The Path Toward Heaven

“Let’s stay here.”

Jing Jiu had used his Piercing Discernment to check the area and made sure that the three square miles around them had no sign of danger.

However, right now he couldn’t be completely sure. He had sensed something wrong the other day, but he had failed to discover that Iron-Thread Bug.

Jing Jiu didn’t have much experience of fighting either against the Cultivation practitioners or against the monsters of the Snowy Kingdom.

Taking a look at the night sky, Ying Qingmo took out the Star Pot and put it on the ground.

The night was to be cloudless, so she wanted to take the opportunity to let her Star Pot absorb some starlight.

There were about a dozen Star Fruits left in the Star Pot which could be used to help the Cultivation practitioners recover the zhenyuan and energy; but they hadn’t had any fighting in the last few days, so there was no need for those fruits.

Wu Mingzhong called out the Sword Shield and placed it on the snowy ground.

Lu Jin recited some instructions silently, and a yellow flame left his hand and landed on the Sword Shield. The flame started burning on the Sword Shield, illuminating the darkened surroundings.

This flame could keep burning until the morning and could generate warmth, but it also could bring danger.

Jing Jiu didn’t object to his starting the flame, because he knew it was sometimes quite important to satisfy one’s mental needs.

This was a very practical defense formation.

The Star Pot could release the green light to protect three of them, and the Sword Shield and the flame could play the roles of attacking and defending at the same time.

Jing Jiu stood outside the formation, without any intention of sitting in it.

Ying Qingmo and other two were accustomed to his behavior, so they didn’t say anything. With their eyes closed, they started recuperating while holding the crystals.

The night grew late, and the snowy clouds had gradually dispersed. The starlight shone down and slowly entered the Star Pot. It would perhaps take a long time to form a fruit in the Star Pot.

The further they entered the snowland, the fewer snowy clouds there were. This fact was different what he had previously known, and he didn’t know what it meant.

Looking at the starry night, Jing Jiu mulled over these matters.

He didn’t know about the Young Zen Master’s evaluation of him.

He had reason for not willing to leave that mountain a few days ago. Being lazy was just one of them, though the most important reason was that he didn’t feel right.

He always thought that feelings were the most unreliable thing.

Only when he couldn’t calculate and predict what would happen next did he rely on his feelings.

It was what he had told Tong Yan as they played that chess game.

When Jing Jiu spoke of these feelings, it was of course not a good thing. It meant that he didn’t fully comprehend the current situation.

In other words, if Jing Jiu had a feeling, it was not a good feeling.

And something bad would always happen.

His big brother had told this to him many years ago.

There was another reason why he decided to stay on the mountain a few days ago.

Jing Jiu wanted to ascertain the positions of the other nine disciples of the Green Mountain participating in the Cultivation tournament and the directions they headed.

In so doing, he could predict how he would bring them back in the shortest time in case they were in trouble.

This had nothing to do with his responsibility; it was simply what he should do.

If one operated a private school in a village and took his students out for a fieldtrip, then he had to pay attention to the trees by the river, ready to pull the student out when one of them fell into the water, or to catch the student when one of them fell off the tree.

It wasn’t quite accurate to say that Jing Jiu didn’t think he had any responsibility.

Why the Iron Thread Bug that was not supposed to be in the south of the snowland had appeared in front of him? Why hadn’t others encountered them?

What were waiting for him in the deep parts of the snowy land ahead? Would there be a massive change in heaven and earth?

Yes, Jing Jiu thought all these had something to do with him.

If others knew what he was thinking, they would consider it weird; how could someone in this world be so narcissistic?

Even the Sect Master of the Center Sect and the Young Zen Master weren’t meant to think like that.

But Jing Jiu did think this way.

It was he who had triggered the biggest event in heaven and earth in the last thousand years.

It was because he had planned adequately in advance, so Chaotian’s experience was uneventful so far.

Yet the patch of ocean that his certain friend often gazed at had gone through some terrifying changes; even the direction of the Big Whirlpool had changed.

He wouldn’t have had to think about these if he hadn’t come to the snowland; but he had to do so since he was here now.

…

…

The night wind was extremely cold. There wasn’t even a single wild weed on the ground besides the year-long snow.

Jing Jiu took out the bamboo chair and sat on it. He took out the egg and observed it carefully in front of his eyes.

The layer of the foggy membrane was kind of strong, but he could still vaguely see the inside.

There was no movement inside the egg, but he knew the thing was still alive. He thought it quite interesting.

This was indeed a strange life form. It could survive for so long in a place that was insulated from the air and the energy of heaven and earth.

The Round Turtle was the only one who could do so among the Green Mountain Guards.

Was it because its life force was really strong, or because this layer of membrane provided an effective protection?

Jing Jiu used his forefinger to gently scratch the membrane, and it opened up like a drum cover. Then it shrank at a speed that the naked eyes could see, eventually showing the inside of the egg.

It was a white colored monster bug, with six threadlike legs and a tiny head, curling in the shell.

Its shell was semi-translucent, displaying vaguely the simple structure inside.

The monster bug appeared still, motionless, breathless, and it didn’t have any heartbeat similar to the human race and the demons, so it should be dead already.

“Come back to life.”

Jing Jiu’s the noticed the bug’s body.

The monster bug had come back to life.

Its six tiny feet trembled rapidly. It seemed that the bug tried to use this method to prove that it had already survived somehow.

Jing Jiu put away the monster bug. After a while he took it out again to make sure that it was still alive. He found it even more interesting.

He turned his hand over.

The monster bug landed on the ground, blown off by the cold wind.

Its color and the color of the snow were all white, so it was not easy to find the bug in the snow.

The monster bug extended its six feet slowly, crawling away a little bit.

Jing Jiu didn’t heed the bug’s action.

The monster bug stopped short, seemingly making a judgment, and then it crawled back to the side of the bamboo chair.

Jing Jiu looked at the bug.

The monster bug perceived Jing Jiu’s will power, and it didn’t dare disobey his will. The bug turned over with a “pah” sound, exposing its stomach with its six feet stretching out.

Jing Jiu watched the bug meticulously, and his gaze was fixed on those spots between the shell and joints.

The monster bug started trembling.

Though it didn’t have consciousness and was just born, the bug instinctively felt something terrifying.

It was because Jing Jiu’s gaze had been fixed on all the spots which were the weakest links of the creature.

…

…

The current discussions about the Cultivation tournament of the Plum Meeting focused mostly on Jing Jiu; even the name of Luo Huainan had been mentioned much less than his.

It wasn’t because he had performed better than others, but because he didn’t perform at all.

Later it had been proven that the death of the disciple of the Kunlun Sect had nothing to do with him; but it still had some effect on his reputation.

From Zhaoge City to the snowy land north of Mo Sea, many people were talking about Jing Jiu. Of course they would occasionally mention that Iron-thread Bug which shouldn’t have appeared there.

“Though we haven’t encountered the Iron Thread Bugs, here is close to the forbidden land of the Snowy Kingdom, and we could get in trouble any minute.”

Bai Zao continued, “You perhaps have to hold up your bell on the road to find out the hidden foes for a longer period of time from now on. Doing so would tax your Spiritual Source a great deal; can you handle it?”

The female disciple of the Hanging Bell Sect said, “I need eight hours of sleep every day.”

“Okay. I’ll take over for you during these eight hours. Thanks for your hard work.” Bai Zao looked at another side and said, “If we encounter a similar situation, you should wield your sword a little bit later and wait for big brother Mo to have complete control. Though the snow worms don’t have shells, it’s still hard to cut them in half due to the sticky fluids covering their bodies.”

“Understood.”

It happened that the disciple of the Green Mountain, Yao Songshan, was in this group.

There was a snow dune here, and ahead there was a shadowy mountain visible intermittently; but it seemed still far away.

Bai Zao sat and four of her partners stood around her, listening carefully to her arrangement.

The light wind along with the snowflakes tousled the white veil on her face.

Nobody knew where she got that stool on this snowy land, far from the human world.