The Path Toward Heaven

The other two groups felt it odd, and slowed down their marching speed, waiting for Gu Qing and his group to catch up.

“What do you intend to do?” Tong Lu stared into Gu Qing’s eyes as he asked.

“Nothing that concerns you,” Gu Qing retorted.

Tong Lu shot Gu Qing an icy look, without uttering another word.

He participated in this year’s Cultivation tournament in the snowland for no other purpose than to reminisce on the scenes at the last tournament and memorializing his friendship with Luo Huainan.

Since Gu Qing had nothing to do with Tong Lu’s group, it must have something to do with Xiang Wanshu of the Center Sect.

The two groups looked at the two of them back and forth, a sense unease and nervousness in the air.

Due to the story told by Luo Huainan and the fact that Jing Jiu and Bai Zao hadn’t come back, the relationship between the Green Mountain Sect and the Center Sect had been the closest it had ever been.

But that all ended three years ago.

It was because Luo Huainan had died, and his killer was an expelled disciple of the Green Mountain. Though the murder did not have much to do with Green Mountain Sect, the repercussions still lingered.

“May I ask why you’re following us Cultivationist Gu?”

Xiang Wanshu gazed at Gu Qing cautiously.

“It’s a huge world; all I want to do is walk in it.”

Xiang Wanshu felt helpless, remembering that his Cultivation colleagues on Liangwang Peak told him that Gu Qing’s temperament was collected and friendly, and yet somehow he had picked up some bad habits of Shenmo Peak.

Gu Qing was even able to make such an irrational remark with calm countenance.

Gu Qing felt helpless as well, thinking that he would have no need to follow him if Gu’s master had brought a positioning magic treasure with him.

Xiang Wanshu motioned with his eyes for Gu Qing to follow him to a spot further away from the others, asking in a hushed voice, “What on earth do you really intend to do here?”

“I want to do whatever you want to,” Gu Qing responded.

Xiang Wanshu said, “Their remains may not be together. Did you forget the snow avalanche in the end Big Brother Luo talked about? They were all snow worms!”

Gu Qing snapped, “You mean to tell me that they have been eaten by the snow worms and not even a hair of theirs can be found!”

” Your words, not mine,” Xiang Wanshu retorted, feeling troubled.

Gu Qing said, “Since the positioning magic treasure of your sect is still working, it means the snow worms couldn’t have digested everything in their stomachs.”

“You’re right. The Ten-Thousand Mile Seal and the positioning magic treasure might be in the same place,” said Xiang Wanshu.

Gu Qing patted Xiang Wanshu’s shoulder and asked, “Have you ever thought that our Thoughtless Sword might be with them?”

Xiang Wanshu replied after some thought, “You could be right.”

Looking at the dusk, Gu Qing suggested, “Let’s rest and go together tomorrow.”

“Let’s do that then,” Xiang Wanshu agreed.

Given the supremacy of the Green Mountain Sect and the Center Sect, they didn’t have to worry about the possibility of other young Cultivation practitioners in the Cultivation tournament snatching up the Ten-Thousand Mile Seal and the Thoughtless Sword, but it was better to be cautious.

Nothing happened over night.

The participants awoke with the sunrise, suddenly finding that the morning sunlight that day was much brighter than before.

Someone shouted and then jumped up while pointing to the north.

The others looked toward the north, and were shocked speechless.

The surrounding dark mountains were clearly visible, and the sky was brightly colored by the morning sunlight. The cold fog in the mountains had gone in one single night!

Walking to the side of Xiang Wanshu, Gu Qing said with a smile, “Finally, we can move a little faster now.”

Xiang Wanshu returned a smile. As he was about to say something, he suddenly sensed the vibration in his waist.

Looking down at the spot, he found the small green bamboo board emitting a faint glow.

Xiang Wanshu changed his expression immediately and had no time to say anything. He called out a green glass ware and jumped onto it, flying skyward as fast as lightning.

With a slightly changed expression, Gu Qing got on his sword without hesitation, which turned into a sword light that shot forward instantly.

Seeing this scene, the other participants in the snowland were astonished, wondering why they were in such a hurry and what had happened.

Looking at the horizon, Tong Lu lifted his brows slightly, thinking that Gu Qing’s sword light could keep up with Xiang Wanshu, who had employed the Escape Method of Heaven and Earth; did it mean Gu Qing had already reached the upper state of the Undefeated?

…

…

In the field outside White Town.

Fang Jingtian was watching northward. The wrinkles on his face were illuminated by the morning sunlight, and the expression in his eyes was still very calm, like the undisturbed water in an old well.

In another place one mile away, Ren Qianzhu was watching northward as well, his expression grave.

What were these two important figures of the Green Mountain Sect and the Center Sect watching?

All of a sudden, Fang Jingtian narrowed his eyes.

“Send a message to Sect Master…”

After a moment of silence, he said to the disciples standing behind him, “We have found them. They are okay.”

A moment later, Ren Qianzhu said the same thing to the disciples behind him.

…

…

The flowing light generated by the green glass ware was about one hundred feet from the sword light, and both of them headed toward the outside of the dark mountains.

“How far?” asked Gu Qing.

Xiang Wanshu’s Sword Awareness fell on the small bamboo board, and said awhile later, “Quite far.”

No matter how composed Gu Qing’s temperament was, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated at the moment, thinking that even though the magic treasures of the Center Sect looked amazing, they were actually not all that useful.

Xiang Wanshu glanced at Gu Qing once, and he couldn’t help but feel jealous, thinking that Gu Qing had already surpassed himself after having joined Shenmo Peak for less than ten years.

The manor cave where the Immortal Jing Yang had resided really had some kind of special effect on people living there.

It was due to the cold fog or some other reasons that the chaotic wind was a lot milder now.

The two of them took the risk to fly out of the dark mountains. Soon they had arrived at the deathly quiet snowland; but the bizarre environment here didn’t slow down their traveling pace.

Though the sun was high above in the sky, they couldn’t feel any warmth; on the contrary, the coldness had been increasing as they moved forward.

As Gu Qing and Xiang Wanshu landed on the ground in the snowland, they found there was a cliff wall in front of them, which was steep and bottomless, and the most terrifying part was that the cliff was enshrouded in the cold fog.

“Where is the specific position?” asked Gu Qing.

Xiang Wanshu sensed the small bamboo board in his hand for a while, and then said while pointing to a spot on the cliff wall, “Right there.”

“Are they still alive?” Gu Qing asked in a shaky voice.

Xiang Wanshu’s face lit up with happiness, shouting, “My Big Sister is still alive!”

“Yes!” Gu Qing screamed happily.

Though Xiang Wanshu was preoccupied by the happy thoughts, he still managed to wonder why Gu Qing seemed even happier than himself after hearing the news that his Big Sister was probably still alive, even though Jing Jiu’s situation was unknown.

Gu Qing didn’t know what was on Xiang Wanshu’s mind. Yet, his inference was simple: since your Big Sister Bai Zao was alive, it would be impossible for Jing Jiu to have died.

“Why are you still hesitant?” Gu Qing yelled. “Let’s get them out.”

“But the cave entrance is blocked by the cold fog; how can we get them out?” Xiang Wanshu responded dejectedly.

Gu Qing exclaimed, “Let’s break down the cliff.” And then he asked Xiang Wanshu, “Do you know how deep the cave is?”

Having examined the cliff, Xiang Wanshu said, “About thirty feet deep. However, it would be dangerous to break it from here, because the cliff could collapse.”

Gu Qing didn’t want to consult with this bookworm any longer, riding the sword to a place one thousand feet away. He sat in the snow with crossed legs, extending the sword fingers on both of his hands rapidly!

The flying sword hacked down on the surface of the snowland!

Bang!!!

A ditch of a few feet deep appeared on the ground after a great deal of icy snow and hard soil had been shoveled away by the force of the flying sword.

Xiang Wanshu realized what he was doing after a pause, and he flew to Gu Qing’s side abruptly. Sitting cross-legged, Xiang Wanshu energized his Spiritual Awareness and called out his magic treasure to bombard the surface of the snowland.

…

…

The young Cultivation practitioners in the tournament had heard of the news and come in tandem, and they witnessed this eerie scene.

Xiang Wanshu and Gu Qing were sitting in the snow cross-legged, with their eyes closed.

The sword light and the flowing light were bombarding the surface of the ground constantly, and the surface of the snowland had formed a deep ditch of about ten feet wide, leading to the far end of the ground.

What are they doing?

Young Yuan was the first to have realized what they were doing. With a strange shout, he called out his flying sword and wielded it toward the ground. Soon afterwards, the disciples of the Green Mountain understood it, and then the disciples of the Center Sect now understood. And they called out their own flying swords and magic treasures to bombard the ground. Even the disciples of other sects had figured out what was going on, and lent their helping hands as well.

Tong Lu didn’t help. Standing in the distance, his emotion was complicated while looking at the ditch that was getting deeper and longer. Nobody could tell what he was thinking.

Gu Qing and Xiang Wanshu chose to dig a shallow and long diagonal ditch to avoid the collapse of the cliff. And the underground of the snowland was extremely hard after being frozen by the cold fog for great many years, especially those rocks which were as strong as the iron and steel. Even the sharp flying sword and powerful magic treasure couldn’t make much progress. It was fortunate that these young Cultivation practitioners came to help. The tunnel had finally reached the cliff after five hours of bombardment.

Gu Qing and Xiang Wanshu used a great deal of their zhenyuan since they had been doing it the longest, their faces pale.

A crack appeared on the cliff wall at the end of the ditch.

“Be careful!” Gu Qing shouted.

Soon afterwards, the crack expanded visibly, and the heavy rocks fell down, making thudding sounds when they landed on the ground.

The young Cultivation practitioners backed up as quickly as possible.

Gu Qing, Xiang Wanshu and Young Yuan walked to the front of the crowd.

The crack grew bigger and bigger, and then the top half of the cliff wall had collapsed.

Boom!!!

The snowland quivered; the rocks on the ground rolled in all directions; and the dusts rose up to fill the whole sky!

The dusts had finally settled down after a long time.

Countless gazes fixed on the spot, where there appeared a hole.

An iron sword, inserted in the rocks, was burning persistently, like a torch that would never go out in the dark night.

By the burning iron sword sat a bamboo chair.

Gu Qing’s eyes filled with tears when he saw the bamboo chair.

Jing Jiu looked at the crowd while lying on the bamboo chair.

His gaze moved around and finally fell on Gu Qing.

“You guys have made too much of a commotion.”