At this moment, with Ni Shihuang present as a witness, the shopkeeper no longer had any doubts about Wei Tu's mysterious immortal-born background.
Next—
Just like three days ago—
The Blood Moon Pavilion shopkeeper invited Wei Tu and Ni Shihuang into a private room inside the shop for a more detailed conversation.
"A late-stage Golden Core demon soul... I've checked. There's none in stock at Blood Moon Pavilion right now."
"However, in these past three days, I've found two pieces of related information."
The shopkeeper smiled as he spoke, pulling out a green jade slip from his sleeve and sending it over to Wei Tu with a wave of spiritual power.
"Related information?" Wei Tu's heart stirred. He reached out and took the green jade slip.
But the moment it landed in his hand, he noticed a complex restriction formation set on the surface.
"Two intelligence reports. The price is 2,000 spirit stones."
The shopkeeper smiled again and added, "It's standard practice at Blood Moon Pavilion. I hope True Lord Fu doesn't take offense."
Wei Tu didn't look surprised. He gave the shopkeeper a glance, then calmly took out a pouch of spirit stones from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
"Unlock it."
Seeing the pouch, the shopkeeper didn't hesitate. He formed a hand seal and sent a spell into the green jade slip.
Moments later, the jade slip glowed with a strong green light. Within a few breaths, it turned into a blood-red jade slip, faintly exuding a scent of blood.
Seeing that, Wei Tu's eyes flashed. He picked it back up and focused his spiritual sense inside.
The contents were simple.
Just like the shopkeeper said, the blood jade slip held two reports regarding late-stage Golden Core demon beast souls.
One of them—
Greatly caught Wei Tu's interest. It looked like the most promising lead.
And more importantly, it didn't require much time.
Because the cultivator believed to be holding such a demon soul was located right near the Yuquan Mountain marketplace.
"Tuoshan Demon King..." Wei Tu murmured the name to himself, repeating the cultivator's title a few times.
Tuoshan Demon King wasn't a Heavenly demon, just a third-rank peak demon under a Heavenly demon's command.
According to the intel—
Thirteen years ago, Tuoshan Demon King killed a rival named "Goldback Demon King" deep within the Demon Wolf Mountains.
So Blood Moon Pavilion guessed there was a high chance Tuoshan still had Goldback's demon soul.
"Then I'll go find this Tuoshan Demon King."
Wei Tu made up his mind.
He cupped his hands in farewell to the shopkeeper. Then, with Ni Shihuang accompanying him, they turned into streaks of light and flew north toward the Demon Wolf Mountains.
After they left—
The Blood Moon Pavilion shopkeeper frowned deeply, staring at their vanishing light for a long time.
"Still too risky..."
"Forget it. Staying alive is a blessing."
He sighed quietly, then pulled from his sleeve another jade slip—identical to the one he'd just given Wei Tu.
If Ni Shihuang hadn't been here, the one Wei Tu received would've been a fake—the forged one in his hand right now.
The heavens are high, and the emperor far away.
Even if Wei Tu did have a Nascent Soul Venerable backing him, the shopkeeper wouldn't be too scared.
But Ni Shihuang was different. Her sect's Venerable Master was real and, more importantly, not far from Yuquan Mountain marketplace.
Even if he had 100 times the courage, he wouldn't dare mess with her, let alone rob or kill her.
What he didn't know was—
His little trick had already been seen through by Wei Tu, a true Nascent Soul cultivator. If he had handed over the fake jade slip earlier, his head would already be on the ground.
In other words, by following his instincts, he not only played it safe but also unknowingly saved his own life.
…
Tuoshan Demon King's lair—
Was deep inside the Demon Wolf Mountains.
Three hundred years ago, this place had been a forbidden zone for righteous path cultivators.
But now, thanks to the alliance between the demon race and the five devil sects, things were different. With Ni Shihuang's influence, Wei Tu had no trouble making it there smoothly.
Soon—
Wei Tu and Ni Shihuang explained their purpose and revealed their identities. Tuoshan Demon King welcomed them into his cave dwelling to talk over the details.
True to his name, Tuoshan looked like a hunchbacked elder in embroidered robes.
But with Wei Tu's Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes, it was easy to tell that this was just illusion magic. Unlike Heavenly demons, Tuoshan hadn't shed his beast form or been reborn into a human body.
"The soul of the Goldback Demon King is useless to me. I can trade it, but what I want in return... I wonder if Fellow Daoist Fu can provide it?"
Tuoshan Demon King chuckled softly.
"What do you need, Daoist Tuoshan?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow and asked in a calm voice.
"Heavenly Demon Grass."
Tuoshan spoke slowly, uttering those three words.
The moment they landed—
Wei Tu and Ni Shihuang's expressions changed. Tuoshan's appetite was simply too large, like a lion opening its jaws wide to devour them.
Heavenly Demon Grass was a spiritual herb of great help to demons seeking to break through to fourth rank.
Although this item wasn't as precious or effective as the Nascent Infant Pill, its value clearly far exceeded that of a single demon king's soul.
But at that moment, Wei Tu had another idea.
He didn't have any Heavenly Demon Grass on hand.
But he did have the strength to kill Tuoshan Demon King.
As long as he lured Tuoshan out of the Demon Wolf Mountains, with his Nascent Soul cultivation, taking down the demon would be as easy as flipping his hand.
And then—
He'd have a second "Curse Ghost."
When it came to demon beasts, Wei Tu felt absolutely no shame or guilt about betrayal.
After all, back in the Foundation Establishment Realm, he'd lured and killed demon beasts plenty of times.
"Heavenly Demon Grass—I don't have it on me. But while gathering spiritual materials recently, I happened to find a Snow Sun Flower at a merchant guild in Jing Kingdom."
"I recall this item isn't quite as effective as Heavenly Demon Grass, but it should still be useful to Fellow Daoist Tuoshan."
"If Daoist Tuoshan doesn't mind, I'm willing to purchase it and exchange it for the Goldback Demon King's soul."
Wei Tu spoke slowly.
To ambush and kill someone, persuasion was key.
He wouldn't be foolish enough to agree outright to Tuoshan's demand and raise suspicion.
The Snow Sun Flower's value was moderate—just at the upper limit for trading the Goldback Demon King's soul.
"Snow Sun Flower?"
Tuoshan Demon King's eyes lit up. When he mentioned the Heavenly Demon Grass, he hadn't truly expected the deal to succeed.
Now, if he could trade for a Snow Sun Flower, it would already be a pleasant surprise.
"Which merchant guild in Jing Kingdom has it?" Tuoshan quickly asked.
High-grade spiritual herbs were hard to come by.
Especially something like the Snow Sun Flower, which was genuinely helpful to him—he didn't want to miss the chance.
"I'll exchange it with you after I've acquired it. There's no need for Daoist Tuoshan to know exactly where it is."
Wei Tu kept his lips sealed. Judging by his attitude, he clearly had no intention of revealing where the flower could be found.
Ni Shihuang stood nearby. Though sharp-minded, she couldn't tell if Wei Tu was lying or not. Based on what he'd previously shared, he really had been buying materials in Jing Kingdom recently.
"In that case… I'll go to Jing Kingdom with you. Once you've got the Snow Sun Flower, we'll trade on the spot!"
Tuoshan Demon King thought for a moment. Without waiting for Wei Tu's agreement, he spoke with finality.
At the moment, it looked like he held the advantage.
But he knew the moment Wei Tu got the flower, countless other demon kings in the Demon Wolf Mountains would want it too.
Many of them had late-stage Golden Core demon beast souls in their possession.
When that time came, the roles would reverse—Wei Tu would have the upper hand.
"This matter…"
Wei Tu frowned slightly, acting as if he didn't want to agree.
After a bit of back and forth, and under Tuoshan's persistent pushing, Wei Tu reluctantly agreed to the plan.
…
Seeing Wei Tu and Tuoshan reach a preliminary agreement, Ni Shihuang didn't dwell further and took her leave while they were on their way to Jing Kingdom.
Though she didn't have anything urgent to do at the moment, she certainly couldn't keep wasting time sticking to Wei Tu's side.
Going to Jing Kingdom, even with Golden Core flight speed, would take at least a few months round trip.
And that was just what Wei Tu wanted.
After all, with Ni Shihuang around, it would be hard to make a move and kill Tuoshan directly.
One man and one demon traveled together.
Once they left the boundaries of the Demon Wolf Mountains and reached a wilderness area, Wei Tu didn't hesitate.
He struck without warning.
In a flash, he launched a vicious sneak attack on Tuoshan Demon King, who was several hundred steps away.
"Who?!"
Tuoshan Demon King's beast instincts kicked in. All the hairs on his body stood on end. He sensed danger behind him.
He cried out, activated a protective barrier of demonic power, and tried to flee in the opposite direction.
But it was already too late.
The threat at his back arrived faster than he could imagine—at least ten times faster than anyone he had ever faced.
Rip—
Pain exploded in Tuoshan's sea of consciousness. His soul felt like it was being cut repeatedly by blades. In that instant, his core began to crack and fracture.
"Nascent Soul Venerable…"
Tuoshan immediately understood. Terror washed over his face.
He couldn't imagine any Golden Core cultivator using such a terrifying soul attack unless they were a Nascent Soul expert.
But then—
A cultivator radiating terrifying blood energy suddenly appeared behind him.
With one slap, he crushed most of Tuoshan's hardened demon bones. They shattered piece by piece.
"Fu Yulong, you shameless bastard!"
Tuoshan Demon King's eyes were bloodshot. He roared in fury.
He couldn't believe it—a dignified Nascent Soul Venerable had stooped so low, sneaking up behind a mere Golden Core demon.
If it had been a fair fight, even if he lost, it wouldn't have been this pitiful. At least he could've fought back a little.
"So that Snow Sun Flower was fake? Your goal was to trick me into leaving the Demon Wolf Mountains?"
"Who sent you?!"
Tuoshan Demon King's aura was fading. After coughing up several mouthfuls of blood, he turned his head and looked at Wei Tu.
At this point, he already understood—he had no hope of escaping alive.
But if he was going to die, he at least wanted to understand why a Nascent Soul cultivator had targeted him for assassination.
"It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision."
Wei Tu gave him a casual glance. After extracting the demon's soul from his body and sealing it inside a "Soul Binding Talisman," he replied lightly.
He wasn't lying.
If Tuoshan had named a more reasonable price and completed the deal smoothly, Wei Tu probably wouldn't have bothered setting him up and launching an ambush.
Too bad Tuoshan's luck was bad. Worse, he got greedy. His outrageous demands left Wei Tu with no better choice.
Bottom line?
Power decides everything.
If Tuoshan wanted someone to blame, he should've blamed himself—for being too weak and not even human. That just made it easier for Wei Tu to kill him without a shred of guilt.
"You…"
Tuoshan's eyes were bloodshot. He couldn't believe that while he'd been negotiating seriously over the Snow Sun Flower, Wei Tu had already set his sights on his demonic body.
His death wasn't about revenge.
It was just a greedy Nascent Soul cultivator deciding to satisfy his own desire.
But unfortunately, even after learning the truth, Tuoshan had no way to resist.
Inside the Soul Binding Talisman, his spiritual awareness lingered for a while before being completely sealed.
…
Half a day later.
After wiping all traces of the battle, Wei Tu carried Tuoshan's storage pouch and flew several hundred miles to a remote mountain in Jing Kingdom.
"Let's see if this beast managed to send out any distress signals before dying…"
Wei Tu took out the demon's soul and searched its recent memories.
A short while later, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Based on the demon soul's memory, after Wei Tu ambushed him, Tuoshan had tried several times to contact his backer, the Heavenly Demon "Demon Sage Suoyang," to ask for help.
But fortunately, the ambush location was too remote. Despite burning through every method he had—including shattering multiple communication talismans—Tuoshan never got the message out.
"As expected. No way I'd slip up on something like this."
Wei Tu thought to himself.
After all, they were both Nascent Soul cultivators. Basic tactics used by the Heavenly Demon Society were something he was also familiar with. He wouldn't fall for that kind of mistake.
But just then, Wei Tu noticed something unexpected in Tuoshan's memories—a familiar name.
"Fu Lin?"
Wei Tu frowned slightly as the name triggered a thoughtful expression.
According to Tuoshan's memories, Fu Lin's situation lately was far from good.
Over a hundred years ago, Ancestor Ningyan had issued a massive bounty on Fu Lin in the demonic region, claiming he had killed her niece Leng Yuyuan.
Still, even with the bounty, Fu Lin had been relatively safe for quite some time.
But seven years ago, during a feast at Demon Sage Suoyang's palace, Tuoshan had overheard from others that Ancestor Ningyan had finally caught Fu Lin.
She turned him into a cauldron for Hehuan Sect, then sent out open invitations to female devil cultivators across the land for a "Male Gathering Event" where they could take turns dual cultivating with him.
The whole thing became a widespread joke.
Turning fugitives into cauldrons wasn't rare in Hehuan Sect.
But the key issue here was—
Fu Lin was a Golden Core cultivator!
A male cultivator at the Golden Core stage being used as a cauldron? Even in the demonic regions, that was incredibly rare.
Because of that, the Hehuan Sect's generosity quickly attracted tons of female cultivators from the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, all hoping to get lucky or seize a chance at fortune.
"Fu Lin…"
Wei Tu fell into silence. He was weighing whether or not to go save this junior of his.
Back in Zheng Kingdom, Fu Lin had passed word to him and the Wei family on two occasions, revealing critical intel about the righteous-demonic frontline war.
If not for those messages, Wei Tu wouldn't have made the tough choice to enter the Yunze Secret Realm and obtain all those future opportunities.
It was fair to say that Fu Lin had played a major role at key points in Wei Tu's journey.
Later, in the Great Void Realm, Wei Tu had technically repaid that kindness by gifting Fu Lin some magic tools and life-saving talismans.
Still… the debt may have been cleared, but the bond between uncle and nephew hadn't disappeared.
Not even after Wei Tu severed ties with Fu Zhizhou.
Besides, the one who had helped Wei Tu in a life-or-death moment—Old Demon Heavenly Corpse—had done so because he was Fu Lin's teacher.
"The Hehuan Sect's main headquarters isn't in Jing Kingdom. Even if their local branch has a Nascent Soul cultivator, it won't be anyone too powerful. Probably just mid-stage Nascent Soul at most."
"And I've got life-saving techniques."
Wei Tu's eyes turned firm. He glanced down at Tuoshan's soul in his hand.
["Lifesaving Star Lamp"]
["Curse Ghost Blood Escape Art"]
With these two techniques, even if he couldn't defeat a mid-stage Nascent Soul opponent, he was confident he could escape easily.
Besides, he didn't plan on charging in recklessly to save Fu Lin.
Just like with this ambush against Tuoshan—
There was a good chance he wouldn't even run into a Nascent Soul cultivator at the branch. Most likely, it'd just be Golden Core-level enemies.