Chapter 559: Ancestral Blood Secured, Lüqiu Qingfeng’s Demand, Breaking Through to Tier Four Mid Stage!

More than ten days later.

Just as planned, after swallowing all the Ancestral Blood in the jade bottle, Wei Tu finally broke through smoothly and reached the peak of Tier Four early stage in body cultivation.

"Next, I’ll just wait for Lüqiu Qingfeng to deliver the rest of the Ancestral Blood."

Wei Tu opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath.

Breaking through in body cultivation was different from immortal cultivation. It relied heavily on resources and talent. He had already lingered at Tier Four early stage for more than a hundred years, and his foundation wasn’t hollow. With enough resources, he could continue breaking through in a short span of time.

"There are still seven years left until the ten-year deadline. Let’s hope nothing goes wrong midway…"

He raised his head and silently thought.

Though not many knew of the plan to kill Lüqiu Jinyuan, and the soul oath made leaking it nearly impossible, Lüqiu Qingfeng’s large-scale transfer of Ancestral Blood was bound to raise suspicion among the sharp-eyed. That could slow everything down.

"Especially Lüqiu Qingfeng herself…"

Thinking of her, Wei Tu shook his head.

This woman, competing with Lüqiu Jinyuan for the throne, wasn’t completely useless, but she was far from being an "outstanding ruler."

With her ability, she wouldn’t make blatant mistakes. But if someone clever spotted the signs, that wouldn’t be surprising either.

Aside from being a direct daughter of the Lüqiu Clan, her only remarkable trait was her beauty, which wasn’t any less than that of Fu Linglong.

…

Yuanjun Island was ten thousand li away from Five Elder Mountain.

Wei Tu’s influence clearly couldn’t reach deep into the Lüqiu Clan. For this, he could only place his trust in Lüqiu Qingfeng and wait patiently.

Time passed quickly.

The ninth year soon arrived.

That year, Nangong Zhe finally traveled across a thousand li to Yunyang Island and delivered the rest of the agreed Ancestral Blood into Wei Tu’s hands.

"There was an accident."

"The elder in charge of the clan treasury, Elder Guang… at some point, secretly defected to Lüqiu Jinyuan’s side. So when he saw the princess transferring such a large amount of Ancestral Blood, he used his authority as elder to call a clan assembly and tried to force her to explain where it was going…"

"To cover it up, the princess could only lie, claiming her cultivation had reached a breakthrough point and she urgently needed Ancestral Blood to advance. Only then did Elder Guang and the others stop pressing."

Nangong Zhe’s face was full of worry as he explained.

Though the nine-year delivery didn’t technically break the ten-year agreement, both sides had agreed on ten years as the maximum limit. Normally, five or six years should have been enough.

With this four-year delay, he had to give Wei Tu a reasonable explanation.

"What breakthrough period did the Ninth Princess tell the clan?"

Wei Tu raised an eyebrow and asked.

With his worldly experience, it wasn’t hard to see the danger behind Lüqiu Qingfeng’s lie.

If she "failed" her breakthrough, she would have squandered the Lüqiu Clan’s trust. That would be almost equivalent to political death.

Even if Lüqiu Jinyuan died later, her chances of succeeding him as ruler of the Donghua Demon Kingdom would be slim.

At this point, the length of time she claimed became critical.

"Fifty years."

Seeing he understood, Nangong Zhe nodded and raised his hand slightly in indication.

"Fifty years?"

Wei Tu frowned.

Fifty years wasn’t long, nor was it short—it was an ordinary breakthrough period.

But—

Even if he broke through to Tier Four mid stage within those fifty years and successfully assassinated Lüqiu Jinyuan, it would still be hard for Lüqiu Qingfeng to cover her lie with this.

"Does the Ninth Princess have another plan?"

Wei Tu’s heart stirred, and he asked.

He didn’t believe Lüqiu Qingfeng hated Lüqiu Jinyuan so much that she would sacrifice herself just to help him.

If she dared to lie like this, she must already have a way to resolve it later.

"The Ninth Princess… has a method to refine Lüqiu Jinyuan’s corpse and use his essence to break through. So… if Fellow Daoist Wei kills Lüqiu Jinyuan, his body must be handed over to the princess."

Nangong Zhe spoke in a deep voice.

Wei Tu didn’t agree right away. He carefully studied Nangong Zhe for a while, and only when he saw no sign of falsehood on his face did he slowly nod.

According to the spirit contract, once he killed Lüqiu Jinyuan, all spoils of battle would belong to him. Naturally, that included Lüqiu Jinyuan’s corpse.

Now, Lüqiu Qingfeng suddenly added this demand. It sounded small, but in truth, someone like Lüqiu Jinyuan, a "pure-blooded descendant," was valuable from head to toe. His body was far from worthless.

Still, compared to the Ancestral Blood, his corpse was something Wei Tu could part with. He knew what mattered most.

Of course, that was assuming Lüqiu Qingfeng wasn’t lying to him.

"Many thanks for Fellow Daoist Wei’s understanding."

Nangong Zhe immediately bowed in thanks, then handed him the jade bottle with the remaining Ancestral Blood.

…

After sending off Nangong Zhe, Wei Tu wasted no time. He returned straight to his secluded chamber to prepare for his next breakthrough in body cultivation.

With the Ancestral Blood as the key—

A few months later, his qi and essence surged to the peak of what his body could contain, ready to shatter its limits.

Seeing this, Wei Tu quickly formed seals with both hands, using his First Spirit Bone to suppress the violent qi and essence within. Then, like a dragon sucking water, he swallowed all the Ancestral Blood from the jade bottle in one go.

Soon, the fierce power hidden in the blood burst out under his control, rushing from his abdomen into his limbs, bones, and every acupoint.

Piece by piece, his bones and flesh were broken down and then rebuilt.

The cycle repeated again and again.

"Pain! Pain! Pain!" In his mind, that was the only thing left.

But besides enduring the agony, he had to keep himself clear-headed, guiding the origin of the First Spirit Bone to rebuild his shattered body, turning it into a foundation that could condense into a Spirit Body.

This was the true hardship of body cultivation.

Not only were treasures needed for breakthroughs incredibly rare, but every step also required enduring unimaginable pain.

Still… if other Nascent Soul cultivators had the chance to reach Tier Four in body cultivation, they wouldn’t hesitate to bear this pain. After all, anyone who could cultivate to such heights already had an unyielding will.

Besides, pain lasted only for a moment, but the power gained from a breakthrough would last a lifetime.

"The origin of my Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes… it has also improved somewhat."

At that moment, Wei Tu noticed an unexpected surprise. It seemed the Ancestral Blood carried some strange substance that greatly benefited his eye cultivation too.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. His full focus had to stay on breaking through his body cultivation.

One day.

Two days…

After more than ten days, Wei Tu’s aura climbed to the extreme. Then, with a faint "crack," a golden light suddenly appeared in his chest and abdomen.

The light first shrank into a single point, then grew larger and brighter. Within a few breaths, it formed into a small golden figure, etched into his First Spirit Bone.

His skin, muscles, and bones all shone with a faint glow, as if his entire body had been carved from fine jade and glazed with crystal light.

"Spirit Body carved into the bone! I’ve reached Tier Four mid stage!"

Wei Tu opened his eyes, glanced at his chest, exhaled a heavy breath, and let a faint smile spread across his face.