After leaving Cold Crystal Platform, Wei Tu quickly used the rainbow bridge linking the two regions to fly into the inner region of the Great Void Realm.
Just as he had expected, the inner region was completely deserted. The buildings were nearly identical to how they had been when he left last time, showing no signs of large-scale damage.
"Righteous Clarity Divine Qi!" Wei Tu silently chanted a secret technique. A condensed layer of radiant light immediately formed around him like a shield.
With that radiant shield in place, the Seven Star Begonia poison in the inner region dissipated the moment it touched his body, completely neutralized.
However, Wei Tu didn't immediately head deeper toward the Tier Four secret realm. Instead, he used the high-grade perception technique Know Heaven Crossing to sense his surroundings and guard against any hidden ambushes.
Once everything was secure, he determined his direction and swiftly flew toward the Tier Four secret land deeper within the inner region.
Half a ke after, Wei Tu landed in a familiar little garden from his memories.
"Bao Siyan..."
Wei Tu's gaze was complicated as he looked at a small mound on the ground.
Back then, it was right here where Bao Siyan had used the Divine Wood Breath Concealment Technique to ambush him. He turned the tables and killed her. She died in this very spot.
Nearly 100 years had passed. He never imagined he'd return to this place again, just to form a Nascent Soul in secret.
But soon, the complicated emotion on his face vanished. He regained his usual calm, and a trace of determination flashed in his eyes.
"Open!" Wei Tu slapped his storage pouch and summoned the Tai Miao Treasure Mirror, casting a ban-breaking beam onto the gray wall in front of him.
Moments later, a dark hole about the height of a person appeared in the wall.
From its mouth, rich spiritual energy surged out nonstop.
Seeing this, Wei Tu didn't hesitate. He waved his sleeve, turned into a streak of light, and squeezed into the pitch-black entrance.
A while later, the broken restriction at the entrance repaired itself and turned back into a gray wall, as if no one had ever been there.
...
Several months later.
Back at Cold Crystal Platform, Ni Shihuang was growing suspicious. Wei Tu had entered the Great Void inner region and hadn't come out since. A strange look crept across her face.
She herself had once tried to enter the inner region using the sect's poison-repelling secret techniques, but within moments, she was forced back by the overwhelming spiritual poison.
Now, someone from a small, unknown sect like Wei Tu had stayed inside for several months?
"Did he die, or is something else going on?"
Ni Shihuang wondered silently.
She leaned toward the idea that Wei Tu had acted recklessly. He probably entered the inner region, failed to purge the poison in time, and died on the spot.
After all, in the decades since the Great Void Realm opened, several rash Golden Core True Lords had tried to explore the inner region's relics, only to die from the poison.
The difference was, those people managed to escape and died outside.
Wei Tu, it seemed, died inside.
"What a shame. I was planning to introduce my second and fourth sisters to him, maybe pull him into the Ni family network."
Thinking this, Ni Shihuang felt a bit of pity. Another rising star of the demonic path had met their end.
But just then, she suddenly noticed something odd. The spiritual energy in the Great Void inner region—normally unmoving for 10,000 years—was suddenly stirred by some enormous force, affecting even her in the outer region.
She saw countless tiny whirlpools of spiritual energy forming in the distance, pulling in the nearby aura and shaking the fabric of heaven and earth.
"Someone's cultivating a technique inside the inner region?"
Ni Shihuang was shocked.
She couldn't think of any explanation other than a cultivator practicing some kind of technique.
"Is it him?" Ni Shihuang instantly thought of the man she had just assumed dead—Wei Tu.
"Could it be... he's a poison cultivator?"
Her brows drew together, and a more plausible theory surfaced in her mind.
Only poison cultivators could survive in such a lethal zone, where the poison could kill even a Nascent Soul elder, let alone cultivate there for months without dying.
To her, Wei Tu's prolonged stay and the disturbance he was causing now both lined up perfectly with the idea that he was a poison cultivator.
What she didn't know was—
If she dared step into the inner region right now and witnessed what was happening, she would immediately realize that it wasn't just someone cultivating a technique.
What was occurring deep within the inner region was no ordinary vision caused by technique practice.
It was a phenomenon that only happened when a Golden Core cultivator broke through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Unfortunately, whether it was Ni Shihuang or any other Golden Core cultivator, none dared step into the deadly zone of the Great Void inner region.
As for Nascent Soul elders...
They wouldn't bother coming to this treasureless wasteland.
Of course, that was exactly why Wei Tu had chosen this Tier Four spiritual land in the Great Void inner region to attempt his breakthrough—nowhere else would be this undisturbed.
...
At the same moment.
Inside the secret realm within the Great Void inner region.
After months of regulating his breath, Wei Tu's essence, energy, and spirit finally reached their peak. He began the first hurdle of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage—shattering the Golden Core to form the Nascent Infant.
This part wasn't as dangerous as the later stages of forming the Nascent Infant spirit body or enduring the Soul Awakening Tribulation, but every step of core shattering was still a painful ordeal for any cultivator.
After forming a Golden Core, it became the essence of a cultivator's life, no different from the limbs and vital organs.
To forcibly destroy it now was basically self-mutilation.
But for Wei Tu, this kind of pain wasn't worth mentioning.
As a body cultivator, he had endured physical torment far worse than this during his training.
Even so, the process would still take days...
Under Wei Tu's divine sense, the perfectly rounded Golden Core in his body slowly cracked apart, breaking into countless fragments that melted into the sea of spiritual power within his dantian.
"Second stage—condense the Nascent Infant spirit body."
At this point, Wei Tu didn't hesitate. He took out the Nascent Transformation Pill and swallowed it, relying on the pill's power to complete this step.
The name Nascent Transformation Pill came precisely from this stage of the breakthrough—condensing the Nascent Infant spirit body.
Besides helping the cultivator condense the infant body with half the effort for double the result, the pill also offered unique benefits during the Awakening Tribulation stage.
Moreover, the Iceheart Spirit Dew Wei Tu had bathed in back on Little Cold Mountain now played a supporting role in aiding the formation of his Nascent Infant spirit body.
Compared to other cultivators attempting a breakthrough, Wei Tu's spiritual power was already so pure that it neared the level of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
And this stage—condensing the spirit body—depended heavily on the purity of one's spiritual power.
If one's spiritual power was impure or filled with too many mixed elements, it would be hard to turn that power into the crystalline core needed for the spirit body.
Because of that, this stage wasn't hard for Wei Tu. All he needed was to follow the process step by step to move forward steadily.
...
Several days later.
Wei Tu had already passed the first two stages of the threefold Nascent Soul breakthrough and arrived at the most dangerous and difficult part—the Awakening Tribulation.
At this moment, as he sat cultivating inside the secret realm, a small, knee-crossed infant silently appeared, floating above his topknot.
But unlike a normal infant, this tiny being was light cyan all over and only an inch tall. Its eyes were tightly shut, and it looked lifeless.
"So this is the Nascent Infant?"
Wei Tu looked up at the floating figure with a curious expression.
After just a few glances, his interest faded. With a flick of his divine sense, he retrieved the spirit creature he had previously caught from his storage pouch. It was time to begin the Awakening Tribulation.
To Wei Tu, this unawakened Nascent Infant spirit body, though it had the appearance of a true Nascent Soul, was otherwise no different from a more powerful version of a Golden Core.
Only now did he truly understand that those so-called pseudo-infant cultivators were mostly for show.
He also realized why, back then, Qi Chengchu's strength didn't improve much after condensing a false Nascent Infant.
"Success or failure—it all comes down to this."
Wei Tu glanced at the yellow bird trapped in his palm and murmured to himself.
That yellow bird was the ordinary-tier spiritual creature he had captured earlier—the Purple Swallow Flower.
"Go!" Wei Tu exhaled and used his spiritual power to guide the bird toward the Nascent Infant floating above.
The next moment—
The light cyan Nascent Infant atop Wei Tu's head spat out a beam of green radiance and began slowly refining the yellow bird.
As the refinement continued, the infant's light grew stronger, and a hint of spirit started to appear in its expression.
A few days later—
The yellow bird was completely refined into ashes and vanished. Meanwhile, the cyan Nascent Infant suddenly opened its eyes and began to play around atop Wei Tu's hair like a child.
Its appearance was identical to Wei Tu's—like a miniature version of himself.
However, while the playful cyan infant moved about above, Wei Tu's actual body appeared to be in a deep sleep, barely clinging to breath.
Moments later, a calm expression crossed the infant's face. It formed a hand seal, and in an instant, it dove straight into Wei Tu's skull.
As the infant entered his body, the slumbering Wei Tu stirred and awakened, his body now pulsing with vitality, as though it had gained true spirit.
"A Nascent Soul in the immortal path... it's truly incredible."
A trace of joy appeared on Wei Tu's face as he stood up and inspected himself, sensing the changes brought about by merging with the Nascent Infant.
During the awakening, his divine soul had left his sea of consciousness and entered the infant's body, taking root inside it.
Now, his physical body felt more like a mere vessel for the infant. He could discard it anytime...
And ascend.
However, that thought barely took shape before Wei Tu forcefully suppressed it. He pushed the dangerous idea deep into his mind.
He knew well that a Nascent Soul cultivator was nowhere near ready to abandon the physical body and cultivate solely as a Nascent Infant.
Doing so would halt further cultivation and even risk the infant's collapse.
Only cultivators at the Soul Transformation realm or above could achieve such separation without consequences.
"Now, only the tribulation remains. Then I'll be a true Nascent Soul cultivator!"
Wei Tu refocused. A golden flash passed through his eyes as he raised his head and looked toward the thick tribulation clouds forming outside the secret realm.
...
The moment the tribulation clouds appeared, the celestial phenomena triggered by Wei Tu's breakthrough could no longer be concealed by the Great Void inner region. Every cultivator on Cold Crystal Platform in the outer region noticed the strange heavenly signs forming above the inner realm.
"A heavenly tribulation?"
"Someone's about to break through to Nascent Soul?"
As Golden Core cultivators, they immediately understood what the ominous signs in the sky meant.
"Retreat! Retreat now!" someone suddenly shouted, panic on their face. They recalled something and quickly tried to flee the Cold Crystal Platform.
Unfortunately, due to the heavy gravity restrictions of the Cold Crystal Platform, their escape speed was turtle-like. Even after half a ke, they were still stuck on the platform and couldn't get away.
Thankfully, the tribulation wasn't targeting them, and the area it covered didn't spread to their side. Still, the oppressive aura surrounding the heavenly tribulation made many cultivators uneasy, their breathing strained.
Of course, these negative effects only affected the weaker Golden Core cultivators.
To someone like Ni Shihuang, a top talent from a major sect, the spiritual pressure from a mere heavenly tribulation meant nothing.
But the meaning behind this celestial sign still left Ni Shihuang and the other elite cultivators from the major sects visibly stunned, their eyes wide in disbelief.
"Fu Dalu? It's him? He's the one triggering the heavenly tribulation inside the Great Void inner region?"
Ni Shihuang, who had been keeping an eye on Wei Tu, couldn't believe it. The man she casually chatted with earlier… turned out to be a cultivator about to become a Nascent Soul Ancestor?
Everyone knew the Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation wasn't the first step to forming a Nascent Soul—it was the final one.
Anyone who could summon it had already passed the first three challenges of the breakthrough. For these elite cultivators, the heavenly tribulation was tough, but it wasn't insurmountable.
After all, anyone capable of passing the three thresholds surely had the resources to withstand the tribulation.
"I underestimated him! This Fu Dalu is definitely no ordinary figure," Ni Shihuang said with certainty.
Now, she felt ridiculous for her previous assumptions. She no longer believed Wei Tu was from some backwater sect.
Because if Wei Tu really came from a minor sect, then what did that make her—a mid-stage Golden Core from Heavenly Maiden Sect? A street-level nobody?
"I just wonder which major demonic sect he belongs to…" Her eyes sparkled faintly, silently filled with anticipation.
After all, building connections was one thing—but forging ties with a Nascent Soul cultivator from a major sect? That was worth far more than cozying up to some promising Golden Core nobody from a tiny family.
"It's a shame I can't report this to the patriarchs back at the sect right away," she muttered with frustration.
Great Void Realm wasn't just any ordinary place. If she wanted to leave from Cold Crystal Platform and exit this secret realm, it'd take at least several months.
And in that time, Wei Tu would have already faced and passed his heavenly tribulation—many times over.
...
While all eyes from Cold Crystal Platform were fixed on the sky—
Half a day later, thunder suddenly erupted inside Great Void's inner region. Countless streaks of lightning pierced the inner domain's barrier and spilled into the outer region.
The light was blinding.
Just a few breaths later, a thunderclap cracked through the sky like an explosion, shaking the entire inner region. Spiritual energy surged in a wave, blanketing the heavens and earth. Even the nearby Cold Crystal Platform shuddered from the shock.
Then, a yellow jade umbrella rose from the ground, shooting into the sky and blocking the descending bolt.
"A top-tier third-rank defensive artifact?"
The surrounding cultivators gasped, amazed by the wealth of whoever was attempting the tribulation.
Artifacts like that were far beyond what any of them could afford, especially to use for something as dangerous as a heavenly tribulation.
But even so, the yellow jade umbrella didn't hold out for long. The thunder shredded its spiritual light, shattered the canopy, and left only the umbrella's shaft intact.
Almost immediately, another defense activated—a dense shield of talisman light blocked the next bolt.
"A fourth-rank defensive talisman?"
The cultivators' expressions tightened as they recognized the grade of the protective aura.
"Looks like this senior's success is already guaranteed. We'd better prepare our congratulatory gifts now, before he leaves seclusion," some of them whispered to each other via spiritual sound transmission.
Even though demonic cultivators didn't value camaraderie like righteous sects did, when it came to building relationships with powerful seniors, none of them slacked off.
Especially since some demonic seniors would deliberately use their breakthroughs as an excuse to demand gifts.
...
Half a day later.
In the Great Void inner region.
Wei Tu looked up at the dissipating clouds overhead and exhaled deeply.
To get through this tribulation, nearly all of his defensive treasures had been destroyed.
The jade umbrella he'd taken from Yuwen Cheng, the fourth-rank defensive talisman from Jia Tianlong, and even the third-rank artifacts looted from other Golden Core cultivators—all gone, consumed by the heavenly thunder.
But the outcome made it worth it.
Not only did he come through the Nascent Soul tribulation completely unharmed, but the process also wasn't nearly as dangerous as he had expected.
After all, throughout history, many cultivators had perished under the Nascent Soul tribulation.
And among those casualties—most were rogue cultivators.
"Now that I've stepped into the Nascent Soul realm, losing some treasures isn't a big deal."
"Out with the old, in with the new."
Wei Tu didn't feel the slightest bit of regret. He shook his head, smiled, and with a flick of his sleeve, returned to the secret chamber to stabilize his new cultivation level.
But this time, he didn't stay in seclusion for too long. After just five days, he ended his retreat, ready to take flight and leave.
After all, Wei Tu hadn't forgotten—Great Void Realm was still under demonic sect control.
If he lingered too long, he might attract the attention of some Nascent Soul old devil, and that would be trouble.
Like the Scorpion Ancestor from the Soul Capture Sect—known throughout the demonic domain for hunting fresh Nascent Soul cultivators.
However—
Just as Wei Tu arrived at Cold Crystal Platform and was preparing to use the Great Void Stone to teleport out, several demonic Golden Core cultivators who had been lingering nearby suddenly swarmed him, offering greetings and gifts.
"Senior Fu, I am Xue Ni. To celebrate your breakthrough, I offer you a bottle of Scarlet Spirit Blood Pills."
"Senior Fu, I—"
Seeing this, Wei Tu couldn't just leave outright. He paused in mid-air, showed a look of approval, and swept out his sleeve to collect the gifts one by one.
After all, if people were handing things out for free, he'd be a fool not to take them.
He was no aloof saint.
And collecting these tributes did help offset the losses he'd suffered during his tribulation.
"Senior Fu, I'm Ni Shihuang. A few months ago, we talked… You said you'd be willing to visit the Ni family sometime..."
Ni Shihuang stepped out from the crowd. With a respectful expression, she bowed to Wei Tu and spoke.
"Visit?"
Hearing this, Wei Tu paused. After thinking for a moment, he vaguely remembered something like that. But at the time, it was just him casually brushing her off.
"I still have important matters to handle. It's not a good time to visit your Ni family."
He declined politely.
He wasn't close to Ni Shihuang. Why would he walk into a situation like that?
Seeing Wei Tu's disinterest, Ni Shihuang wasn't surprised. She didn't expect a few words to be enough to win over a Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Senior Fu, our Ni family in Heshan possesses a secret realm from an ancient sect. We recently discovered a damaged talisman there..."
"If you're willing to visit the Ni family, I'll offer the talisman to you as a gift."
She stepped forward and bowed again.
This talisman was the real bait.
It wasn't some top-tier treasure, but it did contain a trace of ancient high-grade talisman power—just enough to serve as a fitting gift to draw in a newly ascended Nascent Soul expert.
Ancient sect's secret realm?
Wei Tu's heart stirred slightly when he heard that.
When it came to secret realms from ancient sects, the first one that came to mind was the Cloud Ze Secret Realm once controlled by the Huang family of Heshan.
Now that the Ni family had taken over the territory once held by the Huang family, it was likely they had inherited this resource.
Which meant, this damaged talisman probably came from the Cloud Ze Secret Realm.
'Still, this talisman shouldn't have anything to do with the Bu Tian Bowl,' he thought, shaking his head slightly.
But since the topic had already come up, it would be odd not to accept the offer. After all, what Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't be interested in a treasure offered freely?
"If I find the time, I'll stop by your Ni family," Wei Tu said.
Hearing that, Ni Shihuang lit up with joy. She quickly patted her storage pouch and pulled out a token engraved with the Ni family's crest, offering it to him.
"Senior Fu, this is my personal token. As long as you carry it, my entire clan will treat you with the highest courtesy..."
Wei Tu took the token without another word. With a calm glance at the surrounding cultivators, he waved his sleeve and took flight, heading toward the distance—toward the so-called "Blood Slaughter Sea."
The others dared not stare too long. They all lowered their heads with expressions of awe and bowed in farewell.
Of course, Wei Tu wasn't really going to the Blood Slaughter Sea. Once he reached the area, he flipped his palm and took out the Great Void Stone, then used it to teleport out of the realm.
[The Great Void Stone can only be used for teleportation in the outer region of the Great Void Realm.]
…
Moments later.
A flash of white light appeared.
Wei Tu's figure reappeared outside the Great Void Realm, amid a field of broken stones.
Having fled with the Great Void Stone once before, he immediately recognized this area—it was near Tonghu Mountain, where the ancient teleportation array was located.
"Only half a year to reach Nascent Soul… several years sooner than expected. But where did Bai Zhi go with Wind Cleaving Eagle?"
Returning to Tonghu Mountain and finding it empty made Wei Tu frown.
Thanks to the Huaying Pill, the spirit creature, and the Iceheart Spirit Liquid, condensing his Nascent Soul went much smoother than he had anticipated. He hadn't expected it to take so little time.
Which, while good, completely threw off his initial timeline of three to five years. So now that he was out, he found the place deserted—no Bai Zhi, no Wind Cleaving Eagle.
"Can't stay here too long. I'll search nearby first."
Wei Tu walked out of the mountain cave and began using the wisp of Bai Zhi's soul that remained within the soul contract to sense her location.
"Southwest?"
A moment later, he locked onto the general direction and flew toward it.
But when he arrived, he found nothing—no Bai Zhi, no Wind Cleaving Eagle. It was as if both of them had vanished into thin air.
"This place…"
Suddenly, Wei Tu stopped in midair. Sweeping the area with his divine sense, he felt an odd sense of familiarity.
"Cloud Ze Secret Realm!"
His eyes narrowed as he looked into the distance—about 100 miles out, in a mountain valley, stood a group of cultivators.
And leading them were a few faces he recognized—members of the Heshan Ni family.
He had encountered them before, back when he used them to wipe out the Han Ye Mei family.
'Could Bai Zhi and Wind Cleaving Eagle have entered the Cloud Ze Secret Realm?' he wondered.
If so, that would explain why he could still sense them in the area but couldn't find any trace of them on the surface.
It was only in an alternate space like the Cloud Ze Secret Realm that this situation could happen.
'But why would they suddenly go in there? Did something else happen?'
Wei Tu frowned, puzzled.