My Husband’s Ascension C49
Chapter 49 Unbridled
Li Feng and Xiao Bai, trapped amid the battlefield, felt their divine senses reverberate with a force that made their internal organs ache as though being crushed.
Yet in the very next instant, the pain, along with the long-standing bonds that had bound them, were abruptly wrenched from their bodies.
Their yao familiar contracts had been broken.
Simultaneously, a dreadful understanding dawned upon them, and their faces twisted with terror.
“Reinforcements from the Yao Realm have come!”
A shout rang out, and every gaze turned instinctively toward the border.
Two contingents soared upon the wind, stirring clouds of dust that blotted the sky. At a glance, it seemed as though a thousand armies had arrived, causing the demon ranks here to falter in disarray.
With no general present, none could issue orders; though their numbers were great, the situation became perilous.
Tushan Long, perched atop her lavish sedan, remained ostentatious, her eyes sweeping across the surroundings. “Where is Xie Tanzhao? Was she not pleading in her letter for me to come save her? Why don’t I see—”
“Something's happened to her!”
Li Feng tore a path of blood through the formation, and even Xiao Bai trailing behind had eyes rimmed with red.
“Our yao contracts broke of their own accord… Master, she—”
At that, Tushan Long sensed calamity, her voice sharp: “What are you waiting for? Move, now!”
The demon army, bereft of its commander, was no more than a scattered heap of sand. With the Verdant Highlands’ fox clan and the Yao Realm’s canine tribes joining the fray, the restrained cultivators finally found themselves able to break free, racing without pause alongside Li Feng and the others toward the Demon Realm border.
Lord Tianxuan, his eyes shadowed and somber, watched their backs and followed in silence.
The closer they drew to the Demon Realm border, the stronger the scent of blood that hung in the air. The iron tang of it swept up fallen leaves and dust alike, a foreboding aura of slaughter thickening with every step.
At last, they arrived where Dao Lord Tianshu and Zhao Zhao were stationed.
“That’s—”
A lone figure, radiating overwhelming spiritual power, held countless demons at bay, suspended in midair like a monument that could never fall.
To behold that silhouette was to feel a sudden, involuntary reassurance, as though the world itself had a firm anchor.
Only Lord Tianxuan pushed through the crowd, eyes wide in alarm. “Hurry, stop him at once! He has linked his life to the barrier; if he is not halted, he will not survive this day!”
At these words, chaos erupted. Hands flailed, voices rose, and all surged forward in frantic haste.
Some poured spiritual power into support, while others leapt skyward, aiming to sever the bond between the Dao Lord and the barrier.
Amid the turmoil, the disciples of Cloudculm Abode approached the sudden swath of verdancy that had appeared so incongruously here.
Amid the swirling yellow sands of the border, a patch of delicate, tender grass had taken root in the loose soil. A figure in robes of vivid green lay entwined with that verdancy, her long black hair like silk scattered with a few wildflowers, as if tiny ornaments had been woven into her tresses.
She rested on her side, a wooden spike clenched tightly in her hands, having pierced the demon general beneath her completely through. To the casual eye, it seemed only as though she had succumbed to exhaustion.
Yet the little boy pressed against her, weeping as though he might pour out some vital piece of himself along with his sorrow.
In that instant, Li Feng and the others understood.
He halted abruptly, the courage to take the final steps forward almost deserting him.
…
“Dao Lord… Dao Lord…”
Behind him, the corpses of demons lay heaped like mountains.
Disciples from the seven sects took over the final work of cleansing, extinguishing the lingering ambitions of the demon army.
The figure that had just been dragged back from the barrier stirred, heavy eyelids lifting slightly.
Countless familiar and unknown faces swirled before him as something sharp within his body churned, stirring a nausea-tinged revulsion.
His eyes, translucent as glazed glass, shifted mechanically. “Where… is she?”
His voice was as calm and drifting as flowing clouds, yet it drew an instant hush over all around him.
Everyone knew exactly whom he spoke of, yet not a soul dared answer. No one even dared glance in that direction.
Nevertheless, Dao Lord Tianshu noticed the movement from that direction.
Amid the yellowed windswept sands, the piercing sound of Rong Yu's crying reached him, reminding him of her voice long since vanished.
—I beg of you…I beg you to save him…
—If you’re willing to save him, I’ll agree to any condition!
—Whether it’s crippling my cultivation or never stepping into the Cultivation Realm again, anything is fine! I’m begging you…
A sharp, bone-deep ache stabbed through his mind.
He had heard her.
Every word, every sentence, every quivering note of her sobs; he heard them all with perfect clarity as she cried out for him.
But then, he had been unable to move. A barrier such as that, one that drained the very life force of those within it, could not be halted without outside interference once it had been drawn.
And so, he could do nothing but listen to her desperate, heart-wrenching cries for aid, unable to move even a finger.
The memory was so unbearable that he almost wished Dao Lord Tianshu could erase it entirely from his mind.
When he returned to himself, he had already passed through the crowd, standing before Zhao Zhao.
Rong Yu clung to his Master, unwilling to let go, while the arctic fox, tears restrained, carefully pried apart the woman’s fingers from the wooden spike. Her resolve had been unshakably firm, the strength with which she gripped the spike as though she sought to transform herself into a blade.
A faint crack resounded.
In his desperate attempt to remove the spike from her hand, Xiao Bai had inadvertently bent one of Zhao Zhao’s fingers at an unnatural angle, the sound sharp and crisp.
He froze for a moment, then hurriedly stammered, “Forgive me… forgive me, Master! I didn’t mean to hurt y—”
Before the words had fully left his lips, a flash of sword light swept through, and a roaring torrent of spiritual energy unleashed a sudden gale, tossing both Xiao Bai and Rong Yu unprepared into the air.
Li Feng understood what Dao Lord Tianshu intended and stepped forward, seeking to reclaim Zhao Zhao’s body from his grasp. “Let her go! You were right there beside her and did nothing! You have no right to touch her!”
“You are her yao familiar. I will not harm you.” His voice fell softly, like snow drifting to earth, emotion restrained and distant. Only when the woman’s body settled into his arms did the faintest stir of feeling cross him.
Though newly dead, her body remained pliant. Aside from the long streak of blood on her cheek and the pale wash of her lips, she seemed merely asleep.
Dao Lord Tianshu raised his hand, pouring the remainder of his spiritual power into her body, while gently holding the finger that had been bent, carefully straightening it.
So deathly afraid of pain was she that, if she woke and realized her finger was gone, how could she bear it without crying?
If he weren’t her yao familiar, he might very well have wanted to kill that arctic fox on the spot.
“Single Intent Sword…the Single Intent Sword has been drawn!” From the back of the crowd, Lord Tianxuan pushed through, eyes fixed on the silver blade that had blocked Li Feng. His aged gaze shone with unbridled joy.
“Good! Excellent! Wonderful! You can finally wield the Single Intent Sword again! Truly marvelous!” Lord Tianxuan looked at the sword as a fervent devotee might gaze upon the supreme god, awe and rapture mingling in every line of his face.
His guess had been correct.
Once that mortal woman died, Dao Lord Tianshu could overcome the tribulation of affection!
Once he could grasp the Single Intent Sword again, even if his cultivation had fallen a full major realm, reclaiming the summit would be only a matter of time.
Those around him were left utterly bewildered.
What exactly did Lord Tianxuan mean by “finally wield the Single Intent Sword again”?
Had Dao Lord Tianshu previously fought the demons without ever being able to draw his sword?
Yet the Dao Lord himself took no notice of anything around him.
…So noisy.
…Was the world always this loud?
Li Feng, still barred by the Single Intent Sword, continued to shout for him to release Zhao Zhao, while Lord Tianxuan’s laughter erupted from his chest, sharp and grating.
Spiritual energy poured ceaselessly into the woman’s body, yet it was like water flowing into sand—no response came.
Why is there no response?
Why won’t she open her eyes?
Why was it that she was forced into silence, while those greedy exploiters could gape their mouths wide and clamor without the slightest restraint?
“…Why?” The Dao Lord, holding the woman in green robes, slowly lifted his head. A strange smile curved his features.
Albeit, it scarcely resembled a smile at all, as though a statue meant to be pure and transcendent, yet unable to conceal the corruption within, some viscous, murky thing pressing to break through the ornate exterior, clawing its way from the deepest core.
“She is dead… why are you still alive?”
The triumphant smile on Lord Tianxuan’s face froze abruptly.
Yet Dao Lord Tianshu continued with his smile. “Before you left, I made you swear an oath, commanded you to take others to aid her. And yet, she, a cultivator who had only reached the second major realm, was able to singlehandedly slay Demon General Li Ying while you…an elder of the sect, already at the Third Great Realm of Mystical Foundation Dao… emerged unscathed?
His gaze swept across all present. “Why is it that every one of you walks away unscathed?”
Under his terrifying aura, those gathered could not help but hold their breath.
The disciples of the seven sects, shielded by Lord Tianxuan, had suffered only minor injuries. The disciples of Cloudculm Abode had been hurt more severely, but with Zhao Zhao previously tending to their wounds, all were whole and unharmed.
“—It was you who broke your promise and deceived us!” Zhongli Shun’s voice trembled with tears. His eyes, once ever full of reverence and awe, now glared at Dao Lord Tianshu with bitter fury. “Master has been waiting for you all along! Why did you not come? You knew they loathed Master; Lord Tianxuan never gave his all; at first, he even brought only half of his men!”
His voice choked with emotion, he pressed on, “Just a little longer and everything would have been fine! Even the Tushan Clan matriarch, once hostile to my Master, came to help her! You promised! You promised! Why did you go back on your words?”
“……”
Indeed. Why did he go back on his words?
His pale fingers brushed against the woman’s face, now dimming in his arms. The long streak of blood on her cheek no longer seeped outward. No matter how much spiritual power he poured into her, the last remnants of her warmth were fading, growing steadily colder.
She loved beauty so; back in Yunmeng Pier, her makeup could crowd the entire vanity.
How could such a scar now mar her face?
“Disciples of the Divine Farmer Sect, where are you?”
As though called out before some terrible enemy, the disciples shivered, trembling as they answered.
They feared that the Dao Lord might be commanding them to restore the woman’s life, for by any measure, her meridians were exhausted, her death absolute.
“Would you…be able to heal this wound upon her face?” The Dao Lord’s voice was gentle, as if nothing were amiss.
The singled-out Divine Farmer disciple dared a bold glance. “Y-Yes…”
He inclined his head. “Thank you for your effort.”
…It was all too eerie.
None present could find comfort in the Dao Lord’s soft, courteous smile.
For the disciples of Cloudculm Abode, his current countenance might not be so terrifying. But the disciples of Kunwu had witnessed him seven years prior, slaying the shamans of Mount Ling before the hall.
Then, too, his smile had been this warm.
Yet it had not prevented the swift rise and fall of his sword, severing dozens of heads with ease.
Lord Tianxuan instinctively felt an immense threat closing in.
But what could Dao Lord Tianshu do to him?
Like the other elders of Kunwu, he had carefully instructed him from the very first day the Dao Lord had arrived at Kunwu.
Though the Dao Lord’s nominal master had been the former Sect Master, in truth, each elder had acted as his mentor, raising him with a father’s care.
“…I did swear the oath of my heart, and I did aid her as I promised, but I never guaranteed that her wishes would be fulfilled.” Lord Tianxuan’s gaze remained steady on the corpse in Dao Lord Tianshu’s arms. “To turn oneself into such a state for the sake of a Demon Successor… she was foolish. I cannot, for her selfish desires, risk the lives of these disciples.”
After a long moment, a low laugh echoed from across him.
The sound, so incongruous with his careful embrace of the corpse, made it all the more unsettling.
Lord Tianxuan asked uneasily, “What is Dao Lord laughing at?”
It took Dao Lord Tianshu a while to suppress it. When he spoke, his voice was soft, “I am merely thinking… perhaps it was indeed I who was wrong.”
“…What?”
“It was I who clung to those useless duties, unwilling to love her with my whole heart. That is why my sword-heart wavered, why I could not draw the Single Intent Sword, why today I was trapped by these demon foot soldiers, powerless to save her.” He spoke each word deliberately, then murmured them again, as if to himself, “The reason she died…was because I refused to love her.”
Lord Tianxuan’s brow furrowed tightly. “Nonsense! That is her own doing!”
Dao Lord Tianshu lifted his gaze, eyes alight with a strange exhilaration, and asked, “Lord Tianxuan, do you know why I am able to draw the Single Intent Sword once more?”
Lord Tianxuan gave a soft, contemptuous laugh.
The reason no longer mattered. So long as Dao Lord could grasp the Single Intent Sword again, ascend, and attain enlightenment, the position of Immortal Realm of Kunwu would be secured for all eternity.
With Dao Lord Tianshu and his Single Intent Sword, Kunwu would never again fall to the degradation it suffered a thousand years past.
For this sole aim, for countless generations to come, Lord Tianxuan cared not what cost he might bear.
Suddenly, an unbearably fearsome aura erupted. In that instant, Lord Tianxuan’s eyes widened, and he blurted out, “Dao Lord, you must not! You must never bear the sin of slaying your elder—”
Lord Tianxuan’s words faltered before reaching their end.
Blood sprayed forth as the peerlessly sharp Single Intent Sword struck; its movement simple, its killing intent pure. Just as Dao Lord Tianshu had been taught in childhood, with no stray thought in his heart, he severed Lord Tianxuan’s head, and with it, shattered Lord Tianxuan’s grand fantasy.
A sin that must never be borne?
There was no such thing.
From this moment on, he was bound by nothing.
