Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

Master Qingmei was, in fact, quite famous within the Cultivation Realm of Zheng Country.

They were famous not for their appearance, but for their tragic story.

Master Qingmei was born with the Profound Wood Spirit Body into a family of Independent Cultivators. However, because the Spirit Body hadn't manifested in their youth, they cultivated their family's hereditary Metal Attribute Technique under their parents' guidance.

According to the principle of Five Elements Mutual Inhibition, Metal conquers Wood.

The more deeply Master Qingmei cultivated the Metal Attribute Technique, the more severe the damage to their Profound Wood Spirit Body became.

Because of this, not only was their Spirit Body ruined, but their physical appearance was also permanently frozen in childhood, never aging.

A half-ruined Profound Wood Spirit Body had limited potential.

A Golden Core True Monarch from one of the Immortal Sects had once remarked that Master Qingmei would never reach the Golden Core Realm in this lifetime; the Foundation Establishment Realm was their absolute limit.

Wei Tu's brow twitched. 'Master Qingmei is to become True Monarch Che's disciple. Could it be that the True Monarch is confident he can cure them?'

The Golden Core was the product of a cultivator's Essence, Qi, and Spirit merging into one.

Master Qingmei's success was due to the Profound Wood Spirit Body, but so was their failure. The damaged Spirit Body granted them a Cultivation speed far beyond that of ordinary people, but it also permanently shackled their Cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Wei Tu's nose twitched. He caught a faint, clean scent of orchids coming from Master Qingmei. 'Wait... a fragrance?'

'Could they be a woman...?'

Wei Tu was taken aback.

However, it was something Wei Tu couldn't confirm.

Master Qingmei had a child-like body with no Adam's apple or other masculine features. It was difficult for him to determine their gender based on such "male characteristics."

'None of my business,' Wei Tu thought, shaking his head. He had no intention of prying into Master Qingmei's private affairs.

"Since Fellow Daoist Wei and Fellow Daoist Qingmei are both here, please follow me to Master's Cave Mansion." Gao Chen didn't waste words. After introducing Master Qingmei to Wei Tu, he led the two of them toward True Monarch Che's Cave Mansion.

As soon as he finished speaking,

Master Qingmei froze for a moment. They looked up at Wei Tu, a bitter smile touching their lips.

They had heard the high regard Gao Chen held for Wei Tu in his words.

After all, they were at the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment, a small realm higher than Wei Tu, yet when Gao Chen had addressed them, he had named Wei Tu first.

It had been a long time since Master Qingmei had felt such disrespect.

"Wei Tu." Master Qingmei stopped walking, gazing at Wei Tu's back as they silently repeated his name.

They had heard of Wei Tu's reputation before, but only vaguely. They never imagined that Wei Tu had already caught True Monarch Che's eye...

...

True Monarch Che's Cave Mansion was located at the very peak of Red River Mountain, in its most central region.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi here had reached the level of a Tier Three Spirit Vein, in no way inferior to Yunhe Mountain, where Wei Tu had once stayed.

"Red River Mountain Marketplace was originally just a small marketplace with a Tier One Spirit Vein. After the Loose Immortal Alliance took it over, Array Master Qi personally oversaw the project. He embedded five Tier Three Spirit Veins brought from Jing Country and set up the Heaven-Stealing Transformation Array..."

Acting as host, Gao Chen casually explained the history of Red River Mountain Marketplace to Wei Tu and Master Qingmei as they walked.

「A short while later.」

Under Gao Chen's guidance, Wei Tu and Master Qingmei arrived at the antechamber of True Monarch Che's Cave Mansion and took a seat in its main hall.

But to Wei Tu's surprise, two other groups of people also entered the antechamber shortly after they arrived.

From their conversation, it wasn't hard to tell that they had come for the same reason as him and Master Qingmei: to become disciples of True Monarch Che.

'Just how many disciples is True Monarch Che planning to accept this time?' Seeing this, Wei Tu's anticipation of studying under the True Monarch dropped considerably.

In his view, if True Monarch Che accepted so many disciples, he wouldn't have the energy to teach them all individually. He was merely using "recruiting disciples" as an excuse to aggressively expand his own influence.

They would be disciples in name, but subordinates in reality.

It wasn't much different from the system of mortal military generals taking on adopted sons.

'But this is also for the best. If True Monarch Che really were to accept me as an Inner Chamber Disciple, I'd have to worry about my secrets being exposed.' Wei Tu's mindset quickly calmed.

His demands of True Monarch Che weren't high.

He only wanted two things.

First, a stable environment for Cultivation.

Second, the Tier Three Spirit Vein required for condensing a Golden Core.

He could obtain both of these things even as an ordinary disciple of True Monarch Che; he didn't necessarily need to become an Inner Chamber Disciple.

But other Cultivators didn't necessarily see it that way.

Take Master Qingmei, for example.

When they learned that True Monarch Che was willing to take them as a disciple, they were ecstatic. They thought the True Monarch might be able to cure their "chronic affliction" and had rushed to Red River Mountain Marketplace, overjoyed at the prospect of meeting him.

They never expected that True Monarch Che's real intention was to recruit them as a "thug," not a "disciple."

This chasm between expectation and reality was difficult for Master Qingmei to accept.

If they weren't in True Monarch Che's Cave Mansion, Master Qingmei would have already exploded with rage.

Besides Master Qingmei, the other two groups of aspiring disciples also had their own thoughts and motives.

"Junior Brother Wei, don't worry." At that moment, Gao Chen's voice reached Wei Tu's ears.

"Master has two goals in accepting disciples this time. The first is to select a suitable Inner Chamber Disciple. The second is to expand his influence."

"As a Talisman Master, Junior Brother Wei, your chances of being chosen as an Inner Chamber Disciple are very high."