The Path Toward Heaven

The wheelchair and the Immortal Tai Lu in the chair had all been turned into ash.

Jing Jiu turned to head toward the small hut without taking another look at the spot where Tai Lu and the wheelchair were.

Regardless of what outcome the confrontation would lead to today, the end of the Immortal Tai Lu had already been determined four years ago.

It was four years ago that Jing Jiu decided to kill him today.

According to his Cultivation state and expected life span, the Immortal Tai Lu should have died a long time ago; but he had stayed alive in the Sword Jail until now.

It was because he opted to employ a secret method that would cause an excruciating pain while sustaining his life.

To withstand such excruciating pain in order to live a few more years meant that he must choose to wreak havoc before he left this world.

Such a figure would definitely choose to do something significant before his departure of the world, trying to turn his imprisonment of several hundred years and pain into a violent fire.

After Jing Jiu made the decision four years ago, he had to consider the ensuing affairs.

No chaos must occur to Green Mountain, especially the Sword Jail, because the Snow Girl was still in it.

The Immortal Tai Lu must die.

According to the rules of Green Mountain, he couldn’t kill the Immortal Tai Lu when he was inside the Sword Jail. So it was better to let Fang Jingtian bring him out.

Killing the Immortal Tai Lu was not the most important matter for today though.

It was just a byproduct.

…

…

The Immortal Tai Lu was brought out by Fang Jingtian from the Sword Jail at a great peril to himself since he was the most important proof for the accusation of Jing Jiu. However, he had died right in front of Fang Jingtian.

Strangely enough, Fang Jingtian had remained silent from the beginning til the end, without striking out once.

There was no scheming involved in this matter, and it was not a result of cooperation between the two brothers; rather, it was because the white cat had been watching Fang Jingtian the entire time.

It was then that Jing turned around and walked to the hut. The white cat was still staring at Fang Jingtian emotionlessly while squatting on Jing Jiu’s shoulder.

Fang Jingtian noticed a flowing cloud outside the Great Formation of Green Mountain, which was a huge white shadow intermittently visible and seemed to be relentless.

The intent of Ada was clear enough; if Fang Jingtian struck, he would strike as well, and he would strike with his full might.

Fang Jingtian had just broken through the state.

But Ada had been in the Heavenly Arrival State for a great many years.

Fang Jingtian was the personal disciple of the Immortal Taiping and a member of the Shangde Peak branch, so he couldn’t feel angry at the death of the Immortal Tai Lu.

Jing Jiu carried out the strike personally and had successfully killed the Immortal Tai Lu, making Fang Jingtian feel astonished.

“Did you really think it would be useful to kill and silence him?” Fang Jingtian yelled after Jing Jiu.

Jing Jiu paid no mind to him. As he walked by Gu Qing, he reached down his hand and picked him up. When they arrived in the hut, Jing Jiu slapped his palm gently on Gu Qing’s forehead.

Pah!!!

Dozens of exceedingly pure sword wills had been instilled into Gu Qing’s body, starting to repair his damaged meridians and Dao Tree.

Gu Qing sat down with his legs crossed and eyes closed, resuming his effort of breaking through the state.

Gu Qing was suppressed by the sword will of the Immortal Tai Lu and severely wounded when he was about to break through the state earlier; his Cultivation could be halted because of it.

It seemed that a gentle slap from Jing Jiu’s palm had resolved the issue.

Jing Jiu shot a look at Zhao Layue.

Zhao Layue walked over with her head lowered, wondering if she would be punished since she didn’t obey his command.

Jing Jiu took out a magic pill and placed it on her hand.

Zhao Layue took the pill and tossed it into her mouth without asking what the pill was for. Then she shot a glance at Yuan Qü.

Yuan Qü came back to his senses and rushed to the hut, standing reverentially behind his Master.

…

…

As the people of Shenmo Peak were doing all this, nobody had spoken on the top of Tianguang Peak; it was deathly quiet.

Countless gazes fell on the hut, all full of curious, admirable and incredulous emotions; but astonishment was the dominating emotion among the crowd at the moment.

Everybody had seen Jing Jiu suddenly appear in front of the wheelchair and thrust his fist…Then the Immortal Tai Lu died!

Even though this oldest senior master of Green Mountain was near his death, he was still a figure in the Heavenly Arrival State. How could he be struck to death so easily?

“Is it the Seal of the Underworld Emperor?” Bu Qiuxiao asked sharply.

The Cultivation practitioners couldn’t help but gasp, and the expressions in those gazes on Jing Jiu had changed as well.

“You’ve got the Seal of the Underworld Emperor by scamming!” Fang Jingtian said to Jing Jiu icily.

Jing Jiu lifted up his head and swept his gaze across the crowd. The people remained soundless wherever his gaze reached.

After he had bombarded the Immortal Tai Lu to death with one thrusting fist, Jing Jiu was treated with the same awe by people as Yuan Qijing was treated before.

Jing Jiu said, “Back when the Underworld Emperor was put in the Fiend Prison, it was agreed that the Seal of the Underworld Emperor would be kept on Green Mountain. Since I’m the sect master of Green Mountain, why can’t I have the seal in my hands?”

Fang Jingtian looked at the spot where that wheelchair had been.

There were a few fractures on the rock, and the ashes were all gone.

He lifted his head and looked at Jing Jiu expressionlessly, saying, “Employing the Seal of the Underworld Emperor to kill an elder of our Green Mountain; you, a devil, have behaved too arrogantly.”

Having heard this, Zhao Layue glanced at Yuan Qü.

Receiving the command from his Master, Yuan Qü didn’t dare to procrastinate. He took a step forward after wiping off the cold sweat from his forehead and clearing his throat, announcing, “According to the seventeenth rule in the Book Three…”

The people were baffled, wondering what he was doing right now.

A moment later, the Green Mountain disciples came back to their senses and realized that he was reciting the sect rules of Green Mountain.

The sect rules of Green Mountain were quite complicated; there were seventeen chapters in five books with a wide range of topics. Besides those serious elders on Shangde Peak, the regular disciples of Green Mountain couldn’t even remember one part out of ten of those sect rules. Yet, Yuan Qü was so familiar with the sect rules of Green Mountain that he could recite all the sect rules word for word without any mistake, just like others could recite the “Script of Three Words” that they had learned since their childhood.

Soon, he picked seven sect rules of Green Mountain from those books, which were specifically relevant to the case of Jing Jiu killing the Immortal Tai Lu.

These seven sect rules had two regulations in common.

First, the Seal of the Underworld Emperor and any other magic treasures of Green Mountain could be kept by the sect master personally.

Second, it deserved the death penalty once the Immortal Tai Lu left the Sword Jail; the sect master could kill him no matter what.

Jing Jiu was the sect master of Green Mountain, so he could keep the Seal of the Underworld Emperor and kill the Immortal Tai Lu.

It wasn’t that important as for how he killed Tai Lu.

The Cultivation practitioners of various sects and the Green Mountain disciples were all startled, wondering why this person was so familiar with the sect rules of Green Mountain, and what kind of a place Shenmo Peak was and what kind of people Shenmo Peak had.

Nobody noticed the amiable and appreciative expression in Yuan Qijing’s eyes when he watched Yuan Qü reciting those sect rules.

…

…

The Cultivation practitioners who had come to participate in the ceremony of inaugurating the sect master of Green Mountain had at least ascertained one fact.

This young sect master of Green Mountain was definitely not the second son of the Jing family in Zhaoge City. Yet, they were unclear as to whether he was the reborn Jing Yang or the sword devil who disguised himself as the Immortal Jing Yang.

More people were leaned toward the latter; it was because of what Fang Jingtian said and the appearance and death of the Immortal Tai Lu.

In their eyes, the action Jing Jiu took was tantamount to silencing Tai Lu.

His sudden strike had finished the Immortal Tai Lu, who was the only witness of the All in One; as a result, who else could reveal his true identity?

Most importantly, he was the sect master of Green Mountain, and he had killed the witness without leaving any trace behind; even though everybody thought it was suspicious, there was nothing they could do.

“Based on your current Cultivation state, you are incapable of releasing the full power of the Seal of the Underworld Emperor,” Fang Jingtian said while staring into Jing Jiu’s eyes. “You can’t carry out such a powerful strike more than once. What are you going to do next?”

Jing Jiu set Ada on his lap and combed his fingers through hair, giving no response to his question.

Ada suddenly felt a sensation of fear, all of his white hair erecting instinctively.

Jing Jiu had a pale face at the moment. It was evident that he experienced a backfire from by the Seal of the Underworld Emperor and was in a weak condition; but nobody dared attack him.

The gazes on him were full of fear, bewilderment and resentment.

If it were in any other stories, Jing Jiu would definitely be the main antagonist of the story.

“Are you going to kill all of those Green Mountain disciples who don’t respect you? Even though you have the help of the Master White Ghost, we have the Night Howler on our side. You can’t silence all the people in the world!”

A hateful and furious voice broke out in the crowd of Green Mountain.

Jing Jiu didn’t bother looking in that direction. He said while looking at the distant ocean of clouds, “What you think of me has nothing to do with me. I have no need to explain myself to you of all people.”

It would be the most ridiculous thing if he had to explain to others as to who he was.

Even if all the Green Mountain disciples and all the people in the world didn’t think he was Jing Yang, it didn’t matter to him in the least.

This was his attitude toward the issue.

…

…

Yuan Qijing fell silent.

Fang Jingtian fell silent.

The crowd fell silent.

And the practitioner of Green Mountain who had spoken angrily and hatefully fell silent as well.

It was quiet on the top of Tianguang Peak.

A voice suddenly burst out on the mountain path.

“The sun has no need to prove it is the sun; it’s because many things and experiences have proven it directly and indirectly. It is a truth that has no need for proof. Even though you have all the memories of the Immortal Jing Yang and are as narcissistic as Jing Yang, you’re neither the real sun nor the truth; as such, who you are should be proven, can be proven.”

The people looked in the direction of the mountain path in surprise.

A small child, wearing a bright blue cloth was walking on the mountain path. They thought the voice must have come from this child.

The small child held up his hands in front of his face, his sleeves dropping down like a waterfall, blocking his face. Some of them noticed that the feet of this child didn’t even touch the ground.

Was this small child in blue clothing drifting over?

The voice of this small child was a bit childish; he seemed to curl up his tongue on purpose as he spoke, speaking with a Zhongzhou accent.

Many people wondered instinctively if he was someone sent by the Center Sect.

But soon, they abandoned their conjecture.

It was because they could clearly sense a cold and gloomy energy from this small child in blue clothing; and some Cultivation practitioners like the sect master of the Great Marsh couldn’t hear his heartbeat.

Where did this small child in blue clothing come from?

…

…

Guo Nanshan and the disciples of Liangwang Peak knew immediately that this child was a foe rather than a friend since they had a sensitive perception brought about by their rich experiences on the battlefield. Yet, they wondered in surprise how this child could pass through the Great Formation of Green Mountain.

As they were thinking of all this, the Blue Ocean Sword led a dozen flying swords leaping into the air and encircling the small child in blue clothing, who was caught in the middle; they were ready to strike him down.

“Show your true appearance!”

The small child in blue clothing put down his hands slowly, his sleeves parting like the curtains being pulled aside, exposing his face.

It was a tender face, with the band of his hair hanging like a leaf on the forehead. He had good-looking eyes and brows, exuding a desolate energy. He looked like a carved jade figurine.

The most impressive part was that the small child had a vague glow on his face.

There was an uproar among the Cultivation practitioners.

The small child in blue clothing must be a devil man of the Underworld! He was probably a member of the royal family in the Underworld.

How did he come to the top of the peak when the Green Mountain Sect was hosting the ceremony of inaugurating the sect master? How come he dared come here? Did he intend to die here?

In many people’s views, this small child in blue clothing, as a member of the royal family in the Underworld, must be a brutal swordsman in a high Cultivation state since he dared come here so casually. They thought that the small child in blue clothing would soon turn into a demon as large as a mountain and launch a violent suicidal attack on the Cultivation practitioners…

What had happened next was totally unexpected.

Looking at the flying swords of Green Mountain surrounding him, the small child in blue clothing revealed a fearful expression on his face. He pouted his mouth, and was on the verge of crying out.

“Don’t be so nasty, my dear colleagues.”

The small child in blue clothing continued indignantly, “I’m just a letter.”

“What kind of letter did you bring?” Guo Nanshan asked, raising his brows slightly.

The small child in blue clothing sighed, “You’ve heard me wrong. I’m not here to bring you a letter. I am the letter.”

Yuan Qijing suddenly recalled the letter that had jumped off the top of Tianguang Peak. He remained reticent.

The small child turned to Jing Jiu in the hut and said, “I’m the letter sent to you by my Master, the Immortal Taiping.”