Thor’s Sword had been Thunder Sect’s most treasured relic for tens of thousands of years. Drake had drawn it from the Sword Tomb. Now that he was leaving, it was only right to return it.
He looked once more at his disciples. “The position of Master of Starfell Summit will be passed to my disciple—Lauren.”
Lauren’s head snapped up. “Master, I—”
Tarot’s hand gently pressed her shoulder. “Junior Sister,” he said quietly, “Master isn’t favoring you. If I inherit the position, I’ll draw too much attention. It will bring trouble. You know that.”
Lauren clenched her hands. She understood. She swallowed. “Lauren obeys.”
......
A distant explosion shook the horizon. The seal on Sky-Covering Valley shattered completely.
An ancient dragon’s colossal body unfurled across the sky, stretching for thousands of miles. Its roar rolled through heaven and earth like a living storm.
Despite its immense size, it moved with terrifying speed. In a blink, it appeared above Thunder Sect.
The black dragon descended and transformed midair into a tall man dressed in dark robes. He landed lightly upon the ascension staircase. He looked at Drake, still standing on the third step.
“It’s time,” Edmund said. “We have to go.”
Briar bounced excitedly below. “God Venerable! It’s our God Venerable!”
“Stop pulling me,” Lauren muttered thickly. “I see him.”
Her vision blurred. She had always hoped her master would ascend.
She had always hoped Edmund would return home. They had fought for it. Risked everything for it. And now—
It hurt like hell. Edmund glanced toward her one last time. Goodbye. Until we meet again.
He turned and stepped through the Heavenly Gate. The gate began to close.
But suddenly— A second black dragon shot across the sky at reckless speed. “Grandpa! Ancestor! Wait for me—!”
Silent Fang’s voice echoed shamelessly between heaven and earth. He hadn’t even opened his own ascension path. He’d sprinted all this way just to freeload.
The dragon squeezed through the narrowing gate at the last second, tail whipping wildly before vanishing into the upper realm.
The Heavenly Gate sealed shut. Silence returned. Even Silent Fang was gone.
Lauren stood frozen, staring at the empty sky. Her nose burned. “Master… Edmund…”
She forced the words out, barely above a whisper. “Goodbye.”
......
Drake’s ascension shook the entire cultivation world.
For the first time in history, someone had shattered the barrier that blocked ascension. Sects across the continent were in an uproar, discussing it day and night.
But the real twists behind it—the hidden obstruction of Heaven, the Sky-Covering Formation, the interference from the upper realms—those details were strictly forbidden from spreading.
Some truths were too dangerous to speak aloud. And in the upper realms, war had only just begun.
Down here, however, life went on.
Even with the path to ascension reopened, it was still an impossible dream for most cultivators. For the vast majority, breaking through to Nascent Soul was already a miracle. Mahayana? Ascension? That was something they might never even glimpse.
......
Lauren and Tarot were both ecstatic over their master’s successful ascension. And completely miserable.
Her emotions were a tangled mess—wanting to laugh, wanting to cry, unable to do either.
They returned together to Starfell Summit. The doors of Starfell Hall creaked open.
Both of them instinctively looked toward the meditation cushion at the center of the hall.
No matter how far they had traveled, no matter how long they had been gone, they had always returned here, pushed open this door, and seen him sitting there. Now—
The cushion was empty. The hall felt enormous and hollow. On the table rested four storage rings and a letter.
Not a jade slip infused with spiritual sense. Not a divine transmission. Just an ordinary letter, written with brush and ink.
Their master had divided his possessions into four portions. One share was to be given to the Sect Leader—for Thunder Sect.
One share was reserved for Starfell Summit’s development, to nurture future disciples. He had always regretted how much Starfell Summit had declined.
As for why he hadn’t taken on new disciples in recent years— It wasn’t because too many had died and broken his heart.
It was because people like Indiana had approached him under the guise of becoming disciples… only to assassinate him.
After that, he stopped accepting disciples entirely. He lived alone on Starfell Summit, detached from worldly affairs.
Lauren and Tarot exchanged stunned looks. So some of their so-called senior brothers or sisters had gotten close to him, stirred up chaos at Starfell Summit, and tried to kill him?
Lauren’s imagination immediately ran wild.
A reclusive, untouchable master. Devoted disciples with pure admiration—or not-so-pure motives. Schemes. Seduction. Betrayal. Bloodshed.
She could practically see it: ambitious disciples trying to drag their aloof master into the mortal world, only to be cut down by him without mercy.
With a cultivator heart that steady, no wonder he had lived long enough to ascend.
“Hey.” Smack. Tarot flicked her forehead. “What are you thinking about?”
“Huh?” Lauren blinked. “Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you. Your eyes look wrong.”
Lauren: “…” Damn it. I was just imagining nonsense and he caught me. She coughed. “I just… miss Master. And Edmund.”
Tarot stared at her again. Miss them? Shouldn’t she look a little sadder? That expression she had just now definitely didn’t look like grief.
“Senior Brother,” Lauren said quickly, changing the subject, “these two rings must be ours. One for you, one for me.”
“Probably.” They each picked one at random. Presumably, the contents were similar.
“Oh—right!” Lauren suddenly froze. “What now?”
“Sky-Covering Valley is open. Big Senior Brother is coming back soon. Master didn’t mention him in the letter. And when he divided the rings, he didn’t say anything about leaving one for him.”
Tarot frowned. “What big senior brother?”
“Freya,” she said matter-of-factly. “He’s still alive. He was trapped in Sky-Covering Valley. You didn’t know? I did.”
“…” Tarot stared at her. “Does Master know?”
“He definitely knows.”
Tarot fell silent. After a moment, he sighed. “If Master knew and still didn’t make arrangements for him, then let’s not overthink it. Besides… how the hell was Freya trapped in Sky-Covering Valley? I always thought he was dead.”
“How would I know? Master never told me.”
Tarot waved a hand dismissively. “We’ll deal with it when we see him. Maybe the Sect Leader knows some inside story.”
He muttered under his breath, “Honestly, Master didn’t even leave a single explanation before ascending. If Freya comes back to Starfell Summit and finds out—this is going to be awkward as hell.”
Lauren shot him an annoyed look. “I'm the one who’ll be embarrassed. Master named me as the next Summit Master.”
That shut him up. Publicly, Freya had long been declared dead. But he had never been expelled from the sect.
So what exactly had happened between him and their master back then? How did things fall apart? And now that he was returning—
What the hell were they supposed to do with him? That… was going to be a problem.
......
Lauren took the ring meant for the sect and headed to Cloud Peak to find Gerald.
Dante met her halfway up the steps. “Master’s not here,” he said. “He went to the Sword Tomb.”
The Sword Tomb. By custom, every disciple was supposed to choose a sword there upon entering the sect. When she’d first joined, Drake had forgotten. Gerald hadn’t liked her at the time and hadn’t bothered reminding her.
So, to this day, she had never even seen the Thunder Sect’s Sword Tomb. “I’ll go take a look too,” she said.
“Alright. I’ll show you the way.”
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter