The Path Toward Heaven

Ma Hua sent out his sword before Jing Jiu was ready.

The whistling sound travelled along the stone forest.

A sword light headed toward Jing Jiu.

At such a distance, Jing Jiu couldn’t counterattack by using his flying sword, so he had no choice but to dodge the incoming sword.

The only chance for Jing Jiu to defeat Ma Hua was to ride his sword and shorten the distance between him and his opponent, and then to fight him in close combat, even though it was risky.

In an earlier sword trial bout, a disciple of Bihu Peak fought this way against Big Brother of Tianguang Peak who was in a higher Cultivation state.

Ma Hua was good at planning, so he had made plans. If Jing Jiu could dodge his flying sword and approach him, he would retrieve his flying sword and move backward, to keep a safe distance between them. In so doing it would be impossible for Jing Jiu to defeat him.

He didn’t care about whether this method would bring him shame.

Of course, it would be better if he didn’t have to do it.

So he sent out his sword very carefully, hoping to defeat Jing Jiu with a single attack.

…

…

On the stone platform in the cliff.

The Peak Master of Yunxing suddenly waved his sleeve.

A strong air wave spread outwards.

The clouds shrouding the stone posts were pushed down by this air wave until they formed a two-foot thick ocean of cloud above the ground.

This scene was truly beautiful, but everyone knew the Peak Master of Yunxing didn’t intend to create beautiful scenery. Rather, he wanted to let the disciples on the ground see the forthcoming combat better.

The Peak Master of Yunxing and the other masters were curious as to how Jing Jiu would solve the problem posed by Ma Hua. At the same time, they wanted the disciples to learn something from this duel.

Apparently, they favored Jing Jiu in this fight.

…

…

“Go.”

To break the stalemate, Jing Jiu used the method with which he was most familiar, uttering one word.

His iron sword pierced through the space, heading toward the stone post three hundred yards away.

It would be inaccurate to use the word “fly”, since the iron sword was too fast to even leave a residual shadow behind, and it was too fast to let the sword light form a light ray.

The spectators seemed to see a blur, just like when they had seen Jing Jiu leave the ground earlier. The iron sword had already reached the middle point between the two stone posts.

At that moment, Ma Hua’s flying sword was merely thirty yards away from his stone post.

Seeing the iron sword, Ma Hua was surprised and scared. He quickly used his Sword Source to forcefully call back the flying sword guarding him from the front.

Bang!!!

A strong gust of wind roared above the stone forest, and the sound wave spread out.

Ma Hua’s sword blocked Jing Jiu’s iron sword at the last second.

He fell down on his fat butt on the stone post, shocked. His Awareness of Sword trembled and his Sword Pill could not be calmed.

Jing Jiu’s sword was so powerful!

Not only was the force of the sword powerful, but its speed was too.

Whoosh!!!

Jing Jiu’s iron sword came back toward Ma Hua, still leaving no residual shadow and only a very short sword light ray.

Ma Hua knew he couldn’t block this sword attack. With a groan, and without any hesitation, he rode his sword to escape farther away.

A moment later, he landed on a stone post thirty yards away. When he turned his head looking at the stone post he was on earlier, a crack had already been sliced through it by Jing Jiu’s iron sword. Countless stone chips fell down onto the ground like a heavy snowfall filling the air.

Ma Hua’s face turned pale, and his sword robe was soaked with cold sweat.

His strategies and plans meant nothing when facing such absolute speed and force.

As the iron sword flew toward him, Ma Hua could even sense his inevitable death.

He dared not imagine what would happen to him if he reacted even the slightest bit slowly.

In fact, he didn’t have time to think of all those consequences, because Jing Jiu’s sword came toward him again.

The iron sword pierced through the air with a whistling sound and unstoppable power.

Ma Hua knew he couldn’t block this sword attack at all, and he couldn’t dodge it either.

Holding his sword in front of himself, Ma Hua yelled, “I admit…”

Boom!!!

Jing Jiu didn’t give him the chance to admit defeat.

The iron sword fell, cutting off the word Ma Hua was going to say.

Ma Hua spat out a mouthful of blood.

He lost control and fell down from the stone post.

The surprised screams rang out all over the peak.

Jing Jiu didn’t stop.

The iron sword chased after Ma Hua, attacking him continuously.

The odd thing was that Ma Hua kept holding his sword the same way, which blocked most of the attacks, while falling down toward the ground.

The iron sword hacked continuously at Ma Hua’s sword, like a sledge hammer pounding an object, producing very loud sounds.

Snap!!! Snap!!! Snap!!!

The horrific sounds echoed in Tianguang Peak.

Ma Hua dropped to the ground with a thudding sound, dispelling the ocean of cloud.

The iron sword returned.

The disciples of Shiyue Peak rushed over.

They helped Ma Hua get up. His face was pale,. He was covered in blood, and looked extremely miserable.

The practitioners had much stronger bodies than mortals. Ma Hua didn’t get hit directly by Jing Jiu’s sword, so his life was not in danger even though his Sword Pill was damaged and he was badly wounded.

He looked at the figure on top of the stone post, a hint of fear in his eyes. “When did you break the state?” he asked with a trembling voice.

The sword fight on the stone posts proved that Jing Jiu had special talent, as he could drive his sword to fly four hundred yards while still retaining so much power.

The stone posts were over three hundred yards high. The distance between Jing Jiu and Ma Hua was actually near six hundred yards.

At this distance, his sword still could chase Ma Hua and hit him as he fell all the way to the ground, and then fly back. What did it prove?

Only a disciple in the State of the Undefeated could achieve it!

Like Ma Hua, many people had considered this question.

All of them gazed at the figure above the stone forest.

“I’ve just broken it.”

Jing Jiu’s voice came down from the top of the stone forest.

Uproar.

What Jing Jiu said was true.

During his travels across the land with Zhao Layue, he had been prepared for breaking the State of the Undefeated. He had felt he was getting closer last autumn.

Yet he hesitated on whether to break it because of his concern for his physical condition.

He finally decided to do it the moment he saw Liu Shisui had been knocked down to the ground by Guo Nanshan.

Ma Hua didn’t believe what he had said, and forced a bitter smile onto his blood-stained face. “Do you really need to conceal your true state when fighting with someone of the same sect?!” asked Ma Hua.

Having said that, he spat out another mouthful of blood, along with a few broken teeth, all a result of Jing Jiu’s pounding sword.

Some of them thought the scene that they had seen – Ma Hua being pounded by the iron sword all the way from the top of the stone post to the ground – looked familiar.

Then they realized that Liu Shisui’s pounding by Guo Nanshan was a very similar sight.

“This guy is always so vindictive.”

Lin Wuzhi recalled that Jing Jiu had hit Gu Qing three times at the Inherited Sword Competition three years ago, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

Right in front of Lin, Elder Bai Rujing frowned as he thought of something. Elder Me laughed a few times, a look of admiration on his face.

Nobody came to Ma Hua’s rescue or asked to stop the fight, as they all knew Jing Jiu hadn’t used his full strength in the duel.

If he were using his full strength, how come the iron sword always struck Ma Hua’s sword so precisely?

Of course, Jing Jiu didn’t intend to spare Ma Hua’s life.

On the contrary, he intended to pound Ma Hua all the way to the ground in front of all the disciples of Green Mountain, in order to teach Liangwang Peak a lesson.

Ma Hua hadn’t made any mistakes in approaching the duel, and his deductions were also precise. But those became meaningless when faced with Jing Jiu’s sword.

Jing Jiu had been at the Green Mountain for only six years. How could he possess so much Sword Source?

“Do you wish to continue?” asked Chi Yan, looking up at the top of the stone forest.

Jing Jiu knew this elder of Shangde Peak must have guessed his intention, so he looked at the stone platform where the disciples of Liangwang Peak were located.

“Please offer your guidance.”

This time he looked at Gu Han.

…