The Path Toward Heaven

Zhao Layue arched her eyebrows a little, and thought it would be the case; but she still had many questions. “Why would she want to use the Fairy Book to come back?” she inquired.

This was something Liu Ci couldn’t understand either. What the Cultivation practitioners pursued was to ascend and become a fairy immortal. But she had already achieved it, so why would she want to come back to where she left behind?

“It’s may be due to fear,” Jing Jiu said.

Zhao Layue offered, “Maybe she is worried that the Immortal Jing Yang is still alive, and he would take revenge on the disciples on the Cloud-Dream Mountain, so she intends to use the copy of her true body to come back to keep a tab on him.”

“That is still not true fear,” said Jing Jiu. “I think the reason she left the Fairy Book behind is to have a backup, or a way to come back.”

“What on earth does she fear?” Zhao Layue asked earnestly.

Jing Jiu said, “The ocean and sky look extensive, but they have a limit. However, that world is limitless, where one can’t find a place to reside; it is devoid of any frame of reference and accompaniment, where one feels like they’re coming from nowhere and going nowhere. This is the origin of the fear.”

After a moment of silence, Zhao Layue offered, “It seems that her Dao Heart is isolated and the barrier of loneliness has formed over there.”

“That’s right. Over there, the projection of one’s ego will expand infinitely, which will eventually consume the self.”

Jing Jiu continued, “What she fears is the limitless and herself in the limitless space and projection.”

Zhao Layue could by and large understand what he said, but she was still baffled as she asked, “Why do you tell me all this?”

Except for her, Jing Jiu probably hadn’t told anyone about the ascension of the Immortal Jing Yang, the Great Grandmaster Bai and the secrets of that world.

This sort of trust and expectation made her feel under tremendous pressure.

“You will go to that world sooner or later; it’s not a bad thing to let you know something about it beforehand.”

The way Jing Jiu said it was like it was an inevitable thing for her to ascend in the future.

Zhao Layue felt even more pressured now.

Over the last one thousand years, Bai Ren and Jing Yang were the only two who had succeeded in ascension in all of Chaotian. Though she was someone with the natural Dao quality and confident of her own ability in Cultivation, she dared not to be so optimistic about it.

Jing Jiu put down the wooden comb and started making a braid for her. He did it with his right hand only, but with ease nonetheless.

He told only Zhao Layue about all this also because of other reasons. It was because she had nothing to do with the events that had happened in his last life; in other words, he couldn’t even trust Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing completely, but he could trust her. She was the one whom he chose as his inheritor on sight back when he was in Zhaoge City amid the falling snow, and she didn’t forget about him after becoming the Green Mountain disciple.

As someone with the natural Dao quality nurtured by the Green Mountain Sect, she would have a wonderful future without needing to do anything extra, and yet she still took risks to investigate that one matter, simply in an effort to seek justice for him.

She was the disciple desired by all the masters at the Inherited Sword Competition; even Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing wanted to take her on as their personal disciple. Instead, she chose to climb Shenmo Peak and continue his inheritance, and she persisted without hesitation even though she had injuries all over her body.

It was from that night on that Jing Jiu decided to teach her all of his knowledge without holding anything back.

In his view, if Little Layue, with her special talent and the inheritance of his Dao methods and sword work, couldn’t ascend, the rules of heaven would prove unreasonable.

If the heavenly rules were unreasonable, there would be no reason for heaven to exist. It should be nonexistent.

Zhao Layue flung the braid in front of her, turned her head around and saw his clenched fist. “What should you do now?” she asked anxiously.

It was impossible for Bai Ren to predict that Jing Yang would survive the fall from heaven and obtain the Fairy Book left behind by her.

All this wasn’t simply a coincidence; it was a scheme plotted ahead of time, and yet it was a crucial test for Jing Jiu. It could be said that it was a matter of life and death for him.

He had only one choice right now: to temper the Fairy Book. Otherwise, the fairy awareness inside it would gradually penetrate his body and Dao Heart until it occupied and controlled his whole heart and soul.

The problem was that it was not so easy to temper the Fairy Book.

When he told Liu Ci that he intended to temper the Fairy Book, he displayed an imperturbable countenance; but even Liu Ci could tell that he was not that confident about the endeavor.

In the Illusionary Realm of the Green Sky Mirror, Jing Jiu had already sensed the power of the Fairy Book when he reached out his hand to grab the bronze tripod. If the fairy energy in the Fairy Book were released, it would generate an enormous power, which would be even hard for the figures in the Heavenly Arrival State to handle.

It was an extremely difficult task to temper the Fairy Book without contacting the fairy energy inside it, and the most difficult part was that the fairy awareness left by Bai Ren was at a very high Cultivation state, which was much higher than the state attained by any Cultivation practitioner in Chaotian.

“I have to go to a friend for help this time.”

Jing Jiu looked at the empty ceiling of the manor cave.

The blue sky appeared far-reaching, devoid of the traits of autumn.

The friend he mentioned was of course not the Queen in the deep part of the snowland, and also not the Giant in the Alien Land.

Zhao Layue followed his line of sight to look at the sky; she felt puzzled, though not as much as she felt curious.

A few years ago, when Jing Jiu said that he would go to a friend for solving the problem of Sword Ghost, she and Gu Qing wondered if he actually had any friends.

What had happened proved that Jing Jiu indeed had some friends, and one friend turned out to be the last Underworld Emperor.

Zhao Layue wanted to know whom he would seek this time and what kind of amazing figure that person would be.

Jing Jiu knew what was on her mind. “He is already dead,” said Jing Jiu after looking at the sky silently for a while.

…

…

The Fruit Formation Temple was enshrouded in the twilight.

The pine forest looked as red as the fire in a stove; and the pagoda forest cast many long shadows along with the stripes of setting sunlight.

There were hundreds of stone pagodas of various heights in the pagoda forest, where the highly achieved monks of all generations were buried. It was very tranquil here, devoid of ominous feel.

Sitting on the stone steps in front of the Zen Hall, Yin San pressed the bone flute lightly with his fingers while holding it close to his lips. He was playing soundless music; it was also tranquil, devoid of depressing feel.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect walked out from the room and stood behind him. After listening patiently to the music until the end, he spoke.

“The person in the Fiend Prison was Jing Jiu. Why didn’t you send the message to the Center Sect?”

Yin San put down the bone flute, cleaned it gingerly with his sleeve, and then put it back in his waist. “If they won’t be able to figure this out, how can the Center Sect occupy the spiritual source of the Cloud-Dream for thirty thousand years?” he replied.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect rubbed his reddish nose as he said, “At least we can tell them the true identity of Jing Jiu’s.”

Yin San curled up the corners of his mouth, letting out a mocking grin. “Over the years, all the happenings related to him have revealed one fact that it seems that he has been standing on top of Shenmo Peak shouting ‘I’m Jing Yang’. Do you think he intends to conceal his true identity?”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect sighed, “If I could figure out the thoughts of the two immortals, I wouldn’t have been defeated so badly back then.”

Yin San stood up and said without emotion, “He needs others’ views and conjectures to ascertain who he actually is.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect was startled after hearing this, and asked, “Does he have amnesia?”

“No,” Yin San said in a mocking tone, “he is just evading something.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect looked at his side profile and inquired with narrowed eyes, “Who the heck is he then?”

Yin San dusted his cloth and said, “As I said before, regardless of who he is, he is definitely not Jing Yang.”

“This is really interesting,” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect commented after a pause.

“But I find it kind of sad.”

Yin San headed to the inside of the pagoda forest, and soon vanished in the twilight.

Looking at the twilight, a strange expression showed in the narrowed eyes of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect.

At the moment, he didn’t look like an old dog, but an old lion that desired to go back to the flock of lions, full of confidence and determination.

The dusk drum rang out. It was the time for the supper at the Fruit Formation Temple. The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect came to the kitchen of the front yard, with the food container in his hands, to seek out that fat monk he befriended.

The two of them hid in a corner under the corridor and opened the food container, revealing a large cooked pig leg in it.

On the left of the large pig leg was the fresh perilla, and on the right the preserved perilla. They tasted different, but delicious nonetheless.

The fat monk couldn’t help but drool when seeing the pig leg, saying, “The meat smells so good…He is doing great at the West Ocean…It doesn’t taste greasy when mixed with the vegetables…I’m trying to persuade that person.”

He spoke in a very low voice, and along with the saliva in his mouth,, his words couldn’t be heard very clearly. Yet, it was obvious that he wasn’t talking about the nonsense like “Keeping the Buddha in the heart as the pig meat passing through the stomach”.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect brought the pig leg to his mouth and had a forceful bite, leaving a half pound of meat in his mouth. “Kill the two immortals with a swing of the sword,” he said unclearly. “Along with the flesh and skin…being recorded in the annals of history…wounding the tendons and bones…shocking heaven and earth…tasting delicious. Why wouldn’t I be tempted?”

The fat monk said with a bitter expression, “You forgot to put salt in it…what about the Green Mountain Sect?”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect ran his hand over his face, making it look dirty and greasy. “I preserved it in advance…He is not the master…You should shut up if you don’t want to eat…a useless imbecile,” he snapped.

The fat monk thought indignantly, you are still so ill-tempered under the circumstances; that person’s Master is also a hidden swordsman, and though he is trapped by the Green Mountain Sect on the Foggy Island in the South Ocean, he is living a leisurely and peaceful life nonetheless, unlike you who, as a hidden swordsman, can only eat meat secretly in a temple and act like a dog.

…

…

Passing through the pagoda forest and the pine forest and coming out from the side door of the side hall, Yin San arrived on the cliff, from where he could see the vegetable garden below.

The setting sun was descending to the horizon. Xiao He walked out from the room with the medicine pot in her hands, after pushing open the door with a squeaking noise.

Seeing this scene and hearing the coughing sound coming from the inside of the room, Yin San arched his eyebrows a bit.

Liu Shisui had come back from the Cloud-Dream Mountain, but no cheerful expression could be found on this vixen’s face. It looked like he was in trouble.

Though his problem of different zhenqi conflicting in his body had been alleviated to some extent after practicing the Zen method at the Fruit Formation Temple, the problem resumed and seemed to get worse over the past two years.

The Young Zen Master had written a referral letter for Liu Shisui to go to the One-Cottage House to study their Dao methods. If he could learn their methods, the problem in his body should be resolved completely. Yet, for some reason, he didn’t go there.

Yin San found it quite interesting after he learned of the matter.

The twilight grew deeper, and the sky grew dimmer. All of a sudden, he made a decision.

He entered the vegetable garden, pushed open the door of the house, and said calmly while looking at Liu Shisui, “Do you have any wine? I’d like to drink two cups of it tonight.”

…