I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Chapter 477: Pureblood Descendant, Soul-Devouring Divine Wood

Half a ke after.Wei Tu pulled his hand back, his face slightly dark. He glanced at the Nascent Soul of "Wu Fang" under his palm, now completely scattered and dead.

From that brief soul search, he only confirmed why Lüqiu Jinyuan had been chasing him. As for the secret behind that “ghostly glow,” he hadn’t managed to uncover everything.

Still, he got enough fragments to understand the danger and prepare against that lethal move next time.

If they faced off again, he wouldn't be as helpless as he was today.

Just then, something crossed Wei Tu’s mind. He raised a hand and touched the shallow, slowly healing blood mark at the center of his brow.

"Jiu Feng God… the power of a Sacred Ancestor…"

Over twenty years ago, when he ambushed Yan Gongcheng, the man had used a withered claw called “Sacred Ancestor’s Remains” as a last-ditch card.

That claw had the same instant-shifting ability as the black finger bone he’d encountered before.

But back then, he was prepared. So the Sacred Ancestor’s Remains didn’t cause much trouble.

Later, through soul search, he learned that those “Sacred Ancestor’s Remains” were corpses left behind after the deaths of the ancestors of true spirit bloodline families in the Donghua Demon Kingdom.

Only ancestors of those true spirit families were worthy of being called Sacred Ancestors by cultivators in this realm.

But today, when Lüqiu Jinyuan struck him with that "Ghostly Finger," the power was far beyond the instant-shift of the Sacred Ancestor’s Remains.

It was nearly impossible to defend against.

The move completely ignored the protection of the "Fiery Cloud Shield," instantly appearing and hitting his forehead without warning.

If not for his fourth-tier body cultivation and the protective effects of the “Lifesaving Star Lamp” and “Nine Secrets of Nourishing Life,” he would’ve died on the spot.

Even Old Ancestor Chilong, with his vast experience, had never heard of such a divine ability.

In other words, this kind of power shouldn't exist in a duel between Nascent Soul cultivators.

That meant—this wasn’t some learned secret technique. It had to be a natural divine ability, awakened through the ancestral bloodline of Lüqiu Jinyuan’s true spirit family, tied to their forebear—the Jiu Feng God.

In the cultivation world, only innate divine abilities could break through the limits of realms and let someone do what others of the same level couldn’t.

And if someone could awaken such an ability, the concentration of their ancestral bloodline had to be very close to that of a “pureblood descendant” of a Sacred Ancestor.

In short, if one ignored Lüqiu Jinyuan’s human heritage, he was basically walking around like a true descendant of the Jiu Feng.

That explained his constant arrogance when facing Wei Tu.

From the eyes of a true spirit pureblood, someone like Wei Tu—if you took away the fact that he was dual cultivating body and Dharma—was just another ordinary cultivator. Even if he was a prodigy of the Immortal Dao, he was no different than a mortal cultivator, and easily crushed.

‘No wonder Lüqiu Qingfeng is always suppressed by him.’

Wei Tu thought to himself.

Today, he had nearly been killed by just an incarnation of Lüqiu Jinyuan.

So the main body had to be even more terrifying.

If Lüqiu Qingfeng wanted to hold her own against this cousin of hers, that was basically impossible.

‘But how did he fully awaken his ancestral bloodline?’

Wei Tu frowned.

As far as he knew, Lüqiu Qingfeng was far more gifted than Lüqiu Jinyuan in terms of bloodline.

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s reputation mostly came from his cultivation talent, not his ancestry.

He was known as a “genius rising from common roots,” with nothing to do with bloodline inheritance.

‘This guy’s hiding something huge.’

Just like Lüqiu Jinyuan had thought Wei Tu held a big secret when they first met, Wei Tu now had the same judgment about him.

…

After the soul search,

Wei Tu and Cao Mi didn’t linger in the area. Once they erased the traces of the battle, they took off together, flying swiftly toward Qiyan Island.

With Wu Fang dead, Lüqiu Jinyuan’s main body would definitely sense it.

If they stayed too long, they’d be facing a real mid-stage Nascent Soul powerhouse.

By then, their only fate would be death.

The Great Cang Immortal Realm was now their safest haven.

Two months later.

Wei Tu and Cao Mi successfully arrived at Qiyan Island. Without hesitation, they entered the spatial tunnel and returned to the Great Cang Immortal Realm.

This time, having learned from before, they both prepared by sealing their seven apertures and cutting off all five senses before crossing.

As a result, when they reappeared in the Dead Sea Secret Realm, neither of them was injured.

But even after arriving, they didn’t rush to leave the secret realm. Instead, they chose to rest and recover for now.

After more than two months of nonstop travel, both of them had almost completely exhausted their mana.

During this time, Wei Tu erased the mark from the storage pouch left behind after Wu Fang’s death and checked the spoils of war.

"This is…" Wei Tu stared in surprise at a piece of purple-patterned spirit wood inside the pouch. It was two feet long, as thick as an arm, and crystal clear throughout.

Though he didn’t recognize the type, he could sense a faint spiritual pressure from it. The grade definitely wasn’t below “mid fourth-tier,” and might even have reached “high fourth-tier.”

More than that, he felt a powerful pressure on his divine sense from the wood.

That oppressive force was identical to what he’d encountered on Flying Serpent Island, where the ruins had suppressed Nascent Soul divine sense.

'Could it be… Lüqiu Jinyuan entered the Flying Serpent Island ruins and, before anyone else, snatched this special spirit wood?'

Wei Tu was shocked. But the joy on his face was obvious.

A few months ago, when he turned around to hunt Lüqiu Jinyuan, he had only been aiming to eliminate a major threat. He never expected to gain any real treasure from it.

After all, it was only logical that Lüqiu Jinyuan wouldn’t send an incarnation carrying a precious item to risk hunting down his enemies.

Clearly, though, he was wrong.

Lüqiu Jinyuan’s arrogance had exceeded his expectations. The man had never considered that “Wu Fang” might fail and die while chasing Wei Tu and Cao Mi.

Because of that, the most valuable spirit treasure from Flying Serpent Island’s ruins had now fallen into Wei Tu’s hands.

"It’s Soul-Devouring Wood."

Soon, with Ancestor Chilong’s experience, Wei Tu identified the origin of the purple-patterned wood.

“Soul-Devouring Wood is one of the three legendary soul-type spirit woods in the cultivation world, ranked alongside Soul-Nurturing Wood and Soul-Cutting Wood.”

"Suppressing divine sense is just one minor function. Its real power lies in devouring the divine souls of others to nourish itself."

"Because of this, Soul-Devouring Wood is a treasure countless demonic cultivators dream of."

"It’s said that Tianxie of the Spirit-Capturing Sect possesses a magical artifact made from Soul-Devouring Wood. That’s how he’s able to hunt down Nascent Soul cultivators everywhere, refine their Nascent Souls, and grow stronger."

Ancestor Chilong sounded quite envious.

He hadn’t expected Wei Tu to be this lucky—to get his hands on such a demonic treasure from the hands of Lüqiu Jinyuan’s incarnation.

‘If I’d had this wood with me on the path of cultivation, I wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state when I entered the Zunwang Palace secret realm years ago.’

“Nourish oneself…”

Hearing that, Wei Tu fell into brief thought. The excitement on his face faded.

Using the Soul-Devouring Wood to quickly strengthen one’s soul was indeed a way to gain power.

But… was it really suitable for him?

With his "Late Bloomer" destiny, and the advantages of traveling between two cultivation realms, he could reach the Divine Transformation Realm step by step without too much difficulty.

If he started relying on this demonic shortcut now, he might not be taking a shortcut at all—he might be walking the wrong path.

“Daoist Wei has a solid temperament.” Inside the Dragon Glass Pearl, Ancestor Chilong spoke up once he noticed Wei Tu’s gaze on the Soul-Devouring Wood growing calm again. “This demonic wood is fit for those with poor aptitude. For someone like you, who holds great potential, it’s not much use.”

“Even if you wanted to use it, I’d still have advised against it.”

Then, Ancestor Chilong began listing the risks of using the Soul-Devouring Wood to grow stronger.

First, the method violates natural order and increases the strength of future heavenly tribulations.

If Wei Tu used it, the Heavenly Tribulation would treat him like a long-standing demonic cultivator.

Second, devouring other people’s souls—even with the Soul-Devouring Wood to help—would inevitably make his own divine soul chaotic and unstable.

That chaos would massively reduce his chances of breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm in the future.

“Still, having it is better than not. If the chance arises, you could always trade it with a demonic cultivator for something more useful to your own path.”

That was Ancestor Chilong’s advice.