The Path Toward Heaven

Nobody recognized this young man.

But strangely he called Liu Ci the wicked disciple of his, and Liu Ci acquiesced to it.

He therefore should be the Immortal Taiping.

Though few people knew the secret regarding the Immortal Taiping back then, the sect

masters of various sects were aware of it.

Looking at the young man on the platform, all of them remained silent. They all felt

complex emotions and felt immensely sentimental as the same thought flowed through

their minds:

This evil man was actually still alive!

Those Cultivation practitioners ignorant about the past events, including most of the

disciples of Green Mountain, were in a stupor.

This was the first time the disciples of Green Mountain saw their grandmaster, though

they had seen his portrait in that small building.

Yet, some of them felt something was out of place, though they couldn’t pinpoint the

issue.

Liu Shisui joined the Old Ones as a nameless person and compiled the files for many

years, so he was quite aware of the schemes. Soon, he found out the problem.

When the Green Mountain Sect was to launch a crusade against the West Ocean

Sword Sect, the imperial court and the Curtain Rollers had sent in the evidence.

As the Green Mountain Sect needed to have the Protective Formation of the West

Ocean dismantled, it had been done.

The Green Mountain Sect was eager to find the Immortal Taiping, and here he was,

drinking tea while sitting in a chair, being seen by the whole of world.

It was the same as the case that Green Mountain would experience spring, summer,

autumn and winter, and blooming flowers and falling snowflakes when the peak master

of Qingrong complained about the boredom on the peak.

All this had happened too conveniently; it was too convenient to be coincidence.

He Wei shot a glance at Bu Qiuxiao.

Bu Qiuxiao furrowed his eyebrows.

They all felt it suspicious.

Looking at the small island in the distance, the Immortal Bai remarked expressionlessly,

“The fighting on the outside is getting so intense, but he hasn’t attempted to flee;

instead, he is sitting in the chair, drinking his tea.”

Bai Zao glanced at her mother.

The Immortal Bai added nonchalantly, “He’s played his role too obviously.”

Bai Zao was astonished, wondering if this was a show staged by the Immortal Taiping

and the Green Mountain Sect.

But, wasn’t it true that the sole purpose of the crusade against the West Ocean Sword

Sect was to capture the Immortal Taiping?

The Immortal Bai said, “The purpose and the reason can be turned around at any time.

You should know that the Green Mountain is more capable of mounting external wars

than internal ones.”

They were all wars no matter whether they were the external or internal ones.

Bai Zao seemed to understand what her mother meant. Looking at the expansive

ocean, she couldn’t see any trace of Jing Jiu, feeling a bit uneasy.

“What we need to do is remind the Green Mountain of their real goal. If they forgot it, it’s

our turn to carry it out.”

The Immortal Bai said this while approaching the small island.

As they spoke, the Cloud Boat kept moving forward, heading toward Shaoming Island at

a fast speed.

Meanwhile, the Boat of Diligent Study and the Cultivation practitioners of other sects

were also on their way to the island at a fast pace.

Neither the Center Sect nor the One-Cottage House and the Fruit Formation Temple

wanted to see the Immortal Taiping escape.

…

…

“Don’t let him escape.”

His voice was elegant, even though the expression in Liu Ci’s eyes was a little

complicated.

A large sword boat had arrived before Shaoming Island.

A snowstorm suddenly occurred, with ice forming on the surface of the ocean, which

then extended to the very bottom of the sea, turning the patch of the ocean into the solid

ice.

The Three-Foot Sword broke through the sea and returned to the sword boat.

Once Yuan Qijing struck, he cut off all the escaping roads for the Immortal Taiping; it

was a marvelous move.

Staring at the young man on Shaoming Island, the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean

suddenly waved his hand.

The tides were rolling up and down, as his sleeve fluttered.

The Sword of Twelve Storey Building disappeared amid the real or fake snowflakes in

the air.

As it reappeared, the sword had arrived on Shaoming Island seventy miles away.

The wielded sword looked casual, but it thrust out with a great deal of fury, so it

contained an unimaginably powerful energy!

Crack!!!

A half of the mountain on Shaoming Island had been destroyed; it was as if a person

wearing conical hat was cut in half.

As the cliff was destroyed, the stone platform as well as the table, chair, and teacup on

it were all nowhere to be found.

Where was that young man?

Only a few people noticed that a band of black smoke oozed out from the cliff when the

Sword of Twelve Storey Building arrived on Shaoming Island.

A purest and most profound dark energy existed in that puff of black smoke.

Those who knew about the event at the Fruit Formation Temple had guessed that it was

the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect who had blocked the wielding

sword since he had been staying by the Immortal Taiping all this time.

The Immortal Liu Ci took a step forward and moved to the very front of the boat. As the

sea breeze ruffled his white hair, he looked like a flying immortal man.

He stared at the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean, as he demanded calmly, “You killed

your own young brother Xiwang Sun with a swing of your sword on the Cloud Platform

back then; do you intend to so the same today to silence him?”

The Godly Swordsman of West Ocean thought that it was pointless to talk about this at

the moment.

What happened today was that the Immortal Taiping allured the Green Mountain Sect to

the West Ocean Islands to kill him, instead of him killing Taiping and drawing out the

emissary of Green Mountain.

He exclaimed expressionlessly and sarcastically, “You and your Master have staged a

good show. But can you truly deceive the whole world? Can you truly benefit from it?”

“Hmm?” the Immortal Liu Ci uttered.

This “hmm” was a bit complicated; it probably meant that Liu Ci didn’t quite understand

what he intended to convey.

The flying boats of various sects had encircled Shaoming Island. The sword lights and

treasure glows were everywhere in the sky and on the surface of the ocean.

The sea water had been turned into ice, so nobody could leave noiselessly, and the

Immortal Taiping was evidently trapped on the island. It looked like he had no chance of

getting out here alive.

When the battle between the Green Mountain Sect and the West Ocean Sword Sect

started, no sect dared get near the battlefield; but why did they suddenly make their

move?

Many Cultivation practitioners didn’t understand why.

In fact, most of the Green Mountain disciples didn’t understand the reason either. They

had no idea why their sect was determined to find their grandmaster, and why they

attacked the West Ocean Sword Sect. These disciples of Green Mountain were still at a

loss right now.

Thinking of the turbulence in Chaotian lately and the nervous reactions of various sects

and the imperial court, these young people were even more baffled.

Why would the coming-out of the Immortal Taiping surprise the whole world?

…

…

In the Royal Palace of Zhaoge City.

Looking at the Prince Jing Yao, a grown-up young man now, Gu Qing said, “This war

seems to be complicated, but it’s actually quite simple. Our Green Mountain Sect has

always wanted to wipe out the West Ocean Sword Sect, but we couldn’t find a proper

reason to do so. We can’t miss such an opportunity now that we have one.”

Jing Yao asked, “Is this what the teacher taught me a few days ago: One needs a

proper reason to mount an attack?”

“Right,” Gu Qing said. “The Immortal Taiping is the best reason for the crusade.”

“Why?” Jing Yao pressed, feeling even more puzzled.

Gu Qing said, “It’s because he is the common enemy of all of Chaotian. The fact that

the West Ocean dared receive him has angered the whole world.”

The so-called common enemy was actually the enemy of the whole world. So nobody

should share the world with this person; it was a matter of life and death. If he was

allowed to live, many people would die. Even the Green Mountain Sect had to abide by

this principle.

Jing Yao was shocked speechless. His eyes opened even wider than that jade egg of

rosefinch, as he asked in a trembling voice, “Isn’t it true that the Immortal Taiping has

been staying behind death doors on Green Mountain?”

After a moment of silence, Gu Qing said, “It looks like he was imprisoned in the Sword

Jail in the name of staying behind death doors.”

He learned this secret only recently; but he was still unaware of what the Immortal

Taiping had done back then.

Yet, Jing Yao was totally lost, wondering why the Immortal Taiping, the former sect

master of Green Mountain, the leader of the orthodox sects, became the common

enemy of Chaotian.

He felt even more baffled at the fact that the Immortal Sect Master and the Master

Sword Justice were considered as the ones who had prosecuted their own master if the

Immortal Taiping was imprisoned in the Sword Jail in the name of staying behind death

doors.

“All you need to know is that nobody will allow the Immortal Taiping to live.”

Gu Qing stared at Jing Yao’s eyes and continued, “No Cultivation sect will or dare to

interfere with the war between Green Mountain and the West Ocean. But, as long as

the Immortal Taiping presents himself, all the sects will strike, and they must.”

In the eyes of the Cultivation practitioners, the life and death of the Immortal Taiping

was much more important than the outcome of the war between Green Mountain and

the West Ocean.

It was indeed the case. The goal of the war is more important than the war self.

Jing Yao had come back to his senses, and asked worriedly, “Isn’t our Green Mountain

Sect going to be attacked by all the other sects?”

“Green Mountain is different from other sects; we won’t let him stay alive.”

After a pause, Gu Qing added, “Of course, some disciples of Green Mountain might

have a different view on this.”

…

…

Standing under the corridor of the grand hall, the Emperor said while looking at the

west, “It was actually the Immortal Taiping who had designed the system of Plum

Meeting; but it was also he who wanted to overthrow the system later.”

Looking at his side profile, the Royal Concubine Hu thought his Majesty was really

handsome but a little silly since he was fully aware that she didn’t understand what he

was talking about but still rambled on.

What the heck was this system of Plum Meeting? But it sounded like this Immortal

Taiping was an outstanding figure, she thought.

“He is an outstanding person. But it’s a very difficult thing to do when his current self

intends to negate his former self. As a result, bloodshed will ensue.”

The Emperor continued, “Chaotian was in turmoil during a period of one hundred years

back then. The bloodshed had never stopped during the period, and the world was

actually on the brink of total destruction.”

There were no invasions from the Snowy Kingdom and the Underworld during the

period of one hundred years back then; but the natural and human disasters had never

stayed away from the human world.

Worst of all, Emperor Xiao threatened the imperial court by rebelling against it.

The human casualties had far surpassed those when the Snowy Kingdom matched

south and the Underworld invaded our land.

According to the estimate of the historians and the recordings of the imperial court, the

unnatural deaths during the period of one hundred years back then were more than

three hundred million.

Though the Royal Concubine Hu had no idea what this number represented, she felt a

chill going through her spine instinctively.

“The history book didn’t record this, and the recordings of the imperial court about these

events and casualties are still sealed off.”

Seeing the reddish sky, the Emperor remembered the events of those years, saying in a

grim tone, “They were nothing but the epidemics, floods, earthquakes, natural

fires…that’s all.”

The Royal Concubine Hu realized by now that the Emperor didn’t expect her to

understand what he said, and that he attempted to recall the past events that he hadn’t

been willing to by telling her all this.

She picked up his hand and caressed it softly with her face.

“What is his ultimate goal in all this?”

In other words, what did the Immortal Taiping want to achieve?

The mortals would be the only ones to suffer when facing the epidemics, floods,

earthquakes, or natural fires, while the Cultivation practitioners were scarcely

threatened by these disasters.

The Emperor claimed, “He wants to kill all mortals.”

“What?” the Royal Concubine Hu pressed in surprise.

The Emperor continued, “He wants to build a world of Cultivation practitioners, without

mortals.”

The Royal Concubine Hu thought it was a ridiculous idea; she laughed out as she

remarked, “It is impossible!”

The Emperor said after a moment of silence, “And yet that’s he’s been trying to

achieve.”

…

…

In that small courtyard in Zhaoge City, the two skinny chickens and leaves of green

vegetables had been long gone, and the owners of the house had already changed

twice.

Shi Fengchen died in that small courtyard.

He had said to Jing Jiu before his death that the reason he was determined to kill Zhao

Layue was that she would not shrink from killing people and she would kill people at any

cost in order to accomplish her Dao; this attitude would lead to a catastrophe. As such,

he was afraid that Zhao Layue would become the second Immortal Taiping in the future.

He had read the classified files of those events at the Pure Heaven Bureau and knew

what the Immortal Taiping had done.

In fact, Jing Jiu knew about those events more than anybody else; so he could

understand the fear Shi Fengchen had; but it didn’t mean that Shi Fengchen could still

live after his botched assassination attempt on Zhao Layue.

Zhao Layue indeed acted like the Immortal Taiping at a younger age that year.

Both of them were geniuses in Cultivation, and were enthusiastic and affectionate about

this world; and they both liked hotpot, and were both warmhearted; most of all, they

were not afraid of killing people.

Fortunately, Zhao Layue had become more and more like Jing Jiu himself now.

What about Shisui?

And what about those on Green Mountain?

Jing Jiu gazed through the wild grass and onto Nan Wang.

The crusade against the West Ocean Sword Sect started with the two letters written by

his Big Brother.

Green Mountain indeed had the determination to wipe out the West Ocean.

Jing Jiu was also contemplating who that traitor was.

When his Big Brother was besieged by the whole world, would that traitor still remain

inactive?

However, he had an important task to complete, which was to deal with that old devil

man in the black coffin.

The red lantern in the ruined temple was swaying in the wind.

Jing Jiu got up and headed in that direction.