I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

"A fifth-tier superior puppeteer... a personal disciple of the seventh-tier puppeteer 'Pitying Centipede Demon Lord'..."

Immediately afterward, he glanced at the information about Gong Shulan on the jade slip and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This matching 'realm' undoubtedly matches the 'Gong Shulan' in his memory—from this point of view, there is a considerable possibility that this woman is the Gong Shulan he met in the human world, rather than someone else in the vast world who looks similar to this woman.

“A thousand years to cultivate from the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, although it is a bit fast, considering the ‘spatial rift’ that connects Golden Flame Island to the Ancient Demon Realm… this is not impossible…” Wei Tu’s eyes flickered slightly as he pondered to himself.

Human resources are scarce. Apart from rare "geniuses" like him and Jiang Lingzi, other cultivators would need at least several thousand or even tens of thousands of years to cultivate from the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm to the late stage.

As for Gong Shulan, when she was at a lower level, she could still have a cultivation speed that could crush her peers with her "Ghost Spirit Body". However, after breaking through to "Nascent Soul" and "Deity Transformation", she had already become just another ordinary person. After all, apart from having the special supernatural power of "one soul and two bodies", the Ghost Spirit Body is not a particularly domineering physique in terms of cultivation.

Back then, if it weren't for the old monster, Scorpion Ancestor, coveting Gong Shulan's spiritual body and deliberately supporting her, this girl would not have been able to accumulate enough potential to break through to the "Nascent Soul Realm" or even the "Deity Transformation Realm"...

But... all of this is predicated on the human realm!
If you change your training environment beforehand, things will be very different.

When cultivators ascend from the "Land of Spiritual Deficiency" to the "Land of Spiritual Abundance" such as the Spirit Realm or the Ancient Demon Realm, most cultivators from the lower realms will experience a "leap" in their cultivation speed in a short period of time.

Furthermore, the resources of the Ancient Demon Realm are far superior to those of the barren lower realms of the human world.

With both factors combined, let alone reaching the "late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm" in a thousand years, even if he reached the "Refinement of Void Realm," he would be shocked for a moment and then understand.

There's no other reason than that, whether it's the Spirit Realm or the Ancient Demon Realm, the number of people who ascend from the lower realms and create mythical breakthroughs in their cultivation levels is already countless.

He... was one of them!
In just a thousand years, he has reached the "seventh-order body refinement" stage, which is equivalent to the body integration stage, from the Nascent Soul stage!
However, despite the joy of "reuniting with an old friend," Wei Tu did not intend to meet with Gong Shulan at this moment.

Firstly, this place is the "Primordial Demon Source Realm".

Once his identity is exposed, the consequences will be endless.

No matter how upright Gong Shulan's character is, he would never personally hand over this "handle" to this woman.

Secondly, he was also worried that the current Gong Shulan might not be the same "Gong Shulan" as before.

Possession and possession by ancient demons are not uncommon occurrences; they are quite common in both the spirit realm and the ancient demon realm.

Therefore, even if he intends to reveal his true identity and reunite with this old friend, he must first personally verify whether Gong Shulan's "true identity" is a lie!
……

"Has Master Kou found the puppet master you desire?"

Seeing that Wei Tu had taken an interest in the jade slip and stared at it intently for a long time, Cai Xiaozhu, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but feel a little smug and asked with a smile.

"I apologize for my rudeness..." Upon seeing this, Wei Tu instantly came to his senses.

He cupped his hands in apology, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded seriously.

"The puppetry skills that this 'Pitying Centipede Demon Lord' is proficient in are similar to my damaged puppet... It's just a pity that she is a seventh-level puppeteer. Even if I were to dismantle and sell myself, I still wouldn't be able to raise enough money to hire her..."

Wei Tu chuckled self-deprecatingly and joked.

Although the Void Refinement cultivator, or "Demon Commander," is insurmountably separated from "Lord Lianwu" in terms of realm and status, it's important to know that he also reveals his identity as a "Sixth-Rank High-Grade Alchemist" to the Kui Dou Merchant Guild...

A sixth-tier alchemist's earning power is difficult to compare with that of a seventh-tier puppeteer, but with their substantial wealth, they can easily hire a seventh-tier puppeteer to repair a "damaged puppet".

Therefore, upon hearing this, Consort Cai quickly understood Wei Tu's meaning after a quick glance at her beautiful eyes.

He was complaining that the price asked by "Pity the Centipede Demon Lord" was too high.

"The Demon Lord Lianwu has several disciples under his command. Their puppet repair skills were all learned from the Demon Lord Lianwu... It seems that the damaged puppet in Master Kou's possession is not above the seventh rank..."

Consort Cai, being understanding, spoke up for Wei Tu, saying what he wanted to say.

"The Demon Lord Lianwu has a sixth-tier puppeteer under his command?"

Wei Tu raised an eyebrow and asked, feigning curiosity.

At this point, he frowned again and said, "That fifth-tier puppeteer is useless against my puppets."

The fifth-tier puppeteer he mentioned was none other than "Gong Shulan".

Although he did not intend to reveal his identity and meet with the woman to reminisce due to various concerns, he did not mind making contact with her first under a legitimate pretext.

Just now, I deliberately mentioned "the Demon Lord of Pitying Centipedes" to subtly steer the conversation toward this matter.

Cai Xiaozhu was completely unaware of this. After all, no matter how clever she was, she could hardly have imagined that Wei Tu, who was visiting the "Heavenly Abyss Holy City" for the first time in his life, would happen to "meet" an old friend on the jade slip she had given him.

"The area of ​​Tianyuan Holy City... is equivalent to a 'lower realm'. Given the vastness of the Holy City, how could there only be a few registered puppeteers..."

Cai Xiaozhu shook her head and smiled slightly.

Although these words were not meant to be sarcastic, they inadvertently revealed Wei Tu's "shallow knowledge."

"The puppeteers recorded in the jade slip only account for a small portion of the puppeteers in Tianyuan Holy City. Of course, without exception, those who can be listed on this jade slip are all the best among puppeteers of their respective ranks."

"Although only one fifth-tier puppeteer from the Demon Lord Lianwu's disciples made the list, it doesn't mean that this Demon Lord doesn't have other sixth-tier puppeteer disciples under his command..."

"That's what Miss Cai said again."

With Wei Tu's knowledge, he could have foreseen this. Most cultivators who are famous for their immortal skills would not have only one disciple who is "two levels" below them.

Basically, they would recruit many disciples in order to expand their power and amass wealth.

Moreover, "Gong Shulan" is merely an ascended cultivator from the lower realm, and at most, it's impossible for her to remain under the command of "Lianwu Demon Lord" for long. The probability of her being his only disciple is not high.

"An outstanding individual?" Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's face showed a hint of interest. He smiled, looked at the young mistress in front of him, and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your introduction, young mistress."

These were the words that Consort Cai had been waiting for.

Seeing Wei Tu speak to her, she didn't hesitate at all, and nodded slightly in agreement.

As a rising high-level alchemist within the Kui Dou Chamber of Commerce, she could not possibly pass up this opportunity to bestow favors.

"The Kui Dou Chamber of Commerce and the Lianwu Demon Lord have some connections... Asking their disciples to help Master Kou repair the puppet shouldn't be difficult."

"Master Kou only needs to wait a short while inside the Chamber of Commerce."

A moment later, the two finished their conversation.

Consort Cai did not linger with Wei Tu. With these words as her conclusion, she curtsied and gracefully departed from the deck of the flying boat.

……

Half a day later.

The Kui Dou Merchant Guild's flying ship successfully docked at the port of the inner city of "Tian Yuan Holy City".

While the slaves were loading and unloading goods.

The manager then led Wei Tu and several ancient demons who had recently joined the Kui Dou Merchant Guild to fly directly to the "brokerage" in Zicheng to help Wei Tu and the others rent a cave dwelling.

These scenes were very similar to those in the Spirit Realm. If it weren't for the ancient demons walking on the road, whose bodies were filled with surging demonic energy, he would probably have mistaken this place for the Spirit Realm.

This, while not entirely contrary to the "propaganda" of the myriad races of the spirit realm, is certainly vastly different.

"Or rather, besides the native ancient demons of the Primordial Demon Source Realm, there are also quite a few ancient demons from the 'Five Minor Realms' that have been conquered within this Heavenly Abyss Holy City... After all, the ancestors of these ancient demons were spiritual cultivators from the very beginning..."

Wei Tu's thoughts flashed through his mind.

In his view, perhaps at the beginning, the Ancient Demon Realm was just as the myriad races of the Spirit Realm had proclaimed, full of tyranny and slaughter... But as more and more realms were conquered and more and more "spiritual cultivators" poured in, these spiritual cultivators, to a certain extent, either passively or actively, changed the appearance of the "Primordial Demon Source Realm," making it more consistent with the conquered spiritual cultivation realms of the Zi Chen Realm and the Sheng Guang Realm.

The difference between the two today.

After removing the high-level and low-level demonic cultivators, it's pretty much the same!

With the guidance of the manager of the Kui Dou Chamber of Commerce, Wei Tu and the others found the process of renting the cave dwelling quite easy.

We rented a decent cave dwelling at a discounted price.

"If we stay a while longer, we can use the excuse of indulging in some good food and keeping spirit slaves to exchange for a cave dwelling with 'spiritual energy'..."

Upon entering the rented cave, Wei Tu couldn't help but sigh as he gazed at the dense demonic energy before him, despite his prior preparations.

When he advanced to the "seventh-order body refinement" stage, in order to simulate the "spiritual pressure" of a seventh-order spiritual land within the secret realm of Lonely Spirit Mountain, he used almost all of his spiritual crystals and materials as consumables for the grand formation.

Afterwards, there was still some left.

However, during the journey to "Tianyuan Holy City", they were almost completely exhausted.

The only fortunate thing is that within the Heavenly Abyss Holy City, it is not difficult to obtain the "spiritual crystals" and "spiritual medicines" needed for spiritual cultivation.

However... exchanging these items will inevitably require the "magic stones" and "magic crystals" needed by demonic cultivators.

Unfortunately, as a "spiritual practitioner," he was truly penniless when it came to accumulating these things.

In comparison, renting a cave dwelling imbued with spiritual energy, where one can keep "spirit slaves," inevitably becomes the best option.

However, such things need to be done step by step.

The latter is only slightly cheaper than directly purchasing "spirit crystals".

Now that he has just entered the "Heavenly Abyss Holy City", Wei Tu does not want to appear "unconventional" or "outstanding" in front of the Kui Dou Chamber of Commerce.

Alchemy was a means he used to compete for power.

In other aspects, it naturally has to resemble the ancient demon more.

"Furthermore, I've heard that... the cave dwellings in Zicheng that possess spiritual energy are mostly built near the remains of Mahayana cultivators..."

"The main city, and the cave dwelling imbued with spiritual energy, are located directly within the remains of those undergoing tribulation..."

Wei Tu exhaled a breath of stale air, his gaze piercing through the cave, looking towards the Tianyuan Holy City "main city" that was both close at hand and far away in the sky, his heart filled with excitement.

For the ancient demons.

That was merely a prison for "spiritual cultivation."

But for him, a genuine "spiritual practitioner," getting close to the Mahayana and the remains of those who have transcended tribulations might bring unexpected great fortune and opportunities.

And these are all "resources" that are extremely difficult for him to approach and obtain while he is in the spirit world!
……

Five days later.

Cai Xiaozhu kept her promise and took Wei Tu to the "Lianwu Puppet Workshop" where "Lianwu Demon Lord" was located to repair the puppet.

"This time, the sixth-tier puppeteer I invited is Lü Feng, the prized disciple of Demon Lord Lianwu. Although his talent in puppetry is not as good as his junior sister Mei Shixue, he has been by Demon Lord Lianwu's side the longest."

During their journey, Cai Xiaozhu casually mentioned some secrets about the "Lianwu Puppet Workshop" to Wei Tu, as if the two of them were truly close friends who could talk about anything.

"Lü Feng?" Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's expression remained calm and casual, but in his heart, he had memorized all the information about this person.

The fact that he accompanied "Lord Lianwu" the longest means that, as the "senior brother," he could, to a certain extent, represent the will of this demon lord.

As for Mei Shixue...

He didn't pay much attention to it.

Because this woman was none other than "Gong Shulan," whom he had been paying attention to for several days.

This "Mei Shixue" is most likely an alias used by this woman when she ascended to the Ancient Demon Realm. After all, the Ancient Demon Realm and the Spirit Realm are still subtly different. Revealing her real name is not an honor, but rather could easily bring unnecessary trouble to her relatives and friends in the lower realm.

Not long after.

The Pitying Centipede Puppet Workshop.

The waiter who was in charge of welcoming them led Wei Tu and Cai Xiaozhu to the private room that had been prepared in advance.

After a short wait, Lu Feng, the eldest disciple of the Demon Lord Lianwu mentioned by Cai Xiaozhu, appeared before Wei Tu with a swaggering gait.

This cultivator was an old man with red hair and a silver beard. His eyes were bright and piercing, and his hands were noticeably larger than normal, with knuckles resembling withered bamboo, strong and capable.

Beside him stood a delicate and beautiful female cultivator in a blue dress.

However, her temperament was not quite in line with her outward appearance of "youthful age." She was well-behaved, rarely smiled, and had an extremely dull demeanor.

"Young Master Cai, Alchemist Kou, this is my junior sister, Mei Shixue... Don't underestimate her just because she's only a late-stage Demon General; she's already a favorite of my master..."

Lü Feng laughed loudly and took the initiative to introduce the woman's identity to Wei Tu and Cai Xiaozhu.

"Now, I am teaching in place of my master, so Junior Sister Mei is following me to learn puppetry... If there is any offense, I hope you two will forgive me and take it easy."

Lu Feng cupped his hands in greeting and spoke in a very humble manner.

After all, the person in front of him was either the beloved daughter of the Demon Lord Kui Dou, of noble status, or a sixth-rank high-grade alchemist with a promising future; neither of them were beings he could treat with disrespect.

"Junior Sister Mei..."

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu raised an eyebrow, revealing a hint of interest, and glanced at the blue-skirted female cultivator a few more times.

Seeing Wei Tu scrutinizing her, the woman in the blue dress didn't pay much attention to him. She simply kept her head down and, as Lü Feng introduced her, gave Wei Tu a wooden bow.

"Lying dormant? Or is there another reason?"

A glint of light flashed in Wei Tu's eyes as he pondered.

The moment he saw this woman, he was certain that she was his old friend from the mortal realm—Gong Shulan.

But the woman's "drastic change in temperament" was something he had not anticipated.

This woman's previous alias, "Hu Yao," was quite a sociable person, capable of charming him completely, even though he was only at the Qi Refining stage.

Therefore, he did not conclude that the woman was no longer the person he knew, but rather that she had been possessed and taken over by another ancient demon. (End of Chapter)