The Path Toward Heaven

What Sese meant was obvious, but He Zhan disagreed with her.

Regardless of the way Zuo Rusui stood, he would give out a feel of dominating the space. So he was very powerful.

Jing Jiu had stagnated for almost ten years in his Cultivation state; so there was no way he could be Zuo’s equal.

The young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery looked at Tong Yan and asked, “Young Master Tong, what is your opinion?”

Tong Yan was a master at Go, and had unparalleled wisdom; so his judgment should be accurate.

He Zhan looked at Tong Yan and wanted to know what his opinion was and how long he thought Jing Jiu could last.

Tong Yan answered without a second thought, “Jing Jiu will definitely win.”

He Zhan was baffled, so was the young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery. Zuo Rusui had stayed behind closed doors and attained the Free Travel State at such a young age; he could be considered a peculiar individual in the Cultivation circle. He was even a bit superior to Zhao Layue. Even if Jing Jiu had a special talent in sword work, how could he compensate for the big gap between their Cultivation states?

Bai Zao asked candidly, “Why does Big Brother have more confidence in him than I?”

Tong Yan remained silent for a moment before saying, “It’s because Jing Jiu has the best calculating prowess in the world. If he didn’t have the confidence that he’d win, he wouldn’t have come here.”

This reasoning was logical, and it sounded sensible at least.

After that game of Go at the Plum Meeting, Jing Jiu’s calculating prowess shocked all of Chaotian. If he didn’t have the chance of winning, there was no way he would agree to the fight with Zuo Rusui.

The young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery was still not convinced, so she asked Sese why she thought Jing Jiu could win.

Sese replied, “It’s very simple. It’s because that person has never been willing to be shortchanged in whatever dealings he was involved.”

He Zhan thought of the stories he heard about Jing Jiu, and found what Sese said was mostly true.

Seeing the two figures in the valley, Sese suddenly laughed as she said, “The Green Mountain Sect really enjoys doing this.”

He Zhan and the others followed her line of sight in that very direction.

The night was late, and the stars were bright. The valley was covered by a layer of silver color; the vision of the valley was much clearer now.

Zuo Rusui looked at the ground with drooped eyelids, folding both of his arms.

Jing Jiu looked at the trees in the forest with his hands behind him.

They looked like two tourists who were lost in the valley.

It seemed that they didn’t know each other.

One of them was tired from walking.

The other still had the interest in enjoying the scenery.

He Zhan agreed with Sese’s opinion this time. He nodded, “I’m not impressed by either of their conduct; but I’m truly impressed by the fact that they are really good at pretending.”

Recalling what Xiang Wanshu and others told her about how they were rescued in the snowland, Bai Zao smiled, musing that it was indeed like what He Zhan said.

“Are they going to stand so close to each other?” the young woman of the Waster-Moon Nunnery suddenly asked, wide-eyed.

It wasn’t until then that they had noticed that the distance between Jing Jiu and Zuo Rusui was less than two hundred feet, and that they didn’t intend to ride their swords to fly apart.

The last thing the swordsmen of Green Mountain wanted was to stay close to their opponents. If possible, they would try their best to lengthen the distance from them.

Yet, why would they stand so close to each other in this sword combat between two colleagues of Green Mountain?

He Zhan glanced at Tong Yan and said, “Zuo Rusui is so confident and relaxed that he has actually offered Jing Jiu some advantage; do you still believe that Jing Jiu has a chance?”

Tong Yan wasn’t so sure when he said, “Maybe Jing Jiu had predicted this.”

“He is then far too shameless,” He Zhan remarked while shaking his head.

Zuo Rusui was in the initial state of the Free Travel, much higher than Jing Jiu’s. If Zuo Rusui lengthened the distance, the sword fight would become a one-sided attack tonight. Jing Jiu would lose for certain.

The distance between them indicated that Zuo Rusui didn’t intend to take advantage of the difference in their Cultivation states; he merely wanted to defeat Jing Jiu by using his sword work. Was it due to his pride?

If Jing Jiu had relied on his pride when agreeing to this fight, was he indeed shameless?

…

…

“Even though we stand close to each other, you still can’t win.”

Zhuo Rusui looked at a grasshopper on his foot as he said that suddenly.

It seemed that Jing Jiu didn’t hear what he had said. He untied the iron sword from his back and unwrapped the cloth covering the sword.

Zhuo Rusui didn’t lift his head, but it seemed that he had already seen the iron sword, saying, “Your sword is not so good either.”

“This only means that your judgment is very bad,” said Jing Jiu.

…

…

No one announced the start of the fight, and no one counted backwards for the fight to start. The instant the cloth that had covered the sword fell to the ground, the fight started.

A faint and tiny flame appeared in front of Jing Jiu.

His face was illuminated brighter than the stars in the sky.

Before the first flame faded, the second flame appeared not far away.

Soon after, more and more flames appeared.

Some of them were in the sky; some on the ground; some in the forest; and some by the stream.

It was in the blink of an eye that countless flames burned everywhere, like the ocean of peonies blossoming overnight in the Hanshi Valley a few days ago.

The entire valley was illuminated.

Jing Jiu and Zhuo Rusui stood amid the flames filling the sky. The group could see their silhouettes clearly along with their rippling clothes.

It was an extremely beautiful scene.

Sese couldn’t help crying in surprise, “It’s so pretty.”

The expression in the eyes of that young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery revealed the same sentiment.

Bai Zao’s eyes were very bright, just like the clean water.

Though it was a wonderful thing to observe the flames by the stream, she was fully aware that those flames had a great deal of danger hidden in them.

Those flames were the result of Jing Jiu’s sword colliding with Zuo Rusui’s sword.

Each flame was one collision.

Countless flames meant countless collisions.

It was merely a moment ago that the valley had already been filled with the flames; it indicated that the two of them had wielded their swords countless times in the shortest period of time.

How fast were their swords?

Seeing the magnificent flames before his eyes, He Zhan was somewhat startled, thinking that these two were truly powerful.

Tong Yan didn’t even blink his eyes. He focused all his attention on the whole valley. Countless bright specks appeared in his eyes and then faded away, revealing all the details perfectly.

Tong Yan was calculating the speed of the swords being wielded by Jing Jiu and Zuo Rusui, the trajectories of their swords, and much more.

“Jing Jiu is in trouble,” He Zhan suddenly announced.

Tong Yan didn’t respond.

He had already calculated that Jing Jiu was indeed at a disadvantage.

Though it looked like the flames in the sky covered the whole valley, they were in fact sparse in some areas and dense in others.

The flames in the west grew sparser and sparser; and the flames in the east became denser and denser.

It seemed as if a gust of invisible wind blew the flames toward where Jing Jiu stood.

This indicated that the collisions of the two swords occurred increasingly closer to Jing Jiu.

It was clear at the moment who was on the defense and who was on the offense.

All of a sudden, countless sounds broke out in the valley.

The sounds were very faint, like countless glass cups being broken at the same time.

He Zhan and the others felt a little relieved.

The sound of sword singing indicated that the both sides stopped fight temporarily.

The flames in the sky gradually faded away. The valley returned to its darkness; what had happened earlier was like a dream.

He Zhan inserted a torch in the ground, illuminating the surroundings. The faint sound of wind could be heard.

A flying sword hovered quietly in midair.

The body of the sword was gray, and it looked quite ordinary; but it exuded a rather powerful energy.

Zhuo Rusui remarked with drooped eyelids, “Senior Master, you are much stronger than I thought; but your sword is really not so good.”

Jing Jiu’s iron sword was very famous on Green Mountain. It was inherited from Senior Master Mo of Shiyue Peak.

Yet, the fame of the sword stemmed mostly from that story and the way Jing Jiu obtained the iron sword. It didn’t mean that the iron sword itself was truly powerful.

In fact, this iron sword had an ordinary state, and it was also too heavy. After burning for six years in the snowland, the sword looked extremely ugly now.

Zhuo Rusui could sense that Jing Jiu’s sword work was excellent and not inferior to his own, but his iron sword was too heavy and its state was so ordinary that it was hard for Jing Jiu to wield it efficiently.

It was for this reason that he had been in the offensive position the whole time, Zuo Rusui thought to himself.

“Like I said, your judgment is bad,” Jing Jiu said.

Zhuo Rusui sensed his own flying sword and found that his sword will operated a bit slowly; it seemed that his sword was influenced by something.

Jing Jiu suddenly turned to look at the outside of the valley in the distance, and then shot Bai Zao a look.

Bai Zao sensed it as well. She nodded first and then shook her head, indicating that she couldn’t use the formation to block those masters outside forever.

Jing Jiu turned to Zhuo Rusui and said, “Hurry up.”

“You admit defeat then,” Zhuo Rusui prompted.

As soon as those words were spoken, the flames reappeared.

This time, the flames didn’t appear in other places in the valley, like in the cliffs and by the stream. The flames occurred only between the two of them.

They stood merely two hundred feet apart and so many flames occurred at the same time; the flames were so close together that they almost turned into a mirror of light, one that could possibly blind onlookers.

Sese and the young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery covered their faces with their hands, exposing only their lovely eyes.

He Zhan displayed a grave expression, thinking that there was no way he could resist the storm-like attacks himself.

Zhuo Rusui was really very strong. He had grasped the true essence of the Green Mountain sword styles at such a young age. And his Sword Source was abundant, his swordplay violent. He was indeed unique.

But, how come Jing Jiu could still resist him?

Bai Zao was slightly worried about Jing Jiu; it was because she thought Jing Jiu’s sword was indeed inferior.

Zhuo Rusui was the personal disciple of the Green Mountain Sect Master.

His flying sword looked ordinary, but it had an extraordinary state. It was probably even superior to Guo Nanshan’s Blue Ocean Sword, so his sword should be in the Fairy State of high level.

Even if Jing Jiu’s sword work was not weaker than Zuo Rusui’s, how could his ugly sword withstand all those frequent attacks?

Countless flames appeared on Tong Yan’s pupils.

No matter how he calculated it, Tong Yan couldn’t predict a possibility of Jing Jiu winning the fight, so he was puzzled.

…

…

“Junior Master Bai, please dismantle the formation.”

A deep and icy voice came down from above in the night sky.

Bai Zao recognized that it was the voice of Elder Yue Qianmen. She had no choice but to dismantle the formation outside the valley.

As soon as the formation had been dismantled, they could hear many sounds of breaking coming through the air, and then saw dozens of light beams illuminating the night sky.

Even though Jing Jiu was warned by Bai Zao, he didn’t expect this child to have such good sword work. They eventually alerted the Cloud-Dream Mountain.

The participants and the observers of the competition, from the Center Sect, the Green Mountain Sect, the Water-Moon Nunnery, the Kunlun Sect and the Great Marsh, all came to the night sky and looked at the ground after hearing the news.

The scene in the valley fell on everybody’s eyes.

Jing Jiu and Zhuo Rusui stood amid the flames filling the sky.

Once the formation was dismantled, the wind rushed in from outside of the valley, bringing the flames to higher elevation in the sky, resembling tens of thousands of fireflies drifting up at the same time.

The crowd knew that these flames were the residuals from the sword fights between Jing Jiu and Zhuo Rusui, and were shocked.

How could these two be so strong?

Those young disciples thought how they would have been sliced into countless pieces by the sword if they stood in the valley at the moment. Those masters with profound Cultivation states of the previous generation wondered if they were of similar prowess at this age; then they all shook their heads sentimentally, admitting that they were not even close to the prowess of these two at that age.

Zhuo Rusui was indeed the personal disciple of the Immortal Green Mountain Sect Master, and someone who had defeated Zhao Layue. He was unbelievably powerful. Jing Jiu was also indeed the personal disciple of the Immortal Jing Yang; and he could even resist such violent attacks of his opponent. Yet, it was said that he had stagnated in his Cultivation state for ten years, how come it didn’t show tonight?

…

…

Jing Jiu sensed the arrivals of those people in the sky, raising his brows slightly.

Though he was used to being looked at by others, it didn’t mean that he liked it, regardless of his face or his sword work.

He decided to finish the fight right away. As a result, he released his hands, which had been folded behind him the entire time.

The iron sword suddenly materialized in the night sky, then flew back to his side, and finally plunged into the ground.

This was the best moment to attack.

But Zhuo Rusui didn’t make the move.

It was then that he lifted his head.

He looked at Jing Jiu.

Sensing the changed energies of heaven and earth in the valley, Zhuo Rusui leaped backwards without hesitation. He retreated to the edge of a forest about one thousand feet away, and sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes and turned his left palm upward; and he closed the fingers on his hand to summon a sword instruction.

His flying sword materialized in the night sky and then disappeared again.

Jing Jiu’s cloth ruffled a little, and then vanished from the spot.

The starlight shone on the valley, soundlessly; but a great peril was hidden in the light.

The wind blew over continuously to rustle the treetops and the wild grass. It seemed that any light beam could turn out to be the sword light. It was extremely horrendous.

It was unclear if it was the wind that entered the caves on the cliffs, or it was the tree leaves that were stroking each other that a dreadful scream echoed in the valley.

Zhuo Rusui’s face grew increasingly paler.

The dreadful sword will filled the entire valley.

Sese and the others couldn’t watch on the same spots any longer. They retreated to the top of the cliff.

He Zhan’s expression was a bit grim.

The Cultivation practitioners in the night sky, especially those young disciples, couldn’t withstand the dreadful energy and retreated to a distance of three miles.

Those terrible wind whistles and leaf strokes suddenly stopped. Immediately, an awful shriek of the sword broke out.

Jing Jiu appeared in front of Zhuo Rusui.

He stepped on Zhuo Rusui’s flying sword.

Jing Jiu pointed his finger at his chest, along with a beam of sword light.

Zhuo Rusui opened his eyes and looked at the gradually approaching finger, as if he saw the sharpest sword in the world.

He released the sword instruction, and gave up on controlling his flying sword again. Zhuo Rusui spread his fingers as quickly as he could in an attempt to employ the method of Locking Autumn to lock Jing Jiu’s finger.

Back at the Sword Trial on Green Mountain, Gu Han of Liangwang Peak had tried to employ this method to lock Jing Jiu’s sword, but he failed.

Zhuo Rusui knew about this incident, but he thought that he could achieve what his Big Brother had failed to do.

The sword light flashed.

Zhuo Rusui’s hands landed on Jing Jiu’s sleeve.

Jing Jiu’s finger landed on Zhuo Rusui’s chest.

Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!

Innumerable thuds echoed inside his body.

Dozens of white puffs of smoke came out from his sword robe.

Zhuo Rusui was knocked into the forest and thrashed against a tree.

Crack!!!

The tree was broken apart and then fell down in half.

As the white smoke dispersed, dozens of sword marks showed up on his body, with blood seeping out.

…

…

It was deathly quiet in the valley.

So was the night sky.

It was noiseless in heaven and earth.

Innumerable gazes fell on Jing Jiu. Some of them were shocked; some admiring; and some yearning.

What method did Jing Jiu use?

His movements were so wonderful and unpredictable; it was as powerful as the Escape Method of Heaven and Earth of the Center Sect.

The crowd had many puzzling questions in their minds, and then some of them remembered the rumor.

“There are so many talented disciples at your sect. I should congratulate you on this. But…you have concealed it so well.”

Fang Jingtian fell silent. He was deep in thought while looking at the figure in the valley.

Nan Wang exclaimed casually, “He simply has a shapeless inborn Sword Body. Why should our Green Mountain tell everybody about it?”

…