The Path Toward Heaven

The Green Mountain Sect and the West Ocean Sword Sect had been not on good terms; it was because they all used swords as their weapons. More importantly, it was because of that person hidden in the clouds and fog.

In order to wipe out the Green Mountain Sect, the West Ocean Sword Sect had tried to improve their strength for hundreds of years. However, the Immortal Taiping had been watching their development quietly from a higher spot.

After Liu Shisui swallowed the devil pill at the bottom of the Muddy River, he joined the Old Ones and read the files on the Cloud Platform for many years.

As a result, the Cloud Platform was destroyed and Xiwang Sun was killed.

Some years later, the West Ocean Sword Sect was also wiped out. The Grandmaster of the Foggy Island, Nan Qü, was killed by the All in One Sword, and the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean had to leave Chaotian after he was severely wounded.

Unexpectedly, the first words Zhao Layue uttered when she saw him were those asking him to save Jing Jiu…Was she crazy?

Zhao Layue’s eyes were staring at him, and they were bright and warm, like the spring sun that could melt all the ice and snow.

All the aspirations stem from hopes.

Jian Xilai, save for Jing Jiu, had the highest state in sword work in Chaotian. If the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom couldn’t wake Jing Jiu, he might have a chance.

It was a ridiculous plea no matter how it one looked at it, but for some reason, Jian Xilai agreed to it after a moment of silence.

She dared ask the most powerful foe of the Green Mountain Sect to treat Jing Jiu; the other one didn’t kill her or Jing Jiu, but instead acquiesced to her plea.

It seemed that those who were preoccupied with the sword work and those who were indulged in affection were basically the same; they were all insane.

…

…

Jian Xilai made his way over the small bridge and walked into the meditation room. He sat beside Jing Jiu after glancing at Bai Zao.

He held up Jing Jiu’s wrist and closed his eyes.

Along with a barrage of faint noises, the flowering tree outside the round window broke apart abruptly, the pieces dropping onto the surface of the lake, which looked like the scenes on the streams and ditches outside the royal palace.

Jian Xilai released Jing Jiu’s hand and walked to the round window. He stood there all night while looking at the shadows of the trees and the reflected moonlight on the lake outside the window.

As the morning sunlight shone on the surface of the lake, he turned around and said to Zhao Layue, who had been standing outside the door, “I’ve thought of seventeen methods, but none of them will have a satisfactory result based on my calculations. We only have one method to try now.”

“The last one?” prompted Zhao Layue.

Jian Xilai answered, “Right. The moment he senses he will die, his strong desire for living might jolt him back to life.”

Though it was an extreme method, it was somehow quite fitting for Jing Jiu; it was because he was really scared of death, and he was capable of making a miracle.

Zhao Layue walked into the meditation room and remained silent for a long time while looking at Jing Jiu’s face.

When Jing Jiu wasn’t wounded, it was very difficult for Jian Xilai to kill him, to say nothing of an attempt by her; but the situation was different now.

A piece of his earlobe fell off on Green Mountain, and he suffered a severe injury when he fought with the Immortal Bai in the Underworld.

His face was still perfect in others’ eyes, with no change, but she was well aware that he was not perfect anymore. It was because the corner of his left eye had a tiny rupture.

The rupture was very small, thinner than the width of a hair.

Jing Jiu had slept most of the time during the last one hundred and more years.

Liu Shisui and Gu Qing had accompanied him in Zhaoge City.

She had watched him carefully for many years at the Fruit Formation Temple.

“Let’s wait for a bit,” said she.

“Fine.” Jian Xilai walked out of the meditation room.

Zhao Layue raised her head and asked after him, “Why?”

“You should know why,” replied Jian Xilai.

He came back from the distant alien land for the purpose of defeating that sword light.

It had something and nothing to do with revenge. It was a doorsill he had to step over during his journey on the path toward heaven.

If Jing Jiu couldn’t wake up, his sword career would be imperfect.

Zhao Layue remarked, “You’re indeed a madman.”

If one is not preoccupied with a thing, they won’t be able to excel in it.

The sword work and the Dao are the same.

A swordsman who was preoccupied with the sword work to an extreme extent would go mad sooner or later.

In the view of the Cultivation world, the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean had developed the West Ocean Sword Sect to a powerful degree within a short period of three hundred years. As such, he was indeed a powerful figure, which was not fitting for his role as someone who was preoccupied with the sword work.

“What kind of a person are you?” asked Zhao Layue.

“I’m the same kind of person as him.”

After a pause, Jian Xilai added while looking at Jing Jiu in sleep, “Or in other words, I’m the same as the former Immortal Jing Yang.”

Why didn’t he linger for a moment when he came back from the alien land and saw the remarkable scene of the replenishing the sea?

Why didn’t he kill the merchant who offended him with words at the Dongyi Dao even though he could do so with a glance of his eyes?

It was because he, in essence, was someone who cared about nothing but the sword work.

If he were not this kind of a person, the Grandmaster of the Foggy Island wouldn’t have chosen him in the first place and sent him back to Chaotian.

“I didn’t want to do anything, whether it was development of the West Ocean Sword Sect or taking over the Old Ones; I was not interested in any of those.”

Jian Xilai turned around and walked to the bridge, raising his right hand; he looked like he was lifting an invisible sword or pledging something.

However, the expression on his face was still very nonchalant, and his face still looked like a stone statue. The scene that was supposed to be rather fascinating looked a bit dreary instead.

“Unfortunately, we can’t avoid karma due to our insufficient Cultivation state. Karma is often interpreted as a sort of responsibility. The Immortal Taiping thought he was the most outstanding person in this world, which is why he felt he was responsible for the world. Since I came from the Foggy Island, I had to do something for them.”

He remained silent for a moment while looking at the gray sky before continuing, “I feel relieved after my Master’s death; I don’t have to take the responsibility that I didn’t want to in the first place. The Foggy Island should be left alone in the fog, isolated from the rest of the world. It’s not a bad thing to live a quiet life. Since I’d left the Foggy Island a long time ago, I still have to carry it out. I will defeat him to prove that the Cloud Island is superior to the Green Mountain Sect.”

It was then that a desolate voice broke out in the sky.

“The clouds and fog will disperse sooner or later, but Green Mountain will remain forever.”

Hundreds of invisible sword strings dropped down along with the voice.

The sword strings were exceedingly thin and dense, which broke through the formation of the Three-Thousand Nunnery easily, encasing the lake and the buildings by the lake.

Along with a sharp sound of air breaking, the sword strings tightened like a net and headed toward the bridge, the formidable and drifting sword wills condensing into a sphere.

Crack!!!

A beautiful, thin and long flying sword came out from the sphere.

In the next moment, the morning sunlight grew much brighter and scorching hot, as if the sun had arrived in the middle of the sky in an instant.

A bright flying sword flew out of the sun, slashing at the figure on the bridge with an unimaginably powerful sword force.

The Zither Sword!

And the Sword of Returning Sun!

The Immortal Guangyuan and Nan Wang received the message delivered by the Green Girl on their way back to Green Mountain and came to pick up Jing Jiu, but they didn’t expect to see the figure of the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean; and they struck with all their might without a second thought.

…

…

Seeing the sudden arrival of two famous Green Mountain swords, Jian Xilai waved his hand lightly, showing no panic on his face.

Since he had raised his right hand the entire time, he seemed to have wielded an invisible sword downwards as he brought his hand down.

The stream under the bridge reflecting the sky seemed to have been pulled up by him, flinging toward the Zither Sword and the Sword of Returning Sun with the whistling sound.

The crushing sound as loud as thunder shook the lake so much so that the crumbs of the flowers and tree branches flew up in the air all at the same time.

The two sword lights and the invisible sword had vanished all at once.

The three sword wills drifted up to a high point in the sky before they disappeared into the clouds and fog amid the sunlight.

Countless sword sounds echoed in the high sky and in the surroundings of Dayuan City; the residents in the distant Juye City could even hear them.

Innumerable sword lights came out from the sun and reached the eyes of all the onlookers.

The people looked at the sky in surprise, wondering how so much thunder and lightning occurred in such a clear early morning.

…

…

The wind ceased.

The Three-Thousand Nunnery was as quiet as before.

The nuns were praying with their eyes closed while sitting in their rooms.

The lonely grave was as reticent as ever.

Yet, a great change took place outside the nunnery hall.

Countless cracks appeared on the mountain path along the mountain stream that ended at the nunnery.

The cracks seemed bottomless, and the spring water emerged out of some of them.

The cracks on the cliff walls were even deeper, with rocks chips falling down from time to time.

There was a pond in the middle of the mountain stream, with many lotuses. It was not the season yet, so they were not blooming; the lotus leaves in the pond looked like the green rice field.

Nan Wang stood on a lotus leaf, floating up and down with the wind. Her face was ashen, and her hair was a little messy.

The Immortal Guangyuan stood in the pond with the water reaching his knees, his whole body drenched and blood dripping down from the corners of his mouth. The thought crossed his mind that his Young Sister was too proud to spit out any blood even though she was severely wounded.

…

…

Looking at the figure on the bridge, Zhao Layue had no intention of fighting him.

Like he said, the difference between their Cultivation states was too significant; as a result, it was useless to generate any fighting intent, and it was unpleasant and boring, and even a bit crude.

At the moment, she was a bit worried.

The Immortal Guangyuan and Nan Wang in the Heavenly Arrival State were not a match for one swing of a sword from this person.

And he actually didn’t even strike with his sword.

His Cultivation state was so powerful that it was beyond imagination.

If Jing Jiu woke up, would he be able to fight against this person?

Looking at the pond with lotus leaves a few miles away, Jian Xilai remarked expressionlessly, “You two are not my match. Now that your injuries are not healed yet and your swords are also damaged, why choose to humiliate yourselves?”

Hearing this, Nan Wang displayed an irritated expression on her face. “Damn you!” she swore, her eyes revealing a murderous intent.

The morning wind stirred the green lotus leaves, tousling her damp hair and the silvery bells on her body; a barbaric energy came out from her girlish and small body.

The Immortal Guangyuan uttered “Not good” to himself as he knew that his Young Sister was enraged and intended to have a duel with her opponent. “Take care of the Sect Master first!” he tried to dissuade her hastily.

Hearing this, Nan Wang calmed down a little. After she cooled off, she grunted toward the Three-Thousand Nunnery once.

“Do you intend to control Green Mountain by having the fate of the Sect Master in your hands? It’ll never happen,” said the Immortal Guangyuan.

“I don’t have such an idea; but I won’t let you bring him to Green Mountain. It’s because I have the feeling that he won’t be able to wake up if he goes back to Green Mountain.”

Jian Xilai turned to Zhao Layue standing under the corridor, wondering if she had the same feeling since it was she who had taken Jing Jiu to all the places looking for potential healers and medicines and was unwilling to go back to Green Mountain.

Zhao Layue tightened her lips, saying nothing. Her face was even paler than Nan Wang’s; it was unclear what she was scared of.

Flutter!!! Flutter!!!

The Green Bird flew down from the sky and landed on the railing, looking at Zhao Layue uneasily. Her eyes told Zhao Layue that Ping Yongjia was awake and that he was also scared.

…