My Husband’s Ascension C21 (Part 2)
Chapter 21.2 Expecting
At Zhao Zhao’s suggestion, Cloudculm Abode closed its gates under the pretext of mourning the loss of a beloved disciple, the grief of the entire sect too great to receive visitors.
The whole sect gathered together, doors and windows sealed, a protective formation set in place, as they began recounting Zhao Zhao’s recent adventures in detail.
The tale began with Mount Ling laying spirit gu upon the Kunwu disciples, only to have them ensnared by her clever use of Mellowheart Grass, and continued through the ruse of Shi Lanyan masquerading as Dao Lord Tianshu, and Dao Lord Tianshu in turn pretending to be Shi Lanyan. Following that was her experiences through the illusions of Soul-Summoning Forest, the fire set by Mount Ling, and her fall into the depths of the Soul-Shattering Abyss.
It concluded at the Langhuan Bochord hidden at the abyss’s bottom, where her threads of attachment were severed and where she had obtained the treasured tomes and cultivation manuals, before the bochord’s master used a teleportation formation to send her safely out.
To her surprise, when she turned, the celestial deer too had been transported out. It affectionately rubbed its head against her hand.
“It seems willing to stay with me,”
Zhao Zhao remarked, watching the deer endure half an hour of fondling at the hands of Yao Ling and Rong Yu.
“But, since its diet in that secluded domain was anything but ordinary, raising it will hardly be cheap. I’ll have to find ways to earn more in the days ahead.”
Daoist Ming Jue, however, was unconcerned. “You mentioned earlier that when Dao Lord Tianshu and you were in the Ink-Washed Mountains, you unearthed quite a number of ores. Which kinds did you find?”
Zhao Zhao rifled through her nearly overflowing spatial storage pouch for some time before finally uncovering the ores buried beneath the other treasures.
She had not noticed their quantity when first stowing them, but now, retrieving them, she realized the amount was far from negligible.
Daoist Ming Jue blinked in surprise, then drew forth an abacus and quickly tallied, raising a finger to indicate a number to Zhao Zhao.
“…Ten thousand spirit stones?” Zhao Zhao gave a conservative guess.
Both Daoist Ming Jue and Li Feng stared at her with an expression of unfeigned astonishment.
Zhao Zhao blinked, confused. “Did I…overestimate?”
“It's one million high-grade spirit stones!”
Zhao Zhao blinked again, her mind momentarily unable to grasp such a figure.
Beholding Zhao Zhao’s vacant expression and puzzled demeanor, Li Feng sighed inwardly and set about explaining in detail—
Spirit stones were classified by quality: high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade.
In the cultivation world, spirit stones serve both as reservoirs of spiritual energy for cultivation and as a circulating currency.
One high-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for ten mid-grade spirit stones, and one mid-grade stone could be exchanged for ten low-grade stones.
By purchasing power, the candied hawthorns that Yao Ling and Rong Yu loved barely amounted to a single low-grade spirit stone.
For an ordinary cultivator, annual expenses would usually amount to about a thousand high-grade spirit stones; of course, if one included the purchase of precious divine artifacts, the ceiling would be limitless.
The ores Zhao Zhao had brought back, if sold in their entirety, could roughly be valued at one million high-grade spirit stones.
Even if the five of them in the sect spent freely, they could live in comfort for over a century.
Li Feng, gazing at the precious ores, was full of incredulity.
“Many of these ores are exceedingly difficult to extract. You were unarmed, and Dao Lord Tianshu certainly didn’t bring any special tools, how did you manage to dig them out? You must have practically moved the entire mountain!”
Zhao Zhao thought for a moment, slightly embarrassed, “I just used… his sword…it worked pretty well.”
Li Feng: ?
Sword?
Whose sword?
It couldn’t possibly be Dao Lord Tianshu’s own Single Intent Sword, forged from Kunwu iron, could it???
“…Kunwu iron is the hardest substance in the world, found only within Immortal Realm of Kunwu, and its quantity is exceedingly limited. Kunwu reserves it solely for forging swords for successive sect masters. And you actually used it to dig ores! Was Dao Lord Tianshu mad, or are you mad—”
Li Feng, though not a sword cultivator, was a martial man, and swords always held a particular reverence in his heart. For Xie Tanzhao to use the Single Intent Sword to dig ores was no different from sending the world’s most beautiful woman’s wife to muck out stables!
Li Feng glared at her in vexation, yet Zhao Zhao’s movements were unhurried as she brought forth several manuals from her spatial storage pouch.
She blinked, feigning innocence. “Oh my, what’s this? How is there a ‘Divine Soulshatter Strike (神意摧魂指)’ here? Maybe…perhaps…could it be that someone among us just happens to cultivate in fist and claw techniques…?”
“What’s that? Let me see!”
Li Feng leapt onto the table, reaching to snatch it, but Zhao Zhao anticipated his move and took a step back.
“Halt!”
His hand was already halfway out, claws gleaming with excitement, when Zhao Zhao’s imperious command rang out. Instantly, the yao familiar contract restrained him, leaving him rigid as stone before crashing down.
“Xie Tanzhao, you—!”
At that moment, the celestial deer took the opportunity to sidle over, noisily licking him twice.
Apparently, this was its way of greeting others.
Zhao Zhao left him to squirm and handed one of the manuals to Daoist Ming Jue.
Daoist Ming Jue barely glanced at it, his interest clearly absent, and chuckled, “These brittle bones have lived for several millennia. My cultivation has reached the limit of this life. Once one reaches the extreme, whether it be lifespan or cultivation, all will inevitably decline. Even the finest manual could do nothing to turn back the tide…”
Hearing this, Zhao Zhao’s expression grew somewhat complex.
“Perhaps you should at least see what manual this is,” she suggested.
Seeing her expression, Daoist Ming Jue took it and examined the cover.
The title read:
Fist of Blessed Longevity (福寿延年拳)
A set of eighteen empty-handed forms. It lacked combat efficacy, yet practicing it each morning could extend the lifespan of aging cultivators—far healthier and safer than any elixir.
Daoist Ming Jue: “……”
Remarkably, it was rather practical.
As for Yao Ling and Rong Yu, the Langhuan Bochord had also provided manuals suited to their cultivation level.
…
Before going to sleep, Zhao Zhao and the two children sprawled neatly across the bed and opened one of the tomes.
Truly, the Langhuan Bochord lived up to its reputation as a repository of immortal knowledge.
Unlike ordinary manuals, the moment they opened it, the sword techniques depicted on the pages transformed into silver-hued spiritual light, performing the moves vividly right before their eyes. Yao Ling watched, utterly enthralled.
“Master,” the little girl turned her head. Zhao Zhao thought she would ask about the manual, but instead, she asked, “Who is Dao Lord Tianshu?”
Zhao Zhao froze for a moment.
Daoist Ming Jue and Li Feng were already aware of her connection with Dao Lord Tianshu. The children’s attention was entirely on the celestial deer, so they had made no effort to conceal it during conversation today.
Yet Yao Ling, unusually perceptive, could already understand what was being said.
“He is…someone who was once married to Master, though now, that relationship no longer exists.” Zhao Zhao placed her right index finger to her lips. “You must keep this a secret. Do not tell anyone, okay?”
The two little heads nodded vigorously.
Rong Yu remained puzzled. “But…why mustn’t we tell? Did Shiniang treat Master badly?”
Hearing the term “Shiniang” so suddenly, Zhao Zhao was momentarily taken aback.
“He’s not Shiniang…anyway, from now on, if you ever see him, just make sure to stay out of his way.”
She didn’t know whether the prophecy of Mount Ling held any further hints.
But for the time being, until the children could rival Dao Lord Tianshu in ability, it was best they not meet him.
Though the two children didn’t fully understand, their trust in Zhao Zhao was enough that they agreed immediately and committed it to memory.
It was late, and by this point both children were growing drowsy.
Yao Ling rested her arms around Zhao Zhao’s neck on the left, Rong Yu clinging to Zhao Zhao’s arm on the right. Their tiny palms pressed against her, like seedlings leaning against the trunk of a great tree.
Zhao Zhao asked softly, “If we were to leave Cloudculm Abode, would you feel reluctant?”
The prophecy from Mount Ling hung overhead like a sword, its fall uncertain.
Small Sword Pass was no longer safe. With sufficient funds, why not depart and find another secure place to stay?
Rong Yu had already begun to snore softly, leaving only Yao Ling, eyes half-shut, to whisper, “Old man… and big doggy… will they come too?”
“Of course.”
“I’m fine as long as we’re together.” The little girl pressed her face against Zhao Zhao, her voice drowsy and soft. “Just…don’t leave me alone.”
Zhao Zhao smiled, her tone feather-light, as if speaking to no one in particular. “You won’t be alone. Never again.”
…
That night, all Thirty-Three Palaces of Immortal Realm of Kunwu blazed with light.
The disciples caught wind of some unusual stirrings, yet when they saw the elders dispatch their people to escort the veiled Wu-Shaman to Mount Ling at top speed, they were astonished and whispered among themselves.
Even more astonishing were the rumors: when Mount Ling’s Wu-Shaman departed, she carried fifteen boxes with her.
Each box contained a head personally severed by Dao Lord Tianshu.
By dawn the next day, the news of Dao Lord Tianshu having slain fifteen Mount Ling shamans had already spread throughout the cultivation world.
Alongside it, word spread that Dao Lord Tianshu was about to enter seclusion.
…
Shi Lanyan arrived at Kunwu early that morning, sending word to Separation’s Regret Heaven that she wished to see the Dao Lord.
She had expected to be blocked as before, yet this time, no obstacles arose; she was welcomed in without hindrance.
The great hall remained cold and austere, just as ever.
Before the desk, the Dao Lord, clad in snowy robes and with hair as white as frost, had cleansed himself of blood and dust, regaining his transcendent, ethereal mien.
In the past, when Shi Lanyan beheld him thus, it had been a sight to delight the heart; now, it was nothing but blinding.
“You are going into seclusion?” she asked.
“Mm.”
“Is it… because of Xie Tanzhao’s death?”
The Dao Lord’s long lashes trembled slightly as he lifted his gaze from the documents he was reviewing.
“Since returning from the mortal realm, after enduring tribulations and achieving breakthroughs that strengthened my cultivation, it has been time to seek seclusion and consolidate. Previously, I was entangled in sect affairs. Now, I am finally free, this decision has nothing to do with anyone else.”
Shi Lanyan stared at him, disbelief etched across her eyes. “So you truly feel no stir of emotion regarding Xie Tanzhao’s death?”
He continued to pen his annotations, his expression calm, his features serene, betraying no sign of disturbance. “I have done all I can, with a clear conscience. Destiny has ordained this, no mortal hand can alter it.”
“Clear conscience?”
Shi Lanyan’s lips curved into what seemed like a bitter laugh. Her voice was cold, sharp, “When you were in the mortal realm, you used her as a stepping stone to achieve your tribulation breakthrough. In the Blessed Land of Langhuan you, as the Dao Lord, should have protected the itinerant cultivators, yet it was she who rescued everyone before you could act. Tianshu, how can you speak of a clear conscience?”
At the last words, Shi Lanyan could barely keep the tremor from her throat.
In truth, her acquaintance with Xie Tanzhao had not been long; grief alone would not account for such a pang. What chilled her more was Dao Lord Tianshu himself.
From her earliest years, she had revered him as the mightiest in the cultivation world, a Dao Lord capable of all things—yet he could truly be so merciless to a wife bound to him for two years.
And Xie Tanzhao had met such an end.
How then could she believe she would ever be an exception in his heart?
That supposed millennial relationship with a childhood sweetheart was nothing but her self-imposed, blind veneration.
“And what of you?” The Dao Lord, seated upright with serene composure, wore a faint smile, yet his gaze was as sharp as a blade. “You, a practitioner of the Confucian Dao at the third stage of the Virtue Realm, failed to perceive the spirit gu’s possession in time, which led to Xie Tanzhao’s fall. Your present cries of injustice for her are but the stirring of your own guilty conscience, an attempt to soothe your remorse.”
Shi Lanyan was struck dumb for a long moment, her innermost thoughts laid bare by his piercing words.
“…That’s still better than you remaining utterly indifferent!”
Dao Lord Tianshu, unwilling to be further entangled, rose and turned to leave.
The more Shi Lanyan watched him, the angrier she became.
She had never been one to swallow her anger quietly. Even for Dao Lord Tianshu, if she was displeased, he would not find peace. “Did you know Xie Tanzhao was pregnant?!”
The words slipped out unbidden, echoing through the vast, frozen hall of Separation’s Regret Heaven like a jade stone striking marble, the sound lingering long and unbroken.
Caught off guard, Dao Lord Tianshu halted in his tracks.
Such a small gesture, yet it gave Shi Lanyan a perverse satisfaction, as if a great grievance had been avenged.
When the words first escaped her, she had hesitated, torn by uncertainty. But now, seeing even the slightest flicker of reaction from him, Shi Lanyan no longer restrained herself.
Xie Tanzhao had turned to ashes; there would be no living witness. She could shape the story however she wished.
Dao Lord Tianshu slowly returned to himself; the faint smile that had lingered on his face was now entirely gone.
He turned, his voice measured and rational, “That is impossible. If she had been with child, how could she have withstood the agony of foundation establishment? In the Blessed Land of Langhuan, after all the dangers and falls, her body—”
“All of Kunwu’s snow doves are your eyes and ears. I do not believe that on that day outside Separation’s Regret Heaven, not a single snow dove witnessed the scene. You could easily investigate, see if Xie Tanzhao herself did not tell me that she was pregnant.”
Reason told him this could not be so.
And yet—
No matter how he scrutinized Shi Lanyan’s face, he could find no hint of deceit or hesitation.
He stood rooted, as if a piercing cicada’s cry had drilled into his skull, shrill and unrelenting, stretching into an endless line of sound in his ears.
