I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

Using the ancient teleportation array on the fourth floor, Wei Tu returned to the first floor of the 'Treasure Sun Divine Tower' before following the instructions of the Flame Spirit King's divided soul and using a magic incantation to open the door to the dark room in front of him.

Soon, a view that was very different from the first level 'passage' appeared.

This place is a boundless, desolate mountain of white bones, with no visible boundaries. The surrounding area is also filled with a gray-green miasma that can prevent cultivators from seeing further, and it becomes denser the farther away you go.

Moreover, these miasmas are constantly corroding the cultivator's magical power and physical body. Although the process is slow, it is difficult to completely shield or eliminate them.

“Where is this…” Wei Tu frowned, raised his hand to make a hand seal to reinforce his magic shield, and then looked into the 'dark room' behind him with his divine sense.

The secret chamber containing the 'ancient teleportation array' still exists, hidden within black stone walls of a similar material to the first-level 'passage'.

The overall outline of this black stone wall resembles a towering tomb, with only a circular archway for entering and exiting this 'desolate mountain of bones'.

Inside the door was a familiar sight to Wei Tu: a huge Buddha statue holding a seven-colored glazed pagoda, and an empty altar placed in front of the statue.

"As you can see, this is the fourth level of the Treasure Sun Divine Tower. Once you cross this desolate mountain of bones, you can reach the fifth level of the Treasure Sun Divine Tower... And I, this old man, am trapped somewhere in this desolate mountain of bones, and have not yet completely left this place..."

"I summoned Fellow Daoist Lin here today, hoping he could lend me a hand. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Lin would be willing to do me this small favor."

"However, I believe Fellow Daoist Lin would be more than happy to oblige. After all, in another five or six days, with the strength of Ancestor Tianhe and the others, they should be able to break into this place and face you and me in a life-or-death struggle..."

At this moment, the 'Flame Spirit King's Divided Soul,' which resembled demonic light and was imprisoned by Wei Tu's magic power, spoke up once again, chuckling.

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu didn't pay much attention to the cultivator. He frowned deeply and flew to the nearest 'tomb' containing the Buddha statue. After inspecting the place, he explored the nearby 'White Bone Wasteland' for a while. Seeing that there was nothing noteworthy, he slowly spoke up and started talking to the cultivator.

"Even with Fellow Daoist Yanling's strength, it would be difficult to pass through this place. Doing so alone is not necessarily of any use."

Wei Tu said calmly, seemingly unaware that the cultivator was still addressing him as 'Fellow Daoist Lin'.

However, at this moment, the 'Flame Spirit King's Divided Soul' seemed to have lost interest in Wei Tu and did not chat with him anymore.

He chuckled softly, and after informing Wei Tu of his location and some information about the 'White Bone Wasteland' via telepathy, he immediately fell silent.

It's as if they're just waiting for Wei Tu to make his own choice!

—Should we stay here and wait for Ancestor Tianhe and the others to arrive in five or six days and then fight them, or should we work together to overcome the danger of the fifth level?

And this choice is not difficult at all.

Wei Tu was well aware of how difficult it was for him to be tolerated by the three of them, including Tianhe Ancestor.

The previous 'hostility' is nothing.

The real danger lies in the covetousness of the three Heavenly Crane Ancestors for the 'secrets' within the Treasure Sun Divine Pagoda that he knew about.

Compared to the loss of strength, what is most unbearable for an old cultivator like Ancestor Tianhe is the complete lack of information about dangerous places...

He had no doubt that the Heavenly Crane Ancestor was willing to take the risk and ruthlessly attack him.

After all, hesitation will only lead to harm!

"What a vicious scheme." Wei Tu sneered inwardly, realizing that he had fallen into the Flame Spirit King's trap. Now, his only chance of survival was to become this cultivator's puppet.

His eyes turned cold, as if he had heeded the words of the Flame Spirit King's divided soul. With a burst of light, he slowly flew towards the place where his main body was trapped.

The journey took about two days by plane.

Just as they were about to reach the place where the Flame Spirit King's 'true form' was trapped, a deafening roar, as powerful as splitting rocks and piercing clouds, immediately echoed from afar.

The next moment, a thick cloud of blood suddenly appeared in the sky on the left.

Within the blood-red clouds was a gigantic beast resembling a tiger, half of it a skeleton and half a rotting flesh, looking like a demon from another world, radiating a terrifying and awe-inspiring aura.

"This tiger is a half-true spirit from the Netherworld. Although it has not broken through to the eighth rank, it is not an easy thing to deal with... Fellow Daoist Lin, you still need to be careful."

At this moment, the long-dormant 'Flame Spirit King's Split Soul' also gave Wei Tu a rare reminder.

However, it remained silent about its own location and offered no explanation whatsoever for Wei Tu, who had been 'tricked' into this situation.

"Is the intention to use this Netherworld beast to kill me or weaken me... or is this beast the key to reaching the fifth level of the 'Sun God Tower'?"

Wei Tu frowned, flicking his sleeve to summon a magical treasure to fight back, while simultaneously retreating in the opposite direction of the beast with a flash of light.

However—this tiger-like otherworldly beast was incredibly fast. Before he had even fled a few miles, it had already roared and pounced on him with its claws.

And that's the power of just this one strike.

The magical artifact he used to defend himself was as fragile as paper, easily torn apart by this claw.

But before Wei Tu could dodge, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.

Suddenly, a green-skinned monk, half-connected to the tiger-like otherworldly beast and resembling an infant but skin and bones, appeared above its head.

His lips moved slightly, and he pointed slightly in the direction of Wei Tu.

A loud 'bang' was heard.

A golden light, seemingly out of nowhere, pierced through Wei Tu's magical shield and arrived between his brows in the blink of an eye.

Even though Wei Tu had prepared for this, he had no time to react.

next moment.

A bloody hole, about an inch deep, suddenly appeared between Wei Tu's eyebrows.

"How could this be?" Wei Tu's expression changed drastically in an instant. He immediately realized that neither the green-skinned monk who resembled a dwarf nor the otherworldly demon tiger were people he could defeat.

Although such attacks have not reached the Mahayana realm, they have clearly reached the pinnacle of the Mahayana realm.

Not to mention him, even at the height of An Liangcai's career, he was probably inferior to him.

Fortunately, his physical body at this moment is an 'Indestructible Demon Body', and the one controlling the demon body is a 'Blood Ghost Split Soul'... unlike ordinary cultivators, he does not have any visible fatal weaknesses.

It is not something that can be easily killed!

"Keep running!" Wei Tu's eyes flashed, and he immediately disregarded the consequences and continued to flee in the direction he had come from.

Unfortunately, his escape speed was still a notch slower than that of the otherworldly demon tiger. In just over ten breaths, he was stopped in front of it.

His expression changed drastically, and he immediately raised his right hand forward, transforming it into a giant hand as large as a mountain, carrying the 'Mysterious Netherworld Flame', and reached out to grab the man and the tiger.

With a loud "crack".

The otherworldly demon tiger covered by the 'Giant Golden Body' was unharmed. The green-skinned monk connected to its head had a hint of mockery on his lips. With a pinch of his hand, the blood cloud under the otherworldly demon tiger's feet instantly transformed into streaks of blood-red lightning with golden incantations.

Not bad! The loud explosion came from Wei Tu's swollen right hand, and charred black marks appeared pitifully on his palm.

However, Wei Tu's attack will not stop there.

After seeing that the 'Golden Body of Might' had failed, he frowned slightly, then raised his hand again, summoning several high-level talismans and the trident spirit treasure he had obtained from Prince Qing. He used the self-destruction of this treasure to bombard the 'man and tiger' bound in his palm.

In an instant.

Amidst the earth-shattering explosion of the magical treasure, the crimson lightning swirling around the otherworldly demon tiger vanished by 30-40% in an instant.

However, just as the residual force was about to engulf the 'man and tiger's' true forms, the green-skinned monk simply snorted and casually conjured a golden bell that blocked the remaining force of the spiritual treasure's self-destruction.

but--

And so we took advantage of this gap.

Wei Tu's escape light flashed again, instantly splitting into two, then three, transforming into several demonic shadows that disappeared from the spot.

It was as if each of the demonic shadows was his true form.

"If we resist a little longer, such an easy defeat will definitely arouse the Flame Spirit King's suspicion." Wei Tu, who escaped using the Seven Mystic Demon Body technique, secretly had a headache.

Because of his clone, this 'clone' carried very little wealth, not to mention the idea of ​​faking his death to escape... He placed some important items in another blood demon clone that had separated from him.

With this reduction, while the strength of his clone wouldn't drop too low, it would still be extremely difficult for him to achieve a devastating 'slaying' of enemies in combat.

Of course, it was also fortunate that An Liangcai possessed an 'immortal demonic body', which was 'immortal and unyielding' and extremely difficult to kill.

Otherwise, having lost so many magical treasures and trump cards, he would not have been able to survive until now against this man and tiger.

An ordinary combined attack would likely result in death during the very first move.

"Wait a little longer... This Flame Spirit King is definitely not simple. Just sit back and watch me fight this otherworldly monster to the death." Wei Tu's eyes flashed slightly, and he sneered inwardly.

They fought and retreated simultaneously.

Half an hour later.

Just as Wei Tu had predicted, the 'White Bone Desolate Mountain' underwent a strange change.

A tiny portal of light suddenly appeared in the void a thousand miles away from him.

That location was precisely the direction from which the green-skinned monk and the otherworldly tiger had come.

Upon witnessing this scene, Wei Tu finally understood the Flame Spirit King's scheme.

Clearly, he was seen by Flame Spirit King as 'bait' to lure the tiger away, and was deliberately set up.

That miniature light gate, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is the key to leaving this fourth level of the 'Treasure Sun Divine Tower'.

This trick, though not new, is very effective.

Whether it was him, the man and the tiger, or even the three Heavenly Crane Ancestor who had not yet arrived, they were all completely fooled by this cultivator…

“Fellow Daoist Lin, besides this ‘Nether Infant Buddha Tiger,’ you still have Ancestor Tianhe and his group behind you… Of course, with their speed, it will take them at least a day to get here.”

"If Fellow Daoist Lin can hold on for just one day, he might be saved."

At that moment, the 'Flame Spirit King's Divided Soul' imprisoned by Wei Tu suddenly let out a cold laugh.

These words had barely left his lips.

The 'Flame Spirit King's Divided Soul' in Wei Tu's sleeve suddenly vanished, leaving only the silhouettes of the three Heavenly Crane Ancestors emerging from the distant 'tomb'.

at the same time--

The otherworldly demon tiger and the green-skinned monk, who had caught sight of the 'miniature light gate' in the distance, were instantly enraged and roared.

However, the man and the tiger seemed to realize that the distance was not enough to stop the 'Flame Spirit King', so they instantly turned their heads with cold glints in their eyes and attacked Wei Tu.

In that instant, the strength of the 'Ghost Infant Buddha Tiger' suddenly surged by several moves, each move becoming extremely fierce and deadly.

but--

At this moment, Flame Spirit King, who had teleported away using the 'Miniature Light Gate', also did not see it.

After he left.

Less than fifteen minutes had passed.

Wei Tu, whom he regarded as a great threat, an ancient demon at the level of 'Great Demon Lord', was suddenly killed by 'Youying Buddha Bone', and his body and soul vanished.

The 'Ghost Infant Buddha Tiger' that killed Wei Tu quickly returned to its lair after devouring Wei Tu's demonic body left behind, and sealed the 'miniature light gate' that Flame Spirit King had opened leading to the fifth floor of the Treasure Sun Divine Tower.

"The Netherworld Infant Buddha Tiger possesses the strength to kill a half-step Mahayana cultivator... Now, by using it to guard against demons, we have eliminated a Great Demon Lord... Even if this demon's strength is greatly reduced, it is still enough to weaken the power of Ancestor Tianhe and the other two..."

"At that time, with my strength, I will be able to reap the benefits without lifting a finger."

On the fifth floor of the Bao Ri Divine Pagoda, the Flame Spirit King, who had been teleported in and was holding a white bone staff, glanced at the stone offering table in front of the Buddha statue and then revealed a cold smile.

At this moment, on the stone altar, the pagoda-shaped pattern and the light spots representing Wei Tu and the others had all stopped at the fourth level and remained motionless.

“However, at this moment, the most crucial thing is to interrogate this demon and get information about… the fifth level of the Treasure Sun God Tower…” Flame Spirit King’s eyes flashed, and he patted a green cloth bag at his waist, taking out a pitch-black compass from it.

This pitch-black compass was ordinary and didn't seem particularly special.

However—if Wei Tu were here, he would immediately recognize that it was almost identical to the 'black compass' he had obtained from the white-haired evil cultivator.

After taking out this pitch-black compass.

After a short while, under the Flame Spirit King's hand seals, a severed skull covered with dozens of sealing talismans and covered in blood appeared in the fifth hall of the 'Precious Sun Divine Tower'.

"It was you, fellow Daoist, who allowed me to enter the fifth level of the Treasure Sun Divine Tower... Now, it's time to talk about how to advance further."

"Flame Spirit King asked in a cold tone."

After speaking, without waiting for a reply from 'Blood Hair and Severed Skull', he opened his mouth and spat out a ghostly white flame, which burned towards Blood Hair and Severed Skull.

However, things didn't go as the Flame Spirit King had planned.

This time, the 'blood-stained head' did not let out its usual extremely miserable wail; instead, it let out a sinister laugh.

"Fellow Daoist Yanling is quite right. It is time for this Demon Ancestor to inform you of some information about this place."

"Of course, I also want to thank you for killing a great demon lord who was a threat to me..."

Upon hearing this, the Flame Spirit King's expression changed slightly, but as if he had expected it, he frowned and asked, "You are the Demon Ancestor? Not the Demon Lord?" (End of Chapter)