Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

The moment his voice fell, the cultivators within Cloud Crane Mountain erupted in an uproar. They stared in shock as a group of Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Huang Family emerged in pursuit of Alchemist Shu. Many of the foreign race cultivators even had looks of contempt on their faces.

Even the Huang Family Cultivators felt ashamed of the High Level's actions, discarding someone after they've outlived their usefulness.

After all, Alchemist Shu's contributions to the Huang Family over the past dozen years or so were known to all.

A few years ago, after Alchemist Shu failed his Golden Core breakthrough, there were rumors that the High Level wanted to send him to the Righteous Demon Battlefield as a Substitute Ghost to take the place of one of the family's Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Now, with Alchemist Shu being hunted by the family's High Level members, the rumors from a few years ago were all but confirmed.

Seeing this, Huang Changshun grew anxious. 'Dissent within the clan is a catastrophe for the family.'

He immediately channeled his Magical Power and bellowed, "Alchemist Shu, cease your vile slander! Your conspiracy with the Celestial Maiden Sect has already been exposed."

"It is the duty of all Righteous Cultivators to execute anyone who colludes with the Demon Dao!"

However, his words held little weight with the cultivators on Cloud Crane Mountain.

In recent years, with the invasion of the Demon Dao, the most convenient pretext for Righteous Cultivators to frame their rivals was accusing them of colluding with the Demon Dao.

Over the years, Alchemist Shu had built a considerable reputation, both among the Independent Cultivators and within Cloud Crane Mountain. Clan Leader Huang Changshun could hardly condemn him with just a few words.

Of course, this was also partly due to the decline in Huang Changshun's own prestige over the years.

The Hee Mountain Huang Family had declined under Huang Changshun's leadership. After this decline began, Huang Changshun had prioritized supplying Foundation Establishment Pills and other elixirs to members of the Direct Lineage. This move had long ago stirred resentment among the Concubine Lineage.

Due to all these factors, the Huang Family Members were in an uproar over Huang Changshun's actions.

'Colluding with the Celestial Maiden Sect?' Hearing this, Alchemist Shu's eyes narrowed slightly as he began to wonder who had leaked the information.

Wei Tu was not on his list of suspects, because it was unlikely that Wei Tu knew about the connection between Left Envoy Liu and their Shuyun Alliance.

The information Shopkeeper Fann had given Wei Tu only mentioned that the Shuyun Alliance, an Independent Cultivator Organization, was targeting the Huang Family. It made no mention of the Celestial Maiden Sect.

Furthermore, Wei Tu had a rift with the Huang Family. Of all the cultivators invited by the Shuyun Alliance, he had the greatest conflict with the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

Wei Tu stood to gain nothing from leaking this secret.

Of course, if Alchemist Shu had known that Si Qing, a cultivator from the Celestial Maiden Sect, had been killed by Wei Tu, his judgment would not have been so hasty.

As for Wei Tu's warning...

In reality, it was a gamble. He was betting that the Shuyun Alliance was not organized enough to immediately identify the traitor in their midst.

Wei Tu was confident that as an Independent Cultivator Organization, the Shuyun Alliance lacked the high level of internal trust found in a Cultivation Family or a Sect.

It was a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.

If he didn't force the Hee Mountain Huang Family out into the open to occupy the Shuyun Alliance's attention, he might... become the next target of Left Envoy Liu from the Celestial Maiden Sect.

...

Alchemist Shu's mind raced, and he quickly narrowed his list down to a few suspects.

He let out a few cold chuckles, then pulled a handful of brown powder from his robes. After forcefully scattering it at Huang Changshun and the cultivators behind him, he swiftly retreated from the Cloud Crane Mountain area and fled to the southwest.

Pill Masters are often masters of poison as well.

The moment they saw the powder, the faces of Huang Changshun and the others changed. They immediately raised their Magical Power Shields to block the corrosive substance.

However—

Unexpectedly, the powder completely ignored their Magical Power Shields and settled directly upon the Huang Family's Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

In an instant, their faces turned a deathly black, and the circulation of Magical Power within their bodies grew sluggish and obstructed.

"Don't bother chasing him." By the time the Huang Family Cultivators had suppressed the poison, Huang Changshun saw that Alchemist Shu was already a dozen li away. He waved his hand to stop a family cultivator who wanted to pursue, shaking his head.

Near Cloud Crane Mountain, they had the Clan Protection Array on their side, yet they still couldn't gain the upper hand against Alchemist Shu.

Now, far from Cloud Crane Mountain and without its Geographical Advantage, they would be even less of a match for a Fake Pill True Monarch like Alchemist Shu.

'What a pity! If the Huang Family were at its peak, how could we have let him escape?' Huang Changshun cursed inwardly.

Over the past decade or so, with the aid of Alchemist Shu's elixirs, the Huang Family had added six Foundation Establishment Cultivators, bringing their total to nine.

But these new additions were only at the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment in their Cultivation, and simply couldn't compare to the family's former elites.

The previous elites, despite receiving some family support during their breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, had relied mostly on their own hard work and struggle.

Thus, in terms of mental fortitude, combat prowess, and potential, the newly added Foundation Establishment Cultivators were a far cry from the original elites.

With their current strength, Huang Changshun didn't dare leave the bounds of Cloud Crane Mountain to hunt down Alchemist Shu.

Even if the Huang Family had the ability to kill Alchemist Shu, Huang Changshun no longer dared to take the risk. If they lost that gamble, the family's resources would be hard-pressed to nurture another six Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Seeing Alchemist Shu make a clean escape, Huang Changshun turned to head back to Cloud Crane Mountain.

However, as he faced the mist-shrouded peaks of Cloud Crane Mountain, the scene suddenly struck a chord, reminding him of an identical decision he had made twenty years ago.

'I don't dare to risk it!'

'Again, I don't dare to risk it!'

Huang Changshun gave a self-deprecating laugh, his eyes turning red. 'Is the family's great legacy doomed to crumble in my hands? But... I'm sure I made the right decisions.'

There was the expedition to the Secret Realm.

He had foreseen that the Huang Family might face a crisis within, so he cut their numbers in half, sending only the seven strongest Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

But when the expedition ended, every last one of the Huang Family Cultivators had perished. Not a single one survived.

Then there was driving away Wei Tu.

First, it was to welcome Alchemist Shu as a Tributor, using his Alchemy Skill to revitalize the family's strength.

Second, it was to maximize the family's interests. Wei Tu was too well-connected to be easily used as a Substitute Ghost. And since his loyalty wasn't with the Huang Family anyway, extracting whatever value he had left was the most logical course of action.

As for mistreating Alchemist Shu...

True, it was a case of being deferential at first and contemptuous later. But if he didn't send Alchemist Shu to the front lines to take a spot meant for a Huang Family member, was he supposed to just stand by and watch his own family's cultivators die on the battlefield?

The hearts of the people!

They were nothing compared to the interests of the family.

Everything was for the sake of the Huang Family.

Even Ancestor Huang Xinglie had approved of his decisions, never once objecting.

However—

But now... Huang Changshun suddenly felt utterly powerless. With every "correct" decision he made, the Hee Mountain Huang Family had only spiraled deeper into decline.

It felt as though the great, unseen hand of fate was manipulating everything from behind the scenes, rendering all his efforts useless.

'A Cultivation Family is no match for an Independent Cultivator,' Huang Changshun lamented silently.

Independent Cultivators dared to gamble, dared to fight. Family Cultivators, however, lacked these two traits. For the sake of their family's foundation, they could only cling to tradition, bound by their own conservatism.

In times of peace, a Cultivation Family could keep Independent Cultivators firmly in check. But in this current era of chaos, they were far inferior.

And this was why he had the premonition that the Hee Mountain Huang Family was heading for ruin.

This feeling of "powerlessness"—no matter what remedial measures he took, he felt it would be impossible to reverse their course.

In other words, this was the fate of the Hee Mountain Huang Family.

'What if I had taken the risk?' Huang Changshun thought to himself.

But he quickly shook his head.

It wasn't just him who was afraid to take risks. Ancestor Huang Xinglie was the same; he had never dared to gamble.

Before the expedition to the Secret Realm, if Ancestor Huang Xinglie had withstood the pressure from True Monarch Wan Hai and refused to let the Jia Family cultivators enter, then the whole series of subsequent events would never have occurred.

This was the endemic weakness of all Family Cultivators!

...

Wei Tu, lurking outside Cloud Crane Mountain, was of course oblivious to Huang Changshun's lamentations.

After watching Alchemist Shu escape from Cloud Crane Mountain with such ease, Wei Tu was stunned by Huang Changshun's indecisiveness.

Even after he had sent them a secret warning, the Hee Mountain Huang Family had simply stood by and let their great enemy, Alchemist Shu, get away.

'The Hee Mountain Huang Family made their name with Arrays, yet they can't even manage to trap Alchemist Shu?' Wei Tu was utterly exasperated.

If the Huang Family had managed to trap and kill Alchemist Shu within Cloud Crane Mountain, and their Golden Core Ancestor Huang Xinglie had performed a Soul-Searching and Soul-Seizing technique on him, his own situation would have become much more manageable.

Even if Huang Xinglie didn't go after the Shuyun Alliance and Left Envoy Liu afterward, simply presenting Alchemist Shu's memories to the Immortal Sects as evidence of their crimes would have caused them immense trouble.

But no.

The Hee Mountain Huang Family had let Alchemist Shu get away.

'By letting Alchemist Shu escape, the Hee Mountain Huang Family has brought great trouble upon itself for the future,' Wei Tu thought, gazing at Cloud Crane Mountain from a distance.

Failing to kill Alchemist Shu even with their Geographical Advantage was, in the eyes of others, a clear sign of the Huang Family's weakness.

It implied that anyone with the strength of a Fake Pill cultivator could now come and go from Cloud Crane Mountain as they pleased.

This single fact was a far greater calamity than the loss of a few Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

By choosing to preserve their strength, the Huang Family sent another signal: this was the extent of their power, and they didn't dare risk a fight to the death.

'It seems Heaven itself has decreed the Huang Family's destruction.' With a flick of his sleeve, Wei Tu left the vicinity of Cloud Crane Mountain and set off in the direction Alchemist Shu had fled.

Although he had provided the intelligence to the Huang Family for his own selfish reasons, it could have been beneficial to them as well, had they used it properly. It was a chance not only to resolve an internal threat but also to greatly mitigate an external one.

However—

The way things unfolded was beyond Wei Tu's expectations.

Not only did the Huang Family fail to seize the opportunity to deal with the external threat of Alchemist Shu and the Shuyun Alliance, but they also ended up exposing their own internal weaknesses, plunging their family into even greater peril.

...

'The scent of blood. It seems Alchemist Shu was injured quite badly in that fight.'

Several days later, Wei Tu arrived in an open wilderness. He took a few light sniffs with his Xiangluo Nose, and after locking onto a direction, he flew off in pursuit.

Before the battle between Alchemist Shu and the Huang Family Cultivators had even begun, he had released his Sky-Splitting Carving to watch Cloud Crane Mountain from high above.

Once Alchemist Shu fled, he immediately dispatched the Sky-Splitting Carving to tail him.

However, once he reached this wilderness, Alchemist Shu had suddenly vanished without a trace.

That was why Wei Tu had to come here himself, to use his Xiangluo Nose to carefully search for Alchemist Shu's hiding place.

Wei Tu began searching one area after another.

At his current level of strength, Wei Tu had no fear of a heavily injured Alchemist Shu. The Huang Family had failed to kill him, but if Wei Tu could kill the isolated alchemist now, the effect would be the same.