The Path Toward Heaven

Jing Jiu left Green Mountain with Nan Wang and the white cat, and spent a whole

summer looking for Nan Qü; and they had finally found this ruined temple on a barren

mountain.

When he saw the red lantern outside the ruined temple and the black coffin in it, it only

took Jing Jiu a few seconds to make up his mind; he sent out the Thoughtless Sword to

inform Green Mountain and Liu Ci of his decision.

According to his calculation, Nan Qü’s sword ghost might go to Green Mountain, and it

might also go to the West Ocean. Under either circumstance, the Green Mountain Sect

had to be fully prepared for it.

It was his and Nan Wang’s task to deal with the dried-up corpse in the black coffin. And

it happened that they were the most suitable persons to do so.

Unexpectedly, Nan Qü had developed a method of sword ghost and tempered his own

body into a sword, which posed a brand new problem for them.

Jing Jiu was aware more than anybody else of how formidable a sword ghost with a

self-controlled spiritual soul was.

Based on Nan Qü’s Cultivation state, his sword ghost was equal to the upper limit of the

Underworld Fairy Sword.

Jing Jiu could do nothing but force himself to enter the ruined temple and clasp the Nan

Qü’s aged hand.

He was doing it not by employing the Locking Autumn of the Green Mountain sword

style, the state level of which was too low to suppress Nan Qü, neither did he employ

the Sealing All with Ice that he had used in the cell of the Sword Jail, because his

Cultivation state was not high enough to set it up. What he was employing right now

was the Benevolent Hand of the Zen sects.

As long as he could hold Nan Qü back and summon the Sword Formation of Green

Mountain to destroy his original body, his sword ghost would die with it.

Even if Nan Qü’s sword ghost had a protective method of its own, he believed that it

would be affected to a great extent and would pose no threat to Green Mountain any

longer.

After Jing Jiu had made that statement, a gust of wind suddenly whipped up on the

barren mountain, blowing over the ruins of the temple while making a weeping sound; it

sounded as if a ghost was crying, or a sword was whistling.

…

…

On the distant Green Mountain, the clouds had all dissipated on the Sword Peak. The

bright sunlight grew more blinding; it was impossible to look at it.

Standing on the top of Tianguang Peak, Fang Jingtian gazed in the direction of the

West Ocean with a grim expression. He looked rather lonely.

The Sword Formation of Green Mountain had been activated. He wondered what was

the target of the formation and if his Master would be in trouble.

The whole of Green Mountain was empty. Even those caretakers had already gone to

the external gate.

It seemed that the ice and snow on Shangde Peak had sensed the formidable sword

will that intended to pierce through the sky, and dropped off with a cracking sound.

The reaction in the Sword Jail was more evident. Countless sword wills came out from

the stony walls, darting around in the passages like tangible flying swords.

The mountain-like Dead Dog sat under the sunlight quietly; but he had to narrow his

eyes whereas he would feel uncomfortable.

The demons in the cells were exceedingly horrified. They were trembling in the corners

of the cells, needless to say that they dared not to give off any gory energy that used to

be as powerful as the quaking mountains and roaring sea.

The aged and cruel voice of Senior Master Tai Lu came out from one of the cells, “Kill

them all! Let them witness the true power of Green Mountain!”

In the farthest cell room, the Snow Girl squatted on the bamboo chair covered in a quilt,

wondering if this was the rumored Sword Formation of Green Mountain. She thought it

was truly interesting.

…

…

The Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island was the first hidden swordsman. He had

started the legend of hidden swordsmen of the Cultivation world, and he was the proof

of the power of the Sword Formation of Green Mountain.

Nan Qü was of course aware of the power of the Sword Formation of Green Mountain;

otherwise, someone like him in a Cultivation state of sword fairy wouldn’t have been

forced to hide amongst that patch of cold and damp fog for so many years.

Hearing what Jing Jiu said, Nan Qü’s response was unexplainable. Instead of showing

anger or fear, he laughed.

His laughter was a bit complicated. In the end, he displayed a relaxed countenance, as

if he felt completely relieved.

“I have evaded it for a thousand years, living a life that was no better than being dead.

Now I have returned to the mainland because I’m near the end of my life.”

Nan Qü went on asking Jing Jiu, “So tell me, why should I fear death then?”

This was a testing question.

Jing Jiu said, “Regardless of how close one is to the end of life, the fear of it is not as

acute as long as death hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Even though I’m dead, I’ll still live on,” Nan Qü said.

This was a bizarre statement; both Nan Wang and the white cat couldn’t understand its

meaning.

Yet, Jing Jiu realized that he had miscalculated it.

Nan Qü came here to seek his own death.

For someone in this situation, nothing could scare him.

All he needed to do was complete what he intended to accomplish before his death.

The sooner the death of Nan Qü happened, the better for the Green Mountain Sect.

Jing Jiu commanded without hesitation, “Let’s finish him off.”

No sooner had he said this than the Sword of the Universe struck down from the sky,

squarely piercing Nan Qü’s head.

Nan Wang came round Jing Jiu from behind him and stabbed the Zither Sword at Nan

Qü’s left eye with both of her hands.

As Jing Jiu moved his lips and before he could utter the commanding words, the white

cat had struck already.

The cat raised his right paw while squatting on Jing Jiu’s shoulder, striking at Nan Qü’s

right eye as quickly as a lightning.

…

…

In the West Ocean.

Hundreds of flying swords wielded at the wind and snow.

No matter how unpredictable the movements of the sword ghost were, it had been hit

quite a few times.

Yet, the shocking fact was that the child of sword ghost didn’t seem to be wounded by

the slashes, except that a dozen white lines were added to his body.

What kind of a weird thing was it? They couldn’t kill it no matter how hard they tried.

Yuan Qijing was injured after the sneak-attack, and his sword source wasn’t at its

capacity. The wind and snow created by the Three-Foot Sword could only hinder the

body of the sword ghost for a brief moment; but they had no way to suppress it.

The Dark Phoenix was chasing the sword ghost furiously. Some feathers on his tail

were falling off, meaning the bird was also injured.

The Dark Phoenix was the fastest swordsman of Green Mountain. He was doing his

hardest and had passed all the flying swords; but he couldn’t even get close to the child

of sword ghost. He looked like a pitiful little child chasing after the setting sun.

A sword ghost in the upper limit of the Heavenly Arrival State was very close to being a

fairy immortal; as such it was extremely formidable.

In an instant another sword boat of Green Mountain was destroyed. The disciples of

Green Mountain rode on their swords to flee the falling boat, and some of them fell

toward the surface of the ocean helplessly.

The Cultivation practitioners of the Great Marsh and the Hanging-Bell Sect couldn’t

observe all this on the side; they rushed to their rescue in tandem.

On the Cloud Boat of the Center Sect, the Immortal Bai took a glance at Bai Zao before

saying, “Green Mountain must have more means.”

On the Boat of Diligent Study, Bu Qiuxiao glanced at Liu Shisui before saying, “Green

Mountain still has more resources. Don’t worry.”

He then hid the Dragon-Tail Inkstone in the Empty Realm, readying to strike at any

moment.

No matter how intense the battle between Green Mountain and the West Ocean

became and how the situation of the battle changed from time to time, what Bu Qiuxiao

cared the most was the Immortal Taiping.

A voice suddenly broke out on the largest sword boat of Green Mountain: “Shiyue Peak.

Dou! Niu! Xu! Shi!”

Dou, Niu, Xu, Shi are all the star positions.

From a distant sword boat of Green Mountain, the disciples of Shiyue Peak all came out

on their flying swords, heading toward those star positions.

In the next moment, that voice yelled, “Xilai Peak. Kei, Liu, Zhang, Yi!”

Hundreds of sword lights came out from a sword boat of Green Mountain and placed

themselves on certain spots in the sky.

“Tianguang Peak. Tai, Wei, Tian, Shi!”

“Liangwang Peak. Jiao, Kong, San, Heng!”

“Bihu Peak. Yu, Gui, Wu, Xin!”

…

…

That voice used to be drowsy and lack of energy; but it sounded energetic and fast

today with a sort of solemnity and seriousness of which others had never heard.

Along with the voice, countless flying swords stopped chasing the child of sword ghost;

instead, they complied with the commands and occupied a respective spot each in the

sky. Though they looked chaotic without any noticeable order and structure, they

rendered a sensation of somber and perpetual beauty, resembling the starry night sky.

The Green Mountain Sect not only cultivated the sword work, but also the sword

formations.

The formations were all in the style of the Inherited Heaven Sword.

The most powerful Sword Formation of Green Mountain and the two sword formations

that had been set up earlier that day were all based on the style of the Inherited Heaven

Sword.

Nan Qü sensed the sword wills zigzagging and crisscrossing in heaven and earth, and

found that it became harder for his sword ghost to move around.

He looked at that sword boat of Green Mountain up ahead with a grave expression on

his small and pale face. Who could assemble the corresponding formations so precisely

and abruptly under such complicated circumstances?

The organizer of the formations was not the wounded Yuan Qijing or the Immortal

Guangyuan, but a young disciple.

During the spectacular battle that day, Zhuo Rusui could only play an insignificant role,

no matter how talented he was in Cultivation. All he had done was wielding his sword

now and then while sitting on the deck and then doze off.

It wasn’t until the situation had a sudden change that he stood up and started organizing

the formations after having surveyed the whole scene for a minute.

He was the personal disciple of Liu Ci, and stayed behind closed doors since he

entered the inner gate. He had learned only the style of the Inherited Heaven Sword

over the years.

His Cultivation state was not high enough at the moment, but his understanding and

inborn sensitivity to the formations of Green Mountain was second to none.

Even the elders like Mo Chi and Bai Rujing of Tianguang Peak were not as good as him

in this regard, let alone Guo Nanshan and other peers of his.

Jing Jiu even had admitted that Zhuo Rusui had a better command of the Inherited

Heaven Sword than Gu Qing and himself.

The flying swords of Green Mountain were not chasing after the child of the sword ghost

anymore, each sticking to their designated spot in the sky.

All of them played their roles in the formations, no matter whether they were the elders

in the upper state of the Broken Sea, or the new disciples who had come down from the

Sword Peak not long ago, or the blood-red Thoughtless Sword and the ordinary bronze

swords.

Hundreds of flying swords looked like hundreds of stars; they also looked like hundreds

of blooming flowers, planted casually, here and there, in the sky.

The child of sword ghost was trapped in this patch of starry sky, or cluster of flowers,

unable to travel at will.

Seeing the young disciple of Green Mountain who still had the drooped eyelids on the

sword boat, the figure of sword ghost had suddenly disappeared and arrived on the

sword boat instantly.

This sword formation was not perfect yet, so the sword ghost could take advantage of it

and kill the organizer of the formation.

Boom!!!

Yuan Qijing walked out from behind Zhuo Rusui and blocked the child of the sword

ghost with the ice mirror in his right hand.

The ice mirror broke apart; and Yuan Qijing spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Zhuo Rusui’s face turned pale.

He had organized a formation of six stars, which needed six main peak swords to

complete it; but there were only five main peak swords; they were short one sword.

The sword formation was not complete, so it couldn’t prevent the child of the sword

ghost from killing more disciples of Green Mountain.

It was just then that a silvery light came over from the distance and arrived at a spot of

the sword formation.

All of a sudden, the sword formation was complete, keeping the child of the sword ghost

outside of it.

It was a small sword of three feet long, with a smooth and glistening shaft.

Upon seeing this sword, many elders of Green Mountain and the disciples of Liangwang

Peak, especially Guo Nanshan, were shocked speechless.

This was the main sword of Liangwang Peak!

Didn’t Grandmaster Jing Yang ascended with the Lone Sword? Why was it still in the

human world?

…

…

On the Boat of Diligent Study, Bu Qiuxiao shot a glance at Liu Shisui, without saying a

word.

Liu Shisui brought his hands to his back and commented while gazing up at the sky, “I

heard some thunder; is it going to rain?”

…

…

Countless thunders boomed at very high elevations in the sky.

The wind and snow in heaven and earth melted and turned into rains falling down as a

result.

Liu Ci and the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean descended to the surface of the

ocean. Their clothes soaked wet, but it was unclear whether they were injured or not.

Hundreds of flying swords of Green Mountain made up a sword formation surrounding

the sword boats, which looked like suspended raindrops in the sky; it was an amazing

scene.

All of them fought against one person.

Gliding in the sky, the child of sword ghost was emotionless. The sword wills exuded

from his body were hideous, giving anyone a sensation of dread.

All gazes were fixed on the child of the sword ghost; and they were all stunned.

Who was this strange person? He had destroyed two of the sword boats of Green

Mountain in an instant, killed so many disciples of Green Mountain, and severely

wounded Yuan Qijing.

It seemed that the invincible Green Mountain Sect was powerless in the presence of

this person.

The Godly Swordsman of West Ocean came up behind the child of the sword ghost,

and bowed to him.

He greeted the sword ghost in the manner of a disciple.

Seeing this, Bu Qiuxiao and others had finally had their speculation confirmed; their

faces grew more unsightly.

The news soon spread out. The Cultivation practitioners of various sects had all known

that this child of the sword ghost was actually the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy

Island, Nan Qü!

The tides rose and ebbed, mimicking the mood of the people present. The shocked

feelings were manifested in their silence.

The Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island, Nan Qü, was one of the strongest

swordsmen back then. He had blocked the ascension of the Grandmaster of Green

Mountain, the Immortal Daoyuan. He was someone who had an existence similar to a

sword of the Fairy State.

It was because of this incident that he had become the first hidden swordsman and had

been forced onto the Foggy Island for almost a thousand years.

It turns out he was still alive. Why would he dare come out of the Foggy Island?

The more shocking part was that he became more formidable after having changed

himself into a little child; not even the Green Mountain Sect could resist him.

Was it possible that he had improved his Cultivation state and entered a state higher

than the Heavenly Arrival, making him unafraid of the Sword Formation of Green

Mountain now?

Looking at Yuan Qijing breathing weakly and covered with the snow and frost from head

to toe, Nan Qü said expressionlessly, “You’re too weak; that’s why you couldn’t become

the sect master.”

Then he turned to Liu Ci and said, “You’re too slow, and not good enough.”

These two evaluations belittled the most powerful swordsmen at the Green Mountain

Sect. His arrogance had reached its extremity.

In fact, if Nan Qü had become a disciple of the Immortal Daoyuan, he would have been

the grandmaster of Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing.

It was then that the voice of Zhuo Rusui broke out again.

He was not organizing the formation this time; so the voice wasn’t as somber in its tone.

It actually sounded as drowsy as usual.

“You can’t even break through my formation; so it’s senseless to boast about your

power, little old man.”

Nan Qü looked with narrowed eyes at Zhuo Rusui as if he was looking at a dead man.

“Let me introduce you. He is my personal disciple.”

Liu Ci added, “Besides, you should know that you’re going to die soon.”

Sensing the energy of the Sword Formation of Green Mountain, Nan Qü exclaimed, “I

didn’t expect you people to find me; but it doesn’t matter anyway.”

Liu Ci understood what he had talked about, and said, “Let me kill this one of you first.”