The Path Toward Heaven

The whirlpool of thunderstorm occupying the entire sky was not so formidable for Jing Jiu, and the flashes of lightning were supplying extra energy for him. However, the flashes of lightning that had occurred in the last part of his ascension were a bit troublesome; it was because those were not real lightning, but rather rifts in the sky.

There was a commanding force in heaven and earth that was pulling him back to the ground, making it almost impossible for him to leave the world. The force had nearly torn the space in half.

It was at this critical moment that he examined the space and force by means of the All in One Sword Formation. They were still a part of heaven and earth in Chaotian, which was the good news.

Jing Jiu turned and flew toward a place…and then found that his traveling speed had slowed down.

The speed had actually reduced tremendously. It was evident that this world had totally different rules in comparison to those in Chaotian, and the rules here had nothing similar to those described in the books about the fairy world. This world was colder than the snowland, more vacant than the Empty Realm; the endless space actually created a sensation of pressure.

Any lifeform with spiritual awareness would feel lonely, small and fearful.

A tiny white fireball hung in the distant space, emitting a faint glow to add a silvery edge to his body.

Jing Jiu flew for a while with his back facing the white fireball. He could vaguely see a few objects in front of him, which reflected some dimmer lights.

There was neither a coffin nor a monument as large as a mountain here, but there a bamboo chair in this dark and cold endless world.

He came before the bamboo chair and sat on it.

…

…

He didn’t plan to leave right after the ascension. He was to stay here for a while.

This decision had nothing to do with Bai Ren, who didn’t dare leave.

It was because the barrier in that world grew thinner and it was easier to be seen.

It had everything to do with himself.

Both he and the Immortal Tan had heard the faint “Eh” uttered by the Snow Girl after her ascension.

What had she encountered?

Did she see the flying demons of the outside world or tens of thousands of burning flying swords?

As such, he had to be cautious. He also needed to get accustomed to the environment again.

The glow emitting from the distant fireball illuminated his face, but it didn’t make his face look clearer, nor did it have any temperature.

He extended his hand to brush past the glow and to perceive it with his fingers. He ascertained what the Immortal Bai had said, which is that this initial light was the origin of the fairy energy. Unfortunately, the white fireball was too far from him, and would take a long time to fly over. From such a long distance, it would take a long time to absorb enough fairy energy to make some fairy books.

As he slowed down, the speed of light seemed to have reduced as well. Yet on the other hand, the light became more active now; it was hard for him to catch it because it leapt between his fingers like a bird.

His fingers moved very swiftly; even the residuals of his fingers were scarcely visible. His fingers and the light were pursuing each other within a small space.

Yet, his line of sight had been fixed onto the vacant space.

The vacant space was not absolute darkness. It was fuzzy, indistinct and colorless, devoid of even a sensation of existence.

Normally, he couldn’t see the scene inside it unless he found the formation of the Center Sect, but for some reason, the distinct scenes in the deep part of the vacant space appeared inside his mind as he looked in that direction.

He could see the patch of sea, the peaks of Green Mountain, the snowland and the highest icy peak, not to mention the lands overseas and the wild grass.

The scenes were changing very swiftly.

He had turned his head around and taken a look at it back when he ascended last time. He was aware that one day here was equivalent to one year in Chaotian; so it was not a surprise that the scene in Chaotian changed at a high speed. However, it was still a mystery as for how the Fairy Lady Bai Ren could communicate with the Immortal Bai. Perhaps, the magic treasure of the Center Sect was indeed remarkable.

…

…

A wild grass sprang up by Zhao Layue’s foot. In the next moment, the wild grass grew out of every crack on the black jade plate, then extended all the way to the horizon.

Bai Zao woke up at the Three-Thousand Nunnery. She remained silent in bewilderment while looking at the residuals of sword lights in the blue sky.

Cao Yuan sat three days and three nights in the small temple after he returned to White Town. After that, he left the temple and started his second experience in the mortal world.

The Young Zen Master had to come back to the small temple before he went to the Fruit Formation Temple. He resumed playing with the thin sticks while sighing grudgingly.

Bu Qiuxiao started writing books. The first book recorded the sayings of one of his students, whose name was Xi Yiyun.

Su Ziye had all the pill poison purged from his body. He founded another sect with the help of the Green Mountain Sect after he procured a branch of the spiritual source from the Kunlun Sect.

Liu Shisui came back after he had learned the sword work. Then, he and Xiao He traveled to the Alien Land, where he met Gu Qing and the other two. After failing to persuade the three of them to come back to Chaotian, Liu Shisui and Xiao He came back a few decades later.

Zhuo Rusui fulfilled his wish and inherited the position of sect master from the Immortal Guangyuan who was to stay behind closed doors.

Nan Wang and Zhao Layue had no intention to contend for the position with him. Yuan Qü was not a match for him. Gu Qing was unwilling to come back. Liu Shisui was to become the house master of the One-Cottage House. As such, Zhuo Rusui was the sole candidate for the position. However, he, as the sect master, couldn’t command any peak. To say nothing of Shenmo Peak and Qingrong Peak, he couldn’t even command the Sword Peak where Ping Yongjia was the peak master. Fortunately, there was nothing to contend for and command since they were all from the branch of the Immortal Jing Yang. Zhuo Rusui wouldn’t object to it if Yuan Qü wished to find another place for Shangde Peak. And if Yuan Qü wished to take over Tianguang Peak, the Master Night Howler wouldn’t allow Zhuo Rusui to reject it.

Standing on top of Tianguang Peak, Zhuo Rusui consoled himself this way while looking at the peaks amid the ocean of clouds. He couldn’t help but sigh once as spring rain suddenly fell down.

Shangde Peak was gone; the stone monument on the back of the Round Turtle had a crack; the hermit peaks of Green Mountain were gone; the Green Sky Mirror was nowhere to be found.

The Green Bird had been flying all over Chaotian. It was impossible to know what she was doing or thinking.

Over the years, the young sect master of the No-Mercy Sect had drawn the most attention in Chaotian.

Peng Lang’s sword work had improved a great deal after he witnessed the sword fight between Jing Jiu’s and Jian Xilai’s All in One Swords on the long street and listened to Jing Jiu for a night at the Three-Thousand Nunnery. He had reached the highest level of the sword work within a few decades. Liu Shisui fought against him after he came back from overseas and lost terribly. After that, he took Xiao He to the Thousand-Mile Wind Corridor and ground the ink stick for his Teacher.

Peng Lang, encouraged by someone, went to Green Mountain. All the people knew was that he had barbecued fish and wine by a lake full of fairy energy before he left for Green Mountain.

Zhuo Rusui refused to meet him. It seemed that he had no intention to save face for Green Mountain. He had stayed behind closed doors right after he joined Green Mountain, and he stayed behind closed doors right after he became the sect master. It was nothing abnormal for him to stay behind closed doors at the moment. Zhao Layue came out from behind closed doors, but she found Peng Lang had already left.

Peng Lang and Ping Yongjia went to the snowland along with an outstanding sword selected by Ping Yongjia for Peng Lang.

After they arrived at the icy peak, Peng Lang and the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom had fought vehemently, with Peng Lang being soundly defeated. Ping Yongjia couldn’t even bear telling others about the fight.

Peng Lang stayed behind in the snowland.

The Young Zen Master climbed out from the underneath the incense table. He stepped on the doorsill with his bare feet while looking in the direction of the deep part of the snowland. “Again?” he exclaimed with a slightly changed countenance.

The whole of Chaotian had quickly learned the news.

The Queen was pregnant again.

The barbecued fish and the wine by the lake were prepared by He Zhan. Peng Lang was persuaded the same way that Lian Sanyue had Cao Yuan. And Bai Zao had done the same before.

It was none other than Bai Zao who had persuaded Peng Lang to kill the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom this time.

She had planned to die along with the Queen by employing all of the fairy energy in her body after Peng Lang depleted a large amount of energy of the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom even if he turned out not to be a match for her. Unexpectedly,not only did Peng Lang lose so utterly, he and the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom had a child.

It was impossible for her to die along with the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom if she did not desire to, and it was also unnecessary now.

It was at that moment that Bai Zao was certain that she couldn’t calculate as precisely as Jing Jiu, even though he had already left many decades ago.

She went to Penglai Island, and had never gotten involved in the affairs of Chaotian again.

The fishermen and sailors on the sea could often see a woman in white dress traverse on the ocean waves.

She was called the “Penglai Fairy Lady”.

The Immortal Tan announced to stay behind closed doors on the day Bai Zao left after he passed the position of the sect master to Tong Yan.

Tong Yan cooked a table of dishes on the high platform with a single tree to celebrate the occasion.

…

…

Jing Jiu didn’t give any response as the scenes flashed in front of his eyes; but he frowned slightly when Peng Lang went to the snowland.

Peng Lang’s name was indeed problematic; and it was a right decision to leave it unchanged.

His fingers had suddenly stopped short.

His fingers had been pursuing the light emitted from the distant white fireball nonstop.

As his fingers halted, the light stopped and wrapped around his fingers to condense into a tangible object, exuding a faint fairy intent.

It wasn’t until now that he encountered any thing or being in this cold, dark and vacant world; but it didn’t mean that the caution was unnecessary for the Cultivation practitioners of Chaotian.

Still, Jing Jiu couldn’t agree with the views of that disgraced immortal, the Immortal Taiping and the Immortal Bai; he even thought Bai Ren was too stupid.

He snapped his fingers lightly. A ball of flames, exuding the fairy intent, disappeared into vacant space soundlessly.

The ball of flames drifted down to the sky above Chaotian like a fallen leaf, turning into a fairy book when it landed on the Sword Peak of Green Mountain.

Ping Yongjia walked to a crack between rocks and took out the fairy book. He lifted up his head and looked up at the sky while waving his hand.

He was aware of Jing Jiu’s intention.

If the Quanqi of heaven and earth was not enough, the barrier between this world and the outside world would be in danger of dissolving. If that occurred, he would tear this fairy book apart to add the fairy energy contained in the fairy book into heaven and earth.

There was no fairy awareness but the fairy energy in this fairy book; so everyone could use it. Now that he had gotten hold of it, no one could snatch it from him.

He witnessed the fight between Peng Lang and the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom and knew that neither of them was his equal.

…

…

Jing Jiu shot Chaotian a meaningful glance before he turned into a sword light and left for good, disappearing into the vast universe.

For some reason, he didn’t take the bamboo chair with him.

It didn’t take long before another rift appeared in the vacant space.

Another ascendant came up from Chaotian.

The Immortal Tan came before the bamboo chair and sat on it. He started making his own fairy book.