"Well done." Wei Tu, who had been standing guard beside the pill furnace, gave Yan Yu a word of praise upon seeing the scene.
Regardless of whether Yan Yu had ulterior motives for staying by his side, just this level of attentiveness alone was enough for him to view her differently.
After speaking, Wei Tu thought for a moment, then pulled out a pale green jade slip from his sleeve and handed it to Yan Yu.
"This is a tier-one alchemist inheritance. Once you've studied it thoroughly, I'll teach you more advanced things…"
Spending lavishly with something inherited doesn't hurt.
Wei Tu didn't regard Alchemist Shu's alchemy inheritance as some untouchable treasure.
Besides, what he gave Yan Yu was only the tier-one portion. He still kept the tier-two and tier-three inheritances for himself.
After all—
She was the final disciple of High Priest Mu Feng. He couldn't really treat her like just a lowly alchemy servant.
"Thank you, Senior Wei." Yan Yu bowed and expressed her gratitude as she received the jade slip.
Although Kang people didn't lack pill dao inheritances, those were usually held by the royal courts of the three great tribes. Minor clans like the Fen Shan Tribe rarely had any inheritance from Cangnan's pill dao.
"He's a good man. Treats others kindly."
At that moment, Yan Yu revised her opinion of Wei Tu in her heart.
Though Wei Tu looked plain, his formidable strength more than made up for that "shortcoming."
…
A year later.
Wei Xiuwen returned to the Fen Shan Tribe, bringing with him a letter from Che Gongwei addressed to Wei Tu.
"How's the general opinion of me in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance?" Wei Tu put the letter down and asked.
A year earlier, he had sent Wei Xiuwen to Golden Long Valley, where the Alliance had set up camp, not just to deliver a letter to Che Gongwei but also to slip into the Alliance and gather intelligence.
If resentment toward him ran deep within the Alliance, he would have to reconsider any plans to "cooperate" with them.
"I followed your instructions, Father. I visited the cave residences of several disciples under Master Che… All received me, except for Uncle Mu."
"The spiritual banquets and greetings were all conducted with proper etiquette. Uncle Hua, in particular, was very welcoming."
Wei Xiuwen thought a moment and gave a full reply.
Uncle Mu?
Wei Tu was momentarily puzzled, then realized Wei Xiuwen was referring to his former junior martial sister, Mu Die.
It wasn't surprising that Mu Die didn't care for Wei Xiuwen.
Decades ago, when Hua Xianlong had pestered Mu Die, she had asked Wei Tu for help. He had turned a blind eye and left.
So now, Mu Die being cold to Wei Xiuwen was understandable. It had little to do with the Alliance's overall opinion of him.
"Hua Xianlong is the type to sway with the wind. Since he welcomed Xiuwen and even looked after him, that's enough to show the Alliance holds no particular hostility toward me."
Having come to this conclusion, Wei Tu felt more at ease.
After waving Wei Xiuwen off, he sat alone in his cultivation room and opened the letter from Che Gongwei.
Che Gongwei seemed to have guessed at Wei Tu's concerns.
Right at the beginning of the letter, Che Gongwei stated clearly that many of the True Lords in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance were grateful for Wei Tu's past warning and didn't mind that he had left early or crossed into the Kāng Kingdom on his own.
After getting that out of the way,
Che Gongwei reminisced about old times and mentioned a few trivial matters concerning their disciples.
Things like Su Bing'er's recovery, Hua Xianlong's talisman studies, and Mu Die's Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
At the end of the letter,
Che Gongwei invited Wei Tu, hoping he could "let bygones be bygones" and rejoin the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
…
"Let bygones be bygones?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow, sensing hidden meaning.
He hadn't actually left the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, nor had any conflict with them played out in the open. What was this "letting bygones be bygones" about?
"Looks like the internal faction struggles in the Alliance have intensified again."
Wei Tu speculated.
Reading between the lines,
What Che Gongwei was really doing was advising him not to rejoin.
And the reason for that, Wei Tu figured, had to be the same old problem—factional strife within the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
Rejoining might destabilize the delicate political balance.
"With Qi Chengchu's methods, if he really succeeded in forming a Nascent Soul, he should have enough strength to suppress dissent. Unless… as I suspected, he formed a false infant?"
Wei Tu's eyes flashed.
"Still, understanding Che Gongwei's intent is enough. I can ask him to help me find a tier-three artifact craftsman within the Alliance."
"The opinions of others don't really matter."
Having thought it through, Wei Tu didn't hesitate further. He disguised himself, snuck out of the Fen Shan Tribe, and flew toward Golden Long Valley where the Rogue Cultivator Alliance was based.
…
Five days later.
Wei Tu arrived at Golden Long Valley.
"Just like at Honghe Mountain, Qi Chengchu has used the 'Stealing Heaven Transformation Array' to suppress several tier-three spirit veins here."
Upon landing in the valley, Wei Tu silently noted the spiritual density, which rivaled that of a tier-three high-grade spiritual land.
Initially, the Honghe Mountain marketplace had just been a small outpost with only a tier-two spirit vein. But under the Alliance's transformation, it became Zheng Kingdom's largest marketplace, elevated to a tier-three spirit land.
Now, Golden Long Valley was following the same pattern.
Wei Tu disguised himself as an old, dark-faced cultivator at the Foundation Establishment level and made his way into the valley.
Just like Honghe Mountain's setup,
The True Lords of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance all had their residences in the valley's core zone—outsiders not allowed.
Sending a message directly risked being intercepted.
Wei Tu didn't want to alert anyone prematurely.
He decided to approach Su Bing'er, known as Qingmei Shangren, first. By leveraging his relationship with her, he could arrange a meeting with Che Gongwei.
Unlike other disciples, Su Bing'er hadn't spent much time at Che Gongwei's side, but because of her chronic illness, she had become the most loyal of his direct disciples.
People like Gao Chen and Hua Xianlong each had their own hidden agendas.
As her senior martial brother, Wei Tu knew Su Bing'er's habit—every so often, she would leave her cave residence to buy ice-attribute spirit materials to suppress the pain brought on by her illness.
Wei Tu waited patiently at a nearby shop.
But a month passed with no sign of Su Bing'er.
Instead, he spotted a familiar yellow-faced, burly man inside a shop in Golden Long Valley.
"Liu Moqun?" Wei Tu searched his memory and recalled who this person was.
Seven years ago, back in the Jing Kingdom, it was from this yellow-faced man that he had purchased the soul-path secret art, Hidden Spirit Boat Technique.
"Isn't he a demonic cultivator?"
Wei Tu frowned. He couldn't get a read on the man's identity.
The Jing Kingdom was thousands of miles from the Kāng Kingdom.
Yet this Liu Moqun had suddenly appeared here in Golden Long Valley—no matter how he looked at it, Wei Tu felt something was off.
"This has nothing to do with me. Best not to meddle." Wei Tu withdrew his surveillance on Liu Moqun.
The tier-two Seven-Colored Phantom Moth was hard to detect for most Golden Core cultivators. But if someone like Gui Luo the Demon Lord, whose divine sense was incredibly powerful, were present, that wouldn't be the case.
Liu Moqun had once sold him a soul-path secret art. That alone suggested his divine sense wasn't weak.
So if he tried to use the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth to follow Liu Moqun, there would be definite risk.
There might even be a powerful demonic cultivator faction backing Liu Moqun.
After Liu Moqun left—
A few days later,
The long-awaited Qingmei Shangren, Su Bing'er, finally appeared at the entrance of a shop.
But unlike before,
Su Bing'er now showed traces of youthful charm, like a budding lotus just breaking through the surface. She looked about fourteen years old.
"Junior Sister Su, long time no see."
Wei Tu stepped forward with a smile and greeted her.
His voice reached her through sound transmission, and Su Bing'er, who had been selecting ice-attribute spirit items inside the shop, was momentarily startled. She quickly turned and saw a "black-faced old man" she didn't recognize, pausing in confusion.
"You're Senior Brother Wei?" Su Bing'er snapped out of it and guessed his identity.
Who else would call her "Junior Sister Su" and sneak around in Golden Long Valley like this? No one else came to mind.
"This smiling fox disguised himself just to find me?" Su Bing'er mused.
She had never liked Wei Tu, though out of respect for their shared master Che Gongwei, she kept things polite.
"Senior Brother Wei, is there something important you need from me? Please speak plainly."
Su Bing'er didn't have the patience to play games. She didn't believe for a second that this meeting was a coincidence.
Wei Tu could feel her coldness, but he didn't mind. It was impossible to please everyone.
He directly explained his reason for coming.
"The situation is delicate now. I had no choice but to disguise myself. I ask Junior Sister Su to keep this secret."
"This matter is important to both me and our master."
Wei Tu gave her a serious reminder.
"Of course I understand," Su Bing'er replied, frowning. She didn't like Wei Tu's tone.
She had already formed a bad impression of him, so even his calm tone grated on her.
After Su Bing'er picked out her spirit items,
The two of them left the shop together.
"Hm? Liu Moqun's divine sense? He's searching for someone in Golden Long Valley too?" At that moment, Wei Tu sensed a wave of divine sense sweep past him.
If it had been from another cultivator, he might not have noticed, but Liu Moqun had cultivated Hidden Spirit Boat Technique, just like him. So Wei Tu instantly recognized the divine sense as Liu Moqun's.
When the divine sense passed over,
Wei Tu didn't dwell on it. He followed Su Bing'er toward her cave residence.
…
Su Bing'er's cave residence was located in a secondary core area of Golden Long Valley.
It was tastefully arranged.
A faint fragrance of a young girl lingered in the air.
Seeing this, Wei Tu was reminded of the Fragrant Essence Pills he had recently refined. He took one out and handed it to Su Bing'er as a token of thanks.
"Many thanks, Junior Sister Su. Please accept this bottle of Fragrant Essence Pills as a small gift."
He spoke.
Although Fragrant Essence Pills were only tier-one mid-grade pills, their high difficulty and popularity among female cultivators made their price comparable to that of tier-two low-grade pills.
So this wasn't a light gift.
"Fragrant Essence Pills?" Su Bing'er's impression of Wei Tu slightly improved upon hearing that.
She accepted the pill bottle and offered a word of thanks, then went off to Che Gongwei's cave to announce Wei Tu's visit.
A quarter of an hour later,
An elderly man in feathered robes, with white hair and a youthful face, followed Su Bing'er into the guest hall of her residence.
"Master." Wei Tu rose and greeted him with a bow, showing no arrogance.
"I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You understood exactly what I meant in that letter."
Che Gongwei nodded slightly, looking at Wei Tu with approval in his eyes.