Wei Tu, standing to the side, didn't realize that Ni Shihuang had grown resentful because of him. But he clearly heard what Ni Meixian had just said.
Using his status to bully her clanmates...
That behavior, while something he had deliberately allowed three years ago, had now crossed the line into arrogance.
If he let her go unchecked again, who knew what kind of trouble she'd stir up?
Besides, he never truly accepted her as a concubine. If she got too full of herself, she'd just end up suffering once he left.
Thinking of that, Wei Tu cast a cold glance at Ni Meixian and warned, "Know your place. Right now, you're still just a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
As soon as those words landed, Ni Meixian, who had just been basking in her triumph over Ni Shihuang, turned pale. The blood drained from her face, and panic flashed in her eyes.
Fortunately, Wei Tu had said it through voice transmission, sparing her from complete embarrassment.
Her expression shift was brief. In just a moment, she recovered her demeanor and returned to the haughty posture of a "Nascent Soul concubine."
But this change didn't escape Ni Shihuang's notice.
'A concubine is still just a concubine—just a substitute for a Dao companion,' Ni Shihuang sneered inwardly. Her gaze toward Ni Meixian carried a hint of pity.
She was sure Wei Tu had stayed so long in the Cloud Ze Secret Realm because of her.
To her, Ni Meixian was just a replacement.
After all, they were sisters and looked somewhat alike.
Otherwise, why would Wei Tu stand up for her?
...
Wei Tu had no interest in the little drama between the two Ni sisters. What he cared more about was the ancient broken talisman in Ni Shihuang's hands.
If this talisman was truly related to that devil path cultivator, it might help him uncover that person's origins, weaknesses—and maybe even a way to save Bai Zhi.
So on their way back to Yunhe Mountain, while chatting with Ni Shihuang, Wei Tu casually brought it up.
"That ancient talisman fragment was something the Ni Clan of Heshan got by chance. It doesn't belong to me personally, so it's kept in our clan's treasure vault."
Ni Shihuang quickly explained why she hadn't offered the talisman right away.
Then she patted her chest and promised that once they returned to Yunhe Mountain, she'd immediately present it as a congratulatory gift for Wei Tu's Nascent Soul advancement, just as promised.
Wei Tu smiled and waved his hand, indicating she didn't need to be so eager.
Still, since a Nascent Soul cultivator had brought it up, the Heshan Ni Clan wouldn't dare delay.
A few days later, on the day they returned to Yunhe Mountain, the Ni Clan ancestor and Ni Shihuang personally went to the clan's treasure vault and retrieved the talisman fragment, handing it over in person.
"Thanks to both of you." Wei Tu waved his sleeve and drew the jade box containing the talisman toward him. He sent his divine sense inside and examined the treasure.
The ancient talisman fragment glowed faintly. On its surface was a strange flame pattern. Inside the pattern, a tiny double-headed figure could be vaguely seen, sitting in meditation like a cultivator.
But unfortunately, a corner of the talisman had been torn off. It looked like someone had ripped a small piece from the bottom right.
"A pity it's missing a corner. It's hard to figure out its original function now," Wei Tu sighed silently.
There were usually two ways to identify a talisman's function.
One was to activate the talisman's power and analyze it from there, determining whether it belonged to the categories of "attack, defense, seal, or restriction."
The second was to study the talisman script carved on it—its style and flow—then deduce its purpose.
Unfortunately, this talisman not only had a missing corner, making it impossible to activate, but its script was also unfamiliar to Wei Tu.
That meant neither method worked for now.
'Of course. If it weren't broken, it wouldn't have ended up in my hands,' Wei Tu muttered, then stored the jade box away, planning to study it again once he returned to Kang Kingdom.
Knowledge and cultivation were two different things.
Even though his cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul realm, his knowledge and insights were still at the Golden Core level and hadn't yet caught up.
In other words, he couldn't figure out this ancient talisman for now, but another Nascent Soul cultivator—or his future self—might.
"Our clan still needs some time to prepare the spirit banquet. If Senior Fu isn't in a rush, would you like to walk around Yunhe Mountain with me?"
Seeing him snap out of his thoughts, Ni Shihuang smiled gently and invited him.
Normally, she wouldn't offer such a forward invitation in front of Ni Meixian. As the elder sister, she usually let her younger sister take the lead.
But thinking of Ni Meixian's recent provocation, she no longer cared.
Yunhe Mountain?
Hearing her offer, Wei Tu was a bit tempted. He suddenly wanted to revisit the old place.
After all, Yunhe Mountain had been the second major cultivation ground he'd spent time in during his path to immortality.
"Gladly."
Wei Tu didn't decline and accepted with a smile.
As for Ni Meixian's feelings? He didn't bother considering them. She was just a concubine, not some revered ancestor.
In fact, even that "concubine" title needed quotation marks.
With that, Wei Tu flicked his sleeve and flew straight out of the main hall, waiting for Ni Shihuang to follow.
But soon after, a strange look crossed his face.
Because—
Ni Shihuang didn't immediately follow him out. Instead, she walked over to Ni Meixian and said softly, "Second Sister, you don't mind, do you?"
After saying that, she gracefully swept her jade sleeve and exited the hall.
Inside, Ni Meixian—who had remained calm after Wei Tu left—immediately turned red with anger and embarrassment when she heard those words.
"Interesting," Wei Tu turned his head and glanced at the elegant, poised Ni family phoenix woman now standing beside him.
He still remembered that a century ago, this very woman had led the Ni Clan and the Xue Clan's Golden Core cultivators in hunting him down.
Now, she was openly competing with her own sister… for his attention.
Although Wei Tu figured Ni Shihuang's earlier remark was just to provoke Ni Meixian, hearing it still made him sigh at how strange fate could be.
"Apologies if that made Senior Fu laugh."
Ni Shihuang knew full well that with Wei Tu's divine sense, he had surely overheard her voice transmission to Ni Meixian.
She looked apologetic and explained, "Before becoming your concubine, my younger sister was always humble and modest. Now that she's suddenly risen in status… she's a little confused about her place. I only said those things to remind her."
Wei Tu didn't buy it for a second.
He didn't believe a devil path woman like Ni Shihuang had any real sisterly affection in her heart.
Still, he had no interest in getting involved in the Ni sisters' rivalry. He gave a slight nod and moved on from the topic.
Seeing Wei Tu let it go, Ni Shihuang quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She put on a pleasant smile again and took the initiative to guide him around Yunhe Mountain.
Soon enough, the familiar sites of Yunhe Mountain—like the Ancestral Hall and Golden Moon Cliff—appeared before Wei Tu's eyes, pulling him into old memories.
When he noticed the countless mortals once bearing the Huang surname now all wearing the Ni surname instead, Wei Tu sighed to himself. He realized that aside from the siblings Huang Chengfu and his sister, likely no other branch of the Huang clan remained.
What he didn't know was whether those clansmen had been slaughtered entirely by Qi Chengchu or wiped out by the Ni clan cultivators who had taken over their home.
"None of my business," Wei Tu muttered, his expression cold and indifferent. He had no thoughts of avenging the Huang clan.
After all, it was the Huang clan of Heshan who had kicked him out of Yunhe Mountain in the first place. They had already cut all ties long ago.
"But I wonder... where is Huang Juzhi now?" Wei Tu suddenly thought of the man.
He remembered meeting the second ancestor of the Huang clan, Huang Juzhi, over a hundred years ago in Jing Kingdom. The man had been invited by Gong Shulan.
Back then, Huang Juzhi had clearly declared his intent to avenge the Huang clan and kill the one who'd harmed them.
Now, more than a century had passed. Whether Huang Juzhi had taken revenge on Qi Chengchu was unknown, but what puzzled Wei Tu more was why, as a cultivator of the Tiannü Sect, he would just sit back and let the Ni clan occupy Yunhe Mountain.
'Unless...'
A possibility struck Wei Tu. His eyes narrowed slightly as he silently chanted Know Heaven Crossing, a divine sense technique used to scan the surrounding area of Yunhe Mountain.
A moment later, his divine sense slipped past various barriers and landed on a secret prison inside Yunhe Mountain. There, he saw a middle-aged cultivator tied to a wooden post—skinny, filthy, hair matted.
"It's Huang Juzhi!" Wei Tu studied the man's features closely and made a clear identification.
As someone who had once served the Huang clan, he was naturally familiar with the face of their second ancestor.
"Strange... why wouldn't the Ni clan just kill him? Why go through the trouble of locking him in a secret prison?"
Wei Tu furrowed his brows.
At first, when using Know Heaven Crossing, his original goal had been to search for materials or magic items made from Huang Juzhi's remains.
He had not expected to find the man still alive.
To him, if the Ni clan had acted against Huang Juzhi, there'd be no reason to leave him alive.
But keeping him locked up like this clearly meant they wanted something from him.
Otherwise, a devil path clan like the Ni family wouldn't have let a known threat like Huang Juzhi live.
"So, what exactly does the Ni clan want from Huang Juzhi?"
Wei Tu's lips curved into a slight smile. He was genuinely interested now.
He wouldn't mind if this unexpected situation gave him a bit more to gain while he was still in Yunhe Mountain.
…
Half a day later, their tour around Yunhe Mountain came to an end.
Ni Shihuang personally led Wei Tu to the guest cave residence set aside for honored guests.
"If you need anything, Senior Fu, you can send a message to either myself or the clan elder... If we receive it, we'll be here right away to serve you."
Ni Shihuang paused slightly as she said this.
Even though she had just shown some intimacy with Wei Tu back in the hall to suppress Ni Meixian, the truth was, she didn't want to become his woman or share him with Ni Meixian.
So saying these words now made her uncomfortable.
Still, with Wei Tu's Nascent Soul cultivation, she didn't dare act too cold or risk displeasing him—and ruining the Ni clan's effort to expand its network.
"It's the thought that counts. No need to trouble yourself over every little thing."
Wei Tu could see she was intentionally keeping her distance and responded with a faint smile.
In fact, he welcomed it. The farther Ni Shihuang stayed from him, the easier it would be for him to slip into the hidden prison and claim his "accidental gain" from Huang Juzhi.
After all, he couldn't fool someone like Ni Shihuang the way he had fooled Ni Meixian.
Hearing Wei Tu's casual reply, Ni Shihuang was immediately relieved. She let out a quiet sigh.
Her biggest fear had been that Wei Tu would covet her beauty and make it hard for her to leave.
Now, seeing him be so understanding and not press her further was just what she wanted.
"I'll take my leave now."
After lingering briefly, Ni Shihuang made a graceful exit from the guest cave.
But just as she stepped outside, she suddenly felt a wave of emptiness in her chest.
After all, advancing to Nascent Soul on her own was a much tougher path than having a Nascent Soul partner to support her.
With a Dao companion, she could've avoided hundreds of years of detours.
"And besides... Senior Fu really isn't like other Nascent Soul devil cultivators. His personality is a bit gentler."
Ni Shihuang quietly regretted it.
Still, since she had already spoken her part, she wasn't going to take it back. And sharing a man with Ni Meixian still felt too degrading.
"Forget it... I'll do it alone. That doesn't mean I won't reach the top."
She bit her lip, steadied her Dao heart, and flew away with determination.
…
After Ni Shihuang left, Wei Tu didn't delay either.
Seeing that the time was right, he flicked his sleeve and headed straight for the secret prison where the Ni clan held Huang Juzhi.
Between the guest cave and the prison, there were plenty of restrictive barriers and formation traps—but in front of a Nascent Soul cultivator like Wei Tu, those meant nothing.
With just a flicker of his form, he passed through them easily.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wei Tu arrived outside the secret prison.
"Who are you?"
"What are you doing here?"
Tied to a wooden stake, Huang Juzhi stared at the unfamiliar face that suddenly appeared before him. After a long moment of shock, he finally spoke.
"As for my identity, it's not the right time to tell you just yet. But what I can say is—I'm not an ally of the Ni clan."
"I found you here by chance during a divine sense sweep earlier in the day."
Wei Tu paused briefly before continuing.
At the moment, revealing his identity might help earn Huang Juzhi's trust, but once it was spoken aloud, it risked being exposed.
With his Nascent Soul cultivation, Wei Tu could avoid the formations and restrictions that blocked divine sense near the prison. But Huang Juzhi couldn't. If he blurted Wei Tu's name, even accidentally, the Ni clan would know he'd been here.
And if they only knew that a Nascent Soul cultivator had visited the prison, they likely wouldn't dare cause trouble. After all, rank carries power. No mere Core Formation clan would challenge someone at Nascent Soul.
But if they found out it was Wei Tu specifically…
Then things would be different.
They might pretend not to know anything, but more likely, they'd report him to the Tiannü Sect and launch a full pursuit.
In that case, Wei Tu would have to prepare to either massacre an entire clan or flee Zheng Kingdom in disgrace.
"Not an ally?" Huang Juzhi sneered, clearly not buying it.
"I came to ask why the Ni clan kept you alive," Wei Tu said calmly. "If they had nothing to gain from you, killing you would've been much easier."
"And whatever they want from you clearly isn't something too important to you now. At this point, you might as well tell me."
His tone was mild, trying to reason rather than threaten.
In truth, Wei Tu had another option—he could snatch Huang Juzhi from this prison and cast a soul-searching technique on him. But that method crossed certain lines. He had no grudge with Huang Juzhi, and killing just to steal a treasure would go against his principles.
Also, soul-searching wasn't some foolproof solution. The Ni clan hadn't succeeded in reading Huang Juzhi's mind. It was possible Wei Tu wouldn't get anything useful either.
Hearing this, Huang Juzhi hesitated. If Wei Tu really were from the Ni clan, he wouldn't be asking him these questions.
"Since you're so curious, I'll tell you."
Huang Juzhi's eyes flickered, then he gave a slight nod.
"Please go ahead. I'm listening."
Wei Tu nodded.
As Huang Juzhi spoke, Wei Tu quickly understood what it was the Ni clan wanted from him.
It wasn't some rare herb or a powerful magic weapon. It was a special artifact called the Nine-Yuan Flying Star Pearl.
That treasure had been discovered by the first ancestor of the Huang clan. With a unique formation, the pearl could locate secret realms hidden in other dimensions.
The Cloud Ze Secret Realm once held by the Huang clan had been found using this Nine-Yuan Flying Star Pearl to lock onto its spatial coordinates.
'Could it be... the Ni clan discovered the locations of the other three hidden medicine gardens?' Wei Tu's brows twitched.
Over 200 years ago, he'd encountered the Tao siblings. Tao Jie had tried to trick him into helping, claiming he'd found one of the four great medicine gardens of the Nanhua Sect.
The story had been fake, but the existence of the four secret gardens was real.
Aside from the Cloud Ze Secret Realm, the ancient Nanhua Sect had three more hidden gardens buried in alternate spaces, still untouched by cultivators.
Now the Ni clan wanted to get their hands on the Nine-Yuan Flying Star Pearl. It was very likely because they hoped to find those remaining three secret gardens.
'But… beneath the Cloud Ze Secret Realm's stone hall, that demonic cultivator was sealed… If the other three gardens are the same…'
Wei Tu's expression darkened. Just the blackened finger bone from that demon expert had been hard enough to handle. If the other gardens housed similar horrors, ordinary cultivators wouldn't stand a chance.
If given the choice, he'd never set foot in Cloud Ze Secret Realm again.
'No wonder Old Chongming's artifact spirit never went back for its true body. That demonic cultivator scared it off.'
That thought finally cleared up a question that had puzzled him for 200 years.
It wasn't complicated—Old Chongming's spirit had feared the demon beneath the stone hall. It fled in spirit form, never daring to return.
"If you're willing to work with me, once the time is right, I'll let you go. But the Nine-Yuan Flying Star Pearl—you'll hand that over."
Wei Tu left those words behind, then flicked his sleeve and vanished from the prison.
"A path to freedom?"
Huang Juzhi looked stunned. But before he could ask anything more, Wei Tu was already gone.
…
After leaving the prison, Wei Tu didn't return to the guest residence. Instead, he turned and flew straight to Ni Shihuang's cave and knocked with a tap of his spiritual power.
"Senior Fu… why are you…?"
Ni Shihuang opened the door and was surprised to see Wei Tu.
She remembered that only an hour ago, they'd agreed not to disturb each other.
'Two-faced!' Ni Shihuang frowned slightly, thinking about how to gently reject him without causing offense.
But before she could say anything, Wei Tu spoke first—and what he said shocked her to the core.
"What? Nine-Yuan Flying Star Pearl?"
"Senior Fu… you went to the prison?"
Ni Shihuang's voice trembled, her words faltering.
She wasn't worried about the fact that they'd imprisoned Huang Juzhi. After all, killing wasn't unusual in the devil path. Imprisoning a cultivator wasn't a big deal.
But the Nine-Yuan Flying Star Pearl was different. That pearl was tied to the locations of the Nanhua Sect's remaining three hidden medicine gardens.
If word of that got out, countless cultivators would covet it. And just a single mistake could mean the downfall of the entire Ni clan.