Panyang Mountain, located two hundred miles west of Qingyu Gate, within the vast Duyuan Swamp, was a famous and spiritually rich mountain in the region.
After receiving Fu Linglong's talisman, Wei Tu didn't hesitate. He told Yu Gongshou and the others to wait patiently in place while he quickly flew toward Panyang Mountain under the pretext of retreating for closed-door cultivation, as they had agreed.
Two days later.
Wei Tu arrived at Panyang Mountain and met with Fu Linglong, who had been waiting there.
They met in a small pavilion.
Outside the pavilion, a third-tier hidden formation was set up to block divine perception.
"Who would have thought that today, Miss Fu and I would be joining forces?"
A greenish light stopped outside the pavilion, revealing a black-skinned man with a smiling face.
After landing, the man waved his sleeve and revealed his true appearance. His features were ordinary, though his facial contours were somewhat sharp.
This man was none other than Wei Tu, who had arrived as agreed.
"Miss Fu, I'm curious… What exactly does Ji Zhang want from the Fu siblings?" Wei Tu sat down, glancing at Fu Linglong who was sitting opposite him, wearing a conical hat. He asked with a tone of curiosity.
When he fought against Ji Zhang before, he had guessed that Ji Zhang's intentions for following the Fu siblings weren't simple, that he was after something. However, he still didn't know what Ji Zhang was really after.
It could be anything: secret realm opportunities, breakthrough elixirs, or something else.
There were many possibilities.
However, Wei Tu could guess one thing: Ji Zhang's goal was most likely related to Nascent Soul opportunities.
After all, Ji Zhang was at a critical point where he was about to break through to Nascent Soul.
At this point, only a Nascent Soul opportunity could justify him abandoning the favorable environment provided by Tianyi Sect and traveling all the way to Chu Kingdom.
"Wei Tu, do you really want to know?"
Fu Linglong didn't immediately answer him. She curled her lips in a mocking smile, her expression filled with disdain.
"Master Wei, once you know about this, there will be no turning back. You'll become Ji Zhang's lifelong enemy," she said with a hint of warning.
"Ji Zhang has his father, Ji Yifeng, behind him," she added.
Hearing this, Wei Tu didn't show any sign of fear. His expression remained calm, as indifferent as it had been when he first arrived.
Having been in the cultivation world for so long, even if Wei Tu was internally cautious, his self-cultivation allowed him to mask his emotions completely.
"Miss Fu underestimates me. If I were afraid of Ji Zhang, I would have asked for his Instant Transmission Array more than ten days ago," Wei Tu said lightly with a smile, his expression relaxed.
Touching Ji Zhang's bottom line didn't mean touching his father Ji Yifeng's. As long as Wei Tu kept his distance, Ji Yifeng was unlikely to pursue him.
Even if he did, Wei Tu could always retreat to the Yingding region and wait until he broke through to Nascent Soul before reemerging.
As for this time, trying to seize Ji Zhang's Nascent Soul opportunity…
He wasn't going to make a big deal of it!
As long as he kept everything confidential, replicating the success from the Ming Wang Gate and Xiaohan Mountain wouldn't be hard.
Besides, they were still in the scheming phase. If things became too dangerous, he could always back out. After all, he wasn't afraid of offending Fu Linglong.
Fu Linglong didn't know that Wei Tu had thoughts of backing out. Upon hearing his words, she nodded slightly and then revealed Ji Zhang's real intentions.
"Ji Zhang pretended to help me, but in reality, he wants to cultivate with me, steal my Buddhist heart's power, and use it to help him pass the Qiling tribulation in his Nascent Soul breakthrough!"
Fu Linglong spoke slowly.
Her tone was calm, but Wei Tu could still hear the slight tremor in her voice, clearly indicating that she still cared about the relationship.
However, it was Ji Zhang's betrayal that had completely filled Fu Linglong's heart with hatred.
"So that's what this is about," Wei Tu said, his face showing deep disappointment.
Unlike Ji Zhang, Wei Tu already had a "spiritual tool" that could easily help him pass the Qiling tribulation, so he had no need to covet Ji Zhang's Nascent Soul opportunity.
Fu Linglong's Buddhist heart power was useless to him!
"This item… I'm not interested. I'll take my leave now," Wei Tu said, standing up and giving a polite bow, intending to leave.
If it were another treasure, he might have been interested in seizing it. But since Ji Zhang's goal was to cultivate with Fu Linglong… That wasn't something he wanted to get involved in!
The right to cultivate with her was in Fu Linglong's hands. Whether she agreed or not, who had the power to interfere?
After all, behind Fu Linglong stood the powerful Nascent Soul force of Jinglian Monastery.
If Fu Linglong didn't want to cultivate with Ji Zhang, she could simply refuse, and even if Ji Zhang had a powerful background, he'd have to accept the rejection.
"When I said this to Master Wei earlier, I meant that once you know, there's no turning back," Fu Linglong said, her lips moving softly as she spoke.
"What do you mean by that?"
Wei Tu paused, his brow furrowing as he turned to look at Fu Linglong, sitting on the stone bench.
At that moment, he began to sense something was off.
If Fu Linglong didn't want to cultivate with Ji Zhang, she could have simply rejected him. Why would she go through the trouble of inviting him, an enemy, to Panyang Mountain to conspire?
Clearly, her goal might not just be to refuse to cultivate with Ji Zhang anymore!
"I want revenge. I want to cripple Ji Zhang completely! Make sure he can never break through to the Nascent Soul realm!"
Fu Linglong's face was filled with hatred as she spoke coldly.
"Cripple Ji Zhang..."
Wei Tu was taken aback by what this mad woman had said.
He wasn't afraid of the trouble that might arise if they teamed up to destroy Ji Zhang after all. He had already killed Yuwen Cheng, the number one genius of the She Ri Sect... Ji Zhang wasn't necessarily more important or noble than Yuwen Cheng.
What frightened him was Fu Linglong's extreme desire for vengeance.
Although Ji Zhang had evil intentions from the beginning, he did save Fu Linglong's life once, so it didn't make sense for her to want to destroy him this much.
But then, Wei Tu thought of how Fu Linglong had previously placed a city-wide bounty on him in Xiantao City, and how she had traveled all the way to chase him.
She had always been narrow-minded, always returning evil for evil.
She treated him that way before.
And now, she was treating Ji Zhang the same way.
As for the so-called life-saving grace...
For Fu Linglong, a "malicious" rescue would probably just add to her hatred.
At this moment, after understanding the full context, Wei Tu quickly realized that Ji Zhang had intentionally put Fu Linglong in danger to "rescue" her.
But the plan had backfired. Fu Linglong had noticed something was wrong, thanks to Wei Tu's earlier warning.
"If Master Wei doesn't help me, I'll just let Ji Zhang succeed and break through to Nascent Soul!"
"At that point, Ji Zhang, a newly promoted Nascent Soul, won't forget the grudge from Master Wei's blackmail more than ten days ago!"
Fu Linglong continued.
She knew Ji Zhang's character well. Once Ji Zhang successfully broke through to Nascent Soul, he would surely seek revenge on Wei Tu to settle old scores.
It was simple. Wei Tu posed a significant threat.
If Wei Tu didn't have the potential to break through to Nascent Soul, Ji Zhang might just laugh off their enmity and consider it a funny story for later.
But, unfortunately, Wei Tu had that potential.
If Ji Zhang ignored the matter and allowed Wei Tu to break through to Nascent Soul, the feud would become a source of embarrassment for Ji Zhang in the future.
"Are you threatening me?" Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's expression turned cold. He appeared beside Fu Linglong in an instant, grabbing her delicate neck with his left hand.
More than ten days ago, Wei Tu had no trouble breaking through the layers of protection set by the Fu siblings and directly capturing Fu Linglong.
Today, with only Fu Linglong alone, capturing her was an easy task.
"Fu Linglong, if I exert just a little more force, you'll die today!" Wei Tu stepped forward, slamming Fu Linglong's body into the pillar of the pavilion, his voice cold.
In the face of threats,
Wei Tu didn't know anything about showing mercy.
When he came to Panyang Mountain, he had already set up the "Instant Transmission Array" with Bai Zhi far away. If anything went wrong, he could escape immediately.
As Wei Tu's hand tightened,
Fu Linglong's breathing became more rushed.
However, Fu Linglong did not yield. She smiled faintly and said, "It seems what I said hit the nerve that Master Wei is most afraid of."
"After all, even if Master Wei can avoid a Nascent Soul elder's pursuit, hiding in the Ying Ding Tribe, you'd still be on edge every day, let alone your friends and relatives…"
Wei Tu didn't reply. He just increased the pressure of his left hand, leaving visible blood marks on her white neck.
But—
Unlike others,
Fu Linglong didn't show any fear in the face of death threats. She still wore a faint smile, showing no signs of fear. It was as if she had already accepted her fate.
"If you want to do something, just say it," she said calmly.
Seeing Fu Linglong so hard to deal with, Wei Tu didn't continue to threaten her. He released his left hand and returned to his seat.
This time, he didn't intend to kill Fu Linglong. He just wanted her to understand her position so that he could take the initiative in their negotiation.
Wei Tu knew that Fu Linglong, upon meeting him, would definitely come prepared.
In other words, even if he really wanted to kill her, he wouldn't do it at Panyang Mountain.
Fu Linglong also knew this. She didn't give in when threatened because she understood that he wasn't actually going to kill her.
"It's simple! Destroy his Dao heart, make it so he can never break through to the Qiling tribulation again." Fu Linglong, after being freed, took a deep breath and smiled as she said this.
After speaking, Fu Linglong telepathically conveyed the exact details of the operation to Wei Tu.
"What? You want to do that?"
"This... This is too absurd."
Hearing this, Wei Tu couldn't help but exclaim in shock. His face showed astonishment.
Fu Linglong's plan was—pretend to agree to Ji Zhang's proposition, show that she was willing to cultivate with him, but when the time came to actually cultivate, she would find someone else, take her Yin essence, and completely ruin Ji Zhang's plans. This would destroy his Dao heart.
And the person she chose to help her in this plot was none other than Wei Tu.
"I don't agree!"
Wei Tu shook his head and refused outright.