Chapter 203: Encounter with an Enemy on the Road

True Lord Che didn’t want the new disciples to get too entangled with the senior ones.

There were only four new disciples. Since Mu Die had been rejected by him, she had no choice but to rely on Qingmei Shangren.

After waiting for half a day.

True Lord Che finally arrived.

With a sweep of his gaze at where everyone stood and their expressions, he could pretty much guess the changes that had taken place among his new disciples over these five years.

Wei Tu noticed that when True Lord Che looked at him, there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

But this didn’t surprise Wei Tu. He had expected it.

Five years ago, although True Lord Che didn’t directly tell him to take care of Mu Die, he had hinted to Mu Die that she should rely on her Senior Brother.

Now, Mu Die instead stuck close to Qingmei Shangren. Just from this, it was clear how distant he and Mu Die had become.

A glimpse reveals the whole.

Seeing a leaf foretells autumn.

True Lord Che wasn’t foolish. He understood that Wei Tu, this disciple who had joined with skills, didn’t feel much of a sense of belonging.

But Wei Tu had his own plans.

Before becoming True Lord Che’s disciple, he had already decided to remain on the edge, not standing out, never becoming a core figure among the disciples.

Just like Gao Chen and the other senior disciples.

At this point, he was already at the late Foundation Establishment stage and had a complete opportunity for Golden Core formation...

What True Lord Che could offer him was very limited.

What he needed were just two resources: one, a stable place to cultivate; and two, a third-tier spirit vein for forming his Golden Core.

Both of these could be secured by remaining on the sidelines, without needing to become a core disciple.

On the contrary, being a core disciple had many benefits, but also raised the risk of exposing his cultivation.

Wei Tu knew very well what early exposure of his strength would mean.

He was still just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, without the power to protect all the "opportunities" he had.

...

Luckily, True Lord Che never had high hopes for disciples like Wei Tu who joined with skills from outside.

Seeing Mu Die distance herself from Wei Tu, although there was a flicker of disappointment in his eyes, in his heart, he didn’t mind.

After all, Wei Tu and the others had only been his disciples for five years. How could they possibly behave like sect disciples, helping each other out?

In other words, Wei Tu’s cold attitude toward Mu Die was perfectly normal.

That’s how rogue cultivators acted.

"Today, I will give a lecture, not on any profound methods, but just some small tricks for combat."

"After I’m done, I’ll answer your questions about cultivation..."

True Lord Che sat cross-legged on the mat, glanced calmly at Wei Tu and the others, then slowly began.

"Thank you, Master."

Wei Tu and the others stood and bowed.

After the formalities, True Lord Che didn’t waste words and jumped straight to the point.

A Golden Core True Lord’s battle experience was precious to all the cultivators present.

Wei Tu listened carefully.

This time, True Lord Che spoke about how to make one’s own power last longer than the enemy’s during a fight.

He shared a small trick.

That was, before fighting, to use talisman methods to seal a portion of your power into your usual magic tools, then release it during combat.

"Talisman Dao isn’t just about drawing talismans." True Lord Che stroked his beard and smiled.

After speaking, True Lord Che recorded this talisman method into a jade slip, made four copies, and sent them with his power to Wei Tu and the others.

"Spirit Sealing Talisman!" Wei Tu took the jade slip and silently read the name of this talisman method.

The Spirit Sealing Talisman was different from other talismans—it didn’t require talisman paper, just a trace of it drawn in the palm, and it could be used directly.

Sealing power within a magic tool was only one way to use the Spirit Sealing Talisman.

Wei Tu was seeing such a mystical talisman for the first time. He was shocked and secretly grew more curious about talisman arts beyond the Golden Core Realm.

After teaching the Spirit Sealing Talisman, True Lord Che’s lesson was pretty much over.

Next, it was time for Wei Tu and the others to ask about their cultivation doubts, and for True Lord Che to answer them.

As the senior disciple, Wei Tu was the first to step forward and ask a question.

"Master, I picked Master Bao’s core technique, Divine Wood Origin Technique, from the Ten Thousand Scroll Pavilion. But... I’m short on funds and can’t afford the Wood Origin Pills..."

"I wonder if there are any other ways to speed up my cultivation of the Divine Wood Origin Technique?"

"Divine Wood Origin Technique?" True Lord Che raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard that.

True Lord Che thought for a moment, then said, "I haven’t practiced that technique myself, but I do know of some spirit items that Master Bao has collected before..."

"You can start with those."

True Lord Che took out a blank jade slip, imprinted it with his divine sense, and handed it to Wei Tu.

"Thank you, Master." Wei Tu accepted the jade slip, thanked him, and stepped aside.

Besides the Divine Wood Origin Technique, he had other cultivation questions, but those weren’t things he wanted to bring up to True Lord Che.

Then Hua Xianlong, Mu Die, and Qingmei Shangren each stepped forward in turn to ask their questions.

Like Wei Tu.

They all used divine sense transmission to ask, without speaking out loud.

Even a Golden Core True Lord could be ambushed if his secrets were exposed, so none of them were careless.

...

After the lecture ended.

Wei Tu left True Lord Che’s residence.

But he didn’t return to Cloudsmoke Residence. Instead, he headed straight out of Red River Mountain Market.

Back as early as last year, the Hanshan Tao Clan had sent Wei Tu a message, saying that the route for smuggling into Kang Kingdom had been cleared and asking him to head to Hanshan to discuss the details.

Smuggling into Kang Kingdom was another of Wei Tu’s backup plans.

Of course, he wouldn’t take it lightly.

So, after listening to True Lord Che’s lecture, Wei Tu hurriedly set off for Hanshan, afraid of missing the timing.

After all, the smuggling route was time-sensitive. If he was late, the cultivator stationed at Chishui Pass might no longer be Nie Wenjing.

And Wei Tu wasn’t worried that the Hanshan Tao Clan would try to trick him. Times had changed—he was no longer just some nameless rogue cultivator.

However—

Halfway along the road.

Wei Tu suddenly saw a burst of multicolored light shooting out from the distance.

It was late afternoon, and this glow was blinding, lighting up half the sky.

At the same time, from that direction came the loud rumble of magical tools clashing in battle.

"Someone’s fighting?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow, used his breath-concealing technique, and hid off to the side, waiting for the fight to end.

Meanwhile, Wei Tu released several Seven-Colored Phantom Moths to scout ahead.

Judging by the waves of power coming from afar, he could tell the cultivators fighting weren’t beyond the Golden Core Realm.

After a short while, with the help of the Seven-Colored Phantom Moths, Wei Tu’s divine sense reached the battlefield ahead.

He saw that above a valley, two groups of cultivators were locked in a standoff.

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There were more than ten people.

One group wore black robes, overflowing with demonic energy, and the tools they wielded were mostly demonic artifacts.

The other group looked like righteous cultivators.

"Sun Yu?" Just as Wei Tu was about to leave, he suddenly spotted someone among the righteous cultivators—someone he recognized.