The Path Toward Heaven

There was no air in the Empty Realm, so one couldn’t sense any wind no matter how fast the Sword of the Universe was traveling in it. Yet, the Green Girl still felt cold here; it was probably because it was soundless here and as quiet as a graveyard.

She was scared and wanted to say something, but as she took a look at the being in front of her, she held her tongue.

The Snow Girl sat in front on the sword, wrapped in the quilt with her eyes closed, and it was unclear if she was cultivating or simply taking a rest.

Jing Jiu was lost in thought while looking at the back of the Snow Girl, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

Glancing at his profile, the Green Girl mused that the Green Mountain Sect was indeed bold and that their disciple even dared bring a being like the Snow Girl back to their mountain gate.

However, what Jing Jiu was doing was not in accord with his temperament. Based on her observation of Jing Jiu in the Illusionary Realm of the Green Sky Mirror, it was impossible for him to take such a risk.

The mortals had a saying: “Asking the tiger for its hide”. Wasn’t it the same thing saying when Jing Jiu attempted to cooperate with the Snow Girl and even intended to turn her into a disciple of their sect? Wasn’t Jing Jiu afraid that something might go wrong?

It was true that the Snow Girl would be the most powerful principal guard in history if the Green Mountain Sect could make her accept the position; but would a being of high state like the Snow Girl’s be willing to guard the doors for others?

The Sword of the Universe stopped short. The distant objects on the ground could be vaguely seen from above, and the peaks of Green Mountain in the clouds, on the other hand, could be seen more clearly.

The Snow Girl opened her eyes and looked in that direction quietly.

“That place is where you will live and spend your time,” Jing Jiu said. “If you agree to my conditions, we’ll get down there.”

When Tong Yan saw the Young Master Li leave the nunnery, Jing Jiu and the Snow Girl had a brief conversation right in front of the Green Girl.

It was such an important accord that it could possibly affect the situation of the Cultivation world and even the future of the human race, so Jing Jiu thought that he should at least have a true spirit of heavenly state as a witness.

The general contents of the accord included several things: Jing Jiu was willing to provide her with adequate and high quality sources for the cold intent to ensure that the Snow Girl would be able to survive; the Snow Girl must promise that she would go to Green Mountain and not make any troubles; and the Snow Girl was not allowed to leave Green Mountain without his permission.

The Green Girl looked at the Snow Girl in the quilt nervously, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted the Snow Girl to accept or reject the accord.

After Jing Jiu found the Snow Girl on the Cold Mountain, he didn’t inform Green Mountain about it, neither did he call the Cultivation practitioners in White Town over to kill her. What Jing Jiu did was gamble with the future of the human race.

If the Snow Girl was merely half as formidable as the Queen of Snowy Kingdom when she became an adult, she would be someone the human Cultivation circle had no ability to control.

Worst of all, she had already come to the south of Chaotian, which was the central part of the human race; if she suddenly changed her mind and became murderous, what kind of disaster would it be?

After a long pause, the Snow Girl finally gurgled once, indicating that she had confirmed her agreement to the accord.

It seemed that the extremely cold world Jing Jiu promised her was remarkably attractive to

It was springtime. The weather was mild and warm especially in the south of Chaotian. The flowers had been blooming for a while among the peaks of Green Mountain, and the view was marvelous.

Propping herself against a rock on the peak top, Nan Wang held an alcohol jar with her fingers, gazing out the corner of her drunk eyes at Shenmo Peak on the opposite side through the flowering trees, lost in thought.

She suddenly sensed a slight drop of temperature around her. Even though the change of temperature was minuscule, not enough to make the flowers wither, and a majority of practitioners wouldn’t even be able to sense it, the change, however, couldn’t evade the perception of this woman in the Broken Sea State.

The Great Formation of Green Mountain insulated Green Mountain from heaven and earth; the sudden change in temperature meant that something had happened inside.

Looking in the direction of Shangde Peak covered with ice and snow, she arched her brows slightly, as she thought grudgingly that the repair of the formation was perhaps not complete yet so that a bit chill was leaked out from the underground cold source.

Shangde Peak had spent more resources than other peaks on Green Mountain every year, but they couldn’t even take care of such a trivial matter. Nan Wang blamed her Big Brother Yuan Qijing for the problem because she thought that Yuan Qijing spent most of his energy on contending with the Sect Master and failed to discipline his subordinates.

Suddenly, a sword awareness was transmitted from Tianguang Peak.

The expression on Nan Wang’s face changed slightly. She snapped her fingers, sending out a sword sound throughout Qingrong Peak.

She returned to her manor cave while heaving the alcohol jar. “Don’t ask me why, because I don’t even know,” she told the mustered female disciples. “From this moment on, everybody must go to their manor cave to stay behind closed doors. Nobody is allowed to come out without my permission.”

The bell rang on Shiyue Peak, and an order was sent out from the grand hall of Xilai Peak. Everybody, regardless of whether they were the elders or regular disciples, was called to a meeting; afterwards, like what Qingrong Peak did, they all began to stay behind closed doors.

On the stone beam between two peaks, the fog grew heavier. The intermittently visible dark figure looked at the distance and let out a sigh full of complicated emotion, then strutted to the deep end of the fog.

Since it was a being that the Principal Guard of Green Mountain, Dark Phoenix, didn’t wish to meet, it was understandable that few people in the world would like to encounter it.

It was totally empty on Tianguang Peak. The Round Turtle murmured, with his eyes closed, “I’m just a stone turtle holding a monument. I’m not alive, not alive at all; there is no reason to come see me.”

No scream of the monkeys could be heard on Shenmo Peak. The horse that usually ate grass on the slope was nowhere to be found. Liu Ada crouched on the windowsill in the Daoist hall, looking at the distant horizon, full of nervousness in his eyes; his tail kept on swaying reflexively.

The cat was not getting ready to fight, but prepared himself to flee at any moment.

Suddenly, a hand reached over and caught his tail; then that person held the cat in his chest and walked into the manor cave.

In the deep part of the manor cave, Gu Qing and Yuan Qü had no idea what was going on, so they were in the middle of inquiring Zhao Layue. As they saw Ping Yongjia come in with the white cat in his chest, they were stunned.

Likewise, the white cat was in a stunned state right now; it was because he wondered bewilderedly who would dare grab his tail directly except for that pair of brothers.

“I don’t know what is happening. But it’s the order from the Sect Master that everybody stays behind closed doors immediately…Why are you bringing the cat in here?”

Seeing the white cat in Ping Yongjia’s chest, Zhao Layue furrowed her eyebrows slightly.

In her opinion, when the formidable enemy attacked them, they couldn’t expect this Principal Guard to protect them, and he would be the first to come back to the manor cave to hide.

Ping Yongjia displayed an innocent expression, as he thought that this cat always slept in the manor cave, and that he couldn’t leave him outside since something significant and perilous would happen today.

…

…

The clouds rolled up and down. One patch of the clouds grew thinner, meaning that the Great Formation of Green Mountain had opened up a passage.

Illuminated by the sword light, the flowing clouds looked like a dancing white ribbon.

The Sword of the Universe had come back.

This time nobody came out to receive them, and no disciple of Green Mountain yelled “Well done, Young Senior Master!”

There was no sound of reciting books by the Sword-Washing Stream; no warped sword lights around Yunxing Peak; no wind on the top of Bihu Peak, and the Blue Lake was as smooth as a mirror. Not one person could be found on the nine peaks of Green Mountain; it was so quiet as to make one feel petrified.

The scene reminded the Green Girl of the graveyard again, making her feel ill at ease.

Yet, the Snow Girl didn’t feel a thing, because she had no idea what Green Mountain was supposed to look like.

The Sword of the Universe landed on Shangde Peak.

There was nobody here either.

The Sword Justice, who always stood in the deep part of the manor cave while looking at the bottom of the well in silence, was also nowhere to be found.

It was extremely cold on Shangde Peak, snow and frost forming all over the rock walls of the manor cave.

The Snow Girl was covered with the winter quilt, only with her eyes exposed; the black pupils in her eyes revealed a satisfactory expression.

Jing Jiu hadn’t been to this place for many years. He would feel a bit sentimental if it were in any other occasion; but he remained silent today as they flew to the bottom of the well.

The natural light shone on the bottom of the well.

The Sword of the Universe followed the beam of the sunlight to land on the bottom of the well.

The black Dead Dog crouched here quietly like a mountain.

The Green Girl didn’t dare speak as an awe-inspiring sensation generated in her heart.

Jing Jiu didn’t speak either. He continued making his way to the deep part of the Sword Jail as if he didn’t see the Dead Dog at all.

The Dead Dog opened his eyes slowly and looked at the small figure wrapped in the winter quilt. A rarely seen and cautious expression showed in his eyes, which were as serene as the water.

The Snow Girl turned her head slowly; she wanted to take a look at this being whose state of life was close to hers and find out what that being thought of her.

Jing Jiu reached out his hand and turned the Snow Girl’s head in the quilt forward. He had prevented these two formidable beings from glaring at each other silently and bravely.