The Path Toward Heaven

Nobody heard the conversation between Jing Jiu and Gu Qing, so most had no idea what had happened; they simply knew Jing Jiu was an excellent fighter and that he could surpass his own state to beat an opponent whose state was higher. The masters of the nine peaks were involved in sword work for many years, and even they discovered something special from this sword battle.

Jing Jiu, who had not reached the State of the Undefeated, relied totally on his raw eyesight to catch the trace of the flying sword, so he had very powerful eyesight, which could even be called the Sword Eye, not to mention the abundance of his Sword Source, capable of wielding the sword at unfathomable speeds to hit Gu Qing’s flying sword precisely.

Being able to hit your opponent’s sword didn’t mean that you could knock down the sword as well.

The masters of the nine peaks saw clearly that every time Jing Jiu wielded his sword downward, he would twist his wrist slightly so that the thick part of his sword touched the weak part of Gu Qing’s flying sword. The question was, how did he know which part of Gu Qing’s sword was weakest? No explanation could be found for it. It could be only said that Jing Jiu was born with the extreme understanding of the sword.

This sword skill was very complicated, but it looked quite simple when Jing Jiu was using it, since the way he wielded his sword was so smooth that it seemed quite natural, making his sword wielding look effortless. Even the people of Yunxing Peak, famous for precise sword work, praised him.

There was another aspect that was even more outstanding.

A year ago, Jing Jiu said he wanted to use the sword left by Senior Master Mo of Shiyue Peak; at the time, some thought he was opportunistic, and some others thought he was kind and compassionate. Until now, few people realized he actually liked the wide, thick and solid nature of the sword, fitting his abundant Sword Source and dazzling Sword Eye.

His Sword Heat was so calm, his Sword Sense was so sensitive, and his understanding of sword was so natural; what did all this mean?

It meant Jing Jiu had an amazing natural gift for the ways of the sword.

If Zhuo Rusui, Zhao Layue, and Liu Shisui were the most suitable practitioners in Cultivation due to their natural Dao quality, then Jing Jiu was a born swordsman!

The Green Mountain Sect was the number one sword sect in the world, so how could they miss out on such a disciple?

…
…

An elder walked out from the clouds after a long silence.

The elder with fairly dark skin and an ugly look to him was the Elder Me of Tianguang Peak.

Walking to the cliff edge, he looked at Jing Jiu standing by the stream, nervously rubbing his hands as he asked, “Jing Jiu, are you willing to learn sword work with me?”

Upon hearing these words, the quiet atmosphere in the cliffs suddenly became noisy.

“Jing Jiu, are you willing to inherit the sword of Bihu Peak?”

“I promise you as the Peak Master of Xilai Peak, if you are willing to come to our peak, everybody in our peak will do our best…”

“The Old Bird Style of Yunxing Peak is most suitable for this young man. None of you should try getting him to…”

Listening to these arguments, Chi Yan, who had been slightly injured last night, became pale.

He sighed, thinking that they weren’t prepared beforehand, so how could Shangde Peak snatch him up now?

Elder Me became quite angry, his face red as his invitation to Jing Jiu was being interrupted, though nobody noticed.

“Shut up!”

Elder Me had always been a well-tempered man, but his type could get angry once in a while, and become very scary once that happened.

The clean water falling down the cliff walls was spreading out on all sides, falling down like the heavy rain from the sky, this caused by the strong will of swords belonging to Elder Me.

The arguments on the cliffs died down.

“Didn’t you all think this young man was a useless fool before? Why have you all changed your mind now?”

Looking at the crowd from all the peaks, Elder Me’s voice became a sneer as he said, “Do you feel comfortable snatching him from me?!!!”

What he said was absolutely the truth those from the peaks of Bihu, Yunxing, and Xilai had no reply they could give, and they remained keep silent.

Looking at Jing Jiu, Elder Me’s face displayed as gentle a smile as possible, saying, “You know I am different from all of them. I have always had a good opinion of you; even if you didn’t go to Sword Peak in the last half year, I still firmly believed that you would stand in front of me today.”

At this point, Mei Li walked to the cliff edge, saying with a sneer, “I’m not feeling uncomfortable. When I had a liking for this young man, Brother Me, you didn’t even know who he was.”

Elder Me became speechless upon hearing this.

Glancing at Lin Wuzhi in the distance once, Mei Li said, “I said this a while ago; Jing Jiu belongs to our Qingrong Peak. Those of you who wish to snatch him from me, don’t blame me for being mean.”

A thick and gentle voice sounded just then.

“What you said is incorrect, Sister Mei. If whoever paid attention to him first can take him, then our Shiyue Peak probably stands in front of you.”

The speaker was the Peak Master of Shiyue Peak, the Immortal Guang Yuan.

Mei Li felt somewhat startled, bowing to him, but not giving in, saying, “I didn’t know there was a time when the Immortal Guang started paying attention to Jing Jiu.”

The Immortal Guang Yuan said sentimentally, “It was two years ago, when I heard there was an intelligent and knowledgeable disciple at the South Pine Pavilion. I sent a message to Master Lü, asking whether that disciple wanted to come to our Shiyue Peak. Jing Jiu, do you remember it?”

Jing Jiu nodded.

Having learned of this episode in the past, Mei Li said helplessly, “Immortal Guang, at that time you wanted him to be a caretaker beneath your peak; did you recognize his talent for sword work?”

…
…

For today’s Inherited Sword Competition, the most exciting part was this moment.

All the peaks wanted Jing Jiu to inherit their swords, having different reasons and past connections, and nobody gave in easily.

They didn’t fight over Liu Shisui so much, because all the peaks knew Liu was a pawn placed by the Sect Master.

Jing Jiu didn’t have such a connection, and nobody wanted to give up on him so easily.

Watching the arguments between the masters, where even the Peak Master of Shiyue Peak had personally showed up, the disciples by the stream were really surprised.

The dozen disciples from the South Pine Pavilion were very excited, feeling proud to have such an outstanding classmate; looking at Jing Jiu standing on the green rock, Sister Yushan was a little red from excitement, punching youth Yuan of Lelang a few times with her small fist, hurting him in the process, although young Yuan didn’t dare yell out like an innocent victim.

Though the arguments could have kept going like this, the power to choose rested in the hands of Jing Jiu.

“Jing Jiu, which peak do you choose?”

The Elder of Shiyue, in charge of the competition, asked this solemnly. Then, using a voice low enough for only Jing Jiu to hear, he whispered by Jing Jiu’s ear, “Though our Shiyue Peak might not have as many things, we have an abundance magic pills and fruits, some of the good stuff the Sect Master doesn’t even have; all these could be yours.”

Jing Jiu smiled.

When he was in the small village, he considered going to Bihu Peak, but Lei Poyun was dead now, so going there was not as meaningful now.

Mei Li was good to him, and expressed willingness for him to inherit their sword a while ago, but for some unspeakable reason, he would rather be dead than go there.

The Cultivation at Xilai Peak centered around dealing with people, but he disliked dealing with people.

The Cultivation at Yunxing Peak was to practice sword work, but it was unnecessary for him.

The Cultivation pressure at Shiyue Peak was relatively small, and you could have a leisurely life there. However, besides collecting and arranging books, the disciples there had to take care of those pampered medicine plants and fruit orchards, which would be quite troublesome, not to mention that there were too many monkeys on Shiyue Peak making noise from morning till night, which wouldn’t be a good choice for him.

Tianguang Peak was the best choice for him so far. Lin Wuzhi was not a bad person, and though Me Chi still stammered as he did in the old days, but his temperament was still just as loyal and honest. Moreover, if he inherited the sword of Tianguang Peak, he and Liu Shisui would become the disciples of the same peak; he thought it would be interesting to look at Liu’s expressions on that dark small face.

Just as he was about to make a decision, he suddenly saw the young girl sitting on the green rock, and then he had a new idea.

“I have to think about it.”

Jing Jiu said to that Elder of Shiyue Peak.

Somewhat disappointed, the Elder of Shiyue Peak announced according to the rules, “Okay, but before the end of the Inherited Sword Competition, you must make the decision.”

He was disappointed that Jing Jiu didn’t make the decision to join the Shiyue Peak immediately. Mei Li of Qingrong Peak and Elder Me of Tianguang Peak thought the same thing.

Some of them were disappointed at his arrogant attitude.

The elders had such a high opinion on you, yet you chose this and chose that; did you really think you were so special?

Jing Jiu walked back to the green rock.

“Cool,” praised Zhao Layue while gazing at him.

“So-so,” said Jing Jiu.

“Your sword talent can be ranked in the top three among the people I’ve known,” said Zhao Layue.

“I think my sword talent is the best at Green Mountain,” Jing Jiu said seriously.

Zhao Layue didn’t know what to say, walking round him toward the stream.

Countless eyes now gazed at her.

The shockwave of feelings caused by Jing Jiu were suppressed at the moment.

Which peak’s sword would Zhao Layue inherit? Which peak had placed her in advance as a pawn?

This question troubling the whole Green Mountain Sect, and most of the Cultivation world for many years, it would finally would be answered, today.

…