The Path Toward Heaven

Before he departed from Chaotian, Jing Jiu had arranged everything and also predicted many things.

For instance, the Immortal Tan should be the second person to ascend after him.

The Old Tan seemed to be thick and indecisive and had been bullied by his wife for hundreds of years, and he didn’t dare take the final step while being threatened by Bai Ren. But in fact, he was quite powerful as a swordsman.

His strengths were his broad forehead and a broad mind, as well as his honesty.

Now that Bai Ren and the Immortal Bai were both dead and the pressure from his wife’s family and the affection for her were all gone, he could of course take the final step much more easily.

As for refilling the lost spiritual energy of Chaotian by means of making the fairy books, Jing Jiu had told the Immortal Tan this request before he sent Tong Yan back to the Center Sect.

He also had the same request for both Jian Xilai and Cao Yuan.

Who would be the next ascendant after the Immortal Tan? Though Cao Yuan was very powerful, it was nevertheless an issue that he couldn’t think it through easily. When Jian Xilai would come out depended on when Shisui would learn the essence of the All in One Sword. As for the Little Snow Girl…she was still young; though she and Peng Lang had a child, it would be many years before she could ascend.

However, the child of the Little Snow Girl would grow up soon and learn how to fight before she could ascend. Which side would Peng Lang take when that happened? When the family of three was plunged into chaos, it would disturb heaven and earth and even destroy the whole of Chaotian. Fortunately, Ping Yongjia was still on Green Mountain, he could keep the world safe; Jing Jiu had nothing to worry about.

What Jing Jiu was concerned about was who among the Cultivation practitioners of the next generation in Chaotian would be able to ascend.

The Little Layue would be able to come out for sure; what about Shisui?

Time in this world, called the “Stargate”, was a bit different from that in the universe; it was unclear if a hundred years in Chaotian was equivalent to a few years or several decades here.

Thinking of all this, he couldn’t help but feel sentimental. He pulled back his gaze from the corner of the universe and walked back to the living room. He picked up the computer and resumed studying physics at the university level.

It was on the eighth day that he started studying it systematically, and on the fourth day he began to study physics; it was still difficult for him.

It didn’t take long before he decided to give up on an effort the first time in his life. Jing Jiu picked up the remote control and turned on TV, starting to watch a TV series called “The Interplanetary Wanderer”.

Judging from his transfixed gaze and unchanged posture, the girl with silvery hair, Zong Lizi, figured that he was still preoccupied with study, half-admiring him and half-baffled by him.

Since this youth came down from above, he must have received excellent education and gained much knowledge; but why did he still need to study as hard as she?

“If you think it’s too hard, why don’t you switch to another subject matter?” she suggested.

Jing Jiu thought it was a good idea and uttered “hmm”. “I’ll study the simplest mathematics tomorrow,” said he.

Zong Lizi thought he must have gone mad, her eyes open wide. “Study the simplest…mathematics?” she pressed.

Jing Jiu wondered what was wrong with it.

Song Lizi thought it was her strongest subject matter.

…

…

It was a holiday the next day. Zong Lizi didn’t need to go to school, and she had finished writing her term paper. As such, Jing Jiu had the right to use the computer the whole day.

He turned on the computer and logged in the network of the institute, and browsed through the instruction site and then the mathematics section.

Now that he decided to study it systematically, he would start from the rudimentary level, like one plus one equals two.

He was quite familiarized with the strange signs now, which is why he had quickly completed the courses of the primary, middle and high schools on mathematics, while raising his eyebrows higher and higher in a good-looking way. As he began to study the mathematics at the college level, his eyebrows dropped, and he remained silent for a long time.

Zong Lizi went to get food stamps. By the time she came back with the foods for the next week, she found that Jing Jiu was still staring at the computer screen, his posture unchanged. “Is it difficult? I failed it in the second semester.” She tried to comfort him.

“The ideas are a bit odd, but it’s not too difficult,” said Jing Jiu before he resumed his study.

He had finally started studying the theorem at two o’clock in the afternoon.

And he was still studying the theorem at four o’clock in the afternoon.

He decided to change the subject matter and let his brain have a rest at fix o’clock; he opted to study the algebra.

He had been engaged in the subject ever since.

It was quiet and late in the evening, and TV was turned off. The crowing of a rooster suddenly rang out, which was the sound of the preset alarm clock.

Jing Jiu lifted up his head and looked at the clock, making sure it was twelve o’clock, which meant that it was the end of the ninth day.

He hadn’t finished learning physics; as for the simplest mathematics…he didn’t want to remember this term for the time being.

He turned off the computer and lay on the couch. He took out the soft cushion from underneath him and held it to his chest. He sat up and looked at the photo on the cabinet in a stupor.

Wakened by the noise of the alarm clock, Zong Lizi walked out from the bedroom while rubbing her eyes. As she saw the way Jing Jiu acted, she felt sympathetic. “Are you okay?” asked she worriedly.

“My ability of calculating is unparalleled, and I’m an exceptional genius. I had learned how to do everything in nine days back then, and even learned how to cut firewood and plant the seedlings,” said Jing Jiu while holding the soft cushion in his arms. Looking at the yellow cat that had a sinister smile in the photo, Jing Jiu asked in bewilderment, “Why can’t I do it this time? Is it because the low level of this world has affected the operation of my mind?”

Zong Lizi understood what he meant vaguely, though she thought his feeling was ludicrous, thinking that it was impossible to learn all the knowledge by heart. Even if he were the most powerful computer in the Federation of the Milky Way, he wouldn’t be able to solve all the scientific issues in nine days.

On the other hand, many scientific issues have no definite answers to begin with.

Any emotion, be it happiness, sadness, bewilderment or self-blame, lasted merely a brief moment before it faded away for a Cultivation practitioner who had succeeded in becoming a fairy man.

Jing Jiu forgot about all this soon enough. He got up and picked up a pen from the coffee table, and wrote down two words.

“Year”.

“Robot”.

…

…

The Immortal Taiping asked Jing Jiu twice before his death: What was “year”?

When Jing Jiu woke up in the lab, he heard the two scientists saying that he was a liquid metal robot; but what was a robot?

After having studied and read in the last few days, Jing Jiu had a deeper understanding of the concepts of “year” and “robot”. He had learned the etymology of the concepts, the cultural traits of the galaxy, the three physical laws and the consciousness of AI…But he still couldn’t come up with an answer to the two issues.

Yet, Zong Lizi was thinking of another issue.

She came before Jing Jiu and asked, “Paper is rather expensive…why didn’t you jot down on the computer?”

Jing Jiu replied, “I’m used to writing on paper.”

Zong Lizi thought that he was indeed someone with money or he was someone like those elderly people who liked doing things the old way.

Jing Jiu suddenly looked at her with a penetrating gaze, as if he intended to see what was on her mind.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Zong Lizi attempted to avoid his gaze by turning her head away instinctively.

“Don’t move,” said Jing Jiu in an ear-pleasing tone.

Zong Lizi clenched her pajama with both of her hands, feeling extremely nervous, wondering if things were developing too quickly since they had known each other only ten days. A minute later, Jing Jiu had completed scanning her pupils. He remarked while nodding satisfactorily, “How can I send a message that the whole world, no, the whole universe will be able to see?”

After a long moment of puzzlement, Zong Lizi blushed visibly; she did it not because of embarrassment this time, but ire.

The proof of her anger was that the silvery hair of hers had all drifted up even though there was not even a hint of wind in the room. However, she couldn’t tell him about her misunderstanding. After taking two deep breaths, she calmed down as suggested by the doctors, and said expressionlessly, “You can do anything you want to as long as you have money.”

Jing Jiu thought that he should be able to steal more money from a few more businesses, though this neighborhood was a poor one. “I think I can solve this problem,” said he.

Her eyes beamed after she heard this, feeling much better. She began to offer him ideas, “Even if you have enough money to place the Ad for the whole of the Federation of Milky Way to see, some people still can’t see it; for instance, the paid members don’t have ads on their webpages.”

She was a smart girl, and soon figured out what Jing Jiu intended to achieve by sending out the message.

Jing Jiu asked, “What kind of content is most attractive for readers?”

“Novels,” replied Zong Lizi.

Looking at the collection of the fictional novels in a file folder on the computer, Jing Jiu was a bit suspicious of the suggestion.

What Jing Jiu couldn’t understand the most was why someone would write novels and many people were willing to read them, be it in Chaotian or here.

If one wanted to experience a different life in the stories, they could create a brand new world and characters in their awareness, and then the plots based on their preference, resulting in innumerable combinations of love and hatred, departure and deaths…And the magic treasures of this world were quite advanced, which were as powerful as the Retrieval Heavenly Orb, so they should be able to reconstruct human-like characters easily. But, why did they need the stories described in words?

“The stories are the basis on which people can create the characters they wish to see after they are processed by the light compartment,” said Zong Lizi. “The readers can play the roles in the stories as though the characters have come alive. Don’t…you know this?”

Jing Jiu thought that they were still dead even if the characters in the stories could be revived by means of this method. “I’ll write a novel then,” declared Jing Jiu.

“You’ll publish it on the local network of the institute first. If it has enough readers, you’ll be qualified, with enough credits, to publish it on the galaxy-wide internet.”

Zong Lizi asked earnestly while staring into his eyes, “Is this story interesting?”

Jing Jiu replied, “It’s a story about a person called Jing Yang. The characters in the story are distinctive; the plots are unpredictable and complicated; the language of the story is precise and fresh.”

It was true that Jing Jiu was to write a story about the events that had happened in Chaotian over the last one thousand years.

If the ascendants of Chaotian were in this world, like the founding grandmasters of the Green Mountain Sect such as the Immortal Chun Yang, they would come to seek him out when they read the story.

The universe was too big and the number of humans was too large, so it was hard for him to find those ascendants of the previous generations and his colleagues. And it was dangerous to go out because the battleships were stationed outside, and there were magic treasures that could cause explosions by utilizing fairy energy. As a result, it was safer to wait in this unnoticeable neighborhood for his colleagues to show up.

The first person he wished to see was the Snow Girl.

If nobody showed up after a while, Jing Jiu planned to go to the higher platforms shrouded in the clouds and fog or other places in the universe looking for new clues.

“What on earth are you looking for?” demanded Zong Lizi.

Jing Jiu replied, “I’m looking for an answer.”

“What answer?” pressed Zong Lizi, feeling intrigued.

Jing Jiu returned, “The answer to who I am.”

“Forget about the books of philosophy. You’ll go crazy after reading them,” said Zong Lizi while looking at him sympathetically.

Before he departed from Chaotian, Jing Jiu had arranged everything and also predicted many things.

For instance, the Immortal Tan should be the second person to ascend after him.

The Old Tan seemed to be thick and indecisive and had been bullied by his wife for hundreds of years, and he didn’t dare take the final step while being threatened by Bai Ren. But in fact, he was quite powerful as a swordsman.

His strengths were his broad forehead and a broad mind, as well as his honesty.

Now that Bai Ren and the Immortal Bai were both dead and the pressure from his wife’s family and the affection for her were all gone, he could of course take the final step much more easily.

As for refilling the lost spiritual energy of Chaotian by means of making the fairy books, Jing Jiu had told the Immortal Tan this request before he sent Tong Yan back to the Center Sect.

He also had the same request for both Jian Xilai and Cao Yuan.

Who would be the next ascendant after the Immortal Tan? Though Cao Yuan was very powerful, it was nevertheless an issue that he couldn’t think it through easily. When Jian Xilai would come out depended on when Shisui would learn the essence of the All in One Sword. As for the Little Snow Girl…she was still young; though she and Peng Lang had a child, it would be many years before she could ascend.

However, the child of the Little Snow Girl would grow up soon and learn how to fight before she could ascend. Which side would Peng Lang take when that happened? When the family of three was plunged into chaos, it would disturb heaven and earth and even destroy the whole of Chaotian. Fortunately, Ping Yongjia was still on Green Mountain, he could keep the world safe; Jing Jiu had nothing to worry about.

What Jing Jiu was concerned about was who among the Cultivation practitioners of the next generation in Chaotian would be able to ascend.

The Little Layue would be able to come out for sure; what about Shisui?

Time in this world, called the “Stargate”, was a bit different from that in the universe; it was unclear if a hundred years in Chaotian was equivalent to a few years or several decades here.

Thinking of all this, he couldn’t help but feel sentimental. He pulled back his gaze from the corner of the universe and walked back to the living room. He picked up the computer and resumed studying physics at the university level.

It was on the eighth day that he started studying it systematically, and on the fourth day he began to study physics; it was still difficult for him.

It didn’t take long before he decided to give up on an effort the first time in his life. Jing Jiu picked up the remote control and turned on TV, starting to watch a TV series called “The Interplanetary Wanderer”.

Judging from his transfixed gaze and unchanged posture, the girl with silvery hair, Zong Lizi, figured that he was still preoccupied with study, half-admiring him and half-baffled by him.

Since this youth came down from above, he must have received excellent education and gained much knowledge; but why did he still need to study as hard as she?

“If you think it’s too hard, why don’t you switch to another subject matter?” she suggested.

Jing Jiu thought it was a good idea and uttered “hmm”. “I’ll study the simplest mathematics tomorrow,” said he.

Zong Lizi thought he must have gone mad, her eyes open wide. “Study the simplest…mathematics?” she pressed.

Jing Jiu wondered what was wrong with it.

Song Lizi thought it was her strongest subject matter.

…

…

It was a holiday the next day. Zong Lizi didn’t need to go to school, and she had finished writing her term paper. As such, Jing Jiu had the right to use the computer the whole day.

He turned on the computer and logged in the network of the institute, and browsed through the instruction site and then the mathematics section.

Now that he decided to study it systematically, he would start from the rudimentary level, like one plus one equals two.

He was quite familiarized with the strange signs now, which is why he had quickly completed the courses of the primary, middle and high schools on mathematics, while raising his eyebrows higher and higher in a good-looking way. As he began to study the mathematics at the college level, his eyebrows dropped, and he remained silent for a long time.

Zong Lizi went to get food stamps. By the time she came back with the foods for the next week, she found that Jing Jiu was still staring at the computer screen, his posture unchanged. “Is it difficult? I failed it in the second semester.” She tried to comfort him.

“The ideas are a bit odd, but it’s not too difficult,” said Jing Jiu before he resumed his study.

He had finally started studying the theorem at two o’clock in the afternoon.

And he was still studying the theorem at four o’clock in the afternoon.

He decided to change the subject matter and let his brain have a rest at fix o’clock; he opted to study the algebra.

He had been engaged in the subject ever since.

It was quiet and late in the evening, and TV was turned off. The crowing of a rooster suddenly rang out, which was the sound of the preset alarm clock.

Jing Jiu lifted up his head and looked at the clock, making sure it was twelve o’clock, which meant that it was the end of the ninth day.

He hadn’t finished learning physics; as for the simplest mathematics…he didn’t want to remember this term for the time being.

He turned off the computer and lay on the couch. He took out the soft cushion from underneath him and held it to his chest. He sat up and looked at the photo on the cabinet in a stupor.

Wakened by the noise of the alarm clock, Zong Lizi walked out from the bedroom while rubbing her eyes. As she saw the way Jing Jiu acted, she felt sympathetic. “Are you okay?” asked she worriedly.

“My ability of calculating is unparalleled, and I’m an exceptional genius. I had learned how to do everything in nine days back then, and even learned how to cut firewood and plant the seedlings,” said Jing Jiu while holding the soft cushion in his arms. Looking at the yellow cat that had a sinister smile in the photo, Jing Jiu asked in bewilderment, “Why can’t I do it this time? Is it because the low level of this world has affected the operation of my mind?”

Zong Lizi understood what he meant vaguely, though she thought his feeling was ludicrous, thinking that it was impossible to learn all the knowledge by heart. Even if he were the most powerful computer in the Federation of the Milky Way, he wouldn’t be able to solve all the scientific issues in nine days.

On the other hand, many scientific issues have no definite answers to begin with.

Any emotion, be it happiness, sadness, bewilderment or self-blame, lasted merely a brief moment before it faded away for a Cultivation practitioner who had succeeded in becoming a fairy man.

Jing Jiu forgot about all this soon enough. He got up and picked up a pen from the coffee table, and wrote down two words.

“Year”.

“Robot”.

…

…

The Immortal Taiping asked Jing Jiu twice before his death: What was “year”?

When Jing Jiu woke up in the lab, he heard the two scientists saying that he was a liquid metal robot; but what was a robot?

After having studied and read in the last few days, Jing Jiu had a deeper understanding of the concepts of “year” and “robot”. He had learned the etymology of the concepts, the cultural traits of the galaxy, the three physical laws and the consciousness of AI…But he still couldn’t come up with an answer to the two issues.

Yet, Zong Lizi was thinking of another issue.

She came before Jing Jiu and asked, “Paper is rather expensive…why didn’t you jot down on the computer?”

Jing Jiu replied, “I’m used to writing on paper.”

Zong Lizi thought that he was indeed someone with money or he was someone like those elderly people who liked doing things the old way.

Jing Jiu suddenly looked at her with a penetrating gaze, as if he intended to see what was on her mind.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Zong Lizi attempted to avoid his gaze by turning her head away instinctively.

“Don’t move,” said Jing Jiu in an ear-pleasing tone.

Zong Lizi clenched her pajama with both of her hands, feeling extremely nervous, wondering if things were developing too quickly since they had known each other only ten days. A minute later, Jing Jiu had completed scanning her pupils. He remarked while nodding satisfactorily, “How can I send a message that the whole world, no, the whole universe will be able to see?”

After a long moment of puzzlement, Zong Lizi blushed visibly; she did it not because of embarrassment this time, but ire.

The proof of her anger was that the silvery hair of hers had all drifted up even though there was not even a hint of wind in the room. However, she couldn’t tell him about her misunderstanding. After taking two deep breaths, she calmed down as suggested by the doctors, and said expressionlessly, “You can do anything you want to as long as you have money.”

Jing Jiu thought that he should be able to steal more money from a few more businesses, though this neighborhood was a poor one. “I think I can solve this problem,” said he.

Her eyes beamed after she heard this, feeling much better. She began to offer him ideas, “Even if you have enough money to place the Ad for the whole of the Federation of Milky Way to see, some people still can’t see it; for instance, the paid members don’t have ads on their webpages.”

She was a smart girl, and soon figured out what Jing Jiu intended to achieve by sending out the message.

Jing Jiu asked, “What kind of content is most attractive for readers?”

“Novels,” replied Zong Lizi.

Looking at the collection of the fictional novels in a file folder on the computer, Jing Jiu was a bit suspicious of the suggestion.

What Jing Jiu couldn’t understand the most was why someone would write novels and many people were willing to read them, be it in Chaotian or here.

If one wanted to experience a different life in the stories, they could create a brand new world and characters in their awareness, and then the plots based on their preference, resulting in innumerable combinations of love and hatred, departure and deaths…And the magic treasures of this world were quite advanced, which were as powerful as the Retrieval Heavenly Orb, so they should be able to reconstruct human-like characters easily. But, why did they need the stories described in words?

“The stories are the basis on which people can create the characters they wish to see after they are processed by the light compartment,” said Zong Lizi. “The readers can play the roles in the stories as though the characters have come alive. Don’t…you know this?”

Jing Jiu thought that they were still dead even if the characters in the stories could be revived by means of this method. “I’ll write a novel then,” declared Jing Jiu.

“You’ll publish it on the local network of the institute first. If it has enough readers, you’ll be qualified, with enough credits, to publish it on the galaxy-wide internet.”

Zong Lizi asked earnestly while staring into his eyes, “Is this story interesting?”

Jing Jiu replied, “It’s a story about a person called Jing Yang. The characters in the story are distinctive; the plots are unpredictable and complicated; the language of the story is precise and fresh.”

It was true that Jing Jiu was to write a story about the events that had happened in Chaotian over the last one thousand years.

If the ascendants of Chaotian were in this world, like the founding grandmasters of the Green Mountain Sect such as the Immortal Chun Yang, they would come to seek him out when they read the story.

The universe was too big and the number of humans was too large, so it was hard for him to find those ascendants of the previous generations and his colleagues. And it was dangerous to go out because the battleships were stationed outside, and there were magic treasures that could cause explosions by utilizing fairy energy. As a result, it was safer to wait in this unnoticeable neighborhood for his colleagues to show up.

The first person he wished to see was the Snow Girl.

If nobody showed up after a while, Jing Jiu planned to go to the higher platforms shrouded in the clouds and fog or other places in the universe looking for new clues.

“What on earth are you looking for?” demanded Zong Lizi.

Jing Jiu replied, “I’m looking for an answer.”

“What answer?” pressed Zong Lizi, feeling intrigued.

Jing Jiu returned, “The answer to who I am.”

“Forget about the books of philosophy. You’ll go crazy after reading them,” said Zong Lizi while looking at him sympathetically.