I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

There's no other reason than that he and the Weeping River Demon Lord were not just ordinary 'acquaintances'; the demon's 'soul fragment' had been following him for hundreds of years, nearly a thousand years.

It can be said that the Weeping River Demon Lord was the most 'familiar' of all the ancient demons he knew.

Of course, it's just a glimpse through the fog—this demon's split soul has revealed very limited information about its main body. To this day, all he is familiar with is the 'Netherworld God Split Soul' of the Weeping River Demon Lord, and he knows almost nothing about its main body.

Before today, if this black-haired man hadn't revealed it, he wouldn't even know whether the Weeping River Demon Lord was male or female.

The Weeping River Demon Lord's alias, 'Li Linggu,' is somewhat feminine... but according to his initial statement, it was merely the name of a female cultivator he had possessed before, not his own, and therefore cannot be used to identify his gender.

However... even if this demon claimed to be a female ancient demon, he probably wouldn't readily believe such easily obtained and unverified information.

"Moreover, the information about the female ancient demon is not important... What is truly important is that the Weeping River Demon Lord is the Daoist partner supported by this 'Innate Ancient Demon,' and he holds the magic restriction that controls the Weeping River Demon Lord..." Wei Tu looked down at the jade box in his hand that imprisoned the black-haired man, his eyes flashing incessantly.

"only--"

"It's too much of a coincidence."

Wei Tu frowned slightly.

But soon, after a second thought, he gradually came to terms with the matter.

He first encountered the Weeping River Demon Lord, and then met his Daoist partner. It seems like a coincidence, but in reality, it may be an inevitability within the 'accident'.

Why did the Weeping River Demon Lord set up a scheme in the human realm, establish the Netherworld God Cult, and pass down the spell to summon her to the mortal world?
It is highly likely that they went to such great lengths to search for their suppressed Daoist partners...

"As for this demon, it did not use the 'Invoking the Netherworld Gods' technique to find its Daoist partner... Either it is unaware of this technique, or it is wary of the Weeping River Demon Lord. After all, according to the normal progress, if I did not descend to the mortal realm, with its accumulated power, it would probably only take a few hundred years for it to return to the Ancient Demon Realm..."

Wei Tu thought to himself.

After all, in the 'unprotected' world of cultivation, many cultivators are wary of their bed partners who are the easiest to benefit from, let alone among the ancient demons.

Of course, it is also possible that the black-haired man was not on guard against his Daoist partner, the Weeping River Demon Lord, but against other ancient demons.

110,000 years is far too long. In its eyes, the Weeping River Demon Lord might also be in danger of perishing, causing the method to save itself to fall into the hands of others.

Compared to this, self-rescue is the safest option.

……

Wei Tu did not immediately ask the black-haired man any further questions about the Weeping River Demon Lord.

After pondering for a moment, he began to inquire about the black-haired man's origins and whether the opportunity to inherit the Demon Ancestor that the man mentioned was true.

"How could I, An, dare to deceive you, fellow Daoist? The Demon Ancestor's legacy is in the Primordial Demon Source Realm..." Inside the jade box, the imprisoned black-haired man gave a bitter smile and slowly answered Wei Tu's question.

But soon, Wei Tu was greatly disappointed after hearing this.

the reason is simple.

He had come into contact with this 'Demon Ancestor's Legacy' before; it was located within the 'Shadow Raven Secret Realm' he had visited, which was the 'Spirit Evolution Heavenly Palace'.

“Surname An…” Suddenly, Wei Tu’s eyes narrowed, as if he had thought of something.

At this moment, the black-haired man also casually revealed his origins based on Wei Tu's question.

As an extremely rare 'innate ancient demon' among the ancient demons, he was born into the fold of a demon ancestor as a disciple, and shouldered the expectations of the masses. In just over ten thousand years of cultivation, he grew to the level of a great demon lord.

However, because the 'Demon Tribulation' is difficult to overcome, breaking through to the Demon Ancestor realm is not an easy matter... In order to obtain that crucial opportunity to break through to the Demon Ancestor realm, he had no choice but to join the ancient demon army and begin the attack on the Zi Chen Realm...

Unfortunately, as an unlucky fellow, he hadn't been causing trouble in the Purple Palace Realm for long before he and his accompanying ancient demon army were directly suppressed by the Venerable Monk Kubei and his disciples into a supreme treasure called the [Immortal Pagoda].

Because the Purple Realm had been invaded by ancient demons, he and a group of other suppressed ancient demons were handed over to the allied spiritual cultivators by the Venerable Monk Kubei... After that, he was left as a demon and wandered to the human world, where he was suppressed under the four major medicinal gardens of the Nanhua Sect.

As for the name...

Wei Tu had seen it on the "Yin Ya Wan Ling Ranking" back when he was in the "Lingyan Heavenly Palace".

He was none other than An Liangcai, who ranked first.

The Black Mist Swamp, where the Dark Raven Tower is located, was also An Liangcai's feeding ground 110,000 years ago, not the Purple Blood Demon Lord who currently occupies this place...

“Cultivating both immortality and demonhood! No wonder this demon was treated with such care that the entire human realm was used to suppress him…” Wei Tu’s eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled the ‘mid-stage Integration Realm’ marked after this cultivator’s name on the list.

If this demon hadn't been so unlucky as to run into the Venerable Monk Kubei, given time, he would surely have become a powerful demon ancestor in the 'Primordial Demon Source Realm'!
"It's just a pity that Fellow Daoist Wei doesn't have the [Boundary-Severing Stone] left behind by the Seven Treasures Demon Ancestor, otherwise he could have directly used this rare treasure to travel to the Black Mist Swamp..."

At this point, An Liang sighed.

"Boundary Stone?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "Just as I expected."

He had already guessed the origin of the [Boundary Stone] when he saw the 'Spiritual Palace' in the Black Mist Swamp.

—The Seven Treasures Demon Ancestor had been lurking in the Spirit Realm for many years, and it was impossible for him not to have a spatial passage between the Spirit Realm and the Primordial Demon Source Realm.

The Boundary Stone is 100% certain that it once belonged to the Seven Treasures Demon Ancestor.

Because the Yang Stone of the [Boundary Severing Stone] is located in the [Black Mist Swamp] of the Primordial Demon Source Realm, the Seven Treasures Demon Ancestor set up his inheritance site - the Dark Raven Secret Realm - within the [Black Mist Swamp].

That's why Lou Boyang obtained the 'Yin Stone' of the [Boundary-Severing Stone]...and then traveled from the Black Mist Swamp to the Spirit Realm, where he happened to run into him, and the other man stole this extraordinary treasure...

In other words-

Without the Boundary Stone and the 'spatial node' connecting the Black Mist Swamp to the Spirit Realm, this series of coincidences would not have occurred.

Of course, the so-called 'coincidence' is also related to his ability.

It is positively correlated!

From the very beginning, when he was in Dingyuan Immortal City, he used his strength to seize the [Boundary-Severing Stone] from Lou Boyang.

Afterwards, he used his superior strength to kill Mr. Jingkong, uncovered the secrets of the Purple Blood Demon Lord, and then went to Tianyuan Holy City and Zichen Realm... He was valued by the remnants of Zichen Realm and learned the secret of the Nanhua Treasure...

If any one link in the chain goes wrong, what awaits him will not be an opportunity, but a life-threatening danger.

"This kind of opportunity is less a coincidence and more... the higher you go, the more relatives and friends you have, and you can always find some connection with each other."

"The Dark Raven Secret Realm is a high-level secret realm within the Primordial Demon Source Realm. With its abundant resources, it naturally produces a considerable number of powerful individuals... These people will all intersect because of the Dark Raven Secret Realm."

Wei Tu shook his head secretly, pondering.

……

"Besides the [Boundary-Severing Stone], a rare treasure in the cultivation world, does Fellow Daoist An know of any other ways to reach the Primordial Demon Source Realm?" Wei Tu asked tentatively.

He will not give up on going to the Primordial Demon Realm.

Putting aside the opportunities within the Lingyan Heavenly Palace, the safety of Gong Shulan and Luqiu Qingfeng alone is enough to make him return again.

“As far as I know, Golden Flame Island in the Great Yan Cultivation Realm seems to have a spatial rift leading to the Ancient Demon Realm…” An Liangcai replied with a slight glint in his eyes.

Upon hearing this answer, Wei Tu's face showed no satisfaction, but rather a hint of sarcasm. "It seems that Fellow Daoist An is testing me to see if I am indeed Wei Tu?"

After speaking, Wei Tu snorted coldly and immediately began to erode An Liangcai's demonic soul within the jade box with his 'Dark Laws' power.

Previously, the oath he swore to the Heavenly Demon only said that he would spare the demon's life and not make him his slave, but he never said that he would not torture the demon.

As the demonic soul was corrupted...

From inside the jade box came An Liangcai's extremely painful wails.

This kind of injury to the soul is ten thousand times more painful than physical injury.

"It was my fault, it was my fault. I shouldn't have inquired about your background..."

A moment later, An Liangcai began to beg for mercy and offered other ways to reach the 'Primordial Demon Source Realm'.

For example, by using the ancient teleportation array within the Spirit Realm that leads to the 'Primordial Demon Source Realm'...

These ancient teleportation arrays were all set up by the Seven Treasures Demon Ancestor and are hidden very deep within the Spirit Realm.

"However, now that 110,000 years have passed, it is still difficult to know whether these ancient teleportation arrays still exist."

After a moment of silence, An Liangcai told him the truth.

Previously, he was able to use the Demon Ancestor's inheritance from the 'Shadow Raven Secret Realm' as a condition for begging Wei Tu to spare his life, so he naturally had a corresponding method to return to the 'Primordial Demon Source Realm'.

He dared not speak rashly on this matter of life and death.

However, these methods have become less reliable over time, so he can hardly be certain of their effectiveness.

"An ancient teleportation array?" Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's expression softened slightly, and he raised his hand to withdraw the dark laws that had been tormenting An Liangcai's demonic soul.

“It’s worth a try! If these ancient teleportation arrays are already damaged, it’s not too late to risk going down to the lower realm and use the spatial rift on Golden Flame Island to travel to the Primordial Demon Source Realm…” Wei Tu thought to himself.

After discussing the Dark Raven's Lair.

Then, Wei Tu casually inquired about An Liangcai's affairs regarding the Weeping River Demon Lord.

An Liangcai told Wei Tu everything about this, seemingly eager for Wei Tu to find the Weeping River Demon Lord and control his former Daoist partner with the 'Demonic Restriction'.

“This woman is too heartless. I have been trapped in this human realm for 110,000 years, while she is living a carefree life in the outside world…” An Liangcai said indignantly.

however.

Wei Tu, however, did not take these words to heart.

After all, he had personally seen on the list of Lingyan Heavenly Palace that the name of the Weeping River Demon Lord was ranked after An Liangcai.

After escaping the Demon-Sealing Array, he distrusted his former Daoist partner, the Weeping River Demon Lord, but this did not mean that the two were no longer in love.

The fact that the Weeping River Demon Lord has reached the current level of 'half-step Demon Ancestor' is probably largely due to the opportunities he received from An Liangcai.

……

After obtaining the information that interested him from An Liangcai,

Only then did Wei Tu begin to sort through his spoils of war.

He raised his hand and grabbed forward, instantly summoning from the void in front of him the numerous storage artifacts that had fallen from An Liangcai's body when he had sealed him away.

However, just as he had expected, over 99% of the 'treasures' An Liangcai had collected were useless to his current level of cultivation.

Only two antique-style fifth-tier spiritual treasures caught his attention.

One is a Buddhist rosary the size of a jujube, gleaming with spiritual light.

One was a gilded wooden fish that was partially broken and looked like an ordinary object.

“The same aura of law as the Heaven-Mending Bowl. These two spiritual treasures are also relics of Nanhua... Sure enough, this demon has already opened the two secret medicinal gardens that sealed his demonic body... No wonder he has the strength to threaten a Nascent Soul stage expert.” Wei Tu’s eyes flashed as he looked at An Liangcai’s demonic body, which he had sealed inside the jade box.

It was the same as the "true form of the ancient demon" that appeared when he fought this demon.

It has four arms, three eyes, and a single horn on its head.

Below the waist, only the left foot is solid; the rest of the body is merely a 'phantom' formed from demonic energy.

Clearly, this demon has already gathered most of its demonic body over the past thousand years.

Of course—compared to the previous ancient demon's true form, which was hundreds of feet in size, this demon's current body, under the suppression of his laws, is only the size of a palm, no different from a doll.

"However, this also saved me some time, so it's a good thing." Wei Tu smiled faintly.

With the personal guidance of He Sanyao, the leader of the Nanhua Sect, he already knew the locations of the four major medicinal gardens of the Nanhua Sect, so he didn't need to go through the trouble of searching like An Liangcai.

However, breaking the 'Demon-Sealing Array' that seals the demon's body is no easy task; it will take a considerable amount of time to wear down the array.

After all, these demon-sealing formations were used to seal An Liangcai, the Great Demon Lord, and they were much more robust than some seventh-order formations in the Spirit Realm.

Now, only one of the four major medicinal herb gardens remains, which is undoubtedly a great benefit for him, saving him a lot of time.

"However, of the four treasures of Nanhua, only the Heaven-Mending Bowl is missing its most crucial spirit, which inevitably makes it less than perfect..."

Wei Tu looked at the small, black bowl in his hand and frowned slightly.

Two thousand years ago, the reason why the Yunze Secret Realm, which suppressed the ancient demon, was 'exposed' and became known to the Heavenly Maiden Sect and the Huang Family of Heshan, leading to the 'demonic calamity', was because the 'spirit' inside the Heaven-Mending Bowl escaped, causing a flaw in the seal of the secret realm.

Therefore, after obtaining this Heaven-Mending Bowl, he only used it a few times during his Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages, and basically never used it during other stages, letting it gather dust.

If it's only a fifth-tier spiritual treasure...

That's fine then.

After all, fifth-tier spiritual treasures are nothing to him now; he can refine them with a flick of his wrist.

However... according to He Sanyao, these four treasures of Nanhua were supreme treasures bestowed by the holy monk Kubei to suppress evil spirits. They contained hidden Buddhist light, and each one was a top-grade sixth-order spiritual treasure.

However, because the ancient demon's body was suppressed in the human realm for too long, it lost a great deal of its spirituality and fell from the sixth rank to the fifth rank.

Even so, these four spiritual treasures, or Buddhist treasures, are still of immeasurable value.

The key to its value lies not in its rank as a spiritual treasure, but in the 'immeasurable Buddha light' it contains.

Under its influence, it is sufficient to reveal some of the divine power of the Venerable Monk Kubei...

The divine power of a Transcending Tribulation Immortal is an unparalleled treasure to a Great Power of Integration.

In a critical moment, it can save your life!

"However, two thousand years have passed, and I wonder if the 'Old Man Chongming' who was transformed from the spirit of this artifact is still in the mortal world?" Wei Tu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

But soon, something surprising happened. After he asked An Liangcai about this, the demon quickly told him about the whereabouts of the Elder Chongming.

Or rather, a 'corpse'!
This demon is vengeful; after escaping the Cloud Marsh Secret Realm, the first people it sought out, besides him, were the spirit of the Heaven-Mending Bowl that had suppressed it for tens of thousands of years...

Like most artifact spirits, Chongming Elder had a long lifespan but faced difficulties in cultivation. After gaining sentience, his cultivation level remained at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm without any progress.

"The third yellow pill bottle in the storage ring contains the cultivator's soul..." An Liangcai said after a moment of silence. (End of Chapter)