I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

"Body cultivator!"

Hu Yantu felt that this guess was at least eight or nine parts correct.

As a friend, he had long known that Wei Tu had once gained a great opportunity in the Stone Demon Sect.

It was precisely because of that opportunity that Wei Tu was able to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm within just 400 years.

However, everyone knew the Stone Demon Sect had been the only body cultivation sect among the five major Demonic Dao factions.

That meant when Wei Tu obtained the opportunity to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he had most likely also gained body cultivation inheritances and resources from within the Stone Demon Sect.

Looking at it from cause to effect—because Wei Tu cultivated both body and magic, he was able to easily kill Old Ghost Cai in single combat and achieve the remarkable feat of slaying a cultivator of the same realm.

…

"That’s right. I did indeed break through to become a fourth-grade body cultivator not long ago."

Wei Tu gave a slight nod, not denying Hu Yantu’s guess about his cultivation.

In his view, Hu Yantu might not be the most trustworthy man, but with the Shangliang Cai Clan’s interests now entangled between them, their relationship could be summed up in two words—"closely tied."

Their honor and disgrace were now linked.

In many cases, this kind of tie was even more reliable than family bonds.

Besides, since he was now here to "buy" fourth-grade beast flesh from the Beastmaster Sect, it was inevitable that his body cultivation realm would be revealed.

So rather than let Hu Yantu make random guesses and plant seeds of doubt, it was better to be upfront and admit he was already a fourth-grade body cultivator.

In doing so, he could even strengthen their cooperation.

Of course, beyond these subjective considerations, revealing this detail wasn’t particularly dangerous.

—He was only a few years away from breaking through to mid Nascent Soul.

Once he reached mid Nascent Soul, he would be counted among the top experts of the Great Cang cultivation world.

At that time, these so-called potential threats would instead become his bragging rights, nothing to worry about.

As the patriarch of the Beastmaster Sect, Hu Yantu was a seasoned old hand. When Wei Tu openly admitted it, he took less than half a breath to hide the shock from his face.

He chuckled and said, "If Brother Wei cultivates both body and magic, then… defeating Master Ziyang and forcing him to retreat shouldn’t be a problem."

But as soon as he said this, Hu Yantu suddenly realized that his tone toward Wei Tu had unconsciously become much more humble—almost flattering.

'Why is that?' he wondered.

He steadied himself, moving his right hand slightly to press down on his left arm hidden in his sleeve, which was still trembling.

Since breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he had never lost composure like this.

Not even when he learned that his clan’s ancestor, Hu Yanpeng, had died on the righteous–demonic battlefield, forcing the Beastmaster Sect to abandon its mountain gate.

Was it fear of becoming the next Old Ghost Cai?

The answer came to him quickly.

His instincts reacted before his mind could—he understood clearly that knowing Wei Tu’s hidden secret meant knowing a great danger.

In short—

He was scared of Wei Tu!

Afraid Wei Tu might strike first and remove him as a threat.

'I once warned Wei Tu of danger.'

'Besides, his reputation has always been excellent. Three hundred years ago, he returned the body of Tao Chongzhou, patriarch of the Hanshan Tao Clan, without touching his storage pouch.

And a hundred years ago, he flew into a rage for his master, Che Gongwei, daring to offend Earth Sword Mountain just to kill the couple Yao Chongshan and his wife.'

Hu Yantu took a deep breath, trying to use reason to suppress the fear in his heart.

For more than a hundred years, he had diligently cultivated a friendship with Wei Tu—not only because Wei Tu might one day become a fourth-grade alchemist with great potential, but also because of his character.

"Grateful and loyal"—that was the label Hu Yantu had given Wei Tu when he repaid the Guangyuan Yu Clan after breaking through to Nascent Soul.

Now, although Wei Tu’s strength was very different from before and their way of dealing with each other had changed, these changes, in Hu Yantu’s eyes, weren’t enough to destroy Wei Tu’s good reputation.

He chose to trust Wei Tu.

"Since Brother Wei needs fourth-grade beast flesh from my Beastmaster Sect, then of course my sect will fully support you."

Hu Yantu spoke with a smile, his tone steady, not revealing the panic he had felt moments ago.

"Many thanks for your understanding, Brother Hu," Wei Tu said with a smile, cupping his hands in salute.

High-grade spiritual materials had always been a seller’s market unless traded for equivalent treasures.

Hu Yantu’s willingness to sell the Beastmaster Sect’s stored fourth-grade beast flesh to him was, in a way, doing him a personal favor.

After all, the Cai Clan’s ancestral lands hadn’t yet been taken by the Beastmaster Sect and the Guangyuan Yu Clan.

His move against Master Ziyang was still a distant matter.

This meant the "Cai Clan’s spiritual lands and mines" he had promised Hu Yantu were, for now, nothing but an empty check.

—More than 70% of the Cai Clan’s resources were in their Rotten Peach Mountain territory.

…

With the blood essence problem resolved, Wei Tu didn’t linger in the Beastmaster Sect.

After taking his leave from Hu Yantu, he immediately rushed back to the Ying Ding Tribe to continue closed-door cultivation.

But just after leaving the Beastmaster Sect, he realized there was a tail following him.

"Master Ziyang?" Wei Tu stopped, frowning slightly as he looked at the purple-robed elder holding a horsetail whisk, striding quickly after him.

"Master, if you’re chasing me, is there something urgent you need?"

Half a quarter-hour later, when Master Ziyang stopped, Wei Tu spoke in a tone that was far from friendly.

Although he had planned to wait until breaking through to mid Nascent Soul before making a move against Master Ziyang and taking care of the remaining members of the Shangliang Cai Clan…

But if Master Ziyang had come here to throw his life away…

Then Wei Tu wouldn’t mind sending his soul straight to the underworld ahead of schedule.

"This…" Hearing this, Master Ziyang froze for a moment, clearly shocked that a so-called "junior" would dare speak to him so disrespectfully.

Still, this black-faced cultivator was unfamiliar to him. He didn’t know which sect Wei Tu belonged to, so it wasn’t easy to scold him too harshly.

"I chased after you to persuade you to do more good deeds, to drop the grudge with the Cai Clan," Master Ziyang said, shaking his head.

"Do more good deeds?" Wei Tu looked at him in mild surprise. Since stepping onto the immortal path, this was the first time he had ever heard such a thing.

If Master Ziyang were a three-year-old child, he could have understood it. But this man was clearly an old thing who had been cultivating for over a thousand years.

This was obviously just a way to claim the moral high ground and attack him under a righteous banner.

"If you want to fight me, Master, then say it straight. No need to beat around the bush."

Wei Tu’s expression stayed cold as he spoke in a flat tone.

Since the man had come as an enemy, any polite talk would be useless.

The moment he finished speaking, Wei Tu’s mind stirred, and without hesitation, he activated the Koi Dragon Yin Blade he had long hidden underground. It burst up from the ground and slashed toward Master Ziyang’s back in an instant.

At the same time, with a flick of his sleeve, he sent out two Golden Flame Pearls to block off two of Ziyang’s escape routes, leaving only the front path directly facing him.

'Too vicious!'

Master Ziyang’s heart trembled. He hadn’t expected Wei Tu to act with such decisiveness, ruthlessness, and cunning—already setting a trap before even starting the conversation.

"I only wanted to persuade you to stop…"

Master Ziyang swung his horsetail whisk, blocking the incoming strike while speaking.

As he did, the whisk released a ball of white light that landed on the Golden Flame Pearl to his left, instantly freezing it into a massive ice crystal.

Boom! Boom!

Two explosions followed right after.

Unexpectedly, the frozen Golden Flame Pearl had its talisman power bound by the ice, cutting its explosive force nearly in half and delaying it by half a breath.

That was enough for Master Ziyang to easily dodge the attack.

'No wonder he dares to protect the Shangliang Cai Clan—he does have some ability,' Wei Tu thought, slightly impressed.

Still, he wasn’t shaken by this trick. Forming hand seals, he prepared for the next wave of attacks.

Before the fight even began, he had never thought he could kill Master Ziyang with just one or two moves.

After all, according to Hu Yantu, Master Ziyang had defeated both him and the Yu Clan patriarch together.

If not for that, the Beastmaster Sect and the Guangyuan Yu Clan would never have stopped attacking the Cai Clan’s territory.

"If you refuse to speak with me, then I will leave. But… the Shangliang Cai Clan, I will protect without question," Master Ziyang said.

"Unless you can kill me."

With a light step back, he retreated several thousand steps, putting distance between them.

He gave Wei Tu a deep look, then turned into a streak of light and vanished toward the west.

"This old Daoist…"

Wei Tu’s eyes flickered in mild surprise, and the thought of chasing him faded.

Ziyang’s retreat was expected, but it came earlier than Wei Tu had thought. Just now, neither side had won or lost, and neither had fallen into a disadvantage.

It really did seem like Ziyang had come to persuade him, not—as Wei Tu had first assumed—to use pressure to force him to back down.

'A friend is proven in adversity. This old Daoist may be helping the Shangliang Cai Clan, but his character is clean.'

Wei Tu thought carefully.

From his perspective, he was the "victim," and Old Ghost Cai and the Shangliang Cai Clan were the "attackers."

But in Ziyang’s and the Cai Clan’s eyes, he and Hu Yantu were the schemers who had killed Old Ghost Cai and were now dividing the Cai Clan’s inheritance.

After all, only he, Hu Yantu, and the Yu Clan patriarch knew that Old Ghost Cai had tried to rob and kill him.

No one else knew a thing.

"I’ll deal with this after I reach mid Nascent Soul."

Wei Tu shook his head, put away his thoughts, and resumed his escape light toward the Kang Kingdom.

…

Half a month later.

Wei Tu returned to the Ying Ding Tribe and entered closed-door cultivation again.

Without spirit crystals, raising his Nascent Soul limit became much harder. But fortunately, improvement at this stage was more about accumulating quantity rather than increasing the Nascent Soul’s "spirituality."

He only needed top-grade spirit stones to rapidly raise his cultivation and push the limit of early Nascent Soul.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, 20 years went by.

During those 20 years, the Ying Ding Tribe still flourished in peace, with nothing major happening.

It was as if Yuan Jie’s "rebellion" had been nothing more than a dream of Wei Tu’s.

Externally, nothing happened.

But internally—there was something.

During this time, Wei Tu’s Nascent Soul finally grew from 3.3 inches to 3.7 inches, reaching the absolute peak limit for his current early Nascent Soul stage.

It couldn’t be raised even a hair further!

‘One of the signs of mid Nascent Soul is the Nascent Soul reaching over 4 inches. Mine is now at 3.7. It’s not the absolute peak of 3.9, but… it’s enough,’ Wei Tu thought, letting out a long breath.

To push his Nascent Soul to this last stretch toward 4 inches, he had nearly burned through all his wealth, ending up nearly penniless overnight.

If the Nascent Soul could still be raised, his resources might not have been enough to keep up.

Of course, if he got the chance to keep raising it, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to give it up.

When that time came, even if he had to sell everything and live in debt, he’d still push his Nascent Soul limit higher.

After all, every step his limit rose now would make breaking through to Deity Transformation in the future that much easier.

‘Three point seven—this limit might not be the absolute peak for early Nascent Soul, but that doesn’t mean I can’t reach the next stage’s peak once I’m in mid or late Nascent Soul.’

Wei Tu’s eyes gleamed.

Unlike ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, he had the Late Bloomer fate. This golden-purple fate meant his aptitude and cultivation foundation would keep improving over time.

In short, his upper limit could be broken again and again—it wasn’t fixed forever.

‘Besides, 3.7 inches has its own advantage. The barrier to the next stage is still thin enough to be broken with the Nine Secrets of Life Absorption. If it were thicker, it might actually be a hindrance.’

Wei Tu took out the fourth-grade demonic beast flesh from his storage bag and slowly refined it with his mana, converting it into pure blood essence and storing it within his body.

This process was slow, requiring his body to digest and recover.

It took about 4 years before he finally finished.

"Now! Time to break through to mid Nascent Soul."

His eyes shone with sharp light as his hands formed seals, activating the Blood Seal of Life Absorption to draw out his own blood and vitality.

With each seal change, his mana boiled and surged, instantly climbing to mid Nascent Soul level.

But that was far from the peak.

Bottle after bottle of stored blood essence was pulled from his storage bag. With a sharp shout, the bottles shattered, and every drop of essence poured into him like rivers rushing to the sea.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Half an hour…

Wei Tu’s mana swelled again, almost doubling, pushing to the very peak of mid Nascent Soul.

In his spiritual vision, he clearly saw the great gate of the next realm inside his Nascent Soul.

This barrier was thick—early Nascent Soul power couldn’t budge it at all.

Even with mid Nascent Soul power, it could only be pushed open slowly, little by little.

Fortunately, Wei Tu had mastered the Mark of Impermanence, allowing him to keep his immense mana under control so it wouldn’t spiral out of balance and kill him during the breakthrough.

With patience, he began pressing against the barrier.

For five full days, he kept the pressure steady.

At last, the gate cracked open slightly.

The moment it did, his Nascent Soul began to grow visibly.

3.7 inches… 3.8…

In less than half a day, he crossed the divide between early and mid Nascent Soul.

And even after that, his growth didn’t slow—he pushed toward the 5-inch mark.

‘Like a spring rain soaking into the heart.’ The pleasure of this rise in cultivation was more intoxicating than any worldly indulgence. That was the phrase Wei Tu thought of to describe it.

Two months later, his breakthrough finally stopped.

"4.9 inches." Wei Tu looked inward at his Nascent Soul and felt pure joy.

Four-inch, five-inch, six-inch—these were the rough divisions of mid Nascent Soul used in the cultivation world. Not precise, but with some truth to them.

Which meant that when Wei Tu had just stepped into mid Nascent Soul, he was already close to "great completion" of this stage.

Only a hair’s breadth away.

This was the reward for holding back his breakthrough and building such a solid foundation.

"Still, before I move forward, I need to nourish my body again."

Looking at his own body—thin as sticks—he shook his head and sighed.

This breakthrough had almost drained every drop of his blood to increase his mana and smash through the barrier. If not for his abnormal fourth-grade physique, he might already be on the brink of death.