After taking a sip of tea, Wei Tu looked at Kou Hongying, who was quietly preparing another pot.
Only after parting ways with Fu Zhizhou today did he truly understand Kou Hongying's worth—despite her high status, she had never acted arrogantly and always remembered to repay past kindness.
"Maybe… Hongying is the only one in Righteous Society who can truly walk this immortal path with me to the end."
A hint of melancholy flickered across Wei Tu's face.
He had thought that person would be Fu Zhizhou, with his resolute Dao heart. With the support of the Ninefold Golden Lock Art, Fu Zhizhou could have compensated for his lack of talent.
But it turned out they could share hardship, yet couldn't enjoy fortune together. From today on, their paths would diverge for good.
As for Wei Fei…
Wei Fei had only built his foundation at over one hundred fifty years old. His potential was already exhausted, and just like Master Yu Kui, reaching the mid Foundation Establishment Realm might be his limit.
Kou Hongying said nothing. She didn't offer any comforting words, simply sitting silently by Wei Tu's side, waiting for him to come to terms with it.
She understood that her presence was already the greatest comfort she could offer him.
It meant… he wasn't alone on his immortal journey.
…
The next day.
Wei Fei agreed to Wei Tu's proposal, deciding to let Wei Xian'er travel with Wei Yan and the others to Kang Kingdom by clandestine passage.
Wei Fei trusted Wei Tu's judgment.
The Zheng Kingdom was in chaos. Although the intensity of the war between righteous and demonic factions wasn't at its peak, they could still survive for now. But ten, twenty years from now… things might not be the same.
Given that, it was better to prepare early. While the route for clandestine passage was still open, it was wiser to leave, rather than be caught off guard and left waiting to die in Zheng Kingdom.
Once he got Wei Fei's answer, Wei Tu didn't linger near the Qiyue Zhao Clan. After bidding farewell to Kou Hongying, he returned to Red River Mountain Marketplace.
Before leaving.
Wei Tu shared some details about Madam Zhu with Wei Fei, and also handed him copies of the three jade slips he had acquired from Hongri Sect.
When Wei Tu had tricked them out of those jade slips, he believed he was honoring Immortal Master Wu's will, not owing anything to Zhu Yuanli and his wife. Now, naturally, he intended to do the right thing and return the techniques to Wei Fei, Immortal Master Wu's disciple.
"What a pity about Fourth Brother." Wei Fei sneered as he looked over the Ninefold Golden Lock Art.
If Fu Zhizhou had not betrayed their brotherhood, Wei Tu would've willingly given him this technique. He wouldn't have begrudged it.
With this body-refining secret art, Fu Zhizhou's dual cultivation of body and Qi would've progressed far smoother.
"As for Madam Zhu…" Wei Fei took the jade slips and shook his head. "Endless revenge only leads to more suffering. What my master resented was Ye Hong's betrayal, not her descendants."
"Besides, they're just a widow and an orphan now."
"If we went after them, it would be beneath us as men of honor."
Righteous and demonic cultivators alike could be greedy and ruthless, killing for treasures. But the difference was, righteous cultivators didn't always go to extremes. Without great enmity, they wouldn't wipe out entire families.
The journey was uneventful.
A month later, Red River Mountain Marketplace.
Wei Tu had just returned to Cloudsmoke Residence when a talisman letter dropped in front of him.
"It's finally here." Wei Tu glanced at the Beastmaster Sect's seal on the talisman and murmured to himself.
This time, after becoming a disciple, he had immediately left Red River Mountain Marketplace for the Mei Clan at Fragrant Cliff.
Part of it was because he missed his children, but more importantly, he wanted to buy time, giving the Wind-Cleaving Eagle enough time to recover, so the Beastmaster Sect wouldn't notice anything unusual.
—After removing the Black Finger Bone, the Wind-Cleaving Eagle had suffered serious injuries.
"Soon, it's going to be tough on you." After replying to the letter, Wei Tu released the Wind-Cleaving Eagle from the beast pouch and gently patted its head.
The Wind-Cleaving Eagle perched on Wei Tu's shoulder, tilting its head to receive his touch. It didn't understand why Wei Tu had been so kind to it over the past year.
Not only had he taken something strange from its belly, but he had also fed it lots of tonics during this time.
An hour later.
The Wind-Cleaving Eagle understood everything.
It looked at more than twenty of its kind, all showing clear mating signals, and its eyes filled with fear. It flapped its wings, trying to flee.
But just then—
A tune played on a flute.
The eagle's sharp eyes grew dazed. It locked onto one of its kind and pounced.
"Miss Nan's beast-taming skills are indeed superb." Standing nearby, Wei Tu glanced at the young girl in black robes, her red lips gently pressed to the flute, and praised her.
This black-robed girl was named Nan Zi, a prodigy among the younger disciples of the Beastmaster Sect.
The matter of the Wind-Cleaving Eagle's breeding was entirely in her hands.
"You flatter me, Master Wei." Nan Zi lowered her flute, smiling softly.
"How long will this breeding process take? Though I'm in Red River Mountain Marketplace now and have no immediate need for battle… I wouldn't want the Wind-Cleaving Eagle to suffer too much and lose its strength," Wei Tu asked after a moment of thought.
"It's hard to say for sure." Nan Zi glanced at the Wind-Cleaving Eagle now engaged with one of its kind. A faint blush rose on her pale face. "If Master Wei trusts me and lets me hold its Beast Token, I can use more refined beast-taming techniques."
"Then both the time and the energy loss for the Wind-Cleaving Eagle will be much lower."
"Beast Token?" Wei Tu's eyes narrowed in caution.
The Wind-Cleaving Eagle's Beast Token had been carefully crafted by the Beastmaster Sect. It recorded not only the beast's species and bloodline level but also a unique identification number.
His Wind-Cleaving Eagle's token clearly bore the words "Xuan-rank bloodline."
But the Beastmaster Sect's cultivators, like Zuo Kui, all believed it to be Di-rank.
"Such a vital item… I can't hand it over." Wei Tu rejected her outright.
Hearing this, Nan Zi's eyes flickered. She wondered: could there be some secret behind this?
The Beastmaster Sect was a major sect with a solid reputation.
And Wei Tu was now a Golden Core disciple, an important member of the Loose Immortal Alliance, no longer just an ordinary rogue cultivator.
Logically, the Beastmaster Sect wouldn't risk its reputation over a mere mid Foundation Establishment beast.
So his refusal seemed strange.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it. No need to rush." Nan Zi calmed her doubts, deciding to probe further in the future.
"These twenty or so Wind-Cleaving Eagles were specially selected and raised by me, and I've used arousal techniques to ensure they're in heat. Normally, the breeding should be done within three days."
"If things don't go smoothly, it could take up to a month."
After a moment of thought, Nan Zi finally answered Wei Tu's earlier question.
"Normal?" Wei Tu frowned. What he feared most was the Wind-Cleaving Eagle not being normal, causing the breeding to fail.
After all, it hadn't advanced naturally, nor had it broken through the bloodline limit in the usual way.