The Path Toward Heaven

By the time Jing Jiu came out of the well, Yuan Qijing was standing right by it.

The Sword Justice was not a tall man, at least in comparison to Liu Ci, yet the chilly and

solemn energy exuding from him was exceedingly intimidating and awe-inspiring.

The person the Green Mountain disciples feared the most was Yuan Qijing. Jing Jiu

was of course not afraid of him, but Jing Jiu didn’t like dealing with him either. As such,

he hadn’t met Yuan Qijing over the years.

However, he couldn’t avoid seeing Yuan Qijing any longer since such a significant event

had happened. Their reunion after many years occurred unexpectedly.

Neither of them was prepared for this meeting, so they didn’t know what to say to each

other. The forbidding manor cave on Shangde Peak was filled with an eerie

atmosphere.

The situation became more relaxed only after the Inherited Heaven Sword arrived in the

manor cave noiselessly.

“Has her identity been confirmed?”

The voice of Liu Ci came out from the opening of the sheath.

It might be more convenient to transmit his voice, and the scene wouldn’t look so

ridiculous, but any other method wouldn’t be as secure as this one.

Liu Ci must make sure that the conversation between the three of them wouldn’t be

heard by anybody else.

Yuan Qijing said expressionlessly, “She is indeed the offspring of the Queen of Snowy

Kingdom.”

The voice of Liu Ci came out from the sheath again after a moment of silence.

“What Cultivation state is she in?”

“She is not as strong as you two…”

Jing Jiu then added, “…for the time being.”

If Jing Jiu didn’t think that Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing had enough power to suppress the

current Snow Girl, he wouldn’t dare bring her back to Green Mountain, no matter how

many plans he had in mind.

It became quiet again in the manor cave, and the quietness wore on for a long time.

Then, a sigh came out from the sheath.

Though this sigh was as simple as the “hmm”, it had a far-reaching and meaningful

intent. Still, Jing Jiu and Yuan Qijing could totally understand the meaning.

What Liu Ci intended to express was that it would be safe for all of them if the young

senior master could stay behind closed doors and not come out like he had before; he

had caused a great deal of trouble already. For instance, he released the Underworld

Emperor, had the Old Dragon killed, made a mess at the Fruit Formation Temple, and

now he brought back the offspring of the Queen of Snowy Kingdom. What were you

doing? Did you intend to see the Green Mountain Sect destroyed in our generation?

Yuan Qijing sneered, expressing the same opinion.

The whole of Green Mountain and even all of Chaotian were aware that the Sword

Justice of Green Mountain, Yuan Qijing, didn’t like the Immortal Jing Yang, and he

would sneer dismissively whenever the name Jing Yang was merely mentioned, let

alone when they met face to face today. As was said earlier, Jing Jiu didn’t like Yuan

Qijing; he stared at Yuan Qijing and demanded, “Why haven’t those large demons of

Snowy Kingdom in the Sword Jail been moved somewhere else ahead of time?”

Yuan Qijing said in a displeased tone, “You informed us in such a short amount of time;

we barely had enough time to get all the disciples out of way. There was no time to do

anything else.”

The voice of Liu Ci came out from the sheath. “Stop squabbling. Let’s talk about what

we should do next,” he said, trying to alleviate the tension.

As the three most important figures on Green Mountain, they seldom gathered together

to discuss a matter seriously. In fact, few matters in Chaotian were worthy of their

attention. It had been more than three hundred years ago since a similar meeting had

occurred; they discussed how to deal with their Master, Jing Yang’s Big Brother.

“We mustn’t let anybody know that the Snow Girl is on Green Mountain.”

Yuan Qijing added, “But those who should know about it must be informed as soon as

possible.”

Though the two sentences seemed to be contradictory, they had a deep meaning.

Liu Ci uttered “hmm”, meaning that he agreed with Yuan Qijing’s suggestion.

Jing Jiu didn’t agree with the suggestion, but he couldn’t veto it offhandedly, considering

his lower Cultivation state right now. “There is no problem with Tong Yan; the nuns are

quite cooperative,” he said.

Those who needed to know should be informed as soon as possible; those who

shouldn’t know must be kept in dark.

The Center Sect belonged to the latter group.

This was what the Green Mountain Sect had been doing and thinking over the years;

there was no need for further elaboration.

…

…

In the nunnery hall outside Dayuan City.

Tong Yan drew back his right hand, and gave up on the idea of breaking through the

formation.

The formation constructed by the longevity lamps in the nunnery hall looked peaceful,

but it was actually rather powerful. In his current Cultivation state, Tong Yan couldn’t

dismantle it.

“I didn’t expect your ability of setting up formation to be so formidable even though you

can’t cultivate,” Tong Yan said to the old nun outside the round window.

The old nun revealed a small smile that deepened the wrinkles on her face. “You should

be able to figure out who the designer of the formation is. I’m simply responsible for

lighting the lamps,” she said.

Staring into her eyes, Tong Yan demanded in a slightly threatening tone, “Don’t you fear

that what Jing Jiu did might bring disaster to the human world?”

“My life is near its end; I couldn’t care less about what will happen to the human world.”

The old nun went on with a smile, “Young Master told me that you are a very formidable

chess player and also good at persuading others. So this is the last time I talk to you.

Please forgive me.”

Having said that, she took down the lamp from the tree branch, heading toward the

snowy lake.

If Tong Yan struck her now, she would be killed easily; but what would the act serve to

achieve?

Watching the back figure of the old nun heading toward the snowy lake, Tong Yan

wondered what end Jing Jiu attempted to accomplish by locking him up here.

If Jing Jiu did it for the sake of the Green Sky Mirror, he could simply snatch it and run

away with it, since Tong Yan couldn’t catch up to him, nor could Tong Yan ask the

masters on the Cloud-Dream Mountain to get it back.

Jing Jiu must have done it for the Snow Girl.

It was because Jing Jiu didn’t want the outside world to know that the Snow Girl went to

Green Mountain.

Yet, what are you going to do with the Snow Girl?

…

…

On the top of Shangde Peak, the ice and frost remained all year long, where the chilly

intent could penetrate one’s core.

The deep well leading to the Sword Jail looked like a black hole on the ground.

Under normal circumstances, Yuan Qijing liked standing by the well and looking down

at the bottom of it in silence, when he reflected on something or tried to understand

something.

But he stood a bit further away from the well today. It was unclear if he did it because of

the Snow Girl or Jing Jiu. Having listened to what Jing Jiu said, Yuan Qijing asked

sharply, “Wang Xiaoming saw the Snow Girl. What should we do with him?”

The voice of Liu Ci came out from the sheath, “I’ll try to kill him on my way back from

White Town.”

“The Sun Banner is quite powerful,” said Jing Jiu. “After this incident, he will be more

careful.”

It became quiet in the manor cave again for a long time.

If the Mysterious Dark Church released the information, the Center Sect, the Kunlun

Sect and others would be able to figure out easily that the snowman was the offspring of

the Queen of Snowy Kingdom; and next they could find out that it was Jing Jiu who had

brought the Snow Girl back to Green Mountain.

Based on the wintry weather in Dayuan City and the fact that all of Green Mountain

disciples stayed behind closed doors, anyone would be able to guess what was going

on.

Liu Ci said suddenly, “As long as they don’t have any evidence to support it, there is

nothing they can do even if they have guessed it.”

Yuan Qijing commented sternly, “That’s right. If anyone dares to believe what this devil

man said, they would be the enemies of our orthodox sects.”

Jing Jiu thought it was indeed the case.

If Zhuo Rusui listened to what Yuan Qijing had just said, he would have said as praise,

“Such a senseless statement sounds so sensible.”

Liu Ci said, “I’ll go to White Town to inform Cao Yuan and the Young Zen Master.

Young Senior Master, you go to Zhaoge City to inform the Emperor.”

“What about me?” Yuan Qijing asked.

Thinking that he had to travel outside Green Mountain again, Jing Jiu sank into a bad

mood. “What you should do is quite simple and also very important,” Jing Jiu said to

Yuan Qijing. “That is to persuade the Dead Dog not to tell this to your Master.”

It was evident that Jing Jiu made the statement with slight indignation. Yuan Qijing was

about to retort, but he chose to hold his tongue when he thought that his Master had

indeed escaped from Shangde Peak.

…

…

Upon hearing the sound of a bell, the sword sound and the flying message, the Green

Mountain disciples walked out of their manor caves in tandem. The peaks that had been

as quiet as a graveyard came back to life.

On the stone beam between Shiyue Peak and Xilai Peak, the fog grew thinner; and a

dark figure had gradually presented himself.

The Dark Phoenix strutted to the edge of the beam while spreading his two beautiful

wings. He looked in the direction of Shangde Peak and remarked indignantly, “He has

brought back such a being…When Little Fourth comes back, we should kill Jing Jiu as

soon as possible; otherwise, he will have us all killed in the end!”

On the top of Tianguang Peak, the Inherited Heaven Sword flew back and inserted into

the stone monument. The slight quiver made the Round Turtle open his eyes slowly. He

thought the arrangement was pretty good, since she wouldn’t come to the peak.

The Principal Guards all knew about the secret, but the Green Mountain disciples and

elders, including the peak masters, had no idea what had happened.

The disciples of the peaks were engaged in a heated discussion about something while

looking at the sky. It seemed that they were quite bewildered.

The female disciples on Qingrong Peak were making a terrible noise. The cacophony

could be heard throughout the peak, and it also reached other places.

The Sword of the Universe landed on the top of Shenmo Peak. Hearing the noises on

the opposite peak, Jing Jiu couldn’t help but shake his head, musing that it was still the

same on that peak after so many years; it was truly hopeless.

Zhao Layue approached him.

Jing Jiu signaled her with the expression in his eyes that it would be better for them to

talk about it later.

Gu Qing and Yuan Qü had guessed that what had happened today must have

something to do with Jing Jiu; they felt nervous as well as excited.

The white cat strolled out from the manor cave noiselessly; the bell on his neck didn’t

make a slight sound.

“Ada, how are you?” Jing Jiu greeted him.

The white cat came to his side and snuggled against his leg. His eyes displayed a

resentful expression, as he mused that he had a terrible time lately when Jing Jiu was

away. These youngsters hated what he had done at the Fruit Formation Temple and

didn’t want to socialize with him; worst of all, Zhao Layue didn’t even want to hold him in

her bosom anymore.

Moreover, a clueless young man was audacious enough to grab his tail; that young man

was actually harassing him.

It was then that Ping Yongjia came to the cliff.

Seeing Jing Jiu’s face, Ping Yongjia guessed that this person must be his Master. He

felt nervous and intended to bow to the ground before Jing Jiu; but he didn’t know which

leg he should bend first. So he didn’t have enough time commencing the act.

Yet, Jing Jiu didn’t expect to see another person on Shenmo Peak; he shot Gu Qing a

glance.

Gu Qing knew that Jing Jiu must have forgotten about the matter. “Young Brother Ping

Yongjia, come here to meet your Master,” he urged.

Ping Yongjia approached hurriedly and bowed to the ground before Jing Jiu.

By now Jing Jiu remembered who this child was. He calmly motioned for Ping Yongjia

to get up. Nobody could tell that he remembered who Ping Yongjia was only after being

reminded by Gu Qing.

It was worth noting that Gu Qing had a marvelous ability in this aspect; and he was

getting better by the day, and on his way to perfection.

After learning that Jing Jiu was back, the monkeys made a lot of noises to welcome him

back home. But they were well aware that he didn’t like the custom, so they scattered

soon after without coming up to the cliff.

No sooner had the monkeys finished making their welcoming screams than the sound

of horse neighing was heard in the distant mountain.

Shenmo Peak had more people in addition to animals now.

Though Jing Jiu hadn’t changed his basic ideas in this life, he had nevertheless

adjusted the way he dealt with others. He had been taking on personal disciples,

starting with Liu Shisui and Zhao Layue.

Of course, he had learned this from his Big Brother.

As such, Jing Jiu was quite vigilant that the disciples of Shenmo Peak shouldn’t turn out

to be like Liu Ci, Yuan Qijing, or himself. But he suddenly noticed that among his

disciples on Shenmo Peak there were Liu and Yuan as surnames, in addition to

own…Jing Jiu felt this was not a good omen at all.