Three Disciples Emerge from Seclusion

The corners of Gu Changyuan's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a genuine smile.

"Let's go take a look at these three brats."

With a flash of his figure, he had already brought Bai Ling'er and Gu Xing'er into midair, perfectly overlooking the three quiet rooms where spiritual energy shot up into the sky. The pillars of light lasted for about a quarter of an hour and, as if sharing a telepathic connection, began to retract and dissipate at almost the exact same time.

"Hahahaha! How exhilarating! To think that the origin of the Nine Netherworld Fire this time was so pure; subduing it went several times smoother than I expected!"

A hearty and heroic laugh echoed from where the crimson pillar of light dissipated. A figure dressed in red robes with hair like fire was the first to rush out of the quiet room. It was exactly Xiao Yi.

The aura around him surged, impressively already standing firmly at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. The laws of fire circulated in his eyes, giving off an imposing might.

"It truly is strange, Fifth Senior Brother."

Dressed in a long white robe, Yun Tianhe, whose gentle temperament carried a profound depth, stepped out slowly, his face bearing both surprise and joy.

"During my closed-door cultivation this time to comprehend the Dao of the Saber, I also felt it go unbelievably smoothly, as if an invisible force was pushing me forward."

"I feel the same."

The tenth disciple, Han Feng, moved with agility. His cyan robes fluttered in the wind, and his tone was full of pleasant surprise.

"My comprehension of the 'Dao of Extreme Wind' pointed straight to the origin, saving me countless hours of bitter effort. It was as if someone was right beside me, guiding my way!"

The three of them had clearly reaped massive harvests. High-spirited, they sensed each other's auras and were just about to gather for a hearty chat when they almost simultaneously sensed someone above them.

"Huh? It's Third Senior Sister's aura, and the one beside her is..."

Xiao Yi was the first to look up. His gaze swept past Bai Ling'er and then landed on the black-clad figure standing beside her with his hands behind his back—a figure whose aura was plain yet impossible to ignore.

Just one glance.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment.

The smile on Xiao Yi's face stiffened, and his pupils violently shrank. Yun Tianhe's gentle expression was instantly replaced by immense shock, his mouth falling slightly open.

The clear breeze swirling around Han Feng suddenly stagnated, and his tall, straight body swayed imperceptibly.

The eyes of the three were dead-locked onto that face—a face they had dreamt of for a thousand years, yet which now looked so real it almost felt illusory.

Their minds went completely blank. All their joy and confusion were instantly washed away by a torrent called "disbelief."

"Mas... Master?"

Xiao Yi's throat was dry as he spat out the word, almost losing his voice.

Though light, the sound exploded like thunder, jolting Yun Tianhe and Han Feng awake.

Seeing Bai Ling'er smiling and nodding at them, her eyes filled with affirmation and excitement, the three of them woke up as if from a dream!

"Master!!!"

Without any extra words, the three figures turned into streaks of light. Moving at the fastest speeds of their lives, they rushed recklessly toward Gu Changyuan in midair!

That momentum seemed intent on venting a thousand years of longing, worry, and ecstasy all at once. They wished they could immediately throw themselves at him to confirm this wasn't an illusion.

Gu Changyuan looked at his three disciples rushing over with instantly reddened eyes, especially their posture of "we don't care, we just want to hug." The corners of his mouth twitched imperceptibly.

He, Gu Changyuan, was ultimately a straight... well, a man of propriety in his bones.

The thought of three grown men pouncing on him together for a hug was just too weird.

If it were one, maybe, but three at once? Forget it.

Xiao Yi, Yun Tianhe, and Han Feng slammed on the brakes. On their three excited, somewhat contorted faces, a look of astonishment, bewilderment, and... a trace of unconcealable hurt appeared simultaneously.

Mas... Master, was that half-step back you just took... serious?

Xiao Yi's expression collapsed, Yun Tianhe's eyes looked innocent, and the corners of Han Feng's mouth twitched slightly.

That momentarily frozen atmosphere actually carried a somewhat indescribable comicality.

Seeing this, Gu Changyuan couldn't help but chuckle softly. The laughter broke the slightly awkward stagnation:

"Alright, you're all grown men now. Let's not do these mushy scenes."

Back in the day, when he interacted with these disciples, he rarely put on airs and was more like a teacher and a friend. Now, having returned after a thousand tribulations, he was even less inclined to observe those empty formalities.

Hearing that familiar, gentle voice tinged with teasing, the little bit of "grievance" in the three men's hearts was instantly drowned by far more surging emotions.

A thousand years of waiting, a thousand years of worrying, a thousand years of holding the fort... Countless words blocked their throats, ultimately turning into an uncontrollable sour heat in their eyes.

Looking at his three disciples' instantly reddening eyes, Gu Changyuan was also filled with a myriad of emotions.

He floated forward on his own initiative and reached out his right hand, giving each of them a light pat on the back.

The falling hand carried a real warmth, as well as an invisible comfort.

"Your master has returned, and I won't leave again. You've worked hard these past years."

Xiao Yi violently lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Yun Tianhe raised a hand and rubbed his eyes hard. Han Feng pressed his lips tightly together, taking a deep breath.

There was no loud wailing, no endless recounting, but this silent emotion could convey the weight of those one thousand one hundred years better than any words.

...

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

Four heavy, distant tolls of a bell seemed to fall from beyond the nine heavens, layering over one another, piercing through the last trace of the setting sun's afterglow, and echoing throughout the entire Tianyuan Mountain Range.

The assembly bell had rung, and it was exactly four tolls.

The elders of the Tianren Sacred Land were all too familiar with the meaning of this bell—one toll summons the elders, two tolls summon the Supreme Elders, three tolls summon the Taiyin Elders, and four tolls mean all three ranks must gather in the hall.

This meant that all active ordinary elders, Supreme Elders, and Taiyin Elders, as long as they were within the Sacred Land, had to immediately drop whatever important matters they had at hand and head to the Assembly Hall on Tianyuan Mountain to gather.

As it was currently the Tianyuan Sacred Ceremony, almost all the elders of the Sacred Land had returned, making this the moment when the elders were the most complete.

Within a few breaths after the bell stopped ringing, streaks of light shot up into the sky from the ten peaks surrounding Tianyuan Mountain, speeding toward the Assembly Hall at the core of Tianyuan Mountain.

The streaks of light landed precisely in the square in front of the hall, transforming into figures with profound auras and wearing various attires.

Everyone wore solemn expressions and walked with steady steps, filing in one after another. No one whispered to each other; there was only the faint sound of wind stirred up by their robes.

The grand hall was extremely vast, with a high-hanging dome where star maps faintly twinkled.

The floor was paved with profound black spiritual jade that could clearly reflect a person's image.

On both sides, hundreds of simple and unadorned praying mats were neatly arranged, stretching as far as the eye could see.

These mats looked ordinary, but if placed in the outside world, they would make countless cultivators fight tooth and nail over them.

After all, what cultivator wouldn't want a spiritual item capable of nourishing the divine soul and accelerating the circulation of spiritual energy?

Closest to the hall doors were the seats for the ordinary elders, which were the most numerous.

Extending further in were the slightly higher seats with more complex carvings for the Supreme Elders.

And at the very front, near the base of the high platform for the main seat, were two rows of jade lotus platforms floating three feet off the ground and emitting a faint, clear radiance like moonlight; these were the honored seats for the Taiyin Elders.

At this moment, the scene inside the grand hall made the heart of every elder who walked in skip a beat.

They saw that on the main seat of the Sacred Ancestor—which had remained empty for a thousand years and symbolized the highest authority of the Sacred Land—sat a man who looked like a youth.