No Return Date

In the past, their Master had also disappeared, leaving no news and his fate unknown. But they had always firmly believed that their Master would definitely return, that he would definitely be alive.

But this time was different. The scene before them clearly indicated that their Master had suffered an overwhelmingly powerful blow and had thoroughly fallen.

This news was enough to drive them completely mad, enough to make them seek revenge at any cost.

Mo Yingluo stood where she was, her eyes fixed intently on the sky filled with spatial rifts.

The demonic aura around her began to riot, surging madly out of her body.

Mo Yingyue's body also began to exude a demonic aura. The ink-black mist surged from within them and spread across the sky above the Heavenly Human Holy Land.

The sky, which had just regained its clarity, grew dim once again under the shroud of the dense demonic aura.

Those spatial rifts let out piercing hums as they were corroded by the demonic energy.

Just as the demonic aura of the two women was about to completely lose control, a familiar presence descended from the sky, accurately enveloping them both and forcefully suppressing the rioting demonic energy back into their bodies.

The rampage of Mo Yingluo and Mo Yingyue was quelled in an instant, and the demonic aura within them regained its calm.

Their bodies stiffened, freezing on the spot. The two women blinked blankly, their faces showing signs of bewilderment.

The moment they felt that familiar presence carved into their very bones, all the disciples immediately turned their gazes toward the two women, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

Immediately after, a tall and straight figure slowly walked out from the void.

Although his aura was still somewhat weak, it remained steady. It was none other than their Master, Gu Changyuan.

While recovering in that unfamiliar space, he realized he could leave at any time and return to the Nine Heavens Realm.

He had originally planned to fully recover to his peak condition in that space before returning, but he suddenly felt the restrictions he had placed on Mo Yingluo and Mo Yingyue trembling violently.

Knowing that they had most likely learned the news of his fall and were on the verge of losing control, he immediately gave up on continuing his recovery, choosing to return right away to suppress their rampant demonic aura.

The moment Gu Changyuan stepped out of the teleportation array, his gaze first fell upon Mo Yingluo and Mo Yingyue.

The two women stood there, the demonic aura on their bodies still slightly churning, but it had already been thoroughly subdued.

Their eyes were red, and wet tear stains still hung on their faces. The look in their eyes as they stared at Gu Changyuan carried the relief of surviving a disaster, as well as a trace of grievance.

Seeing their Master truly appear, Ye Qingxue and the others still had a bit of dullness in their eyes, as if they were in an unreal dream. They were stunned for a long time before finally snapping back to reality.

Everyone was looking at him.

Everyone's eyes were red.

The moment Gu Changyuan appeared, Gu Xing'er took a step forward and lunged fiercely toward him.

Noticing the incoming figure, Gu Changyuan immediately opened his arms to catch her.

Gu Xing'er plunged headlong into his embrace, her arms tightly wrapping around his waist. She buried her face in his chest, her entire body trembling violently.

Gu Changyuan lowered his head and pulled the little girl fully into his arms.

One arm wrapped around her shoulders while his other hand gently patted her back, stroke by stroke, at a very slow pace.

Tears soaked his collar. Her shoulders heaved up and down as she cried silently but intensely.

At this moment, no words were needed.

Being alive, having returned, and standing right here, that was the best comfort of all.

Only after all the disciples had completely recovered from the emotional turmoil of believing he had fallen did Gu Changyuan speak.

Xiaoxue, Little Yao, Xiao Luo.

He was calling out to Ye Qingxue, Tushan Youyao, and Mo Yingluo, the leaders of the three great factions: the Heavenly Human Holy Land, the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, and the Heavenly Fiend Sect.

The three women raised their heads simultaneously, their gazes landing on their Master.

Prepare to advance our previous plans.

Gu Changyuan's tone was calm, but everyone knew what this advance meant.

For the time being, have all the disciples at the peak of the Tribulation Crossing Realm in your sects get ready.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three of them.

Prepare to ascend to immortality.

Ascend to immortality.

Those words had not been realized in the Nine Heavens Realm for over one thousand one hundred years.

The immortal path had been severed, leaving no way to ascend. Countless mighty figures at the peak of the Tribulation Crossing Realm and the Half-Immortal Realm were trapped in this world. Despite having heaven-reaching cultivation, they had no path upward.

Ye Qingxue, Tushan Youyao, and Mo Yingluo exchanged glances and answered at the same time.

Yes!

There were no doubts, no hesitations, and not even a single extra question of when or how.

Gu Changyuan gave a slight nod and continued:

Although after I used No Return Date, the Heavenly Human Holy Land and I have been completely erased in the eyes of that Immortal Emperor.

But given the current situation, it is inevitable that new troubles will arise.

We must first ascend to the Immortal Realm, undergo the baptism of immortal qi, and elevate our battleground to the same dimension.

The Ninth Tribulation of the Nine Tribulations Sword Array, No Return Date.

This sword strike had two effects.

First, it instantly drained all of the user's spiritual energy, vitality, and origin source, pushing their offensive power to the absolute limit.

It was different from those secret arts that burned one's life origin.

Most of those secret arts burned slowly and enhanced power gradually, giving the opponent time to react and the user a chance to regret.

No Return Date was different.

Its extraction was instantaneous, and its enhancement was extreme. It left no leeway and offered no path of retreat.

Once the sword was drawn, it was either the enemy's death or the user's demise.

There was no third possibility.

After using it, Gu Changyuan's body would directly fall, the life force of his physical body would dissipate.

But his divine soul would still remain.

Once the crisis was resolved and the enemy dealt with, he could use secret arts and magical artifacts to directly reconstruct his physical body on the spot by borrowing the power of time.

However, this process required time.

Moreover, it required a very long period to recover his own origin source and vitality.

Second, after his fall, Gu Changyuan's existence would be erased from the attacker's perception.

No Return Date could directly forge a complete set of information in the attacker's vision that Gu Changyuan had truly fallen.

That information encompassed all levels of karma, fate, and heavenly secrets, making it so realistic that even an Immortal Emperor could not distinguish the truth from the falsehood.

Coupled with the fact that the Immortal Emperor had struck across realms, inherently suffering the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, his own condition was inevitably impaired.

Under such circumstances, he simply had no spare energy to carefully discern whether Gu Changyuan was truly dead or faking it.

Tushan Youyao and Mo Yingluo did not stay long. They took the disciples of their respective sects and returned to the Heavenly Demon Pavilion and the Heavenly Fiend Sect.

Although they really wanted to spend a little more time with their Master, even if it was just to say a few more words or take one more look.

But they knew that now was not the time to be willful.

The greatest threat now came from the Upper Realm.

The Immortal Emperor had already struck once, and no one knew if he would strike a second time.

Even if, in the Immortal Emperor's cognition, Gu Changyuan had already fallen, what if?

What if he checked again on a whim? What if he sent someone else down to confirm?

Any slight accident could result in an apocalyptic disaster.

They needed strength.

True strength.