"Some of the Beastmaster Sect's disciples have already retreated to the Zheng Kingdom's cultivation territory. So, it's not surprising that a Wind-Cleaving Eagle appeared here," Ni Shihuang said with a light smile, clearly affirming Blood God Son's explanation.
Hearing that the Beastmaster Sect had retreated to Zheng Kingdom, Blood God Son's brow twitched, and his expression instantly darkened.
The force attacking Zheng Kingdom was merely a detachment of the joint forces of the Heavenly Maiden Sect and Blood God Sect. If the main army of the demonic path were to arrive, he would no longer be able to roam so freely here.
Especially—
Among the Blood God Sect, there was that "Senior Brother" who surpassed him in every way. That man too, would arrive soon.
"We have to move quickly and seize the nearby marketplaces. Otherwise, when the sect's main army gets here, we won't be able to get our hands on anything." Blood God Son snorted coldly, summoned a blood-red halberd, and spat a mouthful of blood essence onto it before sending it hurtling toward the pale blue shield surrounding Hongyan Mountain Marketplace.
With that strike—
The defensive formation protecting the marketplace let out a mournful hum, finally unable to hold any longer. It shattered completely, dissolving into countless points of light that quickly disappeared.
The very next instant—
Wails erupted from within the marketplace.
By the following day—
The interior of the marketplace was a river of blood, with not a single soul left alive.
…
More than a month later.
After parting ways with Kou Hongying, Wei Tu brought Qi Feng back to the Mei Family in Xiaya Cliff.
Seeing Wei Tu return with a concubine in tow, everyone in the Mei Family was visibly stunned. After all, Wei Tu had always portrayed himself as a reclusive cultivator.
He almost never drank, let alone indulged in pleasure.
And taking a concubine?
That was even more unheard of.
As for that—
Wei Tu didn't bother explaining anything.
He had taken Qi Feng as a concubine purely for the benefits involved. Any rational cultivator would have agreed, after hearing Qi Feng's "plea."
Meanwhile, Qi Feng herself was left stunned upon arriving at the Mei Family residence.
She could hardly believe that Wei Tu's children were also proud Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Qi Feng was both happy and worried.
Happy because with three Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Wei family, her own status would naturally rise. She could now enjoy safety and stability in this chaotic world, without being dragged into others' schemes, and focus solely on cultivation.
Worried because both Wei Yan and Xiuwen were Foundation Establishment cultivators. Trying to get close to them would not be easy. If she couldn't get along with Wei Tu's children, she'd end up like a ghost in the house—barely seen or acknowledged.
…
Qi Feng's concerns—
Wei Tu noticed them all.
But he didn't interfere. He let things develop as they would.
After all, taking Qi Feng as a concubine was just a transactional decision. If not for the benefits, he wouldn't have had the slightest inclination toward such arrangements.
Besides—
Right now, the most important thing for him was strengthening his cultivation to face the chaos ahead, not getting caught up in household trifles.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
Inside his secluded cultivation chamber—
That day, Wei Tu's skin flushed a deep red, and blood mist surged around the crown of his head.
A blood-colored core slowly floated out of his mouth, drawing in all the surrounding mist before its radiance faded. It transformed into a simple red pellet and returned to his abdomen.
"The second blood core... finally condensed successfully." Moments later, Wei Tu's complexion returned to normal. His tightly closed eyes slowly opened as he exhaled a deep breath of turbid air.
For the past two years, he'd secluded himself in the training room, fully focused on cultivating the Hundred Veins Blood Tempering Art.
He had already used up all of his Cold Crystal Flower and Earth Dragon Flesh, but in the end, his body-refining cultivation had finally reached the mid-Foundation Establishment level, now equal to his Qi cultivation.
Wei Tu was confident. With his dual cultivation in both body and Qi, his base strength could already match an average late Foundation Establishment cultivator.
And if he added in his trump cards—then even high-level Foundation Establishment experts might fall at his hands.
Of course, if he ran into someone like Si Qing, a "treasure-laden girl," then the outcome would be uncertain. Only a real fight would tell.
"Qin Zhenren has been in seclusion to condense his core for ten years now… I wonder when he'll finally come out," Wei Tu muttered to himself as he calculated the time in his heart.
Compared to Qin Zhenren, Gong Suzhen was clearly lacking in both cultivation and connections.
So, when it came to exchanging pills, Gong Suzhen could only help him get a small amount—barely enough to shave off a dozen years of hard cultivation.
Under normal circumstances, a cultivator like him, with mid-grade spiritual roots, would need at least sixty to seventy years of hard work just to advance from mid to late Foundation Establishment.
"Yaner's letter?" Just then, Wei Tu noticed a sealed envelope had appeared at the door.
With a wave of his hand, he used his mana to bring the letter to his palm.
"Seven-Colored Phantom Moth... it succeeded?" After reading the contents, Wei Tu's face lit up with joy.
What truly moved him wasn't just the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth, but rather—the effect of the Spirit Dew.
According to the records left behind by the Xuanhou Qi Clan, the Spirit Dew secreted by the Myriad Spirits Demon Infant could not only enhance one's own cultivation, but also act as a powerful catalyst for spirit beasts, drastically accelerating their growth.
The clan's guardian spirit beast, the Xuan Frost Monkey, had initially only been an ordinary early-stage second-rank beast. Yet, under the nourishment of Spirit Dew, it had been forcibly pushed all the way to the late-stage second rank.
After obtaining the Spirit Dew, Wei Tu had been wary of its effects. So he only intended to use it on spirit beasts as a catalyst, rather than consuming it himself, to avoid any potential side effects that might hinder his cultivation path.
The Seven-Colored Phantom Moth was the first spirit beast he raised using the Spirit Dew.
Based on the Corpse-Incubated Larva Method, nurturing a Seven-Colored Phantom Moth usually took at least twenty to thirty years, just for the larva within the corpse to fully mature into a true adult moth.
Now, thanks to the Spirit Dew, it had taken only a few short years to fully cultivate one. How could Wei Tu not be thrilled?
With that in mind, he opened the door of his training chamber and eagerly flew out, heading straight to the cave dwelling where Wei Yan resided.
"Dad, this is the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth," Wei Yan said as she opened the cave dwelling and led Wei Tu into the insect chamber.
Inside the insect chamber, several thumb-sized moths flitted through the air. Oddly enough, when they stopped moving, it was as if they had vanished from the space entirely—there was no trace of them to be found.
"They're slightly weaker compared to the one we saw on that black-faced man from Qingzhu Mountain, but if you keep raising them, they should eventually catch up," Wei Tu said after sweeping the wall where the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth clung with his spiritual sense. After searching for a bit, he barely managed to sense a few of them.
It was clear that the current Seven-Colored Phantom Moths still lagged behind the one used by the black-faced cultivator from Qingzhu Mountain.
"I'll take these few moths with me. The rest are yours—use them as part of your arsenal." Wei Tu counted the moths in the chamber, took half for himself, and gifted the rest to Wei Yan.
"Thank you, Dad," Wei Yan said with joy lighting up her face.
After all, raising these moths had cost her several years of hard effort—and quite a bit of spirit stones.
"This bottle of Snow Spirit Water, I'll give it to you as well," Wei Tu said after a moment's thought, taking out a jade bottle from his sleeve and handing it to her.
The so-called Snow Spirit Water inside was actually diluted Spirit Dew.
But to stay cautious, he didn't call it Spirit Dew, instead naming it something safer—Snow Spirit Water.
Snow Spirit Water was indeed recorded in ancient texts as a rare material treasure for nurturing spirit beasts.
Wei Tu truly did trust his daughter. Still, Spirit Dew and the Myriad Spirits Demon Infant were too valuable—treasures even a Golden Core True Monarch would crave.
Golden Core cultivators possessed soul-searching techniques. He had to guard against that.
"This Snow Spirit Water came from a disciple I killed in the Cloud Ze Secret Realm. Besides us, don't mention it to anyone. We don't want to attract trouble," Wei Tu reminded her sternly.
"Not even Xiuwen!"
After a pause, he added that last warning.
A married son and an unmarried daughter were very different matters.
Years ago, after Wei Xiuwen reached Foundation Establishment, he had chosen to remain with the Mei Family to protect them. Wei Tu hadn't objected, but it had shown one thing—Mei Zhen held significant weight in his son's heart, enough to influence his decisions.
That's why Wei Tu now told Wei Yan not to reveal the matter of Snow Spirit Water to Wei Xiuwen.
Of course—
That didn't mean he thought Wei Xiuwen was untrustworthy or unfilial.
But even the fairest judge can't settle family matters.
On one side was a father, on the other, a loving wife who had never left his side. Anyone caught in between would feel torn.
This moment also subtly shifted Wei Tu's own outlook—when it came to caring for his children, Wei Yan would now take first priority, and Wei Xiuwen second.
"Yes, Dad!" Wei Yan nodded firmly. "I'll be careful and won't tell Xiuwen."
She understood what Wei Xiuwen's decision years ago had meant. He had inevitably grown distant from both her and their father.
Today, even though Wei Xiuwen was still her younger brother and Wei Tu's son, he also held another identity—husband to Mei Zhen, and Foundation Establishment elder of the Mei Family in Xiaya Cliff.
…
After taking the Seven-Colored Phantom Moths, Wei Tu returned to his own cave dwelling and carved out a new insect chamber specifically to raise them.
There were seventeen moths in total. Wei Tu fed each one a small dose of diluted Spirit Dew.
After that, he exited the insect chamber and called over the Wind-Cleaving Eagle.
"Drink this drop of spirit liquid," Wei Tu commanded.
Unlike the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth, the Wind-Cleaving Eagle was a second-rank spirit beast. So the Spirit Dew given to it by Wei Tu wasn't diluted at all.
And giving the Spirit Dew to the eagle didn't cause Wei Tu the slightest hesitation.
After all, the eagle only had a Xuan-grade bloodline. The chance of it advancing to third-rank and becoming a Golden Core demon beast was minuscule.
Right now, using the Spirit Dew to boost its strength was perfectly appropriate.
When the eagle heard Wei Tu's command, a flash of fear appeared in its eyes. It still remembered vividly the time Wei Tu made it swallow the Black Finger Bone.
But the moment it got close to this drop of Spirit Dew, its expression shifted from fear to joy.
As if this Spirit Dew were the most precious elixir in the world.
It rushed to swallow the Spirit Dew, then activated its demon power and started refining it.
After half a day, the Wind-Cleaving Eagle's demonic aura surged significantly. Its cultivation rose from early second rank to the Minor Accomplishment stage.
Bear in mind, it had only been a little over ten years since it first broke through to the second rank.
And in general, spirit beasts—unless they had a special bloodline—tended to advance more slowly than human cultivators.
Just one drop of Spirit Dew had produced this kind of result. Wei Tu couldn't help but feel tempted. A part of him itched to swallow it himself and break through to late Foundation Establishment.
Compared to Spirit Dew, pills that could help a cultivator break through to the next stage of Foundation Establishment were extremely rare—and everyone knew that.
And right now, with the world in chaos, Foundation Establishment pills had skyrocketed in price…
Besides, his concerns about the drawbacks of Spirit Dew were still just speculation. He hadn't verified them.
"No! I can't take it!" Wei Tu bit the tip of his tongue, using the pain to force himself to stay clear-headed.
Then he looked at the Spirit Dew in front of him, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes.
With his mental fortitude, he normally wouldn't be swayed by temptation—especially not to the point of considering ingesting something that might have harmful side effects.
The only explanation was that the scent of the Spirit Dew, just like it had drawn in the Wind-Cleaving Eagle, had also tempted him.
After all, humans were still animals too—instincts ran deep.
"Caw—caw!" The eagle suddenly flapped its wings and screeched, clearly asking for more of the spiritual liquid.
Seeing this, Wei Tu didn't hesitate. He pulled out the jade bottle and flicked two more drops of Spirit Dew toward the eagle.
Perhaps the Spirit Dew might carry hidden dangers, but at this moment, it was undeniably a powerful weapon to increase his combat power.
To discard it out of fear would be like being afraid of one's own shadow.
After swallowing the two drops, the eagle's aura soared again, nearly reaching the Major Accomplishment stage of the early second rank.
"When you finish refining this batch, I'll give you more," Wei Tu said after using his divine sense to check the eagle's physical condition.
In its current state, it could handle another drop or two without a problem. But everything had to follow a gradual progression. Overdoing it could harm the eagle's foundation.
If that happened, it might have abundant demonic power, but still struggle to cross into the mid-second rank.
…
In the days that followed—
Wei Tu continued training, while also cultivating the Wind-Cleaving Eagle and the Seven-Colored Phantom Moths.
During this time, he heard that the Mei Family of Xiaya Cliff had a crafting method for a second-rank artifact known as the Shadow Thread.
So he handed over the innate spider silk he'd acquired from the Flying Fox Demon Spider to the Mei Family's last surviving Foundation Establishment cultivator, Mei Lang, and asked him to forge this artifact.
The Shadow Thread wasn't graded by quality. It was a stealth weapon—something cultivators used to assassinate enemies quietly, without a trace.
So, crafting the Shadow Thread was a bit easier than crafting a standard second-rank low-grade artifact.
The Mei Family was a clan of artifact refiners.
Although Mei Lang didn't compare to the Foundation Establishment expert of their clan who'd perished in battle, he was still a certified second-rank low-grade artifact master.
So Wei Tu wasn't too worried about failure when handing the task to him.
Half a year passed in a flash.
With the aid of the Spirit Dew, the Wind-Cleaving Eagle's strength soared rapidly.
In just a short time, it was already on the verge of breaking through to the mid-second rank.
And right at that moment—
Wei Tu received a long-awaited letter from Kou Hongying, whom he hadn't heard from in a long time.
The letter not only shared that she was safe, but also brought him incredible news—news he had been eagerly awaiting.
Qin Zhenren, after more than ten years in seclusion…
Had finally emerged and successfully formed his Golden Core, becoming a true Golden Core True Monarch.