Hearing this, Wei Tu didn't say more. He nodded gratefully to Yu Gongshou and the others, then waved his sleeve and set off alone for Yuping Mountain, where Mirror Water Pavilion was located.
Half a day later, Wei Tu arrived at Yuping Mountain.
After receiving his message talisman, Kou Hongying flew out from the mountain gate of Mirror Water Pavilion to meet him.
After a brief conversation, Wei Tu learned from Kou Hongying what had happened three years ago—how Shen Yunqiu had deliberately hindered Wei Yan's Golden Core breakthrough within Mirror Water Pavilion.
"That wretched old hag! I've never had any grudge with her, yet just because she has an old feud with your line, she purposely obstructed my daughter's path?"
Wei Tu was so furious he let out a cold laugh.
He hadn't imagined that the path he paved years ago for Wei Yan would be ruined by Shen Yunqiu's petty, vindictive nature.
It made everything suddenly so much more difficult.
Even though Wei Yan wasn't in immediate danger, without Kou Hongying's timely protection, the process of her core formation was far riskier.
If nothing happened, all was well—but if something went wrong, not only would her breakthrough fail, but her life could be threatened. Forming a core wasn't child's play.
On top of that, Wei Yan had already been in closed-door cultivation for three years now. At this point, it wasn't wise for him to interfere directly—everything would depend on her own fortune.
"Shen Yunqiu has less than a hundred years of lifespan left, but she still has a chance to reach Nascent Soul. None of the Golden Core elders in the sect want to offend her because of that…"
"Even Sect Leader Ning feels the same."
Kou Hongying paused, explaining the whole story and its reasons to Wei Tu.
At the same time, her words carried a hidden plea for Wei Tu to let go of his anger.
In short—Shen Yunqiu was not someone to provoke lightly.
Having either limited lifespan or hope for Nascent Soul would let one act with impunity in the sect and the cultivation world. Shen Yunqiu happened to possess both.
And her strength wasn't weak either. She was already at peak Golden Core, one step below Nascent Soul—a top powerhouse short of that final breakthrough.
From every perspective, there was no benefit in Wei Tu tangling with her.
Taking a step back would keep things calm.
"I understand. For now… Wei Yan's breakthrough is the most important thing," Wei Tu nodded, seeming persuaded, with no sign of wanting revenge.
But in truth, Wei Tu had etched Shen Yunqiu's name deep in his mind.
Right now, with only peak Golden Core cultivation, she dared lash out at Wei Yan over old grudges.
If she ever reached Nascent Soul, who knew how far she'd go?
"Once Yan'er finishes her breakthrough, I'll find a chance to kill that old hag. At worst, I'll destroy her path forward," Wei Tu thought, his eyes narrowing as he made up his mind.
In both righteous and demonic paths, being a perpetual nice guy led nowhere.
Shen Yunqiu had become a roadblock for him, for the Wei family, and for Kou Hongying.
She had to go.
Having learned Wei Yan's current situation, Wei Tu didn't waste more time. He bid farewell to Kou Hongying, planning to head to Moon Condensation Palace himself to guard Wei Yan's seclusion.
"I have nothing pressing right now. I'll go with you, Uncle Wei," Kou Hongying said after a moment's thought.
Earlier, she hadn't stayed by Wei Yan's side to guard her not because she was heartless, but because Mirror Water Pavilion and Moon Condensation Palace were separate sects. Her lingering in Moon Condensation Palace would have been inappropriate.
Also, during the first few years of Golden Core breakthroughs, things were usually stable—mainly spent gathering power and nurturing spirit, energy, and essence.
It was the later years that were the truly dangerous part.
Of course, by now, going to guard Wei Yan wouldn't really help her breakthrough directly. It was more for their own peace of mind.
…
A few days later.
Inside Mirror Water Pavilion, Shen Yunqiu, who was in closed-door cultivation, learned that Wei Tu had appeared outside the mountain gate and met with Kou Hongying.
"Wei Tu? He's still alive?"
Looking at the message talisman in her hand, Shen Yunqiu's eyes flashed with surprise as she muttered.
Three years ago, hearing that Wei Tu had been "missing" for more than a decade, and that Wei Yan was preparing to attempt her core formation in Mirror Water Pavilion, she had assumed Wei Tu was already dead. That was why she'd suggested the idea during the sect's high-level meeting, thinking Kou Hongying would watch over Wei Yan alone.
She never imagined her judgment would prove wrong.
"But it doesn't matter. After all, he's just a mid-Golden Core nobody…"
Shen Yunqiu dismissed it with a cold smirk.
From her perspective, she only had about a hundred years left to live. Whether or not she reached Nascent Soul, Wei Tu couldn't possibly gain enough strength in that time to threaten her.
In a hundred years, even the most talented genius couldn't leap from mid-Golden Core all the way to peak Golden Core.
And after she died…
Who cared what chaos came after?
She had no direct descendants.
Her only nephew had already been trained into a Golden Core True Lord two hundred years ago—he could take care of himself.
Thinking of family, Shen Yunqiu's cold, snowy face showed a rare hint of loneliness, and her heart filled with emptiness.
Hundreds of years ago, back when she was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she'd once fallen in love with a man from Tai Xuan Sect. They'd pledged themselves to each other.
But in the end, thanks to her master Qin Yuling's stubborn, old-fashioned rules—and the fact that they belonged to rival sects—the relationship fell apart before it could ever bloom.
And that was exactly why she hated Qin Yuling's line so much.
If not for them, she wouldn't have ended up alone all these years, with no one close enough to even share heartfelt words.
It was because of this resentment that, more than two hundred years ago, Shen Yunqiu had secretly switched the Mortal Shedding Pill that the sect had given to Qin Yuling.
She wanted Qin Yuling's line to be completely wiped out!
But fate didn't go as planned. Qin Yuling still managed to break through to Golden Core, and even her disciple Kou Hongying became a Golden Core True Lord…
"But once I break through to Nascent Soul, Qin Yuling's line will vanish for good!"
Shen Yunqiu's eyes flashed with bitter hatred.
After muttering this, she gradually calmed her expression. She resumed her cultivation, trying to sense the subtle threads of fate and prepare to break into the Nascent Soul realm.
An incense stick's time later, as Shen Yunqiu sat cross-legged on her meditation mat, her long black hair gradually turned snow-white. Behind her, faint, clear phoenix cries echoed.
In the next instant, a fist-sized, snow-white phoenix, glowing softly, emerged from between Shen Yunqiu's eyebrows and began circling her.
Each time this phoenix circled, Shen Yunqiu's aura swelled stronger, pushing her closer and closer to the critical threshold of peak Golden Core.
If any old True Lords of Mirror Water Pavilion had been present, they would have recognized this snow-white phoenix as the very same true spirit essence—the Moonshadow Snow Phoenix—that had mysteriously disappeared from the sect more than five hundred years ago.
The current Pavilion Master of Mirror Water Pavilion, Ning Xuefeng, had even taken her name from this Moonshadow Snow Phoenix.
No one would have guessed that the essence of the long-lost Moonshadow Snow Phoenix had somehow fallen into the hands of Shen Yunqiu, one of the sect's senior True Lords.
…
Wei Tu's enemies on the brink of forming their Nascent Souls didn't stop with Shen Yunqiu. In the Chu Kingdom's Qingyu Sect, Ji Zhang had already reached peak Golden Core and was currently crossing the first two stages of the Nascent Soul tribulation—shattering his core to form an infant and condensing the Nascent Soul's spiritual body.
He was now approaching the final and hardest stage of the three Nascent Soul trials: the Spirit Awakening tribulation.
The Spirit Awakening stage was known as the toughest of the three trials.
It determined whether a cultivator's Nascent Soul would be true or false.
Aside from legendary "spirit-connected artifacts," very few secret arts or treasures could make a real difference in this stage. Most other aids were like a drop in the bucket—useless when it mattered most.
As for these spirit-connected artifacts, even someone of Ji Zhang's status couldn't easily obtain one from Tianyi Sect. Such items were usually a sect's most guarded treasures, reserved for future sect-wide crises.
Still, Ji Zhang wasn't worried or afraid of the Spirit Awakening trial. He had already won the heart of Fu Linglong, the Buddhist maiden. With her help, he estimated his chances of success at over 90%.
"Linglong, I've reached the critical moment. Hurry and come to me!"
In his cave within Qingyu Sect, Ji Zhang, who was meditating on a cushion, suddenly halted his cultivation. He flipped his hand, took out a message talisman, and sent it flying with a burst of spiritual power.
Although the Nascent Soul breakthrough process couldn't truly be reversed, with his current strength, he could suppress it for a few days without much difficulty.
But—
After the talisman shot out,
time passed with no response.
Ji Zhang waited and waited, but Fu Linglong didn't reply or appear.
"Where is Linglong? Where did she go?"
Even though Ji Zhang had excellent control over his emotions, at this critical juncture, seeing no sign of Fu Linglong filled him with a burning rage he could barely contain.
He clearly remembered ordering her not to stray far from Qingyu Sect during his seclusion. Even if she went out, she wasn't supposed to leave the sect's vicinity.
Obviously, Fu Linglong had ignored his words like they were nothing.
"Stay patient…"
Ji Zhang forced himself to swallow his anger and calm his mind.
After all, to pass this tribulation, he desperately needed Fu Linglong's Buddhist heart.
Yet deep down, he had already marked Fu Linglong with resentment, doubting if she was truly fit to be his Dao companion. He would have to reconsider that later.
Time crept by…
One day, two days…
Before he knew it, the third day had come.
"Where is Fu Linglong?" Ji Zhang roared, eyes burning with fury.
He could only hold out for another two days at most.
After two more days, he would have to face the Spirit Awakening tribulation no matter what.
And those two days included the time needed for dual cultivation with Fu Linglong.
By his calculation, he had less than half a day left to wait for her.
"There's a message!"
At last, after endless waiting, Ji Zhang spotted a talisman flying into his cave.
A look of joy flashed across his face as he raised his right hand and pulled the talisman into his grasp.
This talisman contained not only a letter but also a jade slip.
"A jade slip?" Ji Zhang frowned.
He couldn't understand why, at such a crucial moment, Fu Linglong would send him a jade slip.
Driven by curiosity, Ji Zhang swept his divine sense over the jade slip to read its contents.
Pfft—
In the next instant, Ji Zhang coughed up a mouthful of blood as his aura instantly weakened.