With Wei Tu's confirmation of his age, Yan Xiaolan felt much more at ease about his true appearance. She guessed that Wei Tu must actually be some young genius from a powerful force with an extraordinary background. Otherwise, there was no way he could reach late Golden Core stage by just over 300 years old—because even in the Golden Core Realm, 300 years was considered young. It was almost impossible for a rogue cultivator to achieve that.
But just as Yan Xiaolan's mind kept spinning with guesses, Wei Tu let out a cold snort that instantly shattered her wild thoughts. He wasn't worried she'd figure out his true identity—he had only revealed limited information, and guessing that he was actually "Wei Tu" would be nearly impossible. What he was worried about was the urgency of time. Once he settled things with Yan Xiaolan, he had to leave for Chu immediately. Every extra minute spent here meant more danger.
Hearing Wei Tu's cold snort, Yan Xiaolan trembled. Her expression quickly turned serious, and she respectfully stood quietly by his side. "Since you chose the first option, I'll keep my word and teach you some disguise spells and advanced Qi refining techniques," Wei Tu said in a businesslike tone. After thinking for a moment, he pulled several disguise techniques and high-level water-element cultivation manuals from his storage bag and handed them to Yan Xiaolan. After all, Yan Xiaolan had a mid-grade water spiritual root.
Over the years, nearly ten Golden Core cultivators had died at Wei Tu's hands. So in just under a century, he had amassed enough cultivation manuals to rival a small sect. And for him, knowledge-based resources cost only a few jade slips—nothing of real value. He saw no need to be stingy with someone loyal to him. Yes, in Wei Tu's eyes, Yan Xiaolan had proven herself—swallowing the poison pill and pledging loyalty had earned her a spot as one of his trusted people.
"I made the right choice! Senior Cui really is generous," Yan Xiaolan thought, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked at the high-level water techniques before her. Although her clan was a Golden Core family, she was still herself—and as a mid-grade spiritual root with mediocre talent, she had never been given access to techniques above third rank. Seeing these valuable techniques now made her truly admire Wei Tu.
While Yan Xiaolan buried herself in studying the disguise secrets and cultivation methods, Wei Tu released Bai Zhi from his sleeve and instructed her to set up a concealment formation and a spirit-gathering array in the area. But this array didn't draw in energy from the land's spirit veins. Instead, it transformed energy from spirit stones into pure spiritual Qi. Half a day later, once Bai Zhi finished setting up the formation, Wei Tu led Yan Xiaolan inside and placed over a dozen high-grade spirit stones at critical points of the array.
"A third-rank concealment array?" Yan Xiaolan was stunned. She had never personally used one, but as the daughter of a Golden Core family, she had seen them before both at home and in Lougao Sect. What shocked her most was that Wei Tu could set up a third-rank array by himself, without any help. "Could he also be a third-rank array master?" she wondered, curiosity about Wei Tu's real identity growing even stronger.
At the same time, a trace of warmth rose in her heart. At first, she thought Wei Tu was just trying to abandon her as a burden by persuading her to leave here. But he had prepared everything so thoroughly to ensure her safety before his departure. With such an array in place, as long as she wasn't ridiculously unlucky, her chances of survival were pretty good.
After everything was ready, Wei Tu didn't linger. He gave Yan Xiaolan a last silent glance, then rose into the sky and disappeared from sight. A hundred years from now, if he succeeded in forming a Nascent Soul, he planned to return and take Yan Xiaolan with him. But if he failed… there would be only one outcome: death and oblivion. Even so, if Yan Xiaolan didn't end up paying with her life, he had essentially given her everything she needed for a shot at forming her own Golden Core, beyond just the mundane Biyan Pill.
"Cultivation is tough. Yan Xiaolan trusted me more than she trusted her own path… but can I become the great roc soaring into the blue sky, lifting her along with me?" Wei Tu thought silently as he flew high above, glancing down once at the concealed figure of Yan Xiaolan hidden by the formation. Even with the Iceheart Spirit Dew, spiritual treasures, and the Nascent Infant Pill in his possession, he still felt no certainty about advancing to Nascent Soul. After all, breaking into Nascent Soul was nothing like reaching Golden Core—a cultivator had to endure heavenly tribulation before they could truly ascend to that realm.
With trade routes restored, Wei Tu boarded a cloud boat headed to Chu without encountering any obstacles. During the identity check, he used his real name, "Wei Tu," instead of fabricating a false identity. First, he was in Xiao Kingdom territory now and didn't know influential people like Yu Tong from the major merchant guilds, so buying a ticket under an alias would be risky.
The Shengya Mountain Zhao Clan he had befriended did have the power to help him, but unfortunately, Haizhou was just too far from Fengzhou—it would take at least over a month of rushing to get there. Staying put that long was clearly far more dangerous than just buying a ticket with his real name. After all, his real identity had always been spotless, without a single criminal record.
Second, by purchasing the ticket under his real name, he had a reasonable explanation for traveling to Chu, so there was no reason for anyone to suspect him. Over twenty years ago, back when he was in Yingding Tribe's Hujie Immortal City, Wei Tu had received a letter from Nan Zi. In it, Nan Zi asked Wei Tu to take Qiu Huaisu to Chu someday to visit Qiu Bucheng of Beastmaster Sect. Now, although Qiu Huaisu wasn't with him, he still had old friends in Chu—so what was wrong with going there to visit them? It was perfectly reasonable, and no one could find fault with it.
But what Wei Tu didn't know was that while his cloud boat was halfway to Chu, news of his trip reached Ji Zhang in Tianyi Sect. When Ji Zhang read the report, he thought for a moment, then immediately sent a talisman message to Fu Linglong, who was staying in Haizhou. "Wei Tu? Why is he going to Chu?" Fu Linglong was shocked when she received the message.
Recently, she and her brother Fu Dalu had been keeping a close eye on the cloud ferries traveling between Xiao and Kang Kingdoms, hoping to catch Wei Tu's trail and settle their score for being humiliated by him. But she never expected Wei Tu's next destination after leaving Xiao Kingdom would be Chu, not Kang Kingdom. That realization made Fu Linglong feel once again the shame of being toyed with by Wei Tu, despite her "Heart-Reading" ability.
Half a day later, Fu Linglong met with Ji Zhang. "Fengzhou is far from Haizhou. By the time I received news of Wei Tu heading to Chu, the cloud boat was probably already halfway there. By the time we rush to Fengzhou, Wei Tu will likely already be in Chu. And once he's in a foreign land, trying to find him will be harder than ascending to the heavens," Ji Zhang said slowly after glancing at Fu Linglong. His meaning was obvious: he wanted her to let go of this grudge. Chasing Wei Tu now would cost too much time and energy. After all, Tianyi Sect had already been forced to pay a hefty price in resources to the major merchant guilds because of him…
It was time for him, both for his own sake and for the sect's, to stay put and avoid causing more trouble. "Big brother, we don't know why Wei Tu is going to Chu, but he'll definitely use the Chu-Kang trade route to return to Kang Kingdom. We just need to get there before him and cut him off," Fu Linglong said firmly, pointing out the flaw in Ji Zhang's words.
Ji Zhang fell silent for a while. "Linglong, I'll soon enter closed-door training for a life-or-death attempt at breaking through to Nascent Soul," he said flatly. His words were simple, like stating a fact, but anyone with sense could hear the rejection behind them. Fu Linglong, born with a Buddha's heart and unmatched at sensing others' emotions, immediately understood the unspoken meaning. She froze, unable to believe Ji Zhang would say this and directly refuse her.
Even though she knew how important reaching Nascent Soul was for Ji Zhang, and how small her own hatred for Wei Tu was in comparison, she still couldn't accept it in her heart. After all, Ji Zhang had promised to help her once she was free from the sect's watch. Yet today, he was breaking that promise. Of course, she also understood why he was doing it—but knowing didn't make it hurt any less.
"Big brother, how long have I followed you?" Fu Linglong asked softly, tears brimming in her eyes. As the Buddha Maiden of Jinglian Convent, she lacked for nothing in resources; from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, she had a smooth path ahead, needing only time. But for Ji Zhang, she and her brother Fu Dalu had joined the Six Desires Sect, risking their lives by pillaging along trade routes. She had given everything for Ji Zhang, but now he was rejecting—no, abandoning—her over a breakthrough.
She knew breaking through was important, but with his peak Golden Core cultivation, how could he slip up just because of a short delay? She felt like Ji Zhang had used her and her brother's sacrifices to build his road to Nascent Soul. "It's been 150 years," Ji Zhang said quietly, his eyes clouded with memories. Over three centuries ago, his master Ji Yifeng had brought him to the sect, where he started as a servant before becoming an outer disciple, then an inner disciple. When he needed resources to reach Golden Core, he traveled and happened upon the Fu siblings in Xianta City of Liaozhou. They became close friends from then on.
"One hundred fifty years!" Fu Linglong sneered, the corners of her mouth twitching bitterly. "Now that you've become Ji Yifeng's secret son and secured your future, you can just forget about us. We were innocent people who turned into thieves and robbers for you. Now that we need you, you turn your back…" She laughed coldly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Good job, Ji Zhang! You're just like your father."
She turned and left with a flick of her sleeve, her laughter ringing coldly in the air. Ji Yifeng, the head of Tianyi Sect, only had an illegitimate son because he abandoned his wife and child long ago to marry into a prestigious immortal family.