Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Even the sharpest minds among the Immortal Sects' high command would have a hard time uncovering such a scheme. There were, after all, only six Immortal Sect Cultivators at Chaning Cliff. A casualty rate slightly higher than that of the Independent Cultivators would hardly be conclusive.

The Foundation Establishment Realm was a major watershed that separated Independent Cultivators from Immortal Sect Cultivators.

In the Qi Refining Realm, Independent Cultivators were far inferior to Immortal Sect Cultivators. But by the Foundation Establishment Realm, a Foundation Establishment Independent Cultivator who had managed to stand out from the crowd was not necessarily weaker than an Immortal Sect Foundation Establishment.

A Foundation Establishment Independent Cultivator might have less potential than an Immortal Sect Foundation Establishment, but in terms of combat prowess and survival skills, most were stronger than the average Immortal Sect Foundation Establishment.

——The difficulty for an Independent Cultivator to reach Foundation Establishment was far greater than for an Immortal Sect Cultivator.

Foundation Establishment Independent Cultivators were only inferior in terms of their Spirit Root aptitude; in all other aspects, they were essentially the cream of the crop.

Therefore, Independent Cultivators who succeeded in reaching Foundation Establishment were mostly seasoned veterans of the Cultivation Realm.

When these veteran Foundation Establishment Independent Cultivators undertook missions, their mortality rate was slightly lower than that of Foundation Establishment cultivators from Immortal Sects, and no one could find fault with that.

The Immortal Sects couldn't very well claim that Foundation Establishment Independent Cultivators were supposed to die more often than their own.

...

Wei Tu entered the assembly hall.

He took a seat in his usual secluded corner to await Xi Ying's arrangements.

A short while later, Xi Ying entered and informed Wei Tu and the others of the reason for the gathering.

"For over a year now, Demon Cultivators have been scarce around Chaning Cliff. According to an investigation by the Righteous Alliance, we've learned some inside information."

"In two months, Elder Demon Yan of the Demon Slaughter Sect will celebrate his six hundred and sixtieth grand birthday. As a result, his demonic followers are all busy preparing celebratory gifts for him."

"After the birthday banquet, Elder Demon Yan will gather the forces of the Demon Slaughter Sect for an all-out assault on Nanzhuang Pass. He intends to annihilate the Righteous Dao forces in the vicinity and push the front line forward in one fell swoop," Xi Ying said slowly.

Nanzhuang Pass was a strategic point on the western Righteous Demon Battlefield—a true fortress.

Chaning Cliff, on the other hand, was a small bastion positioned in front of Nanzhuang Pass, forming a pincer-like, mutually supportive arrangement with it.

Once Nanzhuang Pass was breached by Demon Cultivators, Chaning Cliff would be completely surrounded by their forces, isolated and without hope of reinforcement.

"This is intelligence on one of the Demon Slaughter Sect's gift-bearing parties. The higher-ups want us at Chaning Cliff to ambush this small squad of Demon Cultivators and annihilate them."

Xi Ying retrieved a Command Arrow Jade Scroll from his sleeve and placed it on the long table before him.

Then, Xi Ying turned his head to look at the Independent Cultivators sitting in the corner. His gaze swept over Wei Tu, Li Daoyuan and his wife, Chu Huan, and the others before coming to a stop.

"Li Daoyuan, Wei Tu, Chu Huan, and… Fellow Daoist Zuo. The four of you will go and ambush this squad of Demon Cultivators."

"Fellow Daoist Zuo will be in command," Xi Ying ordered.

The "Fellow Daoist Zuo" Xi Ying mentioned was a sallow-faced man named Zuo Kui. He hailed from the Beast Taming Sect and possessed a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.

Wei Tu recalled what Li Daoyuan had warned him about earlier. He did not refuse the military order. Instead, along with Li Daoyuan and the others, he accepted the seemingly perilous mission.

Next, Xi Ying gave assignments to Guan Zhenying and the other Immortal Sect Cultivators. Aside from three who would remain with him to guard Chaning Cliff, he sent all the others out on missions one by one.

For example, the mission Guan Zhenying received was to travel with Shen Changfeng to the mortal Tongma City, rendezvous with a heavily injured cultivator, and escort them back to Nanzhuang Pass.

This mission was clearly much easier than the Demon Cultivator ambush assigned to Wei Tu's group.

'According to Li Daoyuan, the missions we Independent Cultivators receive are supposed to be less dangerous than those given to the Immortal Sect Cultivators.'

'It seems there might be some other hidden danger in Tongma City,' Wei Tu thought to himself.

Ambushing Demon Cultivators seemed dangerous, but with prior intelligence, the danger was out in the open. As long as they were careful, they could survive.

Escorting a cultivator, on the other hand, seemed safe. But if the intelligence was incomplete, any unexpected turn of events would drastically increase the danger.

However, if nothing went wrong, the escort mission was both simple and easy, and the higher-ups would have a hard time finding fault with Xi Ying's arrangements.

After all, on the surface, it was still Wei Tu and the other Independent Cultivators on the Demon Cultivator ambush mission who were taking the greatest risk.

...

After leaving the assembly hall, Wei Tu returned to his Cave Mansion. He placed his Sky-Splitting Carving, a vital combat asset, into his Spirit Beast Bag and his Seven-Colored Illusion Moth, an invaluable tool for reconnaissance, into his Spirit Insect Bag. Only then did he walk to the cliff face to rendezvous with Zuo Kui and the others.

"Here is the intelligence. Each of you make a copy." Zuo Kui's expression was somewhat cold. Seeing Wei Tu had joined the group, he nodded, took the Command Arrow Jade Scroll that Xi Ying had held earlier from his sleeve, and handed it to Li Daoyuan.

Li Daoyuan was the Independent Cultivator with the highest status at Chaning Cliff. Not only did he have deep seniority, having guarded this place for four years, but he also possessed the highest cultivation among the Independent Cultivators, having reached the Peak of Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment.

Li Daoyuan accepted the Command Arrow Jade Scroll, copied its contents, and then casually passed the Jade Scroll to Wei Tu.

Although Chu Huan had more seniority than Wei Tu, in the Cultivation Realm, cultivation level was paramount. Chu Huan only had an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation, so in terms of status, she ranked below Wei Tu.

Wei Tu accepted the Command Arrow Jade Scroll and, after a glance, breathed a small sigh of relief.

According to the intelligence on the Jade Scroll, the Demon Cultivator squad they were to ambush only had two Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators: one at the Late Stage and one at the Middle Stage.

Four against two. The advantage was theirs.

Once Chu Huan finished copying the intelligence, Zuo Kui led Wei Tu and the other two away from Chaning Cliff, heading straight for the ambush point.

The ambush point was located deep within Demon Dao territory, somewhere near the border between the Zheng and Jing Countries. Because of this, the four of them traveled by flying slowly at a low altitude to avoid attracting attention.