My Husband’s Ascension C47
Chapter 47 Trust
Under the sharp sweep of the late-evening wind, the night howled as if a pack of beasts were unleashed.
To elude the watchful eyes of the great sects, Zhao Zhao and her companions did not soar with wind talismans, but instead pressed through the forest, letting the trees conceal their passage.
“…Ling Ling isn’t coming with us? If she stays behind alone, won’t she be in danger?” Rong Yu, mounted upon the celestial deer, cast anxious glances over his shoulder toward Cloudculm Abode
They had already traveled an hour from the sect, and even the grand halls and spires of the estate were fading from sight.
Ever since parting from the Demon Realm and encountering Yao Ling, he and Yao Ling had been inseparable. Even sleeping apart had only happened in the past few years, and he could not imagine a day without her by his side.
“She will be safe. Cloudculm Abode is the safest place right now,” Zhao Zhao replied.
The sect masters of the Seven Great Sects were all gathered there. No demon, specter, or malicious spirit could penetrate such defenses.
Even if the righteous of orthodox sects of the Cultivation Realm were hypocritical at times, they would never use Yao Ling’s safety as a means to coerce her.
Rong Yu’s gaze fell upon Zhao Zhao’s hair, tousled by the wind, and continued to plead, “Can’t we take her with us?”
He thought of Daoist Ming Jue as well. Just as when they had left Small Sword Pass as children, he had always believed that as long as they were together, whether fleeing or wandering, it would be enough.
Zhao Zhao pressed her lips, her voice calm yet resolute. “No. If we cannot return, Yao Ling will be the next Sect Master. The responsibility of Cloudculm Abode falls to her.”
Rong Yu froze, staring ahead. “Cannot return… what does that mean?”
Master said he was to lie low in Li Feng’s home at the Yao Realm, that it would be safe there…why then would they be unable to return?
Zhao Zhao’s thoughts were still turning over the question when Li Feng ahead abruptly halted. His brows drew together as he halted Zhao Zhao. “Someone is ahead.”
Instantly, Zhao Zhao felt her heart tighten. They were still far from the Yao Realm; to be discovered here would surely lead to a violent confrontation.
Yet—
“Master, you’re so unfair!”
From the shadowed undergrowth, a small squad emerged, dozens of figures stepping into view.
At the forefront was Zhongli Shun, his expression a stubborn mix of indignation and near-tears. “You don’t only have Rong Yu and Yao Ling as disciples. For something so important, how could you simply leave without saying a word to me? If I hadn’t eavesdropped, I would have woken tomorrow morning to find Master gone…”
The fourteen-year-old boy’s face was set in stubborn defiance. Though taller now, his expression retained the same mix of pride and pitiable earnestness he had shown as a child.
Zhao Zhao hurried to explain. “We did not tell you because we did not want the elders of Kunwu questioning you endlessly after we left. It was not our intention to hide it from you.”
Zhongli Shun’s face remained steeped in grievance. Xiao Bai, standing beside him, covered his mouth to stifle a laugh and reminded softly, “Yao Ling is also unaware of this matter. She’s still sound asleep at Moonlit Peak.”
At these words, Zhongli Shun’s pouting expression finally softened.
“…I’m not jealous of her, nor am I vying for affection,” he muttered. “If she doesn’t know, then she doesn’t know. You don’t need to bring it up to me.”
Li Feng scoffed. “Sure, sure. That face of yours clearly says, ‘I’m obviously Master’s most capable disciple.’ And yet you continue to pretend to be modest.”
The boy’s cheeks flushed. “I’m not—”
“Enough, enough,” Zhao Zhao interrupted firmly. “This is hardly a place for idle chatter. A’Shun, this matter does not concern you. Take your team and return at once.”
“How could it not concern us?” Zhongli Shun’s expression hardened. “We are disciples of Cloudculm Abode. No matter what they say about Rong Yu being some demon or Successor, to us he is one of our own.”
The Zhongli Clan sword cultivators behind him clamored to add:
“We will not hand over Junior Brother Rong Yu!”
“Those demons have long harassed our Cultivation Realm. How can we simply broker a hasty peace?”
“We cannot use Junior Brother Rong Yu as a bargaining tool. If the Seven Great Sects refuse war, then Cloudculm Abode will fight them ourselves!”
Li Feng watched with satisfaction, nodding. “Not bad indeed. The sect I favor hasn't entirely lost its backbone. Far better than those cowardly old immortals who value life over all. Wouldn’t you agree, Xie Tanzhao?”
Zhao Zhao gazed upon the determined young faces before her, her fingers tightening around the spatial pouch at her waist.
Her thoughts drifted back to what Daoist Ming Jue had said before she departed.
—After leaving the Divine Farmer Sect, these brittle bones had intended only to find a quiet place and await my end, never imagining I would take in such a troublesome disciple as you.
—In my younger days, the greatest trouble these brittle bones stirred was mere rivalry, which drove my senior brother, the previous Sect Master, into hasty ambition and alliance with Mount Ling, ultimately watching him become a human pillar. Yet you, my disciple, surpass even that, and your troubles are far greater.
—Alas, your Master has passed his prime and cannot, as other masters might, resolve these troubles for you. This item is called the Undying Wood (不死木). Should danger befall you, swallow it, and it will lend you strength.
The shadows of the trees danced, and the moonlight swayed across the ground.
Zhao Zhao lifted her head and slowly unfurled a smile. “Once this is over, we shall return to Beaconlight Mountain together.”
…
Before dawn broke, the sect masters stationed at Beaconlight Mountain had finally received word of the disappearance of the sect master of Cloudculm Abode.
“That mortal girl truly knows no sense of propriety!” Lord Tianxuan slammed the table and rose to his feet, anger written plainly across his face.
When they convened their discussions the day before, they had deliberately not summoned her, intending to gauge her stance.
Seeing no response from her side, he had assumed she was unaware of the matter of the Demon Realm’s Successor, and that she refrained from appearing in order to avoid suspicion and entanglement in their deliberations.
He had never imagined that her silence was not caution at all, but a ploy to lower their guard. The moment the situation turned unfavorable, she had truly taken her people and fled.
She was, at this point, a Sect Master in her own right. How could she dare to simply walk away?
“Where is her master? And her disciples? Have they all been questioned?” he demanded.
A disciple below bowed and replied, “We have asked. Her master claims ignorance, says he knows nothing of the matter. Of her three direct disciples, two are missing. As for the remaining one…”
“And the remaining one?” Lord Tianxuan pressed.
“She injured the three disciples sent to question her. One of them nearly had his ear bitten off. She also insisted on joining us to search for her master, and appears genuinely unaware of what has happened.”
Lord Tianxuan was stunned for a moment. Then his fury flared even hotter.
What manner of ill-mannered disciples had that mortal woman raised!?
However, there was no time to quarrel over such trivial matters. Lord Tianxuan immediately issued an order: the Demon Realm’s Successor taken away by Xie Tanzhao must be pursued and recovered at all costs.
The Sect Master of Polaris Confucian Sect arrived upon hearing the news. After listening to the full account, he hesitated for a long while before offering his counsel. “In truth… Lord Tianxuan need not be so enraged. If Miss Immortal Tanzhao has indeed taken the Demon Realm’s Successor away, we may handle the matter with a lighter hand. Dao Lord Tianshu has already made thorough arrangements for dealing with the Demon Realm. With or without this Successor, we are equally capable of wiping out the Demon Realm all the same.”
Lord Tianxuan fell silent at his words.
Of course he knew of Dao Lord Tianshu’s arrangements.
If the Dao Lord were still the man he once was, perhaps this matter truly could have been handled lightly. But—
His cultivation had fallen by an entire major realm. For the past seven years, his campaigns against the Demon Realm had relied solely on experience and the weight of his former renown, forcing his way through by sheer resolve.
And now he had entered Mount Ling alone, with no word of life or death to this day.
At times, Lord Tianxuan could not help but wonder whether this was a kind of mute, self-destructive defiance.
From childhood, it had been Lord Tianxuan who taught Dao Lord Tianshu that in this life, he needed to live only for the sword in his hand and for Kunwu beneath his feet. All else was illusion and excess.
And so now, even knowing his cultivation was no longer what it once had been, he still charged forward without retreat.
As though he were awaiting the day he might finally die beneath the weight of the duty and righteousness bestowed upon him at birth.
Lord Tianxuan hoped his misgivings were unfounded, yet he dared not gamble on that chance.
Dao Lord Tianshu was the pillar of Kunwu, the mainstay of the Cultivation Realm.
No matter what, he could not be allowed to fall.
“If there is a way to secure victory without sacrificing a single soldier,” Lord Tianxuan said slowly, “why choose the longer and bloodier path?”
He glanced sideways at the Sect Master beside him. “I have heard that Miss Immortal Lanyan is rather close to this Miss Immortal Tanzhao. Could it be that Polaris Sect Master, you have come to plead on her behalf because of your daughter’s entreaties?”
The Sect Master of Polaris Confucian Sect felt a cold sweat trickle down his back at Lord Tianxuan’s words. “Why, of course not—”
“Inform the sect masters of all sects: no matter what, they must be intercepted before they reach a place beyond our reach.”
The disciple bowed sharply. “Yes.”
The Sect Master of Polaris Confucian Sect let out a helpless sigh within.
With the combined elite of the Seven Great Sects, tracking someone was hardly difficult.
…
By the following afternoon, those sent out had already located the trail of Zhao Zhao and her companions.
“Please halt.” Lord Tianxuan, at the head of a large contingent, blocked their path in a mountain valley still fifty kilometers from the Yao Realm.
Zhao Zhao lifted her gaze and saw his figure looming against the light, dark and imposing above her line of sight.
Though his tone remained courteous, his voice carried an authority that brooked no dissent. “Miss Immortal Tanzhao, you are a sect master within the Cultivation Realm. You should act from the perspective of our realm. Surrender the Demon Realm’s Successor, and let this matter be as if it never occurred.”
On either side of the valley, the eye could barely make out the dense, thronging mass of cultivators.
Zhao Zhao stepped forward, placing herself squarely in front of Rong Yu. She steadied herself with effort and said, “The one who ought to think from the standpoint of the Cultivation Realm should be you, Lord Tianxuan.”
The figure standing above the valley narrowed his eyes.
“The Demon Realm’s Successor is not merely a symbol. He is a chosen vessel marked by the Demon Lord’s divine artifact, a powerhouse fated to command the myriad demons once he comes of age. To return him to the Demon Realm is nothing more than drinking poison to quench one’s thirst, leaving a calamity behind for the Cultivation Realm.” At this point, Zhao Zhao feared they might again turn to thoughts of killing Rong Yu, and hurriedly added, “The best course is to keep the Successor within Cloudculm Abode and guide him properly. When he grows up, his heart will surely incline toward the Cultivation Realm, and he will fight for us.”
From behind her, Rong Yu timidly poked out his head. “I’ll be good. I’ll listen to everything Master says. Whatever Master wants me to do, I’ll do it. Please don’t hurt my Master, and don’t send me back…okay?”
The crowd had long heard the title of Demon Realm’s Successor, yet none had expected the so-called Successor to be nothing more than a small child.
Only Lord Tianxuan remained unmoved. “Miss Immortal Tanzhao worries too much. The Demon Realm, like the Yao, the Ghost Realm, and the Mount Ling lineage, is long-lived and slow to mature. Before this Successor grows to an age where the Demon Realm can make use of him, we will already have eradicated the Demon Realm entirely, cutting off all future trouble.”
“Absolutely not!” Zhao Zhao’s voice rang firm as she clasped Rong Yu’s hand tightly. “The Demon Realm is ruthless. Do you know what would happen if you returned the Successor to them? They would cast him into the Dol Dhu Lokke*, using his blood to nourish the fiends within, then harvest those monsters to further enhance their own cultivation. The Demon Realm would only grow ever more formidable—”
(TLN: 万魔窟, or Dol Dhu Lokke, is a lair filled with countless demons.)
Though she had not witnessed this in her prophetic dreams, merely hearing fragments recounted from Rong Yu and Yao Ling years later left her heart chilled.
She could not imagine how Rong Yu, a timid boy who had once needed Yao Ling to accompany him even to the bathroom out of fear of ghost stories, could possibly survive in that Dol Dhu Lokke.
“Miss Immortal Tanzhao speaks in jest,” Lord Tianxuan remarked lightly. “These are mere suppositions, not reality. Rather than fret over a single child of the Demon Realm, should you not turn your concern to our Cultivation Realm’s warriors, who fight and bleed for survival?”
At that, Zhao Zhao abandoned any hope of reasoning further with him.
A sharp wind swept up from the northwest of the valley.
She exchanged a glance with Xiao Bai. “This way! Run!”
The group pressed against the wind, ascending swiftly through the valley. Naturally, the cultivators from above pursued in close formation, determined to intercept them before they could reach the Yao Realm.
Yet no sooner had they moved than a pale mist swept through the wind, carrying with it a fine powder. The disciples ahead, unprepared, inhaled it at once.
“…It is the incense of the Tushan Clan.”
The fox tribe’s alluring incense was no poison. It merely lulled its victims into unconsciousness, sending them into a deep, blissful slumber, filled with vivid dreams.
The antidotes they had taken in advance proved useless; they succumbed almost immediately. Still, the sheer number of disciples meant that even as the front fell, hundreds remained behind.
Lord Tianxuan, leading the charge, soared past the fallen and surged forward. Within moments, he closed in upon Zhao Zhao and her companions.
At the rear, Zhongli Shun lifted his gaze, seeing the Kunwu elder Lord Tianxuan looming near. Sweat beaded on his hand as he gripped his sword.
The gap between them was vast. Lord Tianxuan’s cultivation exceeded his by a full major realm, and he was over a thousand years older. There was no question he was outmatched.
Yet even a few moments’ resistance could buy precious time for Master.
Zhongli Shun gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and leapt forward.
Clang!
The sword he wielded, forged from Sunlit Blackiron, let out a foreboding shrill the instant it met Lord Tianxuan’s weapon.
A chill sank into Zhongli Shun’s heart.
It was hopeless. The disparity in their power was simply too great. Even risking his life, he could only withstand one blow.
Moreover, Tianxuan Jun had no patience to linger, his next attack would be unleashed at full strength.
The Kunwu elder’s sword reflected the unwillingness to yield in the boy’s gaze. Lord Tianxuan’s brow furrowed slightly.
Was this youth truly so ignorant? A sword cultivator not yet at the pinnacle of the second great realm, and he imagined he could withstand me?
“A’Shun!” At the sound of clashing blades, Zhao Zhao spun around. She saw Zhongli Shun with that reckless determination to fight to the death, and she called out urgently. “Fall back! I command you to fall back!”
But the usually obedient Zhongli Shun did not turn. He raised the sword Zhao Zhao had personally forged for him, his aura surging wildly, and swung it toward Lord Tianxuan with all his strength.
“Move aside.”
A voice, sharp and clear as jade striking jade, rang in his ears. Before Zhongli Shun could even react, a hand from a long sleeve embroidered with flowing cloud patterns pushed him gently, sending him stumbling toward Zhao Zhao.
Zhongli Shun regained his footing after a few faltering steps, staring in astonishment at the figure in midair, his voice trembling with elation. “It’s Dao Lord Tianshu! With Dao Lord Tianshu here, we have nothing to fear!”
Zhao Zhao did not even lift her head. Her brows knitted as she turned Zhongli Shun over with a quick sweep of her gaze, her rare sternness cutting through. “This must never happen again. I will not allow anyone to trade their life for another. Do you understand?”
Zhongli Shun’s euphoria dimmed slightly. Though scolded, he knew his Master’s anger came from concern. He grasped Zhao Zhao’s sleeve and gave it a small shake. “Understood, Master. Look over there, Dao Lord Tianshu alone can hold off Lord Tianxuan and the others. He’s incredible. We don’t need to keep running anymore.”
After confirming that Zhongli Shun was unharmed, she slowly lifted her head, her gaze complicated as it settled on the figure in midair, standing against Lord Tianxuan with surging, boundless spiritual power.
Really?
This time… could she truly place her trust in him?
Author’s Note: Of course you can’t trust him, my poor precious daughter TAT
