Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

A once-haughty Commandery Princess had, after a hundred years, become such a gentle woman.

"I've come to the Zhao Family this time to ask for a favor, Commandery Princess."

Wei Tu got down to business and told Zhao Qingluo about being conscripted.

"What? You've been conscripted by an Immortal Sect?" Zhao Qingluo was instantly alarmed. She clearly knew that Independent Cultivators who were conscripted faced a high risk of death.

However, Zhao Qingluo didn't say much more on the matter.

There was little she could do to help Wei Tu with this. A Golden Core Family would not dare to defy the will of an Immortal Sect.

Even if they could, the Qiyue Zhao Family would not pay a great price to help an outsider like Wei Tu.

"Regarding intelligence on Chaning Cliff, I'll ask my father first. If that doesn't work, I'll go plead with the Ancestor," Zhao Qingluo said.

"I'll have to trouble you then, Commandery Princess." Wei Tu cupped his fists in thanks.

"Between you and I... there's no need to be so formal." Zhao Qingluo sighed softly.

Ordinarily, she could have simply treated Wei Tu as a friend, but with him about to face such peril, she found it difficult to suppress some of her emotions.

Wei Tu feigned ignorance. He gave Zhao Qingluo a deep bow, avoiding her searching gaze.

Seeing this,

how could Zhao Qingluo not understand what he was thinking?

But she wasn't too disappointed. After all, back in the Stone Hall, Wei Tu had told her directly that he didn't want to bring up the past.

"Fellow Daoist Fu is stationed at Green Water Bay, not in the Zhao Clan Territory. As for Fellow Daoist Weii, he's in the western district of the territory right now."

"This is my Token. With it, you can move about the clan territory without being stopped."

Zhao Qingluo flicked her cloud-like sleeve and departed on a ray of Escape Light.

Before leaving, she had removed the Token from her waist and placed it in front of Wei Tu.

「A quarter of an hour later.」

Using Zhao Qingluo's Token, Wei Tu arrived at the western district where Weii Fei lived.

"Third Brother."

"Second Brother."

This time they met, Weii Fei was no longer as timid as before. The moment he saw Wei Tu, he rushed forward and gave him a fierce bear hug.

"If it weren't for your repeated help, Third Brother, how could I have ever achieved what I have today?" Weii Fei said, wiping away tears.

For his first attempt at Foundation Establishment, Wei Tu had provided him with a High-Quality Demon Refining Talisman and the Essence Soul of a Tier Two Demon Beast, the Red-Eyed Python, free of charge.

For his second attempt, Wei Tu sold him a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object at a low price and even stuffed several Tier Two Talismans into a hidden compartment in the jade box.

And he, ever since stepping onto the Immortal Path, had offered Wei Tu pitifully little help in return.

In combat, he was no match for Fu Zhizhou, who had helped Wei Tu slay ambushing Tribulation Cultivators. In knowledge, he couldn't compare to Kou Hongying, who gave Wei Tu guidance during his Cultivation.

"There's no need to mention these things between brothers." Wei Tu patted Weii Fei's shoulder and smiled. "Back when we first met, Second Brother, you never looked down on me, even though my family was poor and had betrayed our master."

There was something Wei Tu didn't say.

'If I had abandoned my sworn brother for falling behind, then Fu Zhizhou and Kou Hongying wouldn't be nearly so loyal to me today.'

'It was precisely because of my repeated acts of loyalty that the members of the Yee Society are now completely devoted to me, willing to risk their own lives to help me.'

"Xian'er, come out and meet your Uncle Wei." Weii Fei wiped away his tears and called into the house.

As his voice fell, a petite and delicate young girl in a yellow dress, with elegant brows and star-like eyes, walked out of the house.

"Uncle Wei." Weii Xian'er's voice was timid, as if she were very afraid of this elder.

"Xian'er's Spirit Root aptitude is average—she has a Lower-Grade Spirit Root, just like me. But she can sense the strength of a Cultivator's Cultivation..."

"Perhaps she was startled because your Cultivation is so high, Third Brother."

"Please don't mind her, Third Brother."

An apologetic look appeared on Weii Fei's face. After all, the Weii Family owed its current fortune to Wei Tu's help, yet Weii Xian'er was being rather impolite upon meeting him.

'Sensing the strength of one's Cultivation?' Wei Tu wasn't surprised to hear this.

'The wondrous ability of my Xiangluo Nose was also initially mistaken by Kou Hongying and the others as a special constitution.'

'Such special constitutions, which are useless for Cultivation, are rare in the Cultivation Realm, but not exceptionally so.'

'The probability of one appearing is about the same as that of a Middle-Grade Spirit Root.'

"I'm sorry, Uncle Wei." Weii Xian'er came forward to apologize for her rudeness.

"Just now, when I looked at you, Uncle Wei, it was like looking at a Demon Beast. Your Blood Qi is so powerful that... it scared me a little," Weii Xian'er said, looking at Wei Tu uneasily as she explained.

Hearing this, Wei Tu instantly understood. Weii Xian'er's special constitution was one that could sense things like Qi and Blood.

'I practice Dharma and Body Dual Cultivation. My Body Refining Cultivation has already reached the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment, and the Body Refining Technique I practice is the Hundred Veins Blood Refining Spell, a technique that specifically forges Qi and Blood.'

'It would be strange if she wasn't scared witless after seeing how intense my Qi and Blood is.'

'Even a Golden Core Ancestor's Qi and Blood might not be this formidable.'

'Still, this special constitution is truly terrifying. Not even my Concealing Breath techniques could fool Xian'er's eyes.'

Wei Tu was inwardly shocked.

He knew that even Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators like Alchemist Shu had found it difficult to see through his disguise and learn of his Body Refining Cultivation.

Yet now, Weii Xian'er, a mere Qi Cultivator, could see through his Qi and Blood. Her perceptive ability was clearly extraordinary.

"Second Brother, you must keep Xian'er's special constitution a secret. On no account should you let outsiders know about it, and that includes the Qiyue Zhao Family," Wei Tu said, looking at Weii Fei with a serious warning.

Weii Xian'er's talent was of no help to her own Cultivation, but in the eyes of the major influences, she was a hot commodity.

It was far more useful than Guardian Map Divine Sense or a Qi Observation Skill.

"I know," Weii Fei said with a small smile. "I only revealed it because you're here, Third Brother."

"Since Xian'er has a talent for perception, I'll give her this Celestial Fragrance Luo Technique as a meeting gift." After a moment's thought, Wei Tu took a Jade Scroll from his waist and handed it to Weii Fei.

The Celestial Fragrance Luo Technique was a Cultivation Technique he had obtained from the Tribulation Cultivator, Zhuo Yan.

Although it was a common technique, in the hands of someone with a special constitution, it was no less than a divine art.

'If not for the help of my Xiangluo Nose, my own path wouldn't have been so smooth.'

Furthermore, the copy of the Celestial Fragrance Luo Technique Wei Tu gave Weii Fei was not the original, but a version he had modified himself.

"Thank you, Uncle Wei." Seeing the gift, Weii Xian'er immediately broke into a smile and thanked Wei Tu gleefully.

Afterward,

Weii Fei invited Wei Tu into the house and had his Dao Companion, Zhao Ting, prepare several popular dishes and pour a pot of wine.

From their conversation,

Wei Tu learned that the money Weii Fei had used to buy the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object had been scraped together by his father-in-law after borrowing from several relatives.

This was because, in his father-in-law's eyes, a Qi Cultivation Tenth-Layer Practitioner like Weii Fei had a much higher chance of success with a Foundation Establishment Pill than an ordinary Qi Cultivation Ninth-Layer Cultivator.

Moreover, Weii Fei had a connection—his sworn brother—from whom he could procure a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object.

The combination of these two factors was what enabled Weii Fei to attempt Foundation Establishment a second time.

"Compared to the Huang Family, the Zhao Family is far more benevolent. All these years, they haven't once rushed me to the front lines of the battlefield."

Weii Fei remarked with a sigh after hearing that Wei Tu was going to Chaning Cliff.

"Perhaps."

Wei Tu nodded without saying more.

'In my view, it's not that the Zhao Family won't send Weii Fei to the front lines, but that he's "lucky" enough that they don't dare send him there to die.

'For one, Weii Fei is deep in debt. If he were to die, the debts owed to those Zhao Family cultivators would be very difficult to repay.

'For another, weakness has its advantages. Weii Fei's strength is so low that his chances of dying on the battlefield are far too high.

'—While the mortality rate for other cultivators isn't low, it's considerably lower than his.—

'Therefore, rather than sending Weii Fei to the battlefield to die, the Zhao Family is better off keeping him in the Zhao Clan Territory as a sort of "mascot."'