The Path Toward Heaven

The deeper they went, the darker the passage became. The Sword of the Universe flew forward while staying two feet above the ground, like a ghost.

The Green Girl thought of the graveyard for the third time since they had left the nunnery. Sensing the coldness going through her spine, she leaned closer to Jing Jiu reflexively, holding onto his collar tightly.

On both sides of the passage were solid rock walls with amulet scripts etched into them, and the powerful forbidding formations were hidden inside the rock walls.

Was this place the rumored Sword Jail of Green Mountain? Why would Jing Jiu want to come here?

Perceiving the cold intent coming out from the cliff walls, the Green Girl realized why he brought them here.

There was a cold source at the bottom of Shangde Peak, and it was the coldest place among the peaks of Green Mountain; so it was most suitable for the Snow Girl to cultivate and live.

What the Green Girl didn’t know was that it was usually not so quiet in the Sword Jail, that brutal energies as powerful as volcanoes and hurricanes were often found coming out from the cells on the both sides of the passage.

A sliver of those violent and brutal energies would be able to erode a regular practitioner’s Dao Tree, even destroy their Dao Heart.

Locked in those stone cells were the dreadful demons and devil men of high Cultivation state, and they were the scary monsters mentioned by the adults in the mortal world to stop the cries of their children at night.

Yet, these prisoners were not making any noise, holding their energy as much as they could and not daring to let them leak out.

The Snow Girl sat in front on the Sword of the Universe.

She was wrapped in the quilt. She didn’t glance at the cells on the both sides of the passage, nor did she release any formidable energy of hers and employ the Inherited Heaven Sword to suppress her energy, yet those prisoners could sense her existence clearly, and as a result released a tremendous degree of fear.

Those demons and devil men had actually knelt down on the ground in the cells, their foreheads touching the ground while facing the doors. None of them dared get up. In so doing, they were expressing their submission to the Snow Girl.

The domination of beings of a greater form over those of lower forms was demonstrated evidently at the moment.

Jing Jiu remained silent while looking at the back of the Snow Girl and pondering something.

The Snow Girl suddenly gurgled once.

The pupils in Jing Jiu’s eyes shrank slightly and then recovered. “I’ll seek an opportunity to release your subjects and send them back to the Snowy Kingdom.”

The Snow Girl didn’t say anything more.

The Sword of the Universe traveled noiselessly; soon they arrived at the deepest part of the Sword Jail.

Yet, this place was not the darkest part of the jail. The lights could be seen up ahead, which illuminated the stone walls and ground.

The footsteps were suddenly heard in one of the cells.

Jing Jiu knew it was Senior Master Tai Lu in that cell.

He was an elder with highest generation in current Green Mountain. He was also stunned by the arrival of the Snow Girl and wished to take a look at her.

The deeper they were in the Sword Jail, the drier the air became. And the passage grew wider as they went forward, until they came to a grand hall, where the floor was covered with green stone slabs and the lights were hung on the surrounding walls.

There was a passageway to the right of the hall. The lights on the both sides of the passageway looked like two parallel lines leading to a lonely stone cell.

The Sword of the Universe flew over soundlessly without encountering any barrier. Neither forbidding formation nor any energy of formation could be found on the both sides of the passageway.

The arrangements of the cell were quite simple, but it was adequately supplied. In addition to a bed, there were a table and wares of all sorts, all of the seeming quite delicate.

A streak of water flew down on the rock wall like a small waterfall, its spray resembling jade beads. A magic treasure projected the blue sky and white clouds on the roof and green mountains and streams on the walls, creating a sense of being in a fairy realm.

The Green Girl thought that this treatment was slightly satisfactory in comparison to the other dark and gloomy cells, where no human could live, yet…this stone room was still a bit too plain. She was hoping that the Snow Girl would have no objection to the arrangements.

“There is a cold source here which can provide what you need. You take a rest here for the time being. We’ll figure out what to do later.”

Having said that, Jing Jiu led the Green Girl out of the stone room, heading to the other end of the passageway.

His expression was composed, and his footsteps were steady. The sounds of his boots stepping on the ground were exact and precise, neither too loud nor too light.

The door of the stone room closed slowly.

Jing Jiu kept on walking forward calmly in silence.

But, a nervous and depressing sensation flared up, permeating the entire passageway.

Suddenly, the Snow Girl’s gurgling sound could be heard in that stone room.

Jing Jiu kept on walking forward, as if he hadn’t heard the sound.

He took another step, which was the thirteenth step since he left the stone room.

Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!!

A dozen crisp sword sounds suddenly rang out in the quiet passageway.

The Green Girl’s face was pale because she sensed something very dreadful. She turned her head toward the stone room and saw thirteen sword lights appear in the passageway and then enter the rock walls; what remained were countless formidable sword wills, lingering around like the residual sound of music.

Those sword wills were powerful and dreadful to an extreme extent, and the Cultivation state revealed by these sword wills was also extremely high. The Green Girl would tremble in terror if she simply took a glance at them.

The passageway was instantly sealed off by this forbidding formation of sword. It seemed that a dozen chasms were laid in the passageway; so it was impossible to cross them.

What was going on?

The Green Girl looked at Jing Jiu in surprise. She found that his face was quite pale, full of tiredness. He seemed to have used a great deal of energy, and yet his expression seemed more relaxed.

This forbidding formation was called “Sealing All with Ice”. It hailed from the Locking Autumn of the Green Mountain Sword, but had much more power. It was composed of thirteen sword formations with countless sword wills hidden inside.

Jing Jiu took thirteen steps after he left the stone room, and thirteen sword lights appeared in the passageway. It wasn’t that he was setting up the formations; he was sealing off the door.

“I said that I’d like to invite you to Green Mountain to take a rest; but I don’t know how long that would take.”

Jing Jiu didn’t turn his head. He continued while looking at the bright grand hall up ahead, “Before I can find a more suitable method, I have to lock you up here. This is the only solution right now.”

It was quiet in the stone room for a long time; then the Snow Girl’s gurgling sound rang out again, but it was a bit weaker now. It was unclear if the sound expressed anger or sorrow.

“It’s hard for humans to trust a powerful force without first being able to control it; they would rather destroy this force.”

Jing Jiu continued, “You should be clearly aware of this. Which is why I beg you, accept what I have done, and please don’t get upset.”

Having said that, Jing Jiu didn’t linger around any longer as he headed outside.

The Green Girl was shocked speechless, wondering what was going on.

Didn’t Jing Jiu invite the Snow Girl to come to Green Mountain and become a Principal Guard? Why did he suddenly lock her up in the Sword Jail?

Was what he said in the nunnery all lies? Did he say those things just to deceive her and bring her to this place?

Jing Jiu remained silent as he walked forward. His steps were still as steady; the sounds of his steps were neither too loud nor too light, just like earlier.

It was unclear if his mood was the same as his steps at the moment. Did he feel troubled or relieved? Or was his mood not affected by all this in the least?

The Green Girl felt even more chilly now. Such a feeling of hers was neither caused by the cold source at the bottom of the Sword Jail nor by the dreadful demons and devil men in the cells on the both sides of the passageway.

She thought Jing Jiu was too frightening; so she didn’t dare sit on his shoulder anymore, and returned to the Green Sky Mirror stealthily.

Jing Jiu was aware of what was on her mind, but offered no explanation or gave it any attention. He came to the front of the Dead Dog.

The sunlight streamed down and illuminated the bottom of the well.

Dead Dog and Jing Jiu shared a glance without exchanging any words; but they could clearly sense each other’s worried emotions.

…

…

Jing Jiu agreed with Tong Yan, bringing the Snow Girl, who was asleep at the time, out of the Cold Mountain without informing Green Mountain and White Town. What he told her, including what he said when they waited in the nunnery for her to wake up, were all lies.

What he did was not a scheme; and he didn’t do it because he was heartless, greedy, and shameless. It indeed was the only solution at the moment.

The Snow Girl was the daughter of the Queen of Snowy Kingdom. If the humans couldn’t find a way to control her, her arrival in the human world would bring annihilation to those humans.

All the Cultivation practitioners, including the Fruit Formation Temple and even those deviant sects like the Mysterious Dark Church, would want to kill her.

The situation would be the same as what had happened to the Immortal Taiping.

It would be impossible to keep the Snow Girl on Green Mountain as a principal guard. The result would be that everybody in the whole world would attack the Green Mountain Sect. Even though Green Mountain was not afraid of such a situation… why would he want to put Green Mountain in such a situation?

For a reason that had nothing to do with sympathy, Jing Jiu didn’t want to see the Snow Girl killed. As such, he had to find a way to lock her up, and he had to make sure that he could actually have her securely locked up.

Where could he find a place to lock the Snow Girl in all of Chaotian?

The Fiend Prison wouldn’t work. Even if the Old Dragon were alive, it couldn’t lock her up because she was too powerful, not mention that the Old Dragon was dead.

The only place where the Snow Girl could be safely locked up was the Sword Jail of Green Mountain; and it had to be that particular cell.

The Immortal Taiping had been locked in that cell, and the powerful forbidding formation of Sealing All with Ice was arranged beforehand.

Back when Jing Jiu led Zhao Layue into that cell, it was because he was the key to the forbidding formation.

He led the Snow Girl into that cell today, and then walked out from it himself. It was in fact a process of opening the door and shutting it again with the key.

Though his Cultivation state was far inferior to his state back then, and he couldn’t set up the forbidding formation of Sealing All with Ice again, yet the door was still the same door and the key was still the same key.

Even if the Snow Girl improved her state later on, she wouldn’t be able to reach the Cultivation state the Immortal Taiping had back in the days that soon. Since the cell was able to lock up the Immortal Taiping for three hundred years, he believed that it should be able to lock her there for a while.

Jing Jiu displayed a composed countenance as he walked out of the cell when, in fact, he was exceedingly nervous at the time.

It was not that he was troubled by remorse and feelings of commiseration. He was nervous because he was afraid that the Snow Girl might uncover his plan and charge out of the cell before he could set up the formation.

Those thirteen steps were the hardest ones he had ever taken.

He had only experienced such a nervous moment three times in his long lifetime.

The first time he experienced it was six hundred years ago when the turmoil occurred on Green Mountain. He headed to Mochen Peak, sword in his hand, with his Big Brother after they finished eating hotpot.

The second time was three hundred years ago when he walked toward his Big Brother, sword in his hand, with Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing after they finished eating the hotpot.

The third time was today.

…

…

In the passageway, the sword wills had all entered the rock walls; one couldn’t sense even a slight trace of formidable intent.

No living being in the world could pass through this passageway save for those tiny beings like the mosquitoes in the Fiend Prison.

Wrapped in the quilt, the Snow Girl sat quietly on the bed in the cell, looking a bit sad.

Suddenly, she lifted her head to look at a spot.

Pah!!!

A tiny icicle dropped on the floor and broke into pieces; but nobody could make out what it was with their naked eyes.

It was a mosquito from the Fiend Prison.

Jing Jiu had used these invisible mosquitoes for many things; but they were useless for the Snow Girl.

In the next moment, something eerie had happened.

A fine line suddenly appeared on the Snow Girl’s face, extending from the left side of her face to the right.

It looked as if the line was being drawn by someone using an invisible pen.

The line was quite red, as crimson as fresh blood. It then spread out on her face slowly.

The Snow Girl curled up the corners of where her mouth should be, and chuckled.

It seemed that she was rather satisfied with the arrangements.

…

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