The Path Toward Heaven

“I don’t know how you killed him that night, but I know your sword source is strong, even stronger than mine,” said Zhao Layue while looking at Jing Jiu. “I don’t get it how a lazy person like you could achieve it.”

Ever since she was born, she had been practicing Cultivation under the supervision of the Green Mountain Sect.

Every morning after opening her eyes, she started practicing, meditating, or coming to the back end of the Green Mountain to practice sword work, not slacking off for even a moment.

It could be said that her every breath involved Cultivation.

She heard of Jing Jiu and knew he was famously lazy, but what had happened on the peak that night made her suspect the rumors were bogus.

However, she found out he was indeed very lazy after seeing him with her own eyes twice.

She had never seen anyone so lazy, squandering his own talents.

The thing that puzzled her the most was how such a lazy person could have such a strong Sword Source.

She wanted to know the answer to this question, but she was even more eager to find out the Jing Jiu’s true identity.

“Do you know why I’m willing to come to the Green Mountain Sect to learn the sword work,” Zhao Layue asked.

“Because they don’t care how disciples cultivate here; you can do whatever you want,” said Jing Jiu, looking at her.

He figured it out in his own thoughts, and also, it was a familiar thing to him.

“I don’t know what you want to cultivate or hide, but the way you do things attracts too much attention,” Zhao Layue said.

“It’s troublesome using so much effort to hide,” Jing Jiu said.

“Even if this leads to others discovering your secrets?” Zhao asked.

“No secret can be concealed forever; a pointy cone in the pocket will poke its head out sooner or later.”

Jing Jiu said, “I had similar experiences before. The sun will rise every day, and the sky can’t be covered by the dark clouds all the time. If you don’t want the people on the ground to see your sunshine, it’s an impossible thing to do, and it’s very foolish.”

“You regard yourself as the sun?” Zhao Layue turned her head slowly toward him and asked with somewhat uncertainty.

“That was only an example,” Jing Jiu said.

“Many sisters on Qingrong Peak gossiped about me, saying I am narcissistic.”

After some silence, she continued, “I don’t think I’m as narcissistic as you are, though.”

“I thought you could understand what I was trying to express,” Jing Jiu said.

Zhao Layue didn’t say anything.

She knew what Jing Jiu wanted to say.

She was someone with natural Dao quality, a genius in sword work, and a favorite disciple of the Green Mountain Sect. Since birth, she had gotten constantly gotten attention. After entering the inner sect, she chose the Tempered Will of the Sword for Cultivation, a very hard and dangerous form of Cultivation, so she could hide in the deep end of clouds on the Sword Peak, unseen by others.

She was very stubborn, and always remained silent.

Jing Jiu lifted his hand and rubbed her hair.

She raised her eyebrows, flashing a glare full of lethal intent.

Jing Jiu pulled his hand back, saying without any change in expression, “You should have your hair washed. It’s just Cultivation; no need to make yourself look a mess.”

She shook her hair forcefully, dust falling down from her head, like a little puppy shaking off the dust after playing all day outside and coming home.

“I forgot.”

Replying, she rode her flying sword to her own manor cave on the cliff wall.

Jing Jiu felt he might have forgotten something as well.

Soon, Zhao Layue came back wearing a new dress, her jet-black hair dripping with water.

The manor cave she lived in was in better condition than those of regular disciples, located on the highest spot of the cliff wall, supplied by the hot spring water brought in by the immortal masters of Xilai Peak.

Jing Jiu took a look at her hair.

“The Sword Source is used to kill your opponent; you can’t use it on these things.”

As he was about to say something, Jing Jiu suddenly turned his head toward the eastern sky.

A few ear-piercing zooming sounds boomed in the sky.

The clouds were torn apart, shooting out a few straight cloudy lines that looked like pencils or arrows.

Bang!!!

The middle section of clouds was rolling and wobbling. Soon, a ray of sword light broke through the clouds and arrived at the space of the sky right above the Stream of Sword Washing.

That ray of sword light was clean and translucent; it was a very high level of Cultivation, exuding an extremely ardent will of sword. The rider of the flying sword should be a swordsman of a higher state, but for unknown reason, this flying sword flew unevenly, zigzagging about like the movements of a drunkard, like a wild crane not knowing where to go.

The sword light traveled among the cliff walls, first up, then down.

A hideous voice boomed from the sword, spreading everywhere.

“Even if not one, what about two?!!!”

“If not one, then two?!!”

The sword rider’s yell echoed in the valley.

The horrible will of sword sometimes dropped on the water, causing the waster to splash, and there were clearly visible ruts on the cliff walls as the broken rocks fell down, creating a rattling sound.

In the distance, sword lights could be vaguely seen rising up from all the peaks; it should be the personal disciples coming over.

The disciples by the Stream of Sword Washing were called by their masters to get inside the Hall of Sword Washing.

Hearing the hideous yelling in the sky and seeing the big tall trees being cut in half, the rocks between the cliff falling when struck by the atrocious will of that sword, the disciples looked pale and very frightened.

What is happening? Who is that person? Why is he so crazy, so horrible?

…

…

Zhao Layue walked to the edge of the cliff, gazing up at the outrageous ray of sword light, the expression in her eyes revealing alertness and hostility.

Jing Jiu watched her silently, wanting to know where those two emotions come from?

The sword lights from the peaks stopped at a distance of three miles from the stream of Sword Washing; they perhaps received the order to do so.

The speed of the outrageous ray of sword light was too fast, and the sword rider was too strong; the regular personal disciples of the peaks were no match for him, and fighting him directly would only result in injury, perhaps even death. So hundreds of light rays emitted from the swords waited only in the outskirts, building a few sword formations to protect themselves, meanwhile preventing the madman riding the sword from fleeing.

When the sword formations were built by the disciples of the peaks, the colors of the sky and earth suddenly changed.

The clouds spreading apart, a square-shaped iron sword fell down from the sky.

The square-shaped iron sword elongated when blown by the wind, turning into a huge lid of thirty feet, which bore down on the crazy flying sword, bringing it to the highlands a mile away and holding it down

Boom!!! Boom!!!

The thundering sounds were like actual thunder, and could be heard coming from underneath the huge lid, one after another.

The rocks on that highland were shaken by the force beneath the lid, jumping up and rolling around, as if alive.

The horrible shocking force traveled to the Stream of Sword Washing, making the stream water churn, it splashing onto the cliff walls, the shocking force killing a great number of fish.

Half an hour later, the fight was over; the iron sword quieted down, and looked like a real cabin with metal sheets.

Nobody knew whether the person held down by the iron sword was dead or alive.

A number of dead fish floated on the surface of the stream, like a dozen baskets of silver coins being thrown out by the rich merchants in Zhaoge City.

The parts of cliffs sliced by that crazy sword were broken into small rocks, falling down slowly into the stream and creating numerous large waves. Many people were saddened by the destruction.

“Is this the power of the Broken Sea State?” said Zhao Layue, looking at the scene in the distance.

Jing Jiu walked over to her side and said, “Yuan Qijing hasn’t wielded his sword for many years. I think he passed the State of Broken Sea long time ago and probably entered the State of Heavenly Arrival.”

Zhao Layue glanced at him once.

If what he said were true, the whole land would be shocked by the fact that the Green Mountain Sect had another great man of the Heavenly Arrival State.

How did Jing Jiu know about it? Why did he tell me?