I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

"Strike when the enemy is sick, and take his life."

Earlier, he had already gravely injured the Fireburn Sect Patriarch. With the Barrier-Breaking Treasure Mirror, a supreme treasure for breaking restrictions, in his hands, he could completely repeat the method he used when killing Yan Gongcheng and strike the Fireburn Sect Patriarch again.

The Fireburn Sect was called a sect, but in truth, it was little more than a ragtag band. The restrictions inside were nothing like the solid defenses of a great sect such as the Myriad Yin Sect.

Once the Fireburn Sect Patriarch was eliminated, the only enemy left on the same level before Five Elder Mountain would be the Barbarian God Sect. By then, with him holding a post at Five Elder Mountain, he could finally enjoy some peace and quiet.

Even so, though this plan was set in his heart, Wei Tu did not reveal a single word of it to the Second Mountain Lord or any other outsider.

'The tallest tree in the forest will always be the first to break in the wind.'

Wei Tu had no desire to become the target of every cultivator on Yunyang Island just for the sake of one assassination.

Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, the Second Mountain Lord suddenly spoke, dragging him back to reality.

"Fellow Daoist Fu, as the saying goes, the capable should take the higher seat. I am already old, my lifespan nearly exhausted. The burden of Five Elder Mountain… aside from you, there is no one else fit to bear it."

The Second Mountain Lord stopped in his tracks, his gaze sharp and unwavering as it landed on Wei Tu.

Today, Wei Tu had won the battle and severely wounded the Fireburn Sect Patriarch. By merit, he should be rewarded. But this achievement was so great it reached the point that Five Elder Mountain could hardly find a suitable reward.

After all, treasures that could please a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator were scarce even for him. How could he casually give such things to Wei Tu? Compared to that, handing over the authority of Five Elder Mountain was insignificant.

In fact, giving it away even let him breathe easier. He no longer had to worry about Wei Tu trying to seize power in the future.

"The burden of Five Elder Mountain?"

Hearing this, Wei Tu froze for a moment. He wasn’t surprised by the Second Mountain Lord’s willingness to step down, but rather at just how generous this abdication seemed.

Unlike the mundane world, in the cultivation world, authority always fell into the hands of the strongest. And right now, he was the strongest among the Mountain Lords of Five Elder Mountain.

So long as he remained in Five Elder Mountain, power within the sect would naturally gather in his hands. There was nothing else to it—fist was authority.

Such was the cruelty of the cultivation world. And with it always came bloodshed.

Yet, when he had first chosen to settle in Five Elder Mountain, his goal was only to find a proper cultivation cave in the overseas cultivation world. He had never thought so far ahead.

So unless some deep conflict arose between him and the other Mountain Lords, he had no strong desire to seize power. If necessary, he could always leave Five Elder Mountain and find another place to settle.

'It must be that the name “Ghost of Kang Mountain Cave” has frightened the Second Mountain Lord,' Wei Tu thought to himself. With such a notorious title, even the most optimistic Second Mountain Lord would struggle to believe he wouldn’t one day seize power.

"In that case, I’ll gladly accept," Wei Tu said aloud.

At this point, there was no need to hesitate. Refusing would only make the Second Mountain Lord and the elder faction even more uneasy, forcing them to live in fear day by day.

Besides, taking over a Nascent Soul-level sect like Five Elder Mountain also had its advantages for him. He certainly wouldn’t reject it on purpose.

At the very least, when it came to cultivation resources, being the head of Five Elder Mountain would bring him far more than being a lone rogue cultivator.

The Second Mountain Lord’s abdication shocked both Five Elder Mountain and the cultivators of Yunyang Island, but at the same time, it felt expected. Because of that, it didn’t stir up too much of a commotion.

Unlike old sects with long traditions, Five Elder Mountain had been founded jointly by the Great Mountain Lord, the Second Mountain Lord, and the other five Nascent Soul Patriarchs. The Second Mountain Lord himself was one of the founding ancestors. His act of yielding the position to another naturally brought no objection from anyone within the sect.

A few days later, the Second Mountain Lord completed his abdication and transferred the authority of Five Elder Mountain’s various halls to Wei Tu.

Wei Tu accepted everything with a smile. But he wasn’t the kind of person obsessed with power.

As Yuan Jie’s old friend, he understood well that compared to cultivation realm, authority meant nothing. So not long after, he passed those powers on to Cao Mi, making her his “deputy” to oversee Five Elder Mountain on his behalf.

At the same time, under Wei Tu’s careful planning, the day to assassinate the Fireburn Sect Patriarch was about to arrive.

The next day, dressed in night clothes, Wei Tu slipped out of Five Elder Mountain under cover of darkness and arrived near the Fireburn Sect.

In an instant, the Barrier-Breaking Treasure Mirror in his arms projected a streak of crimson light. It scorched a small hole through the Fireburn Sect’s protective array. Wei Tu then drifted in like a wisp of black wind, entering the sect with ease.

With the help of Ancestor Chìlóng’s late-stage Nascent Soul divine sense concealing his aura, Wei Tu advanced unimpeded. Not a single Fireburn Sect cultivator sensed his presence.

"This is the Fireburn Sect Patriarch Wenyuan’s cave dwelling?"

Before long, Wei Tu landed at the back mountain, where a grand palace floated among the clouds. He sent his divine sense inside, probing slowly.

But soon, he realized the hall was empty. There were no traces at all of the Fireburn Sect Patriarch cultivating within.

His brow lifted slightly, and he immediately understood. This was a decoy cave dwelling deliberately set up by the Patriarch as a precaution.

If not for the Barrier-Breaking Treasure Mirror allowing him to easily break the palace’s formations, he might have suffered a serious setback here.

"Since it isn’t here…"

"Then it must be… over there."

A flash of golden light appeared in Wei Tu’s eyes as he looked down the mountain. There, hidden among many courtyards, was a modest and rather shabby little blue-stone courtyard.

On the surface it looked plain and unremarkable. But if one used a spiritual eye technique, they would see the unusual, dense spiritual energy flowing within.

…

Inside the blue-stone courtyard of the Fireburn Sect, Patriarch Wenyuan sat cross-legged, cultivating and breathing rhythmically. From time to time, he pulled a jade bottle from his sleeve, wincing as he took out a spirit pill and swallowed it.

"Too wasteful!"

"Too wasteful!"

"This Longevity Pill is a treasure I dredged up from the Inner Ruins Sea. There were never many to begin with. And now I have to waste them just to recover from injuries…"

"That damn Fellow Daoist Fu!"

"During the battle, he could’ve chosen to fight that ancient barbarian, but no, he had to pick me!"

Wenyuan cursed bitterly in his heart.

This injury he had suffered was the worst in nearly a thousand years of his Dao journey. He had nearly fallen on the battlefield, his body and soul destroyed.

Though he had barely managed to keep his life afterward, the cost of healing was so crushing that even as a sect patriarch, he found it hard to bear.

It was as if he had been driven to poverty by his wounds.

How could he not hate Wei Tu for this?

At this moment, in Wenyuan’s heart, he wished he could peel Wei Tu’s skin and devour his flesh alive.