I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Chapter 476: Defeating the Prince, Lüqiu Jinyuan’s Arrogance

"Spare my life?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow, wondering where this so-called "Wu Fang" was getting his confidence from."And who exactly are you?"

Still, he held back and decided to probe "Wu Fang’s" true identity a bit more.

To this moment, he still didn’t know why "Wu Fang" was chasing him so relentlessly.

If it were just for avenging Holy Son Faguang, that wouldn’t be enough to make a big-shot like him send an avatar to pursue him at any cost.

He had to figure out who this person truly was, so he’d know how to deal with the real body in the future.

"Wu Fang, your public identity alone isn't enough to make me surrender willingly."

After thinking for a second, Wei Tu deliberately used taunting words.

"Public identity?"

At that, Lüqiu Jinyuan’s lips curved into a slight smirk, a trace of disdain on his face.

He lifted his chin slightly, gave Wei Tu a cold glance, and replied, "I'm not negotiating with you. Telling you to surrender was my final warning, not an offer to discuss."

"As for public identity? Heh, you think I’d make such a rookie mistake?"

Lüqiu Jinyuan sneered.

He was confident that he would win in the end. But that didn’t mean he’d show any flaws before then.

'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll win every battle.'

He used to underestimate Wei Tu. Back then, after getting some basic info from the old sect master, he didn’t bother digging deeper into the details of their earlier fight.

But now things were different. After ten-plus days of relentless pursuit, Wei Tu had earned his full attention.

He couldn’t afford to make even the tiniest mistake again.

Even if a small mistake wouldn't change the outcome, he didn’t want to risk it.

So, his talk with Wei Tu wasn’t out of arrogance or ignorance—it was just a tactic to buy a bit more time. Time to recover a little more of his essence and spiritual power to tip the odds slightly in his favor for the coming battle.

Even if it wasn’t enough to restore much, every sliver of advantage counted.

However, the sudden turn of events forced him to abandon that plan.

Because he realized that Wei Tu was just like him.

That conversation wasn’t Wei Tu falling into his trap—Wei Tu was the sneakier one. He was stalling too, using the time to set up a formation around the island.

"Spider Heart Sect’s Xuan Spider Robe?"

"That damned woman!"

Lüqiu Jinyuan looked up and saw a gray robe falling from the sky. His eyes, for once, showed a flash of caution.

All this time, he'd been focused entirely on Wei Tu. He’d completely ignored the near-invisible presence of Cao Mi.

And it was her—this seemingly quiet woman—who had, in just over ten days of pursuit, managed to refine the Spider Heart Sect’s sect-treasured artifact and now dropped this lethal trap at just the right moment.

Even though Cao Mi wasn’t a core disciple of the Spider Heart Sect, her control over the Xuan Spider Robe wasn’t even half as strong as Holy Son Faguang’s.

But even so, it was still powerful enough to pose a real threat to his worn-down body.

'The Xuan Spider Robe is strong, but to fully deploy it takes at least the time it takes to burn one incense stick. And since this is her first time using it, it’ll take her even longer than that.'

'But I can’t risk it.'

Lüqiu Jinyuan flung his sleeve and turned into a green mist flood dragon over ten zhang long, trying to break through the formation before it could finish setting up.

But just then, two shadows—one red and one black—suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking his escape.

These two demonic shadows served the same function as the old sect master’s "Sand Fog"—they sealed the exit and bought time for the Xuan Spider Robe to land completely.

"Yin-Yang balance... These two corpse puppets aren’t easy to deal with."

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s face darkened. He quickly formed a series of hand seals, boosting his speed as he tried to swerve around the Yin-Yang Demon Corpses.

But they were just as fast.

Seeing him dodge, they immediately turned into twin shadows and pounced.

As they got close, both corpses opened their mouths wide and let out an ear-piercing shriek.

This was a sonic attack unique to the Yin-Yang Demon Corpses, and the power of their howl was equal to a peak Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator going all out. No ordinary cultivator could endure it.

The soundwaves spread over a range of several dozen zhang.

There was no way for Lüqiu Jinyuan to dodge it.

With a loud "puhwa!" he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and was forced out of his mist flood dragon form, revealing his real body.

"So, this is what was backing you... No wonder! No wonder! No wonder you dared to turn around and strike back!"

After tumbling backward more than ten zhang in midair, he finally managed to steady himself. Licking his lips, he drew the blood back into his body and muttered to himself.

But what was truly shocking—

His face didn’t show fear.

He looked excited. Like he was riding a high.

The scariest kind of enemy is the one you can’t predict.

But now, Wei Tu had played his hand first!

"Could it be… Wu Fang has some method to deal with the Yin-Yang Demon Corpses?"

Seeing this, Cao Mi’s expression changed. Her heart sank.

The Yin-Yang Demon Corpses were their trump card in this fight against "Wu Fang."

Each one was a grade-four low-rank corpse puppet. Working together, their power matched that of a weaker Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator.

Normally, a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator would at least show some caution upon seeing them, if not outright fear. But Lüqiu Jinyuan looked thrilled.

It was as if victory was already fated for him.

Still, despite her concerns, Cao Mi didn’t hesitate.

Working in sync with Wei Tu, she had one of the corpses flash behind Lüqiu Jinyuan and stab at the back of his head.

Crack!

A bone-piercing sound echoed.

The Yin corpse struck true. All ten fingers stabbed cleanly into the back of Lüqiu Jinyuan’s skull, burying themselves several inches deep.

Yet—

What happened next was far from expected.

There was no look of satisfaction on Cao Mi’s face.

In fact, her expression only grew more serious.

Because normally, the strength of the Yin corpse should’ve been enough to tear apart a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator’s Dharma body. It shouldn’t have been completely drained just from stabbing into the back of “Wu Fang’s” head.

On the other side, Wei Tu quickly reacted. He immediately directed the Yang corpse to approach the Yin corpse, intending to use the yin-yang aura to pull the Yin corpse out of the restraint.

But just as the Yang corpse neared, it was already too late.

Behind Lüqiu Jinyuan, who had been stabbed, a ghostly glow suddenly surged out and, with a speed too fast to react to, swept the Yin corpse into it.

The next moment, the Yin corpse shot out from the ghostly light at extreme speed—charging straight at Cao Mi.

"In an instant, it erased Cao Mi’s divine sense from the Yin corpse and even snatched the control from the puppet command token. What kind of technique is this?" Old Ancestor Chilong, hidden in Wei Tu’s sleeve, exclaimed in shock.

In all his years, he’d never seen such a strange technique.

Right then, he also realized why Lüqiu Jinyuan dared to wait alone on this deserted island, letting Wei Tu and Cao Mi walk into a trap.

It wasn’t an empty bluff. He truly had the strength to kill them both.

"Wei Tu, run! Forget the Yin corpse and the Xuan Spider Robe. This guy is hiding too much. If you keep fighting him, you really might die here."

Old Ancestor Chilong shouted urgently.

Wei Tu didn’t hesitate. He immediately activated his natal magic treasure—the Thunder Spirit Ruler—to grab Cao Mi and escape again.

But just as he was about to move, behind him, a pair of ten-foot-long green wings suddenly grew from Lüqiu Jinyuan’s back. With a single flap, he closed the distance at terrifying speed.

He was less than a third of a breath away from reaching him.

At the same time, a claw-shaped green glow resembling a bird beast formed in his right hand.

At that moment, even though Wei Tu could still cast the Thunder Spirit Ruler once, the time gap wasn’t enough to perform the Curse Ghost Blood Escape Technique again.

"His escape technique… can be instantly cast now?"

Wei Tu’s pupils shrank slightly.

Back near the ruins of Flying Serpent Island, when Lüqiu Jinyuan was chasing him, the escape technique still required a bit of setup time.

But now the situation had shifted again, and the intel he relied on had already fallen behind. That was the reason he was at a disadvantage now.

"Fiery Cloud Shield!"

Wei Tu didn’t waste time. He activated the Tier-Four mid-grade defensive magic item he’d already prepared—Fiery Cloud Shield.

In an instant, a red barrier formed around him, shielding him completely.

Clang!

A soft metallic clang rang out.

Lüqiu Jinyuan, who had stopped in midair, looked surprised at Wei Tu’s defensive measure.

The Curse Ghost Blood Escape.

Two Tier-Four low-grade refined corpses.

A Tier-Four mid-grade defensive treasure.

Any one of these items would be a rare stroke of luck for an ordinary Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator.

And yet Wei Tu had all three at once.

If he didn’t have this defensive item just now, that claw would’ve shredded Wei Tu’s head into pieces.

But just as that thought passed through Lüqiu Jinyuan’s mind—

A burst of brilliant golden light suddenly erupted beneath his feet.

"A talisman treasure?" Lüqiu Jinyuan froze for a moment. He glanced down and saw a purple orb on the ground that had exploded into golden flames.

A Tier-Four low-grade talisman treasure—normally, Lüqiu Jinyuan wouldn’t give it a second thought. But right now, he was still weakened. Every bit of energy he used worsened his body’s condition.

"Retreat!" Lüqiu Jinyuan reacted quickly. With a flap of his green wings, he immediately soared into the air.

But just as he dodged the Golden Flame Orb and steadied himself, a streak of gray light followed close behind and stabbed at his back.

"The Immortal-Slaying Arrow Gourd?"

"Was Yan Gongcheng really killed by Wei Tu?"

At that moment, Lüqiu Jinyuan had the same realization that flashed through Holy Son Faguang’s mind before he died.

Only, this Immortal-Slaying Arrow clearly didn’t have enough power to kill him.

After seeing the gray light’s true form, Lüqiu Jinyuan didn’t panic. He smirked and casually flicked his sleeve. Once again, that same ghostly glow from earlier appeared behind him—the one he had used against the Yin corpse.

The glow flickered once.

The Immortal-Slaying Arrow that had been heading for Lüqiu Jinyuan suddenly turned around and shot toward Wei Tu.

Thanks to the earlier incident with the Yin corpse, Wei Tu was already prepared for this move. The moment the arrow reversed, he activated the Thunder Spirit Ruler and retreated rapidly, narrowly dodging the strike.

But then Lüqiu Jinyuan flapped his green wings once more and lunged toward him.

Wei Tu’s face darkened.

After revealing the Fiery Cloud Shield, Lüqiu Jinyuan should’ve known that it would be difficult to hurt him with conventional means.

Which meant—if the man was still rushing in—he must’ve had some other plan.

Sure enough.

Just as Wei Tu had predicted.

As Lüqiu Jinyuan closed in, his appearance began to change at a strange pace. In a split second, he aged several decades. His hair turned white, and his face filled with wrinkles.

At the same time, his Dharma body thinned out, shriveling like a dried corpse.

"Die, Wei Tu." Lüqiu Jinyuan stopped exactly two hundred steps away, slightly lifted his head, and pointed two fingers at Wei Tu’s forehead.

The next moment.

A ghostly finger beam shot from his hand, aimed at Wei Tu.

The finger beam didn’t look like much. Its aura didn’t ripple strongly either. But when it arrived before Wei Tu, he instantly sensed its terror.

It completely ignored the protective light of the Fiery Cloud Shield and pierced straight through.

In a flash.

A transparent hole opened up on Wei Tu’s forehead, and all his vitality vanished. His cultivation dissipated. He collapsed headfirst into the sea.

"The power of the Sacred Ancestor… Even my true body wouldn’t dare take this strike head-on. Dying under this technique… you should feel honored."

Lüqiu Jinyuan, now white-haired, took several heavy breaths as he looked down at Wei Tu’s corpse on the water, murmuring to himself.

But even now, he didn’t rush to deal with the body.

Instead, he turned his gaze toward Cao Mi, who was still locked in battle with the Yin corpse.

"A Nascent Soul early-stage female cultivator… That’s good enough to join Lüqiu Jinyuan’s harem. I’ll say it again—surrender, and I’ll spare your life."

Lüqiu Jinyuan said calmly.

"Lüqiu Jinyuan? Harem?"

In the distance, Cao Mi froze for a moment when she heard that.

Then she finally noticed what he’d just called himself.

"That’s right. I am the one and only."

A smug smile spread across Lüqiu Jinyuan’s face. That finger strike had nearly drained all the essence energy and mana from his physical body. In this weakened state, he was confident he could still kill Cao Mi, this newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator—but once he did, this incarnation of his would definitely collapse as well.

Even if he sent word to his main body to come clean up the mess, the delay would surely bring some unpredictable risks. Instead of doing that, it was better to persuade Cao Mi to surrender.

Bringing a Nascent Soul early-stage female cultivator into his harem wouldn’t just satisfy his pride—it’d also give him something to brag about later. After all, concubines at the Nascent Soul level were rare even across the entire Gui Xu Sea cultivation world.

"Fellow Daoist Wei is dead?"

Only then did Cao Mi notice Wei Tu’s body. Her beautiful eyes trembled. She looked completely stunned but had no choice but to accept that Wei Tu had truly been killed.

He had escaped the pursuit of the Six Desires Daoist.

But now, because of a moment of underestimation, he had fallen to the enemy here in this foreign land.

'He’s already spent. With my strength, I should be able to kill him and avenge Fellow Daoist Wei.'

Cao Mi made a mental note.

But just as that thought arose, she recalled Lüqiu Jinyuan’s earlier crude remarks.

Clearly, this man still had enough confidence to kill her, even in his weakened state.

Thinking of this, her expression flickered for several seconds. Then a smile slowly spread across her face as she walked toward Lüqiu Jinyuan.

"I’m just a weak woman. Being able to serve the Third Prince is a blessing from the heavens. But just the harem? Isn’t that a little beneath me?"

Cao Mi said coyly, bargaining.

"If you enter my harem, with your cultivation level, it’s not impossible that you might one day become the main consort."

"But first… stop trying your little tricks."

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s voice turned icy.

As he finished speaking, he flicked his sleeve, and in a blink, appeared in front of her. With a casual wave, he blocked the restrictive mystic light she had fired and sent her flying back hundreds of steps.

"Too fast… way too fast!"

Barely able to stabilize herself mid-air, Cao Mi couldn’t believe Lüqiu Jinyuan still had this kind of strength left.

She couldn't even imagine what kind of terrifying enemy Wei Tu had faced earlier when Lüqiu Jinyuan was still at full power.

"Surrender. Do it now, and you might still live."

Once again, that cold, lofty voice drifted into Cao Mi’s ears.

Her heart trembled. She didn’t know what to do anymore.

That last blow hadn’t shattered all her confidence, but she clearly didn’t have enough courage left to keep fighting.

But then, a mocking voice reached her ears, making her heart instantly relax. She even let out a sigh of relief.

"Surrender? Sure, why not? I just wonder, Prince Lüqiu… can you pardon me for being disrespectful?"

The voice rang out in the sky above.

"What?! Wei Tu?"

Lüqiu Jinyuan, still basking in his own arrogance and admiring Cao Mi’s beauty, froze in shock. He whipped around and stared at Wei Tu’s corpse floating on the sea.

But what he saw made his shock grow even deeper.

Wei Tu’s body still lay on the surface, just like before—lifeless and unmoving.

"A substitution technique?"

In that instant, Lüqiu Jinyuan understood everything.

Wei Tu had faked his death using a substitution technique.

He’d completely fooled him.

But even if Lüqiu Jinyuan knew now that Wei Tu had tricked him, there wasn’t much he could’ve done back then anyway.

Because right now, he no longer had the strength to unleash that deadly move again.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Wei Tu’s attack landed.

The protective barrier and all the defense techniques Lüqiu Jinyuan had hastily thrown up were shattered instantly.

"Dual cultivation of body and Dharma? So that’s it…"

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s chest caved in, blood pouring out. Eyes wide, he looked up at Wei Tu’s iron fist crashing down like a beast. Finally, he understood.

That Ghostly Finger, borrowed from the power of the Sacred Ancestor, was nearly impossible for early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to survive.

But that didn’t include a Tier-Four body cultivator.

That strike had indeed landed—it wasn’t dodged using a substitution trick.

It had just failed to kill Wei Tu outright.

The Ghostly Finger simply wasn’t strong enough to instantly kill someone like Wei Tu, who had reached the fourth tier of body cultivation. That gave him just enough time to use the substitution technique and escape death.

'But… how did his wounds heal so fast?'

Lüqiu Jinyuan couldn’t figure it out.

Logically, even if Wei Tu had escaped death, he should’ve still been severely injured—certainly not this energetic and fierce.

But Lüqiu Jinyuan would never get that answer. The moment that question formed in his mind, his body was crushed, and his consciousness was wiped away.

"Another Nascent Soul self-detonation…"

Wei Tu frowned as he looked at the pale baby—almost identical to Wu Fang—whose spiritual energy was quickly scattering.

Right now, he actually had a way to extract complete intel from Lüqiu Jinyuan’s soul.

He could’ve let Old Ancestor Chilong soul-search him.

But even now, Wei Tu didn’t trust that old demon. He had no intention of giving him any chance to recover.

In the cultivation world, there were too many tragic stories of cultivators being played by ancient devils.

'Still, I only need two things—why Lüqiu Jinyuan was chasing me, and the origin of that ghostly glow he used.'

Wei Tu narrowed his eyes and placed one hand over Wu Fang’s soul, starting a forced soul search.

But unexpectedly, the moment he began, Wu Fang’s soul started to collapse faster. In just an instant, 60% of it was already gone.

"A soul restriction?"

Wei Tu frowned deeper and sped up the soul search.