The Path Toward Heaven

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to use my fame to do whatever you wanted to,” Guo Dong said. “It seems inappropriate to conceal the truth from you now that you have even had such a ridiculous idea. Today I tell you loud and clear that you are the disciple of our Water-Moon Nunnery, not a free-traveling practitioner; if a Cultivation sect asks you to be their disciple in the future, simply drive them away.”

It was then that He Zhan had gradually returned to his senses after the initial shock; but he wasn’t so pleased to hear what Guo Dong had just said, wondering what she meant by him wanting to use her fame to do whatever he wanted to. He didn’t even know that he had a relative in this world, nor that she was an important figure in the Cultivation world; most of all, he didn’t even know the true identity of this relative until now!

At the moment, He Zhan of course wanted to find out certain things, but he was stopped by Guo Dong as he was about to ask her. “Don’t ask me about your parents, because I am not willing to think about or talk about it, at least not now. I sent you to Junior Master Lanxi and let her raise you when you were born; so you’d better regard her as your mother.”

Grandmaster Lanxi was a famous and highly achieved Cultivation practitioner of previous generation at the Waster-Moon Nunnery, and she disappeared suddenly twenty some years ago. It was because she went away to raise a child.

Thinking of the old nun who taught and raised him, He Zhan felt a sentimental affection forming in his heart, so he stopped asking further. Yet, he grew more curious.

This auntie of his was a senior master of Grandmaster Lanxi; as such, Guo Dong should have a similar status as the Chief Nun of the Water-Moon Nunnery.

Guo Dong started walking to the outside of the loofah shed.

He Zhan ran up to her hastily and asked, “Auntie, what is that patch of silk you gave me when I was a child?”

“It’s called Huanxi Silk,” Guo Dong replied.

He Zhan asked, “What about the dragon bones? Is it useful to drink it in the wine?”

“Only idiots use it that way,” Guo Dong snapped.

He Zhan rubbed his nose embarrassingly, saying, “I had many other magic pills at the time, so I didn’t make pills with it.”

Thinking of something, Guo Dong said to him, “It should be about time for you to break through the Yuman State based on my calculation. That Three-Marrow Pill is very beneficial for the process; remember to take it with the strong alcohol.”

“I was short of money a few years ago, so I sold that case of magic pills,” said He Zhan, feeling even more embarrassed.

Looking at him silently, Guo Dong said, “The orthodox Cultivation sects would find out the origin of the magic pills when they saw the case, and you wouldn’t sell it to the minor sects; so I’m wondering whom you sold the pills to.”

He Zhan said after some hesitation, “A young girl from the Hanging-Bell Sect.”

Recalling the scene she witnessed in the chess tournament of that year’s Plum Meeting, Guo Dong reminded him, “She is much younger than you.”

Having said that, she jumped into the air, vanishing into the morning sunlight instantly.

Looking at the sky colored by morning sunlight, He Zhan remained silent for a long time, giving a sigh.

“Even if you are not satisfied with this nephew, you have treated me a bit too coldly. Anyway, couldn’t you just give me another Three-Marrow Pill?”

He grew up in the nunnery and lived life all by himself since the death of the old nun. Though his life wasn’t a lonely one, he was really like a lotus without the root, drifting in the world. Yet, he found out that he had a relative in this world this day, and he realized he actually had a root. As a result, the world looked different in his eyes, and the scorching sunlight felt mild and comfortable. Then, he felt odd when recalling Guo Dong’s statement that he was the disciple of the Water-Moon Nunnery from this day on. Were all the disciples of the Water-Moon Nunnery females? And what kind of person was this auntie?

He was quite certain by now that his auntie was an important figure in the Cultivation world, just as Tong Yan predicted.

Thinking of this, He Zhan felt excited and proud.

His feeling was similar to how State Duke Lu’s son felt when he had learned that the Immortal Jing Yang was the backer of his family.

She must be a powerful Cultivation practitioner for sure!

…

…

It wasn’t too hot in White Town in the early summer.

Compared to a few years ago, the snowline retreated at least one hundred miles to the north. The green grass could be spotted everywhere in the fields, but wheat, melons and vegetables still couldn’t grow here. The loofahs were not among the foods and vegetables brought in from Juye City.

Guo Dong walked to the front of the small temple, but she didn’t enter it. She sat down on the doorsill looking out in the direction of the northern fields. She took out a cucumber and had two bites of it.

That deep and hoarse voice rang out behind her, “You have been training these young people the entire time. Do you intend to mold them to be like me?”

Guo Dong replied without spinning around, “It’s extremely hard to become the Broadsword King. It’s your ability to achieve it, having nothing to do with me.”

That voice asked, “Whom do you favor so far?”

Guo Dong remarked, “I didn’t expect Guo Nanshan, the principal disciple of the merciless Green Mountain Sect, to be such a cautious person, and I also didn’t expect Luo Huainan to lose his Dao Heart. Tong Yan’s temperament is too arrogant and lonely, not suitable for a leader. Bai Zao, my first favorite, is too weak and feeble, unable to face the hardship and adversity; worst of all, she is encountering a barrier, which is very difficult for her to break through.”

That voice commented sentimentally, “How can one deal with it if they have no idea where the feeling comes from? The love affair is always like this.”

Guo Dong remained silent for a while before saying, “I checked out Zhao Layue and felt satisfied with her. Unfortunately, she has gone to Shenmo Peak, so she will have a hard time staying away from Jing Yang’s negative influence.”

“Why do you worry so much about Jing Yang’s influence?” that voiced pressed.

Pointing at the deep part of the snowland with the cucumber, Guo Dong said, “Back then I wanted to kill that being of the Snowy Kingdom, I talked to all the Cultivation sects in Chaotian, and in the end, only one and half men were willing to help me; you were one man, and Mister Pei half. I realized back then that we were the peculiar ones in the Cultivation circle, and the peculiar ones are in the minority, unable to change the status quo that much, so we needed more Cultivation practitioners of the same ideal. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to guide them when they were still young, hoping that they would have less decayed way of thinking.”

That voice sighed, “The young people will grow old and become old people; how could they stay the same over the years?”

“It makes sense, but I have to give it a try,” said Guo Dong.

That voice said, “I know your time table, but you are still too hasty.”

Guo Dong said wryly, “You must know very well that everybody is hasty right now.”

…

…

The collapsed cliffs outside Haizhou City looked like the appalling wounds of the earth, with broken rocks and trees everywhere, where one could hardly find a place to stand.

The scenes in the ocean were even more terrifying, with the broken rocks everywhere, the lower ones were submerged in the white foams and the higher ones shooting up skyward like the sharp swords.

The few square miles of ocean surface were filled with such broken rocks, extending all the way to the deep part of the ocean and connecting with that patch of famous Chaotic Rocks.

These broken rocks used to be part of the hanging mountain enshrouded by the white clouds, high in the sky.

That night the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean broke the Cloud Platform with his sword, and the hanging mountain fell down from the sky. If Bu Qiuxiao of the One Cottage House and a few other swordsmen hadn’t acted in time, the fallen hanging mountain would have caused a strong earthquake, killing and injuring a large number of residents in Haizhou City.

The blood stains could still be seen amid the broken rocks and debris, but it was impossible to know whether the blood had been shed by the Cultivation practitioners who were engaged in the battle that night or the severely injured flying whale.

Standing by the broken cliff’s edge and looking at the scene below, the great grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect rubbed his nose reflexively, making it look even redder.

His gaze followed the broken rocks on the ocean surface to the far end and saw the patch of Chaotic Rocks. He suddenly formed the opinion that there had been a hanging mountain by the West Ocean many years ago, but it had been cut down by a powerful swordsman..

Even if this conjecture were true, it would have happened tens of thousands years ago, during a time he knew nothing of.

Presently in Chaotian, the Green Mountain Sect and the Center Sect were among the few Cultivation sects that kept the records of this sort.

He turned to the young man by his side and intended to ask whether this young man had heard of this matter, but he was taken aback by the sight.

Yin San stood by the cliff’s edge with his hands behind his back, enjoying the ocean wind blowing over his face. His eyes revealed a sense of tremendous relaxation and joy, looking as though he had drunk a great deal of alcohol.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect commented, “It seems that you have gotten what you wanted.”

“It’s always a pleasure to gain something,” said Yin San with a half smile.