I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Before this, although he feared the Liu Yu Daoist, a Nascent Soul mid-stage expert, and had even blamed Wei Tu for provoking him, now that the matter concerned the safety of the Ying Ding Tribe, he could no longer back down.

After all, this demon had already bullied his way right to the tribe’s doorstep. There was no room for retreat!

Even if he knew the Liu Yu Daoist’s scheme was aimed at taking revenge on Wei Tu, was he supposed to stand by, watch coldly, and hand Wei Tu over to the enemy? That was impossible!

He could complain about Wei Tu, but he would never do something so foolish.

If he dared to make this decision today, then on another day, should trouble fall on him, what attitude would Divine Masters He Di and Donglai have toward him?

Moreover, Du Long did not believe that with the combined strength of their four Divine Masters, plus the advantage of fighting on righteous territory, they would be any weaker than the Liu Yu Daoist and Divine Master Jin Xia.

Four against two.

This numerical advantage alone was enough to offset the gap in cultivation stage!

"Wei will go invite Fellow Daoist Donglai."

Hearing this, Wei Tu felt a faint warmth in his heart. He nodded in agreement and accepted the task of going to Falling Sun City to inform Divine Master Donglai.

…

Two days later.

Divine Master Donglai returned to the Ying Ding Tribe with Wei Tu in secret, heading straight to Du Long’s cave dwelling.

Since Wei Tu’s Nascent Soul Condensing Ceremony, the four Divine Masters of the Ying Ding Tribe were gathered together once more.

"Right now, Yuan Jie hasn’t made a move. I suggest we act first and directly soul-search him. Once we seize his soul memories… we can turn his own plans against him to deal with Divine Master Jin Xia and the Liu Yu Daoist."

"The Liu Yu Daoist will be hard for us to kill—at most, we can force him to retreat. But ending Divine Master Jin Xia once and for all is something we still have a fair chance of accomplishing."

Donglai, being straightforward by nature, acted with decisive force. After hearing Wei Tu’s reason for summoning him back, he thought briefly, then waved his hand, voice shaking the air as he laid out his plan.

"This plan is workable."

At his words, Du Long and He Di exchanged glances and nodded.

Although Donglai’s approach was a bit rough, it was indeed an effective method.

As veterans in cultivation, they knew well that the more steps a plan had, the lower its chance of success.

Besides, "kill one and drive the other away" was the consensus Du Long and He Di had already reached over the past two days.

If they could achieve this goal, it would be considered a major success in facing the current crisis.

"This time, it shouldn’t be too dangerous."

The plan was tentatively set, but Du Long was not as optimistic as Donglai. His gaze swept over the three Divine Masters present, and he let out a quiet sigh.

People die when they are killed.

Even if their four Divine Masters had a decent chance of victory, he did not believe they could all come through without injury.

The odds of serious injury—or even death—were not low.

Just as this thought rose in his heart, Wei Tu, seated beside them, spoke up with a statement that shattered his grim outlook.

"Fellow Daoist Wei… are you saying you’ve already broken through to the Nascent Soul mid-stage?" Du Long’s face was full of disbelief, wondering if his ears had failed him. After all, Wei Tu had only recently become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Barely 100 years had passed.

For him, in 100 years, he couldn’t even break through a minor realm—let alone reach the mid-stage of Nascent Soul.

"What? Fellow Daoist Wei reached Nascent Soul mid-stage?"

Donglai and He Di reacted a moment later, their faces full of shock.

Until now, they had always regarded Wei Tu as a "junior."

This alliance against the Liu Yu Daoist was for mutual benefit, yes—but it also carried a hint of protecting this promising younger cultivator.

Yet now, their "junior" had suddenly become their "senior." This kind of gap wasn’t something that could be summed up with a mere word like ‘shock.’

"Correct. A few years ago, Wei indeed advanced to Nascent Soul mid-stage." Wei Tu nodded, reaffirming his words.

He rose from his seat, cupped his hands to the three Divine Masters, then released the cultivation aura he had been concealing.

"It’s true—Nascent Soul mid-stage!"

Du Long’s divine sense swept over him and confirmed Wei Tu’s realm. His face filled with envy.

He himself was only a step away from the mid-stage, but that single step had blocked him for several hundred years.

Now, Wei Tu had crossed it in just 100 years. If he said he wasn’t envious, it would be a lie.

Still, with his age and limited remaining lifespan, he had learned to let go somewhat.

If not for that, he might have harbored malice toward Wei Tu.

"At just over 500 years old, Fellow Daoist Wei has reached Nascent Soul mid-stage. It won’t be long before he reaches late-stage. Perhaps he might even aim for the Divine Transformation Realm."

Donglai and He Di, besides envy and jealousy, also felt strong joy.

They knew well the difference between having a pathfinder ahead of them and fumbling alone in the dark.

Wei Tu’s breakthrough would benefit them too. Even if they only gained "leftovers," it was still better than struggling on their own.

So as fellow cultivators of the same faction, they now hoped Wei Tu’s cultivation would rise higher and higher—ideally to a level they could only look up to.

"Wei was merely fortunate. Without obtaining the Stone Demon Sect’s legacy inside the Great Void Realm, it would have been hard to advance so quickly…"

"Now that I've reached the mid Nascent Soul stage, the chance I got has been fully used up. From here on, my cultivation speed will be like a turtle crawling."

Hearing this flattery, Wei Tu didn’t get carried away. He smiled, quickly said a few humble words, and smoothly steered the topic away with a small lie.

Right now, the reason he revealed his realm was to give Du Long Divine Master and the others more confidence in dealing with Liu Yu Daoist, not to make them grow resentful or envious.

As for the overseas cultivation world and the existence of “spirit crystals”... when the time was right, Wei Tu would naturally decide whether to tell them.

But that time was definitely not today.

Even without considering the question of mutual trust, just the risk of “too many mouths” was enough to give him a headache.

"Going along with their plan to counter Liu Yu Daoist and Divine Master Jin Xia, I can try to hold off Liu Yu Daoist. Once Daoist Du Long, Daoist He Di, and Daoist Dong Lai finish off Divine Master Jin Xia, you can come and help me. Together we deal with Liu Yu Daoist in one decisive battle."

At this point, Wei Tu spoke again, giving his own “objection” to Dong Lai Divine Master’s earlier plan.

"If everything goes smoothly, four against one, the advantage will be ours," Du Long Divine Master said with a smile, his mood much lighter.

"Exactly! Exactly!"

Dong Lai Divine Master and He Di Divine Master both nodded in agreement.

In the cultivation world, strength rules all.

Though Wei Tu was still much younger than the three of them, his realm now made him unquestionably the strongest among them.

So as long as his proposal wasn’t unreasonable, they wouldn’t refute what a stronger cultivator said.

With that, the plan was set.

Next, the four began discussing how to search Yuan Jie’s soul.

"Since Wei once counted the Right Virtuous King as a friend, and it was I who first informed you three that he might betray the tribe, I should avoid suspicion and not personally take part in the soul search."

Before the others could speak, Wei Tu took the initiative to declare his stance.

Seeing Wei Tu so tactful and aware of propriety, Du Long Divine Master and the other two felt some relief. The subtle pressure they’d felt since Wei Tu’s breakthrough eased a little.

"In that case, let Dong Lai go."

Du Long Divine Master made the proposal.

Dong Lai had been stationed in Luori City for many years and had little entanglement with the tribe’s inner power figures, making him the most suitable person to play the “villain.”

Dong Lai and He Di naturally had no objections.

"I’ll be back soon."

Dong Lai Divine Master stood, said this, and with a sweep of his sleeve vanished from Du Long’s divine master mansion.

…

After Dong Lai left, Wei Tu didn’t follow, but his eyes flashed with golden light. He directly observed Dong Lai’s every move as he entered the Right Virtuous King’s residence, making sure nothing went wrong.

"Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes?"

Seeing this, Du Long and He Di both looked surprised.

This spiritual eye technique was secretly recorded in the Ying Ding Tribe and they had even practiced it themselves… but compared to Wei Tu’s mastery now, their own practice might as well have been thrown to the dogs.

It was utterly useless.

'This man… I don’t know if he’s a blessing or a disaster for the Ying Ding Tribe,' Du Long Divine Master thought, finding Wei Tu harder and harder to read.

"If anything unusual happens inside the king’s mansion, please inform us right away."

The Right Virtuous King’s residence was within range of their divine sense, but with formation barriers surrounding it, they couldn’t penetrate without triggering alarms.

Clearly, this wasn’t the moment to act rashly and alert the enemy.

Which meant, here at the Right Virtuous King’s place, they were essentially blind.

"Of course." Wei Tu smiled slightly and nodded.

…

After Wei Tu’s breakthrough to mid Nascent Soul, Dong Lai had again become the weakest among the Ying Ding Tribe’s divine masters.

Even so, dealing with Yuan Jie, a Golden Core cultivator, was still effortless for him.

Under Wei Tu’s watch, it took less than half an hour for Dong Lai to slip into Yuan Jie’s hall and, with a burst of power, restrain him while he was handling tribal affairs.

The whole process took only a few breaths, smooth and precise.

"Yuan Jie really has betrayed the tribe."

Dong Lai returned to Du Long’s mansion with Yuan Jie in hand, speaking with a trace of regret.

He had never been close to Yuan Jie, but had always felt goodwill toward this young cultivator who had been trying to reform the tribe’s old flaws.

He hadn’t expected that, just as Wei Tu had said, Yuan Jie had already betrayed the tribe forty years ago.

"He received two Ghost Face Pills from Liu Yu Daoist."

Dong Lai tossed the unconscious Yuan Jie into the center of the hall and shook his head, explaining the reason for his betrayal.

Ghost Face Pills?

While rare in the cultivation world, all the cultivators present—except Wei Tu—were seasoned elders of over a thousand years, and of course they knew the pill’s fearsome name.

Even though Wei Tu’s seniority wasn’t high, as an almost fourth-grade alchemist he had already learned about it back when he was still in the Golden Core realm.

The Ghost Face Pill, unlike orthodox medicine pills, was created by devil cultivators.

It had only one purpose—to help a Golden Core cultivator form a Nascent Soul.

Because of this, in the devil path it was also called the “Nascent Soul Pill.”

However, unlike the righteous version, the Ghost Face Pill carried extremely severe side effects.

Most who used it to break through to Nascent Soul would develop “ghost face death qi” inside their bodies, something almost impossible to dispel.

The ghost face death qi, though it doesn’t affect strength too much, traps a cultivator in that realm forever. From then on, they can’t advance and suffer its torment day and night.

That torment is more painful than losing an arm or a leg—almost impossible for an ordinary person to endure.

Because of this, Ghost Face Pills usually sell for less than half the price of a proper Nascent Soul Pill.

Even so, the cost is still far beyond what a Golden Core cultivator can afford.

And even if they were willing to endure the pain, most would have no way of getting one in the first place.

So when Du Long Divine Master and He Di Divine Master heard the words “Ghost Face Pill,” they had no doubt left about Yuan Jie’s reason for betraying the tribe.

After all, even with their wealth and means, acquiring a Ghost Face Pill was no easy matter.

"Two Ghost Face Pills?" Wei Tu, Du Long, and He Di all caught on to the quantity Dong Lai mentioned.

A Nascent Soul Pill isn’t candy.

Normally, one pill is more than enough for a cultivator to break through.

There’s no reason to use two.

"The other one Yuan Jie gave to Bao Hua," Dong Lai said simply.

"Truly devoted as husband and wife," Du Long sneered. The hope he once placed in Yuan Jie was now matched only by his disappointment.

Even Yuan Jie’s face now looked hateful to him.

"Where’s Bao Hua?" Du Long asked, his eyes turning to Dong Lai.

He hadn’t found the queen, Immortal Bao Hua, anywhere in Hujie Immortal City.

"She’s already fled."

Dong Lai shook his head. "Forty years ago, Wei Daoist forbade relatives from going out. It didn’t outright alarm the enemy, but Yuan Jie still made preparations… and fearing Liu Yu Daoist might turn on him after using him, he had Bao Hua leave the tribe early and escape."

The rest he didn’t need to say.

Wei Tu and the others could guess it—Yuan Jie had erased from his mind any memory of where Bao Hua had gone.

Otherwise, Dong Lai would have given her location, not just said she had fled.

"Did you find anything in Yuan Jie’s mind about Liu Yu Daoist and Jin Xia’s plans?" Du Long moved to the real issue.

Yuan Jie and Bao Hua might be strong by some standards, but to a Nascent Soul cultivator they were nothing.

Even if Bao Hua somehow broke through to Nascent Soul, she wouldn’t be worth much concern.

"I did," Dong Lai nodded, his voice firm. Then he spoke of the plot Yuan Jie, Divine Master Jin Xia, and Liu Yu Daoist had formed against Wei Tu.

At first, they had planned to kidnap Wei Tu’s relatives in the Ying Ding Tribe, lure him out, then ambush and kill him.

It was a simple but effective plan—just like Wei Tu once threatened Fu Linglong by holding Fu Dalu.

But because Wei Tu had suddenly taken precautions, they lost their chance. Forced to change targets, they set their sights on someone else.

"Kou Hongying, Pavilion Master of Mirror Water Pavilion."

Dong Lai said the name slowly.

Kou Hongying had become their new kidnapping target in the past ten years.

"Hongying?" Wei Tu’s heart jolted.

After the deaths of Ancestor Luo and Madam Hongjing, the Moon-Condensation Palace and Mirror Water Pavilion had been weakened to the extreme, held together only by Nascent Soul elder Cao Mi.

By turning their sights from his relatives to Kou Hongying, Jin Xia and Liu Yu Daoist had picked a hostage less closely tied to him… but far easier to take.

While Wei Tu was thinking about how to turn this threat into a chance to wipe out both Jin Xia and Liu Yu Daoist, Dong Lai secretly sent him a sound transmission.

"What? Hongying is cultivating a devil path technique?" Wei Tu froze, shocked.

Kou Hongying, as pavilion master, had position and resources. She had no need to gamble her future on such a risky path.

It didn’t seem like something she would do.

But hearing Dong Lai’s certainty, Wei Tu had no choice but to believe it.

"Liu Yu Daoist set his sights on her because more than twenty years ago, she secretly went to Zheng Country to buy devil path spirit materials," Dong Lai said gravely.

"I’m telling this only to you. I erased all memory of this from Yuan Jie’s mind when I searched his soul just now," Dong Lai added with a quiet sigh.

It might seem far-fetched, but Dong Lai felt strongly that if she wasn’t stopped, Kou Hongying could become another Yuan Jie.

After all, their situations were too similar—both leaders of their sects, both with status and resources, yet both lacking the high-grade resources needed to advance beyond Nascent Soul.

Turning to the devil path had become their final choice.

If they didn’t, their road in the immortal path was already at its end.

"Thank you, Daoist Dong Lai."

After a moment, Wei Tu calmed his worry and gave Dong Lai a nod of gratitude.

He was glad now that he had been open about his real realm before Yuan Jie’s soul search.

Otherwise, Dong Lai might not have told him this secret alone, keeping it from Du Long and He Di.