The Path Toward Heaven

Yin San was at most in the Free Travel State, so he couldn’t be considered the true

Immortal Taiping.

And Jing Jiu was fully aware that he was having some problem regarding his body; as

such, he couldn’t pose any serious threat to the Green Mountain Sect at the moment.

The most formidable foes for the Green Mountain Sect were the master and disciple,

Nan Qü and Xilai.

Looking at the approaching ruined temple and the swaying red lantern in the wind, Jing

Jiu recalculated what he had done over last few days one more time.

Nan Qü’s First Child Sword was snatched by Green Mountain back then and had been

placed in the Royal Palace until the battle of the Cloud Platform, and now it was

returned to the West Ocean Sword Sect.

The Green Mountain Sect was certain that the First Child Sword had not been sent back

to the Foggy Island.

Why didn’t Nan Qü take back his sword?

Others might not understand the reason, but Jing Jiu, based on his many experiences,

could think of one possibility.

Nan Qü had already tempered himself into a sword ghost, so he had no need for the

First Child Sword any longer.

If this was the case, where was this sword ghost then? Was it at the West Ocean or on

Green Mountain?

Most importantly, if Nan Qü’s sword ghost had gone to another place, what kind of

being was this Nan Qü in the black coffin?

Was it an icy cold corpse or something like a sword sheath or something like that?

Would this Nan Qü in the coffin wake up?

As he was thinking of all this, Jing Jiu had arrived outside the ruined temple following

Nan Wang.

The Green Mountain Sect had already been engaged in the battle with the West Ocean

Sword Sect, so it was time for them to get rid of this red lantern.

The red lantern was probably a sort of connecting magic of the southern barbaric tribes,

one which could summon back Nan Qü’s sword ghost from many thousands of miles

away.

If they wanted to vanquish Nan Qü completely, they had no choice but to destroy this

lantern.

“Nan Wang?!”

Nan Zheng walked out from the ruined temple. Seeing the more attractive and proud

young woman, who looked somewhat like herself and wore silver bells all over her

body, Nan Zheng displayed an incredulous expression on her face.

Back when Nan Wang became the peak master of Qingrong, she used rather cruel

means to wipe out the remaining members of the Nan Qü branch of the tribes.

Nan Zheng was one member of that branch. As such, she had a profound hatred toward

Nan Wang. She charged toward Nan Wang even though she was fully aware that she

was no match for her/.

As Nan Wang flicked her fingers slightly, countless vaguely visible sword strings

appeared around the ruined temple, forming a large net.

When the mountain wind blew at those sword strings, the crisp sounds of various tones

rang out, which were very pleasing to the ears.

Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!

Fresh blood gushed out throughout Nan Zheng’s body; she flew backwards and was

knocked against the back wall of the ruined temple, then flung into the mountain in the

back. It was unclear if she was dead or alive.

Nan Wang didn’t pay further attention to her. She walked to the front of the ruined

temple and under the red lantern, and shut her eyes.

Since she was the true god prayed to by the southern barbaric tribes, she should have a

way to dismantle Nan Qü’s Magic of Connection; but she had to pay some price for it.

A moment later, her body swayed a few times, her face turning pale.

The red lantern was set ablaze; and soon it was burned into ashes.

Nan Wang opened her eyes and looked at the black coffin in the temple, signaling for

Jing Jiu to stand behind her.

Squatting on Jing Jiu’s shoulder, the white cat looked at the black coffin, fear and alarm

in his pupils. All the hair on his body stood on their ends, resembling a furious

dandelion.

Nan Wang walked into the ruined temple and came before the black coffin. She bent

her fingers and rapped twice lightly on the lid of the coffin.

The lid of the black coffin slid down slowly, exposing Nan Qü’s skinny, small and aged

body.

Nan Wang fell silent for a while, her chest heaving slightly. Next, she swept down her

right hand as quickly as lightning and hit Nan Qü’s chest squarely.

Pah!!!

Countless bright rays of light shot out from her eyes.

As her right hand struck down, the sword strings around the ruined temple fell down like

a fishing net to swaddle the black coffin.

Without a sound, the black coffin had been ground into the tiniest powders, and Nan

Qü’s clothes had also been crushed into similar tiny bits.

However, Nan Qü’s body was utterly intact; it still looked skinny as before, like a dried-

up corpse.

Nan Wang’s eyes grew brighter, and her sword will reached its full force. She kept on

striking the body with the Endless Sword.

Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!

The sword strings broke off in tandem, curling up and retracting, as they returned to the

Zither Sword.

The Zither Sword looked much dimmer; it was obvious that the sword was terribly

damaged.

Nan Wang remained silent, though she wondered why a mere body could resist the

flying sword even though this body was in an extremely high Cultivation state.

Witnessing this, Jing Jiu realized that his calculation turned out to be incomplete.

The ruined temple was filled with rubble.

The burning red lantern turned into a few wafts of green smoke.

Nan Qü opened his eyes, and said, “I didn’t’ expect you to find me here.”

…

…

The sea water around Shaoming Island had been turned into ice, so the Immortal

Taiping couldn’t flee from the bottom of the ocean. He had no choice but to hide on the

island.

The Cloud Boat of the Center Sect, the Boat of Diligent Study of the One-Cottage

House and the Lotus Cloud of the Fruit Formation Temple had all arrived at this place,

encircling the entire island.

As the Protective Formation of the West Ocean’s mountain gate was dismantled

mysteriously, that huge shadow in the ocean began to travel to Shaoming Island at a

high speed.

That was the divine guardian animal of the West Ocean Sword Sect, the Flying Whale.

He had a huge and bulking body, so he would cause a great deal of waves even though

he was traveling in the deep sea, drawing attention of many people.

The Flying Whale traveled faster in the deep sea that in the sky. It didn’t take long for

the whale to come to a spot twenty miles outside Shaoming Island.

He had to stop short here because the solid ice was up ahead.

Along with a deep and loud shriek, the Flying Whale leapt up in the sky, bringing tons of

sea water up in the air, and headed toward Shaoming Island.

It was evidently a suicidal move. It looked like the whale intended to crush the whole

Shaoming Island with his huge body.

Did the whale attempt to prove the innocence of the West Ocean Sword Sect by

sacrificing himself?

The Cultivation practitioners of the Center Sect, the One-Cottage House and the Fruit

Formation Temple were not interested in stopping him from doing so. They watched the

occurrence nonchalantly in the sky.

Yet, the Green Mountain Sect couldn’t accept such an outcome.

If the West Ocean Sword Sect had killed the Immortal Taiping, how could the Green

Mountain Sect continue the crusade against them?

More importantly, the Immortal Taiping was the former sect master of the Green

Mountain Sect, a figure who was the grandmaster; how could they allow this wicked

animal of the West Ocean to kill him?

A cold and furious yell burst out on a sword boat of Green Mountain, “How dare you, the

wicked animal!”

The shout echoed throughout heaven and earth, causing many violent gusts of wind; it

was truly powerful and intimidating.

The Cultivation practitioners of various sects wondered ghastly which peak master this

person was.

Bu Qiuxiao and others could still remember that during the battle of the Cloud Platform

Yuan Qijing stomped the Flying Whale into the sea, so they wondered if the furious

person was Yuan Qijing again.

As they thought of this, a strange bird suddenly appeared in the sky, the peculiar long

tail of his glistened under the sunlight.

The strange bird flew to the front of the Flying Whale at an unimaginably fast speed,

and berated, “Do you have a death wish?!”

The Cultivation practitioners of various sects were stunned, and realized that it was this

bird who had spoken.

In comparison to the bulking body of the Flying Whale, that strange bird looked like a

dark speck, but the violent wind he produced was extremely formidable.

Countless huge waves hurled up and crashed into the ice surrounding Shaoming Island,

causing a few large cracks in the ice.

The tail of the strange bird was quite long, looking like a sword as it shot out

innumerable flashes of light.

Many cuts of more than ten feet deep appeared on the surface of the Flying Whale’s

body. A great amount of blood gushed out from those cuts, resembling waterfalls.

The strange bird laughed out in contentment, and flew back to the sword boat of Green

Mountain.

The Flying Whale dropped down toward the surface of the ocean after uttering a deep

and painful scream, and dove into the bottom of the sea, not daring to come out.

A Cultivation practitioner inquired surprisingly, “What kind of being is this strange bird?”

Taking a glance at the trembling Cold-Signal Bird under his feet, who would rather leave

the place as soon as possible, He Wei felt irritated, and was not in the mood to answer

the question.

“This is the Principal Guard of Green Mountain, the Dark Phoenix,” Bu Qiuxiao said.

Hearing this answer, the Cultivation practitioners of various sects had a tingling

sensation on their skulls because they were once again intimidated by the strength of

the Green Mountain Sect.

This rooster with a long tail, who was a Principal Guard of Green Mountain, looked more

like a powerful figure who had cultivated the sword work for a great many years.

The Immortal Liu Ci hadn’t struck yet, and Yuan Qijing hadn’t even shown up, to say

nothing of this Master Dark Phoenix…No matter how powerful the Godly Swordsman of

West Ocean was, how could he resist so many formidable swordsmen at the same

time?

The sword boat swayed a bit as the Dark Phoenix landed on the deck along with the

violent wind. He raised his head proudly and strutted to the cabin of the boat.

His tail soaked red with the whale’s blood, dripping onto the deck.

Seeing this, the disciples of Shangde Peak felt both proud and frightened. The elders

like Chi Yan, Liantian and others had heard of the stories regarding the internal conflict

of Green Mountain, and knew that the Masters Dark Phoenix and Dead Dog had killed

many swordsmen of Green Mountain…So they kept reticent, not daring to speak.

The Young Sister Yushan was the only one who yelled while clenching her hand into a

fist with a gleam in her eyes, “Awesome, Master Dark Phoenix!”

The Dark Phoenix nodded slightly to show his appreciation, and entered the cabin.

Sitting in the cabin cross-legged with his eyes closed, Yuan Qijing was meditating and

storing up his energy.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and stared at the blood stained tail of the Dark Phoenix.

…

…

On the Cloud Boat of the Center Sect.

Mulling over the earlier scene, Bai Zao asked earnestly, “Is there a possibility the two

sides will reach an agreement?”

“It’s impossible,” the Immortal Bai replied. “It’s because the Green Mountain Sect has

already shelled out so much. Regardless of whether it’s the flying swords, magic pills,

crystals, or the seventeen sword boats, the expenses are huge. If the Cloud-Dream

Mountain wanted to launch such a war, we would exhaust the resources accumulated

over a period of several decades. As such, the conditions for an armistice would be very

stringent on the part of Green Mountain, and it would be impossible for Jian Xilai to

accept them.”

It was then that the smooth voice of the Immortal Liu Ci echoed throughout the West

Ocean and was heard by all the Cultivation practitioners: “Our conditions are: The West

Ocean Sword Sect has to be disbanded, and its remaining facility and members will be

managed jointly by the orthodox Cultivation sects; Jian Xilai must leave Chaotian. And

you have to swear in the name of the sword ghost that you will never return to the

mainland of Chaotian and will be killed by the heavenly thunders otherwise.”

These were the conditions that the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean couldn’t possibly

accept; so he didn’t even bother giving a response.

He looked in the direction of Shaoming Island and saw the large boat visible

intermittently in the clouds, remaining silent for awhile.

Su Ziye had told him that the Center Sect had the intention of collaborating with the

West Ocean Sword Sect; but the Center Sect had been inactive so far.

He understood why. If the West Ocean Sword Sect couldn’t demonstrate any

outstanding prowess and let the world perceive the chance of beating Green Mountain,

the Immortals Tan and Bai wouldn’t strike at all.

The Godly Swordsman of West Ocean drew back his gaze and looked at Liu Ci. “I came

from the ocean,” he said expressionlessly.

His voice similarly echoed throughout the West Ocean.

Here was the ocean.

What he talked about was not this patch of the ocean.

The Godly Swordsman of West Ocean went on, “I grew up in that patch of fog and

learned the sword work there. From the very beginning, I didn’t believe in one word of

the saying ‘Swords hail from Green Mountain’.”

There was an uproar among the Cultivation practitioners of various sects.

The expression on Bu Qiuxiao’s face grew grave.

The Godly Swordsman’s statement was tantamount to admitting his true identity.

He was the disciple of the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island.

It was something the Cultivation circle of Chaotian had been wondering for a long time,

and it had finally been confirmed.

“Many people are present today; it’s very good.”

The nonchalant gaze of the Godly Swordsman swept over all the ships and boats in the

sky.

“The world will finally learn which branch had the stronger swordsmen, your Green

Mountain or our Foggy Island.”

Having said that, he extended his right hand slowly.

The Sword of Twelve Storey Building came back from a distant place, and landed on his

hand.

“Please,” he said to Liu Ci.

…

…

The ruined temple in the barren mountain had already collapsed.

The short and skinny old man stood amid the ruins, looking at Nan Wang quietly.

Crouching on Jing Jiu’s shoulder, the standing-up hair had dropped, and the white cat

tugged his tail between legs. The intimidating air he displayed earlier was totally gone.

Jing Jiu’s line of sight was fixed on the old man over Nan Wang’s head. He had made

out something.

Nan Qü didn’t temper himself into a sword ghost; rather, he had chosen an opposite

path.

He cultivated himself into a sword first, and then developed the sword ghost from it.

The spiritual soul of a Cultivation practitioner was usually nurtured in the sword pill and

the flying sword at the same time, until the spirit was produced, which was the sword

ghost.

The sword ghost was very weak in the beginning; but when the Cultivation practitioner

reached the Heavenly Arrival State, it would be able to drift in the air, becoming

indestructible and invincible, which was almost like the born shapeless sword body.

However, if the Cultivation practitioner let the sword ghost go to a distant place, they

wouldn’t be able to use the sword anymore and would find themselves in a very

vulnerable situation.

Neither the late Pei Baifa nor Xilai would choose such a fighting style.

But, Nan Qü didn’t have to worry about this, as he had tempered himself into a sword.

The sword ghost could kill people, and the sword could kill people as well.

Yet, the sword ghost wouldn’t be extinct after the destruction of the sword.

This was a marvelous idea and an amazing fighting style.

Without the First Child Sword, Nan Qü had mulled it over for hundreds of years on the

Foggy Island, and cultivated a sword style totally different from others. He was truly

outstanding.

Back on the top of Shenmo Peak, Jing Jiu had told Zhao Layue that it was the most

difficult thing, finding a brand new path for Cultivation.

It was the founding of a new sect in the truest sense.

Jing Jiu felt a sensation of admiration for him, thinking that the Great Grandmaster of

the Foggy Island should be one of the most outstanding figures over the last one

thousand years.

Nan Qü was definitely an equal of himself and his Big Brother.

Thinking of all this, he stopped Nan Wang from carrying on the fight, walked to the front

of Nan Qü, and extended his right hand.

As far as Nan Qü was concerned, Jing Jiu’s current Cultivation state was simply too low

to be noticed; so Nan Qü hadn’t bothered taking a glance at him until now.

Nan Qü’s gaze landed on Jing Jiu’s face and remained there for a long time.

It was quiet in the ruins of the temple and the barren mountain.

Nan Qü commented while staring at Jing Jiu’s face, “How perfect this sword is! It seems

rather familiar.”

Jing Jiu looked at him quietly, and didn’t say anything, with his right hand still extended

out.