The âimmortal sourceâ was the foundational spiritual essence formed by body cultivators practicing the Dao Immortal Source Scripture.
According to that scripture, through continual transformation, the immortal source could gradually evolve into the cultivatorâs foundation for becoming an immortal.
But right now, that evolutionary path of the immortal source seemed to have veered off course under the influence of the golden-purple destiny.
At the very least, Wei Tu had never seen anything in the scripture mention an immortal source that glowed with golden light.
"Ever since I awakened the golden-purple destiny, itâs been subtly transforming my physical body. Otherwise, how could I have changed from a simple country bumpkin into a rising star of the Immortal Dao?"
"So this fusion of the golden glow from my destiny with the immortal source⊠itâs probably a good thing."
"Itâs just that this time, breaking through to Body Refinement Stage Four and crossing the Dragon Transformation Gate... the transformation to my body is way more intense than usual."
Wei Tu calmed the doubts in his heart, silently thinking it over.
He figured that the sudden âinterventionâ of the Late Bloomer destiny wasnât because it had developed self-awareness, but because his body had become strong enough to handle more of the golden glow. That allowed the golden-purple destiny to pour out more of it all at once, reshaping his body and boosting his potential.
This had to be the assimilation effect of the bound destiny.
The stronger his body became, the more golden light the golden-purple destiny would feed him.
It just so happened that during this breakthrough to Body Refinement Stage Four, his body had advanced so rapidly in a short time that it created the illusion of the destiny acting on its own.
"But with this golden glow reinforcing me, this breakthrough to Stage Four is already locked in."
Wei Tuâs eyes lit up. He clenched his fist lightly, feeling the mountain-crushing strength now surging within him.
Then, he formed a series of hand seals and began circulating the Dao Immortal Source Scripture, launching the final charge toward the Dragon Transformation Gate.
The Dragon Transformation Gate.
For ordinary cultivators, breaking through it was no easier than a carp leaping over the dragon gateâalmost impossible.
But now, with the golden light reinforcing him, Wei Tu was like a carp that had already started to transform into a dragon before even jumping the gate.
That didnât mean his success was guaranteed, but compared to regular people, it gave him a significant edge.
Not to mention, the hidden medicinal force of the Condensed Soul Pill still lingered in his body.
One day.
Two days.
By the fifth day, within the secluded cave where Wei Tu cultivated, the spiritual pressure suddenly surged, forming a powerful vortex of spiritual energy in the sky. It began wildly drawing in all the ambient spiritual energy from the surroundings.
âSomeoneâs breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm?!â
Seeing this anomaly, all the cultivators near the cave stopped in their tracks, faces full of shock.
While Nascent Soul cultivators werenât exactly rare in the Guixu Sea Immortal Realm, their numbers were still few and far between.
Let alone a newly advanced one.
Each new Nascent Soul cultivator could dramatically shift the balance of power within their faction or even influence nearby factions.
Just that alone was enough to draw the attention of all the cultivators outside the cave.
However, every single one of them guessed wrong. The one breaking through inside wasnât forming a Nascent Soulâit was Wei Tu, charging through the Dragon Transformation Gate, attempting the final and most crucial step in reaching Body Refinement Stage Four.
Of course, there was one person among them who didnât make that mistake: Nangong Zhe, president of the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guildâthe one who had helped Wei Tu acquire the Condensed Soul Pill and personally escorted him into seclusion.
âBody Refinement Stage Four⊠he really did it?â
When he got the news, Nangong Zheâs face froze in disbelief.
He had known Wei Tu was attempting a breakthrough, but he never imagined that this newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator could actually succeedâreaching the fourth stage of body refinement so quickly and reaching the equivalent of the Nascent Soul level again on the physical path.
After all, if a single Condensed Soul Pill alone were enough to make that breakthrough so easily, then there was no way it wouldâve gone for such a âcheapâ price at auction.
If it were really that effective, countless Nascent Soul old monsters wouldâve fought to the death for it.
In that case, forget 72 top-grade spirit stonesâeven over 100 wouldâve been gladly paid for it by any of those Nascent Soul powerhouses.
Those Nascent Soul old monsters werenât fools. How could they not understand the benefits of having both their core and body cultivation reach the Nascent Soul level?
The reason they hadnât done it was simpleâBody Refinement Stage Four was just too hard to reach.
This stage wasnât something that could be achieved by simply piling up endless resources and time.
And among those âendless resources,â the Condensed Soul Pill wasnât even the most precious item.
Thatâs why, back when Wei Tu first entered seclusion two years ago to attempt the breakthrough, Nangong Zhe had already mentally prepared himself for Wei Tu to fail.
He never truly believed there would be a day when Wei Tu actually succeeded.
âWei Tu breaking through to Body Refinement Stage Fourâthis news is far too important. I must report it to the princess.â
As soon as he recovered from the shock, that was Nangong Zheâs first thought.
A Nascent Soul cultivator who trained in both core and body refinement might not immediately dominate within the Nascent Soul Realm, but the potential was undeniable. It wouldnât be hard for such a person to rise to the top in a few hundred years.
There were already precedents of this in the cultivation world.
Whatâs more, Wei Tuâs age made this outcome even more likely.
A newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator in their four or five hundred years wasnât unheard of in the Donghua Demon Kingdom.
But one who trained both body and coreâsomeone like thatâwould be nearly impossible to find even if you searched the entire Red Algae Sea.
Geniuses of that level could only be found in the inner sea of the Guixu Seaâthose disciples personally groomed by Divine Transformation Venerables.
âŠ
âWhat?â
âWei Tu broke through to Body Refinement Stage Four?â
Just like Nangong Zhe, the silver-haired woman who received the news was completely stunned.
Her face no longer showed the calm and easy expression she had back when she first observed Wei Tu.
This change in expression didnât go unnoticed by Nangong Zhe.
He lowered his head slightly, not daring to look at the distracted face of the silver-haired woman.
After a moment of silence, he clasped his hands respectfully and said, âThis man is too difficult for me to manage alone. Princess, do you have any other instructions?â
It was the duty of a subordinate to help ease the burden of their superior.
Back then, the silver-haired woman had once said that when the time was right, Wei Tu could be brought before her.
Though casually spoken, those words had carried the pride of a royal princess.
But now, things were different.
As a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator who refined both core and body, Wei Tu might still be weaker than her in terms of current strength, but his potential far exceeded hers.
To put it bluntly, once Wei Tu left the Donghua Demon Kingdom, the princess might not even be able to catch up to him.
Why?
Because Wei Tuâs potential was already high enough to draw the attention of a Divine Transformation Venerable.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired princess, heir to the bloodline of the LĂŒqiu Clan, had already been rejected as a disciple by one such Venerable years ago.
So, in truth, Nangong Zheâs words were subtly urging the princess to lower her pride and approach Wei Tu herself, to win over this highly promising new Nascent Soul cultivator.
âArrange something?â she murmured. After a slight pause, she didnât immediately respond.
With her temperament, she wasnât opposed to lowering herself and meeting Wei Tu in person right now.
However, her connection to the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild had never been revealed to anyone before.
If she went to see Wei Tu now, it would basically be exposing herself to himârevealing that she was the one secretly controlling the guild.
If Wei Tu turned out to be untrustworthy, or rejected her goodwill, then the losses would be too great.
After a while, the silver-haired woman finally spoke.
She gently shook her head and said, âMeeting Wei Tu now would be premature. At this point, aside from showing my sincerity, it serves no other purpose.â
âAnd for someone like him, sincerity is important, yesâbut not important enough to make him willingly submit to me.â
Her reasoning was sound.
Nangong Zhe didnât argue. He nodded to show his agreement.
Seeing this, the silver-haired woman gave a satisfied nod. She paused, then said again, âSo for now, youâll be the one to win him over, Nangong. Just make sure he stays loyal and doesnât drift away from the Blood Flood Dragon Merchant Guild.â
âAlso, the matter on Overturning Wave Island will be a good test of his character. If he proves himself worthy during that, if he shows gratitude for the help heâs received⊠then I may consider engaging with him more seriously.â
âPrincess, youâre truly wise!â
Hearing such a well-thought-out plan, Nangong Zheâs face filled with admiration as he praised her.
âIâm glad you understand.â
The silver-haired womanâs expression quickly returned to her usual calm, as if nothing in the world could trouble her heart.
As the silver-haired woman finished speaking, she flicked her jade sleeve, and the illusion projected onto the statue of the Blood Flood Dragon Ancestor vanished, as if she had never been there.
But in truth, her state of mind wasnât as calm and composed as Nangong Zhe had seen.
âDual cultivation of body and core⊠a 500-year-old Nascent SoulâŠâ
Inside a side hall on the east side of the royal palace on Yuanjun Island, the silver-haired woman sat in front of her vanity table. Her strange-colored pupils turned, staring deeply in the direction of the Nascent Soul phenomenon, less than 100 li from the palace.
"How is it that someone born as a mortal cultivator has greater talent than me, someone from a true spirit bloodline?"
A trace of jealousy flickered in her eyes.
The Dragon Transformation Gate wasnât just a barrier for body cultivators. For descendants of true spirits like her, it had the same meaning.
If they could pass this gate, they could awaken the entirety of their ancestral bloodline without any external help.
She had tried it beforeâattempting to use the breakthrough to trigger her own full bloodline awakening.
But unfortunately, she had failed.
"Wei Tu, why could you succeed!"
Her lips tightened, and she spoke each word through gritted teeth.
As the words left her mouth, a red glow flared in her eyes. Crystalline wings burst from her back, instantly stretching to several zhang in length, covering the entire hall as demonic energy surged from her body.
Still, jealousy was just jealousy.
She wouldnât go as far as to hate Wei Tu or push away someone who could be a powerful future ally just over this.
This was only her way of venting frustration.
About the time it takes for one incense stick to burn passed.
Only then did the silver-haired woman return to a calm state, quietly sitting in a corner of the palace as Nangong Zhe had often seen, meditating and breathing steadily.
âŠ
The conversation between the silver-haired woman and Nangong Zheâand her whispered thoughts afterwardâwere, of course, unknown to Wei Tu, who was still cultivating in seclusion.
At the moment the celestial phenomenon appeared in the sky, the golden-hued immortal source flowing in Wei Tu's body began to change from liquid to solid.
It was about to condense into his âfirst spirit bone.â
Human cultivators have a total of 206 bones throughout their bodies.
The first spirit bone is the 207th boneâformed only by a body cultivator who reaches Stage Four.
It was the true mark of a Stage Four body cultivator, just like a Golden Core for a Gold Core cultivator or a Nascent Soul for a Nascent Soul cultivator.
This bone was unlike the ordinary ones in the human bodyâit was the first bone born after birth through cultivation. That's why it was given the name "first spirit bone."
Besides "first spirit bone," it was also called "dragon bone" or "heaven and earth spirit bone."
The name "dragon bone" came from the Dragon Transformation Gateâbut not because it contained any ancient true dragon bloodline.
"Heaven and earth spirit bone," on the other hand, had a different meaning.
Once a body cultivator obtained it, they could use it like a spiritual root to absorb and circulate spiritual energy.
Much like a Nascent Soul, the first spirit bone became the true source of their physical cultivation.
As long as it remained intact, a cultivator could regenerate other parts of their body from it.
While it wasn't as miraculous as the legendary "regrowth from a single drop of blood," having a spirit bone meant a body cultivator didnât need to worry much about injuries during battle or training.
This was what made a Stage Four body cultivator truly terrifying.
Otherwise, if it was only about physical strength, even regular cultivators could use secret techniques or divine powers to reach that level.
Take Wei Tu and Cao Mi's Yin-Yang Demon Corpses, for example. Their physical strength was already at the peak of mid-Stage Four.
But in terms of actual combat power, they still couldnât compare to a real body cultivator of the same level.
Because unless their core was damagedâmeaning their first spirit boneâa body cultivator could fail repeatedly and still bounce back. Meanwhile, a Yin-Yang Demon Corpse, once seriously injured, wouldnât recover easily anytime soon.
Not to mention, they also lacked in flexibility and other aspects.
"Now that the spirit bone is formed, the Nascent Soul Realm will be smooth sailing from here!"
Looking inward, Wei Tu saw the golden-hued rib fully fused with his spine and couldnât help but smile.
Now that he had broken through to Body Refinement Stage Four, he finally had both core and body cultivation at the Nascent Soul level.
With this strength, even if he wasnât strong enough to storm the royal secret realm and the hidden medicine garden in the Great Cang Immortal Realm, he at least had enough power to protect himself there.
"Bai Zhi, Wind Cleaving Eagle..."
As he thought of this, Wei Tu instinctively looked at the spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist.
Inside were Bai Zhi and the Wind Cleaving Eagleâhis spirit servant and beast companion, both sealed away, both tied to him through deep bonds.
Now that his strength had reached this level, it was finally time to go to the Zheng Kingdom, enter the secret realm, and save them.