"Maybe Daoist Helian had something urgent come up and lost track of time, which is why he hasn't contacted you again..."
Then Tong Peipei would die of old age early.
"Helian Xiong?" Tong Peipei snorted coldly when she heard his name, "I’d rather Senior Wei tear him to pieces, so I can let go of the hatred in my heart."
In these ten-odd years in Honghe Mountain Marketplace—
For the first few years, she still hoped for Helian Xiong, thinking he would come looking for her.
But as time passed and one by one her belongings were sold off, she had long given up on him.
In fact, she hated Helian Xiong, the unfaithful man, more than even his enemies did.
Seeing this, Wei Tu nodded and didn’t say anything more about Helian Xiong.
"A pair of Heartbound Jade normally sells for five hundred spirit stones. Now, Daoist Tong, you only have one, and it’s used..."
"The value has dropped a lot."
Wei Tu stated the value of the Heartbound Jade, then after thinking for a moment, took out a pouch of spirit stones from his storage bag and handed it to Tong Peipei.
"Here are two hundred spirit stones. Let’s say I’m buying this Heartbound Jade at a high price from you." He said.
In truth, Tong Peipei’s Heartbound Jade wouldn’t fetch even one hundred spirit stones on the market.
After all, Heartbound Jade was always sold in pairs, and this single jade, apart from tracking Helian Xiong, had no other use.
Him paying two hundred spirit stones was already a big favor to Tong Peipei, an old acquaintance.
"Thank you, Senior Wei." Tong Peipei accepted the pouch, her face full of gratitude, and bowed deeply to Wei Tu.
But when she raised her head again, she realized Wei Tu had already vanished from the shack.
"If only I hadn’t gone after Helian Xiong back then... if I had feelings for Wei Tu instead..."
"Things would’ve turned out so different."
Thinking of this, Tong Peipei felt all kinds of bitterness in her heart, and tears streamed down her face.
In her most desperate time, it wasn’t her dao companion who swore eternal love that saved her, but the same fellow talisman master she once quarreled with in her youth.
"Fate really plays tricks..."
Tong Peipei sighed.
Returning to Cloudsmoke Residence.
Wei Tu carefully stored away the Heartbound Jade he got from Tong Peipei, planning to use it later.
In the cultivation world, there were blood-tracing secret arts that could locate enemies using blood ties or essence blood.
And this Heartbound Jade just happened to still contain a drop of Helian Xiong’s essence blood.
"I haven’t mastered blood-tracing secret arts yet, but True Lord Che and other Golden Core True Lords of the Loose Immortal Alliance might have it..."
Wei Tu thought.
"And True Lord Qin might also have such secret arts." Wei Tu’s eyes flickered as he thought about the Double Resonance Jade True Lord Qin had left with him.
Back when they left Cloud Ze Secret Realm, True Lord Qin didn’t take back the Double Resonance Jade but left it with Wei Tu... planning to use a blood-tracing secret art later to track him.
Unfortunately, she miscalculated, not expecting that her sectmate Shen Yunqiu would switch the Mortal Shedding Pill, causing memory damage when she broke through, losing the last thirty years of memories.
That’s how Wei Tu narrowly escaped danger.
...
After sitting in meditation for a few days.
Nan Zi, who had agreed to return five days later, came again to Cloudsmoke Residence.
"Within a month, I’ll definitely succeed." As soon as Nan Zi entered, she spoke confidently.
"I look forward to seeing Miss Nan show her skills."
Wei Tu replied with a smile.
Wei Tu truly hoped Nan Zi could successfully breed the Wind-Cleaving Eagle this time.
That way, he wouldn’t have to deal with the Beastmaster Sect again over the Wind-Cleaving Eagle.
Last time, he had provoked Nan Zi on purpose, so if the breeding failed, he could blame it on her instead of drawing the Beastmaster Sect’s attention to the Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s "bloodline mutation."
Nan Zi nodded slightly, took out a long green flute from her sleeve, and with a gentle blow, played beautiful melodies.
Hearing the flute, the Wind-Cleaving Eagle in the courtyard perked up and quickly flew to a nearby female eagle, waiting for Nan Zi’s beastmastery technique to work.
During this month.
Wei Tu didn’t waste time either. While Nan Zi was helping with the eagle breeding, he stood to the side, focusing on drawing talismans.
Wei Tu’s calm and focused demeanor impressed Nan Zi. Because of this, she gained a deeper understanding of Wei Tu’s skill in talisman arts.
Time passed.
For the first half-month, Nan Zi looked calm, but by the second half, worry gradually appeared on her face.
"What’s wrong with this damn eagle? Why hasn’t it bred successfully after all this time?"
In the last few days, Nan Zi looked at the still-flat bellies of over twenty female eagles, feeling anxious.
A month ago, she had made a bold promise to Wei Tu.
Now that a month had passed with no progress in the Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s breeding, her face burned with shame.
Thanks to Wei Tu’s earlier hints.
At this moment, Nan Zi didn’t think about the Wind-Cleaving Eagle being "unusual" but blamed her failure on her lack of experience in beastmastery.
In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.
"Daoist Wei, it’s my lack of skill. I couldn’t complete the breeding as promised." Nan Zi stopped playing the flute, looked at Wei Tu with a guilty expression.
"This is the promised Nurturing Ganoderma Pill."
As she spoke, Nan Zi flipped her hand, producing a jade bottle, and with her spiritual power, passed it to Wei Tu’s talisman table.
Wei Tu accepted the pill bottle, becoming even more certain about the Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s "bloodline mutation."
He kept a calm face and smiled, "Miss Nan, you’re young, and to have such skill in beastmastery is already rare. Maybe it’s just my eagle that’s the problem, unable to breed offspring."
This time, Nan Zi didn’t argue with Wei Tu. She shook her head and said, "It’s my beastmastery that’s lacking. Daoist Wei doesn’t need to make excuses for me."
"Three years from now, the Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s vitality should recover. By then, I’ll ask other cultivators from my sect to come and help with the breeding."
Nan Zi added.
Hearing this, Wei Tu raised his eyebrows slightly. If a more experienced Beastmaster Sect cultivator came, it would be hard to keep the Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s secret hidden.
Wei Tu thought for a moment and said, "Miss Nan, I believe in your beastmastery skills. It’s just a matter of inexperience that led to the failure this time."
"Three years later, I’d still like to invite Miss Nan, not someone else from your sect."
"Really?" Hearing this, Nan Zi’s face lit up, her discouragement vanishing in an instant.
She thought Wei Tu would stop "hiring" her because of the eagle’s health and look for a more experienced Beastmaster Sect cultivator instead.
Unexpectedly, Wei Tu was so generous and still willing to trust her again.
Giving her another chance.
This was her first failure, and as a genius of the Beastmaster Sect, she had to redeem herself from this shame.
"Really!"
Wei Tu nodded and swore an oath.
"Thank you, Daoist Wei." Nan Zi was overjoyed and quickly expressed her thanks.
"This is a talisman I just drew, and I have no use for it. I’ll give it to you, Miss Nan." Wei Tu smiled, casually handing a Wood Thunder Talisman to Nan Zi.
A month ago, they had agreed that if Nan Zi succeeded in breeding, he would give her a Tier Two top-grade talisman.
Now that Nan Zi had failed.
By rights, he didn’t need to give her anything.
But Wei Tu’s real goal was to befriend Nan Zi, the genius of the Beastmaster Sect, so he didn’t care about winning or losing the bet. Whether she succeeded or failed didn’t affect his gift.
"Could it be that Wei Tu has feelings for me?" As Nan Zi accepted the talisman, her brows slightly raised. She glanced at Wei Tu, thinking to herself.