I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Chapter 450: Parallel Paths, A Joint Offering for Second Brother

"A suitable female cultivator?"Wei Tu immediately understood who Ancestor Chìlóng was referring to. Though he hadn’t said a name, it was obvious—among the Nascent Soul female cultivators in his circle, there was only one he had close ties with.

That person could only be Cao Mi.

Besides Cao Mi, he couldn’t think of any other Nascent Soul female cultivators he got along with well enough for this kind of cooperation.

"I’ll seriously consider it," Wei Tu exhaled deeply after a moment of thought and replied.

This was about his cultivation path. In his heart, he’d already accepted Ancestor Chìlóng’s suggestion.

It was clear that for the next hundred or even several hundred years, these Yin-Yang Devil Corpses would be critical to protecting his path forward. They were a rare opportunity, not something one could find just by looking.

Giving them up just because of this issue would be like refusing to eat for fear of choking.

Still, jointly controlling the Yin-Yang Devil Corpses wasn't something he could decide alone—he had to consider Cao Mi's stance. After all, such dual-cultivation-based techniques were usually shared only between Dao companions.

On that front, Wei Tu couldn’t be sure what Cao Mi truly thought.

But he figured the odds of her agreeing weren’t low. After all, the Yin-Yang Devil Corpses wouldn’t just protect him—they’d also protect Cao Mi.

In that sense, she’d be sharing the benefits of this massive opportunity too.

…

Half a day later.

Wei Tu, who had escaped from the Hehuan Sect branch, met up with Fu Zhizhou and his son in a remote area of Jing Kingdom.

"Fourth Brother's become a lot more cautious than before," Wei Tu said, glancing at Qiao Gao, who had his cultivation sealed by Fu Zhizhou using corpse control methods. There was clear approval in his tone.

Plans had changed unexpectedly, and time was tight, so Wei Tu hadn’t given Fu Zhizhou many details after rescuing him. That Fu Zhizhou managed to seal Qiao Gao with corpse control and conceal his aura to avoid the Hehuan Sect's pursuit—that was entirely his own initiative.

He really had lived up to what he said when they conspired earlier.

—His escape skills in the Golden Core realm were top-tier now.

Not much worse than Wei Tu himself used to be.

"After these two to three hundred years living in demonic territory, if I didn’t have at least that much ability, I’d have died long ago," Fu Zhizhou was stunned by the praise, then chuckled in response.

Then he cupped his hands and flattered Wei Tu, "Third Brother, to escape from Ancestor Liuyu with your life—that’s no feat a regular new Nascent Soul cultivator could pull off."

"In time, I believe you’ll be a great leader among Nascent Soul cultivators, maybe even a Dao ancestor."

Though Fu Zhizhou was only in the Golden Core realm and hadn’t had much contact with Nascent Soul elders, he’d absorbed the soul memory of Old Monster Cang Lan, a powerful Golden Core cultivator. So he had a decent sense of what Nascent Soul cultivators were capable of. And he knew how hard it must have been for Wei Tu to escape from someone like Ancestor Liuyu.

What’s more, from what he could see, Wei Tu wasn’t badly hurt—just slightly depleted in blood and energy.

Fu Zhizhou firmly believed—

If this news spread, the world would be in uproar.

What Fu Zhizhou didn’t know, though, was that not only had Wei Tu avoided serious injury—he’d actually gone back for a second round, returned to the Hehuan Sect branch, and stolen Ancestor Liuyu’s Yin-Yang Devil Corpses.

Such a wild feat would shake the entire Nascent Soul world—not just ordinary cultivators.

Of course, neither Wei Tu nor Fu Zhizhou were the kind to brag. They chatted casually about it for a bit, then dropped the topic.

"Fu Lin's injuries aren't looking great," Wei Tu scanned the unconscious Fu Lin lying on the ground next to Qiao Gao, and his brows furrowed slightly.

This time, Fu Lin hadn’t just been knocked out by his father. He was completely drained—too exhausted, with his life essence severely depleted. He’d fallen into deep sleep the moment he was rescued.

—Cultivators don’t need sleep like mortals do to recover energy, but if their essence is drained for too long without replenishment, they become no different from mortals again.

Hearing this, Fu Zhizhou's face turned grim. He nodded slowly.

"Before you got here, I used my own magic to check Lin’er’s condition."

"His Golden Core hasn’t cracked, and he’s technically still in the Golden Core stage. But his life essence has been nearly sucked dry."

"If we can’t find a good solution, Lin’er’s cultivation path might end here. He may never advance again."

Fu Zhizhou sighed heavily.

To advance in cultivation, a cultivator needs all three treasures—essence, energy, and spirit.

To Wei Tu’s ears, Fu Zhizhou’s words were already sugarcoated. In reality, Fu Lin’s body was completely ruined.

On the surface, he looked intact. But in truth, his entire body was riddled with hidden wounds.

This was far more serious than a missing limb or two.

After all, if you lose an arm or a leg, you might still recover someday with the right spiritual pill or some advanced flesh-regeneration technique.

But Fu Lin’s case was different. His cultivation body was fragile like paper—a single poke could tear it apart.

Forget about healing with spiritual medicine. Just sitting in meditation and breathing might worsen his injuries.

And honestly, Wei Tu didn’t have any good solutions either.

The only thing he could think of was for Fu Lin to abandon his crippled body and use the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique to seize another body and start over.

Luckily, Fu Lin was in the Golden Core realm, which just met the minimum requirement to practice that technique.

"The problem is, a cultivator’s lifespan is limited. Even if he successfully reincarnates with the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique, Fu Lin probably won’t have enough years left to ever reach the Nascent Soul stage." Wei Tu shook his head and sighed to himself.

He had once considered using this technique to help Wei Fei extend his life, but that didn’t mean the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique was actually a method of prolonging life.

Under normal circumstances, whether you practiced it or used it to reincarnate, the whole process took a very long time.

So even if you ended up with a brand-new body, the extra lifespan you gained often wouldn’t make up for the time spent transitioning.

Still, everyone sees things differently. It all depends on personal choice.

Without reincarnation, Fu Lin’s cultivation road was already over.

But if he did reincarnate, even if the Nascent Soul stage was still out of reach, at least there’d be a sliver of hope ahead.

Fu Zhizhou and his son were extremely close to Wei Tu, so on this matter, Wei Tu didn’t hold back. He directly offered his suggestion:

Let Fu Lin cultivate the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique, reincarnate as soon as possible, and restart his path.

As for whether this method counted as demonic...

Wei Tu didn’t really care.

A person shouldn’t be too rigid.

Having moral boundaries and being overly pedantic were two different things.

There were countless demonic cultivators in the world. If you seized a body from one with decent aptitude, not only was it not against the righteous path—in a way, it was doing good by punishing evil.

"I was thinking the same thing. Since you brought it up, Third Brother, I don’t even need to ask for your permission anymore," Fu Zhizhou nodded and replied.

According to the code of the Yi Society, any shared technique or secret art had to be approved by the original owner before being taught to outsiders.

The society may have disbanded, but Fu Zhizhou still remembered the rule clearly.

Still, compared to Wei Tu, Fu Zhizhou drew a much fuzzier line between good and evil. He didn’t even stop to think whether practicing the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique and stealing someone else’s body was wrong.

To be honest, ever since Old Monster Cang Lan possessed him over two hundred years ago, Fu Zhizhou had already become part of the demonic path. His way of doing things had clearly changed.

Yet, when facing Wei Tu, he was still the same as before—just a carefree youth—not that cold-blooded, cunning old monster from the Heavenly Corpse lineage.

Wei Tu knew Fu Zhizhou had changed. He just chose to ignore the unpleasant parts.

After all, someone from a poor background, without a smooth path ahead—if they didn’t act a bit demonic or devious—how could they have reached where they were today?

…

After that, Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou didn’t talk much more. With a wave of their sleeves, each picked up Qiao Gao and Fu Lin, then made their way toward the Kang Kingdom.

Now that the Hehuan Sect had issued a bounty, Fu Zhizhou and his son couldn’t stay in demonic territory any longer.

Under Wei Tu’s protection, Kang Kingdom’s Yingding Division was the best place for them to lay low.

Still, on the way, Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou made a half-day stop in Qingmu County of Zheng Kingdom.

"Second Brother, you were my brother in life, and you’re still my brother after death. This drink is for you."

Standing in front of Wei Fei’s grave, Fu Zhizhou stared at the name carved into the tombstone. He raised his cup and slowly poured out three cups of wine over the fresh mound, his voice catching slightly.

Back when Wei Fei was alive, they hadn’t been especially close.

In fact, to be blunt, if not for fighting side-by-side against Prefect He and the support from Wei Tu afterward, he and Wei Fei would never have ended up on the same path.

But now, standing here and looking back, Wei Fei had become one of the few people in his life he could call “brother.”

Fu Zhizhou believed they were alike.

Both of them started their journey to immortality from the same thing—that single Blood Food Pellet.

Later, both formed their Foundations.

Though he had pushed harder and made it a bit farther than Wei Fei, without the possession by Old Monster Cang Lan... he’d probably have stopped at Foundation Establishment too, just like Wei Fei.

Wei Fei was simply the version of himself that hadn’t had any stroke of luck to break into the Golden Core realm.

"The sights along the immortal path—the ones you and Big Brother never got to see—Third Brother and I will see them for you."

"I promise. Your children and grandchildren will once again... walk this path."

Fu Zhizhou looked up at the sky. Watching the clouds drift across the heavens, he moved his lips silently like making a vow, whispering those words in his heart.

No sound came from that vow. No one responded.

Beside the grave, there was only the sound of the wind stirring as Wei Tu burned paper offerings for Wei Fei.

After his vow, Fu Zhizhou smiled faintly.

He walked over, picked up some spirit paper money, and began tossing them into the fire basin, just like Wei Tu.