Chapter 155 Gathering in the Valley of the Yue Sect: People from Both Realms Feel the Same Guilt
Others didn't notice, but the higher-ups of the Taiqing Sect could see clearly that two figures flew out of the secluded cave of Master Shangci and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"Could it be the ancestor?"
"The scale of the tribulation is much larger than that of the Nascent Soul stage. It must be that the Ancestor has successfully broken through to the Deity Transformation stage. Let's go after him and take a look."
"Our ancestor was kind-hearted; to protect our sect, he directly changed the location for us to undergo the tribulation."
Many Golden Core cultivators followed and flew away.
Among the disciples of the Taiqing Sect, some noticed that the dark clouds in the sky were moving rapidly.
"Lei Yunfei is gone, and the wind has died down."
"We should be safe now, right... right?"
"The bells have stopped ringing, we're safe!"
"Great! We're safe!" Many disciples cheered with joy.
While flying, Song Yin looked back with a grim expression. "Wasn't it supposed to reduce the power of the lightning tribulation? How come it's gotten even worse!"
Shi Heming: "It's probably because our lightning tribulations came together, so the power was stronger and it looked more terrifying."
At this moment, Shi Heming noticed the tail chasing after them and said, "Not good, people from the Taiqing Sect are coming. They must have mistaken our successful advancement for the successful advancement of True Person Shangci. The combined power of our tribulations is too great, so it's better to split up."
Song Yin: "Okay, split up and be careful not to get caught."
Two figures separated in the sky. Those who had been chasing them stopped. They watched as the dark clouds split in two, with large swathes drifting to the left and large swathes drifting to the right.
The group looked around, and someone asked directly, "Sect Leader, which way should we fly?"
The sect leader of the Taiqing Sect wore a somber and grave expression. Since only Master Shangci had been in seclusion to break through his tribulation, they naturally assumed that only one person was undergoing the lightning tribulation. However, the tribulation had now split in two, clearly indicating that two people were undergoing it. The question then became: who was the extra person?
If this person is from the Taiqing Sect, that's fine; the sect will have another powerful member. But if they're not from the Taiqing Sect, then when did this person infiltrate the sect? As the sect leader, it's a serious dereliction of duty that he didn't notice.
Could it be that Taniguchi suddenly appeared decades ago?
The Gu Yue Sect emerged several decades ago, founded by a Nascent Soul cultivator. The reputation of a Nascent Soul cultivator was invaluable, attracting many with spiritual roots who, despite its newly established nature, flocked to join. Its development was rapid and its momentum unparalleled.
"Today, two people are undergoing their tribulation. We will split into two groups to pursue them! We must confirm whether the extra person is from our sect. If not, we must also find out their origin and purpose!"
After flying for a while, Song Yin assessed her surroundings and chose to confront the lightning tribulation head-on. The few people chasing after her were no threat. She didn't even need to worry about them causing trouble in secret. Song Yin looked up at the sky, because the lightning tribulation itself was the best defense.
...
Inside the Gu Yue Sect, the sect leader, who was handling sect affairs, stopped writing and asked his disciples below, "Are you saying that the Taiqing Sect has encountered tribulation thunderclouds, and that the scale of these tribulation thunderclouds far exceeds that of the Nascent Soul Tribulation?"
"Reporting to the sect master, the scouts have reported that the news is absolutely true. And..." The disciple's eyes darted away.
"explain."
"We have not been able to find out who you are looking for, Sect Master."
"Alright, you may leave now." The sect leader of Gu Yuezong dismissed him.
Just then, another person came in. A young and energetic girl ran up to the sect leader and said, "Ancestor, Ancestor, may I spar with Xiaoxiao a few times today?"
The sect leader of Gu Yue Sect, also known as Gu Tongguang, got up and walked out. "Just one round. If you lose, practice your sword skills diligently. Don't be overly ambitious or arrogant, understand? Don't take people's praises to heart."
The Gu Changle of yesteryear has grown up and, like Gu Tongguang, has taken up the path of swordsmanship; his personality has also undergone a dramatic transformation.
Gu Changle retorted, "How could I be arrogant! It's true that others praise me. Anyone who can reach the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage at over a hundred years old like me, I'll praise them as a genius too!"
Gu Tongguang chuckled: "Heh, you haven't seen a real genius. A real genius at your age is either at the Golden Core stage or the Nascent Soul stage."
Gu Changle: "Ancestor is lying again. I've inquired, and there's no one in the world who can break through to the Golden Core stage before the age of two hundred!"
As a child, she believed her ancestor's words and thought herself an ordinary cultivator. When she went out to train, she only said that she wasn't particularly talented. But people either called her humble, or hypocritical, or even pretending, and so on—all sorts of things were said. She used her ancestor's words to refute them, but this only drew ridicule. From then on, she began to collect stories of geniuses throughout the Nine Spirit Realm's history. After reading all the information she had gathered, her world collapsed.
To prevent her from becoming arrogant and complacent, the ancestor had been lying to her all along!
Gu Tongguang: "Xiaoxiao, there are always people better than you and heavens beyond heavens. What the ancestor said is true, because the ancestor has personally seen these geniuses."
The old ancestor is lying to her again! Gu Changle: "Then let me meet these geniuses you've been talking about."
Gu Tongguang: "...Do you still remember the first time you met the ancestor when you were a child?"
Gu Changle recalled: "I have an impression of it, but it's not deep."
Gu Tongguang: "Do you still remember the two friends of the old ancestor?"
"A friend of the Ancestor?" Gu Changle thought carefully, but couldn't recall. "I don't remember..."
Who can remember someone they only met once or twice when they were very young?
"They are the geniuses I'm talking about."
Gu Changle looked helpless. In order to make her believe, the ancestor had started making up people who didn't exist again.
Gu Tongguang agreed to spar with Gu Changle, and he subdued the child with just one move.
"Ancestor, you're amazing!" Gu Changle's eyes lit up. "I want to learn that move from just now."
Gu Tongguang was annoyed; he hadn't expected taking care of a child to be this troublesome.
In the following days, Gu Changle kept pestering Gu Tongguang to teach her swordsmanship. Gu Tongguang couldn't resist and had no choice but to teach her.
After practicing it once, Gu Changle compared it with the ancestor's sword strike. "No, it's not quite the same as the ancestor's move. It's more like two completely different things."
Gu Tongguang: "Swordsmanship requires a lot of practice. Once you reach a certain level, even basic swordsmanship can unleash tremendous power."
A disciple came to deliver a message, "Sect Master, there are two people outside the sect who claim to be your friends. We cannot discern their cultivation levels. One is a man and the other is a woman. One calls himself Song Yin, and the other Shi Heming. We dare not easily let them into the sect, so we have come to ask the Sect Master."
Gu Tongguang's expression changed, and he asked anxiously, "Really?!"
"Reporting to the Sect Master, news has just arrived that several Golden Core elders of the Taiqing Sect have passed away, and the Sect Master himself is seriously injured for unknown reasons," another disciple reported.
Gu Tongguang set off to personally pick them up: "We'll talk about the Taiqing Sect later."
The three who remained looked at each other.
Gu Changle followed and flew off, saying, "I'll go see who is the person who can excite the Ancestor so much."
The remaining two looked at each other in bewilderment.
"The Taiqing Sect has suffered heavy losses. Is it possible for our Guyue Sect to join the ranks of the major sects?"
"Who are those two people outside the sect that the sect leader would personally go to greet them?"
Gu Changle went to chase after Gu Tongguang, but her cultivation was insufficient and her flying speed could not keep up with Gu Tongguang. When she arrived at the sect gate, he had already disappeared.
Gu Changle asked the gatekeeper disciple, "Where are the people at the gate? Where is the patriarch?"
"Reporting to Senior Sister, the Sect Master has already taken the person away," the gatekeeper disciple replied respectfully.
Everyone in the Gu Yue Sect knows that Gu Changle is a junior of the sect leader, and she is personally taken care of by his side as if she were his personal disciple. Currently, she is the only one in the entire sect who calls the sect leader "Ancestor".
"I understand." Gu Changle then flew to the place where the ancestor received guests.
Sure enough, she caught the person on her way.
The patriarch dismissed everyone else, leaving only the two of them to chat and laugh together.
"I had no idea that a hundred years would have passed since we last met. It feels like the blink of an eye for both of us. We were quite surprised to hear that you had single-handedly founded the sect."
“Initially, I thought that teaching Xiaoxiao was teaching, and teaching more people was also teaching. So I founded the Gu Yue Sect. I took my surname and the character Yue, hoping that it could withstand the test of time and stand firm like a mountain. To be honest, I even thought that you had already gone back. It is a great blessing to be able to see you again.”
"I wanted to give you a gift, but I haven't been able to give it to you for a hundred years." Shi Heming conjured a magic artifact and gave it to Gu Tongguang. "Inside is the soul of Lü Junxuan from the Lü family. When I went to kill Shangci Zhenren for some reason, I took his soul out separately."
Gu Tongguang:!
“When Song Yin finished speaking back then, I was afraid that he would possess my body and then secretly spy on the Gu family like a venomous snake. I am truly grateful that you were able to catch him.”
Song Yin immediately noticed the person outside. Looking out, she saw an unfamiliar female cultivator. Surrounded by spiritual energy, she was clearly a promising talent with a solid foundation. "And who is this?"
Gu Tongguang was not surprised at all that Gu Changle would appear. He waved to Gu Changle and said, "Didn't you always want to meet my friends? These are them."
Gu Changle went in and said, "Ancestor."
Gu Changle said to Song Yin and Shi Heming, "She is Xiaoxiao. Her parents did not cultivate and passed away many years ago. Now, besides me, she is the only one left in the Gu family."
Gu Changle introduced: "This is Song Yin, you can call her Senior Song, and this is Shi Heming, you can call him Senior Shi. They are both very good friends of the Ancestor and have helped him a lot in the past."
"This junior greets Senior Song and Senior Shi."
In Song Yin's memory, Xiaoxiao was still an introverted little girl, and when she saw her again, she had become a centenarian.
Song Yin sighed, "Seeing Xiaoxiao again made me realize that a hundred years have passed in this world."
Gu Tongguang is now very composed and reserved, a far cry from his appearance in the Xuan Tian Realm. Xiaoxiao has also grown from a little child into an adult in the blink of an eye, and her cultivation has reached the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Gu Tongguang echoed, "Indeed, only a hundred years have passed, and you two have already reached the Nascent Soul stage. Have you finished your business? Before you go back, why don't you stay at the Gu Yue Sect?"
A Nascent Soul Realm cultivation level?!
Gu Changle was stunned; this was the first time she had ever encountered a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!
“Alright,” Song Yin agreed.
She and Shi Heming separated to undergo their tribulations. The Taiqing Sect members who were chasing her tried to sabotage her from behind, but they were all blasted into dust by the tribulations. Some of the people chasing after Shi Heming were smart enough not to get too close.
Although they successfully passed the tribulation, they were not entirely out of luck and needed to rest and recuperate in a safe place.
This damned Nascent Soul stage tribulation lightning is like an ascension tribulation; each strike is more ferocious than the last. They promised to reduce the power of the tribulation, but it's actually intensified it!
After the tribulation, it was as if the two of them had walked through the eighteenth level of hell, and both of them were seriously injured.
Song Yin was unaware of Shi Heming's condition at the time, but when she was undergoing the tribulation of lightning, she even had the idea of taking the Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill in advance, and at one point thought that she was going to die under the tribulation of the Nascent Soul.
The first thing I did after the tribulation ended was to eat high-grade healing pills like candy. I only stopped when my injuries were almost healed. The remaining small part of the injuries would take time to fully heal.
Later, they learned that Gu Tongguang had founded a sect, so the two of them flew over here.
When Gu Tongguang saw that Song Yin had agreed to stay, he rarely showed the same cheerful smile he remembered.
Gu Changle, who had been by the old ancestor's side for many years, was slightly lost in thought upon seeing this. She had never seen the old ancestor smile like this before. In her memory from childhood to adulthood, even when the old ancestor was happy, he would not laugh heartily; at most, he would give a simple smile.
Gu Tongguang's smile instantly brought the three of them back to the days they spent together in the Xuan Tian Realm.
Song Yin smiled and said, "We won't stay for free. We know your sect is relatively new, so we can help you mentor the disciples. Of course, you know my habits, so I won't mentor them often, maybe only a few times a year."
Gu Tongguang readily agreed: "That's great! Now my sect's alchemy, swordsmanship, and talisman-making are saved!"
Song Yin: "Pfft, that's an exaggeration. Aren't you a sword cultivator yourself?"
Shi Heming suddenly spoke up: "Perhaps there is hope for the Dao of Arrays?"
Gu Tongguang picked up his teacup, puzzled by the question: "Array Dao?"
Song Yin: "He cultivates both talismans and arrays, but he didn't show it at the conference back then."
Gu Tongguang's hand trembled, spilling the tea. "You two are really inhuman! One cultivates both alchemy and swordsmanship, and the other cultivates both talisman and array formation. Why don't you both stay and be free laborers to help build up the Gu Yue Sect?"
Song Yin: "You, Gu Tongguang, you've got a really good little scheme going on."
The three of them were chatting enthusiastically when Gu Changle left a while ago.
So the ancestor hadn't lied to her after all!
Song Yin and the others told Gu Tongguang about the Taiqing Sect, and only then did Gu Tongguang realize that they were the ones who killed those people.
Gu Tongguang was unclear why Song Yin and Shi Heming suddenly attacked the Taiqing Sect, but he didn't press them for details, assuming they must have had their reasons for doing so.
Song Yin and the others lived in Gu Yuezong. Gu Tongguang generously allocated a hilltop to the two of them, intending to give each of them a hilltop for a quieter place. However, Shi Heming approached Gu Tongguang and said that the two of them could live together.
For some reason, Gu Tongguang felt a bit full.
After settling everything in, Gu Tongguang continued to shoulder the responsibility of being the head of the sect.
Gu Tongguang thought to himself that it had been quite peaceful these past few days; that girl Gu Changle hadn't bothered him to practice swordsmanship. Little did he know, the audacious Gu Changle had secretly gone to find Song Yin and the others.
The mountain that Gu Tongguang arranged for Song Yin and the others was unnamed, but its conditions were no worse than other named mountains, and its spiritual energy was much richer than that of other mountains.
Gu Changle went to find the two seniors, and Song Yin let them in as well.
"Greetings, Senior Song; greetings, Senior Shi." Gu Changle bowed.
Song Yin: "Xiaoxiao, what brings you here? Is something wrong with your ancestor?"
Gu Changle pursed his lips. "I'm not an ancestor, I came here on my own. I have some questions I'd like to ask the two seniors for clarification."
"Oh? What's the problem?" Song Yin had a good impression of Xiao Xiao.
Gu Changle asked cautiously, "I'd like to ask how old the seniors are..."
Song Yin: "We are both over three hundred years old."
How could this be! Gu Changle couldn't believe it. They were younger than the ancestor, yet their cultivation was higher!
"Why is Xiaoxiao curious about this?" Song Yin asked.
Gu Changle dared not lie and answered truthfully.
After listening, Song Yin and Shi Heming suddenly realized why Gu Changle had asked that question.
Song Yin: "Actually, your ancestor has never lied to you. He said everything he saw with his own eyes. Xiaoxiao should also know that cultivation depends not only on innate talent, but also on acquired comprehension and hard work."
Gu Changle: "May I ask when Senior Song broke through to the Golden Core stage?" She was only one step away from the Golden Core stage, and she wanted to know the difference between herself and this senior.
"eighteen."
"Huh?" Gu Changle thought he had misheard.
"It's eighteen."
Gu Changle: "..."
Gu Changle left the nameless mountain in a daze, completely terrified. He still had the pills and magical artifacts given to him by Song Yin, as well as the talismans given to him by Shi Heming.
How could someone break through to the Golden Core stage at eighteen? Shouldn't eighteen be the Qi Refining stage? Some people at this age haven't even entered the path of immortality yet.
Gu Changle drifted to Gu Tongguang's place in a daze.
"Ancestor..."
Gu Tongguang thought to himself: Sure enough, he came. He's not used to not coming to see him.
"What's wrong?" Gu Tongguang looked up, startled by her expression. "Who bullied you?"
Gu Changle: "Ancestor, you only mentioned that people my age cultivate to the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage, but you didn't mention that Senior Song broke through to the Golden Core stage at the age of eighteen!"
"..." Gu Tongguang fell silent upon hearing that eighteen people had broken through to the Golden Core stage. Then, thinking that it was Song Yin, he realized it wasn't surprising. "You went to find them?"
Gu Changle placed the gifts given to her by the two seniors on the table. "Well, these are gifts from the two seniors, they said they were a greeting gift." She had tried to refuse these high-level magical artifacts, pills, and talismans, but her refusal was ineffective.
An unnamed hilltop.
Song Yin and Shi Heming were discussing the upcoming Nascent Soul Tribulation.
Song Yin: "I don't believe He would break his promise, but this tribulation was really excessive; it was meant to kill us."
Shi Heming: "After the questioning of the heart was completed, it didn't happen again; it just vanished."
Song Yin: "And there was no golden light to heal us, it was like..."
"They left because we made them angry," Shi Heming continued.
Song Yin thought about it and found it strange. "There was no questioning of the heart. Maybe they're feeling guilty?" She paced back and forth in the room and suddenly realized something. "I almost forgot that we are in the Nine Spirits Realm, and the Heavenly Dao we are facing is also the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Spirits Realm."
Shi Heming: "So the one who wanted to use the lightning tribulation to kill us wasn't the Heavenly Dao that promised us, but the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Spirit Realms."
The reason for wanting to kill them is obvious: they disrupted the Nine Spirits Realm's plan to annex it.
Song Yin chuckled twice: "Suddenly I feel that we were not wronged by the lightning tribulation. It's all thanks to the inheritance we obtained in the Nine Heavens Secret Realm. Upper Realm techniques are really useful, allowing us to escape with our lives during the lightning tribulation. Thank you to the Dao Lord who provided the inheritance, and thank you to us for obtaining it."
The Nine Heavens Dao Lord, who was observing from the shadows, nodded. He was satisfied that the person was grateful and had good judgment.
The Nine Heavens Dao Lord came quietly and left just as quietly, without anyone knowing.
Shi Heming: "The time flow is the same in both worlds. We have unknowingly spent a hundred years here, but in the Immortal Cloud Sect, it has been a hundred years since we returned to the sect. We need to speed up the search for the spacetime turbulence."
“A hundred years has passed. By the time we get back, my master and mistress might have already returned to the sect. I don’t even want to think about what kind of situation I’ll face when I return to Danque Peak.” Song Yin said with a bitter face, “And my senior brother, I asked him to help look after Danque Peak, but he’s been looking after it for over a hundred years.”
Shi Heming remained silent, thinking of what he had told his master and senior brother. He said he would be going back soon.
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing guilt in each other's eyes.
The two were afraid of being questioned when they returned, unaware that some people in the Immortal Cloud Sect were so worried that they couldn't sleep.
The most serious case is the *Shenyu bamboo*.
Shen Yuzhu fulfilled his promise to Song Yin, and even gave some pointers to the sword cultivators on Danque Peak when the mood struck him.
At first, everything was normal. Years passed, and they still hadn't returned, causing anxiety to rise in Shen Yuzhu's heart. Decades later, still no return, Shen Yuzhu began to panic, fearing something had happened to Song Yin and the others. He couldn't access many important areas of Danque Peak, so he couldn't check if Song Yin's soul lamp was burning.
Unable to check Song Yin's soul lamp, Shen Yuzhu went to the Dao Asking Peak to inquire whether Shi Heming's soul lamp was still lit. The two were inseparable; as long as Shi Heming's soul lamp hadn't gone out, Song Yin's soul lamp was likely still lit as well.
And so, Shen Yuzhu would go to the Asking Peak several times a month. People who didn't know the situation might have thought that the relationship between the Sword Enlightenment Peak and the Asking Peak had become better.
Shen Yuzhu and Zhu Jing began to have common topics, and every time they met, they would talk about their worrying junior sisters and brothers.
Decades have passed, centuries have passed, and the person has still not returned.
Shen Yuzhu was filled with sorrow!
His master and the others did not return, nor did his junior sister. He was all alone on Wujian Peak, waiting for them to come home. He was even afraid to sleep at night, fearing that he would dream of them never returning.
Shen Yuzhu was worried that her master and the others would question her about where her junior sister had gone when they returned.
He also wanted to know where his junior sister had gone in the past hundred years! Junior sister! Please come back soon, your senior brother can't take it anymore!
There was another person who was just as flustered as Shen Yuzhu, and that was Sect Leader Yan Xi.
A century has passed and Song Yin and Shi Heming have still not returned to the sect, much to the regret of Sect Leader Yan.
She shouldn't have advised the promising young sect leader she had her eye on to return to the world of the past. Song Yin was going to take Shi Heming with her, and both of them were core disciples of the sect. She couldn't afford to lose either of them! She was glad that Xia Xining was in seclusion at the time, otherwise, given the personalities of the three of them who had grown up together, Xia Xining would definitely have gone with them!
Now, every now and then, Xia Xining will come to ask her.
Xia Xining flew to the main peak as usual, "Sect Master, have Song Yin and Shi Heming returned?"
Sect Leader Yan: Not yet.
Some time has passed.
Xia Xining arrived at the main peak: "Have they returned?"
Sect Leader Yan: "No."
...
Xia Xining had visited the main peak countless times, but before she could even speak, Sect Master Yan said first, "No."
Xia Xining: "Sect Master, could it be that they're not coming back?"
Sect Master Yan: "We can't rule out that possibility. Perhaps they haven't found the spacetime turbulence yet. Just like Gu Tongguang, didn't he spend two hundred years in the Xuan Tian Realm before finding the spacetime turbulence that could send him back?"
Sect Leader Yan's words could only comfort Xia Xining and reassure her. In truth, she herself didn't know why the two hadn't returned. Was it because they couldn't find the spatial turbulence and couldn't return? Or did they not want to come back? Or was there some other reason why they hadn't returned?
"Could it be that Song Yin and the others don't want to come back..." When no one is around, even the pillars of the Immortal Cloud Sect feel worried, guilty, and confused, and they pray that the two of them will return soon.
Whether it was Song Yin and her group or the acquaintances from the Immortal Cloud Sect, both sides tacitly fell into a state of unease.
Different reasons, but the same guilty conscience.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Song Yin and Shi Heming: Getting home too late, afraid of getting a beating from their families [poor face]
Sect Leader Yan: I advised the child to go out, but the child didn't return for a long time. I'm afraid I'll get a beating from the child's parents. [Cracking face]
Shen Yuzhu: My child hasn't come back. I'm worried about them, and at the same time, I'm afraid of being beaten by the parents who suddenly come home. [crying emoji]
Parents away from home: I feel guilty. I haven't been home for a long time, and I don't know if my children are doing well. [Chin resting on hand][Heart]
-
[Empty bowl]
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