I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

When Duan Changjing dodged back several hundred zhang, there was a flicker of relief on his face, but it froze almost immediately.

“Filthy Blood Coffin?”

His brows furrowed as his gaze locked on the dark blood-colored coffin that had suddenly appeared within the spatial rift.

The coffin’s surface was coated in a layer of writhing black blood, as though it had just been dragged out of a blood pool. Drops of fresh blood dripped steadily to the ground below.

Though the sight alone was horrifying, Duan Changjing knew it was far from simple.

The coffin had taken the brunt of countless exploding Golden Cores. Though its surface had been pitted and torn, the bloodlight flowed across it, mending the damage instantly until it was whole again.

“The Filthy Blood Coffin… it’s the core secret art of Madam Jin’s clan. Even I never learned much about it,” Duan Changjing muttered darkly to Zhang Nanqiu. “All I know is—anyone who’s ever seen it… is dead.”

But Zhang Nanqiu showed no fear at all.

He nodded slightly, his voice calm as he offered his own knowledge.

“The Filthy Blood Coffin is the supreme art of the Ghost King Jin. Once opened, it shifts between death and life, undying and unbroken. It sustains its master in a constant peak state.”

“But there is one weakness…”

“It fears soul attacks.”

With a faint smile, Zhang Nanqiu flipped his palm. A bone staff, shaped like a vajra pestle, appeared in his hand. With a flick, it streaked across the air toward the coffin.

This was his soul-path weapon, his strongest offensive means.

An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator would not withstand a single strike.

To him, Madam Jin was nothing more than a bow drawn without strength left.

The bottom of the staff seethed with deathly qi. As soon as it left his hand, the sky dimmed, countless wailing spirits erupting from the staff’s body.

“Could it be… the Ghost King Jin was slain by the Soul-Capturing Sect?”

Duan Changjing shuddered.

The Ghost King Jin was Madam Jin’s father, a great devil of the past age.

The world said he had sat and died of old age in his own cave. But as deputy sect master of Myriad Yin Sect, Duan Changjing had heard whispers otherwise.

On that day, sounds of battle had echoed from the cave. When Ghost King Jin was found dead, all his treasures were gone, not a shred left to his heirs.

Seeing Zhang Nanqiu now, it wasn’t hard to guess—the so-called death was tied to the Soul-Capturing Sect.

After all, Ancestor Tianxie had lived for far, far too long.

‘Luckily, the long-distance teleportation array has been destroyed. Ancestor Tianxie won’t be arriving anytime soon.’

Duan Changjing secretly let out a breath of relief.

Zhang Nanqiu was dangerous, but manageable.

But then—

Just as Duan Changjing thought Madam Jin’s defeat was certain, an accident occurred.

From within the Filthy Blood Coffin, a blood needle shot out, piercing straight toward the bone staff.

The two weapons collided with a thunderous crack.

In the next instant, the bone staff shattered into countless fragments, raining bone shards down from the sky.

The blood needle didn’t stop. It kept streaking toward Zhang Nanqiu.

“Ancestor Chìlóng’s safeguard?”

Shock flared in Zhang Nanqiu’s eyes. He had forgotten—Madam Jin was not only a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator herself, she was also the Dao companion of a late-stage Nascent Soul ancestor.

When Ancestor Chìlóng left the sect, how could he not have left her some hidden means to survive?

He had been too careless.

Too careless to think that after Chen self-detonated, leaving her bloodied, she would have no more strength left.

Now the blood needle was already before him, too fast to dodge.

With a tearing shriek, half of Zhang Nanqiu’s skull was ripped apart, blood and brain matter spilling as his body plummeted.

“Zhang Nanqiu… dead?”

Duan Changjing was shaken to his core. He instantly raised his blade, intercepting the blood needle.

Clang! Clang!

The bloody gleam and his blade’s arc clashed again and again in the sky.

Moments later, as the blood needle’s power faded, Duan Changjing hovered in the air, panting, his body torn and bleeding. His eyes were wary as he stared at the Filthy Blood Coffin shielding Madam Jin.

If she had more blood needles like that, he couldn’t hold out.

“Hm?”

Then, his eyes narrowed.

Zhang Nanqiu’s corpse was suddenly covered in countless black runes.

In moments, his body reformed, standing whole again.

Duan Changjing’s face twisted. He understood at once—Zhang Nanqiu had faked death to escape the blood needle.

But Zhang Nanqiu, like Duan Changjing, was pale now, his strength clearly diminished.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, finish this quickly.”

Duan Changjing suppressed his rage, urging Zhang Nanqiu forward to break the Filthy Blood Coffin protecting Madam Jin.

As things stood, he couldn’t hope to drag her out of it in a short time.

“It’s too late.” Zhang Nanqiu shook his head, his face heavy. “The Filthy Blood Coffin is fully formed now, and my soul-path weapon… has already been destroyed.”

“If we don’t kill Madam Jin soon, once that Fu Daoist and Wang Sutai seize control of the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin, your master won’t be getting the Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed.”

At that, Duan Changjing’s eyes grew sharp, but he said nothing more—just spelled out the stakes.

“Don’t worry. One day. With one day, the two of us can break this Filthy Blood Coffin. The technique is powerful, but Madam Jin’s mana isn’t limitless.”

Zhang Nanqiu’s tone was cool.

Hearing this, Duan Changjing’s expression eased somewhat, and once again they pressed the attack together.

Instantly, secret arts, divine abilities, and treasures clashed violently, the aftermath rocking the ground and sky.

Just as Zhang Nanqiu had predicted, the Filthy Blood Coffin was formidable, but one against two late-stage Nascent Soul powerhouses—it was simply too much.

No explosive technique could erase that kind of difference.

One hour.

Two hours.

Time slipped by.

The Filthy Blood Coffin grew weaker, its repairs slower and slower.

Inside, Madam Jin was bleeding, several wounds tearing into her body.

One wound in particular ran from her brow all the way to her left shoulder, nearly ripping her body apart.

“Half a day more.”

Madam Jin gritted her teeth, forcing herself to endure.

Seeing the wound, Duan Changjing and Zhang Nanqiu slowed their pace, wary of a desperate counterattack. Who knew how many of Ancestor Chìlóng’s hidden trump cards she still carried?

By now, Duan Changjing had abandoned the idea of devouring her cultivation to advance.

After burning her essence for half a day, she was little more than a useless husk.

His only goal left was to kill an enemy.

“Madam Jin, hand over the Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed.”

“Do that, and I can beg my master to spare your daughter’s life. We’ll only erase her memory.”

Even while striking, Zhang Nanqiu pressed her for the location of the Myriad Yin Sect’s hidden Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed.

Madam Jin tried to buy time, stalling with vague words.

But Zhang Nanqiu wasn’t a fool.

With nearly a day gone and only half a day left until Wei Tu and Wang Sutai finished refining the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin, he stopped holding back. His eyes met Duan Changjing’s, and both launched a full assault.

Boom! Boom!

Their spells and treasures collided again.

Madam Jin coughed blood. She was thrown from the Filthy Blood Coffin, crashing toward the ground.

“Now!”

Zhang Nanqiu’s eyes lit up. He secretly flung out a Soul-Capturing Talisman, ready to capture her spirit for later interrogation.

But before it could strike, a ghostly shadow streaked from the air.

It seized Madam Jin around the waist and vanished into the underground palace’s formation.

“Fu Daoist?”

Duan Changjing and Zhang Nanqiu exchanged a glance, but instead of anger, laughter spread across their faces.

If Fu Daoist had come out to rescue Madam Jin, didn’t that mean he had given up refining the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin with Wang Sutai?

“Never thought a devil cultivator could act with such ‘righteousness’…”

Zhang Nanqiu sneered.

With Madam Jin stalling them, the time window to stop Wei Tu and Wang Sutai had already been shrinking.

But now Wei Tu himself had abandoned that chance, just to save her.

They could see it clearly again—the chance to capture mother and daughter both.

“Indecisive. A woman’s heart.”

“This Zhu Tianqi’s eye for disciples isn’t so great after all,” Duan Changjing mocked in agreement.

Joy for one side, despair for the other.

Back in the underground palace, rescued by Wei Tu, Madam Jin’s face was bitter, her eyes full of disappointment.

She could do the math clearly.

By her plan, if she died, Wang Sutai would live.

Now, most likely… both mother and daughter would perish here.

But knowing Wei Tu acted out of goodwill, Madam Jin could not bring herself to scold him.

‘Wait… inside the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin…’

Her gaze shifted and she froze. Inside the palanquin, she saw a plain-looking “stranger” with his palms pressed to Wang Sutai’s back, channeling mana to help her refine the palanquin.

‘When did this man enter the underground palace?’

Madam Jin frowned, deeply puzzled.

She raised her head to study the Wei Tu holding her. Suddenly she noticed something—this “Fu Daoist’s” aura wasn’t quite the same as when she had first met him.

It was eerily close to that of the stranger within the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin.

‘A clone technique?’

Suspicion filled her mind. She almost asked, but then swallowed the words, fearing it touched upon Wei Tu’s secrets.

Compared to orthodox cultivators, devil cultivators guarded their roots even more fiercely. Outsiders probing was absolutely forbidden.

“It’s the Joyous Nuo Mask.”

Wei Tu seemed to sense her doubt. After a pause, he explained.

It was precisely this Joyous Nuo Mask that had let him step away early and rescue her in time.

…

One day earlier.

Inside the underground palace, within the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin.

When Madam Jin managed to hold off Duan Changjing and Zhang Nanqiu’s combined assault, Wei Tu exhaled softly, relieved.

If she had faltered, he would have been forced to make a hard choice. Something he wanted to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

‘This dual cultivation doesn’t just help Wang Sutai refine the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin—it also strengthens my own cultivation.’

Closing his eyes, Wei Tu looked inward. His green Nascent Soul had grown stronger, nourished by Wang Sutai’s yin essence.

It was much like his past dual cultivation with Fu Linglong.

Wang Sutai, too, had a spiritual Nascent Soul body. Her yin essence was of immense benefit to him.

Though now that his realm had reached mid Nascent Soul, the gains weren’t as explosive as before. Still, the amount was about the same.

This, too, was one of the reasons he hadn’t rejected the idea of marrying Wang Sutai.

‘A pill or two of Emerald Briliance Dan, or seven or eight spirit crystals, and I could attempt another breakthrough.’

He cycled his cultivation method, calculating silently.

‘Besides that…’

His eyes narrowed. He drew out the severed arm Duan Changjing had once cut from him.

At first, he hadn’t planned to use the First Spiritual Bone’s origin power to regenerate the arm. Healing a wound consumed far less essence than regrowing a limb.

But Duan Changjing’s slash had left stubborn death energy embedded in the stump, impossible to cleanse.

So he had been forced to abandon that idea and instead regrow the arm anew.

Yet now, this misfortune turned into an opportunity.

Refining the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin through dual cultivation would take about two days.

That time was unavoidable.

But after the initial stage of physical and spiritual merging, the later half only required him to feed mana into Wang Sutai to support her refining.

That part demanded no complex actions. Just the simple touch of two palms.

Meaning, with the right method, he could leave a substitute behind while he himself went to aid Madam Jin.

Other cultivators, even in dual cultivation, could never have done this.

But he was different. He possessed the Joyous Nuo Mask taken from the Liu Yu Daoist.

This mask could draw on a cultivator’s essence and form a likeness, able to dual cultivate in their stead.

And his severed arm… was the key to making it happen.

Resolving himself, Wei Tu acted without hesitation. While continuing his dual cultivation with Wang Sutai, he formed seals with one hand, striking them into the severed arm.

Soon the arm twisted, sprouting blood-red tendrils like tree roots.

The tendrils wove together, forming a figure identical to himself.

Body Regeneration at fourth-rank body refinement was much like Out-of-Body for Nascent Soul—it was a basic divine ability at that level.

Of course, it only applied to his own body, not anyone else’s.

Wang Sutai sensed something, but she asked nothing. Patiently, she watched.

Half a day later, their spiritual and physical merging finished.

When Wei Tu clothed himself and rose, Wang Sutai finally understood the purpose of the “false body” he had created.

“Rest assured, husband. I will refine the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin as quickly as possible.”

Her voice was steady with resolve.

With that, she lifted her hand and drew her black robe back onto her body.

Then she placed her palms against the unmoving clone. Drawing upon his mana through it, she began refining the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin with the power of dual cultivation.