Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

The complete demise of the Huang Family Cultivators had little to do with him. However, the fact that he, a Tributor, was the only one to survive among all the Hee Mountain Huang Family Cultivators who entered the Secret Realm was a bit too conspicuous.

After the Space Channel closed.

The Golden Core Ancestors from the Major Influences began ordering the Cultivators present to open their Storage Bags and inspect the Spirit Medicine and various Magical Artifacts inside.

According to the rules, Cultivators had to turn over thirty percent of their earnings from the Yunze Secret Realm to their affiliated Influence. The Influence also had the priority to select one Spiritual Object.

However, when it came to Core Formation Spiritual Objects, the affiliated Influence usually wouldn’t be too hard on the Cultivators who had entered the Secret Realm. They would generally only take one or two Core Formation Spiritual Objects, and the rest would still belong to the Cultivators.

Just then, Master Qin and Kou Hongying transformed into an Escape Light and arrived at the Hee Mountain Huang Family’s post.

For their entry into the Yunze Secret Realm this time, Master Qin and her disciple had not used Jingshui Pavilion’s slots. Instead, they had each spent two thousand Spirit Stones to purchase two slots from the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

Therefore, they had to give thirty percent of the Spiritual Objects they obtained to the Huang Family, not Jingshui Pavilion.

Seeing Master Qin and her disciple arrive, Wei Tu seized the opportunity. He brought out the coffins of Huang Changkong and Huang Wenqing, then bowed with cupped hands to Huang Xinglie and told him that Si Qing was a Demon Cultivator from the Celestial Maiden Sect.

"What? It was Si Qing?" Huang Xinglie looked shaken, his face instantly filled with grief.

As soon as he said this, Huang Xinglie’s face suddenly turned blood-red. His body trembled, and with a wet gurgle, he sprayed several mouthfuls of fresh blood.

The blood arced through the air as Huang Xinglie staggered back several steps, his spirit grievously wounded.

As far back as two years ago, he and Clan Leader Huang Changshun had their suspicions about the traitor, believing Si Qing was the most likely culprit.

But suspicion was one thing; knowing she was truly the traitor was another.

Si Qing being the traitor wasn’t the terrifying part. What was terrifying was that their Huang Family’s "Second Ancestor," the Golden Core Ancestor who brought Si Qing to Cloud Crane Mountain... might also be a traitor.

Seven Huang Family Cultivators dead.

The Hee Mountain Huang Family’s Primordial Qi was now greatly damaged.

On top of that, "Second Ancestor Huang Juzhi" was a Demon Cultivator...

And it was happening during the Battle of Righteous and Demons.

At that moment, Huang Xinglie could vaguely see it—the scene of the Hee Mountain Huang Family, a Golden Core Family, being utterly destroyed.

"Ancestor!" a few of the waiting Huang Family Cultivators cried out, their faces filled with anxiety as they stared at Huang Xinglie, his chest stained with blood and his face pale.

"I’m fine."

Huang Xinglie shook his head. He circulated his Pill Power, and his pale face quickly regained its color.

"Open your Storage Bags." Huang Xinglie’s gaze swept over Wei Tu, Master Qin and her disciple, and the few other Cultivators from the Immortal Sects.

Master Qin and Kou Hongying were not the only Cultivators who had purchased slots; there were other Immortal Sect Disciples as well.

These Immortal Sect Disciples were lucky, or perhaps their average strength simply far surpassed that of the Family Cultivators, as not many of them had perished.

At this point, besides Master Qin and Kou Hongying, three others came to the Hee Mountain Huang Family’s post to submit their acquired Spiritual Objects.

Wei Tu opened his Storage Bag and emptied out all the Spiritual Objects inside.

Purple Cloud Fruit, Earth Dragon Flesh, and Dragon Bone Flower—the three Spiritual Objects he had obtained from the Dragon Bone Forest—were all there.

As for Core Formation Spiritual Objects, besides the Yellow Essence Grass he had gotten from killing the Flying Fox Demon Spider, there was an additional Spirit Medicine called "Red Flame Fruit."

But—

But among these Spiritual Objects, the two Core Formation Spiritual Objects Wei Tu had plundered from Si Qing, as well as the Spiritual Treasure—the Heaven-Mending Bowl—and other items were conspicuously missing.

Wei Tu had placed these exceptionally precious Spiritual Objects into another Storage Bag, which was hidden inside that small, transparent cloth pouch.

Thinking of this, Wei Tu felt somewhat anxious.

Even though he hadn’t done anything outrageous, treasure has a way of stirring the hearts of men. An innocent man becomes guilty simply by possessing a treasure.

If Huang Xinglie were to find out about the treasures he had hidden away, then no matter how upright a man he was, he would inevitably be tempted.

A moment later, Huang Xinglie’s Golden Core-level divine sense swept over every part of Wei Tu’s body, searching for any hidden Storage Bags.

’I’m past this hurdle.’ When Huang Xinglie’s divine sense withdrew and his expression remained unchanged, Wei Tu finally let out a sigh of relief.

—’Although Si Qing’s transparent pouch could evade his Guardian Map Divine Sense and Geomagnetic Primordial Light, he hadn’t been sure if the Treasure could withstand the probe of a Golden Core Ancestor.’

’That makes sense. Si Qing carried this item with her and wasn’t discovered by Huang Xinglie on her way to the Yunze Secret Realm, so there’s no reason he should be able to discover my secret now,’ Wei Tu thought.

As a Demon Cultivator from the Celestial Maiden Sect, the transparent pouch Si Qing carried was clearly meant to prevent snooping from Righteous Cultivators.

Based on that, if the small transparent pouch couldn’t defend against a Golden Core Cultivator, then there would have been no point for Si Qing to carry it while she was undercover in the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

"It was thoughtful of you to bring back the corpses of Changkong and Wenqing."

"As for this Core Formation Spiritual Object, I won’t be taking yours."

Huang Xinglie sighed, a trace of admiration for Wei Tu appearing in his eyes. Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he took thirty percent of the other Spiritual Objects on the ground.

Under normal circumstances.

The Hee Mountain Huang Family would not easily give up a Core Formation Spiritual Object, but things were different now.

This time, Wei Tu had brought back the corpses of the Huang Family Cultivators and reported that Si Qing was a traitor—for the Hee Mountain Huang Family, this was a great service.

Great service could not go unrewarded.

Furthermore, the Huang Family’s strength was at an unprecedented low after this incident. It was the perfect time to win over a Tributor like Wei Tu. Of course, he would not be so foolish as to alienate Wei Tu from the Hee Mountain Huang Family over such a small matter.

—The Hee Mountain Huang Family had accumulated a certain number of Core Formation Spiritual Objects over the years, so they weren’t short this one from Wei Tu.

However.

However, Huang Xinglie was not nearly as forgiving with the other Cultivators.

Without exception, he took the maximum share of Spirit Medicine and Core Formation Spiritual Objects from all of them.

After submitting their Spiritual Objects.

Master Qin and Kou Hongying each bid farewell to Wei Tu and flew off toward Jingshui Pavilion’s Flying Ship.

"That Master Qin... it seems she’ll be Condensing her Golden Core soon," Huang Xinglie remarked with a sigh, glancing at her retreating figure.

Just a moment ago, when he saw Master Qin reveal six Core Formation Spiritual Objects, he’d had the thought of taking two of them...

But on second thought, he decided not to make an enemy of Master Qin, taking only one Core Formation Spiritual Object. This left her with just enough to trade for an Immortal Transformation Pill.

...

Soon, outside the Yunze Secret Realm.

The Major Influences began to disperse one after another.

Wei Tu also boarded Huang Xinglie’s Cloud Crowned Crane and returned to Cloud Crane Mountain.

Upon returning to Cloud Crane Mountain, Wei Tu was surprised to find the mountain much more desolate than when he had left. It seemed to have lost some of its life.

"Grand-uncle, just a few days ago, the Second Ancestor rebelled and left Cloud Crane Mountain, taking quite a few clan members with him. Two of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators stationed in the clan also left with the Second Ancestor."

"I heard them say they’re going to the Demonic Realm to start a new family."

Back at Talisman Heart Residence, Huang Chengfu’s words answered Wei Tu’s questions.

’The Second Ancestor rebelled?’

’So it seems Si Qing was connected to this Second Ancestor of the Huang Family,’ Wei Tu mused.

When he first joined the Hee Mountain Huang Family, he’d been puzzled as to why they would hire Si Qing, a Tier Two Array Master, as a Tributor. After all, the Hee Mountain Huang Family was a family renowned for its Arrays; there was no need to hire another Array Master as a Tributor.

It seemed clear now that Si Qing’s entry into Cloud Crane Mountain as a Tributor must have been inseparable from the Huang Family’s "Second Ancestor."

’None of my business.’

Wei Tu shook his head.

He walked into the inner courtyard of Talisman Heart Residence, preparing to go into Seclusion for a while to sort through his gains.

Just then, however, he noticed a letter by the entrance to the inner courtyard.

’A letter from Yann’er?’ Wei Tu was surprised.

As he opened the letter and read it from beginning to end, a faint smile gradually touched his lips.

The letter’s contents were very simple.

It mentioned only one thing.

The joyous news that Wei Yan had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment!

"I, Wei Tu, finally have a successor!"

Setting the letter down, Wei Tu was filled with a myriad of emotions.

One family’s tragedy is another family’s joy.

The Hee Mountain Huang Family, a Golden Core Family with a thousand-year history, was gradually heading toward decline. Meanwhile, his Wei Family, which had risen from mortal roots, was growing more prosperous by the day, with a strong possibility of becoming a Golden Core Family itself.

After all, from this trip to the Secret Realm, the Core Formation Spiritual Objects he had obtained weren’t just the two he had shown—the Yellow Essence Grass and Red Flame Fruit—but seven in total.