The Path Toward Heaven

A sword light passed through his chest.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect grunted, and fell down like a piece of a drifting leaf.

Though his Cultivation state was similar to that of the Immortal Sect Master of Green Mountain Liu Ci, he had received a hit from the Emperor’s palm and his spiritual awareness had suffered tremendously; how could he evade the sword of Green Mountain, the energy of which Liu Ci had been accumulating for a few days?

When everybody thought that the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect would die for sure, the figure that looked like a drifting fallen leaf had suddenly disappeared amid the wind, merely leaving a puff of black smoke behind.

The black smoke made of the tiny black powders should be the rod of golden steel that the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect had used earlier to sneak attack the Unicorn. It was unclear what kind of deviant magic he had used to replace his body, but as a result, his life was saved for the time being. The rod was burning, indicating that the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect had been injured severely, what with it being his blood and life energy attached to the rod.

The sword light disappeared in the midst of the ocean of clouds.

However, this event was not over yet.

The ocean of clouds rolled up and down, like the accumulated snow on the top of Shenmo Peak on which the cat Liu Ada was treading back and forth.

Countless sword wills appeared above the ocean of clouds and then cast down to the ground, covering the mountains, rivers and lakes, an area of fifty miles by the East Ocean.

Some of these sword wills were frightening, and some amicable. When all of them were combined as one, it didn’t look like a net, but more like a mountain or a huge sword.

The sword wills transmitted their intents unmistakably to the ground from the sky several miles above. The protective formation of the Fruit Formation Temple was activated once more and became alarmed and restless. The trees at the edge of the forest swayed violently, and the needle-like leaves fell down like the raindrops.

The villagers and the patients who hadn’t returned home and stayed outside the Fruit Formation Temple couldn’t perceive the sword wills, but they felt clearly the sensation of awe and fear.

The smell of firecrackers and preserved meats was torn into shreds, and the atmosphere of the festival faded away with the wind.

It seemed that those sword wills were looking for something. The tip of the huge sword headed toward the north of the Fruit Formation Temple, and then turned to the east, arriving above the East Ocean.

The ocean waves suddenly died down.

The tip of the shapeless huge sword headed north again.

Wherever the huge sword passed, the deviant practitioners and demons revealed themselves involuntarily and fled in all directions. Those large devils who were well aware of their crimes tried their best to dash to the deep end of the underground with no regard for the danger in the earth source.

The tip of the huge sword landed outside the Water-Moon Nunnery.

The Heavenly Well leading to the Underworld was more serene than usual, devoid of the weeping sound of wind; a few weak dark spirits from the Underworld who had evaded the assault of the amulets of the scripts poked their heads out and were instantly and noiselessly crushed into a puff of green smoke.

Standing by the lake, the Water-Moon Nunnery Master sensed the sword wills in the sky high above, her expression grave, wondering what had happened to compel the Green Mountain Sect to employ their Sword Formation.

She turned to look at the inside of a room.

She saw Guo Dong sleeping soundly through the round window.

The Nunnery Master mulled over when her Big Sister would be able to wake up.

…

…

All the beings felt fear when facing this huge sword will, including the leaders of the orthodox Cultivation sects, the regular deviant practitioners, the devils in the human world, and the dark spirits in the Underworld.

Was this the rumored Sword Formation of Green Mountain?

It was hard for someone to imagine that it could affect heaven and earth by the East Ocean from many thousand miles away.

Glancing at the unconscious Zhuo Rusui, Monk Duhai thought sentimentally that one would definitely die if they were targeted by the Sword Formation of Green Mountain.

It was why the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect and two other hidden swordsmen had no choice but to live a sunless life even though they all had the unparalleled Cultivation state.

If that person hadn’t prepared ahead of time, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect would be dead by now.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect was wounded severely at the moment; if he couldn’t evade the pursuit of the Sword Formation of Green Mountain, how long could he stay alive?

The blood and life energy of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect, still ablaze, fell down from the sky and landed in the Fruit Formation Temple, setting several buildings near the Tranquil Garden on fire.

The highly achieved monks of the Fruit Formation Temple dismantled the Protective Formation of Visible Flame as quickly as possible and activated the Bottle Formation of Clean Water; however, it could merely prevent the fire from spreading to other areas and reduce the fire to some extent; it had no way to extinguish the fire right away.

Hundreds of monks came out from the front and back courtyards and the halls with the water containers in their hands, attempting to put the fire out. The scene looked chaotic as the monks were busy snuffing the fire.

Jing Jiu turned around and looked at the two small hills behind the Tranquil Garden.

He could vaguely see the eaves of Chenhua Hall.

There was no one there.

…

…

Before Jing Jiu looked this way, there had been a conversation on the eaves of the Chenhua Hall.

At the time Zhuo Rusui had just lifted his head to look at the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect.

Yin San and the white cat had lived on Green Mountain for a great many years, so they were most sensitive to what was going to happen.

The white cat showed a hint of chilly intent in his eyes, musing silently, “You are now in big trouble.”

Yin San had escaped from the Sword Jail and used another body to restart his Cultivation; it had been merely thirty-something years. Even though he had an excellent talent in Cultivation and sufficient experience and didn’t make any mistakes in his Cultivation, he was at most in the Free Travel State. If the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect were killed, he would lose the protection from an extraordinary swordsman; how could he survive afterwards?

The odd part was that Yin San appeared quite calm; it seemed that he had already anticipated that Liu Ci would strike by employing the Sword Formation of Green Mountain.

He seemed to care less about the fate of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect, as he reiterated, “Like I said, we are only watching the show tonight.”

The chilly expression in the white cat’s pupils changed to that of fear, wondering what would happen next.

Yin San stood up and got ready to leave.

The sound of tree branches breaking could be heard in the forest outside the Chenhua Hall, the sword light of blood color rose up like the twilight.

A figure broke through the air and landed on the eaves; it was Zhao Layue.

She was thrown to the forest by Jing Jiu; but she didn’t fall on the ground so badly, though her mental state was disturbed greatly. She didn’t have a clear mind until now.

Seeing the young monk, Zhao Layue demanded alarmingly, “Who are you?”

“You are so rude,” Yin San commented sentimentally. “That is why I didn’t like you from the very beginning.”

Having said that, he tapped the tip of his foot on the eave and flew up like a large bird, disappearing instantly into the forest on the other side of Chenhua Hall.

Zhao Layue had seen such fast and swift movement performed only by one person; she grew alarmed. Yet, she leaped up by riding her sword without hesitation.

The Thoughtless Sword turned into a beautiful blood red light and disappeared into the forest.

The white cat finally had his freedom. He turned around to look at the forest, and took a few steps reflexively in that direction, but he stopped short.

He then turned around and bounded toward the front of the eaves. As he looked at the Tranquil Garden, he was certain that Jing Jiu was alright; he halted his steps.

Where should he go?

This was indeed a most profound and difficult choice in the world.

Whatever would happen to them, the white cat thought, I’m not going to help any one of these two.

…

…

Among the main swords of the nine peaks on Green Mountain, the Lone Sword was the sharpest; the Three-Foot Sword the coldest; the Sword of Absolute Emptiness the lightest; and the Old Sword the gentlest.

Though the Thoughtless Sword was ranked last, its power and state were definitely not the weakest. As the personal sword of the Immortal Jing Yang, its speed was the fastest.

The Thoughtless Sword was the fastest among the nine main swords of Green Mountain, and it could also be said to be the fastest in the world.

Zhao Layue, in the initial state of Free Travel, could travel as fast as those Cultivation practitioners in the Broken Seas State riding a regular sword, if she drove the Thoughtless Sword with all her might.

In the blink of an eye, she had flown past the forest behind Chenhua Hall and the monk residence at the edge of the Fruit Formation Temple, and arrived at a cluster of cliffs outside the side door of the temple.

She was shocked to find that this young monk could fly so fast after waving his sleeve lightly, without using a sword or any magic treasure; and she was sure that he didn’t use any traveling magic. Yet, she had a hard time catching up to him.

It would be understandable if this young monk were someone in the Heavenly Arrival State. Since Zhao Layue had a highly advanced perception, she could determine that he had a similar Cultivation state to hers.

What magic did he use for the fast flying then? Was he a devil bird?

A more shocking thing had happened.

The young monk suddenly turned around and said to her with a small smile, “I’m not the Devil Rooster; you shouldn’t guess too wildly.”

There were two reasons why Zhao Layue felt so shocked.

First of all, this young monk turned and flew in a handsome manner; as he talked to her, his speed hadn’t slowed down at all. He was truly formidable.

Secondly, he had spoken the covert name of the Master Dark Phoenix, indicating that he had a deep relationship with Green Mountain.

“Senior master, please wait!”

Zhao Layue said this curtly. Yet, her flying didn’t slow down as she tried to catch up to him.

The bird-like figure and the sword light had flown past the cliff and the vegetable garden underneath.

A squeaking sound could be heard below in the vegetable garden.

It was caused by someone pushing open the door.

“What has happened?”

“Nothing.”

…

…

The sunlight had moved westward a bit, and the shadow of the trees had lengthened a few inches. Zhao Layue and the young monk had already flown thirty miles away from the Fruit Formation Temple.

As the twilight grew darker, Zhao Layue revealed herself. She leaped up on her sword and looked at a large banyan tree by the official road.

This was the last day of the year. People were all staying at home to celebrate the incoming New Year’s Day so no one could be seen on the road. As such, she didn’t need to worry about scaring the travelers or collateral damage during the fight between two Cultivation practitioners.

A smooth music from a flute came out from the inside of the banyan tree. Yet, the flute music was not cheerful enough to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, and it sounded like celebrating the fortune on behalf of the officials of the Pure Heaven Bureau.

Yin San propped himself against a tree branch while holding a bone flute with both of his hands, and he played a few tunes before putting the flute down.

He felt a bit tired and short of breath, so he needed to take a break.

“There is no need to hurry. You can rest a bit more; and I think you played the flute quite well.”

Zhao Layue continued expressionlessly, “Even though it is a bit ridiculous to play the flute right now; it is too pompous.”

Given her temperament, she should have drawn her sword and wield it at the opponent rather than say those irrelevant words, since she did her hardest to catch up to him.

This was her unique style based on the evaluation of the Cultivation circle.

The reason she said so much was because she wanted to kill some time.

And riding the sword at such a high speed was also rather exhausting for her. She needed some time to recover.

More importantly, she was not confident…as to whether she had the ability to keep this young monk here.

It was a rare occurrence for her, be it killing time or lacking self-confidence.

Her concern had something to do with the mysterious movement this young monk had displayed, and most of all, she was deeply impressed by what she had seen on the roof of Chenhua Hall.

At the time the Master White Ghost showed an extremely obedient demeanor while in this young monk’s chest.

Over the years on Shenmo Peak, neither she nor Gu Qing or Yuan Qü had seen the White Ghost behave like this.

This young monk could easily subdue the Master White Ghost…no matter how confident she felt about herself, she had no idea if she was a match for this person.

“Intend to kill time? You are not like the Zhao Layue in the rumors.”

Yin San put the bone flute back to his waist and said this while looking at her with a small smile.

Zhao Layue didn’t care about the fact that her opponent had figured out that she was trying to pass the time; it was because she was not like the Royal Concubine Hu or Xiao He; she was not good at pretending.

“Who would you be in the rumors, Senior Master?”

Yin San didn’t respond to her question. “Jing Jiu didn’t dare bring the rooster and the dog with him, and he couldn’t bring the old turtle since that animal is too heavy. All he could bring with him is this cat. The problem is…this cat has always been very cowardly. In fact, my Cultivation state is not as high as you imagined. Would you like to try and kill me?”

This young monk talked about the four principal guards of Green Mountain like the pets of his neighbors…Zhao Layue then remembered that he gave an answer when she thought he was probably a devil bird, and another answer when she thought of the Master White Ghost; her expression changed a bit.

Was it possible that this young monk could read minds?

“Reading minds is nothing but the magic tricks played by the traveling magicians; what I have used is the Dao methods, not the magic tricks.”

Yin San added with a sigh, “The disciples of Green Mountain are getting worse generation by generation. Has Jing Jiu taught you the principle of all in a sword?”

Zhao Layue was certain that her conjecture had been substantiated; the expression in her eyes became even more alarmed now, wondering what kind of weirdo she had actually encountered.

In the next moment, she drove all of her thoughts out of the Sea of Awareness and calmed down her sword will, making the Dao Heart transparent, in an effort to prevent the young monk from discovering her inner thoughts.

It was then that she had thought of another possibility.

Ying San arched his eyebrows slightly, showing a displeased expression. “Why aren’t you thinking anymore?” he inquired in a slight mocking tone. “Is it because you are afraid that the others might guess what you are thinking so much so that you give up thinking altogether? It is tantamount to not wanting to get involved in the affairs of the mortal world because you are worried that your Dao Heart will be disturbed by the mortal affairs. It is also tantamount to not eating out of worry that you will have the bowel movement later. Similarly, if you are worried about death, will you simply give up living?”

Zhao Layue fell silent for a moment before saying, “What you think has nothing to do with me; and what I think has nothing to do with you.”

Yin San said emotionlessly, “Do you know why I have never liked you? It’s because you become more and more like him; you two don’t care about anything else, except swordplay, cultivating to break through states. It is truly boring. The Dao is in heaven, but it also exists in every object. It is really uncouth to follow an unaffectionate and relentless path.”

“But this is the natural path for the Cultivation practitioners,” Zhao Layue protested.

Yin San shook his head and said, “No, you have been led to a deviant path. I know you used to like eating hotpot, but not anymore.”

“You are wrong,” Zhao Layue said. “I still like eating hotpot very much.”

The expression in Yin San’s eyes changed slightly, as he asked, “Are you sure he doesn’t care about it?”

Staring into Yin San’s eyes, Zhao Layue said earnestly, “He has told me that everyone has their own Dao. Though he doesn’t like eating hotpot himself, he has never tried to stop me from eating it. On the other hand, since you like eating hotpot, then you want all the people in the world, even those in the Underworld, to eat it. This is wrong.”