The Path Toward Heaven

From this afternoon on, Jing Jiu could live his life like he had on Shenmo Peak again, lying on the bamboo chair all day long.

He had absorbed a great deal of information from the interplanetary network and the hidden network; so he needed some time to digest it.

It was the darkness when the others shut their eyes; but Jing Jiu could read books when he did the same.

When Zong Lizi thought he was asleep, Jing Jiu was reading a specialized book on physics, the author of which was a master researcher at the Science Academy of the Federation of Milky Way who had passed away many years ago.

Jing Jiu was aware of why the girl with silvery hair had a bad mood at the moment because he witnessed what had happened to her.

Though the apparatus for testing Yuanqi had been destroyed, she found out her current Cultivation state nevertheless.

There were twelve levels in the primary state for the humans in the Federation of the Milky Way. The students at the New Era Institute were qualified to become the exchange students only after they reached the sixth level; then they could attend the university above to learn more advanced methods of Cultivation. If they could break through the twelfth level, they would be qualified to be sent to the weightless environment in the space and to attempt to break through more advanced states.

Zong Lizi was merely at the fourth level; so she was still a few levels away from the sixth.

She had a weak physique since a young age and now a serious blood illness; her gene modification was a failure when she was young. The improvement of her Cultivation state had been slow over the years since the practice of Cultivation was a difficult task to begin with. It was not that the silvery computer, which opened up a brand-new world of the interplanetary network and ushered in the endless fashion magazines and make-up ads, delayed her Cultivation; it was because she didn’t have any hopes for her Cultivation in the first place. It wasn’t until she was scolded by that teacher in the afternoon that she came back to her senses and began to contemplate the issue.

A fish would wiggle its tail with all its might as it fell down to the bottom of a cliff; yet, a majority of fish would end up becoming the shattered corpses at the foot of the waterfall.

Jing Jiu’s sight passed through the wooden door and saw the scene inside.

Wearing a blue dress hanging on two straps on her shoulders and a stretch pants, Zong Lizi stood on one leg with her eyes closed, remaining a strange pose with her left leg bending slightly.

The temperature control device in the room was not fixed yet, so the wind coming from the fan was sporadic, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. As a result, her silvery hair sometimes billowed and sometimes dropped weakly on her shoulders, which probably resembled her mood at the moment.

About ten minutes later, she put down her left leg and started another pose after taking two deep breaths.

This was the most basic method of Cultivation in the Federation of the Milky Way, the principle being that one could make use the extreme stimulus to arouse the potential of their physical bodies in order to develop the required energy.

The energy was none other than yuanqi.

By the time yuanqi reached a certain amount, the humans would be powerful enough to control their bodies effortlessly in the low weight or even weightless environment like in the space. If one could cultivate oneself to the state of releasing the energy, which was the last part of the twelfth level, they would be able to learn how to fight in the weightless environment.

It would take a long time for Zong Lizi to reach that level; and it might be an impossible goal for her.

Jing Jiu was ignorant of the basic knowledge of Cultivation in this world because he didn’t care about it.

He ignored the relevant knowledge about Cultivation when he was online over the last few days, and yet he had heard some comments Zong Lizi made about it.

Seeing the tiredness on the face of the girl with silvery hair in the room, Jing Jiu couldn’t help but furrow his brows, thinking that what she was doing was much worse than the boxing sets the external disciples practiced at the South-Pine Pavilion.

It was evidently not that the methods of Cultivation in this world were inferior; the problem was that the humans in this world were too weak physically.

However, the slim and long body wrapped in a blue dress was rather appealing.

Jing Jiu pulled back his line of sight and resumed studying the specialized book on physics after closing his eyes. In the meantime, he was pondering which paper he should read first to help understand the rest of the subject matter.

A short while later, the door was pushed open; Zong Lizi walked out from the room. She opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of rice wine, and let out a loud belch after she gulped down half of the wine in the bottle, revealing a satisfactory expression on her face.

The belch echoed in the room for more than one second before it subsided.

Zong Lizi was startled by her own loud belch as well. Two attractive blushes showed on her cheeks. It was unclear if they were the result of alcohol or embarrassment.

Jing Jiu opened his eyes and asked her, “Are you finished?”

The embarrassed expression on her face turned to despair as she said, “I can’t even complete ten basic moves; there is no way I can pass the upcoming test for the sixth level.”

Jing Jiu intended to say something but thought better of it.

Zong Lizi sat down by him with the rice wine in her hand. “How did you do it?” she asked while staring into his eyes.

He had said that he was at the eleventh level of the primary state.

None of the students his age at the New Era Institute could pass the sixth level.

Even though the resources for Cultivation were plenty in comparison, his talent was a bit overblown. Maybe he was aided by some sort of secret methods passed down in his family, she thought.

Jing Jiu thought that the way he cultivated was not something she could follow. “How did you do it?” he asked her instead.

Zong Lizi found that he was willing to respond to her question and felt encouraged. She set down the rice wine on the coffee table and told him about her Cultivation experience after moving closer to him. In the end she said, “It’s said that the essence of the Fire-Observing State lies in the state of observing the fire from a distance while operating the zhenyuan inside the body to let oneself be reflected in the fire, and that it’s the only way to reach the sixth level. But I can’t do it no matter what.”

“It’s not observing the fire from a distance,” said Jing Jiu after moving away a little bit from her. “It’s watching the fire from the other side of the river.”

Zong Lizi was taken aback, wondering if it could be comprehended this way.

Watching the fire from the other side of the river was actually tantamount to watching someone die without offering any help.

Your issue had nothing to do with me.

Zong Lizi thought this was the hidden meaning of Jing Jiu’s statement. She stood up indignantly and went back to her room with the rice wine in her hand.

Jing Jiu took a glance at the tightly closed door and decided that he would not meddle in her affair anymore. Watching the fire from the other side of the river had a deep meaning; one had to meditate and to be in a trance with tranquil inner energy in order to observe oneself reflected in the fire; only in so doing could one check one’s body with the separated spiritual awareness. It was the magic method of trance for the Zen sects and the method of sword ghost for the sword work.

Zhao Layue and Liu Shisui would be able to understand it instantly when they heard it; even Yuan Qü could understand it in half a day. But this girl with silvery hair couldn’t in the least. Her talent was extremely low.

He opened his eyes during the quiet hours of the night and squeezed the nasal bridge between his eyes a few times. He pushed open the door and came before her bed, looking at the coughing girl with silvery hair.

Some moments later, he found that the toxin in her blood hadn’t multiplied and spread, then waved his hand to let her fall into a sound sleep.

Hearing the terrible piping sound come from the vent on the fake window, Jing Jiu dismantled the filter and fixed the temperature control device in a short time while using his fingers as the required tools.

Afterwards, he picked up a damp paper tissue at the head of the bed and cleaned the dust and oil on his fingers before he pointed his finger at the center of Zong Lizi’s eyebrows.

The tip of his finger emitted a warm glow, which was more like a pearl than a firefly.

The light inside the pearl emerged from its husk and entered the girl’s body through the center of her eyebrows.

Zong Lizi furrowed her brows slightly, seemingly sensing a bit of pain; but she didn’t wake up.

Jing Jiu pulled his finger back, picked up the rice wine on the cabinet and turned to leave the bedroom.

He dumped the wine bottle into the waste bucket. As he was about to lie on the couch and resume reading the book on physics, he suddenly noticed that his tracksuits were slightly soiled.

The dust and oil marks must have gotten onto the clothing when he was repairing the temperature control. The trademark in front of the tracksuits looked like it was doodled by someone; it had become an eyesore.

He had focused all of his attention on studying in the last few days; he was rather tired and mindless and could easily make a mistake. He lit a sword fire reflexively and intended to burn the dust and oil marks off the tracksuits. In the next moment he remembered that he was not in Chaotian and the tracksuits were not the white sword cloth made from the natural worm silk.

Sizzle!!!

He turned into a fire-man, the light of the fire illuminating the room and the dark and gloomy street outside the window.

If someone happened to look at him through the binoculars, they would be blinded.

The tracksuits made from the polyester had been burned into a puff of green smoke in the blink of an eye due to the exceedingly high temperature of the sword fire; no ash could be even found left behind.

Looking at the photo on the cabinet and the eyes of the yellow cat, Jing Jiu mused that he had no choice but to steal a new cloth on the street.

…

…

Early next morning, Zong Lizi woke up before the ringing of the alarm clock. She found something was out of place by the time she came out from her bedroom.

She didn’t sleep in that day, nor did she feel tired. She didn’t even rub her eyes once, nor did she stretch her back. And most of all, she didn’t yawn and swear once.

What was happening to her?

She was more baffled when she saw the bottle for the rice wine she had drunk the day before in the waste bucket.

It was then that Jing Jiu walked out from the study room.

Seeing the white tracksuits he wore, she asked in curiosity, “When did you buy such a new cloth?”

“The day before,” answered Jing Jiu casually.

Zong Lizi didn’t think too much of his answer. She finished washing face and brushing teeth, eating breakfast and taking the medicine as quickly as she could. Then, she noticed that she had done everything at a faster pace with no intention of procrastinating.

“I am filled with an unknown energy.”

She said to Jing Jiu earnestly, “I think this energy is a sort of hope.”

Jing Jiu said after some thought, “It’s up to you as what to call it.”

…

…

The lamps illuminated the street and the dark and gloomy neighborhood. The birds chirped softly to awaken the desolate world. The two of them brought their silvery computers to the school.

Zong Lizi was in a much better mood than a few days ago. She walked as swiftly as a draft of wind, her silvery hair billowing in the air.

She turned around and bade Jing Jiu farewell after she arrived on top of the cliff, walked past the row of trees and the grassy ground and came before the front gate of the library, “I’ll do my best; and I believe I’ll succeed. You must do your best as well.”

She reminded Jing Jiu of those female characters in the so-called cartoon series he had come across occasionally online. He recollected that he had indeed instilled some yuanqi into her…

Was this the origin of the yuanqi girl?