I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Chapter 484: Reunion with Ji Zhang, the Nascent Soul Buddhist Maiden

After the Righteous Society gathering ended, Wei Tu didn’t stay long at Moon Condensation Palace. Instead, he returned to Ying Ding tribe with Fu Zhizhou.After all, to avoid attracting attention, he couldn’t go back to the Guixu Sea cultivation world anytime soon.

So, during this stretch of time, it was better to stay in Ying Ding tribe and reassure An Dulong and the other divine masters.

At the end of the day, as a divine master of Ying Ding tribe, not spending time in the tribe for too long really didn’t look good.

But—

Not long after returning to Ying Ding tribe, Wei Tu noticed something unexpected.

"Ji Zhang." Wei Tu’s expression shifted slightly in surprise as he looked up at a figure that suddenly appeared within his divine sense.

Though the man’s appearance didn’t quite match the Ji Zhang he remembered, the aura was exactly the same as the one he’d injured and taken blood from back in the day.

‘What’s Ji Zhang doing in Ying Ding tribe?’

Wei Tu grew curious.

Decades ago, during his Nascent Soul ceremony, Ji Zhang had trespassed into Hu Jie Immortal City while chasing Sun Chixin.

Back then, out of consideration for Ji Zhang’s father, Ji Yifeng, Wei Tu spared him and didn’t hunt him down.

Afterward, he had thought about eliminating Ji Zhang as a future threat, but things kept getting in the way, and he never got around to it.

But now, to his surprise, instead of him seeking out Ji Zhang, Ji Zhang had come looking for him.

He actually dared to show up in Hu Jie Immortal City!

‘Let’s see what he’s up to.’ Wei Tu’s gaze flickered. After sending a voice transmission to Fu Zhizhou telling him to leave first, he teleported and quietly followed Ji Zhang, keeping his aura locked on from a distance.

Not long after, Ji Zhang arrived at a small alley in the outer city and headed toward a house nestled inside.

Using his divine sense to scan the residence, Wei Tu confirmed there were no other cultivators inside.

Seeing this, he didn’t hesitate. He flicked his sleeve and stepped forward, appearing a short distance from Ji Zhang with a half-smile on his face.

As someone trained in both body and technique, Wei Tu had no fear of close-range sneak attacks.

And Ji Zhang was just a false Nascent Soul cultivator. Wei Tu didn’t need to be cautious at all.

If he had questions, he’d just ask directly.

"You’re… Wei Tu?" Ji Zhang flinched at Wei Tu’s sudden appearance, a deep look of caution crossing his face.

"Fellow Daoist Ji, you came to Ying Ding tribe without a word. That’s rather rude, don’t you think?" Wei Tu’s voice was cold as he spoke with a displeased look.

As he finished, the Koi Dragon Yin Blade flew out from between his brows, seemingly ready to strike Ji Zhang just like back in the day.

Ji Zhang instantly turned pale and stumbled back several steps.

"Wait, Wei Tu! Don’t be hasty!"

He quickly shouted and then, speaking rapidly, explained, "I came to Ying Ding tribe today because I have an important matter I need your help with. I didn’t come out of hatred, nor to harm your family."

"I’ve already been in Ying Ding tribe for over ten years. If I really wanted to hurt someone close to you—even if I couldn’t kill your son and daughter—killing someone else wouldn’t have been hard."

Wei Tu raised an eyebrow, his expression turning thoughtful, as if he believed Ji Zhang a little.

Still, he didn’t withdraw the Koi Dragon Yin Blade. It remained suspended above Ji Zhang’s head.

"Speak. What do you want from me?"

Wei Tu’s voice was icy.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, did you know that seventeen years ago, Fu Linglong succeeded in breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm?" Ji Zhang answered without pause, handing Wei Tu a jade slip.

"Fu Linglong reached Nascent Soul?"

Wei Tu’s face showed clear surprise.

Decades ago, after his own Nascent Soul ceremony, he had heard news of Fu Linglong attempting to advance while attending Wei Fei’s funeral in the Xiao Kingdom.

At the time, he hadn’t thought her chances were high. And since she was under the protection of Jinglian Convent, he hadn’t paid much attention.

‘Could it be… her Buddhist heart wasn’t broken?’

‘Did she use another method to harm Ji Zhang?’

Wei Tu’s brow furrowed tightly.

If Fu Linglong had really defiled herself with a beggar to shatter Ji Zhang’s Dao heart, then judging by her personality, she wouldn’t have been able to let it go so easily.

And Buddhist cultivation techniques placed supreme importance on Dao heart.

Under such circumstances, it should’ve been nearly impossible for her to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

But after thinking it over, Wei Tu didn’t dwell on it. Like Ji Zhang, he started to feel concerned about the possibility of her seeking revenge.

After all, he had seriously offended her back then.

Not only had he humiliated her and used that to force Ji Zhang to hand over the Instantaneous Teleportation Array, but afterward, he had also rejected her outright and refused to go along with her plan to harm Ji Zhang through dual cultivation.

Given her vengeful nature, now that she had achieved Nascent Soul, she probably wouldn’t let him off so easily.

She would definitely come for revenge.

Just thinking about that made Wei Tu’s expression darken and shift unpredictably.

Seeing this change, Ji Zhang knew that Wei Tu, like him, deeply feared that wretched woman Fu Linglong. A flicker of joy rose in his heart. Then, he began pouring out all the ways she had gotten back at him.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, do you know why I—despite being the personal disciple of the Tianyi Sect’s sect master, and even his illegitimate son—failed so miserably when I tried to break through to Nascent Soul?"

Ji Zhang immediately brought up the very thing Wei Tu had been wondering about—what really happened back then.

Hearing that, Wei Tu became interested and gestured for him to continue.

"That woman is completely twisted. She thought my feelings for her were just lusting after her Buddhist heart. So when I was trying to break through, she hit me with an illusion..."

Ji Zhang’s face twisted in resentment, and he gritted his teeth.

"Later, I found out that illusion wasn’t real at all. It was all fake."

"If it hadn’t been fake, she wouldn’t have been able to get past it herself and reach Nascent Soul."

He added that last bit coldly.

Wei Tu finally understood.

So Fu Linglong really had followed through with the plan to use that beggar incident to destroy Ji Zhang’s Dao heart—but only by faking it in a crafted illusion. She hadn’t actually done it.

Instead, she used that method to take revenge and get her anger out, clearing her mind in the process.

"Now that wretched woman has reached Nascent Soul and has that kind of power, she’s not just going to come after me. She’ll definitely go after you too!"

Ji Zhang laid it all out.

Now Wei Tu understood exactly what Ji Zhang wanted—he was hoping Wei Tu would kill Fu Linglong for him and help him settle this deep grudge.

In that sense, he wasn’t much different from Fu Linglong back then.

‘Truly a perfect match.’

Wei Tu couldn’t help but shake his head.

Still, even though he now understood the reason, there was one thing he didn’t get—why hadn’t Ji Zhang gone back to the Tianyi Sect and asked his father Ji Yifeng for help?

"You're giving me too much credit, Wei Tu. In my father’s eyes, my failure to reach Nascent Soul was a disgrace. Back then, he was willing to abandon my mother and me to marry someone else. You think he’d ruin his reputation now just to help me with something so trivial?" Ji Zhang gave a bitter laugh and answered immediately.

"So that’s why you joined Hidden Gate after failing your breakthrough?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow and asked again.

"Exactly. It was my only option. I heard Hidden Gate had ways to reignite the false Nascent Soul path, so I joined them."

Ji Zhang looked serious as he spoke.

Now, Wei Tu finally understood why Ji Zhang had been lingering in Ying Ding tribe and wanted to team up with him to take revenge.

"So that means you haven’t contacted the Tianyi Sect or your father at all in nearly 100 years?"

Wei Tu asked flatly.

His voice carried no emotion, but Ji Zhang could still hear the deep killing intent behind it.

He quickly took several steps back and said, "Wei Tu, hold on. There’s no deep grudge between us. Right now, we both share a common enemy—Fu Linglong. After we deal with her, you can do whatever you want with me."

"I may not have contacted my father in the past century, but the moment I die, he’ll definitely find out who killed me."