Free Web NovelChapter 25: 25. Ashen Ridge Town
Stepping out of the heavy, intoxicating warmth of Master’s sanctuary, the crisp, freezing air of the supreme peak instantly cleared my clouded mind.
I adjusted my travel robes, ensuring my composure was completely restored before raising two fingers to my lips and releasing a sharp, piercing whistle that echoed across the vast sea of clouds.
Within seconds, the sky above shattered. A magnificent beast descended from the heavens, landing gracefully onto the jade-paved courtyard.
It was my personal mount, the Frostwing Qilin. Its massive body was covered in glittering, azure scales that radiated a terrifying, sub-zero aura, while its broad, crystalline wings folded neatly against its muscular flanks.
I leaped onto its broad back, settling firmly into the silver-threaded saddle. With a powerful thrust of its hind legs, the Frostwing Qilin launched us into the sky, leaving the towering pavilion of my master far behind in the mist.
The flight toward Ashen Ridge Town offered a breathtaking view of the sect’s sprawling territory.
As we bypassed the strict aerial borders of the outer region, the majestic landscape of the cultivation world completely transformed beneath us.
Looking down from the back of the qilin, an endless expanse of ancient, vibrant forests stretched out like a vast jade sea, their massive canopies swaying like a green ocean under the violent winds of our high-altitude passage. Winding through the lush valleys were deep rivers of highly concentrated spiritual water, glistening like silver veins under the bright sunlight and casting a radiant glow through the dense mist that naturally clung to the damp earth.
Every so often, massive, crumbling stone monoliths from forgotten eras floated silently above the mountain ranges, serving as monumental landmarks that marked the boundary between the sect’s heavily guarded borders and the vast neutral zones beyond.
We traveled at breakneck speeds for roughly three hours before the dense cloud cover finally broke, revealing our destination nestled heavily into the jagged cliffs ahead.
Ashen Ridge Town was not merely a simple settlement; it was a colossal, bustling metropolis that served as the primary trading hub for the entire southern domain.
The city earned its name from the surrounding landscape, a magnificent, prehistoric volcanic mountain range where the jagged crags were layered in deep charcoal obsidian and shimmering grey slate.
This geological marvel gave the entire region a ghostly, majestic ashen appearance, wrapped perpetually in a high-density spiritual fog that drifted through the canyons like pale stardust.
It was also the designated epicenter for the grandest event of this century.
It was here that the spatial boundaries were thinning, serving as the celestial anchoring point for the imminent opening of the ancient ruins: a completely detached minor world overflowing with primordial energy and lost inheritances that only materialized once every few hundred years.
As the Frostwing Qilin touched down heavily outside the towering northern gates, a massive cloud of freezing mist swept across the cobblestone pavilion.
I leaped down from the silver saddle, casually waving my hand to recall the majestic beast into my spatial spirit ring before proceeding on foot.
Walking through the massive iron archway of Ashen Ridge Town, the sheer volume of humanity hit me like a physical wall. The lower tiers of the city were built entirely from dark, volcanic stone, reinforced with glowing crimson runes to withstand the ambient heat of the earth.
Grand, multi-tiered pagodas stretched into the sky, their dark tiled roofs dusted with light grey mineral deposits. The air was thick and deeply immersive, saturated with the rich, heavy scents of roasting spiritual beast meat, burning charcoal from high-grade blacksmith foundries, and the bitter, invigorating aroma of raw medicinal herbs being traded openly on the streets.
My spiritual sense naturally swept over the bustling crowds, quickly analyzing the local power dynamics. While there were certainly a few hidden experts lurking in the shadows of the upper pavilions, the vast majority of the cultivators walking these lower streets were agonizingly weak.
Almost everyone I passed was stuck at the very beginning of the martial path, securely trapped within the foundational Body Tempering Realm.
Their attire was just as varied as their shallow cultivation bases. Glancing around the packed marketplace, I noticed rogue mercenaries wearing heavily patched leather armor, wandering scholars draped in coarse hemp garments, and arrogant young masters from minor families flaunting overly vibrant, cheaply woven silk garments.
By contrast, my appearance was a complete anomaly. I was dressed in the flawless, silver-threaded travel robes of a supreme sect elder. Furthermore, my physical features were entirely unparalleled.
With my sharp jawline, profound eyes, and an aura of transcendent elegance cultivated under Master’s roof, I was widely considered the absolute most handsome young cultivator within my entire sect.
The exact second my boots stepped past the checkpoint and into the main commercial plaza, the noisy street suddenly went dead silent.
Hundreds of eyes locked onto my face simultaneously. A collective, breathless gasp rippled through the immediate crowd.
"Young Master! Please, look this way!"
"Heavens, is he a descending immortal? Sir, do you need a local guide?"
"I will gladly warm your bed for absolutely nothing!"
A massive wave of bodies immediately surged toward my position. Women of all ages, from heavily armed female beast hunters to delicate merchant daughters, completely packed the streets.
Yet, despite their overwhelming enthusiasm and desperate cries for attention, none dared to actually lay a hand on my silver robes. Struck by the immense, cold pressure of my cultivation and the sheer reverence of my appearance, the crowd naturally fractured before me, instinctively parting like a sea of mortal flesh to form a wide, unobstructed path for me to walk through.
I moved forward with absolute composure, my footsteps steady and my expression remaining completely unreadable.
’My, my, what a truly spectacular turnout,’
Lucy’s amused, teasing voice suddenly echoed directly inside my mind through our soul bond.
’With a physique like yours and that face, Jianxiao, you could accumulate a literal mountain of dual-cultivation resources and wealth just by taking a fraction of these women to bed. Are you sure you want to just walk past them?’
’They are not to my standard,’ I replied curtly through our mental link, my eyes never straying from the main path toward the high-tier merchant pavilions.
It was the absolute truth. My standards had long since been elevated to an entirely unreachable, impossible height. After being surrounded by absolute paragons of divine beauty, ordinary women simply failed to register in my eyes.
With the breathtaking, ethereal allure of Ruyi, the mature, lethal elegance of Elder Su Rulan, and the peerless, intoxicating perfection of my own wives waiting for me, the low-realm cultivators and mortals of Ashen Ridge Town looked completely plain by comparison.
To me, they were nothing more than passing scenery in my pursuit of the peak.
Leaving the bustling marketplace behind, I accelerated my pace, navigating through the winding, terraced streets until the chaotic clamor of the lower docks finally faded.
Ahead of me, the true heart of the metropolis came into view: a colossal, isolated mountain that pierced straight through the city’s spiritual arrays like a monolithic spear.
Because of the impending ruin opening, the entire mountain was locked down in a state of supreme military readiness, divided strictly by the brutal hierarchy of the cultivation world
At the absolute apex of the summit, our sect’s vanguard had established a massive, heavily fortified stronghold, enforcing a terrifying gold and azure defensive array that completely locked down the primary spatial gateway.
Lower down the jagged slopes, the massive encampments of the other two supreme sects gleamed with their own majestic banners and defensive formations, creating a tense, volatile truce between the three great powers.
Meanwhile, sprawled across the base of the mountain and the surrounding valleys were hundreds of subordinate lower sects and rogue coalitions, all packed tightly together, desperately hoping to catch whatever scraps remained once the giants entered.
Floating directly between the highest peaks of the mountain was the source of all this tension: a colossal, swirling vortex of violet and silver cosmic energy.
It was a massive tear in the fabric of space, a literal doorway to another world that pulsed with a heavy, soul-crushing pressure. The ancient laws leaking out of the vortex forced any low-realm cultivator who looked directly at it to lower their head in instinctual reverence.
As I stepped onto the primary stone staircase that led into our sect’s sovereign territory, passing the outer perimeter where thousands of foreign cultivators were watching with envious eyes, the lead guard of our vanguard unit immediately stepped forward.
Clad in the uniform jade and silver armor of our inner sect elites, his hand instinctively rested on his spiritual sword.
However, the exact second his eyes registered the unique, intricate silver embroidery on my travel robes and the unmistakable, deep density of my aura, his aggressive stance vanished completely.
His eyes widened in profound shock, and he immediately bent his waist in a deep, ninety-degree bow.
"Greetings to Elder Jianxiao!" the lead guard shouted, his voice booming like a thunderclap across the stone plaza as the rest of the vanguard unit instantly followed suit, dropping to their knees in a flawless display of absolute sect hierarchy.
The title echoed cleanly down the mountain slopes, completely shattering the stunned whispers of the lower sects watching from below.
A collective wave of disbelief rippled through the foreign coalitions and rival sect camps. To them, the concept of an elder was synonymous with ancient, withered monsters who had spent centuries in isolation.
Yet, the man standing before them was a flawless paragon of youth, radiating an untouchable, majestic aura that completely defied the natural order of the cultivation world.
"An elder? He is actually an elder at such an age?"
"Heavens, to possess that level of cultivation while looking like a divine immortal... which monster peak did he descend from?"
Ignoring the growing commotion behind me, I stepped past the kneeling guards as the golden barrier of the Nine-Tier Heavenly Array seamlessly split open to grant me passage.
The moment I crossed the threshold into our sect’s primary command pavilion, the heavy, volatile atmosphere of the outside world melted away, replaced by the familiar presence of powerful, dense high-tier cultivation and the scent of burning spiritual incense.
Looking up toward the central obsidian dais, the familiar presence of three women immediately arrested my attention.
Standing at the forefront was my wife, Leng Qingxue. Her ethereal, icy beauty felt sharper than usual today.
The moment my boots clicked against the stone floor, her knuckles turned bone-white as her grip tightened imperceptibly around the scabbard of her frost sword. Her crystalline eyes remained low, controlled, and sharp enough to cut glass, silently reminding me of the bitter confrontation we had shared before my departure.
Beside her, Elder Su Rulan stood in quiet dignity, her mature, knowing eyes observing the heavy atmosphere with a guarded, silent concern.
But it was the vanguard team assembled right below the dais that drew my immediate focus.
Standing in a flawless, rigid formation was the elite seven-member expedition team chosen to breach the unstable spatial gateway.
Among the seven, my eyes briefly swept over the selected geniuses, pausing for a fraction of a second on Ye Chen. Even standing silently among the sect’s finest, he carried a distinct, fiercely suppressed aura that marked him as someone of significant destiny.
He stood with a straight spine, a faintly arrogant smirk playing on his lips, typical of a rising talent who believed his hidden inheritances placed him above the natural order.
His eyes frequently flickered toward the front of the line with a subtle, possessive gleam, focused entirely on the leader of the vanguard: our daughter, Lu Mushuang.
Though she was eighty-one years old, an age that marked her as a seasoned and formidable cultivator in the grand hierarchy of the southern domain, she currently wore the heavy, reinforced vanguard armor assigned strictly to the Expedition Leader.
Up close, the physical resemblance to her mother was utterly staggering. She was a breathtaking, splitting image of Leng Qingxue, possessing the exact same sharp, flawless facial structure, the same pristine porcelain skin, and an innate, chilling elegance that made her look like a divine immortal.
Yet, while Qingxue radiated the absolute, unyielding frost of a mature glacier, Mushuang carried a younger, fresher beauty.
She looked like a magnificent winter bloom freshly touched by the morning dew, her youthful vitality breathing a radiant, vibrant life into the armor. Beneath her reinforced silver plate, her silhouette possessed a voluptuous maturity; the armor could barely contain the proud, heavy swell of her chest before tapering down to an incredibly narrow, slender waist.
Her exceptionally long legs gave her an imposing, majestic height that demanded absolute reverence from those around her.
But the moment she raised her head, the illusion of her being a perfect clone of her mother completely shattered.
Instead of Qingxue’s crystalline blue gaze, Mushuang’s eyes were the exact same deep, profound color as my own.
It was a striking, undeniable inheritance of my own bloodline. The very instant those familiar eyes locked onto my face, the fierce, commanding authority she had displayed as the Expedition Leader vanished without a trace.
The profound color of her irises filled with a sudden, fragile nervousness, trembling slightly as she looked at me.
My advanced spiritual perception instinctively swept over her frame. Beneath her proud, upright posture, I detected a slight tremor in her breathing and a faint disharmony in her core.
Qingxue’s furious words from our past argument echoed violently in my mind: She challenged core disciples twice her age and took internal wounds she tried to hide from me. She did it all because she believes that if she brings enough glory to your name from the ancient ruins, her father might finally look at her again.
Looking into her trembling gaze, the memories of the original Lu Jianxiao flashed briefly through my mind, a dark reminder of the truth behind this fractured family.
His decades of absolute, freezing distance hadn’t been caused by a desperate need to break through cultivation bottlenecks.
Instead, it was a twisted, frantic effort to lock away his own dark, overbearing possessiveness toward his daughters. He had played the heartless stranger to protect them from his own internal darkness, completely blind to the emotional devastation he left in his wake.
Mushuang had spent decades believing she was an absolute failure, a disappointment cast aside because she wasn’t strong enough to earn her father’s pride.
Facing the sudden presence of the man she believed she had profoundly disappointed, her young, breathtaking face was a battlefield of intense anxiety and deep, desperate yearning.
Noticing her visible distress, Ye Chen’s self-righteous protector instincts instantly flared. Stepping out of formation with unearned confidence, he positioned himself slightly ahead of Mushuang, attempting to shield her from my gaze.
"Elder Jianxiao," Ye Chen spoke aloud, his tone carrying a trace of defiant arrogance that shocked the surrounding commanders.
"Senior Sister Mushuang is a dear friend of mine. She has fought through severe internal injuries just to lead this vanguard for the sect’s glory. Even as an Elder, you shouldn’t use your cold pressure to intimidate her!"
The entire pavilion went dead silent. A disciple lecturing a Supreme Elder was an absolute capital offense.
I didn’t even bother to glance at him.
Boom!
Without moving a single finger, I released a mere fraction of my supreme cultivation base.
A localized, catastrophic pressure slammed directly onto Ye Chen’s shoulders like a falling mountain range.
The arrogant smirk was instantly ripped from his face as he was violently knocked down to his knees, the floor beneath him cracking from the sheer impact.
Ye Chen gritted his teeth so hard they bled, his muscles straining to their absolute limits as he desperately tried to prevent his spine from snapping under the tyrannical weight
Just as his defense was about to completely cave in, a sudden, burning wave of ancient spiritual energy erupted from the hidden ring on his finger. Deep within his consciousness, the frantic voice of the ancient ring master roared, forcefully flooding his meridians with primordial soul force.
With the old ghost’s desperate assistance, the crushing weight was barely offset, allowing Ye Chen to finally balance his posture and stay upright, though he remained gasping for breath and trembling violently.
I didn’t say a single word to him. I didn’t even grant him a passing glance. Total, cold indifference was the ultimate humiliation for a heaven’s favourite son.
Leaving the trembling boy completely ignored on the floor, I took a deliberate step forward, walking directly through the localized chill of the dais without breaking stride.
I bypassed the protective, defensive aura of Qingxue and stopped mere inches from Mushuang, close enough to smell the faint scent of winter plum blossoms on her skin, refusing to let the freezing distance of the past host dictate our future.
