The Path Toward Heaven

Nine chairs were set in the Grand Hall of Xilai Peak.

The chair at the head and the chair to its right side were empty.

The Immortal Sect Master and Yuan Qijing were absent.

The representatives of Tianguang Peak were Elder Bai Rujing and Elder Mo Chi. The look on Bai Rujing’s face was gloomy. His reputation on the Green Mountain was quite damaged after Liu Shisui firmly refused to return to him as his personal disciple. Elder Mo Chi’s face was still so dark, and appeared nervous at the moment; it was unclear if it had something to do with the fact that he would give a speech later on, or something else.

Chi Yan, Duan Liantian and a few other elders had already arrived. Representing Shangde Peak was that icy cold Three-Foot Sword.

The Immortal Guangyuan, Peak Master of Shiyue, didn’t come because he was behind closed doors at the moment.

Chen Youtian, Peak Master of Bihu, came in person, but he had already expressed his intention of abstaining from any vote, showing his determination to keep a low profile till the end.

The Peak Master of Xingyun and the Peak Master of Qingrong, Nan Wang, sat in their respective chairs.

Though there was a chair for Liangwang Peak, Guo Nanshan stood by it instead.

The chair for Shenmo Peak was placed at the very end, and Zhao Layue sat in it quietly, with Jing Jiu sitting behind her.

Mei Li, Chi Yan and the elders of the peaks all had their own seats. Many master of the nine peaks came, but the hall still appeared empty since it was simply too big.

A patch of thin cloud arose on the floor that looked like the inky jade, as Fang Jingtian sauntered in.

It was he who was to host the Peak Meeting. He swept his gaze across all the people in the hall. The quiet venue became even more so that the sound of the clouds dropping down could even be heard.

The impression people had of Fang Jingtian on the Green Mountain was that he was ordinary in all the aspects and always had a smile on his face, and he was often seen talk to others at the Sword Trials.

Many people noticed that he didn’t even have a hint of smile, neither in his eyes or on his face, not since he had appeared this day; they couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

The feeling was even more apparent for the peak master of Xingyun and some elders. They felt this person appeared unfamiliar, as if they had never seen him before.

This could only mean that the peak master of Xilai they had known before wasn’t the true personality of Fang Jingtian.

Without introduction or chitchat, Fang Jingtian said directly, “Let’s talk about the Old Ones first.”

For Cultivation practitioners, time was not important, but yet was the most important commodity; nobody was willing to spend time on these matters.

Guo Nanshan came out to the floor and told them about the entire event, from purging the demon at the Muddy River to wiping out the Cloud Platform a few days ago. It could be said that he gave a complete description of the event, at least he didn’t miss any significant part; and then he talked about the subsequent arrangements in more details, focusing on how the properties of the Old Ones in Zhaoge City were to be allocated.

The elders of the peaks then started asking questions. Guo Nanshan answered them one by one. Liu Shisui was also called to the floor to answer some questions during the question period. An ill-informed elder of Xilai Peak asked about the death of Luo Huainan in order to pick out the fault of Liu Shisui. Fang Jingtian cut him off before he could even finish, and the short-tempered Nan Wang called him “idiot” a few times.

As such, Liu Shisui didn’t have to answer the elder’s inquiry.

The discussion about the Old Ones was concluded in a hasty manner. Then, the meeting moved to the next agenda, that is, the disciples of the peaks were evaluated and then determined by Shangde Peak for their rewards.

The heritage of the Green Mountain had continued for tens of thousands of years, so there was a comprehensive system for rewards and punishments and the recurring evaluations. Xilai Peak had always been in charge of these matters, so they did their duties mostly without hiccup. Yet, a minor issue occurred regarding the assignment of magic pills. A master of Northern-Crane Pavilion was rewarded with magic pills and returned to Xingyun Peak to resume his attempt at the Free Travel State after he had successfully trained three inherited sword disciples. The two sides had different opinions on the grades of the magic pills rewarded, but the consent was soon reached after some discussion.

It wasn’t until then that Zhao Layue had learned that the amount of merits was so different for those teaching the external disciples and those at the Sword Washing Hall. She also found that the relevant system was so comprehensive and complex, and that it wasn’t so easy to obtain the magic pills and magic methods.

She had never needed to worry about these.

Grandmaster Jing Yang had left so many magic pills and magic methods on Shenmo Peak for so few people; so they had more than enough for everybody there, and there was no need for assignment based on merits.

As all these discussions were over, Fang Jingtian looked at Mo Chi and said, “Young Brother, please go ahead.”

Mo Chi’s temperament was honest and reserved. This Peak Meeting had a hidden agenda, which was not his intention. So he thought nervously that he’d better start with a trivial matter.

“That…that…Yin City…that vixen…why…”

He was so nervous that his stutter became even worse, and he couldn’t even form a complete sentence for a while; but everybody in the hall had already understood what he was trying to say, and looked at Fang Jingtian.

The explanation given by Fang Jingtian was simple and succinct, “Green Mountain is not a place for hiding the undesirables.”

If this was the discussion in the imperial court, such a weighty statement would be able to move some officials; but those qualified to take part in the Peak Meeting of the Green Mountain were the Cultivation practitioners with longevity. So they were not as easily moved emotionally to change their judgment.

Mei Li asked, “What if she gave up the deviant sect and joins the orthodox one?”

“If one has murdered so many people, they can’t expect to become the Buddha after putting down the murdering knife. It’s because the Green Mountain is not the Fruit Formation Temple.”

Fang Jingtian looked at Liu Shisui and said, “She was with the Old Ones for more than twenty years. You should know better than us how many evil deeds she had done and how many innocent people she had killed.”

Liu Shisui didn’t say anything, as he was aware that he had no way to conceal it. After the destruction of the Cloud Platform, all the files and materials were taken by the orthodox sects from there, and then analyzed and compiled by the Pure Heaven Bureau, which then informed all the sects of the progress of their work.

An elder of Xilai Peak came to the venue with the relevant files compiled by the Pure Heaven Bureau, passing them to everyone to read.

Reading the clear recordings in those files, the elders of the peaks changed their looks slightly, and Mo Chi opened his mouth and intended to say something, but failed to utter a word.

Zhao Layue put the files to the side of the table after glancing at them. She didn’t give them to Jing Jiu, because she knew he was not interested in reading them.

Liu Shisui didn’t take those files. He had read them many times when he was in that quiet room on the Cloud Platform and knew what was written in them.

“This vixen had committed many evil deeds, so sparing her life is good enough to compensate for her contribution in the destruction of the Old Ones. It’s already very generous to let her live; but it’s impossible to let her stay on the Green Mountain.”

Fang Jingtian concluded the matter in a nonchalant manner.

Nobody objected.

Liu Shisui still remained silent.

Mo Chi glanced at him sympathetically before asking Fang Jingtian, “Then…why did Xilai Peak refuse…to reward Junior Master Liu?”

The orthodox Cultivation sects had destroyed the Cloud Platform in collaboration, and the West Ocean Sword Sect was vastly damaged after this battle; the Green Mountain was basking in glory. Liu Shisui was the biggest hero in all this.

Usually, the Green Mountain Sect should have rewarded him with magic pills and treasures for his efforts, but it was delayed due to the interference of Xilai Peak.

This was actually the main agenda of this Peak Meeting.

“That’s right. It was I who had declined his reward, because someone had a different view. As a result, the so-called reward has to be put on hold until the accusation is resolved.”

Fang Jingtian said this in a normal tone.

“What is this different view then?” Elder Mo Chi asked with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Jian Ruyun walked out from the deep end of the grand hall, his face pale and tired, and his eyes slightly bloodshot. It was obvious that he hadn’t recovered from the pain of losing his younger brother.

Seeing this fourth ranked disciple of Liangwang Peak, Chen Youtian, Nan Wang and the others were perplexed, not knowing what was going on.

Liu Shisui looked at Jing Jiu briefly and then pulled his gaze back just as quickly.

He had told Jing Jiu the day he returned to the Green Mountain that someone was investigating that event.

Jing Jiu told him to think about it only when the trouble came, and that it wasn’t worthy of thinking about it in advance.

The trouble finally came this day.

Have you any idea how to handle this?