The Path Toward Heaven

Lian Sanyue had a very high Cultivation state and generation status; but it was unclear why she couldn’t break through the Heavenly Arrival State.

This was the common knowledge within the Cultivation circle.

Yet, Jing Jiu said it was untrue in a nonchalant and straightforward manner.

The atmosphere in the medical house suddenly became tense; it was quiet and awkward.

The doctor felt somewhat embarrassed, as he said, “Even though we knew, and as a matter of fact, everybody knew, we didn’t dare think this way. Since the Water-Moon Nunnery hadn’t announced it and admitted to the world, it is pretty much like the case of the Sword Justice of your sect. And if Lian Sanyue had attained the Heavenly Arrival State a long time ago, staying behind closed doors would probably prepare her for the final path toward heaven. This is one more reason why we didn’t dare judge her.”

Jing Jiu fell silent for a moment before prompting, “Go on.”

“Fifteen years ago, Guo Dong suddenly appeared at the Water-Moon Nunnery and said that she was the personal disciple of Lian Sanyue. Yet, Lian Sanyue had stayed behind closed doors and never come out; so how did she take on a personal disciple? But somehow, the Water-Moon Nunnery Master and the Grandmaster both acquiesced to her identity. And it is said that she has a special status in the nunnery; nobody is in charge of her. They basically let her do whatever she wants there.”

The doctor continued, “The first time she appeared in public was during Plum Meeting in which you participated. She won the first place in the zither tournament. Afterwards, her whereabouts had remained mostly unknown. She was discovered in White Town many times; but as you know…we don’t dare get too close to that temple, so there is a lot we don’t know.”

“What about the other matter?” Jing Jiu asked.

The doctor took out another piece of jade and held in the hand, saying, “Tong Yan was not at the Cloud-Dream Mountain when the Cloud Platform was destroyed three years ago. His whereabouts were unknown. Half a year later, he came back from the southwest, remaining silent about where he had been ever since. It wasn’t until a few days ago that Tong Yan hosted a farewell dinner party in the Hanshi Valley for Bai Zao, who was to go to Zhaoge City. There was a dish of Red Moss on the table.”

Since Jing Jiu didn’t eat so much food, he wasn’t aware what was so special about the dish of Red Moss.

“It is not a seasonal vegetable. Even though the Hanshi Valley has four seasons and they can grow it by means of formation, it is still not worthwhile to grow Red Moss.”

Gu Qing explained in a low voice behind Jing Jiu, “Since Tong Yan returned from the southwest, plus the Red Moss, he had probably stayed at the Baotong Zen Temple for a while.”

The doctor shot a glance Gu Qing’s way and thought he was indeed outstanding and admirable.

“Did anything significant happen in the southwest three years ago?” Jing Jiu asked.

“The destruction of the Cloud Platform occurred in the north. In addition to this event, there were a few events worth noting.”

The doctor told them about those events, adding, “The young master of the Mysterious Dark Sect, Su Ziye, suddenly appeared in Yizhou for unknown reasons, and was nearly assassinated with poison by the Old Ones. Everybody thought he was dead for sure; but unexpectedly, he survived, and he even became a guest at the West Ocean Sword Sect. His action is considered by the orthodox sects as deserting the deviant sect and joining the orthodox sect.”

Gu Qing shook his head, as he commented, “He is actually joining a darker sect.”

Jing Jiu got up and thanked the doctor, leading Gu Qing out of the medical house.

Gu Qing didn’t understand why his Master had left without giving anything to them.

The information of the Curtain Rollers was always expensive, and the information they had obtained that day was very important, especially those regarding Tong Yan, though it was not that much for Guo Dong.

The two seemingly insignificant pieces of information, which were Tong Yan’s return from the southwest and a dish of Red Moss, could help those knowledgeable and concerned people deduce many things.

Jing Jiu didn’t know why they didn’t ask him for information as exchange either.

Back when he started dealing with the Curtain Rollers, both sides would exchange information as a bargain. It was probably because the information Jing Jiu provided was so old or so useful that the Curtain Rollers had the intention of staying on good terms with him. Later on, the Curtain Rollers treated him with increasingly more respect; and it could be said that he could request any information he wanted to know without giving any of his own information as exchange, as if he owned those medical houses.

Jiuye City was still crowded late at night. The flavor of muttons could be smelled on both sides of the street.

Jing Jiu led Gu Qing into a restaurant and came to a private room on the top floor. He ordered a double hotpot, in which one half was the water and another half was the spicy soup.

Back when he traveled with Zhao Layue, he formed the habit of ordering a hotpot at every place they visited, but he didn’t necessarily eat it.

It was like when he would ask the little kids like young Jing Li and Jing Yao occasionally if they wanted to be hugged, though he wouldn’t actually hug them.

Gu Qing was his disciple, so he didn’t eat much either.

The master and the disciple sat by the table on opposite sides, watching the sliced green onions and a few peppers rise and ebb in the two different colored soups.

On the ground floor of the restaurant, the owner of the restaurant took out the gold leaf out of his mouth after biting on it, and couldn’t help but glance at the top floor, thinking these two were indeed weirdoes.

Jing Jiu and Gu Qing were not dazed looking at the hotpot while deep in thought, listening to the conversations of the diners in the restaurant in the meantime.

Jiuye City was located in the north. Its weather was cold, and it was also close to the Cold Mountain and the snowland, making it relatively more dangerous here.

There were not so many residents in the city, but there were more traveling merchants, swordsmen and Cultivation practitioners as well.

The information they would get here was more complex, which was mostly inferior to those obtained from the Curtain Rollers; but they might hear some useful information once in a while.

…

…

The event of the Fiend Prison happened more than ten days ago. The news finally reached Jiuye City. The people in the restaurant were naturally talking about the event.

“That dragon was probably thirty miles long, hovering over Zhaoge City. It was like the Kunlun Mountain was reflected by a mirage. My master almost passed out when he saw the scene outside the city. The fourth manager wrote a letter overnight to tell me that the Old Dragon and the Underworld Emperor fought for three hundred rounds, and neither of them could win. They both died. The Underworld Emperor was burned to death by the heavenly fire, and the Old Dragon dropped to the ground from the sky. With a booming thud, half of the houses in Zhaoge City were destroyed by the fallen body; countless cracks formed on the ground, one of which was at least a few miles deep. The underground river rose up and the deep crack became a big river now! If you don’t believe me, you can go to Zhaoge City to take a look yourself someday.”

“It’s absurd! Even though the Old Dragon was the divine animal of the Cloud-Dream Mountain, it couldn’t possibly be that long! Otherwise, where would it stay in Zhaoge City?”

“I have told you earlier. The Old Dragon hid underground! It was the rumored Fiend Prison! Those prisoners were all inside the body of the dragon!”

This statement aroused another barrage of surprised cries in the restaurant, and the diners suddenly grew more excited.

Someone commented emotionally, “I heard that in the end the spiritual soul of the Old Dragon was controlled by the Underworld Emperor, and it died a terrible death.”

Another man sneered, “The dragon deserved it! The Center Sect calls themselves the orthodox sect, but it turns out that they let the Old Dragon eat people. What kind of divine animal was it? It was even worse than the demons.”

“Shame on you! How could you believe the words of the devils of the deviant sects and the Underworld Emperor? The divine dragon had helped the humans tremendously. How dare you humiliate it! You should feel ashamed yourself, and die a terrible death!”

They had different opinions of the matter, and some of them had a bit too much of the alcohol. As a result, the people who had different opinions argued vehemently with each other. The arguments turned into a fight in the end.

It was a chaos in the restaurant. The fists and the bowls and plates were flying everywhere. Yet, all the sides didn’t employ any weapons, or magic methods.

Those outside visitors and merchants supporting the Center Sect were evidently overpowered in the skirmish, and were driven out of the restaurant. It was because the people who were pleased with the downfall of the dragon and the Center Sect greatly outnumbered the Center Sect supporters.

Jiuye City was the territory of the Windy-Broadsword Sect. The reason the Windy-Broadsword Sect could develop in the north back then was that they had forcefully suppressed the Kunlun Sect. How could the residents of the city like the backer of the Kunlun Sect? Besides, the city was close to the Cold Mountain; many Cultivation practitioners and the merchants in the city had connections with the deviant sects and the free-traveling practitioners; so there was no way they would stand on the side of the orthodox Center Sect.

After the outside visitors and merchants were driven out, the restaurant returned to its normal peacefulness. The knocked over bronze stoves were turned right up, and the newly sliced and steaming muttons were brought to the tables. The shouts from the Finger-Guessing games had replaced the curses that occurred earlier.

The frequent hooves suddenly echoed on the street outside the restaurant. The birds flying away in the night sky could be heard as well. Soon after, the startled cry blurted out.

“Something has happened! Something big has happened!”

A man rushed into the restaurant from the street and shouted to the crowd in the building, sweat drenching his forehead.

A diner who knew this person handed over a bowl of rice wine and asked, “What has happened?”

The man finished the wine with a single gulp and said breathlessly, “Three days from now, the Mysterious Dark Sect will change its name to the Mysterious Dark Church.”

The diners didn’t pay much attention to him at first, still eating and drinking as usual; they talked and laughed while pointing their fingers at the man.

Upon hearing this, the sound of eating and drinking in the restaurant suddenly stopped. It was deadly quiet.

The Mysterious Dark Sect would change its sect name?!

For the people in the other places of Chaotian, changing the sect name was merely a matter of changing the name, which wasn’t a big deal.

However, for these residents of Jiuye City, who were familiar with the history of the Cold Mountain and had close connection with the deviant sects and free-travel practitioners, this was indeed a significant event.

Not all the deviant sects were qualified to call themselves a church; in other words, the word church shouldn’t be used carelessly.

The Windy-Broadsword Sect had been a small cult. Had it not been for the sudden appearance of Cao Yuan, even the name of the cult would cause them a great deal of trouble.

It was because there had been a Bloody Demon Church in Chaotian before.