I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

"This banner may have been refined by me in my early years, but the material used to forge it was a piece of Huangquan Withered Wood passed down for generations by the direct line of Myriad Yin Sect’s sect masters."

"Huangquan Withered Wood may not match the quality of the Soul-Devouring Wood you seized from Lüqiu Jinyuan, but it is absolutely the most suitable material for crafting a Soul-Refining Banner in both the human realm and the spirit realm."

At that moment, Ancestor Chìlóng’s voice echoed within Wei Tu’s mind.

"Huangquan Withered Wood?" Wei Tu was stunned. He glanced down at the Soul-Refining Banner in his hand, and joy immediately spread across his face.

Before coming to Myriad Yin Sect, he had read various records about demonic Soul-Refining Banners in the libraries of the Ying Ding Tribe and the Beastmaster Sect.

Ordinary Soul-Refining Banners were essentially one-time-use artifacts. They could only hold a limited number of souls, and over time, their structure would collapse under the backlash of those souls, rendering them useless.

But certain special materials produced banners that were entirely different.

The stronger the backlash of the souls sealed within, the more it fueled the banner’s own ferocity, strengthening its core and driving its growth.

Huangquan Withered Wood was regarded as the best material in the human realm for this purpose.

In theory, such a banner could advance all the way to sixth-tier—at the level of the Void Refinement Realm.

Of course, that was only theory.

If it were truly that easy to raise, Ancestor Chìlóng would never have left this treasure sitting unused in Myriad Yin Sect.

Still, Wei Tu wasn’t greedy. As long as this Soul-Refining Banner could sustain his combat strength at the Nascent Soul stage, he would already be satisfied.

If he ever had the chance to raise it to fifth-tier, keeping it useful into the Divine Transformation stage, that would be even better.

"Aside from this banner, I’ll also teach you a demonic art to control it. This is one of Myriad Yin Sect’s supreme techniques. Once you master it, no one could deny calling you a true heir of the sect," Ancestor Chìlóng continued.

"This is also my way of apologizing to you on behalf of my daughter."

Although Wei Tu had shown no outward reaction earlier to Wang Sutai’s intent to… kill her husband, Ancestor Chìlóng knew silence did not mean there were no hard feelings.

As her father, he had no choice but to find a way to ease that knot in Wei Tu’s heart.

At the very least, when Wei Tu grew dissatisfied with Wang Sutai, he would not take that anger out on him and destroy his plan of rebirth.

As his voice faded, a black jade slip shot out from within the Dragon Glass Pearl.

"The Vile Art of Spirit-Enslaving and Banner Control."

Wei Tu caught the jade slip and scanned it with his divine sense. Very quickly, he grasped the contents.

His brows rose slightly. The bizarre name of the technique gave him a small jolt of surprise.

In all his cultivation years, he had never encountered a method that openly called itself a "vile art."

But as he read carefully, he realized the name was more fitting than anything else.

The Vile Art of Spirit-Enslaving and Banner Control contained two divine abilities. One was called the Spirit-Enslaving Vile Art. The other was the Banner-Controlling Technique.

The first targeted a cultivator’s soul and consciousness.

The second was a specialized method for mastering high-tier Soul-Refining Banners.

The reason it was called a "vile art" was simple—once a cultivator’s soul was bound by the Spirit-Enslaving Art, unless their very soul was scattered and destroyed, they would be enslaved to the caster for generation after generation, never able to reincarnate.

"Still, this vile art pairs perfectly with the Soul-Refining Banner," Wei Tu thought.

The greatest challenge of wielding such a banner lay not only in refining the banner itself but also in subjugating the souls trapped within it.

Now, this supreme demonic art neatly solved both problems.

'So that’s why Ancestor Chìlóng had the confidence, even as a remnant soul, to completely soul-search a Nascent Soul cultivator,' Wei Tu realized.

A hundred years ago, when he and Cao Mi killed Master Hongjing, they had struggled with the soul-searching.

With his own power, Wei Tu could not stop Hongjing from self-destructing.

But back then, Ancestor Chìlóng, even as a mere remnant, had sworn he could fully soul-search Hongjing.

Wei Tu hadn’t agreed, but he had remembered that confidence.

After returning to the Great Cang cultivation world, he had considered relying on Spirit-Binding Talismans or Blue-Faced Flood Dragon poison as backup methods for restraining Nascent Soul cultivators.

But fate had taken another turn.

Now, Ancestor Chìlóng had willingly revealed to him this secret art capable of shackling Nascent Soul souls.

It might not be as wondrous as Ancestor Tianxie’s Spirit-Binding Talisman, but used alongside the Soul-Refining Banner, it was more than enough to deal with ordinary cultivators.

…

After taking the Soul-Refining Banner, Wei Tu didn’t linger on Can Mountain Island or inside Myriad Yin Sect. He picked a direction, slipped away, and left for the outside world.

Not far away, he casually picked an uninhabited island as a temporary cultivation spot.

After pondering over the Vile Art of Spirit-Enslaving and Banner Control for a while, he began practicing the “Banner-Controlling Technique” within it, using it to refine the high-tier Soul-Refining Banner in his hand.

The Banner-Controlling Technique was complex and profound, but with Wei Tu’s current comprehension, it wasn’t hard to grasp.

It took him less than a day to understand most of it.

After that, using the technique as a foundation, it took him less than half a day to roughly refine the banner.

"To fully master this banner would take at least a month, but against Qi Chengchu… there’s no need to be that thorough."

Opening his eyes, Wei Tu exhaled a murky breath. He stretched out his hand, and the Soul-Refining Banner floating in front of him obediently fell into his palm.

He silently recited "Know Heaven Crossing" and began sensing Qi Chengchu’s whereabouts.

This fourth-tier Soul-Refining Banner was nothing more than Ancestor Chìlóng’s reward for killing Qi Chengchu, not something Wei Tu actually needed to defeat him.

Qi Chengchu alone wasn’t enough to make Wei Tu worry, even without the banner.

The reason he took it first was simply because it was easy to obtain.

Besides, it boosted his strength. Why not take the extra power if it was right in front of him?

Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

Two hours later, after searching thousands of miles of sea, Wei Tu finally sensed Qi Chengchu’s general location.

But upon finding it, he didn’t rush. He sneered, flicked his sleeve, suppressed his aura, and quietly moved toward Qi Chengchu’s hiding place.

…

Two hundred miles away, beneath the ground of a deserted island, Qi Chengchu sat cross-legged in his true form.

He looked inward at the five-colored Nascent Soul in his dantian, and jealousy mixed with unwillingness showed on his face.

After forming his Nascent Soul through an unorthodox method, his realm, strength, and lifespan had all increased.

But the result was far from the breakthrough he had originally envisioned.

Especially when, just days ago, he saw Wang Sutai—whom he had always dismissed—suddenly break through.

How could he possibly accept that?

"First Wei Tu, now Wang Sutai… which of them is better than me? Why did I fail? Why didn’t I dare use the Stealing Heaven Essence Formation when I attempted my breakthrough?"

Qi Chengchu hated others, but he hated himself even more.

If only he had trusted his own Dao heart, believed in his mastery of formations, and dared to use the Stealing Heaven Essence Formation he had personally created to step into the Nascent Soul Realm. The outcome might have been completely different.

After all, when he had pledged himself to Ancestor Tianxie, that old demon had praised the Stealing Heaven Essence Formation highly, saying it truly had the potential to break through to the Nascent Soul stage without relying on special spiritual items.

That day, Ancestor Tianxie had hailed him as a once-in-a-lifetime genius in the Dao of Formations.

If not for that, Ancestor Tianxie wouldn’t have given him the Spirit-Binding Sect’s treasured “Five-Element Infant,” allowing him to refine it and take the unorthodox path to form his Nascent Soul.

"But the Five-Element Infant isn’t truly mine. If I want to continue my Dao path, I must obtain… the Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed of Myriad Yin Sect."

Qi Chengchu’s gaze turned cold. He lifted his head toward Myriad Yin Sect’s direction and slowly clenched his fist.

Over eighty years ago, under Ancestor Tianxie’s orders, he had disguised himself as Young Master Jingchen and infiltrated Myriad Yin Sect.

His near-century-long infiltration wasn’t just to help Ancestor Tianxie steal the Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed.

It was for himself.

He intended to use the Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed to transform into a Heavenly Ghost clansman and walk his Dao path anew.

This selfish desire outweighed his loyalty to Ancestor Tianxie.

"But with the Five-Element Infant binding me, I don’t dare act recklessly, even with such thoughts."

"People like Fu Daoist, Madam Jin, Duan Changjing… they’ll still have to be dealt with by Ancestor Tianxie."

Qi Chengchu smiled faintly. A flash of spiritual light appeared in his hand, and he tapped several major acupoints on his body.

The next moment, the seemingly slumbering Five-Element Infant inside his dantian stirred awake. Its childish face carried a trace of confusion, as if puzzled at why it had dozed off just moments ago.

"Same old problem," the Five-Element Infant muttered in an aged tone, shaking its head.

Since fusing with Qi Chengchu, it had often been struck by this strange "sleeping sickness." But it dismissed it as nothing more than an imperfect fusion between them.

"Five-Element Infant, I sent out the talisman message two days ago. Have you received any word from Brother Zhang?"

Qi Chengchu suddenly asked.

Brother Zhang was Ancestor Tianxie’s eldest disciple, far more senior than Fox Mountain, and had followed Ancestor Tianxie for over a thousand years.

Ancestor Tianxie himself was like a dragon—always seen in glimpses, never in full.

The only one he could reach was Senior Brother Zhang, his eldest sect brother. From him, he could learn Ancestor Tianxie’s exact movements.

And the Five-Element Infant…

It was the key to contacting Senior Brother Zhang.

Unlike ordinary Nascent Souls, Senior Brother Zhang had a “second Nascent Soul.” This second Nascent Soul was also an unorthodox type, similar to the Five-Element Infant.

These two unorthodox Nascent Souls could communicate through a secret art, with a range more than triple that of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator’s divine sense.

"Just now, nothing. But now, I see him."

"Senior Brother Zhang’s second Nascent Soul is already heading this way," the Five-Element Infant said casually, as if uninterested.

Hearing this, Qi Chengchu nodded, closed his eyes again, and resumed breathing exercises in silence.

"Senior Brother Zhang is here?" Half an incense stick later, Qi Chengchu suddenly sensed someone breaking into the formation he had casually set up.

And the intruder’s cultivation happened to be at the mid-stage Nascent Soul—same as Senior Brother Zhang.

"No! That’s not Senior Brother Zhang."

Inside his dantian, the Five-Element Infant caught Qi Chengchu’s thoughts and quickly reacted, warning him.

But—

Even though the warning came fast, the slight delay from their back-and-forth was enough for Wei Tu to use the Supreme Wondrous Treasure Realm to instantly break into the underground chamber of the deserted island.

In less than half a breath, Qi Chengchu and Wei Tu met face to face in the narrow underground passage, eyes locking.

"Liu Yu Daoist?" Qi Chengchu’s expression shifted as he recognized Wei Tu’s assumed identity.

He didn’t know why the Liu Yu Daoist suddenly showed up with hostility, but he understood he was no match for this old powerhouse.

He quickly formed a hand seal, merged his body into the earth, and used the Earth Escape Technique to flee.

"Earth Escape?"

Wei Tu raised his brow slightly in surprise.

Just burrowing into the earth wasn’t impressive. Back when he was still in the Qi Refining stage, he had used Earth Escape Talismans to do the same.

But Qi Chengchu’s technique now was different.

It was far superior to an Earth Escape Talisman.

Not only did it let him blend seamlessly with the underground soil, making him almost impossible to detect, but it also allowed him to move as fast as normal flight in open air.

Even so, Wei Tu wasn’t worried.

Golden light flashed in his eyes. Locking onto a direction, he teleported forward, raised his arm, and slammed the ground heavily several times.

Boom! Boom!

The earth trembled as if a dragon rolled beneath it.

Underground, Qi Chengchu, now a yellow glowing mass moving quickly, couldn’t withstand the blows.

He spat blood with a wet gasp, his aura dropping sharply.

"Impossible! This Liu Yu Daoist also has body-refining cultivation?" Qi Chengchu was stunned.

He had never heard of cultivators from the Hehuan Sect training in body refinement.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. He faced a pressing problem—how to escape Wei Tu’s pursuit.

The Five-Element Infant’s Earth Escape Technique was powerful, but it required space to be effective.

On the surface, the Liu Yu Daoist had not only a fourth-tier body but also spirit eyes that could pinpoint him with precision.

Which meant Qi Chengchu had no real chance to escape.

Even worse—

While using Earth Escape, Wei Tu’s combination of a fourth-tier body and mid-stage Nascent Soul power could strike him through the soil, but Qi Chengchu could hardly strike back through that same barrier.

In other words, by relying on Earth Escape, he had accidentally put himself at a disadvantage.

He had become a living target.

"What should I do?" Qi Chengchu’s face turned anxious as his mind spun frantically.

His plans had barely begun, and now they faced ruin. How could he accept that?

"Go to the surface! Fight him directly! If Senior Brother Zhang arrives in time, together we can win!"

The Five-Element Infant urged.

"Senior Brother Zhang?" At the mention of that name, Qi Chengchu grabbed at it like a lifeline, a flicker of confidence returning to his face.