Wei Tu had seen in ancient texts that some spiritual objects of the Spiritual and Immortal ranks, once born, could be so powerful that they were not only equal to true spirits of a realm but might even surpass them.
The "Purple Iris Flower" they had just captured, if it was truly a spiritual object of the Spiritual rank, might very well be beyond the capability of a small Golden Core cultivator like him.
"The Dao is within reach," Wei Tu waved his hand and drew the Purple Iris Flower, which had been trapped by the "Blue Trident Net," towards him. He studied the spiritual object carefully, and a look of excitement appeared on his face.
With this spiritual object in his hand, he truly felt that he had a certain amount of confidence in breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Golden Core cultivators were considered high-level cultivators, but still, they were at the lower tier among higher cultivators.
The Nascent Soul realm was something entirely different.
At the Nascent Soul level, cultivators could move freely through the world, unaffected by distinctions between righteous or demonic sects, nations, or forces.
Take the Gui Luo Demon Lord for example. Even as the Nascent Soul incarnation of the Old Demon Jiuchuan, with all the advantages on his side, he didn't want to kill Lady Lan, fearing the repercussions with a Nascent Soul loose cultivator from Zheng Kingdom.
That alone spoke volumes about his status.
"Congratulations, Wei Daoist. The Immortal Path is within your reach!" Bai Zhi, seeing Wei Tu's excitement, smiled gently and congratulated him.
She and Wei Tu were now connected by fate—if he achieved the Nascent Soul stage, she, having switched to the Ghost Dao, might also one day have a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul herself with his help.
"The most pressing matter now is to leave the Great Void realm and escape this trap."
Quickly, Wei Tu shook off his moment of pride and started thinking about how to escape.
This secret place was hidden. Aside from the Crimson Mirror, others would have a hard time opening it.
The spiritual energy here was strong, comparable to a fourth-tier spiritual land, and there was no spiritual poison… If it weren't for Che Gongwei and the others, he could just close off this secret realm and stay here.
But the problem was, Che Gongwei and the Heavenly Corpse Old Demon were here too.
They had been forced into this place to rescue him.
If he just left without any concern for them, how was that any different from being a beast?
"'If you don't fail me, I won't fail you.'"
Wei Tu recalled Che Gongwei's words from a month ago, and his gaze firmed again.
The Immortal Path was indeed hard to pursue.
Being cautious was true.
But if one always worried and hesitated, in the end, they would become a despicable, cowardly person, obsessed only with rank and lifespan.
In that case, they would lose friends and family.
"Wei Daoist truly lives up to the righteousness of the Dao," Bai Zhi said, her face showing admiration.
When presented with the chance to achieve the Dao, most people would likely hide in the secret place, fearing for their lives and secretly cultivating.
But Wei Tu, willing to take risks for others, was truly rare among cultivators.
Bai Zhi knew her own shortcomings—she wasn't a good person—but she preferred associating with good people. At least they wouldn't betray her.
...
A moment later.
Wei Tu stepped out from the secret realm. He urged the Crimson Mirror to retract the red mist and sealed off the entrance to the secret realm.
However, just as Wei Tu turned around, he saw a familiar figure suddenly appear in front of him. The figure held an Emei needle and lunged toward his chest.
The change came too quickly.
It was completely unexpected.
By the time Wei Tu reacted, the figure had crashed into his chest, and the sharp Emei needle had already pierced toward his chest.
Screech—!
It sounded like metal clashing.
"How is this possible?" Bao Siyan froze for a moment, looking at Wei Tu's unscathed chest, her face filled with surprise and confusion.
She had been preparing for this assassination for a long time. Even though she had to conceal her presence and couldn't use all her strength, 70-80% of her power should have been enough to kill Wei Tu.
At the very least, she should have severely wounded him, leaving him unable to fight back.
How could it be that not even a scratch was left on Wei Tu? How was he unharmed?
"Dual cultivation of body and spirit? Mid-level body tempering at the third stage?" Bao Siyan suddenly had this thought.
But she instinctively felt that this thought was too absurd.
Wei Tu had only been in the Golden Core stage for sixty-plus years. With his current cultivation, breaking through to the mid-Golden Core stage was already enough of a talent, but it was impossible for him to have also broken through to the mid-third stage of body tempering…
After all, the last time she had teamed up with Wei Tu to explore the underground palace, he had still been the "weakling" in her eyes.
Even with any recent breakthroughs, it didn't make sense that her attack now couldn't even scratch him.
In an instant, Bao Siyan's thoughts were completely in disarray.
Slap! Slap!
Taking advantage of Bao Siyan's hesitation, Wei Tu quickly regained his composure.
He immediately activated his blood energy, "True Demonic Refinement Art", and then shot out his hands, grabbing Bao Siyan's wrists and using his physical strength to twist them behind her back.
In an instant, Bao Siyan was successfully restrained by Wei Tu, forced to kneel on one knee and crawl in a humiliating posture before him.
"Let go!" Bao Siyan's face turned pale. She instinctively activated her technique, trying to break free from Wei Tu's grip and escape.
But—
Her efforts were in vain.
Wei Tu's grip was like a mountain, and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't move even an inch.
The overwhelming strength of Wei Tu's physical body almost completely crushed Bao Siyan, leaving her with only the ability to move her mouth. Every other part of her body was firmly restrained by the terrifying force.
"Wei Tu, I am your master, let go of me..." Bao Siyan tried to beg, but feeling her seniority, she stubbornly added, "Let go."
"Hehe! Bai Daoist, you tried to assassinate me, and now you want me to release you... Do you think I'm that foolish?" Wei Tu's expression grew cold.
If it hadn't been for his breakthrough to mid-stage body tempering at the third level in the Blood Slaughter Sea's Stone Cave, Bao Siyan might have succeeded in her assassination attempt. He might have died right then.
Though it was a close call, the anger he felt inside was clear.
"One life for another! Last time, you abandoned me and escaped first. This time, I tried to assassinate you and failed... it's all settled now!"
Bao Siyan snorted coldly, growing more convinced that Wei Tu was shameless for disregarding their past ties.
She believed that since Wei Tu had wronged her first, this was just evening the score. Now, they owed each other nothing.
"What about Master Che?" Wei Tu asked with a harsh tone.
Six months ago, to provoke Bao Siyan, he had deliberately not explained the real reason he escaped back then, on the Blood Slaughter Sea's coast.
This had everything to do with Che Gongwei's secret advice to him.
—Bao Siyan had been the first to betray Che Gongwei, leaking his whereabouts to the Gui Luo Demon Lord.
That's why, first, Bao Siyan betrayed Che Gongwei, and then Wei Tu had deceived her, using the past to anger her.
To put it another way…
Even without the matter of Che Gongwei, when they were escaping from the Gui Luo Demon Lord and others, Bao Siyan had been the one who abandoned him in the Five Poisons Swamp, which led to Wei Tu leaving the Mount Shanhe and entering the Blood Slaughter Sea alone.
"This..." Bao Siyan faltered, not knowing how to justify herself.
She knew it was wrong, but she felt she had no choice.
Once the soul contract was signed, there was no freedom left.
If she hid the truth, Gui Luo Demon Lord would find out. Rather than that, it was better to tell him early and gain some favor.
"Wei Daoist, please spare my life. I just want to live... This assassination was ordered by the Gui Luo Demon Lord, it has nothing to do with me..."
With no more justifiable reasons, Bao Siyan stopped pretending to be strong and started pleading, her voice breaking. "I am willing to be your servant. I am willing to be at your side... I will serve you."
"When I taught you techniques, shared secrets with you, did I ever harbor any ill intent?"
Bao Siyan's heart sank, her eyes filled with sorrow.
Although she had concealed some secrets of the "Divine Wood Origin Technique," she had not truly hidden anything. There were no ulterior motives.
Hearing this, Wei Tu frowned slightly.
The techniques and secrets from that time had been a trade between him and Bao Siyan. Both sides had no debts left between them.
"It's just that Bao Siyan is difficult to deal with..." Wei Tu thought to himself.
Unlike other enemies, Bao Siyan had been his master and had imparted some teachings to him.
Additionally, Wei Tu wasn't sure whether her assassination attempt came directly from the Gui Luo Demon Lord's order or if it was her own decision.
Of course, the most important factor was that he still needed some of the secrets of the "Divine Wood Origin Technique" from Bao Siyan. Killing her immediately wouldn't be in his best interest.
However, a soul search would be too time-consuming.
After all, he still had to help contain the Gui Luo Demon Lord and others so that the Heavenly Corpse Old Demon and Su Bing'er could safely leave the Great Void realm.
"First, I'll seal her cultivation and leave her in this secret place. I'll deal with her later," Wei Tu thought, coming to a decision.
Because of their master-disciple relationship, he couldn't just kill Bao Siyan, but Che Gongwei, being her peer, was another matter.
However—
Just as Wei Tu was about to act, Bao Siyan, who had been pleading, suddenly stopped speaking. Blood poured from her seven orifices, and her body flickered with a faint light, as if it would extinguish like a candle in the wind.
"The soul contract backlash. Looks like the Gui Luo Demon Lord doesn't want me to live," Bao Siyan laughed bitterly. Her face lost the pleading expression and turned neutral, as if she had already accepted her fate.
"Yushi!"
"I'll join you now!"
Bao Siyan cried out sharply.
After speaking, her breath halted, and dark mist began to pour from her body. Her delicate skin turned a dark blue, as if she were about to turn into a corpse or some kind of ghostly creature.
Seeing this, Wei Tu no longer hesitated. He released his physical power and crushed Bao Siyan's life force with a single blow.
"Fate is out of our hands. She was a pitiable person," Wei Tu sighed softly and quickly buried Bao Siyan.
Although Bao Siyan had tried to kill him, before the Gui Luo Demon Lord subdued her, she had not done anything too extreme.
Moreover, her attempt on his life had also been provoked by Wei Tu's earlier actions.
After burying her, Wei Tu opened Bao Siyan's storage ring and began searching for the original jade slips containing the "Divine Wood Origin Technique."
As far as he knew, the "Divine Wood Origin Technique" was a family inheritance of Bao Siyan's.
It was highly likely that she kept the original jade slip with her at all times.
"I found it." After a short time, Wei Tu pulled out two jade slips from her storage ring.
One was green, the other white.