The Path Toward Heaven

The sunlight shone down to illuminate the stage-like ground.

Fang Jingtian bowed to the Dead Dog earnestly. No matter what attitude the Dead Dog had toward the Immortal Taiping, it was evident that his Master must have acquired the permission from the Dead Dog that allowed him to leave the Sword Jail

The Dead Dog let out a hint of smile in his eyes. Then, he turned to Jing Jiu and asked through those eyes if Jing Jiu was certain about this.

“It’ll be simple,” said Jing Jiu.

After a moment of silence, the Dead Dog closed his eyes again, giving no further response.

A sigh seemed to ring out in the gloomy underground.

It was quiet in the Sword Jail. The air seemed to freeze, turning into the rocks stronger than those on Shangde Peak.

The two figures in the Heavenly Arrival State walked past slowly, bringing a tremendous mental pressure to the demons and practitioners of deviant sects in the cells on both sides. Even though they couldn’t hear the footsteps, the sounds of them seemed like the battle drums making “dong” beats, each beat louder than the last.

As they came to the deep end of the Sword Jail, Fang Jingtian halted his steps and looked at the cell at the end of the dark and gloomy passageway. “Was my Master locked up in that cell by you people back then?” he asked.

Jing Jiu uttered “hmm”.

“Who is locked in there now?” asked Fang Jingtian.

Jing Jiu returned, “You’re not the sect master; so you’re not qualified to know.”

Fang Jingtian drew back his gaze and resumed walking forward.

Besides that lonely and narrow dead-end passageway, there was only one more passage in the Sword Jail.

To enter the hermit peaks, this was the only passage; there was no other way to enter them.

It was said that this arrangement was made on purpose by the grandmasters of the Green Mountain Sect in the previous generations.

One could only have a chance of fighting back when they were placed in a spot with no hope of retreating.

Only when a practitioner was placed in a desperate environment, they would have the possibility of breaking through the seemingly indestructible barrier in their grueling journey of Cultivation.

There were four people who knew there was another passage out of the hermit peaks in the whole of Cultivation circle.

Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing were dead. And Jing Jiu and Taiping would never tell another soul about the secret.

…

…

The scenery in the hermit peaks was marvelous; it was so beautiful that it seemed to be unreal. It was interesting to note that one could actually see the hermit peaks from the top of Tianguang Peak.

Fang Jingtian had lived in the hermit peaks for many years, and it was here that he had successfully broken through the “death barrier” set up by Yuan Qijing and reached the Heavenly Arrival State amid wildflowers filling the mountain.

As the beautiful green peaks moved backwards at high speed in their view, they arrived in front of a peak with which Fang Jingtian was most familiar; the wildflowers were blooming throughout the mountain.

Fang Jingtian landed on the mountain. He walked to the deep part of the wild flowers and picked up a bamboo flute.

As the bamboo flute left the ground, all the wild flowers wilted gradually; they merged into the black mud after turning into crumbs, vanishing without a trace.

Fang Jingtian turned to Jing Jiu and said, “Interesting enough, I had thought of taking you on as my personal disciple before I found out your true identity.”

The mountain wind blew over and passed through the holes on the bamboo flute, giving off a pleasing sound.

He referred to the Inherited Sword Competition by the Sword-Washing Stream one hundred fifty years ago when Jing Jiu came back to Green Mountain.

“Hurry up,” urged Jing Jiu.

The following fight was very important; it would affect the future of the Green Mountain Sect in the next few hundred years or even longer; and the outcome of the fight would also affect the future of the entire Chaotian.

Before the fight, one could recall the past, make sentimental remarks, feel emotional, and give a long speech.

And yet, it was unnecessary.

Fang Jingtian finally found an opportunity to express his emotion that he had held back for hundreds of years, but he was rudely interrupted. He didn’t feel angry, but sighed, “If you are really my Senior Master, why was my Master willing to teach someone as boring as you?”

“I was very talented,” said Jing Jiu.

Fang Jingtian asked after a moment of pause, “How will we fight?”

Jing Jiu said, “The loser will stay here forever.”

This was the rule of the hermit peaks of Green Mountain to begin with. For those who had entered the hermit peaks, the only way to get out of here was to break through the Heavenly Arrival State…or in Tang Yan’s case and some others’, the rules were ignored by Jing Jiu and Yuan Qijing.

If Fang Jingtain lost in this fight and were imprisoned in the hermit peaks, he would have another way to leave, which is to ascend.

“The arrogant and repulsive look on your face is indeed similar to my Senior Master’s,” said Fang Jingtian sentimentally, his silvery brows ruffling slightly.

Jing Jiu returned, “Even your Master doesn’t suspect my identity anymore; but you’re still unconvinced…How come I didn’t know you were such a stubborn boy when you were a little child?”

“Because I was a little child in your eyes,” said Fang Jingtian, “I could witness more things on the side. So I have to be stubborn.”

Jing Jiu pressed, “Since you were a little child, how could you tell truth from untruth and know what the final reality was?”

Fang Jingtian demanded, “All I know is that my Master favored you and two big brothers besides Young Sister; but what did you three do?”

Jing Jiu replied, “We did what we had to do. No, I did what we wanted to do.”

Fang Jingtian declared while staring into his eyes, “I want you to die.”

As soon as he said this, dozens of white marks suddenly appeared in a sky that was as blue as a ceramic ware above the hermit peaks.

The sword marks formed a plum.

It was not a plum flower but a plum branch, a barren branch devoid of any flower bud.

Those marks were all sword wills, enveloping heaven and earth.

…

…

The people of the Green Mountain Sect stood in the square before the grand hall of Xilai Peak, listening to the sound of pine waves in the surroundings and looking at the sky blankly. They had no idea where Jing Jiu and Fang Jingtian had gone.

Zhao Layue found that Ada was nowhere to be found as she felt the load in her bosom was gone; she looked in the direction of the distant Shangde Peak reflexively.

The Immortal Guangyuan had detected the commotion a long time ago, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

Jing Jiu and Fang Jingtian went to Shangde Peak, meaning that they would go to the hermit peaks. Going to the hermit peaks indicated that the fight between them was different from his fight with his Big Brother Fang; it was to be a fight of life and death.

Standing on the top of Qingrong Peak, Nan Wang neither drank wine nor wore shoes, which was rare. She looked in the direction of Shangde Peak while standing under the flowering tree, her face full of anger and helplessness.

She had kept herself from being seen by anybody after she learned that Jing Jiu and his group had returned to Green Mountain. She had prepared to interfere with the fight.

It was not that she had no idea what her prowess was in comparison.

Though her Cultivation state was not as strong as Fang Jingtian and Jing Jiu, she had other way to interrupt this fight.

It seemed that Jing Jiu and Fang Jingtian knew what she was to do; so the two of them went to the hermit peaks.

There was only one passage leading to the hermit peaks, which was guarded by the Dead Dog; so she couldn’t get in. As such, she had no way to stop this fight.

The flowering tree swayed slightly, and countless fine sword marks appeared on the black rock. The sword marks floated up and transformed into sword strings, which formed a shapeless bridge.

Nan Wang stepped onto the bridge, the silvery bells ringing and her dress billowing slightly. Soon, she arrived on the top of Tianguang Peak.

The crowd at the foot of Xilai Peak sensed the sword strings in the sky and recovered their senses; they leapt up on their swords, heading toward Tianguang Peak.

Of the thousand-mile-long Green Mountain, one could see a corner of the hermit peaks only on the top of Tianguang Peak

Innumerable sword lights illuminated the sky, and then extinguished on Tianguang Peak.

The group looked hastily in the direction of the hermit peaks without greeting Nan Wang who was standing at the edge of the cliff.

All they could see was a corner of the hermit peaks vaguely; and what they saw were many green hills amid the ocean of clouds. It was impossible for them to see the figures of Jing Jiu and Fang Jingtian.

Boom!!!

The crowd was startled. As they turned toward the source of the sound, they found that some dusts fell off the stone monument on the back of the Round Turtle. They all wondered what was going on in astonishment.

The fight between two figures in the Heavenly Arrival State must have started; but they couldn’t see any action from there, and on the other hand, a commotion occurred to the stone monument.

Some disciples who had entered the inner gate not for long thought in dread that the ancestors of the Green Mountain Sect might become angry since they couldn’t bear witnessing such an internal fight.

“Who do you think will win?”

Nan Wang’s voice suddenly rang out at the edge of the cliff.

The crowd eyed each other and thought that they wouldn’t dare to speak out even if they had some ideas.

“Those two guys are enjoying themselves, but they don’t give a damn about what their fight will bring to Green Mountain. It gives me a headache.”

Nan Wang went on, “Who knows how long their fight will last; we can’t just stay here and watch. We might as well wager on the result, making the stage show more exciting to watch.”

Her voice was quite calm, devoid of any emotion; but anyone could tell that she was in a very bad mood, as if she felt so frustrated and defeated that she was to give up on any effort of fixing the problem.

It was quiet by the cliff’s edge; nobody dared take up her suggestion.

A moment later…

Zhao Layue walked to the side of Nan Wang, called out the Thoughtless Sword and put it on the ground.