the stall.

...

After browsing all the stalls at Golden Moon Cliff,

Wei Tu returned to the pavilion marked "Sacrificial Hall," set up a stall on the spot, and wrote three large words on his sign: "Pre-Order Talismans."

For "Artisans" like them, there were generally two ways to obtain new Inheritances.

One was to go out and search for them.

For example, buying them from shops, auctions, or trade fairs, or through murder and Treasure Stealing.

The other way was to wait for customers to bring them to your doorstep.

This was how he had obtained the method for making the "Demon Refining Talisman" from Helian Xiong.

Right now, by writing the three words "Pre-Order Talismans," Wei Tu had two goals. Besides pre-selling talismans to make money, his other purpose was to collect more Tier Two Talisman Inheritances from other Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The gathering at Golden Moon Cliff would last for a month.

「For the first few days.」

Wei Tu's stall was deserted.

「On the seventh day.」

Independent cultivators finally started showing up to pre-order talismans from Wei Tu.

However, the talismans these cultivators ordered were mostly Tier One Talismans from Wei Tu's "Talisman Catalogue," not the Tier Two Talisman Inheritances he was hoping for.

"Seventy-three Tier One Middle-Grade Rejuvenation Talismans, thirty-four Lower-Grade Earth Spike Talismans, fifteen Middle-Grade Earthquake Talismans, three Upper-Grade Iron Wood Talismans..."

Wei Tu glanced at the list of pre-ordered talismans, nodded to himself, and prepared to pack up his stall.

'This is enough talisman work to keep me busy for eight years,' he thought.

Any more would delay his Cultivation.

He had once lectured his daughter Wei Yan about maintaining a balance between Talisman Skill and Cultivation... and he himself, of course, understood this point perfectly.

Resources that couldn't be readily converted into strength were meaningless, no matter how abundant—Wei Tu had a clear understanding of this.

"Talisman Master Wei."

The voice of an acquaintance pulled Wei Tu from his thoughts and back to reality.

Wei Tu looked up to see a young woman in a white dress with a graceful figure, who had already ascended the pavilion and was now standing before his stall.

The young woman wore a bamboo hat, and her lightly powdered face was partially hidden by a white veil, making her seem all the more stunningly beautiful.

Seeing this familiar attire, and considering her figure, Wei Tu had no trouble guessing that this young woman in white was Zhao Qingluo, with whom he had traded several times before.

"It seems Talisman Master Wei has kept his promise and joined the Hee Mountain Huang Family."

Zhao Qingluo said with a smile.

"Promise?" Wei Tu was momentarily stunned, then recalled what Zhao Qingluo had said when she tried to recruit him.

After he had refused to join the Qiyue Zhao Family, Zhao Qingluo had persuaded him to join their Ally, the Hee Mountain Huang Family...

He hadn't actually agreed to it at the time, only promising not to join any factions hostile to the Qiyue Zhao Family in the future.

He had joined the Hee Mountain Huang Family later on after weighing the pros and cons, deciding that the family with a Tier Three Array Master was the safest option. That was why he had become a Tributor for the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

His decision had little to do with Zhao Qingluo's persuasion.

However, there was no need to rub her face in it.

Wei Tu wasn't so tactless as to tell her he had joined the Hee Mountain Huang Family for other reasons.

"Since Talisman Master Wei has honored his promise... I too will honor our agreement and, on behalf of my family, purchase Tier Two Talismans from Fellow Daoist Wei..."

Zhao Qingluo glanced at Wei Tu's stall, and upon seeing the sign with the three words "Pre-Order Talismans," she paused for a moment before speaking.

When she had tried to recruit Wei Tu, she had said that as long as he didn't join the Chisong Jia Family's faction, she could make the decision on her family's behalf to purchase his Tier Two Talismans in the future.

Of course.

Her desire to purchase talismans now wasn't just about honoring a "verbal agreement." The Qiyue Zhao Family was genuinely in short supply of Tier Two Talismans.

Tier Two Talismans were much rarer than Tier One Talismans, and talismans were consumables.

A single battle could deplete a stockpile of talismans that had taken years to accumulate.

"I would like to pre-order ten 'Stone-Breaking Talismans' and fifteen 'Iron Wood Talismans'..."

Zhao Qingluo didn't hold back; her first words were a deal worth several thousand Spirit Stones.

Regarding this,

Wei Tu knew the reason why.

As a top-tier Golden Core Family, the Qiyue Zhao Family had long since moved past the stage of earning Spirit Stones through artisanry. Instead, they sealed off mountains for mining and excavated Spirit Stone Mines directly.

Therefore, the Qiyue Zhao Family did not lack Spirit Stones; what they lacked were strategic resources like talismans.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, the Tier One Talismans have all been pre-ordered by others. Right now, only the 'Stone-Breaking Talisman'... has not been pre-ordered yet..."

Hearing this large order, Wei Tu didn't get carried away. He calmly rejected Zhao Qingluo's order for the Tier One Talismans.

One could never finish earning all the Spirit Stones in the world.

There was no need to delay his Cultivation for it.

Besides, he was about to pack up his stall anyway.

"Only the 'Stone-Breaking Talisman' is fine." Although Zhao Qingluo found it odd that Wei Tu would turn down business, she didn't press the matter and simply nodded in agreement.

"I will come to Talisman Master Wei to pick up the talismans at the next gathering."

Zhao Qingluo performed a curtsy, bid farewell to Wei Tu, and headed to the next pavilion.

...

「One month later.」

The gathering at Golden Moon Cliff ended.

Wei Tu returned to "Talisman Heart Residence" on Cloud Crane Mountain.

Upon returning to his Cave Mansion,

Wei Tu didn't immediately start drawing the ordered Tier One Talismans. Instead, he first returned to his Cultivation Room to meditate and practice his Cultivation.

After several days of Cultivation, once he felt a sense of fullness in his meridians, Wei Tu stopped cultivating and headed to the "Talisman House" to prepare for Talisman Painting.

In his view, Cultivation and Talisman Painting were "labor" and "leisure," respectively, and a balance had to be struck between them.

Aside from consuming Elixirs for Cultivation—

Generally speaking, there is a limit to the total amount of Spiritual Qi a Cultivator can absorb within a given period.

This is closely related to the state of one's meridians, the foundation laid during Foundation Establishment, and the grade of one's Spirit Root.

If one's meridians are fragile, the number of times a Cultivator can circulate Spiritual Qi through them each day is limited.

The grade of the Spirit Root determines the "quantity" of Spiritual Qi a Cultivator can circulate each time.

The foundation laid during Foundation Establishment determines the total amount of Spiritual Qi a Cultivator can refine each day.

These three factors influence each other, determining the potential of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and the heights they can reach within their limited lifespan.

Therefore.

Aside from taking Elixirs,

The time a Cultivator spends cultivating each day is often very "limited."

Arriving at the Talisman House,

Huang Chengfu, his Servant, had already laid out the Talisman Paper and Spirit Ink for Wei Tu.

Wei Tu took out his Talisman Pen from his Storage Bag and, drawing on his past experience in the Talisman Dao, began to draw talismans.

Magical Power pulsed at the tip of the pen.

Under the strokes of the Talisman Pen, line after line of Dao Patterns began to appear on the Talisman Paper, forming mysterious symbols.

「A few days later.」

The previously blank Talisman Paper on Wei Tu's desk had been transformed into a stack of Tier One Talismans.

However,

When it came to Tier Two Talismans,

Wei Tu's Talisman Painting was no longer so smooth and effortless.

Out of ten sheets of Tier Two Talisman Paper,

He only managed to successfully create one "Stone-Breaking Talisman."

'I'm barely breaking even on the costs. Once I get more proficient in a few years, that's when I'll start making a profit,'

Wei Tu mused.

After finishing the Tier Two Talisman, Wei Tu's Spirit and Magical Power were nearly depleted. He returned to the Cultivation Room to continue his Seclusion and Cultivation.

...

Talisman Making, Cultivation.

This cycle repeated.

Until the "Decennial Reunion" a year and a half later drew near.

Wei Tu came out of Seclusion a month early.

"My Cultivation has improved slightly."

"But I'm still a long way from the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment."

Wei Tu performed Introspection on his Dantian and saw that his cyan and yellow Magical Power had increased by about five percent, a smile appearing on his face.

After packing his belongings, Wei Tu took the "Sky-Splitting Carving" from the Beast House, reported his departure to the Huang Family, and flew directly away from Cloud Crane Mountain.

Although he was now an esteemed Foundation Establishment Master, and attending the "Decennial Gathering" held little significance for him—in the Yee Society, besides Kou Hongying, no one else could offer him much help...

But the affairs of the world—

Are about more than just pros and cons; they're also about sentiment.

If he hadn't helped out Kou Liang back then, how could he have received the Earth Essence Pill in return, or gained the trust of Kou Hongying and the others?

Investing in Kou Hongying

had saved him and Fu Zhizhou more than twenty years of struggle.

「Half a month later.」

Wei Tu arrived in Nanhang City.

On the thirteenth of the sixth month.

The members of the Yee Society gathered once again.

This time, however, because Fu Zhizhou was in Seclusion and couldn't attend, only three people were present: Wei Tu, Kou Hongying, and Weii Fei.

Seeing that Kou Hongying hadn't broken her promise, a hint of approval appeared in Wei Tu's eyes as he acknowledged her good character.

Previously, after Kou Hongying reached Foundation Establishment, she had, as agreed, repaid both him and Fu Zhizhou with a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object and a Foundation Condensation Pill.

This, one could argue, was something she had to do because of the Spirit Contract she had signed earlier.

But things were different now.

The members of the Yee Society, including him, were clearly in no position to help Kou Hongying with her Core Formation.

Yet now, Kou Hongying hadn't abandoned the group and had still come to meet with them. This spoke volumes about her character.

Next,

The three of them took turns discussing their Cultivation over the past ten years and what they had gained.

Weii Fei was ranked second.

He was the first to speak.

After four years,

Weii Fei had advanced from his original Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer to the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer.

"I have an improper request, and I hope that Third Brother and Hongying can agree to it..."

Weii Fei's face was flushed with embarrassment as he secretly glanced at Kou Hongying.

"Uncle Weii, please speak freely. There's no need to hesitate."

Kou Hongying said in a gentle tone.

"Then I'll just say it." Weii Fei gritted his teeth and said, "Right now, I have over three hundred Spirit Stones. To buy a Foundation Condensation Pill... I'm still short one thousand Spirit Stones. I was hoping... that Hongying and Third Brother could lend me that one thousand Spirit Stones..."