The Path Toward Heaven

As Jing Jiu had predicted, Jian Xilai rested on the bamboo chair for a while after his ascension and then parted with Cao Yuan.

The permanent star outside Chaotian was located even farther away than Planet Lindeng. If they didn’t wish to plunge into the endless darkness and preferred heading toward a bright place, the ascendants would sooner or later stumble upon the civilization of the Federation of the Milky Way, as long as they hadn’t been swallowed by the monsters of the Sea of Dark Matter during their journey.

The first encounter Jian Xilai had with the Federation of the Milky Way was an excavating spaceship.

It was worth mentioning that he was indeed shocked when he saw the spaceship, and his Sword Heart that had been tempered for a great many years was almost shattered.

He broke open the cargo compartment of the excavating spaceship and came to the Planet Lindeng with the spaceship; he’d been there ever since.

The only reason he hadn’t left the planet was because he was rather cautious when it came to the unknown.

Even though he was a powerful ascendant, he wouldn’t reveal himself before he learned everything about this world and was sure it was safe to do so.

This mining planet far from the center of the Federation of the Milky Way was the most suitable place for him to hide.

…

…

Ding!!!

Jian Xilai brough his left hand back and put the bracelet under his sleeve. He walked into the control room after greeting his coworkers with a nod.

After studying for dozens of days without a rest, he had learned all the details about this world and the mining town. He had set up a new identity for himself on a computer at the department of human resources of the mining town, and he hadn’t forgetten to obtain a disability certificate for future tax exemptions.

He thought that he would sooner or later reside in this civilization and had better do some preparations ahead of time; moreover, he needed to take care of these matters anyway.

Jian Xilai had taken care of some general affairs in the control room and input some commands that only he understood. He drank some hot tea before he set down the teacup and headed toward the outside.

He took a look at the teacup before he left the room.

He arrived outside the protective shield after passing through the underground tunnel, and then strolled toward the east.

He didn’t take a glance at the residential buildings of the mining town behind him.

He wore neither a protective uniform nor a protective helmet, looking like a disabled worker who was lost.

The distant permanent star looked really small, like a candle in the next door; and it wouldn’t grow brighter by a tad no matter how much he had walked towards it.

No high mountains and rivers could be found on the surface of the Planet Lindeng save for the rocks of various sizes. It was quite difficult to walk on such a ground.

Worse still, the bottomless holes were everywhere in the mining area, very hazardous. The sight of these holes was rather intimidating.

“The ugly scars are everywhere.”

Jian Xilai didn’t like this place; he missed the green mountains and rivers in Chaotian.

He heard a crisp sound, like the chirping of birds in the distance, echoing in the mining pit.

It was the sound of gunfire.

A light mirror, with vague flashes of sword light, appeared suddenly in front of him.

A black cask was attached to this semitransparent light mirror.

If Jing Jiu were here, he would be able to recognize that this black cask was the high-temperature bullet that had exploded in his palm outside the museum the other day.

An EM gun was aimed at Jian Xilai at that moment from dozens of kilometers away.

Jian Xilai reached out his hand and took the black cask from the light mirror and tossed it into the mining pit in front of him expressionlessly.

A thudding boom could be heard only after a long time at the bottom of the mining pit as the ground shook a little.

The mining pit was 3.4 kilometers deep; one didn’t need much imagination to guess how powerful this EM gun was.

By the time the thunderous booms were occurring at the bottom of the mining pit, countless bullets had fallen down like a rainstorm.

Three automatic weapon platforms rose above the ground and started shooting fervently.

Innumerable bullet shells dropped onto the ground, making dinging sounds. The bright light lines could be seen in the dark and gray sky.

It seemed that his opponent had already seized control of the computer system of the mining town, which is why he hadn’t activated the defense system earlier.

As Jian Xilai thought of all this, he pointed his right forefinger at one of the automatic weapon platforms.

The semitransparent light mirror had already turned into a container encasing his body inside, which looked like an inverse glass bowl.

The torrent of bullets landed on the surface of the light, unable to penetrate the container. The bullets dropped onto the ground after they were flattened as thin as a piece of paper.

The sword light came out from his forefinger soundlessly and destroyed an automatic weapon platform. Soon after, two other automatic weapon platforms were illuminated and destroyed.

The vicinity of the area grew quiet again. Some commotions could be heard in the distant residential area of the mining town, but no one came out.

Jian Xilai turned toward the west.

The huge battleship, under the dim light of the permanent star, looked like a black monster.

As this battleship broke through the atmosphere and arrived from the west, he had already sensed the presence of his opponent.

Yet, he acted as if nothing had happened. He went to work as usual, though he didn’t activate the defense system of the Planet Lindeng.

This is when he left the residential area and came to the desolate but more hazardous mining pit.

He knew that the mining pit up ahead had an emergency spacecraft hidden inside for the high-level officials of the mining department. It was evident that the emergency spacecraft couldn’t travel as fast as the battleship, so he planned to let the emergency spacecraft leave the site by the automatic process. Later, he would return to the residential area of the mining town from the underground and hide in the thirteenth mining house.

That mining house stored ores with strong radioactivity, which could make many apparatuses useless; and no one would think that someone could hide in the deep part of a mine.

Seventy days later, the ores of high radioactivity would be shipped to other bases far away.

This was the escape tunnel he had prepared for himself ahead of time.

As for the distant battleship, Jian Xilai didn’t think his opponent could kill him.

The weapons of fairy energy that were called the hydrogen bombs in this world had a powerful explosion, but the high-temperature region that could actually threaten him ranged merely about thirty square kilometers. As far as the shock wave was concerned, it was of no consequence to him at least. In the eyes of those in Chaotian, he was a true fairy man; it was impossible for him to fear the Chaotic Wind.

However, the radioactivity was troublesome, like the ores in the thirteenth mining house that could affect his fairy body.

If his opponent used the neutron bomb, the effect on him would be much worse.

Well, he didn’t have to think about this matter for the time being. It was because the fastest missile carrying the nuclear heads in the world was still far slower than the traveling speed of a fairy man. Even if tens of thousands of nuclear bombs exploded on the surface of the planet all at once, he could still travel amid them like passing through the flowers without touching one petal.

Of course, he didn’t forget about the standard laser guns on the Federation battleships.

Though the battleship was more than ten thousand kilometers away from him, the laser beam shot by the laser guns could reach him in 0.03 seconds at the speed of light in this world. It was enough time for him to dodge it. However, it would be late to dodge when he saw the incoming laser beam, so he had to move around constantly, making sure that the battleship couldn’t locate him.

If the battleship attempted to attack him with the laser guns, it had to stay closer to the ground and near him.

However, he would mount a fierce attack once the battleship came in the range of several hundred kilometers.

He would first disarm its protective shield and then invade its computers, and in the end, he would destroy the engine system of the battleship.

It was true that he was a highly achieved hacker now.

If such a quiet life he led could continue, he was prepared to check out the hidden network some days later and meet the rumored Cloud Ghosts.

The people in this world had some clever skills, but it was truly ridiculous for them to think they were really powerful.

He wondered if he should show his weakness first and then snatch the battleship.

A figure traveled at a high speed over the surface of the ground full of mining pits, the overalls emitting countless sword lights.

Jian Xilai was calm and confident as he thought of all this.

He had nothing to worry about unless the battleship possessed a weapon of higher state that could destroy the entire Planet Lindeng.

Well, it was better to play it safe.

Jian Xilai gave up on the idea of snatching the battleship and drifted forward swiftly.

The mining pit that stored the emergency spacecraft was not far ahead.

He suddenly stopped short.

Some ripples appeared in his usually calm eyes that were as unruffled as an old well.

A man walked out from the emptiness unexpectedly.

The person wore a stiff black military uniform and a red overcoat. His bearing was awe-striking and his energy level was incalculable.

A waft of wind blew over on the ground and tousled the overcoat slightly.

“Are you an ascendant?” asked Jian Xilai while looking at the person quietly.

He had thought that the previous ascendants might still live in this world.

But his West Ocean Sword Sect originated on the Foggy Island of the South Sea, and his master had no other grandmasters. As a result, Jian Xilai had no previous grandmasters who had ascended before him, so he had no intention of finding those other ascendants.

“This world calls us the ‘cocoon breakers’,” said the person.

Jian Xilai implored after a moment of silence, “Please enlighten me.”

“This world calls me General Li,” said the person.

Like Jing Jiu, Jian Xilai began to ponder which of the ascendants from Chaotian had the surname Li; and soon enough, he found four potential candidates.

General Li gazed over his shoulder and looked at the marks left on the surface of the planet.

The sword lights had already disappeared, only with some faint sword wills remaining.

“Your sword work is pretty impressive.”

General Li pulled back his gaze and said to him, “I hope you’ll be able to pass my test.”

“What test?” pressed Jian Xilai.

General Li said, “No heavenly punishment here.”

This statement meant that he regarded himself as the guardian of the heavenly rules, Jian Xilai thought. He was exceedingly arrogant.

Jian Xilai didn’t ask him what would happen if he passed the test; instead, he asked General Li expressionlessly, “Do you have a death wish?”

No sooner had he spoke than a great many ores started to roll and drift up in the air; later, the ores rotated slowly to point their sharp ends toward General Li.

The bulldozers and excavators in the mining pit lifted their arms and pointed at General Li as well.

The wind grew stronger and blew toward General Li.

It seemed as if all the objects on this planet had turned into swords and acted at Jian Xilai’s will.

General Li commented lightly, “The All in One Sword, which I haven’t seen for a long time.”

The distant battleship was approaching at a high speed.

The atmosphere seemed to be torn apart.

Without hesitation, Jian Xilai launched a strike with all his might.

Countless ores shot at General Li like the rainstorm of swords.

The bulldozers and excavators broke up into metal pieces, which then shot at General Li like the flying swords.

The cold wind had also turned into a sword.

The bullet shells in the distance that had dropped to the ground leapt up and shot at General Li with a whistling sound.

The overcoat ruffled slightly.

General Li raised up his right hand.

The ores with sharp edges, the metal pieces, the cold wind and the hot bullet shells had all halted in midair.