"All thanks to Master's guidance."
Wei Tu offered a modest smile and bowed respectfully.
In truth, even without Che Gongwei's warning, he wouldn't have made a high-profile appearance upon coming to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. Just like today, he would've handled things quietly.
An open spear is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is hard to guard against.
During the alliance's southern migration to the Kāng Kingdom, apart from the core members, they had selectively abandoned many peripheral cultivators.
Because of that, he might end up the target of resentment. After all… the Wei family had arrived in Kāng Kingdom completely unscathed, without a single casualty.
People hate others for having what they lack themselves.
With the alliance being a mix of all kinds of people, it was only natural that some would harbor such thoughts.
Besides—
Bao Siyan's "disappearance" could also lead some cultivators in the alliance to suspect him.
Years ago, he and Bao Siyan had left the alliance at the same time and both vanished—far too coincidental.
"It's your own cleverness. Don't go giving credit to me," Che Gongwei chuckled softly.
From the moment Wei Tu had become his disciple, he'd only taught him once. He had no interest in claiming credit for anything else.
After exchanging pleasantries,
Che Gongwei's smile faded as he explained why he didn't want Wei Tu to rejoin the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
"You left a warning, and both I and Daoist Qi are grateful for that. But within the alliance, several True Lords still resent your sudden departure and want to hold you accountable—some even pushing to expel you from the alliance."
"Given you're all at the Golden Core stage, their accusations are baseless and rooted in factional conflict… they can be ignored."
"However, a few years ago, at the frontline of the righteous-versus-demonic war, one of our alliance's True Lords encountered Bao Siyan—now aligned with the demonic path. During their conversation, she revealed that she and you had gone to explore the Southern Wastes' ancient plain and were captured by Gui Luo, the Demon Lord. According to her, you died within the Great Void Realm…"
Che Gongwei frowned and locked eyes with Wei Tu. "Yet now, here you are, alive in Kāng Kingdom—appearing alongside your son and grandchildren…"
Wei Tu understood the underlying message.
Sneaking away from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance and slipping into Kāng Kingdom wasn't such a big deal.
If it were any other cultivator, they likely would've made the same choice.
But this incident was directly tied to Bao Siyan.
That made it a far more serious "offense."
So if Wei Tu wanted to be accepted back into the alliance,
He first had to clear up two things to the opposing faction within the alliance:
First, why the news of his death was false.
Second, if he had escaped, why didn't he save Bao Siyan, a fellow member of the alliance.
But anyone could see—
These weren't easy to explain.
Not only would it risk exposing his own secrets, it might also reveal some of the gains he had acquired within the Great Void Realm.
Putting himself in Wei Tu's shoes,
Che Gongwei didn't believe he would willingly explain himself in front of the alliance.
So, for Wei Tu's own good—and for the alliance's stability—Che Gongwei had written in his letter that Wei Tu shouldn't return to the alliance.
"To join would mean mutual harm."
That was Che Gongwei's conclusion.
"Seems I really shouldn't rejoin the Rogue Cultivator Alliance,"
Wei Tu sighed and shook his head.
Back in the Great Void Realm, when things turned urgent, though he had wanted to save Bao Siyan, his own life came first.
Bao Siyan's safety came second.
Still, the alliance's reaction remained within his acceptable range. He wasn't too disappointed.
Rejoining the alliance had only been discussed privately between him and Che Gongwei.
On the surface, he hadn't been removed. He could still claim the alliance—this Nascent Soul power—as his backer.
And that was enough for him.
…
"If Master and Senior Qi are interested in information from the Great Void Realm, I'll gladly share everything I know."
Wei Tu narrowed his eyes slightly and probed cautiously.
Now that the Rogue Cultivator Alliance knew of the Great Void Realm, there was no way they wouldn't covet the secrets within.
After all, the Great Void Realm had once been the stronghold of the Stone Demon Sect, one of the five great demonic sects from ten thousand years ago.
It held countless treasures and secret arts.
Wei Tu was worried that Che Gongwei's advice to stay out of the alliance wasn't just about avoiding faction conflict—it might've also been about cutting off others and getting first access to the realm's intelligence.
So rather than wait to be asked, it was better for him to speak up now. That way, they wouldn't fall out later.
Che Gongwei was a good man.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent decades treating Su Bing'er's illness or passed on his tier-three talisman master legacy.
But Wei Tu didn't believe that good people were free of selfishness or malice.
Especially when the stakes were high.
Besides, there was someone else—Qi Chengchu, that "villain."
As expected,
When Che Gongwei heard what Wei Tu said, his eyes lit up slightly. Clearly, he was very interested in the Great Void Realm's secrets.
"The Great Void Realm is the legacy ground of the Stone Demon Sect. If we can obtain intelligence about this place from you, Wei Tu, it would be a great boon to our Rogue Cultivator Alliance."
Che Gongwei spoke with seriousness.
Wei Tu nodded without hesitation. He immediately took out a blank jade slip, imprinted the relevant intelligence from within the Great Void Realm, and handed it over to Che Gongwei.
Of course, in this intelligence, he deliberately concealed the incidents involving "Master Shentu" trying to possess him, as well as the various inheritance matters. He only detailed the many perilous areas inside the Great Void Realm and the presence of spiritual poisons within the inner region.
After Che Gongwei finished reviewing the information,
Wei Tu began explaining how he had survived and fooled Gui Luo, the Demon Lord, and the others.
"Fellow Daoist Bao did not know that when I entered the 'Blood Slaughter Sea' inside the Great Void Realm, I deliberately jumped in and went into hiding. I only left after Gui Luo and the others had passed through…"
As he spoke, blood qi surged from Wei Tu's body, revealing his third-tier body refinement cultivation.
"Dual cultivation of body and magic?" Seeing this, Che Gongwei believed about eighty percent of Wei Tu's account.
A Golden Core cultivator at the early stage who practiced both body and magic arts would not be any weaker than a middle-stage Golden Core cultivator like himself.
There was a chance he could have survived inside the Great Void Realm.
Aside from that, he couldn't think of any other method by which Wei Tu might have escaped Gui Luo and the others' pursuit.
"This time, I came to find Master to ask for help finding a third-tier artifact craftsman, to forge a magic item and refine several formation flags…"
Wei Tu moved past the earlier topic and brought up his true purpose for visiting Golden Long Valley.
"That's a small matter." Che Gongwei did not refuse and agreed readily.
Afterward, Wei Tu handed over the spirit materials he had collected over the past few years, as well as a deposit for the forging, to Che Gongwei.
"I'll be counting on you, Master."
Wei Tu bowed in thanks.
…
With all matters discussed,
Che Gongwei was the first to leave, and Wei Tu, after being courteously seen off by Su Bing'er, also departed the cave dwelling and flew away from Golden Long Valley.
However, once he was outside the valley,
Wei Tu's escape light suddenly accelerated, soaring to the speed of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, heading straight for the direction of the Fen Shan Tribe.
What should have been a five-day journey, Wei Tu compressed into just a day and a half.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, are you worried that Qi Chengchu will make a move on you? Aren't you overthinking it a little?"
Bai Zhi, seeing Wei Tu's uncharacteristically urgent actions, spoke up.
"Qi Chengchu is ruthless. I don't want to become the next Heshan Huang Clan."
Landing at the Fen Shan Tribe, Wei Tu panted slightly, his expression cold.
The Heshan Huang Clan might have had their faults.
But what did that have to do with Qi Chengchu?
Qi Chengchu was so merciless that he'd dared to destroy the entire Huang Clan without concern for consequences. Now… facing Wei Tu, a Golden Core True Lord who had left the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, who knew whether he'd once again use such vicious tactics?
This was something Wei Tu couldn't afford to ignore.
"Then why did you hand over the spirit materials for refining the 'Calm Light Pearl' and the 'Mystic Nether Spirit Offering Array' to Che Gongwei? Those materials are incredibly valuable."
"Especially the Bat Eye of the Seven-Eyed Bat King—such a thing is nearly impossible to come by."
Bai Zhi said with great regret.
By this point, she had already forgotten her former status as a captive. She now saw herself as Wei Tu's personal steward.
"Those materials were meant to put Che Gongwei and Qi Chengchu at ease, to keep them from suspecting me or realizing that I'm wary of them both."
"Now that Qi Chengchu hasn't pursued me, Che Gongwei has no reason to embezzle those materials."
Wei Tu shook his head.
In his view, if a few materials could keep Qi Chengchu stable, it was more than worth it.
Even a false Nascent Soul cultivator was still a Nascent Soul cultivator—not someone an ordinary Golden Core could handle.
Of course, by his estimation, even if he hadn't handed over those materials, the chances of Qi Chengchu chasing him were still quite low.
Still, it never hurt to be prepared.
When facing someone like Qi Chengchu, Wei Tu had to reduce the risk to the absolute minimum.
"You can guard against a moment, but not a lifetime. Fellow Daoist Wei, you'll need to find another backer."
Bai Zhi reminded him.
"I thought about that too on my way back to the Fen Shan Tribe." Wei Tu nodded, his gaze turning toward the mountain peak of Yan Fen Mountain—toward the location of High Priest Mu Feng's cave dwelling.