I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

Because if the "Great Master of Integration" who was in seclusion in the "Turtle Belly Space" is indeed the person they suspected... then their previous actions to stop the Two Saints of the Yang Family and Xie Liao, the Heavenly Rat King, can most likely be considered as offsetting their merits and demerits.

It is even quite possible to gain their goodwill in this way.

It should be understood that this was the goodwill of a newly ascended Mahayana being, far more precious than the opportunity they initially thought they had here—the legacy of a 'Great Master of Integration' who was about to die of old age.

"Mahayana..."

"Has he finally crossed that threshold?"

At this moment, Xue Qiongyu, who was standing inside the 'turtle belly space' and looking at the Snow Infant Clan Chief and others, finally relaxed her tense nerves and breathed a sigh of relief.

As Wei Tu's former 'enemy,' she was well aware of Wei Tu's ruthlessness and decisiveness.

Once the Snow Infant Clan Chief, the Blood Stone Sect Master, and others risk crossing that 'boundary' and truly stepping into the 'turtle belly space,' they will likely only face death.

As for kinship and her relationship with her side...

It's hard to say whether Wei Tu will have too many concerns about this.

Fortunately, their timely "better late than never" measures, coupled with Wei Tu's successful breakthrough at this critical juncture, would have made the outcome truly unpredictable.

"However, given his personality, he would never take such risks when it comes to breakthroughs... The Yang family's twin saints and others are not a concern, which is why they were able to succeed in breaking through at the right time. But... if the cultivators who come are not like that, but rather stronger figures from the cultivation world..."

Xue Qiongyu looked up in astonishment, gazing at the source of the 'spiritual energy vortex' in the distance—the Dragon-Trapping Tower. She vaguely understood that Wei Tu's breakthrough at this critical juncture was most likely not a coincidence, but rather something he had done intentionally.

Or, to put it another way... go with the flow!

If the cultivators who came were not the Snow Infant Clan Chief, the Blood Stone Sect Master, or the Two Saints of the Yang Family—these insignificant Nascent Soul cultivators—but other powerful figures, they would probably have already achieved their breakthroughs several days or even longer ago.

"In these thousand years, just how many terrifying opportunities has he seized?" Xue Qiongyu clicked her tongue inwardly, and was also secretly glad that she had not perished here. After all, she had been sealed in the 'Qiankun Bag' by Wei Tu to recuperate, and had closely followed Wei Tu's side, sharing life and death.

If anything happens to Wei Tu, she will also face death.

……

The facts were just as Xue Qiongyu had guessed.

Wei Tu's breakthrough this time, starting from absorbing the "Supreme Spiritual Qi" from the "Nine Aperture Immortal Embryo" half a century ago, was already almost controllable in its outcome.

At least, controlling and slowing down the generation and leakage of the 'spiritual energy vortex' and the 'Great Ascension Heavenly Tribulation' aura is not difficult.

In other words, the moment the Yang Family's Twin Saints, the Snow Infant Clan Chief, and the Blood Stone Sect Master sensed his breakthrough, he was only one step away from reaching the Great Ascension Realm.

However, in order to make this breakthrough even more perfect, he deliberately slowed down his progress, delaying until the 'Two Saints of the Sheep Family' and others planned to enter the 'Turtle Belly Space' before he finally took that step.

"Fortunately, it was just a few junior Nascent Soul cultivators who came to join in the fun. If it had been a Mahayana Immortal, we would have had to trigger the Heavenly Tribulation in advance to force them to leave..."

Inside the Dragon-Trapping Tower, Wei Tu, who had withdrawn his divine sense from outside the 'turtle belly space', glanced at the 'immortal foundation' within the Nascent Soul's body—a nascently formed, jade-shaped structure that was frantically absorbing and releasing the surrounding spiritual energy—and a slow smile appeared on his lips.

This 'Celestial Foundation', also known as the 'Immortal Platform', is the core of a Mahayana cultivator's immortal power and the second fundamental life force besides the Nascent Soul.

With this 'Sage Platform', only Mahayana immortals can capture those extremely rare 'Supreme Spiritual Qi' that permeates the cultivation world within the Spirit Realm and transform them into immortal power.

Subsequently, each advancement in the Mahayana realm was intricately connected to the 'Immortal Platform' deep within the Nascent Soul.

Even among cultivators in the Immortal Realm, the realm of Mahayana cultivators is often referred to as the Immortal Platform Realm.

After all, it is the beginning of a fairyland.

The marker of each stage of Mahayana Buddhism—early, middle, and late stages—is the number of newly constructed 'Sentai' (sacred altars).

To break through to the next realm, one must build a new 'Immortal Platform' to contain immortal power and absorb more 'Supreme Spiritual Energy'...

Only after the three energies unite and one is bathed in tribulation lightning can one break through to a higher tribulation realm and become one of the top tribulation-crossing immortals in the cultivation world.

"Four and a half inches? It seems that the 'Immortal Platform' I built can be considered extraordinary even within the Mahayana realm..."

Wei Tu looked slightly surprised and pondered to himself after measuring the size of his 'Sendai'.

Like the previous 'lower three realms' and 'middle three realms', the Mahayana realm also has differences in aptitude.

The construction of Sendai is a symbol of a successful breakthrough.

However, the size of the Sendai also represents the amount of immortal power it can contain, and its power in accordance with the laws of heaven and earth.

Generally speaking, cultivators who have attained the Mahayana realm usually have a celestial platform of about three inches. This level is a 'lower limit' for breaking through to a higher realm.

Once the Sendai (a spiritual platform) is smaller than 'three inches', then like those Nascent Soul cultivators who have comprehended lower-level laws, they will be stuck in the early Mahayana stage for life, finding it difficult to advance any further.

Of course, if there is an extraordinary opportunity that allows this 'three-inch platform' to improve step by step like a normal Mahayana practitioner and expand to 'nine inches' or more... then there is also hope that the 'newly built platform' can go even further.

Similarly, if a cultivator who has just broken through to the Mahayana stage has their newly constructed Immortal Platform already exceeding the three-inch limit from the very beginning...

Not only will they go further on the path than cultivators of the same level, but they will also be destined to be faster.

"That's true. Although my breakthrough to the Mahayana stage was fast, my foundation in the Integration stage was by no means inferior, and even far surpassed my peers... The Seven Treasures Demon Ancestor's 'True Refining Immortal Technique,' the Ten-Tailed Immortal Qi of the Sea-Stabilizing Immortal Ruins, the dual cultivation of Dharma and Body, the Dark Laws..."

"These things have already determined that after I break through to the Mahayana stage, my Sendai realm will definitely not be limited to just three inches!"

Wei Tu's eyes flickered as he pondered to himself.

If the Divine Phoenix Pill and the Nine-Aperture Immortal Embryo are the key to whether he can break through to the Mahayana realm, then the "True Technique of Immortal Refining" and the Ten-Tailed Immortal Qi are the "opportunities" that determine how far he can go in the Mahayana realm.

And in fact, he is second to none in this respect.

"This realm has been broken. Next, it is time to bathe in the heavenly tribulation. Only if this step is successful will one truly break through to the Mahayana realm..."

Two months later, after the 'Sentai' within his body gradually stabilized, Wei Tu also looked up and gazed at the 'tribulation clouds' above the 'turtle belly space,' which were already covered with dark clouds and flashing with lightning.

"but--"

"This item must be removed before the Heavenly Tribulation."

Wei Tu's heart stirred, and he raised his hand to grab the Tribulation-Avoiding Immortal Jade that was floating above his head and flashing with runes.

In order to overcome the sixth life-severing tribulation, he swallowed the remaining 'Earth Mother Divine Medicine' whole... Although most of its medicinal power had been transformed into life essence, offsetting the 'life-severing tribulation energy' that had previously permeated his body, a considerable portion of the medicinal power that could be used for 'body refinement' still remained in his physical body.

This 'Great Ascension Heavenly Tribulation' can also help him to completely refine the medicinal power and transform it into physical cultivation.

"Although it will be difficult to break through to the peak of the seventh level of Body Refinement this time with the 'Earth Mother Divine Medicine', with the remaining medicinal power and this Heavenly Tribulation Body Refinement, I should be able to make a breakthrough and directly enter the late stage of the seventh level of Body Refinement, 'Great Completion'!"

Wei Tu took a deep breath, took a step forward, and appeared outside the 'Dragon-Trapping Tower' in an instant, taking the initiative to meet the Great Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

In an instant.

Then, the celestial energy and lightning began to flash continuously.

Its terrifying pressure continuously impacted everything around it, causing Xue Qiongyu inside the 'turtle belly space' and the Bloodstone Sect Master and others outside the 'turtle belly space' to change their expressions slightly before hurriedly summoning defensive spiritual treasures to resist the baptism of the remaining power of this tribulation lightning.

"Pfft~" At that moment, the two saints of the Sheep family and Xie Liao, the Heavenly Rat King, also suddenly turned pale and spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

"It's actually a backlash from divine consciousness..."

How could this be?

"Is this kind of Mahayana Heavenly Tribulation really so terrifying?"

The three exchanged a glance, their faces filled with shock.

You should know that after being threatened by that 'Mahayana pressure', they not only dared not move a single step, but also kept their divine sense firmly locked within a three-foot radius around themselves, not daring to peek too far into the 'turtle belly space'.

It was only because the power of the 'Great Tribulation' at this moment was too terrifying and too astonishing that they subconsciously took another look.

Unexpectedly, with just this one glance, they immediately suffered a backlash of their divine senses and spat out blood.

"It's a Dharma Domain..."

"The domain of rules and laws of Mahayana immortals..."

"But how long has it been since this cultivator broke through to the Mahayana realm? How could he have learned to manipulate the rules and laws of the domain with immortal power so quickly?"

The Heavenly Rat King Xie Liao muttered to himself.

The Rule Domain can be mastered by cultivators at the early stage of the Integration Realm, but... compared to the Rule Domain of a Mahayana Immortal, it is undoubtedly like showing off one's limited skills before an expert.

Similarly, the 'rule domain' controlled by immortal power will be even more exquisite and more difficult to control, seemingly integrated into the world, omnipresent.

Unbeknownst to him, Wei Tu had already mastered the 'Owl Demon Yin Ghost' crafted from the remnant soul of a Mahayana cultivator hundreds of years ago, and was intimately familiar with the operation of its immortal power.

Although manipulating the 'rule domain' with immortal power is difficult, it is by no means a difficult task for Wei Tu.

……

"Congratulations, my husband, on breaking through to the Mahayana stage and becoming a living immortal."

"Congratulations, Master, your wish has been fulfilled..."

Half a month later, after enduring the agonizing wait, the tribulation clouds over the turtle's belly space finally dissipated slowly, revealing Wei Tu's figure.

It hovered in the air, its eyes tightly closed, and was completely charred black.

But in the brief moment after the tribulation clouds dissipated, it suddenly burst forth with celestial light, like a feather shedding its skin, and flew out from the charred-looking body. In a few breaths, it withdrew its radiance and returned to its original state.

At this moment, Xue Qiongyu and Ruan Shui'er, who were prepared, immediately flew forward, curtsied, and greeted Wei Tu with their congratulations.

"This is a Mahayana immortal..." At the same moment, 'Grandma Tu', who was hiding in Xue Qiongyu's mind, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, unable to suppress her joy.

Although Mahayana immortals have not disappeared from the spirit world, they are extremely rare, and ordinary cultivators find it very difficult to even meet one.

Even at her age, this was the first time she had ever seen a Mahayana immortal with her own eyes.

Moreover, this Mahayana immortal was a 'junior' with whom she had met and exchanged experiences on array formations.

"The realm of Mahayana..."

Compared to Xue Qiongyu's composure, Ruan Shui'er was somewhat dizzy and disoriented at this moment, because fundamentally, she was a cheap disciple that Wei Tu had casually taken in out of pity.

However, even if a disciple is cheap, he is still closely related to his master.

Wei Tu's breakthrough to Mahayana is equivalent to her 'value' rising accordingly, making her a Mahayana disciple in one fell swoop!
It should be noted that not long ago, she was just a minor native cultivator in the 'Vast Desert'.

"It's just a pity that he's only a disciple..." Ruan Shui'er sighed inwardly, glancing lightly at Xue Qiongyu beside her.

Although both lead to the same fate, the "Daoist couple relationship" is far superior to the "master-disciple relationship"... After all, the closer one is to "power," the greater the benefits one receives.

However, in the blink of an eye, she banished the idea from her mind.

Back then, if Wei Tu hadn't saved her, she would have been possessed and killed by the Liu family patriarch long ago. How could she have survived to this day and become a Mahayana disciple?
Wei Tu has already treated her very well, how could she possibly scheme against him for this?

Therefore, after a short while, she put aside her distracting thoughts and stayed properly beside Xue Qiongyu, continuing to fulfill her duties as a disciple.

Wei Tu was unaware of Ruan Shui'er's little scheme.

However, even if he knew, he wouldn't care too much about it.

Cheap disciples have their own ways of raising cheap disciples.

Without expectations, there will be no disappointment.

He took this girl as his disciple only because of her kind nature when she was unconscious, and he had no intention of planning anything for her future. Even if she would be a hindrance to the future, it would not concern him with the past.

"My lord, my father had no intention of offending me this time. I hope you can be lenient and not hold it against me..."

After exchanging pleasantries with Wei Tu, Xue Qiongyu pursed her lips and, with a nervous heart, pleaded on behalf of the Xueying Clan Chief.

Unauthorized trespassing into a secluded retreat area...

This matter is neither a big deal nor a small one.

However, if you put it on a scale, it weighs a thousand pounds.

As for her, she was merely one of Wei Tu's concubines, and in such an important matter, she had little say in the matter.

“Ignorance is no excuse! This Stone Cocoon Secret Realm is shared by the Human Race and the Snow Infant Race. As the Snow Clan Chief is Qiongyu’s father, it is understandable that he was unaware of my arrival and suddenly trespassed…”

Wei Tu smiled faintly and said nonchalantly.

Soon, as soon as these words left his mouth, they immediately echoed through the 'turtle belly space,' reaching the ears of the Nascent Soul cultivators outside the turtle belly space—who had been intimidated by Wei Tu's Mahayana aura and hadn't moved an inch in the past six months.

"Wei?"

"This cultivator... no! This Mahayana senior's surname is Wei? In this world, which other clan's prodigy has the surname Wei?"

Instantly, a single stone stirred up a thousand waves.

The cultivators from the two clans, led by the patriarch of the Snow Infant Clan and the sect leader of the Blood Stone Sect, along with the three combined cultivators—the Twin Saints of the Sheep Family and Xie Liao, the Heavenly Rat King—were instantly thrown into an uproar.

Especially when they heard the second half of the sentence, the mention of "Father of Qiongyu," they were filled with astonishment and uncertainty. (End of Chapter)