The Path Toward Heaven

No matter how fast or how slowly he traveled, that shadow kept the same distance from him and stayed seemingly on the same spot, without much effort.

Xiwang Sun’s face grew paler.

He looked behind him and saw nothing.

That person was actually above him.

Xiwang Sun didn’t raise his head.

He suddenly changed direction, heading toward the place under the empty realm, hoping to reach that patch of cloud before his opponent attacked him.

The position of the shadow was still the same, following him closely and traveling on the surface of the white cloud.

He was close to the edge of the empty realm, and the slightly moving cloud was right ahead of him; it seemed that Xiwang Sun had a chance.

But soon he found his hope was nothing but an illusion.

The shadow on top of the white cloud suddenly extended, turning into a thin and long shape…like a sword.

The sword formed by the shadow, having left the surface of the cloud, curled toward Xiwang Sun’s body, looking like a jerky soul-fire of the Underworld, or the tongue of a turtle.

With a harsh shout, Xiwang Sun forced out all of his remaining zhenyuan from his body, unconcerned about his injury, and then sped up in an attempt to flee.

Yet, what in heaven or on earth could possibly move faster than a shadow?

All one needed to do was to give a child an oil lamp, and he would be able to project the shadow of his finger on the distant city wall and move the shadow faster than the flying sword of the Immortal Jing Yang.

The sword shadow fell on Xiwang Sun and wrapped him within it like a real rope would do, hanging upside down in the sky.

Xiwang Sun knew that his Cultivation state was far inferior to his opponent, so he gave up the resistance, looking up at the sky.

The sky above the empty realm had no color, like a transparent glass reflecting the sunlight, which was exceptionally bright.

There was a black shadow in the bright world.

Even though the background was the endless sky, the figure still looked incredibly tall and big.

Seeing the figure, Xiwang Sun’s last will had melted away, and he uttered the name of his opponent with a moaning tone.

“Liu Ci…”

Then, he flashed a wry and bitter smile.

He wasn’t regretful.

And he could accept it.

Two figures in the Heavenly Arrival State had attacked him one after the other.

Who wouldn’t be able to accept this?!

…

…

On Longevity Mountain.

The rainstorm had just stopped.

Pei Yuan had secretly returned to his manor cave. He planned to take out the magic treasures he had collected and hidden over many years and to leave the place.

He thought he was the chief of the Justice Hall and the old brother of the Sect Master, so who would dare to stop him?

The sword message suddenly echoed among the mountains, calling everybody to gather in front of the grand hall for a meeting.

Pei Yuan’s expression changed slightly. He had decided to pay no attention to the message, but he could sense that the formation of the mountain gate had added more lethal intent, so he hesitated.

In the end, he didn’t dare to break through the mountain gate by force. He hid those precious treasures back in the deep part of the manor cave while gritting his teeth, and rode his sword to the square in front of the grand hall.

The disciples of the No-Mercy Sect were so excited that they couldn’t stop talking about what they saw earlier, even though they were soaking wet.

The door of the grand hall opened bit by bit, and Pei Baifa’s figure appeared.

All of those present knelt down on one knee and shouted loudly, “Greetings, Sect Master!”

Pei Baifa walked down the thirteen stone steps slowly.

The fairy cranes carved on the steps looked more vivid after being washed by the rain.

The intimidating sword will was circling his body.

Every time he put a foot down, a crack appeared on the ground.

The sword will had faded away.

It was quiet in front of the grand hall.

Before being asked, Pei Baifa said with an icy expression, “The person I wanted to kill is Xiwang Sun.”

They all knew that he was an important figure at the West Ocean Sword Sect; and it was said that he was the Young Brother of the Godly Swordsman. They were startled after hearing this, feeling worried as well as excited.

The sword wielded by the Sect Master earlier had the unparalleled power of the Heavenly Arrival State, but he had just come out from behind closed doors; did he want to start a war with the West Ocean Sword Sect?

They thought of this, not because they were afraid of starting a war with the West Ocean Sword Sect, but it was because they were worried about the Sect Master’s health.

After the duel with the Godly Swordsman, the Sect Master’s eyes had lost their sights.

Though the outside world didn’t know about it, they were fully aware of it.

An elder asked uncertainly, “Is the crook Xiwang Sun dead?”

Pei Baifa didn’t answer this question, but said instead, “You people go to the Institute of White Deer, to burn it down.”

He still didn’t tell them that the Cloud Platform of the West Ocean Sword Sect was the headquarters of the Old Ones.

Finally, Pei Yuan couldn’t help but ask, “What on earth has happened?”

Pei Baifa pressed while looking at Pei Yuan in the crowd, “You tell us then.”

Even though Pei Yuan knew that his brother couldn’t see him, he still felt it a bit odd to be stared at by his brother.

“Someone told me years ago that Tian Jingren was a highly moral person and worthy of our trust and that there would be no harm done to meet him since he was blind.”

Pei Baifa continued, “I believed his words and went to the Institute of White Deer, and then I became a blind person myself. What is the problem with burning down that place?”

He wanted to burn down the Institute of White Deer because of the incident; then, what would happen to that person who persuaded him to go there?

Pei Yuan started running toward the outside of the valley to flee, even before Pei Baifa could finish his sentence.

All of a sudden, the blood gushed out.

Pei Yuan’s right leg broke off from the knee, as if being cut off by a sword.

Pei Baifa looked at Pei Yuan emotionlessly in the distance, his white eye balls exuding terrifying glows.

Pei Yuan cried painfully, and then he climbed up from the ground and hopped forward on his left leg. The scene looked humorous, but it was getting even more horrified.

Soon after, his left ankle broke off.

Pei Yuan couldn’t move anymore, to say nothing of jumping.

He cried aloud with despair, sitting in a pool of blood.

“I didn’t expect that my own old brother would sell me out, even though I had always known you were a stupid and preposterous person.”

Pei Baifa continued emotionlessly while looking at him, “In fact, I had been blind for many years before losing my eyesight.”

…

…

The small sword flew back from behind the cliff, its mirror-like shaft reflecting the scenes on the cliff.

Lying against the dusty green tree, the old scholar’s face was white with scattered blood stains, more and more cracks showing up on his long robe.

Liu Shisui knelt before the old scholar, his expression awfully sad.

That sword will destroyed his life force.

He liked this elder, because he had helped him a lot and they had been together for a long time.

Yet, the old scholar had never told him about his own story. He didn’t even know his family name was Yan until this day.

“If you have any last wishes, please tell me. I will do my best to fulfill them for you as long as I am alive,” he said to the old scholar.

The old scholar shook his head.

Liu Shisui got a bit upset, exclaiming, “You are dying; why do you still not want to tell me anything?”

The old scholar didn’t answer this question, but said, “Someone will know after I die, and they will come here to inspect it; so you two should leave here as soon as possible, otherwise, you will be in danger.”

Liu Shisui didn’t understand what he meant.

“I give this pen to you.”

The old scholar handed the City-Guard Pen to Liu Shisui, and said sentimentally, “Don’t show yourself before this mayhem is completely over. The world is too messy right now.”

The City-Guard Pen was the Principal Treasure of the One-Cottage House.

He gave it to Liu Shisui so easily.

Liu Shisui received it with a solemn expression.

The old scholar asked, “The last thing I want to know is, that year when we left here, you said you were going to pee in the forest; did you actually go hide the First Child Sword?”

“Yes,” Liu Shisui replied.

“Very interesting. I wish the sword would make Xiwang Sun’s hands smell stinky.”

The old scholar laughed out loud, saying, “I have to tell you one more thing. A dying person talks a lot.”

Liu Shisui cried, saying, “I talk a lot as well.”

“You have the devil fire, so the natural heat is inside your body. You shouldn’t do things so warm heartedly later on, since doing so might burn you to death.”

The old scholar looked at him and said with a serious tone, “Even if you won’t be burned to death, it’s uncomfortable to be warm hearted, like how I am now.”

He opened the fan and started fanning himself.

The wind fell on him, blowing away the clothing and his body, resembling the ashes rising up into the air.

He had gradually vanished.