The Path Toward Heaven

This was a difficult question to reply to.

Regardless of whether he replied it or not, the answer wouldn’t be a satisfactory one. So Jing Jiu chose to ignore it.

The green bird’s eyes wavered a bit and then asked, “Even if you drove that silly boy out of the Illusionary Realm, he still could tell others, like to the Immortal Bai.”

“As long as the participants in the Illusionary Realm don’t know what my idea is, it’ll be fine,” Jing Jiu said.

The green bird said, “But I can tell them your idea.”

“But you won’t,” said Jing Jiu.

“How can you know that?” green bird inquired disappointedly.

Jing Jiu said, “It’s because I know what you want.”

The green bird fell silent for a long while before saying, “I don’t think I can help you with that matter.”

When Jing Jiu and Tong Yan were playing the Go in the pavilion, she had said that was merely the spirit of the Green Sky Mirror, but not the one who made the rules.

Jing Jiu understood her point and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

“It’s obviously an impossible task; why do you show so much confidence?” the green bird wondered.

Jing Jiu said, “Maybe, it’s because I have some experience with this sort of thing.”

“What should I do next?” the green bird asked.

Jing Jiu said, “Like I said earlier, there will be more opportunities for people to learn the reality. You’d better go check on them.”

…

…

The snowy palace, the blood, and the dead corpses.

Looking at the scene in the sky, there was an uproar among the Cultivation practitioners outside Huiyin Valley; then things fell silent for a long time.

Sese and the young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery eyed each other and saw the shocked expressions in each other’s eyes, and they too fell silent.

Tong Yan had died so easily!

The Green Mountain Sect was truly good at waging a quick and decisive fight.

Yet, the onlookers were still quite baffled.

In their eyes, the opportunity and the result of the fighting were both very preferable for the Green Mountain Sect.

But the cavalrymen of King Jing were still intact even though Tong Yan was dead, so King Jing would rebel against the Emperor. This meant that the situation was getting more optimistic for Bai Qianjun.

In the Green Mountain camp, the No-Mercy Sect disciple was dead, and Zhuo Rusui was severely wounded with a broken arm. Chu State would be greatly affected by all this, and Jing Jiu might lose the chance to contend with Qin State and Zhao State as a result.

It was not a smart move for Jing Jiu; so why do it?

In the deep end of Huiyin Valley, the sunlight streamed down from the top of the cave and shone on the slowly rotating Green Sky Mirror.

The people in the bronze mirror looked like the real people with flesh and blood, as if they would jump out from the mirror at any moment. The stories of happy reunions and sad departures were playing out constantly in it.

Sitting on the futon, Tong Yan looked at the world in the mirror silently, reflecting on something.

The No-Mercy Sect disciple opened his eyes as he awoke.

Tong Yan turned to him.

The two of them stared at each other for a brief moment and abruptly pulled their gazes away.

As the young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery said to Sese, the participants in the Dao Competition were not allowed to bring their affection and hatred in the Illusionary Realm to the real world.

Yet, nobody could tell what their true thoughts toward each other were.

Tong Yan had guessed the identity of this No-Mercy Sect disciple. He was more alarmed after the initial feeling of surprise.

The fact that Liu Shisui was released from the Sword Jail indicated that the Green Mountain Sect had been well prepared for this Dao Competition and determined to win the Fairy Book of Longevity.

Thinking of the Fairy Book that captivated all the Cultivation practitioners and the relentless method employed by Jing Jiu, Tong Yan furrowed his eyebrows, which were as light as willow leaves torn to pieces by the wind.

He dropped both of his hands to the sides, ready to leave by pushing on the wheels of the wheelchair. As his hands touched the ground, he suddenly realized that he had returned to the real world; this was not Cangzhou or the capital of Chu State.

Seeing the scene, those participants who had woken up outside the Green Sky Mirror earlier couldn’t help but let out a smile, thinking that Tong Yan of the Center Sect did no better than they had.

By this time, Liu Shisui remembered all that had happened in the Illusionary Realm.

Watching the departing back figure of Tong Yan, he wondered if he should think of a way to delay Tong Yan, since whatever his Young Master wanted to conceal must be something important.

Tong Yan returned to the small building through the passageway. As he re-emerged from the building, he didn’t go back to Huiyin Valley; he employed the magic method and flew into the air.

The Escape Method of Heaven and Earth was truly marvelous; it took merely a minute for him to pass the clouds and arrive on top of a high peak of the Cloud-Dream Mountain.

There was a wooden railing by the cliff’s edge.

A woman in white clothing stood by the railing.

She looked at the distant snowy mountain for so long that she had become a snowy mountain herself.

Tong Yan landed on the peak top and bowed to her, “Your disciple greets his Master.”

Normally, she, as a swordswoman in the Dachen State, shouldn’t be concerned so much about the Dao Competition; but it looked like the Immortal Bai had been watching the competition here for more than twenty days.

“Jing Jiu is not indulging in the pleasures of being an emperor; what does he want?” she asked.

Tong Yan said, “He doesn’t plan to contend for global rule. I think he plans to kill all the participants directly.”

“All by himself?” The Immortal Bai turned around.

It seemed that her face was covered by a layer of thin fog. Tong Yan couldn’t see her face clearly, but he could sense a strong cold intent on her face nonetheless.

“Yes,” Tong Yan replied after some thought. He was certain that his judgment was correct.

“An assassin like Zhuo Rusui would meet a dead end sooner or later. What is so different about Jing Jiu?” the Immortal Bai demanded.

The uppermost Cultivation state was limited in the Illusionary Realm of the Green Sky Mirror, which meant all the Cultivation practitioners could attain was the initial state of the Yuanying or the Free Travel State. No matter how powerful one was, they had no chance to fight the forces of the whole world.

Tong Yan remained silent for a moment before saying, “I believe that he is planning to break through the upper limit.”

The reason Jing Jiu drove him out of the Illusionary Realm was because Jing Jiu didn’t want him to tell Bai Qianjun and other participants about this.

If the other participants knew Jing Jiu’s idea and thought it was possible, they would start the attack on Chu State earlier than originally planned, hoping to kill him before he succeeded in his attempt of breaking through the upper limit.

“Where did he get this crazy idea?” the Immortal Bai demanded.

Tong Yan said, “Master Mo had experienced an opportunity of breaking through the heavenly barrier. I think this incident piqued his curiosity.”

“Does he want to ascend even in the Illusionary Realm?”

A hint of a mocking smirk appeared on the Immortal Bai’s face.

Tong Yan understood why his Master thought Jing Jiu’s idea was ridiculous.

The Green Sky Mirror was a true heavenly treasure, and moreover it was suppressed by the fairy energy. The spiritual souls of the participants in the Dao Competition had no way to break through the upper limit.

The incidents like what Master Mo had experienced occurred before, but they were all killed by the fairy wills. Jing Jiu would face that same fate.

Tong Yan didn’t say anything more.

Jing Jiu’s idea was indeed ridiculous.

Even if the participants in the Dao Competition knew about his idea, they wouldn’t believe it had a chance of succeeding.

However, if this was merely a ridiculous idea, why would Jing Jiu have paid such a heavy price to drive him out of the Illusionary Realm?

As he thought of this, Tong Yan suddenly felt the wind on the peak top was colder than before.

…

…

For those who lived in the Royal Palace, the Cold Palace was the coldest place there. Yet, Jing Jiu didn’t think so, because he didn’t feel cold here in the least. Maybe it was because he was still living in the grand hall, where everything here was basically the same, with the warm curtains and clean tables. The only difference was that the palace door was sealed, and the eunuchs and the palace servant girls were not allowed to talk to him.

One early morning, the green bird landed in front of the window and chirped twice.

Jing Jiu finished meditating and opened his eyes.

The green bird leapt to the bed and trotted to his side. “The decree of denouncing yourself was so well written that I almost forgot that you are a ‘slow emperor.'” the green bird said while looking at Jing Jiu, her head raised.

“The Grand Scholar can write well,” Jing Jiu remarked.

The green bird realized that Jing Jiu asked someone else to write the decree of self-denouncement. She opened her right wing to cover her head and commented helplessly, “Can you truly be any lazier?”

Jing Jiu uttered “hmm” in response.

The green bird thought conversing with Jing Jiu was the most boring thing in the world, but she forced herself to tell him: “It’s certain that you have no idea where I saw this decree of self-denouncement.”

Jing Jiu thought that the copies of the decree were plastered on the city walls of all the cities and counties; it was impossible for him to guess where she had seen it.

The green bird said, “I saw it in the Royal Palace of Zhao State.”

“What did you go there for?” Jing Jiu asked.

The green bird said, “I followed your advice to check on all the places. Unexpectedly, I saw such a person.”

Jing Jiu didn’t say a single word while looking at her quietly.

“It seems that the Zhao Emperor has also come to his senses,” the green bird said gravely.