I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

"This guy surnamed Kou is much more cautious than most of the demon lords I've ever met."

Half a day later, the burly man who had followed Wei Tu's orders and evacuated together in the slave market breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the escaping light of the 'Shengtian Demon Ship' finally stop in the distance.

"Moreover, they are not only cautious, but also more cunning."

The burly man narrowed his eyes, a cold look appearing on his face.

He vaguely sensed that cooperating with Wei Tu would become 'tricky'.

If Wei Tu's previous attempts to extort money from him during their 'cooperation' and exploit his 'weakness' only amounted to one level of threat...

Therefore, its actions during its 'escape' just now could increase the threat level several times over.

From beginning to end, neither he nor the surrounding cultivators could discern whether the Demon Lord surnamed Feng intended to harm Wei Tu...

But Wei Tu was so cautious that, just in case, he simply fled.

At the same time, this move also framed the Demon Lord surnamed Feng, making him hesitant to act against his will even if he had such thoughts.

—Because if Wei Tu, who is in a hurry to escape, gets into trouble, the biggest suspect will be the Demon Lord Feng, who is competing with Wei Tu and has a conflict with him.

While robbery and murder are common occurrences in the cultivation world, the ambush and murder of a seventh-level alchemist is incomparable to the ambush and murder of an ordinary demon lord...

"His threat level is comparable to that of a veteran powerhouse among the Demon Lords... It's not advisable to offend him; we can only try to befriend him!"

The burly man silently evaluated Wei Tu, this 'newly crowned Demon Lord,' in his heart.

……

After raising their vigilance towards Wei Tu by several levels.

The burly man took a deep breath and flew forward, arriving near the Shengtian Demon Ship, where he confronted Wei Tu, who was on the deck, from a distance.

“Lord Kou, now that you are out of danger, it is time to keep your promise to Jiang and let one of these two juniors from the Jiao family go.”

The burly man glanced at the Jiao siblings, who were bound by spirit ropes on the deck, and said indifferently.

"What? You're honoring the contract and letting us go?"

Upon hearing this, the Jiao siblings, whose faces were ashen and whose expressions were blank, looked up in astonishment at Wei Tu and the burly man with disbelief.

But in an instant, their expressions changed again, turning paler.

Because what the burly man meant was to release one person, not to release two people at once.

"Jiang? Is it Senior Jiang?" Instantly, the Jiao siblings realized the identity of the burly man hidden behind the mask.

However, at this moment, their faces showed no sign of relief; on the contrary, they were even paler than before.

As Nascent Soul cultivators, they were not delicate flowers in a greenhouse. They understood that the words spoken by the burly man were not just about letting Wei Tu, the ancient demon, decide their fate, but also about letting the brother and sister choose their own destiny.

If only one person can be saved, the most likely outcome is that the siblings will refuse to save each other... That way, everyone can be happy.

That way, 'Senior Jiang' wouldn't be blamed by his own father.

Furthermore, he was resented by another person.

However, when it comes to freedom and life, even if they are siblings, it would be difficult for them to come to this realization.

But the next moment, something happened that left them both completely astonished.

At this moment, the unfamiliar Demon Lord, who was considered their 'master' and whose body was filled with demonic energy and whose face was cold and gloomy, spoke without the slightest hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang is quite interesting, throwing this difficult problem at me. If I let any one of them go, the others will probably hold a grudge against me..."

"I, Kou, wish to cooperate with your spiritual cultivation, not to become your enemy. In the future, as long as Fellow Daoist Jiao meets some of my conditions, the other person will be able to let him leave..."

Wei Tu smiled faintly.

Previously, he would not have offered much explanation for these so-called spiritual practitioners' 'grudges'.

But now that they intend to 'cooperate' with the spiritual cultivators of the Purple Palace Realm, they are naturally unwilling to be the 'bad guy' and add unnecessary hatred out of nowhere.

The Jiao siblings, being only at the Nascent Soul stage, were no match for him, but their biological father, Jiao Changyi, whom they could influence, posed a considerable threat to him.

"Is he truly sincere and intends to cooperate with us spiritual cultivators for the long term?" Upon hearing this, the burly man was also greatly surprised.

In the past, the ancient demons he dealt with, no matter how cunning, would not fuss over such trivial matters.

Conversely, doing favors or helping others is a common occurrence.

"Then let Qi'er go."

After a moment's thought, the burly man made a decision without hesitation.

For Wei Tu, this matter would greatly offend the "Jiao Changyi" behind the Jiao siblings, but for him, it was a trivial matter.

Previously, I was careful to protect my reputation and didn't want to get into trouble for no reason.

Now that Wei Tu doesn't intend to be the villain, he won't dwell on this matter any further.

"Qi'er..." Upon hearing this, the eldest sister of the Jiao family siblings immediately turned pale, and her pretty face lost much of its vitality.

The reason was simple: the burly man's "Qi'er" was her younger brother, not her, his older sister.

She was immediately abandoned by the burly man.

"Is it Father's order to prioritize Qi Di, or... is it simply because Qi Di is a boy and can carry on the Jiao family's bloodline..." The Jiao family girl was dizzy with tears in her eyes, and at this moment, she couldn't help but think more.

However, it is clear that her thoughts and ideas are insignificant in the face of these two 'merged' entities.

After deciding who would stay and who would leave.

Wei Tu and the burly man quickly began discussing serious matters.

For example, exploring how many of the 'Twelve Dong Families' practice spiritual cultivation together.

And its specific organizational form.

After all, when the soul of 'Lin Tianqi' was being searched, this cultivator knew nothing about these matters.

"Among the cultivators of the Twelve Dong families, only those with the potential to break through to the Integration Realm, or those who have already broken through to the Integration Realm, have the opportunity to know of the existence of us Integration Realm spiritual cultivators..."

"As for the specific number of combined beings and their cultivation levels, I'm afraid I cannot disclose that information."

"However, there is one thing I can tell Master Kou. Among my 'Twelve Dong Families,' the number of Nascent Soul cultivators is far more than one... If Master Kou does not intend to 'cooperate' and betrays us, he will surely be hunted down by the Nascent Soul cultivators of my 'Twelve Dong Families'! He will never have peace!"

The burly man narrowed his eyes and warned Wei Tu.

"I understand." But Wei Tu remained calm and composed upon hearing this.

"This is a drop of 'Demon River Star Milk,' consider it an extra gift from Master Kou for bidding on my behalf..."

At this point, the burly man flicked his sleeve, and a jade bottle the size of a thumb flew out and landed in front of Wei Tu.

First, they use 'threats', and then they lure them with valuable treasures. This is a common tactic used by the 'Twelve Dong Families' to entice the ancient demons to cooperate.

When it came to Wei Tu, it was no exception.

"Demon River Star Milk?" Upon seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Wei Tu's brows.

He had heard of this treasure before; it was a rare and precious material that could increase the Demon Lord's cultivation speed and breakthrough rate.

This tiny drop is enough to save an ancient demon in the early stages of Demon Lord cultivation hundreds of years of arduous training.

Unfortunately, he was not a true ancient demon, so this drop of 'Demon River Star Milk' could not be used on him to increase his cultivation speed.

Of course, it was not useless to him.

An Liangcai's indestructible demonic body can also be 'repaired' using this treasure.

"Master Kou detained 'Yan'er' because he intended to use her as a bargaining chip to exchange for something from Fellow Daoist Jiao."

"I, Jiang, can agree to this on behalf of Fellow Daoist Jiao, but I also implore Master Kou to agree on specific conditions... Otherwise, I will have no choice but to treat Yan'er as if she were already dead."

After threatening and bribing him, the burly man brought up the old matter again, speaking in a completely unfriendly tone.

In a word.

A deal is possible, but specific conditions must be set. He and Jiao Changyi cannot accept being led by the nose by Wei Tu using Jiao Yan'er's life as leverage.

"This is simple, only two conditions are required."

"Firstly, I need to know the exact whereabouts of the two Nascent Soul cultivators who have been wanted by the Purple Chen Realm in recent years..."

"Secondly, all you need to do is have Fellow Daoist Jiao provide are two high-quality, seventh-tier Yin-attribute spiritual materials."

"Of course, this second condition can also be exchanged for 'Demon River Star Milk'... My request is not high, just ten drops of 'Demon River Star Milk' will suffice."

"Once these two conditions are met, Fairy Yan... I, Kou, will gladly return her."

Wei Tu smiled calmly.

However, upon hearing this, the burly man did not immediately agree, but instead frowned and pondered deeply.

These two conditions are not too harsh if the first condition is ignored.

Ten drops of Demon River Star Milk, or two seventh-tier Yin-attribute spiritual medicines, are worth only around a thousand mid-grade magic crystals... a price that any Nascent Soul cultivator can afford.

The amount he initially intended to pay Wei Tu was not much different.

The only difficulty.

They were inquiring about the two 'fusion-level cultivators' who had appeared in recent years and were wanted by the Zichen Realm.

This is a great difficulty that even the Dark Eagle Demon Ancestor failed to accomplish!

"The first condition is too difficult. I, Jiang, can make the decision to add five more drops of 'Demon River Star Milk' to Master Kou. Of course, the condition is that Master Kou must also set up a furnace to refine pills for us once..." The burly man began to bargain.

Unfortunately, Wei Tu remained unusually persistent on this matter, refusing to budge no matter how the burly man tried to tempt him.

Seeing this, even the most foolish burly man understood that this condition was merely a pretext for Wei Tu to 'imprison' Jiao Yan'er, thus keeping Jiao Changyi at bay.

Because, with Wei Tu's mere 'early stage of Integration' realm, no matter how extraordinary his methods, he would find it difficult to do anything after learning about the two wanted 'Integration Grandmasters'.

Moreover, he did not believe that Wei Tu had any connection with the two wanted 'combined cultivators'.

"Furthermore, the sooner the second condition is fulfilled, the better the treatment Fairy Yan will receive from me."

After a moment of contemplation, Wei Tu spoke again.

"Otherwise, I can't guarantee that, given enough time, this woman won't become a furnace for my soul..."

He threatened in a low voice.

"This..." Upon hearing this, the burly man's expression also turned slightly unpleasant.

"Within ten years, I, Jiang, will gladly grant whatever Master Kou desires."

After speaking, the burly man was too lazy to say anything more to Wei Tu. He gave Wei Tu a cold look, demanded that Wei Tu swear an oath to the Heavenly Demon on this condition, and then with a flick of his sleeve, he picked up the young cultivator named 'Jiao Qi' and flew away.

At the same time, a uniquely shaped communication artifact, resembling a wind chime, flew out from the burly man's sleeve and landed on the deck of the Shengtian Demon Ship.

……

After the burly man left.

With a deathly pale face, Jiao Yan'er straightened up, gritted her teeth, bowed respectfully to Wei Tu, and called him 'Master'.

"Master?" Upon hearing this, Wei Tu, who had been watching the burly man fly away, gradually came back to his senses.

He glanced at the girl in front of him, frowned slightly, and then casually took out a few jade slips and tossed them to her.

"These are some alchemical texts. You can leave them with me and study them. There's no need for you to still consider yourself a spirit slave... Even if you are Kou, I won't humiliate a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator too much."

After pondering for a moment, Wei Tu said.

He was only telling a part of the truth.

He wasn't that afraid of someone who was only at the late stage of the Fusion Realm.

The main purpose of keeping this woman was to obtain some seventh-tier spiritual items that he currently needed, as well as convenience in his actions within the Purple Chen Realm...

With the help of the 'Twelve Dong Families', his search for Flame Spirit King and Heavenly Crane Ancestor was much easier and faster than if he had done it alone.

However—besides that, as someone who had received kindness from the remnants of the Purple Palace Realm, he certainly wouldn't subject 'Jiao Yan'er' and other spiritual cultivators to excessive humiliation…

"Only studying alchemical texts..."

Upon hearing this, Jiao Yan'er was slightly taken aback, and a look of astonishment appeared on her beautiful face.

She knew that Wei Tu would be 'afraid' of her father's strength and wouldn't treat her too harshly.

But she also knew that this place was a den of demons!
As long as he doesn't kill her... even if he just plays with her as he pleases, it's still within her father's 'tolerance range'.

She had witnessed the arrogance and ruthlessness of the ancient demon in the past few days, even though she was the one whose clan had been wiped out.

"This demon is no ordinary being; his ambitions are far-reaching!"

In an instant, Jiao Yan'er had a thought that resembled that of the burly man.

However, before she could investigate further, Wei Tu, who was standing in front of her, slightly waved his sleeve.

After a dizzying moment, she found herself in a secret chamber filled with restrictions.

"Next, we just wait for the elixir to arrive."

Standing on the deck, Wei Tu smiled as he injected the drop of 'Demon River Star Milk' into the Undying Demon Body within his storage artifact. He then continued piloting the Victorious Heaven Demon Ship towards the nearby Immortal City.

Previously, he had planned to return to the 'Primordial Demon Source Realm' first.

But now that we've coincidentally connected with the 'Twelve Dong Families' in their combined spiritual cultivation, there's no need to rush things.

He can afford to wait at least ten years.

"I wonder if these 'Twelve Dong Families' can find out any trace of the Flame Spirit King and the Heavenly Crane Ancestor..." Wei Tu's eyes flickered slightly as he pondered to himself.

In terms of power, the Twelve Dong Families are certainly no match for the ancient demons who occupy the Zi Chen Realm, but... as remnants of spiritual cultivation, there's a considerable possibility that the Flame Spirit King and the Heavenly Crane Ancestor will take the initiative to visit them. (End of Chapter)