The moonlight outside the main hall pierced through the gaps in the door and windows, blending with the light from the oil lamp inside, scattering across the room.
The light was pale and dim.
Hearing Wei Xiuwen's words, Wei Tu fell silent for a moment.
At this moment, many thoughts filled his mind—there was the comfort from Wei Xiuwen's filial piety, the happiness of being reunited with his family…
But more than that, it was the sadness he recalled from decades ago, when his master, Dan Wu Ju, had witnessed Dan Fang storm out, slamming the door...
From the expression of sorrow on Dan Wu Ju's face when he passed away, he didn't believe that the father and daughter had been at odds from the very start.
Commoners fight over family wealth, turning father and daughter into enemies.
But cultivators… aren't necessarily free from these barriers.
A deity without humanity is no longer a deity, but a cold, heartless mountain.
Wei Xiuwen's filial piety toward Xinghua, as a father, he of course rejoiced in it, but in another ten or twenty years, he wasn't sure whether Wei Xiuwen would regret today's decision.
After all, that was one hundred spirit stones.
It wasn't a small sum.
...
"You can get up now." Wei Tu sighed and said.
"Yes, Father."
Wei Xiuwen stood up upon hearing the words, wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, and stood there with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Your mother is a mortal, she's older, and she never practiced martial arts since she was young…"
"Even if she uses the Ice Profound Locking Spirit Talisman, she will have no chance of the Immortal Path in the future."
"And after using the Ice Profound Locking Spirit Talisman, if there's no 'Divine Body Pill' to reshape your mother's body and soul, she will pass away in a hundred years."
Wei Tu carefully considered his words and explained the flaws of the Ice Profound Locking Spirit Talisman.
Xinghua was only sixty-three years old now, and with proper care, living another twenty or thirty years wasn't a big problem.
But if they used the Ice Profound Locking Spirit Talisman now, after a hundred years, without the 'Divine Body Pill' to assist her... not only would they waste spirit stones, but they would also cause Xinghua's last twenty or thirty years of lifespan to vanish without a trace.
It was precisely because of this that he had hesitated for so long, unsure whether to purchase the Ice Profound Locking Spirit Talisman to freeze Xinghua.
"There's actually a 'Divine Body Pill'?" Wei Xiuwen paused upon hearing this.
Seeing this, Wei Tu couldn't help but shake his head.
As expected, Wei Xiuwen had been in the Immortal Path for too short a time and hadn't learned about the shortcomings of the Ice Profound Locking Spirit Talisman.
"The Divine Body Pill is a second-grade pill. Even if you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it's hard to obtain one."
Wei Tu glanced at Wei Xiuwen, speaking in a deep voice.
Let's take a step back.
Even if they were lucky and obtained the Divine Body Pill a hundred years from now...
But helping a sixty-year-old mortal reach the Immortal Path… was not an easy task.
"This time, you spent how many spirit stones? I'll cover half of it. Consider it a lesson for you. Don't act so recklessly in the future."
Wei Tu closed the talisman box and took his spirit stone pouch from his waist.
"Father, I have a different opinion." Wei Xiuwen interrupted Wei Tu's actions.
He said, "How can you lightly dismiss the difficulty of mortals cultivating immortality by saying, 'Everyone must go through life, old age, sickness, and death'...?"
"If there were no immortals in the world, and my parents were sick, should I, by the logic of 'everyone has their fate,' just sit back and do nothing?"
"Such words would make the government and the neighbors talk behind my back, calling me an unfilial son."
With a self-deprecating laugh, Wei Xiuwen stepped forward, took the talisman box that Wei Tu had placed on the table, and walked out.
Then, from a distance, he left Wei Tu with a single sentence, "Since Father is unwilling, I'm willing to shoulder this responsibility."
...
A few days later.
Wei Xiuwen and Mei Zhen held their wedding in Nanhang City.
After the wedding, Wei Tu met Wei Xiuwen's father-in-law—Mei Yuanfeng, the head of the Baibing Pavilion.
Mei Yuanfeng spoke highly of Wei Xiuwen, saying, "Wei Dao's son is well-raised. Given time, Wei Xiuwen will surely become a great talent."
Wei Tu was surprised and asked Mei Yuanfeng why he held such a high opinion of Wei Xiuwen.
"Xiuwen is diligent. When he entered our Baibing Pavilion as an apprentice, he was always the last to leave. He works well…" Mei Yuanfeng stroked his beard.
"Is that the only reason?" Wei Tu asked, somewhat confused. He thought that Wei Xiuwen had been favored by Mei Yuanfeng for his talent in weapon forging.
To his surprise, Mei Yuanfeng's high regard for Wei Xiuwen was based solely on his character.
Mei Yuanfeng seemed to have noticed Wei Tu's confusion and laughed, saying, "Wei Dao, in our Baibing Pavilion, there are countless weapon masters with exceptional forging talent. Just based on this, Wei Xiuwen wouldn't stand out to me."
Wei Tu nodded without refuting.
—From the family letters Wei Xiuwen had sent, he could tell that getting Mei Zhen had not been as easy as he had imagined.
There must have been things Wei Tu didn't know about.
But those were not things he could bring up with Mei Zhen's father, Mei Yuanfeng.
...
After the wedding.
Wei Tu didn't plan to stay long in Nanhang City.
Before leaving, Wei Tu, according to his original plan, discussed with Xinghua, asking whether she would be willing to freeze herself for a hundred years, waiting for a glimmer of the Immortal Path after a hundred years.
Xinghua shook her head and refused. She walked to the altar, burned a bundle of incense in front of Dan Wu Ju's spirit tablet, and then said, "In this life, being able to marry you has been enough. If I were to enjoy more blessings, I fear I would incur divine wrath…"
A few days ago, Wei Xiuwen had asked me about this matter, but I turned him down.
She smiled as she spoke.
Upon hearing this, Wei Tu sighed and no longer tried to persuade her.
He knew that Xinghua didn't not want to step onto the Immortal Path; she was just worried that it would burden him and Wei Xiuwen.
After all, who in the world does not envy immortality?
...
After staying at the Wei household for another three days, Wei Tu left.
Unlike last time, this time he was not accompanied by Fu Zhizhou, nor did he need to hide and ambush the cultivators from the "Ying Bing" faction.
Therefore, in order not to attract attention, he dressed up according to his usual habit, deliberately avoiding the main roads.
Seven or eight days later, he safely returned to the Danqiu Mountain marketplace.
"Geng Wen didn't send anyone to kill me, which is somewhat unexpected."
Upon returning to Yunque Street, Wei Tu took off his robe, which was filled with talismans, and sighed quietly.
When he left the mountain, although he knew that Geng Wen had been seriously injured by Zhao Qingluo, he had prepared for the worst and expected an ambush from Geng Wen.
But to his surprise, from when he left the mountain to when he returned, he hadn't encountered a single ambush or a cultivator trying to kill him.
"If I had met Geng Wen, with his cultivation at the ninth level of Qi Refining, I wouldn't have been afraid."
Wei Tu glanced at the Geomagnetic Yuan Light in his dantian, now as big as an infant's fist.
Over the years, his Geomagnetic Spirit Seed had been producing Geomagnetic Yuan Light every moment.
Day by day, his Geomagnetic Yuan Light could now support him in flying for several hours.
With the ability to fly, and with so many talismans on him, Wei Tu felt that his strength in the Qi Refining stage was no longer weak.
Even if he couldn't win, he could easily escape.
"At this rate, it seems I won't need to wait fifteen years. In two or three years, my Geomagnetic Spirit Body will be fully transformed."
Wei Tu calmed his thoughts and looked at his progress with the transformation of his spirit body, thinking to himself.
The "Late Bloomer" destiny's time limit had basically been set based on his current situation, with some margin for error.
Now that his cultivation had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, the efficiency of transforming his spirit body had increased significantly compared to before.
...
Two and a half years passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, in the cultivation room in the small courtyard of Yunque Street, a powerful spiritual pressure wave suddenly emerged, sweeping the surrounding wood and earth spiritual energy into the air.
"Has Helian Xiong broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining?"
In the room, Tong Peipei felt the spiritual pressure and thought to herself.
This kind of powerful spiritual pressure could usually only be emitted by cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining.
But soon, Tong Peipei also sensed the violent movement of the surrounding wood and earth spiritual energy.
"How could this be?"
"Has Wei Tu broken through?"
Tong Peipei was shocked.
From what she knew, Wei Tu was still in the mid-stage of Qi Refining and couldn't possibly emit spiritual pressure at the late stage.
"How deep are his foundations, to break through and emit spiritual pressure equivalent to that of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator?"
Tong Peipei looked at Wei Tu with envy.
For a cultivator to have a solid foundation means they can go further.
At this moment, Wei Tu had broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, yet his spiritual pressure was comparable to that of the late stage—she knew exactly what this meant.
On the other side, Helian Xiong, who was resting in the room, also sensed Wei Tu's breakthrough.
"The sixth level of Qi Refining, and such a commotion? This Wei Fushi is even more mysterious than I thought…"
Helian Xiong looked towards the direction of the cultivation room, deep in thought.
He had previously thought that Wei Tu was lagging behind Fu Zhizhou because of his limited talent.
After all, with a talisman master's background, it was easy to obtain pills to break through realms.
But now, it seemed he had been terribly wrong.
At this moment, Wei Tu's cultivation had not only caught up with Fu Zhizhou's, but his foundation was much more solid.
"Once Wei Tu breaks through to the late stage of Qi Refining, he might be capable of becoming a first-rank, top-tier talisman master, able to draw the family's inherited talismans."
Helian Xiong's eyes gleamed.
...
"Sixty-three years old, sixth level of Qi Refining."
In the cultivation room, Wei Tu's divine sense left his body and looked at his Geomagnetic Spirit Body, which was emitting a yellow-green glow. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
When he was at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he was still worried that if his cultivation didn't improve within the next fifteen years, he might waste his life and spiritual energy.
But unexpectedly, thirteen years later, he had not only transformed his "Earth Yuan Body" into a higher-level "Geomagnetic Spirit Body," but his cultivation had also broken through two more levels, reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining.
This exceeded all his expectations.
Next, Wei Tu calmed his thoughts and carefully sensed the Geomagnetic Spirit Body's absorption of surrounding spiritual energy.
Under his divine sense, the surrounding wood and earth spiritual energy surged toward him like a dragon returning to the sea, much faster than before—three to four times faster.
Just as he had predicted.
After condensing the Geomagnetic Spirit Body, his aptitude was now comparable to that of a cultivator with mid-grade spiritual roots.
"The breakthrough from the fourth to the fifth level of Qi Refining was because of my accumulation, so it was a natural explosion…"
"And the breakthrough from the fifth to the sixth level should be due to the effect of the Geomagnetic Spirit Body…"
"Mid-grade spiritual roots can reach the Foundation Establishment stage. The bottleneck for a Qi Refining cultivator is practically nonexistent for those with mid-grade spiritual roots."
Wei Tu carefully considered the reason behind his breakthrough.