The Path Toward Heaven

Liu Shisui remained silent for a while before saying, “I’m not that badly injured.”

“You’ve gone to meet Tong Lu, haven’t you?” Xiwang Sun asked.

“Yes,” replied Liu Shisui.

Xiwang Sun said, “You two are Brothers in a sense. It’s unnecessary to fight him with all your might.”

Tong Lu was the personal disciple of the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean with a great talent for sword work. The Curtain Rollers ranked him right behind Luo Huainan for the Cultivation tournament of the Plum Meeting, so his strength was obvious. Though Liu Shisui had eaten the Devil Pill and learned the evil methods of the Bloody Demon Sect, his Cultivation state was still inferior to Tong Lu’s.

Yet Liu Shisui dared fight without considering his own safety; in other words, he would wield his sword and thrust his fist as if it were the last attack of his life.

Tong Lu couldn’t do that, and so he lost.

“Are you angry at him because he’s told the world that Jing Jiu was a coward?” Xiwang Sun asked.

Liu Shisui was silent for a while before saying, “Yes. Young Master is not that kind of person.”

Xiwang Sun also remained silent for a while before saying, “You have defeated Tong Lu, something definitely beyond my expectations.”

“It’s because you have taught me well,” said Liu Shisui.

Xiwang Sun said lightly, “No matter how well I treat you, it looks like the friendship between you two, the master and the servant, is always stronger.”

Liu Shisui remained silent for a long time. “Young Master treated me very well; but it’s different,” he said.

Xiwang Sun looked at him silently for a long time as well.

The quiet room became even quieter, and the glowing orbs had dimmed gradually.

“You have started cultivating only a little bit over ten years and already achieved so much. You are indeed someone with natural Dao quality. It was the right decision to choose you. And you don’t have to thank me.”

Xiwang Sun continued, “You have already learned of the scheme, so I would be satisfied if you didn’t hate me.”

Liu Shisui fell silent.

The Dace Devil at the bottom of the Muddy River.

The burning hot Devil Pill.

The evil methods of the Bloody Demon Sect connected to the Devil Pill, and the method of hiding the pill energy.

All these had made him what he was right now.

Only last year did he find out all of this was arranged by one person.

That person was Xiwang Sun.

That was the plane.

A simple one, but effective.

–Few Cultivation practitioners could resist the temptation.

Even if the scheme outside Henanzhou hadn’t succeeded, Xiwang Sun could still achieve the same result somewhere else, because he had arranged the similar schemes in many places in Chaotian.

Xiwang Sun set up the scheme in Muddy River originally to entice a disciple of Liangwang Peak to become a mole on the Green Mountain for the Old Ones.

He was very pleased that the disciple of Liangwang Peak was Liu Shisui, someone with natural Dao quality.

Yet, he was not so pleased with the fact that Liu Shisui didn’t know how to pretend, soon being discovered and expelled from the mountain gate.

He was quite disappointed at first, but soon he found it was a good thing that an expelled disciple of the Green Mountain became the assassin of the Old Ones.

This would bring humiliation to the Green Mountain Sect.

In addition, Liu Shisui was really talented in Cultivation, and in fact, he was so talented that Xiwang Sun felt it would be a pity to squander such gifts..

Therefore, he brought Liu Shisui back to the Old Ones and observed him for five years.

If Liu Shisui were somebody else, Xiwang Sun would have watched him a little longer; but unexpectedly, Liu Shisui had killed Luo Huainan.

From that day on, there was no way Liu Shisui would betray the Old Ones.

For another important reason, Xiwang Sun had finally trusted him completely and started employing him, and even taught him the sword style personally.

But he didn’t expect Liu Shisui to actually want to kill Tong Lu.

Looking at the young man behind the desk, Xiwang Sun revealed a chilly expression in his eyes.

“If there is a suitable target, I can help you by assassinating him,” said Liu Shisui with a lowered head.

Xiwang Sun knew this was Liu Shisui’s way of showing regret, his expression growing milder. Thinking of the assassination Liu Shisui carried out last time, he said mockingly, “You insist on not killing any innocent man, but you have almost lost your own life last time because of a so-called innocent man. A person like you isn’t suitable for the job.”

“So you let me stay here to read, write, and practice sword work instead, right?” Liu Shisui asked.

“Yes, it’s because I need to prove to the Green Mountain Sect that we have high expectations of it,” said Xiwang Sun.

Liu Shisui noticed he mentioned “we” in his statement.

Xiwang Sun flicked his finger lightly, and a jade covered booklet appeared on the desk.

“Analyze their files, and pick the suitable candidates to assassinate Su Ziye of the Mysterious Dark Sect. The plan has to be thorough, just like the way you planned the assassination of Luo Huainan.”

Having said that, Xiwang Sun left the room.

Opening up the booklet, Liu Shisui encountered a great deal of information.

The names of the members in the Old Ones and related materials were recorded in the booklet.

Those names were written in blood and impossible to be erased, and the names were also imprinted with the Spiritual Awareness.

As long as someone’s name was written in the booklet, it would be impossible for that person to betray the Old Ones; otherwise, they would have only one choice once they were discovered by the outside world, that being death.

Many of the names in the booklet were unfamiliar to Liu Shisui, and he thought they were probably common people living in the cities and rural areas.

Some names were familiar to him, and they should be the figures hidden in various Cultivation sects and the imperial court.

For instance, the name he was looking at right now, Liu Xiang.

Liu Xiang was a disciple of the second generation of the Kunlun Sect, having a high Cultivation state, good at the Cold-Ice Sword Style.

Who would have thought that he was a member of the Old Ones.

Liu Shisui read the booklet while turning over the pages, his expression unchanged. He had read many similar booklets before; the only difference was that the names in those booklets were more ordinary, in terms of their Cultivation states and status, far inferior to the booklet he was reading that day.

He took another white paper and placed it before himself, dipping a brush pen in ink. Liu Shisui was engaged in selecting the assassins and planning the scheme.

The fresh ink flowed out from the tip of the brush pen and turned into words, describing the assassination’s details.

In fact, Liu Shisui wasn’t thinking of the matter regarding the young master of the Mysterious Dark Sect at the moment, his mind wandering elsewhere.

The reason he asked Tong Lu to the duel at the Chaotic Rocks that day was to test him, that, and, of course, to avenge his young master.

The result showed that Tong Lu didn’t know Liu Shisui was a part of the Old Ones; otherwise, Tong Lu shouldn’t be so surprised when he recognized Tong Lu’s Hidden-Tide Sword Style.

This meant that the Old Ones didn’t control the entire West Ocean Sword Sect, only Xiwang Sun’s branch.

Xiwang Sun had appeared suddenly by the West Ocean over ten years ago. Where did he come from? And what kind of person was he?

Why did the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean trust him so much? What was the relationship between these two?

Putting down the pen, Liu Shisui looked at the outside of the window, the expression in his eyes complicated.

In the last two years, Xiwang Sun had trusted him tremendously, and offered him many tips in the sword work, without holding back.

He was quite confused, wondering why Xiwang Sun trusted or liked him.

Liu Shisui pulled back his gaze from the window and resumed writing with his head lowered.

After a long while, the plan had finally been completed. He blew the paper a few times to dry the ink, and put the booklet away after one more glance at it.

The classification of this booklet wasn’t high enough because his own name wasn’t even in it.

He wondered who those truly achieved swordsmen of the Old Ones hiding in various Cultivation sects and the imperial court were.

Those names should be heard of by the whole Cultivation world.

…

…

In the deep end of the grand hall, there was a large stone chair.

Xiwang Sun sat in the chair, reflecting on something.

Several lights shone on a spot before him, forming a light screen.

He hid behind the light screen in the darkness, out of sight.

The soft footsteps were heard.

A young woman in a green skirt walked into the grand hall, kneeling down in front of the light screen.

“Raise you head,” demanded Xiwang Sun.

The young woman in the green skirt lifted her head as requested.

Her eyes and brows were quite pretty, and her expression was gentle and lovely. She was Xiao He of Ying City whom Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue had met outside Haizhou City many years ago.

…