Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

"Ice Crystal Pills and Golden Yuan Pills are common elixirs unique to Jingshui Pavilion, used to increase the Magical Power of Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

Hearing this, Wei Tu nodded, accepting Gong Suzhen’s explanation.

Elixirs were like "Military Equipment" and "Grain" in the wars of the mortal world—they were necessities. Once a war began, their prices would inevitably skyrocket.

As a Cultivator who had once been a Military Officer, he understood this principle well.

"Furthermore, to encourage Independent Cultivators and Family Cultivators to participate in the war, the Three Immortal Sects have also offered Foundation Establishment Pills as a reward. This has also caused the supply of Foundation Establishment Pills available for exchange within Jingshui Pavilion to become quite tight," Gong Suzhen added.

"Here are two Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects and four hundred Spirit Stones. I must ask that Fellow Daoist Gongg help me exchange these for one Foundation Establishment Pill." After hearing Gong Suzhen’s explanation, Wei Tu didn’t hesitate. He took the two Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects and the Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and handed them to Gong Suzhen.

"An extra hundred Spirit Stones?" Gong Suzhen was surprised by Wei Tu’s generosity.

From what she knew, most Independent Cultivators were misers, pinching every last Spirit Stone.

Independent Cultivators like Wei Tu, who gave extra Spirit Stones, were few and far between, practically unheard of.

"I will have need of Fairy Gongg’s help again in the future. Consider this one hundred Spirit Stones as payment for a Spirit Banquet I owe you."

"Receiving Fairy Gongg in the mortal world today without preparing a Spirit Banquet was inevitably a breach of etiquette," Wei Tu explained with a smile.

"One month from now, I will definitely acquire this Foundation Establishment Pill for Fellow Daoist Wei." Seeing how generous Wei Tu was, Gong Suzhen’s impression of him improved immensely, and she gained a new appreciation for his financial resources. After a moment of thought, she gave Wei Tu a firm promise.

"I will await Fairy Gongg’s good news."

Wei Tu cupped his hands in a salute.

Only after Gong Suzhen helped him exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill would he continue to trust her and ask for her help in exchanging for Ice Crystal Pills and Golden Yuan Pills.

...

「One month later.」

As promised, Gong Suzhen delivered the Foundation Establishment Pill to the Wei Mansion.

With this initial trust established, Wei Tu took out more Spirit Stones and continued to entrust Gong Suzhen with helping him exchange for Ice Crystal Pills and Golden Yuan Pills.

An Ice Crystal Pill cost seven hundred Spirit Stones.

A Golden Yuan Pill cost eight hundred Spirit Stones.

Although the individual prices of the Ice Crystal Pills and Golden Yuan Pills he was exchanging for were far less than that of a Foundation Establishment Pill, their total value far exceeded it.

"The Martial Uncles in the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment are mostly not short on Spirit Stones. I can only do my best to exchange for them on Fellow Daoist Wei’s behalf," Gong Suzhen said, choosing her words carefully.

She was speaking the truth, not intentionally trying to string Wei Tu along.

Even Master Qin had only been willing to trade elixirs with Wei Tu last time because he had spent a large portion of his Spirit Stones on a spot in the Yunze Secret Realm and urgently needed to replenish them.

In an Immortal Sect like Jingshui Pavilion, Contribution Points were far more useful than Spirit Stones.

Only Foundation Establishment Elders with no hope of advancing on their Dao path would consider their Contribution Points useless.

And without exception, all of those Foundation Establishment Elders had gone to the front lines of the war.

The "Foundation Establishment Elders" who remained in the Jingshui Pavilion Sect were all elites of the Sect. Why would any of them be willing to part with their Contribution Points to exchange for largely useless Spirit Stones?

Hearing this, Wei Tu sighed in resignation.

After a moment of thought, he made another request of Gong Suzhen: to help him find a decent Body Refining Technique within Jingshui Pavilion.

If he couldn’t rely on elixirs, it would be difficult to raise his Cultivation in a short amount of time.

In that case, his only option was to increase his protective measures.

Coincidentally, he currently had four boxes of Earth Dragon Flesh that he had taken from the Cultivators of Qingzhu Mountain.

All he was missing now was a Body Refining Technique.

Originally, he had planned to exchange for a Body Refining Technique from the Hee Mountain Huang Family for his Cultivation, but things had changed too quickly. Forced by circumstances, he had no choice but to abandon this plan while with the Huang Family.

"I will ask around for Fellow Daoist Wei and see if there are any suitable Body Refining Techniques," Gong Suzhen agreed.

Jingshui Pavilion’s Cultivation Techniques could not be shared externally. However, which Cultivator who managed to reach Foundation Establishment did not have some Immortal Fate? Many of them possessed techniques from other sects.

These Foundation Establishment Cultivators wouldn’t jealously hoard them and pass up a chance to earn some extra income.

’One’s status really changes one’s circumstances.’ Seeing how readily Gong Suzhen agreed, Wei Tu couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

Back when he first reached Foundation Establishment, he desperately lacked a Tier Two Talisman Master’s Inheritance and could only join a Cultivation Family as a Tributor.

But in just over twenty short years, his situation was vastly different.

Relying on his wealth alone, he could now obtain a Body Refining Inheritance from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator of Jingshui Pavilion.

However, besides Gong Suzhen, Wei Tu also sent letters to Fu Zhizhou and Zhao Qingluo, who were with the Qiyue Zhao Family.

He asked the two about the pros and cons of the Zhao Family’s Body Refining Technique.

Over thirty years ago, after being persuaded by Kou Hongying, Fu Zhizhou joined the Qiyue Zhao Family and began the path of cultivating a Body Refining Technique, pursuing Dharma and Body Dual Cultivation.

Now, after so many years, even if Fu Zhizhou’s attainments in Body Refining were only average, his knowledge was definitely superior to his own, as he was just a novice in the field.

As for Zhao Qingluo—

’This seems to be the first time I’ve written to Zhao Qingluo? I hope she doesn’t misunderstand,’ Wei Tu thought, pausing his brush.

Back in the Medicinal Field of the Stone Hall, he could tell that Zhao Qingluo had developed some vague feelings for him. However... those feelings weren’t strong, not to the point where she felt she couldn’t live without him.

Afterward, although Zhao Qingluo had returned to her normal self, he couldn’t be sure if she had been able to properly process those "feelings."

’Still, it’s good that she has feelings for me. She probably won’t quote me too high a price when selling the Zhao Family’s Body Refining Technique,’ Wei Tu mused.

After finishing the letter, Wei Tu had Huang Chengfu, who was attending to him, deliver it to the Marketplace’s post station.

After taking the Huang siblings away from Cloud Crane Mountain, he had not ignored them but had made appropriate arrangements for the two.

Huang Fang’s skill in the Talisman Dao was decent, so Wei Yan had volunteered to take her on as a Disciple, teaching her some knowledge of the Talisman Dao.

As for Huang Chengfu, he remained by Wei Tu’s side, taking care of his daily needs and feeding the Sky-Splitting Carving.