Besides, going to Yuanjun Island for help might not actually go the way he hoped.
At the end of the day, his relationship with Lüqiu Qingfeng wasn’t close enough for her to risk everything to back him up.
They’d only met once. At best, they were acquaintances.
If Lüqiu Qingfeng helped him, it would definitely be out of self-interest. And the kind of benefit she’d want was likely something he couldn’t afford.
And that was already the better outcome.
If Lüqiu Qingfeng chose not to help… then barging into Yuanjun Island would be like walking into a tiger’s den—handing himself straight over to Lüqiu Jinyuan.
In Wei Tu’s view, the chances of that happening weren’t low.
Especially now that Lüqiu Jinyuan was in his "prime," clearly outshining Lüqiu Qingfeng in strength and influence.
If she wanted to preserve her own strength, the smarter move for Lüqiu Qingfeng would be to avoid confrontation, not clash with someone stronger over an outsider she barely knew.
So, with no personal benefit or bright future ahead, Wei Tu had already mentally marked the Yuanjun Island route as a backup. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t take that path.
…
After laying it all out, Wei Tu waited for Ancestor Chìlóng to speak.
Compared to him, Ancestor Chìlóng had far more experience in combat and a sharper eye. He could better judge Wu Fang’s current state, and whether Wei Tu had any chance to fight back.
Of course, there was another reason for asking.
Wei Tu was also wondering if he could squeeze one or two final secret arts out of Ancestor Chìlóng.
After all, the demonic path had plenty of forbidden techniques that could give a temporary power boost.
Back in the Cloud Ze Secret Realm, he still remembered how those two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Jia Clan used the "Blood Ignition Technique" to boost their strength.
If he could force out even one more demonic trump card today—even if he couldn’t use it now—it’d be a great addition to his arsenal in the future.
After a few dozen breaths of silence, Ancestor Chìlóng’s voice finally echoed from within the Dragon Glass Bead.
Just like Cao Mi, he first analyzed the current situation.
But unlike her, Ancestor Chìlóng focused entirely on Wu Fang.
He broke down the odds of engaging Wu Fang in a life-or-death fight.
"From what I can tell," Ancestor Chìlóng said slowly, "that escape technique Wu Fang used drains both the body and Nascent Soul essence severely."
"On top of that, his mid-Nascent Soul realm… also seems to be boosted suddenly by some secret technique."
"If I’m not mistaken, Wu Fang is more likely a manifestation of a powerful cultivator, not his true self. After all, using such damaging secret arts on one’s body isn’t something even demonic cultivators would do lightly."
He paused for a beat, then added, "That said, it doesn’t mean he’s easy to handle. If he dares to abandon his sect master and chase you alone, he must have real confidence."
"Of course, dealing with him isn’t impossible."
"You just have to stall. Drag him down. Wear him out."
"Every day you stall, he gets weaker."
Ancestor Chìlóng let out a cold laugh.
"Stall him?" Wei Tu raised a brow. After thinking it through, he realized it might be worth trying.
If Ancestor Chìlóng’s assessment was right—
That Wu Fang had only temporarily raised his realm to mid-Nascent Soul using secret techniques—
Then his essence reserves probably weren’t that much higher than Wei Tu’s. Maybe even lower.
With dual Nascent Souls—one in his physical body and one in his spirit—Wei Tu had more essence than nearly all his peers.
Essence was a fixed resource. Even if you used secret arts to boost it, it only helped a little. It couldn’t double overnight.
In other words, Wu Fang had used forbidden methods to boost both his realm and speed, basically putting two bleeding holes in himself. He looked strong but was hollow inside.
Any moment now, he could collapse from exhaustion or die from essence depletion.
In short—
Wei Tu was having a rough time using Curse Ghost Blood Escape, but Wu Fang was definitely suffering even more.
No matter how strong or skilled he was, if his attacks hit nothing but air, it meant nothing.
"Then we stall! Drag Wu Fang to death!"
Wei Tu’s eyes gleamed as he made up his mind.
They were both early Nascent Soul. No way he’d believe a mere manifestation could outlast someone like him with dual Nascent Souls.
"These days, my soul body’s recovered a bit too," Ancestor Chìlóng added at the perfect moment. "I can split off a piece for you to use as a Curse Ghost. It should help stall him for a while."
Wei Tu froze.
He hadn’t expected that.
This old demon was usually stingy, always reluctant to teach secret techniques. Let alone make a sacrifice like this, one that would harm his own soul.
But after a brief thought, he let it go.
The reason was simple—he and Ancestor Chìlóng were now like grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
In fact, Ancestor Chìlóng was even less likely to betray him than Cao Mi.
—If Wu Fang won, he might spare Cao Mi, but sparing Ancestor Chìlóng? Not a chance.
There was no way Wu Fang would agree to a new equal soul pact with him.
"Besides giving up part of your soul body as a Curse Ghost... Old Demon Zhu, don't you have any explosive secret arts left?"
"If I survive this disaster and run into trouble again later, your soul force might not be enough next time."
Seeing that Ancestor Chìlóng had no intention of teaching him another technique, Wei Tu stopped holding back and asked outright.
He knew this was a now-or-never opportunity.
If he didn’t ask now, it’d be much harder to ask after today’s ordeal was over.
"Wei, you’ve got some nerve. Always claiming to be a righteous cultivator, but you don’t even bother pretending around me." Ancestor Chìlóng couldn’t help cursing him out when he saw how shameless Wei Tu was.
He’d been with Wei Tu for 60 to 70 years now.
During that time, he’d seen Wei Tu act with double standards—righteous to righteous cultivators, ruthless to demonic ones.
But he never thought that even after offering to “sacrifice himself,” Wei Tu would still treat him like a pig to be skinned and bled dry.
Still, after the swearing, Ancestor Chìlóng gave in. Helplessly, he used his magic power to form a green jade slip. After imprinting a secret technique onto it, he tossed it to Wei Tu.
"Nine Secrets of Vitality."
Wei Tu held the jade slip. While still fleeing, he split his focus and began quietly studying the essence of this explosive secret art.
"Training this technique takes at least over a month. Right now, while running for your life, you’ve got no time to cultivate it. You’d be better off focusing on evading your pursuer."
Half a day later, Ancestor Chìlóng sensed subtle changes in Wei Tu’s physical body and couldn’t help reminding him.
But seeing that Wei Tu didn’t slow down, and his blood escape speed hadn’t dropped either, he just shook his head and let it be.
…
As Ancestor Chìlóng had guessed—
Lüqiu Jinyuan’s physical form was steadily deteriorating the longer he chased Wei Tu.
Every moment he held on, his body took another hit.
And that condition was basically irreversible.
The only good news for Lüqiu Jinyuan was that this body was just an avatar. No matter how badly it got ruined, he didn’t care.
As long as he caught Wei Tu, whatever he lost now would all be worth it.
"Strange… why hasn’t his blood escape slowed down?"
Three days into the chase, Lüqiu Jinyuan narrowed his eyes at Wei Tu in the distance, a hint of surprise flashing across his pale face.
Normally, for someone at early Nascent Soul Realm, using such a fierce blood escape technique should max out their endurance at around three days. After that, the speed would drop.
But now, not only had Wei Tu shown no signs of slowing, his pace had even slightly increased, as if he’d grasped the core secrets of the blood escape technique.
"This guy isn’t your average early Nascent Soul cultivator. It’s not unreasonable for him to last longer."
Lüqiu Jinyuan pulled out a few spirit crystals from his robes. While chasing, he used them to restore his magic power.
One chased, one fled.
In a blink—
Three more days passed.
"I don’t know how Wei Tu’s held out this long, but it won’t be much longer. I’m about to catch up..."
Lüqiu Jinyuan’s face was pale and bloodless. But when he noticed Wei Tu—over 100 li ahead—slowing down a bit, he couldn’t help but feel a flash of joy.
Right now, though his strength wasn’t what it had been at its peak—far weaker than six days ago when he left the Flying Serpent Island ruins—
He didn’t think Wei Tu could be in much better shape. They were probably equally worn down.
At this level, he was confident he could finish off both Wei Tu and Cao Mi without much trouble.
But—
After another two days of chasing, Lüqiu Jinyuan finally noticed something wasn’t right.
Though Wei Tu’s speed had dropped, it had dropped just right—enough for him to see but never catch.
"Is he trying to kite me to death?"
"Refusing to face me head-on and draining my essence bit by bit?"
That thought popped up suddenly in Lüqiu Jinyuan’s mind.
It felt ridiculous, but right now, he couldn’t help taking it seriously.
After all, it all started because he underestimated Wei Tu’s strength. One misstep after another had dragged him into this mess.
"Give up? Or keep chasing?"
Lüqiu Jinyuan couldn’t decide.
If he gave up now, not only would his original plan fail, but all the time and energy he’d invested would be completely wasted.
And what if Wei Tu really was at the end of his rope? Backing off now would be a huge waste.
But if he kept chasing… and Wei Tu had really set a trap, then the risk was too high.
"The Ghost-Eyed Demon Spider can't be lost. As long as… as long as I get close, I can kill him!"
A vicious light flashed across Lüqiu Jinyuan’s face. He gritted his teeth and resumed the chase.
But soon, as another three days passed and Wei Tu’s speed still didn’t slow down at all, Lüqiu Jinyuan finally realized his suspicion was correct—
Wei Tu wasn’t just fleeing. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity to turn around and strike back.
Seeing this, Lüqiu Jinyuan gave up the chase. His light of escape stopped as he descended onto a desolate, uninhabited island nearby. He looked like he had finally given up on this stupid pursuit.
He sat cross-legged on a reef by the coast, holding two spirit crystals to start recovering his spiritual power.
At that moment—
The choice landed in Wei Tu’s hands.
Run, or turn around and counterattack?
"Leave the green hills, and you’ll always have wood to burn. I say, don’t push your luck. Stay cautious—only cautious boats last a thousand years."
Ancestor Chìlóng tried to talk him out of it.
Though he’d previously broken down the odds of defeating Wu Fang, that didn’t mean he supported actually fighting him.
His earlier analysis was more about stopping Wei Tu from asking for help from Yuanjun Island, which would have meant losing his freedom.
After all, this encounter was completely unplanned. Neither he nor Wei Tu knew what hidden tricks "Wu Fang" might still have.
Cao Mi’s advice was the same.
She didn’t think it was worth the risk to chase down such a powerful enemy right now.
"Killing Wu Fang is dangerous, and even if we succeed, we won’t get much out of it."
Her tone was practical.
Both of them advised against it…
Normally, Wei Tu might have gone along with them. But today, he had his own plan.
"Wu Fang must die!"
His tone was firm.
It wasn’t recklessness. And it wasn’t just resentment after being hunted for days.
He had a real reason.
It was simple—he couldn’t let the tiger back into the mountain. If this clone of "Wu Fang" returned to its true body and exposed his secrets, he and Cao Mi would be in danger.
"If we don’t kill Wu Fang today, and run into his true body next time, we might not make it out alive."
"There’ll be no safe place for us in the Red Algae Sea."
Wei Tu spoke plainly.
When they left the Flying Serpent Island ruins, he and Cao Mi had disguised themselves like usual.
But soon after, Wu Fang and the Gu Sect Master found them anyway.
That meant Wu Fang likely had access to something like the Ghost-Eyed Demon Spider—something that could see through disguises.
If they didn’t solve that now, they’d be hunted forever.
Of course, another reason Wei Tu made this decision was because his strength had grown again over these past ten-plus days.
"I’ve already mastered the Nine Secrets of Vitality."
Wei Tu glanced at the golden-purple fate mark deep in his mind and sent a voice transmission to Ancestor Chìlóng.
"What? You already mastered the Nine Secrets of Vitality?"
Ancestor Chìlóng was shocked.
Decades ago, after teaching Wei Tu the Curse Ghost Blood Escape, he already knew how freakishly talented he was.
But he hadn’t expected that, even while on the run, Wei Tu would manage to learn this difficult secret technique—a skill that most cultivators would need months to grasp—in just over ten days.
He still remembered taking a month and a half to master it himself.
"With that technique, plus the Yin-Yang Demon Corpse… if you're careful, killing Wu Fang shouldn’t be hard."
After a moment of thought, Ancestor Chìlóng's face turned a little complex.
With the Nine Secrets of Vitality, Wei Tu could temporarily fight on par with a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Against a weakened fake mid-stage opponent, it would be even easier.
Even without the technique, Ancestor Chìlóng didn’t believe Wei Tu would lose under normal circumstances.
Still, Wei Tu’s cultivation path was long—there was no need to take risks for such small gains.
As for Cao Mi—
Wei Tu didn’t try to convince her much. After he stated why "Wu Fang" had to die, she nodded and agreed to join him.
…
Fifteen minutes later—
Wei Tu and Cao Mi returned to the small island where Lüqiu Jinyuan had stopped, hovering above him, staring down.
"You finally came, Wei Tu."
Lüqiu Jinyuan slowly opened his eyes. His face showed no surprise at all. It was as if he had expected Wei Tu to come back all along.
"Surrender to me now, and I might consider letting you live."
He said it calmly.
