As the magical treasures exploded, Wei Tu and Bai Zhi retreated just in time to the edge of the third-rank trapping array.
Under Wei Tu's spiritual sense, the solid yellow barrier protecting Yu Wencheng thinned out and began breaking apart under the massive impact of the self-detonating treasures.
Moments later, the shield hit its limit. Yu Wencheng felt the immense shockwave, coughed out several mouthfuls of blood, and was sent flying.
Wei Tu wasn't surprised by the result.
Sure, the jade umbrella was a top-grade third-rank artifact, but the three self-destructing treasures weren't ordinary either. Each one was worth over 10,000 spirit stones.
On top of that, Yu Wencheng's cultivation wasn't high enough to fully support using such a high-grade artifact. This outcome was almost inevitable.
"What grudge do you have against me exactly? Just to kill me, you'd sacrifice three whole magic treasures?"
Yu Wencheng wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve and asked coldly.
Those three discarded treasures alone were worth the entire fortune of a typical mid-stage Golden Core cultivator—maybe even more.
If this was about robbery, Wei Tu didn't have to go that far. There was no reason to fight this hard and throw away so much.
Wei Tu didn't bother answering. He had no need to stall Yu Wencheng anymore. Bai Zhi had already finished the formation.
He flapped his wings and soared into the air, planning to kill Yu Wencheng with raw physical strength—just like he had done with Liu Kun of the Mingwang Sect.
But—
Just as Wei Tu reached the midway point, a flicker of mockery crossed Yu Wencheng's face. He flicked his sleeve, and suddenly, a solid golden beam shaped like a finger appeared in front of him. In the blink of an eye, it shot straight toward Wei Tu's forehead.
"Not good! That's Nascent Soul power!" Bai Zhi gasped in shock.
They had already guessed Yu Wencheng might have several trump cards. But they never expected that a Nascent Soul divine master from the She Ri Tribe had left behind a stored strike of Nascent Soul-level power on him.
Leaving behind one or two strands of power for a descendant wasn't hard. The real challenge was maintaining that power's original strength over time.
If cultivators could store power so easily, then talisman craft—one of the four major cultivation arts—would be useless.
That's why, except in sects with fourth-rank talisman masters, few cultivators would carry a Nascent Soul attack as a hidden ace while wandering outside.
"No matter how rich you are, facing a finger strike from Master Jin Xia… you're still headed straight for the Yellow Springs."
Yu Wencheng sneered.
In his eyes, Wei Tu had wasted his chance. If he weren't in desperate straits, Yu Wencheng wouldn't have used this hidden move either.
…
Elsewhere.
Seeing the finger strike closing in, Wei Tu was startled but didn't panic. He was too experienced for that.
He flapped his wings and twisted his body, using his right side to meet the blow, narrowly avoiding a direct hit to the center of his forehead—his fatal point. That small move saved his life.
But the cost was high. His right chest took the full brunt of the strike.
In the next instant—
Just like what had happened to Liu Moqun before his death—
The Yaksha Soul Transformation Talisman on Wei Tu's forehead was ripped away by the Nascent Soul force. The Flying Yaksha form vanished instantly.
With a hiss, the crimson talisman burned to ash in the strike's aftershock.
At the same time, most of the finger strike's remaining power landed on Wei Tu, pushing steadily toward his physical body.
That terrifying pressure came crashing in—it felt like one light tap would be enough to kill him.
This was a full-force strike from a Nascent Soul ancestor.
A single realm of difference—like a bottomless gulf.
"True Demon Armor!" Wei Tu shouted.
A layer of fish-scale-like jade segments surfaced over his right side, layering over his chest to block the incoming finger strike.
At the same time, he activated his cultivation, shattering three Blood Pills linked to the Hundred Veins Blood Tempering Art, along with the locked blood energy from the Ninefold Golden Lock Art.
In an instant, Wei Tu's muscles bulged, his height shot up by about three feet. His body, nearly ten feet tall now, surged with thick, visible blood energy that wrapped tightly around him. The sight was horrifying.
He didn't look like a human cultivator anymore—more like a savage beast from the wilds.
That was when the Nascent Soul finger strike hit.
It slammed into the True Demon Armor on Wei Tu's chest.
The fish-scale jade pieces shattered one by one into white powder.
His right chest, bearing the brunt of the attack, caved in slightly under the pressure. He could feel his internal organs taking serious damage in that instant. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Boom!
Under the crushing force of the Nascent Soul finger strike, Wei Tu was forced to land. The instant his feet hit the ground, the earth sank several zhang and cracked apart.
After one-tenth of a breath, the True Demon Armor covering Wei Tu shattered. The finger strike finally touched the skin on the right side of his chest.
Thankfully, by this point, the attack had shrunk from a cun in size to barely half a cun. Its power had dropped by more than half.
After one-seventh of a breath, Wei Tu's skin split open slightly. The finger strike dug into his ribs, and he heard the sound of bones cracking.
After one-third of a breath, there was a sharp series of cracks. His jade-like ribs snapped apart. The "celestial source" within began to ooze out, trying to repair the bones and resist the strike.
After half a breath, the ribs shattered completely. The finger strike was about to pierce through his chest and explode inside his body.
"Is that all you've got?" Wei Tu's eyes gleamed with killing intent. He reached into his chest with his right hand and grabbed the now needle-sized finger force. With a burst of raw physical strength, he crushed it completely.
Right after, he activated the core essence of the Dao Immortal Source Scripture deep within his marrow. One by one, he healed the damaged part of his chest and reconnected the broken bones.
In less than a full breath, his body was fully restored.
If not for the faint bloodstains on his skin, no one would have believed that he had just taken a Nascent Soul-level strike from a higher realm.
Once recovered, Wei Tu gave a cold snort and charged forward again, lunging straight at Yu Wencheng.
"Impossible! Who are you? How could you survive Master Jin Xia's Nascent Soul finger strike?"
Yu Wencheng was stunned.
He had assumed that once Wei Tu was hit, it was over. But to his shock, Wei Tu had completely recovered in a single breath.
Wei Tu didn't answer.
He closed the gap and fought at close range. With just his bare hands, he slapped away the magic weapons Yu Wencheng summoned. Each one lost its light and fell apart on contact.
Compared to the body strength granted by the Flying Yaksha talisman, Wei Tu's own physical cultivation was even more terrifying.
In less than two breaths, Wei Tu had Yu Wencheng seriously wounded. He slapped a self-made Soul Restraining Talisman right on Yu Wencheng's forehead.
But the moment he did all this, Wei Tu, who had been unstoppable just seconds ago, suddenly turned pale. He wobbled in the air like he might fall.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, are you alright?" Bai Zhi's expression changed. She flew over quickly and caught him.
"I'm fine. Just drained. I burned too much of my source essence this time."
Wei Tu steadied himself and shook his head.
Being forced to take a Nascent Soul finger strike head-on and still survive was already a miracle.
Getting badly injured was expected.
"Even at my peak, I wouldn't dare take that finger head-on. The fact that you withstood it puts you above most Golden Core cultivators."
Bai Zhi praised him sincerely.
Back in her prime, she had reached the peak of both body and spiritual cultivation at the Golden Core stage. She was just one step away from Nascent Soul.
But even she didn't think she could block a strike like that.
It just showed how powerful Wei Tu's Dao Immortal Source Scripture truly was.
His body cultivation might still be late third-rank, but in actual strength, he was already on par with a third-rank peak.
After a brief exchange, Wei Tu patted his spirit beast pouch and released the Wind Cleaving Eagle. He sat cross-legged on its back and sent a voice transmission. "That last battle drained me. I'm too weak to clean up. I'll have to trouble you, Bai Daoist."
With that, he shut his eyes and started to channel his power, healing his inner injuries. He stopped paying attention to everything else.
Bai Zhi didn't hesitate. Like a perfect assistant, she began cleaning up the battlefield and erasing all traces of the fight from the forest.
Once that was done, she picked up the unconscious Yu Wencheng, bound by the Soul Restraining Talisman, and stepped onto the Wind Cleaving Eagle's back. She ordered it to fly off immediately.
The Wind Cleaving Eagle was unbelievably fast, with a flight speed on par with a peak Golden Core cultivator. By the time other cultivators sensed the remnants of the battle and arrived at the scene, the eagle had already flown far away.
"These are traces of a peak Golden Core battle?"
"Who were the ones fighting in this forest?"
The arriving cultivators were all confused and wary.
…
With Bai Zhi guiding it, the Wind Cleaving Eagle didn't fly blindly. It went straight south, far out into the desolate Red Bright Sea.
Deep in the outer sea, it found a remote reef island and descended from the sky.
"How is Fellow Daoist Wei's condition?" Bai Zhi looked at Wei Tu, whose eyes remained shut without responding, a hint of worry flickering in her gaze.
After all, what Wei Tu had faced wasn't a regular spell or artifact, but a full-powered Nascent Soul finger strike.
"But until he wakes up, Yu Wencheng must not have any accidents…"
She turned to glance at the also "unconscious" Yu Wencheng.
Although Wei Tu had previously tested his self-made Soul Restraining Talisman on Yuan Ying, it was still uncertain whether it would keep working on Yu Wencheng.
"Five Ghost Soul-Splitting Technique!" Bai Zhi suddenly thought of a ghost path spell from the Rakshasa Yin Art.
Dark energy flickered around her as she pulled out a small ritual blade, slicing Yu Wencheng's wrists and ankles. She then drew strange tattoo-like markings across his skin.
This technique was a ghost path secret art that splits the soul. It could strengthen the Soul Restraining Talisman's control over Yu Wencheng's spirit and prevent him from waking and escaping.
Afterward, Bai Zhi had the Wind Cleaving Eagle open a cave dwelling beneath the deserted island. She moved both Wei Tu and Yu Wencheng into it.
She also placed a Spirit-Gathering Array next to Wei Tu using her formation skills.
Once everything was arranged, Bai Zhi quietly waited for Wei Tu to recover.
…
Though the battle with Yu Wencheng was over, Wei Tu remained in deep sleep without speaking. Yet he could still faintly sense the outside world.
He didn't know if Bai Zhi was truly loyal, but with the soul contract between them, Wei Tu believed she was more trustworthy than even his own children.
So entrusting his safety to her didn't worry him.
Time passed.
In a blink, three full years went by.
That day, deep in the cave on the remote island, Wei Tu finally woke up.
"This time I burned too much of my essence and blood to resist the Nascent Soul finger strike. I survived, but my body paid the price…"
His expression was a bit heavy.
There was both good and bad news about his current condition.
The good news: his qi cultivation remained untouched. He was still at mid-stage Golden Core.
The bad news: the massive loss of true essence left his body cultivation greatly weakened. Without ten years of focused recovery, it would be hard to regain his previous level.
Of course, with his skill as an alchemist, that timeline could be shortened significantly—but it would still take at least five years.
Still, Wei Tu had no complaints. To survive a Nascent Soul finger strike at his level was already a stroke of luck. Asking for more would be pure arrogance.
"Besides, capturing Yu Wencheng alive might be a big opportunity for me."
He thought to himself, already eager to learn what had brought Yu Wencheng to the Xiao Kingdom.
It couldn't possibly be something trivial like his own reason for coming.
"Daoist Bai, where is Yu Wencheng?" Wei Tu sent a voice transmission outside the chamber.
Shortly after, a wisp of ghostly energy floated in and formed Bai Zhi, clad in black robes.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, I've been keeping an eye on him the whole time. He hasn't escaped." She smiled faintly, clearly hoping for praise.
Wei Tu nodded slightly, stood up, and followed her out of the chamber to the holding room.
Inside, Yu Wencheng was still unconscious within a formation barrier, showing no signs of waking.
"Good thing he left the Kang Kingdom and came to the Xiao Kingdom. Otherwise, dealing with him would've been a real headache…" Bai Zhi chuckled.
For a Nascent Soul cultivator, it wasn't difficult to sense a stored finger strike on their descendant within the same kingdom.
But Haizhou was far from the She Ri Tribe.
The Xiao Kingdom was at the southernmost edge.
The Kang Kingdom was at the northernmost point.
So even if Master Jin Xia was strong, there was no way he could sense Yu Wencheng's condition from such a distance.
"If that weren't the case, I would've killed him right outside White Phoenix Immortal City instead of using a Soul Restraining Talisman."
Wei Tu's tone was calm.
Then he asked Bai Zhi to deactivate the formation. He placed his hand on Yu Wencheng's crown and began soul-searching.
"Hidden Spirit Boat Technique!" Wei Tu muttered.
In an instant, memory fragments poured out from Yu Wencheng's mind, which Wei Tu quickly absorbed.
"Iceheart Spirit Dew?" Wei Tu raised his eyebrows and murmured.
According to the memories, this was the very reason Yu Wencheng had come to the Xiao Kingdom.
The Iceheart Spirit Dew was located in a spiritual land called Little Cold Mountain. It had been discovered by the She Ri Tribe 1,000 years ago and gradually brought under their control.
The tribe found that this spiritual dew worked like a Mind-Calming Pill. It could purify the heart and help cultivators break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
But to have any effect, a cultivator had to personally bathe in the dew before reaching Nascent Soul.
That was why Yu Wencheng had traveled so far, bringing his protector Elder Hong all the way to the Xiao Kingdom.
His goal was to lay the foundation for breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm.