Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

"The market price for one Jade Marrow Pill is seven hundred Spirit Stones. This bottle contains four, for a total of two thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones."

"Talisman Master Wei, if you purchase the entire bottle, I can give you a discount of three hundred Spirit Stones."

Master Qin said with a beaming smile.

Wei Tu coming to her to purchase elixirs was exactly what she had hoped for.

A spot for the Yunze Secret Realm cost two thousand Spirit Stones. Although she could afford it, making the purchase would leave her finances severely depleted.

By selling the Jade Marrow Pills, the transaction would not only cover her expenses but would actually leave her with a surplus of Spirit Stones.

’Two thousand five hundred Spirit Stones?’ Hearing the price, Wei Tu nodded to himself.

In recent years, after successfully condensing the Primordial Forbidden, he had looked into the prices of several elixirs suitable for the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment.

The price Master Qin offered was even better than what he could get from an Independent Refiner. It was undoubtedly a gesture of goodwill for the information he had provided.

"Two thousand five hundred Spirit Stones is too much. I don’t have that many Spirit Stones on hand right now. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Qin would be willing to make an exception and let me trade some Tier Two Talismans to cover part of the cost."

Wei Tu took out his Talisman Box and began to pitch the talismans he had crafted recently.

In fact, after the gathering at Golden Moon Cliff, he was quite wealthy. He had made a killing from a surge in talisman sales.

He had over three thousand Spirit Stones on hand.

Buying Master Qin’s bottle of Jade Marrow Pills was no problem at all.

However, as a Talisman Master, it was more advantageous for him to use talismans to offset the cost.

"Tier Two Talismans?" Master Qin shook her head. "Ordinary Tier Two Lower-Grade Talismans are of little use to me."

As a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, she could casually cast a Magic Skill with the same power as a Tier Two Lower-Grade Talisman.

To her, Tier Two Lower-Grade Talismans were practically useless. Only Tier Two Middle-Grade Talismans would be of any real use.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, please take a look at these two." With a slight smile, Wei Tu retrieved two Tier Two Talismans from his Talisman Box and handed them over.

"High-Quality Talismans?"

Master Qin accepted the talismans Wei Tu handed her. A brief scan with her Guardian Map Divine Sense revealed a Talisman Power comparable in strength to a peak Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment Magic Skill.

A talisman of a given tier was always a grade stronger than a Magic Skill of the same tier.

Furthermore, unlike Magic Skills which required chanting, a talisman’s advantage was its instant activation, catching opponents completely off guard.

"These two High-Quality Talismans are useful to me; they can be used to offset the cost in Spirit Stones." The way Master Qin looked at Wei Tu shifted. Her attitude toward him changed from one of simple respect to a desire to form a genuine connection.

The ability to craft High-Quality versions of Tier Two Lower-Grade Talismans meant that the only thing holding Wei Tu back from becoming a Tier Two Middle-Grade Talisman Master was his own cultivation level.

After all, even among Tier Two Middle-Grade Talisman Masters, very few could produce High-Quality versions of Tier Two Lower-Grade Talismans.

Only a Talisman Master who had reached the peak of proficiency in crafting a specific type of talisman could create a High-Quality version.

Seeing these shifts in Master Qin’s attitude, Wei Tu was inwardly delighted. After all, he had approached Master Qin seeking a partnership, not to become one of her subordinates for the trip to the Yunze Secret Realm.

His purpose in pitching the talismans wasn’t just to offset the cost of the Jade Marrow Pills; it was also to demonstrate his value to Master Qin.

Without a doubt, his gambit had paid off.

They negotiated the price.

In the end, Wei Tu exchanged one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones, plus three High-Quality Talismans, for the bottle of Jade Marrow Pills from Master Qin.

In addition,

Wei Tu also asked Master Qin to put aside a Golden Ganoderma Pill, an elixir required for a Demon Beast to break through to Tier Two.

The Golden Ganoderma Pill was similar to the Foundation Condensation Pill that cultivators need to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage; both served as auxiliary elixirs for the breakthrough.

This Golden Ganoderma Pill was intended for his battle pet, the Sky-Splitting Carving.

Wei Tu worried that the Tier Two Profound Dark Grass he had obtained from the Red-Eyed Snake wouldn’t be enough for the Sky-Splitting Carving to overcome the hurdle of Foundation Establishment.

In the decades since acquiring the Sky-Splitting Carving, he had come to fully appreciate just how precious a Flying Bird Demon Beast was.

...

「A few days later.」

Huang Yanzhou arrived at Cloud Crane Mountain.

Upon learning that Master Qin of Jingshui Pavilion had arrived, Clan Leader Huang Changshun and several influential Elders of the Hee Mountain Huang Family came down from the mountain to greet her personally.

’With Master Qin and her disciple here, it’s no wonder Wei Tu has been so cold and uninterested in me...’

’After all, the Female Cultivators of Jingshui Pavilion are far more sought-after than ordinary ones.’

Second Miss Huang Caiyu followed behind Clan Leader Huang Changshun. Seeing Wei Tu chatting happily with Master Qin and Kou Hongying, her delicate eyebrows arched as she mused to herself.

Even she felt outshone just standing near Master Qin and her disciple, to say nothing of how others must have felt.

Meanwhile, Clan Leader Huang Changshun and the others were forming a new assessment of Wei Tu’s background.

When they had invited Wei Tu to join their family as a Tributor, they had investigated his background and learned he had a niece at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

But they hadn’t expected him to be on such good terms with Master Qin. Moreover, Master Qin’s words even carried a hint of familiarity and warmth toward him.

This alone was enough to show that the relationship between Wei Tu and Master Qin was anything but ordinary.

Everyone entered the Clan Affairs Hall.

After taking her seat, Master Qin spoke candidly, telling Clan Leader Huang Changshun that she had come on Wei Tu’s recommendation to reserve a spot for the Yunze Secret Realm.

"Fairy Qin, your wish to enter the Yunze Secret Realm is certainly no problem. However, before you do, you must sign a Spirit Contract to ensure that our Hee Mountain Huang Family will not be implicated should any danger arise..."