After reading everything, Wei Tu showed a satisfied expression.
Both Yan Yu and Tao Fangde had handled the matter with care. Among the spiritual herbs needed for the Solid Flame Pill, all had been gathered except for a few rare ones.
Tao Fangde had even sworn a military-style oath, promising to find the remaining herbs within five years.
"Then I'll wait another five years."
Wei Tu set down the talisman message, closed his eyes slightly, and resumed cultivation in seclusion.
As for refining the Solid Flame Pill, Wei Tu wasn't in a rush. Waiting five years was no problem.
If that timeline held, he'd have more than enough time to cultivate both Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes and Golden Toad Qi to Minor Accomplishment before attempting a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, another five years slipped by.
It was now the deadline Tao Fangde had sworn to meet.
That day, Wei Tu emerged from seclusion and headed to the Wei Clan Pill and Talisman Hall to collect the promised spiritual herbs for the Solid Flame Pill.
Since Yan Yu was still out and hadn't returned, Wei Tu first reviewed the herbs Tao Fangde had gathered.
He took out the list of supplementary ingredients and cross-checked them one by one with what Tao Fangde had collected over the past decade.
"Type, age, and medicinal properties all match—no deception. And you've even collected an extra batch beyond what I asked. Well done."
Wei Tu put away the herbs and praised him without holding back.
He had instructed Tao Fangde to collect three sets of supplementary ingredients for the Solid Flame Pill, but Tao Fangde had gathered four—one extra.
"It's all thanks to your good fortune, Senior Wei," Tao Fangde bowed humbly, keeping his usual modesty. He didn't grow arrogant despite the accomplishment.
Hearing that, Wei Tu nodded slightly, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. He flipped his palm and placed a metal contract scroll on the table.
"This is the Golden Core contract between myself and the Tao family. From now on, as long as the Tao family holds this contract, they can come to me and request a Biyan Pill to break through to the Golden Core Realm."
"Once the Tao family has produced a true Golden Core cultivator, I'll reclaim this contract."
Wei Tu said calmly.
"Thank you, Senior Wei." Seeing the Golden Core contract, Tao Fangde was overjoyed and expressed his gratitude repeatedly.
Those in lower positions couldn't expect too much from those above.
Ten years ago, Wei Tu had promised him verbally that he would guarantee the Tao family one Golden Core cultivator in the future. But verbal promises couldn't compare to this tangible iron-clad spiritual contract.
With this written proof, he and the Hanshan Tao family finally had true peace of mind.
After Tao Fangde left, the smile on Wei Tu's face faded a little, replaced by a look of concern.
At this moment, it wasn't the promised Golden Core spot for the Tao family that worried him—it was… his only son, Wei Xiuwen, who was about to reach the time for his own Golden Core breakthrough.
Wei Xiuwen was only four years younger than Wei Yan and was now 305 years old.
That age placed him within the ideal "golden window" for a typical Foundation Establishment cultivator to attempt a Golden Core breakthrough.
Once he passed 350 years, a cultivator's physical vitality and mana would decline sharply. The chances of a successful breakthrough would drop drastically. And even if one barely succeeded, the potential of the resulting Golden Core would be far inferior to a typical one.
Take Yu Tong for example. He formed his Golden Core at an old age, and even after succeeding at Fenglang Islet, found himself in the awkward position of being uninvited by any sect.
If not for Wei Tu's intervention, he wouldn't have been accepted as a sponsored cultivator by the Wufu Merchant Guild.
Parents always plan far ahead for their children.
Wei Tu definitely didn't want Wei Xiuwen to become the next Yu Tong—an aging cultivator with limited potential.
However, the problem was—
He didn't have another Nascent Shedding Pill.
He did have the Biyan Pill, a substitute, but… it was fine for gifting to outsiders. For Wei Xiuwen, its medicinal power was far too weak.
If the breakthrough failed, there was a real chance of dying or having the path to immortality completely severed.
...
"And I can't really expect to secure another Nascent Shedding Pill within these 45 years either."
After thinking for a long time, Wei Tu let out a light sigh.
After all, the Nascent Shedding Pill wasn't something easily obtained. In the world of cultivation, it was something that might be priced but rarely available—a foundation treasure for every power.
For most cultivators, there were typically three ways to try and obtain one:
1. Render great service or merit within a sect or organization and use that to exchange for one of their Nascent Shedding Pills.
2. Wait for a major auction and spend an enormous amount of resources to buy either a Golden Core breakthrough treasure or a Nascent Shedding Pill.
3. Enter a high-mortality secret realm, seize a breakthrough treasure there, and then trade it with a major sect.
Back then, Wei Tu had chosen the third path.
But even then, his success owed a lot to sheer luck.
If not for Qingzhu Mountain's interference making the Cloud Ze Secret Realm more dangerous and unpredictable, he—then a mere retainer of the Huang clan—would never have had the chance to enter and claim two complete Golden Core opportunities.
So even though Wei Tu now had far more strength and status than before, securing another Nascent Shedding Pill in a short time was still quite difficult.
Of course, this also had a lot to do with the nature of the organization he was currently part of.
—Ying Ding Tribe wasn't a typical sect in the immortal path. The cultivation method it followed was the spiritual path, which differed greatly from the orthodox immortal path. As Ying Ding Tribe's chief alchemist, Wei Tu knew their entire stock of pills like the back of his hand.
Otherwise, as a top figure in a Nascent Soul power, Wei Tu could've easily done what Shen Yunqiu did—pull a bait-and-switch and steal the Nascent Shedding Pill from Mirror Water Pavilion.
"Wait, Shen Yunqiu…"
Thinking of Shen Yunqiu suddenly brought back to Wei Tu the memory of that secret collusion years ago with Cao Mi, the Palace Master of Moon Condensation Palace.
—The one involving the "Body Reshaping Soul Return Array" to seize Shen Yunqiu's true spirit essence.
'Cao Mi might have a Nascent Shedding Pill!'
Wei Tu's eyes lit up.
As the head of Moon Condensation Palace, Cao Mi held far greater authority than Shen Yunqiu. She directly managed all resource distribution within the Nascent Soul power that was Moon Condensation Palace.
She had the strength to temporarily lend him a Nascent Shedding Pill.
"Let me send her a message first. See what her attitude is."
Wei Tu thought to himself.
A Nascent Shedding Pill was one of a sect's most valuable core treasures. There was no way Cao Mi would give it up just because of a few kind words from him.
…
While Wei Tu waited for Cao Mi's reply, half a year passed.
Yan Yu, who had gone out to gather the main herbs for the Solid Flame Pill, finally returned to Ying Ding Tribe.
Just like Tao Fangde, Yan Yu had completed the task perfectly and even collected an extra set of herbs.
That meant Wei Tu now had a total of four full sets of ingredients for the Solid Flame Pill.
Since the herbs were ready, Wei Tu didn't waste any time. He immediately began refining the pills—this was the key medicine used by the Sun Shooting Division to store Solar Essence.
Compared to the Purple Candle Pill, the Solid Flame Pill was much easier to refine, being only a mid-grade Tier Three pill.
It barely took any effort.
Two months later, Wei Tu had successfully refined 13 high-quality Solid Flame Pills.
"Finally, I can start cultivating Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes."
Wei Tu's face showed a rare trace of excitement.
After all, it had been nearly 30 years since he extracted the Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes secret technique from Yu Wencheng's soul.
He took out one gold-purple Solid Flame Pill from the jade bottle and swallowed it. Then with a flick of his sleeve, he drew a wisp of Solar Essence into the cave residence and guided it to his eyes.
Solar Essence was far hotter than ordinary sunlight. Though Wei Tu's body had reached the late stage of Tier Three in physical cultivation, his eyes still felt a sharp sting, sourness, and even a splitting sensation the moment they came into contact with it.
And yet, this tiny bit of Solar Essence wouldn't even scratch the rest of his body.
Its power wasn't even on par with a basic Qi technique.
But Wei Tu had long been prepared. As a body cultivator, he was well aware of the old adage: 'Of all parts to temper, the eyes are the hardest.'
Luckily, not long after, the effects of the Solid Flame Pill began nourishing his eyes, reducing the pain to a bearable level.
Bit by bit, he refined the Solar Essence and stored it in his eyes.
A month later.
Wei Tu's cultivation of Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes had taken shape. When he activated the technique, a golden flash passed through his eyes.
Suddenly, the motion of everything around him seemed to slow slightly. The array patterns on the cave's restrictive formations became faintly visible.
But that was the limit. He couldn't sense any other power from the technique.
"Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes is a technique that builds slowly. The later stages are when its true power shows."
Wei Tu stayed calm and didn't feel disappointed.
After all, even Yu Wencheng had only managed to barely glimpse Wei Tu's Golden Core mid-stage cultivation after reaching Minor Accomplishment in the technique. He hadn't sensed at all that Wei Tu's body cultivation had already reached late Tier Three.
Next, Wei Tu sank his consciousness into his mind to examine the progress of this golden-purple destiny-generated secret technique.
[Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes (1/100): Train every three days, achieve mastery in 500 years.]
"500 years?" Wei Tu shook his head, then turned his gaze toward another secret technique on the table—Golden Toad Qi.
He guessed that once he succeeded in cultivating Golden Toad Qi, the time required to master Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes would be drastically reduced.
After all, Golden Toad Qi was modeled after the breathing and essence-refining method of the ancient true spirit, the "Celestial Toad of Steel Qi."
Once he mastered it, not only would refining Solar Essence become second nature, but he'd also no longer need to rely on the Solid Flame Pill to convert the Solar Essence into energy for his eyes.
…
With Solid Flame Pills in hand, Wei Tu began following through on the cultivation plan he had made years ago.
He trained diligently in the three great secret techniques—Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes, Golden Toad Qi, and Righteous Purity Divine Steel—while also focusing on breaking through to the next cultivation level.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten about Wei Xiuwen's Golden Core breakthrough. In his spare time, he'd also review the talisman messages arriving outside his cave.
Time flew by.
Another eight years passed in a flash.
During these eight years, Wei Tu and Cao Mi kept in frequent contact.
In the letters, Wei Tu not only repeatedly probed whether Cao Mi would consider trading a Nascent Shedding Pill, but also inquired several times about Shen Yunqiu's progress toward forming a Nascent Soul.
Shen Yunqiu's upcoming Nascent Soul breakthrough had always been a lingering concern for Wei Tu.
Decades ago, Shen Yunqiu had dared to interfere with his daughter Wei Yan's Golden Core breakthrough. Once he succeeded in forming a Nascent Soul, he might very well have the guts to interfere with Wei Tu's own breakthrough and destroy his cultivation path.
Wei Tu couldn't afford not to be cautious about that.