The Path Toward Heaven

Chapter 672: He Plays a Card When the World is on the Brink of Destruction

The heavy rainfall poured down.

The top of Tianguang Peak had a large amount of smoke and dust after the raindrops landed on it. Soon after, the smoke and dust were washed to the ocean of clouds at the bottom of the cliff after turning into mud.

The strong wind hurled the raindrops onto the hut, making “pah” noises.

Zhao Layue demanded while staring at the Immortal Taiping at the edge of the cliff, “If what you said is true, why haven’t those heavenly demons in the outside world attacked us yet?”

The Immortal Taiping still gazed at the peaks in the rain, letting the rainwater run down from his cheeks as he said, “It’s either because there is a barrier between our world and the outside world or because we don’t have enough spiritual energy here, so they haven’t noticed us yet.”

“Even if it is true, how does it have anything to do with the evil things you’ve done?” demanded Zhao Layue while wiping the rainwater from her face, her black and white eyes more distinctive.

“I believe you want to ascend,” the Immortal Taiping turned to her and said with a faint smile. “Have you ever thought what you will leave behind after your departure from this world? What will you bring with you?”

Ascension was not the same as death, so the saying “Bring nothing to this world when being born and bring nothing to the other world after death” was not applicable in this case. The Fairy Lady Bai Ren left three main fairy books and three accessory books behind for the Center Sect before her ascension, but what was the meaning of his question?

“I’ll bring my sword with me,” answered Zhao Layue.

“You’re wrong. You’ll bring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth inside your body with you,” said the Immortal Taiping, smiling.

Hearing this, some people vaguely understood what he meant.

The essence of Cultivation was to procure the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for oneself.

The higher a Cultivation practitioner’s state was, the more spiritual energy they had in their bodies. Those figures in the Heavenly Arrival State who cultivated for hundreds of years had procured a great amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth. How much spiritual energy would those ascending immortals bring with them?

“This world is isolated from all the other worlds; its spiritual energy is merely circulating within its own system without any addition from the outside worlds.”

The Immortal Taiping continued while pointing to the sky above the raindrops, “When one person ascends, he will take a large amount of spiritual energy with him. If this is allowed to continue, someday the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this world will deplete to the point where the barrier can no longer be maintained.”

What was that barrier? Was it the Thunder Region with a great deal of fierce energy or that intermittent boundary?

The voice of the Immortal Taiping traveled past the downpour and echoed on the peak top and in the sky, being heard by all the Cultivation practitioners.

“If the barrier collapsed and the Thunder Region were gone, this world would be exposed to the outside world; and if our world were discovered, it might be destroyed instantly. How will we deal with the issue then?”

The Immortal Taiping went on nonchalantly while gazing at the Immortal Tan in the sky, “Bai Ren hasn’t gone very far after her ascension. She is guarding outside, the purpose of which is to kill everyone who is ascending to the outside world, isn’t it?”

The Immortal Tan had finally broken the silence and said, “I don’t know.”

The Immortal Taiping continued while staring into his eyes, “But you don’t even dare to think about ascension lately; why?”

The Immortal Tan fell silent again. The patch of cloud and fog by his side stirred slightly, repelling all the raindrops falling from the sky.

The Immortal Taiping went on while shaking his head, “What the Fairy Lady Bai is doing seems to be aggressive; in fact, she is just a coward in the same way the Center Sect has been over the past thirty thousand years.”

Hearing this comment, the elders of the Center Sect had a terrible look on their faces.

The Immortal Taiping continued, “Our Green Mountain cultivates the swords; we intend to slice open the sky. So how can we be trapped here? And yet, we have to make some preparations before doing so. The first thing I need to do is to reform this world completely. This world has limited heavenly and earthly energy and other resources, and the spiritual energy is currently growing at a snail’s pace currently. Why should we waste the time and resources on those mortals when can simply kill them all?”

It was a nonchalant statement and casual conclusion, but it was like thunder amid the downpour to the listeners.

A Cultivation practitioner couldn’t help but ask, “To say nothing of how evil and cruel this idea is, let’s just talk about practicality. Since the Cultivation practitioners are all focused on their Cultivation, who will take care of the chores?”

“They will be carried out by those whose talent is inferior, of course,” the Immortal Taiping replied nonchalantly. “No matter whether it’s growing the medicinal plants or mining, the capability of the Cultivation practitioners is far superior to the mortals. If the Cultivation practitioners do all of these things, this world will get more powerful much sooner. More importantly, the Cultivation practitioners are used to being serviced by the mortals as their masters; they enjoy a peaceful life without much suffering. This situation can’t go on forever.”

Someone raised another question in a fearful and uncertain voice, “Why will those Cultivation practitioners with less talent listen to you?”

The Immortal Taiping looked at a spot in the rain and found the speaker was an elder of the Kunlun Sect, saying with a small smile, “Did you come to participate in the Inauguration Ceremony today because you really like our Green Mountain Sect?”

“But…Grandmaster, the Cultivation practitioners are not that numerous. No matter how smart you are, you still can’t get everything done only with the practitioners.”

The speaker was Zhuo Rusui this time. The expression in his eyes was cold, though his countenance was indignant.

The Immortal Taiping said with a smile, “Produce more children then.”

The expression in Zhuo Rusui grew colder as he protested, “Even the Cultivation partners have a chance of producing the offspring who can’t cultivate.”

“Kill them then,” returned the Immortal Taiping.

The rain was pelting down.

It sounded like many people were wailing and complaining.

It seemed that the whole world had grown sad and became heartbroken.

Everyone present had guessed the answer already, and so had Zhuo Rusui, but he just wanted to hear it from the Immortal Taiping in person.

It was because the answer was too evil and cold-hearted; it was unbelievable.

Even the former Bloody Demon Church didn’t have such a murderous and cruel idea; it was truly frightening to hear it.

Countless gazes fell on the figure at the edge of the cliff after passing through the downpour, as if they had seen a demon, the most hideous in the last ten thousand years.

It was for this reason that the Immortal Taiping turned himself into the common enemy of the Cultivation world from the sect master of Green Mountain a few hundred years ago.

It wasn’t until now that many people realized this was the truth of the story, with no betrayal and framing in the plot.

The Elder Mo Chi and many other elders of Green Mountain fell silent, their faces pale.

“The Cultivation practitioners should be divided into different classes and levels of talents; only in so doing will this world grow stronger soon enough.”

The Immortal Taiping displayed a calm and composed countenance even though he was stared at by those eyes full of fear, hatred and disdain.

Zhao Layue shot a glance at Jing Jiu. He had told her about the crazy idea of the Immortal Taiping’s and his own thoughts many years ago on the lake outside Zhaoge City. What would he say now?

“It’s been a few hundred years. I’ve thought about it many times; but I still think your ideas and actions are rather foolish.”

Jing Jiu’s voice was desolate and calm, but it seemed to have suppressed the loud noise of the downpour.

Jing Jiu turned his gaze away from the horizon and looked at the Immortal Taiping, saying, “If you wished to accomplish all this, you should have let me ascend. Even though you had predicted Bai Ren was waiting outside, you should have let me kill her; the spiritual energy she brought with her would come back to this world. I’m still in Chaotian because of what you had done to me. How can you accomplish what you intend to do?”

The Immortal Taiping replied, “It’s because I didn’t expect you to ascend by means of the Formation of Dispersed Smoke and Cloud or for you not to die and come back after your failure to ascend.”

“I had to be prudent when it came to the matter of ascension,” said Jing Jiu.

Some Cultivation practitioners recalled the arrogant sword light heading toward the heavenly thunder from Shenmo Peak more than one hundred years ago, thinking that it was anything but prudence.

The Immortal Taiping said while staring into Jing Jiu’s eyes, “It’s true that I didn’t intend to help you ascend successfully from the very beginning. It’s because I didn’t want this world to take any risks before I had everything ready, which meant no one should ascend before then. However, there is nothing wrong with the Formation of Dispersed Smoke and Cloud; it’s just that I had done something to it. By the time everything is ready, all the Cultivation practitioners will learn this formation and ascend together with all the spiritual sources of this world. In so doing, we will be able to survive and even conquer the world of the heavenly demons and the so-called fairy men. Even if we can’t achieve this, the Cultivation practitioners who succeed in ascension will be able to live on after the destruction of this world…Young Brother, tell me why I’m wrong and how come I’m foolish?”

“Your idea and action are foolish regardless of whether they are right or wrong,” returned Jing Jiu. “It’s because all this is just a delusion and can’t be fulfilled in reality.”

Crack!!!

Countless bolts of lightning struck down. They didn’t occur on Bihu Peak this time, but somewhere close to the top of Tianguang Peak, illuminating the two figures at the edge of the cliff in the downpour.

The strong wind was howling, hurling the raindrops to every direction; but the Inherited Heaven Sword didn’t even quiver slightly, looking like an absolutely still relic.

The Immortal Taiping opened his arms to receive the intense wind and rain, as he remarked, “The world is being born anew after its destruction by the stove of heaven and earth; it’s occurring right in front of your eyes. I don’t believe that you can predict everything since you don’t care so much about this world. Compared to me, you’re the indifferent and relentless person.”

“You’re right. I can’t predict everything, because this world is too large and the sand plate is too small. The results of calculating could be endless and insurmountable.”

Jing Jiu went on, “Back when the Little Four attempted to kill me many years ago, I came up with this thought: Why should I try to figure out what you people are thinking?”

Because of this thought, he brought out that ceramic plate with sand gains less and less, and played the game less and less.

“No matter what you people intend to do, you can’t pass by me. You will always come to me,” Jing Jiu said to the Immortal Taiping calmly. “I’m the Green Mountain, and I’m sitting right here, waiting for you to find me. Then, I’ll kill you all. This is the simplest solution.”

The Immortal Taiping commented sentimentally with a sigh, “Even if you could kill me, this world would be destroyed regardless. You are still thinking about yourself only.”

Following this sigh, the people gazed at Jing Jiu.

“You want to lead this world moving forward, but you haven’t truly understood this world. This world has its own rules of operation and is much more powerful than you and I have imagined,” said Jing Jiu. “When this world is on the verge of being destroyed, someone will come out to save it.”

The Immortal Taiping said with a faint smile, “Bu Qiuxiao is traveling the world mentally before becoming a Saint and can’t wake up in time. Cao Yuan is severely wounded and not as powerful as before. The only powerful figure outside Green Mountain is that little monk, but he is in the snowland at the moment. Who can come forward right now? And who can change all this?”

The majority of the strong swordsmen of Chaotian were all here on Green Mountain. If they desired to go to the passages leading to the Underworld to prevent the destruction of the world, it was already too late; even the fastest flying sword couldn’t do so.

“The world has supported me for a thousand years; it’s my turn to strike back to repay her.”

Having said this, Jing Jiu extended his right hand.

A green bamboo board was laying quietly on his palm.

A rooster was carved on the bamboo board. It looked quite vivid, as if the rooster would jump out alive after being drenched with the rainwater.

It was a single rooster, or the “one bar” piece from Mahjong.

This was also the life board of the Dark Phoenix.

It was because the Dark Phoenix had another name, the Devil Rooster.

The spiritual blood of this life board had been taken away many years ago. Jing Jiu couldn’t do anything to the Dark Phoenix back at the West Ocean. What could he do this time by bringing it out?

The Immortal Taiping thought of one possibility; the expression on his face changed slightly.

Pah!!!

A drop of rain fell onto the bamboo board and was broken into bits.

And the bamboo board had also broken into pieces.

…