Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Moments later, Wei Tu followed Master Qin and the three women to the location of the Teleportation Array marked on the Jade Scroll.

As for the Storage Bags belonging to Zhao Pengqi and his men, no one mentioned them.

Not even Zhao Qingluo.

The alliance between Master Qin and her disciple and the Qiyue Zhao Family was extremely fragile. They were not allies who would risk life and limb for each other—a fact that had been made painfully clear when they fought the Jia Family cultivators.

First, Zhao Pengqi and his men, wary of Master Qin and her disciple, had acted selfishly. They failed to take swift, decisive action to kill the Jia Family cultivators, which gave their enemies time to prepare the Demonic Divine Technique known as the Blood Burning Skill.

Then, when the Jia Family cultivators made their desperate final stand, Master Qin and her disciple had simply left, showing no concern for whether Zhao Pengqi and Zhao Qingluo lived or died.

By now, the fact that Master Qin hadn’t eliminated Zhao Qingluo—a potential future threat—was a mercy in itself. Why would she then hand over the Storage Bags she had taken from the Zhao Family cultivators, all for the sake of a few words and a so-called alliance?

Zhao Qingluo, the sole surviving Zhao Family cultivator, was clearly aware of this. She deliberately avoided the topic to keep from angering Master Qin and getting herself killed.

...

A short while later, the four of them arrived near the corridor containing the Teleportation Array.

Instead of opening the White Jade Stone Gate immediately, Wei Tu spent several painstaking days working on it before finally managing to open it with the Primordial Forbidden technique.

When the stone gate opened, the three women, who had been standing guard with their Magical Artifacts at the ready, tensed up. They cautiously scanned every inch of the stone room inside.

They only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming Si Qing wasn’t inside, returning their Attack Magical Artifacts to their storage pouches.

Unless absolutely necessary, the "exhausted" women had no desire to confront Si Qing, a rather powerful Demon Cultivator.

After all, they were the only ones who had survived this venture into the Stone Hall.

"This is a one-way Teleportation Array leading outside." Master Qin stepped into the stone room, her gaze landing on an array that stood in the center. It looked similar to the Array Platform they had seen before.

This array greatly resembled the Teleportation Array Si Qing had set up; it was also a Hexagonal Array, and an Ancient Bronze Mirror hovered above it.

However, this Hexagonal Array was currently inactive, its surface dim and coated in dust.

At that moment, Master Qin approached the Array Hub of the Hexagonal Array, the slot where Spirit Stones were meant to be placed. She saw only a layer of accumulated dust, not the Spirit Stones Si Qing would have used to escape. A flicker of doubt crossed her eyes.

However, she didn’t mention this strange detail to the others. With a flick of her sleeve, she discreetly swept the dust away and placed several Middle-Grade Spirit Stones into the hub.

’Perhaps I’m overthinking this.’ Master Qin subconsciously glanced at Wei Tu. Seeing the same confusion on his face, she shook her head.

’This Stone Hall is too bizarre. There could be other, similar one-way Teleportation Arrays elsewhere. Si Qing didn’t necessarily have to leave from this one.’

Once its Spiritual Power was replenished by the Spirit Stones, the Teleportation Array began to emit a series of clicking and whirring sounds, much like the White Jade Stone Gate had when it opened.

Immediately following that, the Ancient Bronze Mirror hovering over the Teleportation Array erupted with a tremendous Spiritual Wave. The pressure it emitted was nearly as immense as the aura of a Golden Core Ancestor.

After the Spiritual Wave passed, the Ancient Bronze Mirror began to glow brilliantly. Its surface rippled like water, slowly unfurling a faint yellow curtain of light.

Within the pale yellow light, a scene from the Yunze Secret Realm became visible.

The scenery perfectly matched that of the Red Leaf Forest in the Inner Spiritual Land.

"Master, should we go after Si Qing, or... should we teleport out?" Kou Hongying asked, turning her gaze to Master Qin.

Master Qin was the strongest fighter among the four of them.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, what are your thoughts?" Master Qin asked Wei Tu, as was her custom.

"There are still six months until the exit passage of the Yunze Secret Realm opens. And according to the Jia Family cultivators, after we entered the Stone Hall, the Restrictions in the secret realm vanished. That means the Demon Beasts inside might evolve into Tier Three Demon Beasts..."

"If we go out there rashly, I fear..."

Wei Tu’s expression was one of concern.

"It’s not that easy for a Tier Two Demon Beast to become a Tier Three Demon Beast. It would be a miracle if even one or two Tier Three Demon Beasts appeared in the entire Yunze Secret Realm." Master Qin shook her head. Her implication was clear: she intended to use the Teleportation Array to leave and not dally in the Stone Hall any longer.

Having taken the Storage Bags from the Zhao Family cultivators, she had now gathered all the Core Formation Spiritual Objects she needed. There was no reason to risk staying in the Stone Hall.

"Very well, we’ll follow Fellow Daoist Qin’s lead," Wei Tu said with a nod.

Upon hearing this, Master Qin gave a slight nod. She then turned her gaze to Zhao Qingluo, gesturing for her to enter the Teleportation Array and go first.

Whether the other side of the Teleportation Array was safe or dangerous, and whether the array itself might collapse during transit—all these were questions that required a living person to test.

The tables had now turned.

As the sole surviving cultivator of the Zhao Family, Zhao Qingluo was isolated and weak. She had the most tenuous connection to Master Qin, and there was an unspoken "conflict" between them.

In Master Qin’s eyes, compared to Wei Tu and Kou Hongying, Zhao Qingluo was without a doubt the perfect candidate to be the guinea pig.

Other cultivators might fear the Qiyue Zhao Family, but Master Qin, who hailed from the Jingshui Pavilion, was not the least bit intimidated.

"Yes, Fellow Daoist Qin." Zhao Qingluo bit her lip and gave a soft sound of assent. She lifted the hem of her dress and walked toward the Array Platform, preparing to step into the pale yellow curtain of light.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, these are the last few Defensive Talismans I have." Seeing this, Wei Tu paused in thought for a moment before stepping forward and pressing several Talismans into Zhao Qingluo’s hand.

In terms of their friendship, Zhao Qingluo had helped him a great deal in the past. Now that she was about to walk into danger, he felt it was only right that he help her in return.