"I understand."
Yuan Jie waved his hand, signaling to Fairy Bao Hua not to worry too much.
Then, he continued, "I'll take this letter and go report it to Master Du Long."
"You and I will go together."
Fairy Bao Hua seemed concerned about Yuan Jie's current state. She tugged at his sleeve and stood up with him.
However, before Fairy Bao Hua could finish her sentence, Yuan Jie activated his escape light and immediately disappeared from the Right Virtuous King's residence, leaving no trace.
Halfway there, Yuan Jie paused his escape light for a moment. He cast a deep, gloomy look in the direction of Wei Tu's residence, Cloud Lark Residence.
"Nascent Soul realm..." Yuan Jie squinted his eyes and muttered softly.
At that moment, he finally realized that compared to the Nascent Soul realm, everything else—such as power and position—was meaningless.
Yesterday, when Wei Tu was still at the Golden Core stage, he had to call Yuan Jie "Right Virtuous King" because of his power.
But today, in front of Wei Tu, who had reached the Nascent Soul realm, Yuan Jie was nothing. Even his Dao partner, Fairy Bao Hua, had to warn him not to hold a grudge, lest trouble come their way.
"This realm, I might not be unable to achieve it!"
A moment later, Yuan Jie's face hardened as he spoke those words with absolute certainty.
With that, Yuan Jie activated his escape light again and headed in the direction of Master Du Long's location.
...
Half a day later.
Master Du Long took some time out of his schedule to meet with Yuan Jie.
Like Yuan Jie and Fairy Bao Hua, when Master Du Long saw Wei Tu's letter, his face showed shock and disbelief.
"How did this child achieve the Nascent Soul realm?"
"I remember, a hundred years ago, he was only at the mid-Golden Core stage, wasn't he?"
Master Du Long couldn't hide his astonishment.
Unlike Yuan Jie, who had only a vague understanding of Wei Tu's cultivation, Master Du Long knew everything about Wei Tu's level.
Years ago, when Lou Sanhua attempted to assassinate Wei Tu, neither Master Du Long nor Master He Di was unaware of the incident at the Divine Master's residence. On the contrary, they had followed the situation closely.
Naturally, as Nascent Soul Ancestors, they could clearly see Wei Tu's actual cultivation was at the "mid-Golden Core" stage back then.
So, when Master Du Long learned that Wei Tu had successfully formed his Nascent Soul, his shock was no less than Yuan Jie and Fairy Bao Hua's—and perhaps even greater.
"This matter... I don't understand either. I thought Daoist Wei had already reached the late Golden Core stage a hundred years ago. Now that he has formed his Nascent Soul, it was bound to happen," Yuan Jie replied calmly, as he had already prepared his words before coming.
"Bound to happen?"
Hearing this, Master Du Long raised an eyebrow and carefully scrutinized Yuan Jie for a few moments.
"So, it seems that you knew Wei Tu went out to form his Nascent Soul?" Master Du Long's voice turned cold, and his mind seethed with anger.
After all, the formation of Nascent Soul was a monumental event for any sect.
Now, Yuan Jie had dared to conceal this from them.
If this continued, Yuan Jie might one day rise against the three Divine Masters.
"I had heard a little about it," Yuan Jie hesitated for a moment before bowing and replying.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Hearing Yuan Jie's acknowledgment, Master Du Long did not get angry but instead laughed three times, saying, "It seems that when I and Old He Di chose you as Right Virtuous King, we made a wise decision. Otherwise, our tribe would not have a foreign Nascent Soul cultivator."
Master Du Long sneered.
However, at this point, Master Du Long did not punish Yuan Jie. After a few cold glares, he remained silent for a while before simply saying, "Don't let it happen again."
After all, with Wei Tu, a Nascent Soul Ancestor, as an ally, Yuan Jie was no longer without support.
Punishing Yuan Jie would be like slapping Wei Tu in the face.
Currently, while Wei Tu's strength wasn't equal to his own, it wasn't to the point where Master Du Long would be afraid of him either.
On the contrary, Master Du Long deeply feared Wei Tu's potential.
A Nascent Soul cultivator under four hundred years old meant a lot to Master Du Long. He knew exactly what that meant.
It meant that, in Wei Tu's lifetime, he had a great chance of reaching the late Nascent Soul stage and even possibly breaking through to the legendary Divine Transformation stage, becoming one of the strongest figures of the age.
Moreover, even without considering this factor, as an aging Nascent Soul cultivator, Master Du Long had to show some respect to Wei Tu, the newly ascended Nascent Soul, because after Master Du Long passed away, Wei Tu would be the one to take charge, and his disciples and followers would still need Wei Tu's protection.
Of course, the most important point was:
Wei Tu, despite not being a native cultivator of the Ying Ding Tribe, had no faults in every other aspect.
Though not personally close to Master Du Long, Wei Tu was friends with those under his command, including Right Virtuous King Yuan Jie.
"In other words, although Master Du Long is unhappy with how Yuan Jie and Wei Tu 'deceived' him by going out to form the Nascent Soul, seeing how close their relationship is has made him feel somewhat relieved about the future safety of the Ying Ding Tribe."
Of course, if Master Du Long had known that Yuan Jie had only just learned about Wei Tu going out to form his Nascent Soul, he probably wouldn't feel this way.
...
At Wei Tu's Cloud Lark Residence, he was unaware of the changes in Yuan Jie, Fairy Bao Hua, and Master Du Long's state of mind. However, a day after sending the letter, when he saw that Master Du Long and Master He Di had both come to visit him together, Wei Tu knew everything was settled.
Just as he had expected, the Ying Ding Tribe chose to accept him, this newly ascended Nascent Soul, rather than forcing him to leave and seek another place.
"Please, esteemed Daoists, come in."
Wei Tu waved his sleeve and opened the door of his cave residence, personally going out to welcome Master Du Long and Master He Di's visit.
"Daoist Wei."
"Daoist Wei."
Master Du Long and Master He Di exchanged glances before both bowed in greeting and returned the salute with the proper Daoist etiquette.
After exchanging pleasantries, the three of them entered the Cloud Lark Residence's guest hall and took their seats.
"This time, Daoist Wei's sudden success in forming his Nascent Soul really startled both me and He Di," Master Du Long chuckled.
Although this comment was intended to smooth things over and avoid embarrassment, it also carried an implicit question directed at Wei Tu.
"To be honest, both of you Daoists, I am from a solitary cultivation background and have always been cautious. Upon learning that there was a four-tier spiritual land in the Great Void Realm, I naturally wanted to form my Nascent Soul quietly, without being disturbed by others..."
Wei Tu smiled faintly and casually explained.
His meaning was simple: since there was a better spiritual land for forming the Nascent Soul, there was no need for him to go to the Ying Ding Tribe to report it.
It wasn't about whether he was a solitary cultivator; it was just common sense.
"I see."
Upon hearing this, both Master Du Long and Master He Di immediately showed a look of realization, and the small bit of doubt they had about Wei Tu vanished completely.
Before hearing this explanation, they had thought that Wei Tu's Nascent Soul formation was similar to his daughter Wei Yan, where he chose another faction to break through his realm.
In that case, even if Wei Tu was a newly ascended Nascent Soul, they would not trust him.
"Daoist Wei, to form your Nascent Soul before the age of four hundred, such speed is truly a slap in the face to me and Du Long, two old men. When we formed our Nascent Soul, it was only at around six to seven hundred years old, and we barely succeeded."
After talking for a while, Master He Di suddenly flashed a knowing look and spoke.
Normally, cultivators wouldn't be so impolite as to pry into others' backgrounds, but Wei Tu's age was a bit too young.
In the cultivation world, a Golden Core cultivator under three hundred years old was considered a young Golden Core cultivator.
And for Wei Tu, who was four hundred years old and a Nascent Soul, he was excessively young within the Nascent Soul realm.
"Please don't laugh at me, esteemed Daoists. My rapid breakthrough is also due to some unforeseen fortune. If it weren't for the incident with Hu Shan and Qi Chengchu forcing me to go to the Great Void Realm, I wouldn't have gotten the Nascent Soul opportunity from the Stone Demon Sect."
"Furthermore, I had already received the Nascent Soul inheritance from Venerable Master Shen Tu of the Fire Essence Sect beforehand."
Wei Tu calmly explained the two opportunities he had obtained before.
Master Shen Tu's inheritance...
The Nascent Soul opportunity from the Stone Demon Sect...
These two opportunities had been far too valuable for him back in the Golden Core stage, and he hadn't dared to speak of them casually. But now, in his current realm, speaking about them no longer affected him.
On the contrary, clarifying these opportunities now would dispel any cultivator's desire to covet them.
After all, these two opportunities only attracted Golden Core cultivators, but they held no allure for Nascent Soul cultivators.
"Of course, this is also due to Daoist Wei being a Alchemist," Master Du Long smiled, taking the initiative to help Wei Tu out.
"Indeed! Indeed!"
"I almost overlooked that point."
Master He Di nodded in agreement.
In response, Wei Tu smiled slightly, showing no sign of care.
He said, "It's just that you two Daoists are making fun of me. Speaking of Alchemy, I also signed a pill-making contract with the Guangyuan Yu family from the Chu Kingdom. In a few decades, I will need to go to the Chu Kingdom to fulfill this agreement."