I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Chapter 474: One Chase, One Escape, Life on the Line

"Yes, Third Prince. I’ll do my best to stop Wei Tu and that female cultivator. I won’t let them escape."Even though Old Sect Master Gu was full of reluctance inside, he had no choice but to force himself to agree.

Sure, he’d originally planned to work with "Wu Fang" to launch a surprise attack on Wei Tu and Cao Mi. But Wu Fang was Wu Fang, and Lüqiu Jinyuan was Lüqiu Jinyuan—there was a world of difference between the two.

With Wu Fang, they were equals in cultivation and status, so he could take some initiative when teaming up.

But with Lüqiu Jinyuan… he was just hoping not to become a servant, let alone take any kind of lead.

One misstep, and not only would he get nothing from this, he might even lose his own life.

'I wonder if Wei Tu actually has the strength to kill this incarnation of Lüqiu Jinyuan…'

Old Sect Master Gu’s gaze flickered again. Once more, he considered ditching the fight and throwing Lüqiu Jinyuan under the bus.

He could tell that this body of Lüqiu Jinyuan was only at early Nascent Soul. The sudden power boost just now had clearly come from some secret art.

In other words, the strength wouldn’t last. And before he struck at Wei Tu and Cao Mi, Lüqiu Jinyuan probably wouldn’t waste more power pressing him.

After all, he wasn’t some helpless lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

That meant he still had room to maneuver and escape if needed.

Right now, he didn’t dare go against Lüqiu Jinyuan’s orders. Fear of his current strength was part of it, but more than that, it was dread of Lüqiu Jinyuan’s real body in the outside world.

However, the very next moment—

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s next words shattered all his hopes.

"In that case… I’ll trouble Old Sect Master Gu to swallow this poison pill as a sign of loyalty."

Lüqiu Jinyuan took out a black pill bottle from his sleeve and tossed it to him, smiling faintly.

"Third Prince… that’s probably not necessary, is it?"

The moment Old Sect Master Gu saw the bottle, his expression darkened. He forced a smile, trying to talk his way out.

"Old Sect Master Gu, you’re a smart man. I don’t need to say more."

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s voice dropped a few degrees colder.

Hearing that, Old Sect Master Gu shivered. He wasn’t stupid—how could he not understand what Lüqiu Jinyuan meant?

The man was ready to kill Wei Tu just because he took the Ghost-Eyed Demon Spider.

And compared to Wei Tu…

He, Gu, had just seen Lüqiu Jinyuan’s hidden identity with his own eyes. There was no way he’d be let off easy.

Thinking that, he clenched his teeth and reluctantly accepted the black pill bottle. Hands shaking, he took out the poison pill and swallowed it down.

"Good. Now, Old Sect Master, please tell me everything about the battle between Wei Tu and Faguang."

Lüqiu Jinyuan nodded slightly, looking satisfied. He immediately moved to the next topic.

But before continuing, he added, "Once Wei Tu is dead, if your performance is decent, aside from Faguang’s belongings, all other treasures on him will be yours."

Big rewards attract bold men.

Lüqiu Jinyuan had understood that truth for a long time.

So now that he had Old Sect Master Gu’s “loyalty,” he wasn’t going to hoard some loot if it meant securing his obedience.

"Thank you, Third Prince." Hearing this, Old Sect Master Gu’s face, still a little pale from the poison, quickly lit up with excitement and relief—like someone who had just survived a disaster.

That kind of look was something Lüqiu Jinyuan had seen countless times over the years.

He didn’t pay it much mind. He waved his hand for Gu to calm down and began asking for detailed intel on Wei Tu.

For example, how did Wei Tu break free from the restraints of the Xuan Spider Robe?

Know your enemy, and you’ll win every battle.

Now that Wei Tu had risen so suddenly to Nascent Soul, Lüqiu Jinyuan wasn’t going to take any chances.

"It was a fourth-rank low-grade refined corpse."

Gu didn’t dare lie. He truthfully explained how Cao Mi used the Yin corpse to disrupt the formation woven into the Xuan Spider Robe.

But when he finished, he still hadn’t mentioned that Wei Tu was dual-cultivating both body and spell arts, or that he possessed talisman treasures.

These details didn’t affect the logic behind how the robe was broken or how Faguang died.

So if Lüqiu Jinyuan didn’t ask, he wasn’t going to offer them up.

Just because he had given in for now didn’t mean he was going to go all-in.

As for whether Lüqiu Jinyuan might later blame him? Gu wasn’t too worried.

After all, it wouldn’t be hard to come up with a few excuses.

In short—

How could an outsider like him be expected to know every secret trick Wei Tu had?

'If Lüqiu Jinyuan wins, he’s not going to get mad at me over something so minor.'

'Besides, I’m still a Nascent Soul cultivator. It’s only normal to have some resentment when someone acts this domineering. It’s not like he won’t give me even one chance.'

'But if he loses…'

'That’ll be my chance.'

Old Sect Master Gu sneered in his heart.

As the sect master of the Divine Stone Sect, someone stronger than all his predecessors, he had his pride. He wasn’t going to submit completely just because of one poison pill.

Lüqiu Jinyuan, of course, had no way of knowing what was in Gu’s mind. But as a prodigy of the Lüqiu Clan and the future ruler of the Donghua Demon Kingdom…

Even if he did suspect something, he wouldn’t waste time grilling Gu about it.

That would only make him look petty.

Asking for intel, knowing your enemy—this alone showed how seriously Lüqiu Jinyuan took Wei Tu, this newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator. There was no need to get hung up on every little detail.

"Southern Yan Sea… a Nascent Soul prodigy…"

Lüqiu Jinyuan looked up, staring deep into the ruins. As a genius who rose from a branch family, the kind of people he hated most in life were those born with privilege from the main bloodline.

Wei Tu, a four-hundred-year-old Nascent Soul, most likely fit that mold.

…

Wei Tu and Cao Mi knew nothing about Lüqiu Jinyuan’s thoughts.

After finishing their recovery, the two followed their plan and prepared to leave the Flying Serpent Island Ruins.

The journey was quiet.

Thanks to Wei Tu’s senses, they didn’t run into any real danger on their way out.

Half a day later, they exited the ruins. Once they got their bearings, they headed toward Yunyang Island.

Yunyang Island was a major spirit island in the Red Algae Sea Region, no less renowned than the capital of the Donghua Demon Kingdom.

It was also known for being a haven for rogue cultivators—perfect for people like Wei Tu and Cao Mi to settle in for the long term.

In fact, if Wei Tu hadn’t needed a Condensing Soul Pill to break through to Body Refinement Tier Four back then, they would’ve already gone to Yunyang Island to seek new Immortal Dao opportunities.

"Not good! Someone’s following the two of you!" Old Ancestor Chilong suddenly warned.

"It’s Wu Fang and Old Sect Master Gu."

He added quickly.

Even though Old Sect Master Gu was in disguise, his sect’s poor inheritance made him easy to recognize at a glance.

As for Wu Fang…

Ever since Wei Tu left the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild, Wu Fang had joined as a new guest elder. He and Wei Tu had been keeping a close watch on him.

Recognizing him now wasn’t hard at all.

"Those two teamed up? And they’ve got the guts to lie in wait outside the ruins to hunt us down?"

Wei Tu’s brows rose slightly. He was confused.

Before entering the Flying Serpent Island Ruins, he’d already grown suspicious of Wu Fang’s identity. That was why he scrapped his plan to cooperate with the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild and decided to take out Faguang and Old Sect Master Gu on his own.

So seeing Wu Fang and Old Sect Master Gu together now wasn’t that surprising.

What he really didn’t understand was how those two had the nerve to team up and come after him and Cao Mi.

They weren’t exhausted. Anyone could see they’d come out of the battle with Faguang without any serious injuries.

Two versus two.

From a power standpoint, Wu Fang and Old Sect Master Gu clearly didn’t have the upper hand.

"Wu Fang is now mid-Nascent Soul. I don’t know how he advanced, but I advise you to avoid him for now," Old Ancestor Chilong said in a grave tone.

"What? Mid-Nascent Soul?" Wei Tu froze for a second. Then, without hesitation, he stepped forward and pulled Cao Mi into his arms.

"Dao Brother Wei, what are you—?"

The sudden move startled Cao Mi. Even though she already had strong feelings for Wei Tu and had thought about becoming his Nascent Soul Dao partner…

She still wasn’t ready for such intimate contact out of nowhere.

'Forget it, it’s Dao Brother Wei…'

Though stiff from the shock, Cao Mi closed her eyes and stopped resisting, bracing herself for what she thought was about to come.

But soon, as Wei Tu rapidly formed a spell seal with his hands, she realized—his intent wasn’t her. He was reacting to some unknown threat.

"Don’t move. Someone’s chasing us!" Wei Tu’s voice entered her ears through a sound transmission.

Cao Mi’s heart jumped. She immediately spread out her divine sense to scan the nearby sea.

As her range expanded, she finally saw them—two figures, several hundred zhang behind them, suddenly appeared and were quickly closing in.

At the same time, a faint blood mist started to rise from Wei Tu’s body. Behind him, a giant ghostly phantom appeared out of thin air.

The phantom awkwardly mimicked Wei Tu’s hand gestures, slowly forming spell seals.

Three hundred zhang.

Two hundred zhang.

The two pursuers became clearer and clearer in Cao Mi’s vision.

Both were male cultivators dressed in old-fashioned robes.

Cao Mi’s heart trembled slightly. She sensed a mid-Nascent Soul aura from both of them.

Sure, on paper, she and Wei Tu’s Yin-Yang corpse puppet weren’t any weaker than a mid-Nascent Soul. They could hold their own in a fight.

But she didn’t believe mid-Nascent Soul cultivators were so easy to handle.

Otherwise, Wei Tu wouldn’t be trying to escape right now. He would’ve stayed and fought to rob them instead.

Cao Mi knew just how cautious Wei Tu was—and how greedy he could be.

One hundred zhang…

Half a breath later, seeing the pursuers get even closer, Cao Mi steeled herself. She was ready to leap from Wei Tu’s embrace and go all-out in battle.

But right then—

The space around them suddenly twisted. Wei Tu’s body turned into a black blood mist and vanished from sight.

A sharp screech rang out in Cao Mi’s ears. She looked back and saw the gap between her and the two figures behind her suddenly stretch by several hundred zhang.

And that gap was still widening fast—it was almost ten li away already.

"Is this blood escape technique the same one Dao Brother Wei used decades ago to escape the Six Desires Daoist’s pursuit?" Cao Mi was stunned.

She had clearly seen the two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators chasing them. Their speed was way above early Nascent Soul level.

Yet even so, they were left in the dust by Wei Tu. The difference was obvious.

"This Wei Tu… actually has such an insane escape technique?"

Compared to Cao Mi, Lüqiu Jinyuan—who was giving chase—was even more shocked.

There were countless powerful blood escape arts in the world. He himself had a few that were on par with the one Wei Tu was using now—Curse Ghost Blood Escape Art.

But without exception, those blood escape techniques were all deep secret arts. They weren’t just hard to learn but took at least a hundred years of bitter cultivation to use to full effect.

Expecting to use them right after learning and outrun a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator? Unrealistic.

But Wei Tu?

He was barely 500 years old.

Take away the time it took to reach Nascent Soul, and the time he’d had to train in such a high-level blood escape technique was minimal.

'This guy definitely has some huge secret.' A trace of greed flashed in Lüqiu Jinyuan’s eyes.

Before, he only wanted to kill Wei Tu to remove a future threat and present the head of the one who possessed the "Ghost-Eyed Demon Spider " to the Earth Spider Matriarch as a gift to win her over completely.

But now, his goal had changed.

Just Wei Tu himself was worth making a move for.

"Think you can escape? Not that easy!"

Lüqiu Jinyuan sneered. He pulled out a white jade bottle from his sleeve, poured out some gold and silver spiritual liquid, and smeared it across his face.

In the next moment, a strange dual-horned ghost face symbol formed from the gold and silver liquid, twisting into a sinister grin. It looked like a ghost was staring back.

Then, a pair of green wings, each over ten feet long, sprouted from Lüqiu Jinyuan’s back out of nowhere.

With one flap, he covered several li in a blink, shooting straight toward Wei Tu’s direction.

His speed was nearly 30% faster than Wei Tu’s Curse Ghost Blood Escape Art.

And all of this happened in the blink of an eye.

However, since he was just a moment slower in activating his spell, Lüqiu Jinyuan still fell behind by over 100 li.

Seeing this, even Wei Tu, who usually kept calm under pressure, couldn’t help but pale. He knew very well—at this pace, in just a short while, that "Wu Fang" would catch up to him.

Without hesitation, he began burning the "Curse Ghost" behind him like mad, fleeing at full throttle.

That extra push widened the distance between them again. Lüqiu Jinyuan’s speed dropped back behind his.

But before Wei Tu could get outside of Lüqiu Jinyuan’s divine sense range, the other had already noticed and didn’t hesitate to do the same—burning power to boost his speed.

Luckily, something was working in Wei Tu’s favor.

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s acceleration had its limits. Even though he narrowed the gap a lot, at his current speed, catching up would still take at least several days.

"At this speed, the Curse Ghost I have can only hold for four more days."

"Four days… if Wu Fang doesn’t back off, we’ll need to prepare for the worst."

While running, Wei Tu sent a message to Cao Mi and Old Ancestor Chilong to discuss their next move.

He wasn’t particularly afraid of a normal mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

But the key issue was—Wu Fang’s abilities didn’t feel like a typical mid-Nascent Soul.

This kind of abnormal strength was often much more troublesome than facing someone at the same level.

So unless absolutely necessary, Wei Tu didn’t want to clash with "Wu Fang" at all.

"There are a few spirit islands nearby we could hide in, but with Wu Fang’s skills, I doubt they’ll fool him for long."

"To really shake him off, we’d need to hide on a big island like Yuanjun Island. That way, Wu Fang wouldn’t dare act recklessly. But… the Yunyang Island we’re heading to is still at least two months away."

"Yuanjun Island’s a bit closer, but it’ll still take at least six days to reach."

"And Wu Fang might be connected to that Lüqiu Jinyuan you mentioned… if we go to Yuanjun Island now, it could be walking right into a trap."

"Unless… we pledge allegiance to Lüqiu Qingfeng."

Cao Mi studied the sea map and laid out the situation for Wei Tu.

"Six days? Lüqiu Qingfeng?"

Wei Tu fell silent, thinking hard.

At their current speed, his Curse Ghost could only last four days, but that didn’t mean his blood escape would also cap at four.

If he burned his blood essence, with his Tier Four body, he could push it for another two days.

On top of that…

He still had a backup Curse Ghost.

That was the sleeping Wind Cleaving Eagle.

Though it was only late Tier Three in cultivation, using special means, he could still refine it into a Curse Ghost.

Now that his life was on the line, Wei Tu wasn’t about to hesitate over sacrificing a beast companion that had been with him for years.

"Old Demon Zhu, got any ideas?"

Wei Tu paused in thought and asked.

If possible, he didn’t really want to lose the Wind Cleaving Eagle.