The Path Toward Heaven

Yue Qianmen fixed his gaze to the sky, his expression grim.

If that wasn’t a flying sword or magic treasure, what was it then?

How could that object fly so fast, even faster than Yue Qianmen himself?

Though he hadn’t reached the highest level of the Escape Method of Heaven and Earth, he was nonetheless an elder of the Lianxu State and in the top ten at the Center Sect as far as his Cultivation strength was concerned.

As Yue Qianmen was thinking of the matter and ready to pursue the object by using his magic treasure, the ground suddenly shook violently. Dozens of cracks appeared in the ground, and the water shot out from them, forming an amazing scene that resembled numerous water fountains. But soon, the water fountains were hauled up into the sky by the strong wind coming out from the underground, turning the water into a rainstorm, which then landed on Taichang Temple.

The dark eaves of Taichang Temple wetted by the rainwater became darker, and were even glittering.

The energy in the sky grew even more violent, destroying the surrounding forests, with dusts rising everywhere.

Along with countless cracking sounds, the whole Taichang Temple rose up above the ground; its broken windows and beams then dropped onto the ground, making many thudding sounds.

The strong wind was whistling. All the people present, including two Sirs of the Royal Palace and Yue Qianmen, were knocked into the air.

The officials of the Pure Heaven Bureau and the soldiers of the magic army were in a much worse condition. They fell on the streets; some of them were knocked unconscious, and the conscious ones looked terrified with the pale faces.

The dusts in the sky turned into the muddy water drops after being washed down by the rainstorm, falling onto the ground with the loud “pah” sounds. The eaves of Taichang Temple were visible now and then.

The surroundings became immensely dark and quiet, as if the night arrived again.

A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, and as it hit one of the eaves, the lightning circled the eave for a moment.

The eave wetted by the rainwater suddenly moved!

Another light illuminated the gloomy space. It was a huge eye, which was nonchalant and cruel.

…

…

“The Old Dragon!”

“The presence of the divine dragon!”

Taichang Temple was a pile of ruins now.

A huge and terrifying black dragon’s head appeared in the midst of the dusts.

Seeing this, many of those conscious officials of the Pure Heaven Bureau and the soldiers of the magic army were scared into unconsciousness, and the others screamed nonstop, terrified.

Many people in Zhaoge City were aware of this metaphor: the dark eaves of Taichang Temple looked like the horns of an old dragon after being wetted by the spring rain.

In fact, it wasn’t a metaphor, but the memory hidden in the populace!

The dark eaves of Taichang Temple were indeed the horns of the Old Dragon!

The Old Dragon had broken through the ground and come out. His black and thick body moved out of the ground constantly. The fast moving body of the Old Dragon looked like a black wall traveling at a high speed, its scales giving out a dark glow.

The shrieks and cries could be heard around the ruins.

The screams burst out in the Royal Palace as well.

State Duke Lu hadn’t returned to the Grand Hall yet. As he heard the screams, he sensed something bad was happening. He turned toward Taichang Temple and saw the black dragon flying toward the sky.

He fell down on his buttock, and murmured with a pale face, “The Fiend Prison has come out…”

As the Chief of Taichang Temple, he of course knew the secret of Taichang Temple. So he didn’t fall down with weakened legs due to the shock and fear, but out of worry for Jing Jiu.

Royal Concubine Hu was even paler on her face. Hadn’t she wrapped her hand with the sleeve, the Jade-Egg of Rosefinch would have slipped from her hand and fallen onto the ground.

At this critical moment, all she could do was look at the Emperor, in an attempt to get some comfort.

The Emperor said, “This is the first time for me to see the true body of the Old Dragon as well.”

The Fiend Prison was deep underneath Taichang Temple.

And the Fiend Prison was actually the divine guardian animal of the Center Sect, the Old Dragon!

The demons and deviant Cultivation practitioners caught by the Jing imperial court and the orthodox Cultivation sects were locked up inside the huge body of the Old Dragon!

The Fiend Prison had resided deep underneath the ground for countless years, but the true body of the Old Dragon presented itself this day!

…

…

The Old Dragon was the divine guardian animal of the Center Sect. He had a very long life and formidable Cultivation state. In fact, he had broken through the Dachen State a long time ago, which was the same as the Heavenly Arrival State of the Green Mountain Sect.

It was then that he had changed back to his true body from the Fiend Prison, displaying his full Cultivation state; his speed was beyond what one could imagine.

In less than half a minute, the black dragon’s head had already reached the high elevation of the sky, but his body was still moving out from the underground. One could imagine just how long the dragon’s body was.

The black whiskers of the dragon tousled ceaselessly in the air, slicing the air into pieces, causing countless lightning bolts.

His indifferent pupils reflected the dark speck that was even higher in the sky. The cruel and brutal energy grew increasingly stronger.

The heaven and earth had reacted to the energy. The dark clouds rolled in from all directions, and the downpour suddenly occurred, drenching the whole Zhaoge City.

The Great Formation of Zhaoge City was at a higher elevation, waiting quietly in the high sky like a shapeless shield.

…

…

The black speck that escaped from the Fiend Prison was Jing Jiu.

Sensing the formidable energy closing in behind him, Jing Jiu didn’t turn his head around. He flew toward the higher elevation of the sky with his hands pressing down on the outsides of his legs.

One of the options had been chosen. The Old Dragon chose to pursue Jing Jiu, rather than deal with the Underworld Emperor.

Jing Jiu wasn’t surprised at the decision; but he didn’t expect that this cruel and stupid dragon had made the decision in such a short time.

Jing Jiu could hear the angry scream of the Old Dragon from underneath him, echoing like the thunder in the sky, and a voice in his Awareness Sea.

“You attempted to use the Underworld Emperor to draw my attention, and then escape amid the chaos…Do you take me as a fool?! He is right inside my stomach. If I don’t let him out, he will never be able to come out. Why would I be worried about him?”

It was then that Jing Jiu knew the reason why the Old Dragon pursued him instead of the Underworld Emperor, thinking that he was indeed a cruel and stupid dragon. “I have come out already,” Jing Jiu answered him through the Awareness Sea.

The Old Dragon’s voice burst out in Jing Jiu’s Awareness Sea again, with cruel intent.

“You are a stupid human. I let you out on purpose. I’ll cut you into ten thousand pieces soon! No, this would be not enough! I remember the ugly and disgusting sword of yours. After I kill and eat you, I will kill all of those people you care for with it! All of them!”

The old man pursuing Jing Jiu in the Fiend Prison was formed by the spiritual soul of the Old Dragon. Though he was quite powerful, he couldn’t employ many of his magic methods inside the Old Dragon’s stomach. As such, it was cumbersome to deal with Jing Jiu’s Underworld Fairy Sword. So the Old Dragon pretended to be hesitant for a moment, to let Jing Jiu have the opportunity to escape from the Fiend Prison, and then he changed back to his true body to resume the pursuit.

It would only take a second to kill Jing Jiu if the Old Dragon wanted to kill Jing Jiu right now.

The conversation between Jing Jiu and the Old Dragon took place only in the space of one second.

The communication of the spiritual awareness took much less time than the verbal conversation.

Only could the swordsmen of the Heavenly Arrival State communicate so effortlessly with a divine animal of the same Cultivation state.

So the divine animals like the Unicorn and the Old Dragon of the Center Sect and the Principal Guards of Green Mountain didn’t open their mouths to speak. It was not that they were unable to speak, but unwilling to, except for the Dark Phoenix.

It was like those who could fly by riding the sword were unwilling to travel by walking, except for Jing Jiu.

After the communication of their spiritual awareness, the Old Dragon had already arrived right below Jing Jiu.

Jing Jiu shot a glance downward.

The Old Dragon opened up his mouth, which resembled a huge black cave; his sharp and terrifying dragon teeth were ready to slice Jing Jiu into pieces at any moment.

These dragon teeth were different from those he had experienced in the Fiend Prison. The dragon teeth that had been broken by him were formed by the spiritual soul of the Old Dragon, not the real teeth.

Facing the real dragon teeth, Jing Jiu wasn’t willing to test how hard his body was.

The Great Formation of Zhaoge City was not far ahead of Jing Jiu in the sky, which he could vaguely sense.

It was closer and closer.

The Old Dragon was right behind him, closing in nearer and nearer.

The barrier was just ahead of him, and the formidable killer was behind him. What should Jing Jiu do then?

The cruel expression was obvious in the Old Dragon’s eyes. He was expecting to kill Jing Jiu with one bite when Jing Jiu was blocked by the Great Formation of Zhaoge City.

It took merely a second for the glowing beams of light emitted by the Great Formation to reach Jing Jiu.

What had happened next was utterly unexpected by the Old Dragon.

The Great Formation of Zhaoge City had no effect on Jing Jiu.

Jing Jiu passed through it easily. And then he flew swiftly toward the higher Empty Realm!

But the Old Dragon somehow crashed into the translucent barrier head on.

Boom!!!

Countless fractures appeared in the sky.

…