"Fellow Daoist Yuan, I wonder if our department has the formula for the Solid Flame Pill from the She Ri Tribe?"
After conversing for a while, Wei Tu took the opportunity to mention this matter to Yuan Jie.
The Solid Flame Pill was a medicinal pill used by practitioners of the She Ri Tribe to aid in their cultivation of the "Sun-gazing Golden Eyes."
Without this pill, ordinary cultivators could not refine or store the sun's essence energy within their eye apertures.
After killing Yuwen Cheng and obtaining the "Sun-gazing Golden Eyes" cultivation method from his soul, Wei Tu had been eyeing the Solid Flame Pill formula from the She Ri Tribe.
First, the Sun-gazing Golden Eyes was an extremely rare high-level spiritual eye technique in the Great Cang cultivation world.
Cultivating this technique would be beneficial to him.
Second, the "Golden Toad Qi" and "Sun-gazing Golden Eyes" from the Stone Demon Sect shared certain similarities, and by obtaining the Solid Flame Pill, Wei Tu might also be able to use it to cultivate this secret technique.
One pill with dual uses!
"The Solid Flame Pill formula?" Yuan Jie raised an eyebrow, pondering why Wei Tu was asking for this particular formula.
As far as he knew, the Solid Flame Pill was only useful for cultivating the "Sun-gazing Golden Eyes" in the She Ri Tribe, and it didn't offer much benefit to one's cultivation.
Therefore, this formula was rarely sought after or used by cultivators outside of the sect.
"This formula hasn't been recorded in our Ying Ding tribe," Yuan Jie said, shaking his head in response.
"However, if Fellow Daoist Wei truly has a special need for it, I will send someone to steal the formula from the She Ri Tribe," he added.
In fact, as old rivals of the She Ri Tribe, the Ying Ding tribe had long since acquired the majority of their techniques and secrets, including the formula for the Solid Flame Pill.
However, easy-to-obtain things were often not valued.
Today, if Yuan Jie were to casually hand over the Solid Flame Pill formula to Wei Tu, Wei Tu would likely treat it as a mere gift and would not feel grateful.
On the other hand, if Yuan Jie made an effort to acquire it at a great cost, Wei Tu would surely appreciate this favor.
That was the way of handling people.
Additionally, Yuan Jie's words also served to inquire about Wei Tu's specific intentions for the formula.
"I only wish to research the formula. There is no other intention. Since our department doesn't have it, I won't insist on it," Wei Tu replied with a slight smile.
With the soul memories of Yuwen Cheng, he clearly knew that the formula for the Solid Flame Pill had already been leaked to both the Ying Ding tribe and the Feng Wu tribe long ago.
Now, Yuan Jie's offer was just an inflated price.
It was clear that Yuan Jie was no longer the leader of the Cang Kun Alliance, the person who had shared hardships with him.
"Is that all?"
Hearing this, Yuan Jie felt somewhat disappointed. He had intended to use the Solid Flame Pill formula to leverage Wei Tu and fully bring him into the tribe's fold, securing his loyalty.
However, Wei Tu didn't seem all that eager for the formula.
"You and I are brothers. This request is not something I can refuse. Even if I must pay a great cost, it is worth it to help Fellow Daoist Wei acquire this," Yuan Jie said, trying to maintain the appearance of politeness.
He had made up his mind to give Wei Tu the formula when the time was right, seeing it as a small favor he could offer.
"Thank you, Right Virtuous King."
Wei Tu returned the gesture with a bow of gratitude.
During the conversation, no one noticed that Wei Tu had changed his address for Yuan Jie from "Fellow Daoist Yuan" to "Right Virtuous King."
Although Yuan Jie noticed, after holding the position of Right Virtuous King for decades, countless cultivators had changed their address to him, and he had long since grown immune to it.
...
Half a day later.
The dust-washing banquet ended.
Wei Tu left the Right Virtuous King's palace and returned to his cave residence, Yunque Residence, in the Hu Jie Immortal City.
However, just as Wei Tu stepped out of his cave, the transmission jade he carried suddenly flickered several times.
Upon seeing this, Wei Tu was immediately alerted. He closed the cave door, waved his robe, and quickly flew to the Wei Clan Pill and Talisman Hall.
"Alchemits Wei…"
In the reception room on the fourth floor of the store, Situ You, wearing a hooded cloak, stood up when he heard the noise from the stairs. He immediately cupped his hands and bowed to Wei Tu.
"Fortunately, I did not disappoint! This time, I successfully killed Wei Hua," Situ You said with a delighted expression.
Previously, his cultivation and strength had been on par with Wei Hua, with no clear distinction between the two. But several decades ago, he secretly asked Wei Tu to refine a furnace of Golden Marrow Pills for him. This allowed him to break through to the third stage of body refining and dramatically improve his strength, surpassing Wei Hua by several levels.
With the help of Wei Tu's spiritual talismans, his strength had increased even further.
As a result, facing Wei Hua, victory was almost guaranteed.
"However..."
"After Wei Hua's death, for some reason, his Golden Core's spiritual essence suddenly vanished."
Situ You's brows furrowed, his face showing concern.
He was worried that Wei Hua hadn't fully died and that his soul had escaped the body, which might have caused the Golden Core's spiritual essence to vanish.
As he spoke, Situ You flipped his hand, taking out a dimly glowing round Golden Core, which he carefully placed in front of Wei Tu.
Spiritual essence vanishing?
Upon hearing this, Wei Tu looked surprised.
He had killed several Golden Core True Lords during his journey, but he had never seen a situation where the Golden Core's spiritual essence vanished immediately after the cultivator's death.
After thinking for a moment, Wei Tu stretched out his hand and used his magic to summon Wei Hua's Golden Core, studying it carefully.
However, after observing it for a while, Wei Tu still couldn't make much sense of it. After all, his understanding of soul-related secret arts was still shallow.
"Fellow Daoist Bai, can you see anything unusual about Wei Hua's Golden Core?" Wei Tu asked Bai Zhi.
In terms of experience, Bai Zhi, being a veteran Golden Core, was still much stronger than him.
Moreover, after she switched to the Ghost Dao, her understanding of the soul was even deeper than his.
"I too am unable to discern much," Bai Zhi, hidden in Wei Tu's sleeve, shook her head and said. "However, I can be certain that this person's soul must have escaped after he was defeated and killed. This Golden Core is very likely to be a shell of sorts."
"A shell?"
Wei Tu understood what Bai Zhi meant.
In other words, the Golden Core in his hand was just the outer layer of Wei Hua's Golden Core, with the real Golden Core having already fled.
"This person possesses such secret arts; no wonder when I first encountered him, his perception ability was much stronger than others of the same level."
Wei Tu thought to himself.
A year ago, when he returned to Kang Kingdom to rescue Che Gongwei and Su Bing'er, it was Wei Hua who first sensed the presence of him and Yu Gongshou.
After that, Wei Hua had made some crafty moves, letting Che Gongwei and Su Bing'er go first while he and Yan Qing followed behind.
Wei Tu then relayed Bai Zhi's words to the waiting Situ You.
"Situ Xiong, there's no need to worry too much. With Wei Hua losing his body, even if he tries to possess someone else, his strength will be greatly diminished. He's no match for you."
Wei Tu reassured him.
"What if... Wei Hua returns to Ancient Sword Mountain? Wouldn't that expose my role in killing him?"
Upon hearing this, Situ You became greatly anxious.
After killing Wei Hua, he had come to Wei Tu immediately to report the situation because he was worried about this very thing.
Otherwise, he could've simply sent a letter and didn't need to come personally.
Once in the Ying Ding tribe, with Wei Tu's protection, Ancient Sword Mountain wouldn't be able to do anything to him for a while.
"Don't worry about that, Situ Xiong."
"Wei Hua won't return to Ancient Sword Mountain, and he certainly won't tell them that you killed him."
Wei Tu shook his head and gave his assessment.
Although he wasn't familiar with Wei Hua and Ancient Sword Mountain, he had seen the true face of Tian Qiuyun.
Tian Qiuyun was a wife who could share wealth but not hardship.
Now, with Wei Hua losing his body and suffering severe injuries, his potential for cultivation had already been greatly reduced, and it would take him at least a hundred years to even think about recovering his strength.
Without more than a hundred years, Wei Hua would never be able to reach the Golden Core stage again.
Therefore, it was foreseeable that Wei Hua would no longer have a chance to vie for the Sword Master position in Ancient Sword Mountain.
In other words, Wei Hua and Tian Qiuyun, as a couple, were no longer "compatible!"
As long as Wei Hua wasn't foolish, he wouldn't rashly return to Ancient Sword Mountain to look for Tian Qiuyun.
Wei Tu speculated that if Wei Hua did such a thing, he would not receive comfort from his partner but instead would face disaster.
"Why are you so sure about that?"
Situ You frowned, feeling somewhat confused.
After all, if there was anyone who knew Wei Hua well, it would be him.
Wei Tu smiled, shaking his head. "It's just my guess."
There was no need to tell the truth.
In Situ You's eyes, when it came to trust, he probably ranked below Tian Qiuyun.
These things were something Situ You would have to figure out for himself or witness firsthand.
"Of course, if Situ Xiong doesn't mind, I'm happy to welcome you here."
Wei Tu smiled and said.
Hearing this, Situ You's tense nerves relaxed a bit.
He had thought that Wei Tu had said those words just to get rid of him and avoid trouble.
"I should go back to Ancient Sword Mountain."
After hesitating for a moment, Situ You made up his mind.
Now that Wei Hua was dead, if he stayed away too long, even if he wasn't the prime suspect, he would still be seen as one.
Also, with the war between the two factions ongoing, as long as Ancient Sword Mountain wasn't foolish, they wouldn't harm him severely.
The worst outcome would be that he'd earn merit inside the sect to make up for his wrongs.
"Situ Xiong, you've considered it well."
Wei Tu nodded approvingly and stood up to send him off.
...
After sending Situ You off, several days later, Wei Tu felt that his alchemy skills were now sufficient and prepared to start refining pills, attempting to make the "Purple Candle Pill," a pill that would enhance his magical power.
He chose a more secluded location, Yunque Residence, instead of the Wei Clan Pill and Talisman Hall, to refine the pill.
Unlike other third-level pills, this time Wei Tu only had a complete set of spiritual herbs for the Purple Candle Pill.
Therefore, this time, he could not afford a single failure in his pill refining.
"Purple Candle Fruit, Ice Silkworm Cloud Dew, Earth Essence Fungus..."
Sitting in the alchemy room, Wei Tu took out the pill furnace and began adding the spiritual herbs needed to refine the Purple Candle Pill.
After adding the herbs, Wei Tu bathed and purified himself before beginning the pill refining process.
Half a month passed in a flash.
The furnace lid was lifted by the rising mist, and three pill-sized orbs, with purple mist swirling around them, were drawn from the spiritual flame and placed in his palm.
"This pill's quality is better than I expected. It should be because my magic power is purer," Wei Tu smiled slightly.
The purity of a pill master's magic power had a certain effect on the quality of the refined pills.
Having once bathed in the Iceheart Spirit Dew Pool of Little Cold Mountain and cleansed his body with Ice Heart Liquid, Wei Tu's magic power was already far superior to others at the Golden Core stage.
It was only slightly weaker than that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.