CHAPTER 292: CHAPTER 12: IMPERIAL DRAGON RIDGE

"Truly majestic!"

As everyone looked up, beneath the expanse of white snow, the peaks of Xuan Beast Ridge glistened like silver snakes dancing. The snowy wind swept past, resembling a herd of white elephants galloping through the misty haze, creating an illusion that made one feel as insignificant as dust before such a landscape.

After taking a deep breath of the biting cold wind coming from the snow-capped mountains, Yue Jinghua and the others followed Erwang, heading toward the halfway point of the mountain where the residents of Fengdan County settled.

Since Teng Wu had already decided to assist the group, he let his worries go and shared the stories of the vast ridge they traversed, spreading across thousands of miles as they went.

Perched on the Dragon War Empire, the Xuan Beast Ridge is also known as the Imperial Dragon Ridge. Legend has it that when the Empire was founded, Emperor Long Teng I pointed his sword at Xuan Beast Ridge and proclaimed: "As long as the Dragon Ridge stands, the Empire shall forever thrive."

As if in answer to the Emperor’s declaration, despite the Dragon Battle Iron Hoof armies trampling across half the continent and facing attacks from other countries over nearly a thousand years, this towering ridge at the Empire’s southern border has remained its strongest bulwark, impervious to the cavalry of neighboring nations.

Though referred to as a ridge, Xuan Beast Ridge in fact comprises a massive mountain range with peaks of varying heights. By the Military Department’s measurements alone, the known length of the mountain system already spans tens of thousands of miles, and that is merely what is already known.

There is no definitive record in the known history of the continent that pinpoints the end of Xuan Beast Ridge.

Some say that Xuan Beast Ridge itself is the backbone of an ancient giant dragon, its tip being the ancient giant dragon capable of swallowing countless Dark Beasts.

Others have rumored that at the end of the ridge, there lies a vast and endless Golden Coast, where one could find the last of the Sky Beasts on the continent, which can escort people deep into the other side of the Canglong Continent—the West Continent.

The stories about Xuan Beast Ridge are far from over. The peaks on the ridge, aside from the one where Fengdan County sits, each feature their own distinct landscapes, with rumors of High-level Dark Beasts dwelling within the different peaks.

Due to the presence of Dark Beasts, there is also a Mercenary Station built within Xuan Beast Ridge.

Of course, these are all hearsay. For the average person, Xuan Beast Ridge is a convenient passage from Shang Kingdom to Dragon War, plus it is also the richest source of Dark Beast and spirit wood resources in the Eastern Continent.

Fengdan County is one of the least conspicuous among them.

Compared to Xuan Beast Valley, where Yue Jinghua initially arrived on the Canglong Continent, Xuan Beast Ridge was truly a treasure trove.

"I find the scenery here quite beautiful, especially with its numerous snow trails that are perfect for winter tourism. Why not develop it into a sightseeing destination?" Riding in the carriage over the wide snowy trails, Yue Jinghua listened to Teng Wu’s explanation and admired the expansive snowfields and the enchanting Arrow Bamboo Forest.

If this was the 23rd century, when natural resources were on the brink of collapse, Fengdan County could rival the Alpine Mountains of Europe.

"In earlier years, Fengdan County did indeed attract numerous curiosity seekers with its snowy landscape. But ever since the fall of the Duke Mansion, with no County Guard Army stationed here and frequent appearances of Dark Beasts, all the tourist facilities were destroyed, and even the crops were utterly ravaged. No one dares to come here for sightseeing anymore," Teng Wu lamented.

Dark Beasts again. It seems to properly govern Fengdan County, in addition to dealing with Viscount Mo’er and his associates, one must also manage the Dark Beasts in this area.

Yue Jinghua furrowed her brows, silently strategizing in her mind.

After trekking up the mountain for over an hour, the spacious snowy trail gradually gave way. Ahead, a narrow pass appeared, barely wide enough for a single carriage to pass through.

Upon seeing the pass, Erwang excitedly jumped down from the carriage, went through the pass, and called out jubilantly,

"The Lord has arrived—the Lord has arrived—"

Yue Jinghua entered the narrow pass, and the severe winter cold dissipated in an instant. She looked through the pass and saw a Dark Array of no small grade. That cozy warmth was emanating from the Dark Array.

Following the children’s cries, what was once a village as quiet as ruins began to resonate with a series of dull door-opening sounds.

From a dilapidated rock dwelling closest to the narrow pass, a middle-aged man hurried out. Seeing Erwang return alone, the middle-aged man’s complexion darkened.

In succession, several other civilians, thin and wan, dressed in thin clothes, emerged from different yet equally shabby houses.

Yue Jinghua noticed that the group amounted to merely two or three hundred people: aside from the leading robust middle-aged man, the majority were old people and children.

The elders were mostly as thin as kindling, while the children sucked on their fingertips, curiously watching this group of guests in their splendid attire.

A look of disbelief appeared on the middle-aged man’s face. A lord—it had been a long time since Fengdan County had a lord.

"Erwang, who did you say has arrived?"

"The Lord; it’s the Lord from the Duke Mansion," Erwang affectionately tugged at the hand of the middle-aged man, then his face fell, "Uncle Er, Grandpa died, killed by a Snow Spirit Leopard from Bailu County."

The middle-aged man glanced over everyone, causing Yue Jinghua to be inwardly startled. This man, who looked like an ordinary farmer, had considerable cultivation. Observing his steady steps, his arms barely shaking as he moved, he was unmistakably a soldier.

Holding the child tight in his embrace, the middle-aged man strode forward, single-handedly blocking the passage, guarding against Yue Jinghua and the others with a vigilant stare, "Who are you? We don’t have a lord here."

The man’s tone was remarkably firm. After Fengdan County had been abandoned by the Duke Mansion, it no longer had a lord.

"Uncle Nan, they’re the ones who saved us. The brother in the mask leading them is our Young Lord," Erwang confessed unabashedly.

"Captain Nan, have you forgotten us?" Lie Rou appeared to recognize the man before her. She stepped forward to greet him. When she was young, she married from Shang Kingdom to the Dragon War Empire, and during the journey, she had passed through Fengdan County. At that time, this man named Nan Muyu was the deputy captain of the County Guard Army of Fengdan.

But after several decades of separation, even Lie Rou only recognized this man, whose edges had been worn away by snowstorms and hardships, through the blur of memory.

Upon seeing Lie Rou, the man brimming with military spirit was taken aback, "Lady, you are the Duchess. What brings you here?" Rumor had it that after the Duke Mansion’s bankruptcy, the Lady took her young children to seek refuge in Shang Kingdom.

This lady before him, elegant in demeanor, unforgettable to anyone who had seen her, was indeed the Lady without a doubt.

And the young people behind her? Nan Muyu glanced around the crowd and quickly fixed his gaze on Yue Jinghua and Yue Chen’s faces.

"It’s the littl..." Seeing half of Yue Jinghua’s face hidden behind the mask, Nan Muyu immediately recognized her as that famously useless miss from the illustrious Dragon War.

The useless miss—the Duke Mansion actually sent this notorious useless miss here. Could it be that the Duke Mansion truly gave up on Fengdan County completely? Nan Muyu’s face grew grimmer, and the storm in his eyes grew darker.