I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Chapter 446: Brothers Reunited, Grudges Washed Away with a Smile

"Friend, suddenly barging in like this isn’t exactly proper. You’d best explain yourself first."The masked cultivator held his artifact tightly. Spiritual power surged all over him. He was clearly ready to act at the slightest provocation.

"With your cultivation, trying to fight me would be rather foolish." Wei Tu snorted coldly. He flicked his sleeve, and immediately released the pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Under that overwhelming pressure, the masked cultivator staggered back several steps, drenched in sweat.

"A Nascent Soul cultivator?"

The masked cultivator was startled.

He had already guessed that Wei Tu’s cultivation far surpassed his own. But he thought at most, Wei Tu was at the peak of the Golden Core Realm—definitely not a Nascent Soul cultivator.

After all, Nascent Soul elders were incredibly rare in the Great Cang Immortal Realm. How could someone like him just randomly run into one?

"I… am the Heavenly Corpse Old Demon, Fu Lin’s master. Please forgive the offense." The masked man removed his face covering, bowed with clasped hands, and respectfully greeted Wei Tu.

Wei Tu had already suspected this man was the Heavenly Corpse Old Demon back when he was still outside the tavern.

However, when he actually saw the man’s real face, he couldn’t help but show a flash of shock.

"You? Fourth Brother? Fu Zhizhou?"

Wei Tu was almost in disbelief.

He couldn't imagine that the Heavenly Corpse Old Demon—who once stepped in to protect him beneath Zhenwu Immortal City from Hu Shan and Qi Chengchu—was actually Fu Zhizhou, the same sworn brother who had cut ties with him a century ago.

Absurd. Completely absurd.

How could someone so righteous be the same Fu Zhizhou who was once cold-hearted, unwilling to share even a shred of cultivation resources with his own kin, and had abandoned his wife and child?

Yet now, he’d shown up at the Hehuan Sect branch to rescue his son?

It felt like he was meeting Fu Zhizhou for the first time again, despite over a century of brotherhood.

'Still… if he truly didn’t care, why would he have appeared at Lingyan Island when Wei Fei died?'

Wei Tu closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

His cultivation path had been fairly smooth in the Immortal Realm, but even so, he had endured countless near-death trials.

Compared to him, Fu Zhizhou—who came from the same humble roots and lacked talent—had an even harder journey.

So sometimes, some things weren’t done out of cruelty. There just… wasn’t a choice.

Just like that time Fu Lin borrowed ten spirit stones from him.

That was the first time Wei Tu ever saw that once-proud man look so downcast.

"Brother Fu…" Seeing Wei Tu stunned into silence after revealing his identity, Fu Zhizhou began to tremble slightly. His heart was filled with fear.

Had he somehow offended this senior?

A long moment passed.

Wei Tu finally returned from his memories.

He opened his eyes and looked at the man before him—someone both familiar and strange. Then, just like him, he lifted his sleeve and showed his true face.

This time, it was Fu Zhizhou’s turn to freeze. His face changed drastically. Staring at Wei Tu, he said with disbelief, "You’re… Third Brother?"

As soon as he spoke, Fu Zhizhou instinctively showed hesitation. He didn’t dare lift his head to look at Wei Tu.

Throughout his life, he had received countless favors from Wei Tu.

Even if it was reasonable for him to walk away during the Brotherhood Gathering that day, he still knew clearly—his action had deeply wounded Wei Tu and the other brothers, tearing apart a century of loyalty.

So, a hundred years ago under Zhenwu Immortal City, he’d chosen to meet Wei Tu as the masked Heavenly Corpse Old Demon instead of showing his true face.

Now, with the brotherhood disbanded and distance between them… Fu Zhizhou no longer knew how he should face Wei Tu.

What Fu Zhizhou was thinking, Wei Tu didn’t know.

But deep inside, he’d already begun to accept this sworn brother again.

He understood that no matter what misunderstandings lay between them… Fu Zhizhou’s leap into danger to protect him under Zhenwu Immortal City—that was something no one could fake.

Fu Zhizhou was still the sworn brother he could trust to guard his back.

And that was enough.

"Before he died, Second Brother told me to make peace with you. Back when we were military officers, he couldn’t stand you the most. Said you were just some noble brat from a general’s family, and that we poor folk could never get along with someone like you."

Wei Tu smiled, stepped forward, and patted Fu Zhizhou’s shoulder.

With that one gesture, the fear in Fu Zhizhou’s eyes slowly faded. His face once again showed that familiar, carefree grin from long ago.

The change was still a bit stiff, but Wei Tu could tell—Fu Zhizhou was trying to adjust.

"Second Brother couldn’t stand me. I couldn’t stand him either. He had good opportunities, a good master, but never took cultivation seriously."

"Otherwise, how would he have died first?"

Though those words sounded like mockery of Wei Fei’s cultivation path, Fu Zhizhou’s tone was full of emotion and regret.

"But his son, Wei Ping, looks like a promising cultivator. That kid’s got potential. He won’t be like his father, who muddled through life at Foundation Establishment and brought shame to our Brotherhood."

Fu Zhizhou added.

"Wei Ping is indeed quite good," Wei Tu said. "As long as he doesn’t stray, I can’t say Nascent Soul, but Golden Core—he’ll definitely make it."

Talking about the younger generation, even Wei Tu's expression softened with satisfaction.

From there, they kept chatting, letting the topic drift from one place to another, covering everything under the sun.

Not long after, both Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou realized that in just a few exchanges, the distance and awkwardness between them had mostly faded.

At that point, Wei Tu gently shifted the conversation, asking why Fu Zhizhou had "turned his back" two hundred years ago.

"Back then, I got possessed by the old demon Cang Lan. That fiend was a powerful Golden Core rogue cultivator who fell on the Righteous-Demonic Battlefield. With the strength of our Brotherhood at the time, we couldn’t deal with that threat. So I had to keep silent and walk away after we met up."

Fu Zhizhou shook his head and slowly began explaining what had happened all those years ago.

"But if it hadn’t been for that demon, I probably wouldn't have advanced to the Golden Core Realm in the past two hundred years, nor would I have been able to help Lin’er deal with Leng Yuyuan."

A faint smile appeared on Fu Zhizhou’s lips.

There’s always gain and loss. While possessed by Cang Lan, he almost got taken over. But he also managed to absorb part of that essence and broke through to the Golden Core Realm.

That alone made it worth it.

Fu Zhizhou knew clearly—with his talent, no matter how firm his Dao heart, he might never have become a Golden Core True Lord in this lifetime.

"Cang Lan Old Demon?" Wei Tu frowned slightly at those words.

It wasn’t that he looked down on Fu Zhizhou.

But he knew very well just how terrifying it was for a Golden Core demonic cultivator to possess a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

That was a whole major realm of difference. Fu Zhizhou didn’t have a Golden Purple Destiny like he did—how could he possibly have overcome the danger of possession so easily?

Wei Tu suspected that the soul of Cang Lan Old Demon likely hadn’t been completely destroyed. It had probably gone dormant within Fu Zhizhou, waiting for the next chance to take over.

"Fourth Brother, if you don’t mind, let me check your body."

Wei Tu spoke calmly.

"Of course I don’t mind," Fu Zhizhou nodded.

Whether or not he trusted Wei Tu didn’t matter.

Just based on Wei Tu’s Nascent Soul cultivation, if he wanted to do something to him, there was nothing he could do to resist anyway.

Besides, like Wei Tu, he had always been uneasy about the fate of Cang Lan’s soul. He’d long hoped someone could help him examine it.

The only problem was, as a rogue cultivator, he’d never had the chance to meet a Nascent Soul senior who could spare him such a small favor.

After speaking, Fu Zhizhou sat cross-legged, relaxed his mind, and opened his sea of consciousness.

Seeing that, Wei Tu didn’t hesitate. He pressed one palm to the crown of Fu Zhizhou’s head and sent his divine sense into the sea of consciousness. With the aid of his "Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes," he began a careful investigation.

Soon enough, he saw a faint yellow clump of light curled up deep in Fu Zhizhou’s consciousness, like a cocooned silkworm. It gave off a restrained presence.

"Tricks of an insect," Wei Tu muttered with a trace of mockery in his eyes.

Still, he didn’t immediately destroy Cang Lan’s soul fragment. After thinking for a moment, he slapped the top of his head, and his Nascent Soul emerged. The tiny figure formed a hand seal and launched several incantations.

The power of a Nascent Soul spell was swift and overwhelming.

A Golden Core cultivator couldn’t possibly react in time.

Let alone the soul of Cang Lan, which was still in a dormant, sleeping state.

Under the barrage of incantations, Cang Lan’s soul didn’t even get a chance to react before being sealed inside a block of blood-colored ice.

"This is the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique. Once you’ve practiced it, you’ll be able to fully refine his soul into your own."

"At that point, all his lifetime cultivation will become your own foundation."

Once his Nascent Soul returned to his body, Wei Tu pulled out a jade slip from his sleeve and handed it to Fu Zhizhou.

The incantation he’d just used was a secret art from the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique—Blood Soul Freezing.

Once the soul was frozen with that art, unless Cang Lan had a Nascent Soul helping him or had learned the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique himself, he’d never break that seal in his life.

And clearly, the Blood Puppet Rebirth Technique, created by Ancestor Chìlóng, was a high-grade secret art that someone like Cang Lan, a mere Golden Core rogue cultivator, could never have acquired.

"Thank you, Third Brother." Upon hearing that, Fu Zhizhou’s face immediately filled with deep gratitude.

Last time, even though he had stepped forward and helped Wei Tu in a critical moment, he knew that as a mere early-stage Golden Core cultivator, his presence didn’t really affect the bigger picture.

But Wei Tu was different. This time, he had truly pulled him out of life-threatening danger.

And it was obvious to Fu Zhizhou that Wei Tu had come to the Hehuan Sect’s branch for one reason—to save his son, Fu Lin.

Those were two enormous favors. He felt there was no way he could ever repay them.

"We’re brothers. No need for words," Wei Tu said with a laugh, patting Fu Zhizhou on the shoulder.

"Brother…" Fu Zhizhou’s eyes immediately turned red, and tears fell.

Men don't cry easily.

Unless... they’ve reached a place of true sorrow.

After hiding inside the shell of the old corpse cultivator for over 200 years, this was the first time Fu Zhizhou felt like he was truly alive again. Like he still had family. Still had brothers.

"Alright!"

"Since Third Brother is offering, how could your younger brother dare refuse?"

Fu Zhizhou wiped his face with his sleeve, laughed out loud, and accepted the jade slip. Then the two of them embraced tightly.

Just like when they first formed their sworn brotherhood under Yi Society.

…

After reuniting, Wei Tu and Fu Zhizhou started working together to solve the complicated matter of rescuing Fu Lin.

As the biological father, Fu Zhizhou volunteered to be the one handling the extraction during the escape, offering to personally bring Fu Lin out from the outer sect of the Hehuan Sect branch three months later.

"Don’t worry about me, Third Brother. I’ve got control of Old Corpse Freak’s Three-Corpse Secret Art now. When it comes to escaping, I’d say I rank top-tier among Golden Core cultivators."

Fu Zhizhou thumped his chest, full of confidence.

Wei Tu had fought side by side with him in the Blood Slaughter Sea during the Great Void Realm days, so he knew Fu Zhizhou’s life-saving abilities very well.

So in that regard, he had no doubt about Fu Zhizhou's capability.

As long as no Nascent Soul ancestor gave chase, there should be no issue with Fu Zhizhou escaping with Fu Lin.

Still, just to be safe…

Wei Tu lent him his emergency teleportation array as a safeguard for both father and son.

Once everything was ready, the two waited for the three-month deadline to arrive before putting their plan into motion.

…

Three months later.

Hehuan Sect branch, inner sect.

After confirming with his own eyes that Ancestor Ningyan had sealed off her cave and activated the formation, Qiao Gao followed the plan. He entered the inner sect’s cauldron chamber, took Fu Lin—whose cultivation was still sealed—and quietly transported him toward the outer sect.

What Qiao Gao didn’t know was…

Just moments after he left…

Inside the cave, Ancestor Ningyan’s lips curled into a cold, mocking smile.

"Old Demon Cang Lan, I’ve been waiting for you in this Hehuan Sect nest for a long time. You and Fu Lin killed Yuyuan back then."

"Today, I’ll bury you both together!"

She sneered coldly.

With a wave of her sleeve, all traces of weakness on her body vanished instantly. Her aura surged back to her peak—the same power she’d wielded when she first entered the Great Void Realm.

For all these years, she’d deliberately created a spectacle, using Fu Lin as bait and holding those “Men-Harvesting Conventions” within and beyond the Hehuan Sect.

Beyond practicing the life-extending secret art from the “Ten Thousand Yin Techniques of the Yin Female,” her other purpose was to lure out Fu Lin’s master—whom she saw as the Old Demon Cang Lan.

And all her effort had paid off.

After years of scheming and laying traps, she had finally waited out the elusive Old Demon Cang Lan.

"Yuyuan, don’t worry. Aunt will make sure those two kneel and beg for forgiveness at your grave."

With that cold whisper, Ancestor Ningyan’s gaze turned icy. She exited the cave through a hidden path and locked on to Qiao Gao’s presence, silently beginning her pursuit.