Chapter 205: Insight Reached, Cultivation Breakthrough

“Sun Chixin?”

“The dead cultivator is actually Sun True Lord’s direct grandson?”

All the cultivators were shocked, shrinking their heads like quails, not daring to look up at the brocade-robed old man.

As cultivators of Qingsong City, they knew all too well the violent temper of Sun True Lord and wouldn’t dare provoke him.

Sun Chixin swept his gaze over the crowd, snorted coldly, then reached out with his right hand toward Sun Yu’s corpse.

Moments later, Sun Chixin extracted a drop of blood essence from the corpse.

This drop was precisely the blood of Lü Yuanli that Wei Tu had planted in Sun Yu’s body before leaving.

Next, Sun Chixin took out a white jade formation plate from his storage pouch and injected the drop of blood into it.

A few breaths later, the formation plate was covered in a layer of blood light, which grew brighter and brighter. Then, with a flash, it turned into an arrow of light pointing northwest.

If Wei Tu had been there, he would have instantly recognized that Sun Chixin was using the same Blood Guidance Secret Art that he had in mind.

“Demonfiend Sect, Lü Xiuxian.” Sun Chixin’s face darkened, his gaze locked in the distance.

As one of the few Golden Core cultivators, he had encountered Lü Xiuxian of the Demonfiend Sect on the righteous-demonic battlefield and had memorized his aura.

So when he used the Blood Guidance Secret Art to trace his grandson’s killer, he directly pinned it on Lü Xiuxian.

Of course.

Sun Chixin didn’t think Lü Xiuxian would personally lower himself to kill his grandson.

The one who acted could only be a descendant of Lü Xiuxian.

Still, debts must be settled.

Sun Chixin marked Lü Xiuxian as the one who owed this blood debt.

...

At that moment, Wei Tu, a hundred li away, had no idea that Sun Chixin had really fallen into his diversion plan and blamed Lü Xiuxian.

After all, framing Lü Xiuxian had just been a spur-of-the-moment idea.

And honestly, his method of framing wasn’t that sophisticated—it wouldn’t stand up to serious scrutiny.

—He had killed Sun Yu with overwhelming force, leaving him no chance to take any blood from Wei Tu to identify him.

But logic was one thing, emotions were another.

The arrogant Sun Chixin couldn’t believe that his carefully nurtured grandson could have died at the hands of some ordinary rogue cultivator.

He would rather believe Sun Yu had fought with Lü Xiuxian’s descendant and lost a move, leading to his death.

...

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More than ten days later.

Wei Tu arrived at the Tao family in Hanshan.

“Daoist Wei, you’re finally here. About the smuggling route...” Tao Shisheng came to the entrance to welcome Wei Tu personally.

“Senior Wei.” Tao Jie and his sister followed behind Tao Shisheng and bowed to Wei Tu.

Tao Jie’s expression stayed calm, showing no particular reaction upon seeing Wei Tu.

But Tao Ya was different—she kept her head down in front of Wei Tu, stealing glances at him from time to time.

Her cheeks were slightly red.

Wei Tu raised an eyebrow at this, feeling a bit confused.

Last time, although he had saved Tao Jie and Tao Ya, he hadn’t treated them kindly at all.

He’d even punished them.

Tao Ya, unable to bear his pressure due to her weak strength, had ended up with soaked clothes, making a fool of herself in front of him.

Wei Tu didn’t dwell on this—he had more important things to deal with.

Hearing Tao Shisheng mention the smuggling, he waved his hand and said, “Let’s talk about smuggling to Kang Kingdom later. On the way here, I had some insights, and my bottleneck loosened...”

“I’d like Daoist Tao to help me rent a cave residence temporarily in the Tao family to break through.”

Wei Tu cupped his hands and spoke.

“What? Daoist Wei is about to break through?” Tao Shisheng was startled, then quickly showed an envious look.

As far as he knew, Wei Tu’s cultivation had already reached the “Major Accomplishment” stage of mid Foundation Establishment. Now breaking through meant he’d reach the “Perfection” stage.

Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and Peak—these were the three stages within a small realm.

Only after reaching the Peak stage could one attempt to break through to the next realm.

“No, maybe he’s reaching late Foundation Establishment.” Tao Shisheng shook his head, thinking.

From how Wei Tu had killed Shang Ming, it was clear Wei Tu’s cultivation wasn’t as simple as it seemed—he must have been hiding his true strength.

After all, Shang Ming was at least a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After a short pause, Tao Shisheng gathered his thoughts, then nodded slightly and smiled, "Wei Daoyou and my Tao family are allies, no need to talk about leasing a cave dwelling. My Tao family is willing to lend Wei Daoyou a cave dwelling for free for your breakthrough."

The spiritual energy from a third-grade spirit vein was nearly inexhaustible. Just for temporary use by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Tao family wouldn't be so stingy.

"Many thanks, Tao Daoyou," Wei Tu expressed his gratitude.

"But for Wei Daoyou to gain such insight just from a short trip down the mountain, it's really something Tao is envious of…" Tao Shisheng said as he led the way, chatting with Wei Tu.

In the cultivation world, there were many cases like Wei Tu’s, where cultivators had breakthroughs while traveling. But most of them had solid foundations and deep accumulations.

Tao Shisheng had his biases against Wei Tu before, thinking he relied on pills to break through, which explained how he reached Foundation Establishment mid-stage "Great Accomplishment" so quickly.

—At a hundred sixty years old, Foundation Establishment mid-stage "Great Accomplishment" was common among sect cultivators or family cultivators, but rare among rogue cultivators.

"Just a casual insight, thoughts aligning, that's all," Wei Tu smiled.

That wasn’t a lie.

After killing Sun Yu, his mind was clear, his whole body relaxed. The resentment and frustration that had been pressing down on him for over ten years was released in that one moment.

Also, after switching to cultivate the third-grade technique Divine Wood Origin Technique, his bottleneck had shrunk a lot.

With both factors combined, he naturally showed signs of a breakthrough on his way to Tao family in Hanshan.

"This is Tao’s personal cave dwelling, for now, it’s lent to Wei Daoyou to use for your breakthrough," Tao Shisheng led him to a refined cave dwelling at the back of Hanshan, took out an array talisman from his sleeve, and handed it to Wei Tu.

Wei Tu thanked him, turned around and walked into the cave dwelling, then under the watchful eyes of the Tao family, activated the array formation of the cave.

"If this wasn’t just a small realm breakthrough, I wouldn’t dare attempt it right in front of the Tao family…" Once the stone door of the cave closed, Wei Tu stroked his chin, thinking.

This time, his secluded cultivation breakthrough wasn’t to the mid-stage small realm as Tao Shisheng assumed, but to the late-stage small realm of Foundation Establishment.

More than twenty years ago, Wei Tu’s cultivation had already reached Foundation Establishment late stage.

Entering the cultivation room, Wei Tu first sat down to regulate his breathing, restoring his spiritual power to its peak state.

A few days ago, when killing Sun Yu, he had used the Demon Buddha Bell, spending nearly one-third of his internal spiritual power.

Once his breath was steady, Wei Tu activated the Divine Wood Mark in his dantian, drawing in the surrounding surging spiritual energy through his meridians.

Time slowly passed.

Two months later.

The spiritual energy vortex outside the cave scattered, and Wei Tu, sitting in the cultivation room, slowly opened his eyes, a slight smile on his face.

"Foundation Establishment late-stage Great Accomplishment, just one small realm away from the peak of Foundation Establishment. Then I can attempt the Golden Core breakthrough."

Wei Tu glanced at the spiritual power lake in his dantian, which had expanded by nearly twenty percent.

At this point, his cultivation speed had far exceeded his estimates from five years ago.

At most, within thirty years, he might catch a glimpse of the Golden Core realm.

"But before reaching Foundation Establishment peak, I need to push forward the progress of Hundred Veins Blood Tempering Art."

Wei Tu thought to himself.

In terms of timing, by the time his cultivation reached Foundation Establishment peak and he prepared for the Golden Core, Divine Wood Origin Technique should also reach the third layer.

Now, what remained was the Hundred Veins Blood Tempering Art.

Wei Tu hadn’t forgotten that both Hundred Veins Blood Tempering Art and Divine Wood Origin Technique could increase his Golden Core success rate by ten percent each.

Later, with the help of the Mortal Shedding Pill, his success rate for forming the Golden Core could exceed seventy percent.

…

Five days later.

Wei Tu stabilized his cultivation, exited seclusion.

"Congratulations Wei Daoyou, on another advancement in cultivation," Tao Shisheng came at once to offer congratulations and presented a gift.

Wei Tu accepted the gift and thanked him.

After a brief exchange.

Wei Tu brought up the main matter, asking Tao Shisheng about the specifics of smuggling into Kang Kingdom.

"Last year my Tao family sent word to notify Wei Daoyou, letting you know… the smuggling route to Kang Kingdom has already been secured…"

"Tao originally intended to invite Wei Daoyou’s family to leave with us Tao cultivators, but since you hadn’t arrived…"

Tao Shisheng shook his head and said.

"But fortunately, the route is still open, and the key officials we bribed are still in place," he added.