The Path Toward Heaven

“Do you really have such a Sword Ghost? It’s rather bizarre.”

The Underworld Emperor said, “Call out your Sword Ghost, and let me have a look.”

“I haven’t developed the Sword Ghost yet,” said Jing Jiu.

The Underworld Emperor looked at him with a seeming smile, “You haven’t developed the Sword Ghost yet; how do you know your Sword Ghost is different from others’ and has to cultivate by itself?”

Jing Jiu said, “I know it’s impossible for me to use such a ridiculous reason to deceive you in order to learn the Control of Soul-Fire.”

But he didn’t have the intention to tell him the truth.

The Underworld Emperor said, “If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t help you.”

Jing Jiu said, “If Your Majesty were willing to help me, it would be because of another reason, not because I told you a secret.”

“Another reason? It can’t be the old friendship I had with your Master!”

The Underworld Emperor laughed out loud, and the flowing lighting in his body rotated even faster.

Jing Jiu knew this meant he was angry.

The laughter suddenly stopped.

The Underworld Emperor lifted his head and stared into Jing Jiu’s eyes, “Don’t you know that it was all your Master’s fault that I ended up like this?”

Two thousand years ago, the alliance of the Immortal Chunyang and the Emperor at the time defeated the army of the Underworld by the Great Marsh, and no more major battles had occurred after that. However, absence of major battles was not the same as total peace. The conflicts between the human race and the Underworld had never ceased. Even a couple of hundred years ago, the swordsmen of the Underworld often came to the surface, causing turmoil.

At that time, a peak master of the Green Mountain betrayed his sect and came to the Underworld, and he successfully won the trust from the Underworld Emperor.

That peak master of the Green Mountain didn’t ask the Underworld to avenge him, and he didn’t have any unreasonable requests. He only became the best friend of this person who was still quite young at the time.

After the Underworld Emperor died, this person should have taken the throne of the emperor, but he was persuaded by that peak master of the Green Mountain to come up to the human world for the sake of ten thousand years of peace and a better future of the swordsmen of the Underworld.

They had traveled together for twenty years, and their negotiation had been on and off all this time. When the negotiation was about to show a positive result, the human race had suddenly changed their minds and used a certain scheme to have this person captured and locked in the Fiend Prison.

That peak master of the Green Mountain was of course the one who wanted to seek “Taiping”, meaning ten thousand years of peace: the Immortal Taiping.

…

…

Jing Jiu knew about this event.

Capturing the Underworld Emperor was one of his Big Brother’s great achievements. In comparison, what Liu Shisui had done was nothing in kind.

The action was carried out by the Cloud-Dream Mountain and the One-Cottage House, and maybe some more advanced swordsmen were also involved.

The Underworld didn’t reveal to the outside world that their Emperor had been locked up in the Fiend Prison; but they also couldn’t do anything about it. The two sides had experienced true peace since.

Except for one time when the Underworld Master entered the Green Mountain, no more bloodshed had ever happened between the human race and the Underworld.

The human race was at the fault for this event, and yet since he was nonetheless the Underworld Emperor, the humans had to pay sufficient respect to him. That was why he enjoyed a “good time” here in the Fiend Prison.

As far as the human race was concerned, the Immortal Taiping had done an unimaginably good deed for them; but for the Underworld Emperor, it was the worst betrayal ever.

The Underworld Emperor stared into Jing Jiu’s eyes and asked, “Since you are the personal disciple of Taiping, do you think I’ll help you?”

Jing Jiu said, “It wasn’t his original intention back then to capture you; but the situation suddenly changed, so he had no choice but to go with the flow.”

Back when his Big Brother was locked up in the Sword Jail, he and Dead Dog went to visit him, and his Big Brother told them this in person.

It was then that his Big Brother should have told the truth.

The flowing lighting in the Underworld Emperor’s body rotated faster and faster, and his face grew paler and paler, saying, “…Go with the flow, eh?”

Jing Jiu said, “If you knew he had spent his time lately, you’d probably feel better.”

The Underworld Emperor remarked with a mocking tone, “I think he has already become the Sect Master of the Green Mountain, the true king of the human race, out there having a good time. Perhaps there is some room for regret.”

Jing Jiu shook his head.

The expression had suddenly changed on the Underworld Emperor’s face, exclaiming, “Has he ascended?!”

“No. He was actually very much like you are now, imprisoned in the Sword Jail, unable to see the sun all year long.”

Looking at the surrounding green valley, Jing Jiu said, “Though he was locked up three hundred years less than you were; but speaking of the situation, he is much worse off than you.”

Hearing this, the Underworld Emperor was taken aback, asking, “Who could lock him up for so many years?”

Based on his knowledge of the Immortal Taiping, if the Cultivation practitioners in the human world worked together and were prepared beforehand, then with the aid of those formidable human magic treasures, they might be able to kill him.

However, if they wanted to capture the Immortal Taiping and lock him up for years, it would be almost impossible.

No matter how formidable the Sword Jail was, he would be able to find a way to escape from it due to his intelligence and fortitude.

“The reason he was captured was because someone betrayed him, just like you had been,” Jing Jiu said.

The Underworld Emperor showed more interest in the topic, asking, “Who betrayed him?”

Jing Jiu said calmly, “I did.”

Looking at Jing Jiu, the Underworld Emperor demanded perplexedly, “How could you achieve that?”

Jing Jiu didn’t explain it, still keeping his calm.

As the Underworld Emperor made sure Jing Jiu wasn’t lying, he suddenly laughed after a long moment of silence.

“Well, well, Taiping; I didn’t expect you to end up like this!”

The laughter trailed off.

The Underworld Emperor said while looking at Jing Jiu, “So you think my hatred toward him shouldn’t be directed at you.”

“That’s right,” said Jing Jiu.

The Underworld Emperor said, “But your betrayal of your master was not for the sake of avenging me. Even though I don’t have any reason to hate you, I also don’t have a good reason to help you.”

“Like I said, if you were willing to teach me the Control of Soul-Fire, it wouldn’t be because of what I have just said, but for the other reason.”

Jing Jiu said, “I have told all this in the hope that you won’t lose your mind to hatred that might affect your ability to negotiate.”

The Underworld Emperor’s eyes grew colder, very much like the bottomless Abyss, as he said, “The word ‘negotiate’ is what will cause me to lose it.”

Back then, he accepted the Immortal Taiping’s invitation to come to the human world for the negotiation, and ended up in such a tragic situation.

“Maybe you’ll like what I have to offer,” said Jing Jiu.

The Underworld Emperor guessed freedom as the condition.

But Jing Jiu shook his head.

The Underworld Emperor said while staring into his eyes, “You betrayed your Master, and you know clearly that our meeting is detrimental to the human race, but you have come nonetheless. All this means that you are a relentless person, and as long as you can gain enough benefits, you will do anything; so it’s not a big deal to take me out of here.”

Jing Jiu said, “You opinion of me is sensible. However, I have to calculate gains and losses for everything; any gain would be inadequate for me.”

The meaning of this statement was clear enough; his goal was far too ambitious, so any help from others would be limited.

The Underworld Emperor said, “Apart from this, I won’t agree to it even if you offer me the One of All in exchange.”

Jing Jiu said, “I can promise that I’ll recapture Taiping, or kill him.”

Hearing this, the Underworld Emperor wasn’t surprised, but felt relieved, saying, “As I expected, nobody could lock him up for the rest of his life.”

Then, he added with a smile, “Yet, what does all this have to do with me?”

Jing Jiu asked, “Do you want the inheritance of the Underworld emperor to end with your generation?”

“I don’t understand you,” said the Underworld Emperor.

Jing Jiu remarked, “The Underworld Master and his branch are all Taiping’s friends; what do you think he will do next?”