Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

"Junior Sister?"

Wei Tu was taken aback.

Thanks to Kou Hongying, he knew quite a few Cultivators from Jingshui Pavilion. But they all had his contact information and wouldn’t need to go through her to reach him.

"Which Fellow Daoist is it?" Wei Tu asked casually.

"It’s Junior Sister Chu Qin. She broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm just seven years ago."

Kou Hongying replied.

’Chu Qin?’

At the mention of her name, a memory immediately surfaced for Wei Tu.

Chu Qin was Chu Huan’s daughter.

While he was stationed at Chaning Cliff, Chu Huan had perished during his first mission.

As a Cultivator acquainted with Chu Huan, he had written to her daughter, Chu Qin, at Jingshui Pavilion to inform her of the death. He even paid out of his own pocket to return Chu Huan’s relics to her.

’Since she’s the daughter of an old acquaintance, I should probably meet her,’ Wei Tu mused.

Back then at Chaning Cliff, Chu Huan had done her best to curry favor with him, all so that his connections might look out for Chu Qin.

Although Chu Huan was now gone, the goodwill she had built with him remained.

...

「That evening.」

Kou Hongying led Chu Qin to Wei Tu’s Cave Mansion in the Bai Shihu Marketplace for their meeting.

"Fellow Daoist Chu." Wei Tu, who was meditating by the stone table in the front courtyard, greeted her with a formal bow as he saw a young woman in a green dress, who bore a striking resemblance to Chu Huan, walk toward him.

But where Chu Huan’s looks had been ordinary, Chu Qin’s features were exquisite and otherworldly. Her delicate face was picturesque, and her elegant brow held a hint of cool aloofness.

"Elder Wei and my mother were old acquaintances. You can just call me Xiaoqin." Chu Qin curtsied to Wei Tu, lowering her own status by a generation.

In the Cultivation Realm, outside of one’s sect or family, seniority was determined by Cultivation.

With these words, Chu Qin was essentially acknowledging Wei Tu as her elder, closing the distance between them.

"Xiaoqin?" Wei Tu’s expression was a little odd. He wasn’t comfortable calling a Female Cultivator of the Same Realm by her nickname.

Although he was nearly one hundred and seventy years old—old enough to be a great-great-grandfather in the mortal world—he was still considered very young in the Cultivation Realm, a member of the new generation.

"Twenty years ago, my mother died in battle on the front lines. It was thanks to your help, Elder Wei, that I was able to see her relics."

After exchanging greetings with Wei Tu, a sorrowful expression crossed Chu Qin’s face as she offered him her thanks.

"It was a small matter."

Wei Tu waved a hand, signaling that it was nothing.

"Back then, in your letter, you warned me not to be blinded by my thirst for revenge, Elder Wei."

"I have always kept that warning in mind."

"Now, I have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. I finally have the strength to seek revenge against the Demon Cultivator who killed my mother. I wonder if Elder Wei knows... the name of the Demon Cultivator who killed my mother?"

Chu Qin got down to business.

A mother’s murder was a debt that had to be repaid in blood.

When she first received the news of her mother’s death, she’d wanted to charge to the front lines to seek revenge. She had only suppressed that burning hatred because she lacked the strength.

"The ones who killed Fellow Daoist Chu?" Wei Tu mused for a moment. He then took out a blank Jade Scroll, imprinted the names of two Demon Cultivators onto it, and handed it to Chu Qin.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators are the backbone of the Major Influences; they are not unknown figures.

The Demon Cultivators who killed Chu Huan would have been able to claim a bounty for her body.

After Chu Huan’s death, Wei Tu had made a few trips into the Demonic Realm and, on one of those occasions, had learned the names of the Demon Cultivators who killed her.

However, since he and Chu Huan hadn’t been particularly close, he hadn’t taken the risk of avenging her himself.

"Elder Wei, I will surely repay this immense kindness in the future." Chu Qin clutched the Jade Scroll, her almond-shaped eyes turning red as she spoke in a solemn tone.

Wei Tu just smiled faintly at her words, paying them no mind.

While it was true that he and Chu Qin were in the same Great Realm as Foundation Establishment Masters, she was merely at the Early-Stage. He, on the other hand, was approaching the Peak of Foundation Establishment and preparing for Solidifying the Pill.

At a normal rate of progress, it would likely take Chu Qin one or two centuries to bridge the gap in their Cultivation and reach his current Realm.

And it wasn’t as if his own Cultivation would remain stagnant.

It was highly unlikely Chu Qin could ever be of any help to him.

All of this was to be expected.

However, what Chu Qin said next caught Wei Tu completely by surprise.

Having concluded her main business, Chu Qin didn’t say her goodbyes. Instead, a determined look entered her eyes. Biting her lip, she gave Wei Tu a deep bow and said,

"If you would have me, Elder Wei, I am willing to take you as my adoptive father and serve you faithfully..."

The help with her mother’s relics alone wasn’t enough to prompt such a decision from Chu Qin.

In the years since achieving Foundation Establishment, Chu Qin had inadvertently discovered that Kou Hongying was secretly helping a "friend" obtain the Sect’s cultivation-enhancing Elixirs.

Combined with what she had seen and heard today, Chu Qin naturally understood that Kou Hongying’s "friend" was Wei Tu.

’A Tier Two Upper-Grade Talisman Master, a suspected "Late-Stage Foundation Establishment" Cultivator, and on top of that, a Golden Core Disciple...’

These two skills, that background, and their past connection were what drove Chu Qin to ask to become Wei Tu’s adoptive daughter today—to secure him as a powerful backer.

After all, without outside help, the Foundation Establishment Realm would almost certainly be the end of her cultivation journey.

Of course, when Chu Qin met with Wei Tu to express her gratitude, her feelings were sincere.

Prior to this, Chu Qin hadn’t known that Wei Tu’s Cultivation was suspected to be at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

’Take me as her adoptive father?’

Wei Tu looked up, his gaze on Chu Qin turning profound.

After her deep bow, Chu Qin was now only a step away from him, her charming face clearly visible right before him.

He could even feel the warmth of her breath.

"I already have a daughter."

Wei Tu shook his head, politely refusing.

Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he channeled his Magical Power to gently raise Chu Qin from her bow.

A faint, embarrassed blush crept onto Chu Qin’s face at his words.