"Chi Gong, hurry back to the tribe and report to the Divine Master about what happened at Little Cold Mountain." Master Dun'er struggled to suppress his anger as he ordered the nearby fellow Golden Core cultivator. Even though he was worried about the remaining Iceheart Spirit Dew inside Little Cold Mountain, he wasn't reckless enough to charge in and check. If he did, the She Ri Tribe would completely lose Little Cold Mountain for good.
"Yes, Master." Chi Gong, the Golden Core cultivator from the She Ri Tribe, wasted no time. He accepted the order and flew straight off toward Haizhou in the Xiao Kingdom.
…
Meanwhile, Yan Zezhi, having collected his thoughts, started thinking carefully about why Wei Tu had gone into Little Cold Mountain. From the very beginning, he hadn't doubted Wei Tu's "old Golden Core" identity at all. That was partly because Wei Tu's disguise was flawless, but also because Wei Tu's behavior had always seemed reasonable—moving into Little Cold Mountain, taking many concubines to extend his lifespan… everything made perfect sense.
But now that it was all revealed to be a lie, Yan Zezhi had no choice but to wonder why Wei Tu specifically chose to live at Little Cold Mountain and never leave for a full decade. "Something must be wrong inside Little Cold Mountain." A sharp glint flashed in Yan Zezhi's eyes. He grabbed the narrow-eyed youth next to him and immediately flew toward Little Cold Mountain. With a clear goal and the mountain's sealing formation already disabled by Bai Zhi, it took only half a day for Yan Zezhi to discover the underground ice pool and the lingering aura of the Iceheart Spirit Dew.
"Who would've thought there was a hidden treasure here? But it's a pity—the spirit dew is all used up…" Yan Zezhi looked disappointed. The spiritual vein of Little Cold Mountain would need at least 500 years to produce enough Iceheart Spirit Dew for just one person. And he obviously didn't have that kind of lifespan left. So this discovery was only valuable for future generations of the Yan family, offering him no benefit at all.
…
"Strange. It hasn't even been two days—why would someone from the tribe suddenly contact me?" Two days later, outside Little Cold Mountain, Master Dun'er looked puzzled as he pulled a horn-shaped magic tool from his robe.
"Greetings, Eldest Princess." An hour later, Master Dun'er and the others stood respectfully as Yuwen Liangu arrived. Like Yuwen Cheng, Yuwen Liangu was royalty of the She Ri Tribe, holding the status of a princess in the secular world. And Yuwen Liangu and Yuwen Cheng were close in blood, being aunt and nephew.
"On the way here, I ran into Chi Gong, so I already know most of what happened," Yuwen Liangu said coldly, sweeping her phoenix eyes over Master Dun'er and the other two with an icy look. She was in a foul mood—not just because of the news that Yuwen Cheng might be dead, but also because of the Iceheart Spirit Dew in Little Cold Mountain. She could hardly accept that, in Divine Master Jinxia's eyes, she was so much less favored than her nephew Yuwen Cheng that she was only now learning about the tribe possessing Iceheart Spirit Dew. After all, she was the Divine Master's eldest disciple.
"Who stole the Iceheart Spirit Dew? Dun'er, do you have any leads?" Yuwen Liangu demanded in a cold voice.
"Leads…" Cold sweat broke out on Master Dun'er's forehead. He stammered, completely unsure what to say. Earlier, he'd thought he had everything on Wei Tu figured out, which made him overlook the growing crisis in Little Cold Mountain. But once Wei Tu fled two days ago and revealed strength and cultivation far beyond the intelligence he had… he was too embarrassed now to offer any so-called concrete leads.
"This person… probably used a fake name, and their cultivation is late Golden Core. Apart from Yan Xiaolan, there's no other way to track them down…" Master Dun'er gritted his teeth and forced the words out.
"Useless! Just like Chi Gong said." Yuwen Liangu snorted coldly. She showed no mercy, flicked her jade sleeve, and used her mana to send Master Dun'er flying. "Yes, Eldest Princess. It's all my fault…" Master Dun'er coughed blood, bowing his head and admitting his mistake without the slightest complaint. In the tribe, the hierarchy was strict. Yuwen Liangu wasn't just the eldest princess—she was the Divine Master's first disciple and ranked just below him in the She Ri Tribe. On top of that, her cultivation was peak Golden Core, a level most couldn't reach. Considering how big his mistake was, getting away with just this punishment was already a sign of Yuwen Liangu's leniency.
"You three, forget about Little Cold Mountain for now. Come with me to track down Yan Xiaolan's whereabouts…" Yuwen Liangu narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly as she gave the order. Her instincts told her the cultivator who stole the Iceheart Spirit Dew wasn't ordinary. If she could kill him, it might turn into a massive opportunity for herself.
Five days later, Wei Tu and Yan Xiaolan, after fleeing from Little Cold Mountain, stopped in Fengzhou, a border province of the Xiao Kingdom. Like Liaozhou, Fengzhou bordered another country, but instead of Kang Kingdom, it was next to Chu Kingdom. Ten years ago, when Wei Tu first decided to seize the Iceheart Spirit Dew, he had already set his plan: after succeeding, he would head to Fengzhou, cross into Chu Kingdom, and then use the Kang-Chu cross-border trade routes to slip back into Kang Kingdom. After all, he had made the Yan family of Lougao Sect and the She Ri Tribe believe he was a Kang cultivator stranded in the Xiao Kingdom. If they wanted to hunt him down, they would focus on the Ascending Cloud Flying Boats heading from the Xiao Kingdom straight to Kang Kingdom. So, returning by way of Chu Kingdom was the safest route.
In the wilderness of Fengzhou, Wei Tu held two spirit stones, meditating for a while before looking over at Yan Xiaolan, who was standing nearby with a delicate, obedient look. He frowned slightly. His years of experience told him that bringing Yan Xiaolan along had made her the perfect clue for the Yan family and the She Ri Tribe to track him down—in fact, she was probably the only clue they had left. But Wei Tu wasn't the kind of person who would just kill her to cover his tracks. If he were that ruthless, he wouldn't have taken the risk of bringing her out of Little Cold Mountain in the first place.
"Miss Yan, this is where we part ways," Wei Tu said after the spirit stones in his palm turned to powder. He took a moment to choose his words carefully. "Senior Cui, why are you saying this?" Yan Xiaolan's heart skipped a beat, and her face turned a little pale. She was sharp enough to catch the shift in how he addressed her—from calling her "Xiaolan" to the more distant "Miss Yan." Right now, she wasn't worried he would harm her; if he wanted her dead, he would've done it already. What she feared was what would happen to her cultivation path. With Wei Tu's protection, the resources she had could help her one day reach the Golden Core Realm. But without him, her chances would drop dramatically.
"Miss Yan, you're smart enough to see how dangerous it is for me to keep you by my side…" Wei Tu's gaze turned cold as he bluntly spelled it out. "Just the Yan family or Lougao Sect wouldn't be enough to threaten me," Yan Xiaolan bit her lip and muttered a soft protest. Lougao Sect was only a quasi-Nascent Soul power and had no influence in Fengzhou. They couldn't truly threaten a late Golden Core cultivator like Wei Tu. That was exactly why she had chosen to follow him all the way here without hesitation.
"If it was just Lougao Sect, I wouldn't worry. But the forces I've crossed aren't limited to them—there are Nascent Soul powers involved…" Wei Tu's voice was calm, like he was stating a simple fact. "It's even possible a Nascent Soul cultivator might come after me personally." He spoke as if it had nothing to do with him. If he hadn't been worried about Divine Master Jinxia arriving, he wouldn't have left Little Cold Mountain in such a hurry, almost immediately after finishing his spiritual body cleansing, without wasting a single moment. Otherwise, with his skill, Yan Zezhi probably never would've discovered his departure.
"Nascent Soul chasing you?" Yan Xiaolan nearly jumped in shock, her face full of disbelief. A Nascent Soul—how powerful was that? She could barely even imagine it. As a legitimate daughter of a prestigious Golden Core family, she wasn't ignorant, but when it came to Nascent Soul cultivators, all she felt was awe and fear. Who would dare provoke someone like that?
"If Senior Cui is being hunted by a Nascent Soul… doesn't that mean I'd be hunted by one too…" Yan Xiaolan felt like she could hardly breathe. But she quickly realized something important. If Wei Tu dared provoke a Nascent Soul Venerable and planned for it in advance, then his strength and resources must be far beyond what she'd seen so far. 'For a late Golden Core cultivator to risk angering a Nascent Soul ancestor… it can only mean one thing—he's after a Nascent Soul opportunity…' she thought silently. At that moment, she was sure of one thing: Wei Tu's age definitely wasn't what he pretended it to be. If he were truly on the verge of dying from old age, even having a Nascent Soul opportunity would be useless. After all, a cultivator near death would have their body, mana, and spirit so withered they'd lack the foundation to break through. With this realization, Yan Xiaolan quickly prepared her answer to his words.
"Xiaolan is already Senior Cui's concubine. Even if it means facing a Nascent Soul pursuit—or a Soul Transformation pursuit—I am willing to follow Senior Cui… forever." Hearing this, Wei Tu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He studied Yan Xiaolan carefully, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. He knew full well her words weren't from the heart, but he was still pleased by her attitude. He liked hearing words of loyalty.
"Showing loyalty is fine, but right now it's not me dragging you down—it's you dragging me down." Wei Tu shook his head and bluntly pointed out the truth. Yan Xiaolan fell silent, lowering her head as she waited for his next instructions. Seeing that she was smart enough not to argue and understood her position, Wei Tu nodded to himself. "You should realize by now, even if staying together isn't exactly bad for you, parting ways would be very beneficial for me."
"I'll give you two choices," he continued calmly. "First, you can keep your concubine status. I'll teach you some disguise techniques and advanced Qi refining methods, but the price is you'll have to hide and wait in this remote wilderness for decades, maybe even a hundred years. Of course, if your disguise skills improve enough during that time, you can leave early and won't have to wait so long."
"Second, I'll set you free and remove the poison pill in your body. After that, you'll no longer be my concubine. But for your own safety, I'll still teach you some disguise techniques."
"The choice is yours," Wei Tu finished slowly.
Hearing these words, Yan Xiaolan secretly let out a breath of relief. She thought, 'He really isn't a heartless man—both choices he gave me are pretty fair.' The first option, staying as his concubine, seemed restrictive, but it was also meant to keep her safe. The downside was that without the poison removed, if Wei Tu never came back after a hundred years, she would die. The second option didn't come with the benefits of being his concubine, but it offered freedom and removed the poison—a good outcome in its own way.
"Which do you choose?" Wei Tu asked.
Yan Xiaolan hesitated. The first option meant betting on Wei Tu's future. If he soared in cultivation, she'd benefit greatly, maybe even beyond the Golden Core Realm. But if he never returned, she'd die from the poison. The second option meant betting on her own future, but she didn't have that much confidence. After all, the Biyan Pill was just a low-grade substitute for a real Foundation Establishment Pill. Having it in hand didn't guarantee she'd ever reach the Golden Core Realm—at best, it only increased her chances a little.
"I choose… the first one!" After a long silence, Yan Xiaolan finally made her decision. She bit her lip lightly, bowed deeply, and spoke clearly. She was choosing Wei Tu over herself—or rather, she had made that choice from the very start, when Wei Tu first joined Lougao Sect. With her mediocre talent, only by relying on a powerful cultivator like Wei Tu could she hope to rise. Otherwise, she would end up like the countless other untalented women of her clan, slowly fading away until death. But unlike when she first met him in Lougao Sect, she no longer felt the same disgust—she was sure now that he wasn't some decrepit old man about to die.
"The first option?" Wei Tu looked a little surprised. This was the first time he'd ever seen someone willingly place their life in another's hands. Bai Zhi had signed a soul contract with him, but that was under duress—sign or die. Yan Xiaolan was different; he had given her a real choice.
"Senior Cui… may I see your true face… no, can I ask your real age?" Yan Xiaolan asked carefully, glancing up at his expression as she spoke in a soft voice.
"My age?" Wei Tu blinked, then quickly understood why she wanted to know. He chuckled and said, "I'm over 300 years old now, and I still have 500 years before reaching the end of my lifespan." Thanks to the Divine Wood Origin Technique, his lifespan was far beyond the typical 800 years for Golden Core cultivators.
"Over 300?" Yan Xiaolan's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the seemingly old, middle-aged cultivator in front of her. 'It's over… at this age, even if I reach Golden Core myself, there's no way I'll outlive him and inherit his assets. It's more likely he'll inherit mine…' The thought popped into her mind, and she felt a wave of unexpected, bitter disappointment.