The Path Toward Heaven

The ascension of the Immortal Jing Yang drew the attention of the entirety Chaotian thirty years ago.

Yet, nobody knew that the Immortal Taiping, who was behind deathly doors in name and in fact imprisoned in the Sword Jail, had escaped at the same time.

The Immortal Taiping must have had a helper on Green Mountain, since he had passed through the sword formation set up by the Immortal Jing Yang in the passageway and escaped from the bottom of Shangde Peak. Afterwards, Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing investigated the case. First they found that two of the Thunder-Soul Woods were missing on Bihu Peak, then they locked the peak master of Bihu, Lei Poyun, in the Sword Jail due to his going mad after wrongful Cultivation.

Lei Poyun suddenly escaped from the Sword Jail two years later, yelling hideously among the peaks: If not one, then two?!

All of Green Mountain had heard it.

Lei Poyun had indeed managed to bring one of the missing Thunder-Soul Woods into the Sword Jail, and helped transfer the soul of the Immortal Taiping to a devil man of the Underworld; in so doing, the soul of the Immortal Taiping passed through the sword formation set up by Jing Yang.

Lei Poyun did it because he needed extra help to break through his Cultivation state. He had stagnated in the upper state of Broken Sea for many years, and the Immortal Taiping promised to give him two swords of the highest state on Green Mountain after escaping from the jail.

Though it was a risky venture, he nonetheless made a choice that most of Cultivation practitioners would have made when facing the dread of an eventual end.

However, the Immortal Taiping was still in the Sword Jail even if his soul was transferred to that devil man of the Underworld and reborn as Yin San; Lei Poyun had no way of helping his original body leave the cell.

So then, who helped Lei Poyun bring that piece of Thunder-Soul Wood into the Sword Jail? And who persuaded the Dead Dog to remain silent and took Yin San out of the Sword Jail?

Though these questions were not raised in public over the past thirty years, they were nevertheless on many people’s minds.

Fang Jingtian respected his Master, the Immortal Taiping, more than anyone, and he was the peak master of Xilai, an exceedingly high status on Green Mountain; he had concealed his true Cultivation state over the years, and as such, he was a suspect.

However, Yuan Qijing was the primary suspect because the Sword Jail was right under Shangde Peak. It was Yuan Qijing who had suppressed Lei Poyun and eventually killed him, which seemed to be an act of silencing. More importantly, all of Chaotian knew that he disliked his senior master Jing Yang.

Yet, it seemed that Yuan Qijing had been suspecting Liu Ci for the incident.

As Jing Jiu had told Zhao Layue, there was a devil in everybody’s heart on Green Mountain, which is why everyone looked like a devil here.

The cold voice of Yuan Qijing came out from the similarly cold Three-Foot Sword: “You are the sect master, so you should take responsibility and give us an explanation.”

Three hundred years ago, the major Cultivation sects of Chaotian and the imperial court had reached an agreement: They would give way to the Green Mountain’s decision, which was to imprison the Immortal Taiping in the Sword Jail rather than kill him.

It was because the Green Mountain Sect had promised to lock the Immortal Taiping up until his death.

After the turmoil at the Fruit Formation Temple, many people began to wonder if the Immortal Taiping had escaped from the jail, but they couldn’t question Green Mountain without evidence.

What if someone found the evidence?

It was not so easy to be the leader of the orthodox Cultivation sects. The Green Mountain Sect had been under a great deal of pressure.

The snowflakes generated in the ocean of clouds, which drifted up along with the wind and fell down on the top of Tianguang Peak; it was a marvelous view.

It didn’t take long before a few feet of snow accumulated on the edge of the cliff.

This indicated what Yuan Qijing’s attitude and emotions were.

Liu Ci didn’t offer any explanation; he merely arched his eyebrows a bit.

The sheath of the Inherited Heaven Sword on the stone monument exuded a faint sword will, which drove the air around it into a gust of wind.

The gentle wind blew over the cliff’s edge, melting the accumulated snow on it; the black rocks under the snow had gradually exposed.

As the two figures in the Heavenly Arrival State gave off their powerful energies, those swordsmen in the Broken Sea State couldn’t even sit safely between them, and might be injured by their energies at any moment.

The Round Turtle had lived for innumerous years in the world, with a thick shell and hard skin; the swordsmen in the Heavenly Arrival State couldn’t harm him when they launched attacks at each other. Though the Round Turtle didn’t fear the energy given off by the swordsmen in the Heavenly Arrival State, he was still a bit concerned.

The turtle turned his head slowly toward an empty spot on the peak top while keeping his eyes shut the entire time. “You guys should find out the truth yourselves or go talk to that dog. I have nothing to do with it regardless.”

Jing Jiu sat on the edge of the cliff amid the wind and snow, his countenance remaining the same. Though he was merely in the Free Travel State, this sort of shapeless sword wills had minimum effect on him.

“Enough,” he said to the Three-Foot Sword outside the cliff. “He wasn’t the one who chose to be the sect master.”

It seemed that Jing Jiu was the only one in all of Chaotian who could mediate the confrontation between Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing.

A sneer came out from the Three-Foot Sword.

As rumored, the Sword Justice of Green Mountain, Yuan Qijing, indeed disliked his senior master.

Jing Jiu thought that the “hmm” on Tianguang Peak sounded much better than this sneer. “Tell us about the letter,” he urged.

The wind and snow suddenly dissipated, and the sheath on the stone monument quieted down.

The Round Turtle stuck his tongue out and licked a piece of snowflake on his nostril, which reminded him that he hadn’t drunk any water for more than seventy years.

He was also interested in knowing the content of the letter sent to Green Mountain by the Immortal Taiping; he opened his eyes and looked at the cliff’s edge stealthily.

Jing Jiu extended his right hand into the air, grabbed a handful of condensed water, and flicked it over.

The Round Turtle opened his mouth, caught the water ball and swallowed it, a contented smile showing in his eyes.

“The Master said in the letter that he had already gone to the West Ocean,” Liu Ci reported.

Yuan Qijing’s voice burst out again: “And?”

Liu Ci said, “He wanted us to take this opportunity to wipe out the West Ocean.”

The Three-Foot Sword fell silent.

Wiping out the West Ocean held great appeal to Green Mountain; it could be said that Green Mountain had desired to do so all along.

In the Cultivation circle, the Green Mountain Sect didn’t like to make trouble, nor did they bully other sects; their hostility toward the West Ocean Sword Sect was the only exception.

Some people thought that it was because both the Green Mountain Sect and the West Ocean Sword Sect cultivated the sword work, and some other people thought that it was owing to the fact that there was a deep-rooted grudge between the West Ocean Sword Sect and the No- Mercy Sect, and the No-Mercy Sect was the most steadfast ally of the Green Mountain Sect.

Yet, these were not the true reasons.

It was because the Green Mountain Sect believed that the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean was the personal disciple of Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island, so the Green Mountain Sect had been attempting to suppress him openly and in secret.

The Godly Swordsman of West Ocean was truly outstanding, since the West Ocean Sword Sect could grow and develop under his leadership even though they had to face the powerful suppression from the Green Mountain Sect.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that the West Ocean Sword Sect had no chance of becoming a first class Cultivation sect after their Cloud Platform was destroyed when the Green Mountain Sect led various Cultivation sects in the south besieging and attacking it.

Liu Shisui was the hero in this event; so Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing let Jing Jiu take him out of the Sword Jail, and the elders of other peaks didn’t make an objection even though they were aware that Liu Shisui had left the jail.

However, the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean sacrificed a large part of his sect to save his own skin during the battle of the Cloud Platform. Most importantly, he was still alive even though his sect had lost a majority of its force. As a leader of the orthodox Cultivation sects, the Green Mountain Sect couldn’t act at will, nor could they attack somebody without sufficient justification. So they must have necessary evidence before attacking the West Ocean Sword Sect; similarly, they couldn’t punish the Old Ones or any other evildoers without adequate evidence.

The Green Mountain Sect had the required evidence now.

It was because the Immortal Taiping used himself as the evidence.

It was the most hideous evil that he hid in the West Ocean Sword Sect.

As long as the Immortal Taiping was in the West Ocean, the Green Mountain Sect would win the support from other orthodox Cultivation sects, no matter how forcibly they would deal with the West Ocean Sword Sect.

But, why would the Immortal Taiping want to do so? What benefit would he intend to get by doing so?

Liu Ci glanced at Jing Jiu and said, “Maybe, he still thinks Green Mountain is his; as such, it would be a natural thing for him to do.”

Jing Jiu didn’t think it was that simple, because his Big Brother might desire more than wiping out the West Ocean, and he might have the First Child Sword or the cloud drifting over from the south in his mind.

“Nan Qü might show up,” Jing Jiu said.

It turned exceedingly quiet by the cliff’s edge.

The Round Turtle felt a bit nervous.

If this was the case, there was nothing to discuss further.

Killing the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island, Nan Qü, was something the orthodox inheritance of Green Mountain must do.

But, why would Nan Qü dare leave the Foggy Island? Didn’t he fear that he would be discovered by the Sword Formation of Green Mountain and killed?

Jing Jiu said, “What I’m concerned about is how he can deceive Nan Qü and Jian Xilai.”

“In some people’s eyes,” Liu Ci said, “Our Master has a deep-rooted hostility toward us. The fact that our Master has contacted two of the hidden swordsmen only adds that assessment.”

Jing Jiu remained silent for a while before saying, “The key is whether you two believe him or not.”

Liu Ci said nothing.

The Three-Foot Sword was quiet as well.

Jing Jiu continued, “If his true intention were to kill you two, what would you do then?”

The Green Mountain Sect would be certainly interested when the bait was the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island.

If the actual target of the Immortal Taiping’s scheme was Green Mountain, then the Green Mountain Sect would be in real danger.

Green Mountain would be as good as wiped out if both Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing met with misfortune. Even if only one of them did, Green Mountain would have to close its mountain gate for at least one hundred years, waiting for Fang Jingtian or the Immortal Guang Yuan to break through the Heavenly Arrival State; otherwise, they would not dare open the mountain gate like what the No-Mercy Sect had been doing.

After pondering for a while, Liu Ci said gravely, “As far as this matter is concerned, I opt to believe him.”

“I won’t believe him full-heartedly; but this has to be done nonetheless. And I think this matter is actually quite simple…”

Jing Jiu got up and looked at the ocean of clouds outside the cliff, continuing, “Kill Nan Qü, then kill him; the world will be at peace.”