The Path Toward Heaven

In some sense, that being had expressed her caution regarding Jing Jiu.

It meant that Jing Jiu was truly a threat in her eyes.

Few people could threaten her in Chaotian; actually no one could threaten her.

Jing Jiu wasn’t proud of the fact, as he knew that it was because the other being had recognized his identity.

The sword light atop the Green Mountain peak that had sliced the heavenly thunder into pieces years ago was witnessed throughout Chaotian.

Moreover, the other being was in a precarious situation, so she was a bit overcautious.

Jing Jiu still wanted to give it a try.

If he were to leave, or his sword were to, would it be regarded as a threat by the other being?

Bai Zao was in a pretty bad shape.

The Thoughtless Sword broke through the sky, heading south at a high speed.

Suddenly, the will power fell down one more time.

The wind and snow sped up abruptly, and an invisible thunder boomed in the sky.

The Thoughtless Sword cried softly and flew back, landing in Jing Jiu’s hand, its bloody light growing dimmer.

Jing Jiu made sure that the Thoughtless Sword was unharmed, and then frowned while looking at the deep end of the wind and snow.

He only wanted to leave here; why was the other being so sensitive?

Or would all forms of life act the same way in such a situation, so unreasonably!

…

…

Jing Jiu returned to the cave and told Bai Zao, “We can’t leave here that soon; be prepared for the long haul.”

“How long do we have to wait?” Bai Zao asked.

Jing Jiu replied, “Until you’ll have reformed the Golden Pill are be able to use the Ten-Thousand Mile Seal.”

Bai Zao said softly, “That will take at least a few years, or even forever.”

Jing Jiu said, “Then, let’s wait until she’ll bear the child; but I’m not sure how long it will take, since it’s not recorded in the Collected Dao Scripts.”

Bai Zao was taken aback, asking, “Who? Who will bear a child?”

“The Queen of the Snowy Kingdom,” said Jing Jiu.

Bai Zao was utterly flabbergasted, unable to speak for a while.

She realized by now that all the strange events they had experienced in this year’s Cultivation tournament stemmed from this fact.

Why would the monsters hiding deep underground for the next monster invasion have woken up so early? Why would heaven and earth become so cold? It was because the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom was about to have a baby. She ordered all of her subjects to block any possible passage to prevent her from being disturbed by the outsiders and to ensure her own safety.

“What is that strange cold fog?”

“It should be her bloody energy.”

Bai Zao hadn’t completely collected his wits from this shock, mumbling, “…She is indeed the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom, and she can cause such great change when she is having a baby.”

She couldn’t find proper words to express her emotion at the moment.

Bai Zao’s sentimental remark put Jing Jiu in an odd mood.

He felt that something would happen at the beginning of the Cultivation tournament, because he thought it was heaven and earth’s response to his presence in the snowland.

In fact, heaven and earth’s response had nothing to do with him, but rather with the fact that the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom was to bear a child.

His Big Brother had predicted this, so he had plotted the scheme to entice Jing Jiu to come to the snowland.

He had trusted his inference based on his self-confidence, but now it seemed that he was indeed too narcissistic.

Bai Zao asked, “I can understand why she doesn’t want the human Cultivation practitioners to be near her, but why doesn’t she let us leave here?”

Jing Jiu said, “This is probably her first time having a baby, so she is very nervous, and becomes over anxious and sensitive as a result; she cannot think rationally, and she judges by instinct.”

Judging by her instinct meant that she thought Jing Jiu was dangerous, so she would pay close attention to him, and disallow him to have any action even from thirty thousand miles away.

By now Jing Jiu realized that all the threatening actions were actually his actions in the eyes of the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom.

It was because the Queen wasn’t alarmed about the actual actions instead being alarmed about Jing Jiu as a threatening being.

If the lost Cultivation practitioner in this cold environment weren’t Jing Jiu, it would be much easier for that person to leave.

Jing Jiu thought of these matters in silence.

It was fairly quiet in the cave.

“What does the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom look like? I heard that she is very ugly. If her child is born, will the baby look lovely?” Bai Zao asked curiously.

Jing Jiu didn’t know how to respond to such a question.

Bai Zao suddenly coughed, two abnormal red patches appearing on her pale face.

In such a cold environment, it would be a challenge to simply survive, to say nothing of curing the wounds and reforming the Golden Pill.

The spiritual awareness from the deep end of the wind and snow was still keeping a tab on the place; though it was merely a fraction of her awareness, it was enough to find out everything in the cave.

Jing Jiu was well aware that he couldn’t break the rocks by his hands to abscond under the ground.

How could he and Bai Zao survive the possibly very long period in the exceptionally low temperature?

“Perhaps the ancient Danzhu Script is of benefit to the healing of your wound, and it will take three years to practice this method in trance.”

Jing Jiu started reciting the script before he even asked if Bai Zao was willing to learn it.

He stopped short after having recited the first four words “as I have heard”.

It was because Bai Zao had made a remark.

“You are indeed the disciple of experiencing the mortal world from the Fruit Formation Temple.”

Bai Zao asked softly while staring into Jing Jiu’s eyes, “Can a monk of the Fruit Formation Temple later on choose to become a worldly person again? Can they get married?”

As she thought of the legendary stories of the Broadsword King, she flashed a sweet smile before Jing Jiu could respond to her questions.

After a moment of silence, Jing Jiu reached his hand toward the center between her brows with a good deal of peaceful energy in his fingertip.

Looking at his finger that was getting closer and closer, Bai Zao was a bit astonished.

Only those highly achieved monks of the Zen sects could employ the special method of the Head Blessing; even if you were the disciple of experiencing the mortal world, how could it be possible for someone at such a young age to do it?

Soundlessly, Jing Jiu’s fingertip touched the center of her brows; and countless words and images slowly entered her Sea of Awareness.

Bai Zao maintained a peace of mind with her eyes closed, silently experiencing, perceiving, and learning.

Jing Jiu pulled back his finger after a long period of time.

“If there is anything you don’t understand, you’d better ask me within the next few days.”

Bai Zao opened her eyes, looking at Jing Jiu regretfully.

She knew full well in her heart that she would be in a trance after having learned this section of the script in a few days. Though she was quite pleased that she would be able to survive the cold environment and also to reform her Golden Pill, she couldn’t help but feel regretful that she wouldn’t be able to see Jing Jiu for such a long time, even though he was right by her side.

Jing Jiu didn’t know what was on her mind. He sat down to recuperate, and the iron sword burned again in his bosom, illuminating the gloomy and cold rocky cave.

Perceiving the warmth brought by the sword fire, Bai Zao asked Jing Jiu softly, “How long can you last?”

“If it doesn’t get colder, I should be able to last for a long time.”

What Jing Jiu referred to was the speed of recovering zhenyuan.

Startled, Bai Zao pressed, “Don’t you need a rest?!”

“It’s a good time to practice Cultivation,” said Jing Jiu.

After he had returned to the Green Mountain to resume his Cultivation, Jing Jiu didn’t encounter too much trouble; all he needed was to wait for the critical moments to arrive. Since he couldn’t leave here all that soon, it would be a good opportunity for him to practice Cultivation, undisturbed.

Bai Zao said with a concerned expression, “Doing so would be too hard.”

Jing Jiu said, “The disciples of the Green Mountain are accustomed to difficult Cultivation. Zhao Layue stayed on Sword Peak for three years, defying the sword wills day and night, and it was exceedingly hard. Compared to her experience, it’s nothing, except that it’s a bit colder here.”

Thinking of their first meeting at the Plum Meeting, Bai Zao thought that her observation of Zhao Layue was probably wrong. “Is she very talented in Cultivation?”

“She’s okay,” Jing Jiu responded.

That wasn’t very high praise.

“In your opinion, how is she in comparison to me?” Bai Zao asked out of curiosity.

Jing Jiu said, “Her Cultivation state is not high enough right now, but it’s because she is still quite young. If nothing unexpected happens, she should be able to surpass Luo Huainan in ten years.”

He didn’t answer her question directly, but Bai Zao understood his intent.

Luo Huainan was the strongest Cultivation practitioner of the young generation, and nobody could be his equal when Zhuo Rusui remained behind closed doors on Tianguang Peak.

If Luo Huainan’s talent wasn’t even as good as Zhao Layue’s, neither was Bai Zao’s.

In Jing Jiu’s eyes, such a talent was merely…okay?

Yet, Bai Zao didn’t believe what Jing Jiu had said.

Though she had a poor opinion of Luo Huainan after what he had done to her, she still thought Luo Huainan’s talent in Cultivation was unparalleled.

Even if Zhao Layue was of natural Dao quality, she had no chance of surpassing him in ten short years.

Bai Zao felt at hearing the name Luo Huainan mentioned, and then she recalled what Jing Jiu said the other day.

“The purpose of cultivating is longevity. Therefore, death is the most important thing and should be greatly respected. To use death as a test isn’t a respectful thing to do.”

Now she understood this remark.

Luo Huainan failed the test, but she was the one who had paid the steep price.

She didn’t want to keep on dwelling on these thoughts any longer, asking, “Did Zhao Layue cultivate so hard because she had Luo Huainan as her opponent?”

Jing Jiu shook his head, without saying a word, but thinking in his mind that Zhao Layue cultivated for herself.

“Earlier outside the cave, did you try to let the Thoughtless Sword fly away to ask for help?”

“No. Those who can save us will draw the attention of that being and make her angry after they come here, and she will kill them; for those who can’t save us, coming here is the same as committing suicide.”

“What will you do then?”

“I want to send a message to Zhao Layue.”

“Send a message? What’s it about?”

“If I won’t be able to get out of here in ten years, she has to kill Luo Huainan herself.”

“Why don’t you try to reveal Luo Huainan’s true character in the Sword Letter?”

“It’s because nobody would believe it, unless we could live to tell the story.”

“Why don’t you use the Ten-Thousand Mile Seal to leave here? I don’t think the other being can stop it.”

“Nobody would believe it, not if I told the story by myself.”

“But at least you can live.”

“I won’t die anyway.”

“Otherwise, you don’t have to endure the coldness in such a terrible place.”

“If I left, I wouldn’t come back. And that’d quite troublesome, since you would die.”

“You are concerned about me, and so that is why you stay?”

“If you don’t focus on your recuperation, you will die soon; by then I will be able to leave.”

…

…

In the middle of summer, the clouds were abundant in Cloudy Town, even more than usual.

The clouds and fog flowing out from the mountains gathered in the sky over the town, lingering around.

As the sun was at its zenith, a sword boat was in and out of sight in the clouds, casting a shadow on the ground.

The locals of the town, the visitors who came after hearing the news, and the pilgrims knelt on the ground covered by the patch of the shadow, bowing constantly toward the sword boat in the sky, hoping to obtain the blessings from the immortal masters.

The Sword Boat didn’t return to the Green Mountain, which is what Zhao Layue requested.

The Sword Boat didn’t dare fly too fast due to Zhao Layue’s wound. It took some time to fly here from Zhaoge City. She felt a lot better, though her face still looked pale.

At the time the Sword Boat arrived, the Cultivation tournament had just started a few days prior, when Jing Jiu didn’t feel right.

Zhao Layue didn’t feel right either.

Then, the news had come one after another from the snowland.

Jing Jiu moved.

Jing Jiu won first place in the Cultivation tournament.

Jing Jiu requested that the Cultivation tournament , and he forcefully took all of the disciples of the Green Mountain participating in the Cultivation tournament away from the arena.

This event had ignited a great deal of discussion and debate in Zhaoge City and on the Green Mountain.

The nine disciples of the Green Mountain had been sent back to White Town without a scratch.

But Jing Jiu was missing.

Standing at the bow of the Sword Boat and looking at the clouds in the distance, Zhao Layue claimed, “Let’s go to White Town.”