I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

"Therefore, to deal with the Demon Lord Lianwu, we must start with his ghostly spirit form..."

"If I'm not mistaken, Demon Lord Lianwu will devour me when I break through to the mid or late stage of Demon Commander... And this plunder of my physique will also affect the very foundation of her life. That will be when she is at her weakest..."

Gong Shulan bit her red lips slightly and said again.

"...Only make your move when you've already plundered the body's constitution..."

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's eyes flashed slightly; this method coincided with his initial idea.

— Wait until the time is right before taking action.

He was unaware of the Centipede Demon Lord's "weakness," so his "the time was ripe" meant using force to suppress him.

Once you have strength comparable to a late-stage Demon Lord, then you can take action against Demon Lord Lianwu.

And coincidentally, this timing aligns with the time when the Demon Lord Lianwu planned to devour Gong Shulan and thus expose his own "weakness".

After all, the breakthrough was up to Gong Shulan herself, and even if the Demon Lord Lianwu was eager for it, he couldn't force her.

Not to mention--

Gong Shulan is now his "concubine". As long as the Demon Lord Lianwu still wants to pursue marriage and befriend him, he will not be able to force this woman too much in this regard.

Moreover, with Gong Shulan's "cooperation," and the fact that the Demon Lord Lianwu would expose his "weakness" as a result, he could lower the strength requirements considerably.

"At that time, even if my cultivation level hasn't improved at all... with my current strength, plus the help of Bloodwing Mo, I'll be able to deal with the counterattack of the Venerable Centipede..."

Wei Tu thought to himself, and suddenly felt that the road ahead was much brighter.

When a whale falls, all things are born.

He didn't slay the Venerable Centipede for nothing. If he could seize the opportunity to obtain the legacy of this veteran demon lord, his path to the Unity Realm would undoubtedly be much smoother…

And this requirement.

Gong Shulan had no reason to disagree.

She immediately declared that as long as Wei Tu could help her escape the inferno, she would give him all of the Demon Lord Lianwu's legacy and would not covet a single bit of it.

As she spoke, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief; having something in return was better than helping her for nothing.

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's face immediately showed a hint of satisfaction. He nodded slightly, giving Gong Shulan another layer of protection.

"As long as Miss Mei assists me in slaying the Demon Lord Lianwu as planned, I can guarantee that after this matter is over, I will not be ruthless and will eliminate Miss Mei completely..."

He raised his hand and swore an oath to the Heavenly Demon.

"The Oath of the Heavenly Demon..."

Upon seeing this, Gong Shulan was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting that Wei Tu, the high and mighty Demon Lord, would make a Heavenly Demon Oath to her, a "pawn," to keep his promise.

Moreover, it was a "proactive action" without any coercion whatsoever...

It's somewhat unlike the ancient demons.

However, she had no time to think about it. She suppressed her mixed emotions and immediately raised her hand to make the "Heavenly Demon Oath"—saying that in the process of dealing with the Venerable Lianwu, she would complete the mission as promised, and would not resort to any tricks or have any thoughts of dealing with Wei Tu.

The oath between the Heavenly Demon and the Demon King has thus been fulfilled.

but--

At this moment.

Both Wei Tu and Gong Shulan now have to face that fatal problem from the very beginning.

—How to gain the trust of the Venerable Centipede.

Today, the Demon Lord Lianwu sent Gong Shulan with gifts, which was actually a test of Wei Tu's intentions. If Wei Tu were to leave unscathed while his vital essence remained intact...

"There's no need for Demon Lord Kou to worry about that."

"As a concubine, my body is not so delicate... I should offer myself to serve Lord Kou, so as to accomplish that great plan..."

"But I have been cultivating for many years and have long had someone I love."

"Personal status can be disregarded due to practical considerations. But chastity... must be protected no matter what."

After blurting out all of this,

Before Wei Tu could react, Gong Shulan took a deep breath, raised her hand, and slapped her lower abdomen.

The next moment, streams of solid and pure Yin-attribute magic power instantly leaked out from her body.

After hovering in the air for a moment, it dissipated with a "boom" under the woman's hand seal, transforming into a slightly fragrant, attribute-less demonic energy that mixed with the surrounding demonic energy, making them indistinguishable from each other.

But after doing all that.

Gong Shulan could no longer maintain her magical body. She swayed a few times as if dizzy, her face turned pale, and she uncontrollably coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, staining her chest red.

Yuan Yin is not entirely equivalent to "virginity". It is the pure Yin-attribute spiritual power that is born in the body of a female cultivator after she embarks on the path of cultivation and continues to cultivate.

This spiritual energy will continuously grow stronger and be refined as the female cultivator's realm improves, thus becoming a "good medicine" for many male cultivators to improve their realm.

Conversely, the same applies to the "primordial yang" of male cultivators.

Therefore, the higher the level of cultivation, the purer and more inseparable the "original yin" in a female cultivator's body becomes.

Only through the dual cultivation method of "yin and yang union" can one slowly draw upon and replenish these elements, thereby mutually enhancing each other's abilities.

Therefore, for cultivators, besides the method of yin-yang union, severing their own "original yin" and "original yang" is also feasible.

However... the price paid is often enormous.

In general.

No one would choose such a radical approach.

Wei Tu never expected that Gong Shulan's approach would be so "radical," choosing a method that would severely damage her own vitality in order to avoid compromising her chastity.

That makes sense, though. The fact that she could blend in with the prostitutes under the identity of "Hu Yao" without her true self being tainted shows how determined she was in this regard.

"The one I love..."

Wei Tu sighed.

“Miss Mei’s feelings are sincere and steadfast, I admire her.”

A moment later, Wei Tu lowered his gaze slightly and resumed his Demon Lord demeanor. He flipped his palm and took out several healing pills, which he threw directly to Gong Shulan with his magic power.

"My cave is a place where you can heal your wounds."

"You may leave after you have finished healing."

"This matter... shouldn't arouse the suspicion of Demon Lord Lianwu, after all... you are my concubine. Staying here for a while is nothing."

After speaking, Wei Tu gave Gong Shulan a deep look, then flicked his sleeves and vanished in the living room of the cave dwelling, becoming a blur.

Only Gong Shulan remained, standing there with blood stained at the corner of her mouth. She held the pill bottle in her hand, her head slightly raised, looking in slight astonishment in the direction Wei Tu had left...

She originally thought that by taking it upon herself to "sever her virginity," she would greatly offend the powerful demon lord who was nominally her husband, because... to remain chaste for someone else was, in a sense, disloyalty to him.

She certainly has a point.

However, the unequal status meant that her actions were a great offense and could easily anger the other party.

But unexpectedly...

Instead of being angry, he gave her some medicine and let her stay in the cave to heal her injuries...

His behavior seemed a bit abnormal.

"Never mind, it's none of my business. Since he swore an oath to the Heavenly Demon, I'm safe for the time being..."

Gong Shulan shook her head inwardly. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, sat cross-legged, and began to heal her wounds.

……

"Ah!"

“This fellow surnamed Kou is truly ungrateful. I have already decided to offer myself to him... but he refuses to agree.”

Inside the Lian Centipede Puppet Shop.

After reading Wei Tu's reply that Lü Feng had retrieved, a hint of embarrassment and annoyance immediately appeared on Lianwu Demon Lord's pink face.

Although she knew her reputation wasn't great and the probability of Wei Tu rejecting her was not low, such a righteous and unequivocal rejection, without any room for negotiation, still caught her quite off guard.

After all, she had assumed that Wei Tu, being a womanizer, would not refuse her flattery and would enjoy the immense sense of accomplishment of "master and disciple sharing one husband".

"Fortunately, he spared that traitor. With that traitor around, the connection can be considered established."

"Besides... a thousand years later, when that traitor's body becomes my body..."

The Demon Lord Lianwu sneered inwardly, already recalling the scene of her disguising herself as Gong Shulan, going to Wei Tu's cave, and deceiving Wei Tu in close proximity.

As a seventh-tier puppeteer, she was unparalleled in the art of puppetry. In addition, being a fellow "ghost spirit body," she believed that after "devouring" Gong Shulan, it would not be difficult for her physical form to be indistinguishable from the real thing, to the point that she could deceive even a demon lord of the same tier.

And until then.

As her "bed partner," she had a hundred ways to deal with Wei Tu, her bedmate, even if he was a "body-refining demon lord" who was difficult to defeat in close combat.

……

Two months have passed quietly.

Emerging from the secluded chamber, Wei Tu saw Gong Shulan still sitting cross-legged in the living room, healing her injuries. He shook his head, placed several magical barriers in key areas of the cave, and then, without paying any attention, flicked his sleeves and left the cave.

"Fellow Daoist Kou..." Not long after leaving the cave, he saw the disguised Demon Lord Qi Ying at the agreed meeting place.

This demon was originally dressed as a Confucian scholar, but at this moment he has disguised himself as a burly man with his chest exposed.

However, upon seeing him, the demon still revealed a trace of its original aura.

Seeing this, Wei Tu did not hesitate. With a slight hand seal, his face changed like ripples on water, instantly transforming into a scarred face that was completely different from his original appearance.

"His aura has changed too? This Demon Lord Kou... it seems he's not only extraordinary in alchemy, but he might also have some hidden strengths I don't know about..." Demon Lord Qi Ying's gaze narrowed slightly, and he put away his underestimation of Wei Tu.

In the world of immortality, the strong are respected.

This is even more true within the Ancient Demon Realm.

The title of seventh-tier alchemist only made Wei Tu's status slightly more prestigious than that of an ordinary demon lord. In private, these ancient demons still let their strength speak for itself.

However, Wei Tu, as a newly crowned Demon Lord, is hardly comparable to the veteran Demon Lord...

"Fellow Daoist Qiying, there's no need to keep us in suspense about where the trade fair is located now."

Wei Tu glanced around and saw that there was no trace of the trade fair at the place chosen by Demon Lord Qi Ying. He frowned slightly and a hint of dissatisfaction appeared on his face.

“We independent cultivators are different from the major powers. For safety reasons, the location of the trade fair must be chosen with utmost care.”

"Only that person has the authority to decide the location of the trade fair half an hour before it begins."

"All I know is the exact date of the trade fair."

Qi Ying, the Demon Lord, gave a bitter smile.

"That one..."

Wei Tu narrowed his eyes slightly after hearing this.

The trade fair that Qi Ying Demon Lord pulled him into, though called an "underground trade fair," had a more fitting name—a "private trade fair."

In other words, this trade fair was a privately-run event, not an underground trade fair formed by a spontaneous gathering of rogue demon lords.

The "that person" that Qi Ying Demon Lord spoke of...

He is the mastermind behind this underground trade fair!
This is also what Qi Ying Demon Lord said: within the trade fair, there are only two great demon lords, second only to the Demon Ancestor!

However, because he had not yet fully qualified to enter the trade fair, Qi Ying Demon Lord did not fully reveal the "identity" of this Great Demon Lord to him, only referring to him as "that person"...

"Time is up."

A quarter of an hour later, Demon Lord Qi Ying seemed to sense something. He turned his head, nodded slightly to Wei Tu, and then flipped his hand to take out a black token that emitted a blood-red light from his storage artifact.

Immediately afterwards, he formed hand seals and cast more than a dozen spells into the black token.

next moment.

The black token then creaked and floated into the air, forming fine magical restrictions on its surface. It then projected a burst of magical light into a nearby void.

A moment later, a "spatial portal" condensed from the void and appeared before Wei Tu and Demon Lord Qi Ying.

"I will take my leave now."

Demon Lord Qi Ying smiled slightly, took a step forward, and instantly disappeared into the spatial portal in front of him.

"A spatial portal..." Upon seeing this, Wei Tu's expression became somewhat uncertain.

If it were a fixed location, he could enter freely as long as it was within Tianyuan Holy City... But with a "space portal," who knows if it's a demon's lair or a real underground trading fair?

But soon, he remembered the Heavenly Demon Oath that Qi Ying Demon Lord had made, and his heart felt at ease.

If this demon truly wanted to harm him, it might have found a way to circumvent the Heavenly Demon Oath. It would have attacked him long ago when he was in seclusion breaking through to the "Fusion" stage, instead of waiting until now.

"However, for safety's sake, let's... do some divination." Wei Tu's mind stirred slightly, and he immediately used his magic power to offer a sacrifice to the ancient demon's severed arm within the pitch-black compass, inquiring whether this spatial portal was dangerous.

Not long after.

The ancient demon's severed arm wrote down the required offerings.

A Void Refinement cultivator or a sixth-order demon beast.

"There is danger, but not much." Seeing this, Wei Tu felt relieved and raised his hand to dispel the life force that the ancient demon's severed arm had secretly landed on him.

Then, with a calm and composed expression, he stepped into the "spatial portal".

After a brief period of spatial inversion.

What came into his view was a huge palace.

The group of ancient demons chatted and laughed together.

Not far from him was the "Qi Ying Demon Lord," who had entered the hall before him. This demon was currently standing next to an ancient demon with a blurred face and exuding a powerful aura, talking to him with a smile.

After he entered, the ancient demon with the indistinct face glanced at him, nodded, casually tossed a storage bag to Demon Lord Qi Ying, and then walked towards him.

"Fellow Daoist Kou is a seventh-tier Demon Lord, qualified to join my Star Luo Mountain Trade Fair..."

"However, I hope even more that Fellow Daoist Kou can become one of the twelve Star Demons of my Star Luo Mountain."

After uttering this brief sentence, the indistinct-faced ancient demon tossed Wei Tu a black token similar to the one in Qi Ying Demon Lord's hand, then vanished instantly from the hall, disappearing without a trace.

"The Twelve Star Demons?"

Wei Tu, upon receiving the token, was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding the meaning of this code within this trade fair.

At the same time, he was secretly surprised by how casually this demon treated him, a "newcomer".

But soon, with the explanation from the Demon Lord Qi Ying beside him, he understood the reason for all of this.

It turns out that the "Xingluo Mountain Trade Fair" was not just a simple underground trade fair, but also an external organization used by the "Mountain Lord" to select people to join his "Xingluo Mountain" faction.

The Twelve Star Demons are the "core members" of "Star Luo Mountain" and this underground trading fair.

Ordinary newcomers are merely outsiders to him. Only by becoming one of the "Twelve Star Demons," becoming one of his own, can one receive more preferential treatment from this "Great Demon Lord."

In other words, distinguishing between outsiders and insiders based on closeness was a simple tactic used by this great demon lord to build his power and win over cultivators.

Only by becoming one of our own, becoming one of the "Twelve Star Demons," can we gain more benefits in this underground trade fair.

That's why.

Wei Tu looked relieved and felt much more at ease.

"Joining a faction isn't a good option for rogue cultivators like us who have already advanced to the Demon Lord realm. However, this 'Lord of Star Luo Mountain'... has a considerable chance of breaking through to the Demon Ancestor realm..."

"If we can take advantage of this opportunity, it will be of great benefit to our future cultivation."

Demon Lord Qi Ying smiled slightly, his words seemingly offering Wei Tu some advice, as if becoming one of the "Twelve Star Demons" would be of great benefit to him. (End of Chapter)