Chapter 620

Two more days passed.

Since the mission deadline had arrived, many second-wave Ascension Envoys who had not yet settled their tasks were forcibly settled by the Taixuan Immortal Network and recalled from their mission worlds.

No surprise there—most of them were from the Taishang Dao Sect, and their mission completion rates were far from impressive…

There was nothing to be done about it.

Normal cultivators plan three steps ahead with every step they take, but those Taishang Dao Sect "Gou Dao" practitioners...

Even to take one step, they must first build a road!

Only because this Ascension Mission was special did they take on such tasks, which normally require completing set objectives within a strict deadline.

At noon, the sunlight was perfect.

In the Inner Sect of the Sword Sect, the Sword Ancestor Hall.

A figure slowly emerged from within the hall, walking all the way to the outer steps, where she finally halted.

A mountain breeze brushed from afar, gently stirring a few strands of hair hanging before her forehead.

She wore a simple, fitted black cultivation robe, radiating ancient elegance, her long hair tied into a high ponytail.

Her skin was pale and luminous, her neck slender, her features refined, appearing efficient and sharp.

It was Zhang Yunlu!

Years of relentless trials at the edge of life and death had stripped her of some youthful naivety, replacing it with calm composure.

Gazing into the distance, she felt a sense of having lived a lifetime away.

Though only three months had passed in the Taixuan Realm, for her it had been three full years in that alien world!

After a long while, she finally calmed her thoughts.

After carefully noting the direction of Chi Jiuyu’s dwelling, she retrieved her phone from her storage ring, glanced at it, and began walking down the mountain.

She had settled her mission that morning.

After leaving the Ascension Hall, she washed up, tidied herself, steadied her mindset, and changed into the third-generation Sword Sect uniform she had worn when she first became a disciple, preparing to visit her Master and explain her situation.

This was always how it had been after returning from missions.

But this time was different—she had barely stepped out the door when she found herself directly in the Sword Ancestor Hall.

At first she was confused, but after her uncle explained, she learned her Master had entered seclusion recently and no one knew when he would emerge…

Still, her uncle said this time the seclusion wouldn’t last long.

But…

For an Immortal like her uncle, what exactly did he mean by “not long”…

That remained unknown.

As her phone screen lit up, a series of ding-dong notification sounds followed one after another.

Most were pop-up ads promoting products; next came messages from her older brother Zhang Xiu, her friend Lin Xuanxuan, and Nangong Ruo.

Even the principal of the Third Middle School of Xuanjian City had messaged, asking if she had time to return for the school anniversary.

The message had been sent over a month ago.

Zhang Yunlu opened it and found the so-called “school anniversary” was still over a month away.

Calculating the time, there was a three-month gap!

“…”

Three months in advance?

This message was sent far too early.

Staring at the message, Zhang Yunlu didn’t know how to reply—so much could happen in a month…

So she decided not to reply for now and turned to other messages.

First was Zhang Xiu.

Lucky Xiao Zhang: “Don’t worry, big brother, I’m fine.”

Lucky Xiao Zhang: “I was just on a mission and couldn’t receive messages.”

After sending those two messages, Zhang Yunlu waited, but received no reply.

She didn’t think much of it.

After all, she was a cultivator—perhaps he was in meditation or on another mission.

Not being able to contact someone for months was perfectly normal.

She then turned to other messages.

First were Lin Xuanxuan and Nangong Ruo—their messages were from long ago, and they hadn’t sent anything since.

If her guess was right, they must have been assigned as third-wave Ascension Envoys.

Among them, a few of Lin Xuanxuan’s messages made her pause.

Just Want to Eat and Not Die: “Xiao Zhang, I’ve got a secret to tell you.”

Just Want to Eat and Not Die: “When you get back, check out the top student of this year’s ‘Immortal Sect Special Recruitment.’”

Just Want to Eat and Not Die: “She’s the younger sister of Jiuyu’s good friend, named Ye Zhiwei.”

Just Want to Eat and Not Die: “Jiuyu even vouched that she learned the ‘Heavenly Net Sword Scripture.’”

Just Want to Eat and Not Die: “By the way, the Qingling Yanqi Pills you asked me to refine are done—come pick them up…”

After that came a long string of messages, mostly complaints about the first-wave Ascension Envoys after reading their mission progress reports.

The younger sister of Jiuyu’s good friend?

Zhang Yunlu frowned slightly.

She remembered Jiuyu had a good friend named Ye Zhiwei, who seemed connected to that guy who had cried after losing to Jiuyu in the ‘Immortal Sect Grand Competition.’

Hmm…

Come to think of it, if not for the old chat records still being there and the avatar unchanged…

She wouldn’t have recognized “Just Want to Eat and Not Die” as her.

Why did Xuanxuan suddenly change her nickname?

And this new one doesn’t suit her at all.

She spends her days studying alchemy, carving out time to cultivate and practice divine arts…

If that counts as “just eating and waiting to die,”…

Then hardly any cultivator isn’t just eating and waiting to die!

But since the person wasn’t here, she suppressed her curiosity and exited the chat interface, continuing down the mountain.

Ye Zhiwei…

Since Xuanxuan mentioned her, and she studied the ‘Heavenly Net Sword Scripture’ under Jiuyu’s guarantee, she might as well go take a look.

After all, she had nothing else to do now.

…

…

After some time, the Sword Sect’s Outer Sect.

Zhang Yunlu looked up at the seven divine aurora leaderboards descending from the Inner Sect continent.

On the Foundation Establishment leaderboard, the top spot now bore a new name—

Name: Ye Zhiwei

Realm: Foundation Establishment, Early Stage

Rank: 2

At this time, only two cultivators in the Sword Sect had achieved Creation Foundation Establishment, so Ye Zhiwei had immediately ranked second upon entering.

In the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages,

Whether one had attained enlightenment or achieved Creation Foundation Establishment made a colossal difference.

Zhang Yunlu herself knew this well.

She then glanced at the other leaderboards.

After the ‘Immortal Sect Grand Competition,’ she had reached Golden Core completion and climbed to fourth place on the Golden Core leaderboard.

If she had merely “settled” for a while longer, she might have had a chance to challenge for first.

But the Ascension Mission came suddenly—she was gone for three years, and of course her name no longer appeared on the Golden Core leaderboard.

Now, near the bottom of the Nascent Soul leaderboard, her name appeared clearly.

Name: Zhang Yunlu

Realm: Nascent Soul, Mid-Stage

Rank: 91

Not bad!

Though she spent three years on the mission world, she never slackened in her own cultivation.

On the contrary, during the mission, she absorbed the unique features of that world’s transcendent system and further refined her own cultivation framework.

Ultimately, she shattered the Nascent Soul barrier and achieved the highest-grade Nascent Soul.

For a prodigy of her level in the Immortal Sect, the journey from Foundation Establishment to Soul Transformation is a period of explosive growth—only at Soul Transformation does progress begin to slow.

True, that world was one where transcendence faded, but she carried her own resources.

And precisely because of that world’s peculiar conditions, its cultivators displayed extraordinary ingenuity in the subtle control and application of power.