My Husband’s Ascension Ch 9
Chapter 9 Familiar Strangers
The disciples of the Immortal Realm of Kunwu, along with several shamans led by Mount Ling’s veiled Wu-Shaman, settled into the largest inn at Small Sword Pass.
It wasn’t that Zhao Zhao had gone out of her way to pry—she had only strolled once around the town’s marketplace, yet everywhere she went, the same news was being passed along: Dao Lord Tianshu himself had led his disciples here.
Such pomp and grandeur was no less than that of a mortal emperor’s procession.
“—Aren’t they your acquaintances? Not going to go up and say hello?”
At Li Feng’s words, Zhao Zhao’s heart gave a sudden thud.
She lowered her head. “…What are you trying to imply?”
“You felt that pain in your chest just now, didn’t you? Don’t bother denying it. Yao and cultivators are linked by mutual resonance. Your lover must be among those Kunwu disciples!”
The dog yao lifted his head high, striding with confidence, thinking himself especially clever for once. His brown eyes glinted with self-satisfaction.
“The first time I saw you, I caught that unique scent of acronychia pedunculata clinging to you—it’s seeped so deep it’s practically emanating from your pores. If you’re not from Kunwu, then what sect could you belong to?”
Unique scent of acronychia pedunculata?
Zhao Zhao couldn’t help raising her hand to sniff at herself. She didn’t smell a thing.
“Mm… aside from the acronychia pedunculata, there’s also a faint trace of incense… Huh? Seems to be coming from right nearby—”
“Whose dog yao is this, wandering around without a Immortal-Sealing Rope!”
At the sound of that familiar voice, Zhao Zhao spun around, and sure enough, she glimpsed a figure in rouge-colored robes.
Each with a candied hawthorn skewer in hand, Yao Ling and Rong Yu tilted their heads curiously toward the female cultivator who looked as though Li Feng had nearly startled her into leaping up on the spot.
Zhao Zhao met her gaze, dazed for a moment. Then she smiled and said,
“It’s been a long time, Miss Immortal Lanyan.”
Even though Shi Lanyan’s face was veiled by gauzy silk, to those who knew her, recognizing her was no challenge.
She looked at Zhao Zhao, unable to muster a smile, her eyes layered with complicated emotions.
“…So you really are here.”
Guessing what she was displeased about, Zhao Zhao quickly clarified, “I only said I would keep my distance from him of my own accord. But if he insists on intruding into my domain, you can’t expect me to roam the world and settle nowhere, can you?”
When she spoke that last line, Zhao Zhao deliberately allowed a hint of grievance to shine through her already pitiful eyes. Even though Shi Lanyan was a woman herself, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of sympathy.
“…If only I could,” she folded her arms and gave a sharp snort through her nose, “but I fear certain opportunists will sooner or later strip my sect bare.”
Zhao Zhao blinked in feigned innocence. “How could that be?”
Casting a glance at the dog yao by Zhao Zhao’s feet and the two children crunching noisily on candied hawthorn, Shi Lanyan remarked, “A few days apart, and it seems you’ve already gone through quite a bit. Disregarding the dog yao, where did these two children come from?”
Zhao Zhao gave a simple account of what had happened since arriving at Cloudculm Abode.
“…I intend to settle long-term in Small Sword Pass. Yet today I suddenly saw Kunwu’s people appear—does Miss Immortal Lanyan know what business they have here?”
At this, Shi Lanyan’s expression clearly worsened.
“What else could it be? I’ve no idea what kind of beguiling brew that histrionic Wu-Shaman from Mount Ling poured into Tianshu’s ears, but he actually agreed to open the Blessed Land* of Langhuan north of Small Sword Pass!”
(TLN: “Blessed lands” (Fudi, 福地) are thought to be “earthly paradises that do not suffer from floods, wars, epidemics, illnesses, old age or death”. Daoism recognizes 72 Blessed Lands, each with their own documented name and location. Source: https://journeytothewestresearch.com/tag/blessed-lands/)
According to Shi Lanyan, within the vast seas and wilderness of the cultivation world, where spiritual energy gathered thickest, there existed many grotto-heavens* and blessed lands.
(TLN: Grotto-heavens (洞天, Dòngtiān) are sacred Daoist sites that were believed to be dwellings of immortals, located between heaven and earth and often depicted with colorful clouds, flowers, peach trees, and fragrant grasses.)
Ten thousand years ago, when the cultivation world first opened, the earliest generation of cultivators traveled far and wide. Whenever they discovered an unclaimed treasure ground, they would set a seal upon it, leaving it for the disciples of their sect.
The Seven Great Sects of the cultivation world were precisely those who held the greatest number of grotto-heavens and blessed lands, which showed how vital these resources were.
And to allow such lands to recuperate and flourish, the more strategically important the location, the longer the seal would remain unopened, so as to curb reckless pursuit of immediate advantage.
This generation’s Dao Lord Tianshu enforced it all the more thoroughly.
A thousand years ago, when Kunwu fell into crisis, they had once opened the Blessed Land of Langhuan for a hundred days, suffering immense losses. For this reason, even though the place was one of the foremost paradisiacal lands of the cultivation world, in the thousand years since Dao Lord Tianshu ascended to his seat, he had never once considered reopening Langhuan.
Yet after Mount Ling’s Wu-Shaman and Wu-Shaman Xie had spent but a few hours in Separation’s Regret Heaven, word had spread that the Dao Lord had agreed to unseal the Blessed Land of Langhuan. What was even more startling—the Dao Lord had not only allowed the veiled Wu-Shaman to stay in Kunwu, but had even brought her along to the Blessed Land of Langhuan.
When Shi Lanyan had heard the news at Polaris Confucian Sect, she had nearly fainted from fury.
After hearing her explanation, Zhao Zhao suddenly understood and nodded. “I see…”
Glancing at Shi Lanyan’s impotent rage, Zhao Zhao blinked.
“So the reason you came here… is because you’re jealous?”
“...Of course not!” Shi Lanyan denied it at once. “The sects of the cultivation world must all keep abreast of one another’s rise and decline. I came to investigate what Kunwu stands to gain from entering Langhuan—don’t mistake me for one of those women who can do nothing but grow jealous and stir up trouble.”
Naturally, what mattered more was discerning Mount Ling’s true intentions.
The Ten Wu-Shamans of Mount Ling had always stood apart from the sects of the cultivation world, their ways shrouded in secrecy. Though they had never wrought havoc upon the realms, they were hardly harmless; it was best to be wary.
Yet this was a matter the mortal girl could not be made privy to.
Shi Lanyan thought so, and when she lifted her gaze, she met the girl’s wide, beaming smile.
“Of course. Miss Immortal Lanyan, with your elegance, wisdom, and capability, how could you possibly be a petty, jealous woman, forever nursing envy?”
This mortal girl’s tongue was still as sweet as ever.
Shi Lanyan accepted the flattery without the slightest shame, deliberately forgetting how, after her encounter with the veiled Wu-Shaman, she had been so incensed she could neither eat nor sleep, vowing one day to make the woman kneel and beg for mercy.
“Well, since fate brings us together, though I don’t understand why you would choose such a shabby, impoverished sect, and pick up these two shabby, impoverished children…but forget it. I am in a generous mood today. Let me gift you two with a meeting present.”
At that moment, Shi Lanyan had no inkling of the gravity of what she was doing. With great magnanimity, she asked, “Tell me, what do you want?”
What could children want?
At most, some food, some toys.
If they were ordinary children, that would indeed be the case. But Shi Lanyan did not know—before her stood one who would one day slay Dao Lord Tianshu and become the top cultivator of all orthodox sects, and another who would command a million demonic cultivators as the Demon Clan’s rightful heir.
Biting down the last mouthful of hawthorn, Yao Ling mumbled, “Anything at all?”
“So long as it can be bought with spirit stones.”
“Oh…” Yao Ling thought back to how curtly this Miss Immortal had treated Zhao Zhao, then opened her opportunist mouth wide. “Then I’ll thank Miss Immortal kindly for the Immortal-Grade Resplendence Seven-Treasured[1] Jeweled Yingluo!”
(TLN: Yingluo (璎珞) is a ring-shaped neck ornament of Buddhist origin that later evolved into an actual elegant necklace and became widely worn in Chinese society.)
Shi Lanyan: ??
“A’Yu, what is it that you desire?”
Yao Ling bent close, pressing her ear to Rong Yu’s lips. Rong Yu, brimming with delight, whispered, “I want a big drumstick.”
Yao Ling nodded earnestly, then turned to Shi Lanyan and, without the faintest trace of guilt, declared, “He says he wants a Great Miluo Gang Protective Array. Many thanks, Miss Immortal.”
(TLN: The Great Miluo Gang is a Daoist protective and ritual array, used in major ceremonies for spiritual ascent, blessings, and protection. Its performance is highly structured, involving specific rituals, arrays, and spiritual tools, and it exists in multiple variations depending on the purpose of the ritual.)
Shi Lanyan: “…”
Shi Lanyan: “Xie Tanzhao! These two disciples—both picked this bad habit up from you, did they?!”
In the end, unwilling to lose face, Shi Lanyan ultimately purchased what they demanded and thrust them with no small malice into Zhao Zhao’s hands.
“There is also within this a vial of face-altering pills. Though Tianshu has entered Small Sword Pass on his own, you are not to take the initiative to recognize him—got it?”
Zhao Zhao had only just been fretting over whether she should prepare such identity-concealing elixirs for unforeseen needs, yet here was Shi Lanyan delivering them straight into her hands.
Zhao Zhao’s words were heartfelt, “Miss Immortal, you truly are a merciful Bodhisattva.”
“…Spare me your flattery! I shall not be deceived again!”
As Shi Lanyan stormed off in a blaze of indignation, Zhao Zhao lowered her eyes, exchanged a glance with Yao Ling, and could not restrain her laughter.
Even after she had laughed her fill along the way, Zhao Zhao still found it necessary to admonish Yao Ling. “Next time, you must not act so again. When others, out of kindness, offer you gifts, you cannot so brazenly ask for such expensive items. It’s highly improper.”
Yao Ling clasped Zhao Zhao’s hand, each of them holding a big chicken leg, gnawing away until their faces shone with grease. “I wouldn’t act this way toward anyone else. It’s only that Miss Immortal treated you poorly, looking down on you… Though, she doesn’t seem to be a truly ill-intentioned person. I won’t do it again next time.”
A peculiar light flickered in Zhao Zhao’s eyes. “You mean… you did it for my sake?”
“Of course.” The little girl’s lips were glossy with oil, yet her childish voice was firm. “Jiejie, rest assured—so long as you are willing to take me as your disciple, once I’ve grown up, I will surely protect you.”
Rong Yu, too, raised his hand and leapt up high, his cheeks stuffed full as he incoherently said, “Me too! Me too!”
Two tender, youthful faces—no matter how one searched, one could only glimpse faint traces of the resolute bearing they might possess when they were grown up.
Yet.
Even so…
The warmth that flowed from those two small hands clasping her own felt utterly steadfast.
Zhao Zhao, her chest brimming with surging warmth, gave a soft laugh.
“Then eat heartily, and grow swiftly, so that you may one day protect me.”
…
The moon shone bright and the stars were sparse; in the countryside, along the winding paths, the first faint chirring of cicadas heralded the turn from spring to summer.
Just as Rong Yu was pestering her with, “Why does the moon follow us wherever we go?”, Li Feng, having regained his human form, suddenly halted in his steps.
“Wait.”
His voice carried a hint of solemnity, and in an instant, Zhao Zhao too was roused to vigilance.
“What is it?”
The dog yao narrowed his gaze, carefully discerning the motes drifting in the night air. Pressing his lips together, he murmured, “…There is the stench of blood.”
Dark clouds smothered the moonlight, and not far ahead, Cloudculm Abode lay shrouded beneath a pall of shadow.
For a heartbeat, Zhao Zhao stood frozen.
Then the meaning of Li Feng’s words struck her—blood surged backwards through her veins, pounding against her skull until it threatened to split.
“Could it be some evil spirit… We must proceed with—Xie Tanzhao! Where are you running off to?!”
Without so much as a glance back, Zhao Zhao cried out, “Guard Yao Ling and Rong Yu well!”
The night wind roared past her ears as she ran—faster, and still faster.
Why had she chosen this very night to leave the sect? Why had she insisted on bringing Li Feng along? Why, upon glimpsing those men of Kunwu within the city walls, had she failed to immediately turn back and hasten to their sect?
Was it because, deep within, some part of her still clung to expectation—because she had never truly believed that Xie Lanshu could slay without cause?
Upon the breeze drifted the faint tang of rust.
At the gates of Cloudculm Abode, Zhao Zhao came to a halt.
A stray wind swept aside the pall of cloud. Moonlight, cold as frost, poured down upon the tall figure standing motionless within the sect’s entrance.
Drip.
Drip.
From the keen edge of the blade in his hand, dark-red blood fell, bead by bead, striking the earth below.
That man seemed to hear her footsteps. He slowly turned, his robe, as pale as silver frost beneath the moonlight, already spattered with blood—blood that also stained his cold, jade-white face. Like crimson blossoms blooming upon snow, it burned fiercely in the heart of winter.
His vacant gaze settled upon Zhao Zhao.
That face—one she knew she could never forget, even unto death.
“So it truly… is you…”
The young man’s ears twitched slightly.
Her voice, pressed from her throat, was distorted by the weight of grief and shock, yet in the very first instant, he still grasped an inkling of the truth.
His sword-like brows drew faintly together. The hem of his snow-white robe skimmed over the sullied ground as he took a step toward Zhao Zhao.
In that moment, Zhao Zhao produced her Karmic Fire Lotus Parasol.
She knew her cultivation was far from a match for Xie Lanshu, yet how could she simply turn and flee?
Before departing, Daoist Ming Jue had still been thinking about his alchemy furnace.
A mere sect master of a destitute little sect—what could he possibly have done to make Xie Lanshu deem him worthy of slaughter?
She had already lost one home. And now, would even the place she had just gained be torn from her hands?
The brows of the snow-clad Dao Lord knitted faintly, as though sensing something. The sword in his grasp cut through the silent night with a chilling brilliance—
In the blink of an eye, the sword light* was already before her.
(TLN: Sword light (剑光) is a dazzling, powerful energy attack released from the edge of a blade. Forming Sword light generally requires a profound cultivation base and a deep mastery of swordsmanship.)
The bloodstained gale carried a pure and unyielding killing intent. Yet it swept forth with the effortless grace of moonlight and a spring breeze, light yet immeasurably heavy.
Unlike when she had exchanged blows with Li Feng before, this strike was utterly different. Zhao Zhao scarcely had time to draw breath, much less evade—already she was crushed beneath the weight of that sword intent, unable to move even a fraction.
Was he—
going to kill her?
In the depths of her pupils, the reflection of the young man was utterly devoid of emotion.
Never had Zhao Zhao conceived the possibility that he might seek her death. Even when he had spoken of crippling her cultivation, she had clung to the faintest sliver of hope, that at the very least, he would not demand her life.
Yet now…
Zhao Zhao’s lashes quivered as she clenched her eyes shut, her entire body trembling, bracing herself for the arrival of death.
Squelch—
The sound of steel piercing flesh resounded by her ear.
“Hahaha… Dao Lord, you show far too little concern for the delicate. Our sect’s young maiden was frightened pale by you.”
Zhao Zhao’s eyes flew open.
Her lashes still glistened with tears as she stared in disbelief at the figure stepping forth from the shade of the trees.
It was unmistakably the same white-bearded elder, smiling with genial ease. Not a thread of his robe had been marred, and whole and hale he cupped his hands in salute toward Dao Lord Tianshu.
“Many thanks for Dao Lord Tianshu’s intervention. Were it not for your timely aid, this brittle bone’s life would surely have ended here today.”
He was… alive!?
Zhao Zhao parted her lips in astonishment, unable to make sense of the scene before her.
That sword just now—
She lowered her head and felt over her own body. Whole, unharmed, without the least sign of a bloodied wound.
Turning back, she beheld—
“AHH—!!!”
Zhao Zhao stumbled backward in fright, several steps at a time, until she collided with the chest behind her and came to a halt.
It was then she realized that, at some unknown moment, a grotesque monster with bulging eyes had appeared behind her. Its head was impaled by a sword and pinned to the gate of Cloudculm Abode.
The creature was enormous, its jagged gnashers capable of swallowing two of her at once, yet it moved with utter silence. A chill ran down her spine; had that strike come even a moment later—
“The evil yao is no more. You need not worry.”
A deep, gentle voice resonated from above. Zhao Zhao froze, only now realizing that, in her terror, she had instinctively pressed against him, her posture alarmingly close to an embrace.
Snapping out of it, she immediately backed several steps, finally stopping after creating a proper distance.
Her heart pounded like a war drum.
She was done for! She was discovered!
He had said she could not cultivate; today, she had been caught red-handed. Would her newly acquired, tenuous cultivation now all be destroyed?
Daoist Ming Jue, unaware of the private enmity between the two, stepped forward upon seeing Zhao Zhao unharmed. “Dao Lord’s eyes, though wounded by the miasma, need not be of great concern. These crippled bones, though unskilled in combat, specialize in the Divine Farmer Dao; such matters can indeed be remedied. Alas, and that evil yao’s attack was far too underhanded.”
Eyes?
Zhao Zhao stared blankly at the snow-clad Dao Lord.
Only now did she notice that, though his eyes were fixed on her, they seemed to focus on nothing at all.
“Mm… my thanks to you, Daoist,” she said.
Yet, even if he saw nothing, those cold, crystal-like eyes remained locked in her direction, as if intent on probing and uncovering the vague silhouette before him.
“Miss Immortal—” The blood-streaked young man asked in a gentle tone, “Earlier, you mentioned, ‘So it truly… is you’. Could you clarify its meaning?”
“Where might we have previously met?”
TL Note: Ok, I have enough stockpiled so advance chapters are now available if you would like to support me in exchange for reading ahead. There are two POS locations, one is my patreon, the other is the Novel Shop on this site. No pressure though, if you don’t have monetary means, writing a comment below and/or turning off adblock also means a lot!! ε(´｡•᎑•`)っ 💕
Chapters will still update on time, as old readers of mine know, I never hog chapters.
Anyways, thanks so much for tuning in!
Footnote:
[1] Seven-treasured Jeweled (七宝) - Or ‘seven treasures’, are seven different precious stones mentioned in the sutras. However, they differ among the Buddhist scriptures. According to the Lotus Sutra, the seven are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl, and carnelian. They represent worldly wealth transformed into sacred beauty, combining both material richness and spiritual significance.
