Chapter 235: That Was Ordinary Heavenly Tribulation

Noticing Ye Chen glancing around, the Old Sect Master huffed. “Stop looking. Your master’s gone off traveling!”

Ye Chen froze. His master, out wandering? How could that be? She would’ve at least waited for him, right? What had happened?

His brow furrowed tightly.

The Old Sect Master, lips pursed, rummaged through his storage ring and pulled out the items Gu Yunyun had left for Ye Chen. Among them was a jade slip imbued with An Miaoli’s aura and a letter from the little demoness Su Yuxuan.

Seeing these, Ye Chen pieced it together. He recalled telling Gu Yunyun about The Legend of the Condor Heroes and her final words. It was clear now—she’d learned about Su Yuxuan, met An Miaoli and An Yuyi, and, unable to accept it, chose to leave.

Ye Chen sighed inwardly. This was all the System’s fault. If he’d awakened a normal system, things wouldn’t have come to this.

“Did Master leave any message for me?” he asked.

The Old Sect Master hesitated. Not really—she’d just made arrangements. But he quickly said, “Yunyun told me to pass on a message: if you’re still devoted, wait for her at her courtyard in twenty years. She’ll return to meet you.”

She’d return? Ye Chen exhaled in relief. As long as she was coming back, it was fine. He’d feared she’d never return.

But then he turned to the halved Sword Peak, its summit—where his master’s courtyard once stood—now obliterated by the tribulation. He fell silent.

His master had barely left, and he’d already wrecked her home. If she found out while traveling, would she still come back? Would she think he did it on purpose to keep her away? He’d better find someone to rebuild Sword Peak, pronto!

As Ye Chen pondered, the Old Sect Master handed him a sword talisman and a jade talisman.

Feeling the aura of his master lingering on them, Ye Chen froze for a moment.

“This sword talisman was left by Yunyun,” the Old Sect Master said. “If you find yourself in danger or simply miss her too much, crush this talisman. She’ll sense it and come to you. As for this jade talisman, Yunyun has one just like it. If she’s in danger, you’ll be able to sense her general direction through it and go to her rescue.”

“What are you standing there for? Take them!” the Old Sect Master urged. “Yunyun’s already reached the Golden Core stage. Do you think I, an old man, should run out to save her if she faces something she can’t handle? I’d just be throwing my life away! You’re her disciple. You triggered a heavenly tribulation just by breaking through to the Golden Core stage. If you don’t go, who will?”

Ye Chen stood there, still processing, as the Old Sect Master continued, noticing his confusion. “Don’t just stare. Take them seriously.”

Realizing the sect master was looking out for him, Ye Chen carefully accepted the talismans.

The Old Sect Master, pleased with Ye Chen’s response, patted his shoulder. “Young man, don’t feel too bad about it. I was like you once.”

“You know how much female cultivators adore prodigies like us,” he said with a wistful smile. “When I was traveling the world in my youth, I made mistakes too. There was a junior sister who stayed by my side through it all. But because of my errors, she left in anger. I didn’t chase after her or apologize. I thought, ‘She’ll get over it eventually.’

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“A year or two passed, and I didn’t think much of it. After all, for cultivators, a single closed-door session could last that long. But in the blink of an eye, a decade went by, and she still hadn’t returned. I panicked and went down the mountain to find her. Only then did I learn that in the third year, she’d planned to return to the sect to see me. But on her way back, she was ambushed by rogue cultivators. She died.

“Young man, don’t think you have all the time in the world to wait and wait. Sometimes, what feels like a simple parting might be the last time you see someone.”