The Path Toward Heaven

…

…

The man in black changed his expression slightly.

He didn’t know that Zhao Layue had gained the Sword Body!

At this point, he understood Zhao Layue’s idea.

When she discovered something wrong after entering the Daoist temple, Zhao Layue immediately called out her Thoughtless Sword and made that somewhat strange sword move to protect herself. This was to show her weakness.

As her Sword Source couldn’t hold up any longer, she cut off connection with the Thoughtless Sword decisively, letting it fly away to warn others. This was still a show of her weakness.

Zhao Layue used her own hands at the critical moment to display the true power of her Sword Body.

Even though she couldn’t hurt him by surprise, she could at least win some time.

As long as Zhao Layue could hold up a little more, she might be able to get rescued by her colleagues.

“You’re indeed an excellent combatant, Zhao Layue. Unfortunately, time is running out, and you still have to die.”

The man in black stared at Zhao Layue through two bloody fists, his appearance even crueller.

He thought that he had already paid enough attention to this matter, but he still underestimated her strength.

Under the circumstances, he had no choice but to use his full strength, even if the clues left behind would cause tremendous trouble.

Countless lights shot out from the tiny openings between the fingers of his fist.

These lights were crystal white and gentle, belonging to the purest treasure light.

Who would know what kind of magic treasure he was holding in his hand?

Pop!!!

Dozens of cracks appeared on Zhao Layue’s dress, and fresh blood oozed from her left eyebrow

She had practiced the Tempered Will of Sword for many years on the Sword Peak, so her body and Dao Heart were much stronger than those talented Cultivation folks of the same age.

Yet this time she had to face the upfront attack of a magic treasure.

Though her will was intact, her body strength was ultimately limited.

Suddenly a sword will approached from the distant sky.

A powerful and dominating energy was nearing the valley at an incredible speed.

It was probably a Cultivation practitioner in the upper state of the Broken Sea.

The man in black knew who was coming, and he wasn’t worried. Three days ago, he and his accomplice had anticipated what would happen in the battle field that day. They believed that the outcome couldn’t be changed even if Zhao Layue still had a little bit strength to fight back after sending the Sword Letter.

Though the distance between West Mountain Residence and Mingcui Valley wasn’t too massive, they still couldn’t arrive instantly.

…

…

Outside the Daoist temple, the sound of zither rang out suddenly.

The zither music wasn’t very loud, but it was quite clear.

The Daoist temple was collapsing, with bricks falling down, creating a great deal of noise, which somehow couldn’t suppress the sound of the zither.

A faint energy appeared.

The man in black was quite startled. It was because he sensed clearly that energy was right outside the Daoist temple.

Why was a person here? The Mingcui Valley was considerably isolated, lacking travelers. How could a Cultivation practitioner appeared all of a sudden?

Unless someone had known that he set up a trap here in advance. But who would know?

In a short time, the man in black predicted an outcome and made a decision.

If he wanted to kill Zhao Layue and that Cultivation practitioner outside the Daoist temple at the same time, it would take some time, and the swordsmen of the Green Mountain Sect would arrive.

As a Cultivation practitioner, he wasn’t lacking in wisdom and determination. He would give up the opportunity without any hesitation if it was necessary.

Along with the falling bricks and mud, his body had gradually vanished. He shot a look at Zhao Layue, who was covered in blood, before disappearing.

…

…

As the zither music died down, a young woman appeared outside the ruins of the Daoist temple.

The man in black had already vanished.

Her ordinary face didn’t show any emotion as she looked at the lush but common valley.

She didn’t expect that man in black to have such a powerful escaping method; she chose to stay rather than to chase after him.

In this late spring, this young woman still wore thick clothing, which looked rather odd.

She waved her sleeves a few times, and the bricks in the ruins rolled away, exposing the ground.

Sitting in the corner, Zhao Layue looked terrible, her clothes torn and soaked in blood, her hair matted and her face dirty.

Yet her expression was rather peaceful. Looking at the young woman in thick clothing, Zhao Layue didn’t say anything.

Zhao Layue was trapped here and almost got killed because of the appointment with this woman that day.

This young woman in thick clothing was the principal disciple of the Water-Moon Nunnery, Guo Dong.

Guo Dong walked over the broken bricks and stood before Zhao Layue. “You are even stupider than I though,” said Guo Dong while pressing on Zhao Layue’s wounds to help stop the bleeding.

Zhao Layue said, “I hadn’t given it much thought because I take it for granted that we should meet.”

“Why?” Guo Dong asked.

Zhao Layue said, “You’re the disciple of Lian Sanyue, and I’m the disciple of Immortal Jing Yang, so we must meet.”

Guo Dong sensed the residual sword wills in the ruins. After a moment of silence, she said, “You’re right. He has left this sword movement to you, meaning that he indeed took you as his true disciple. I really should meet you.”

Zhao Layue ran her hand through her matted hair and gathered the hair behind her ears. She missed Jing Jiu’s wooden comb.

She didn’t want her current unsightly appearance seen by Guo Dong.

It was because she was the disciple of Lian Sanyue.

A short while later, a strong wind rose and the water of the stream in the Mingcui Valley was disturbed. A sword light landed on the ground like lightning.

The peak master of Qingrong, Nan Wang, had arrived.

She looked at Zhao Layue, arching her eyebrows slightly. “Who was he?” she asked.

Zhao Layue replied, “He left a few minutes ago.”

“So he wished to escape, did he?”

Nan Wang turned toward the valley, showing lethal intent.

The seams of her clothing flew up with the wind, and countless intimidating sword wills filled the entire space in the Mingcui Valley.

A strong Sword Awareness spread in all directions, instantly covering the area of five square miles in the fields and on the mountains.

Yet she hadn’t found any energy related to the Cultivation practitioner.

Guo Dong said, “It must be the Escaping Method of Heaven and Earth.”

Nan Wang glanced at her once without saying anything.

She didn’t like Lian Sanyue, so it was only natural that she not like Guo Dong as well, though she had to admit that the disciples of the Water-Moon Nunnery had outstanding knowledge.

More sword lights had arrived at the Mingcui Valley and landed by the stream. Dozens of disciples of the Green Mountain Sect had arrived on their flying swords from Zhaoge City.

Nan Wang said emotionlessly, “Make the Sword Formation to search for the enemy.”

Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!!

The disciples of the Green Mountain flew away in all directions to form a huge Sword Formation to search the fields and mountains that covered an area of about fifty square miles.

Dozens of sword lights appeared in the sky, even near the city walls of Zhaoge, shocking the city dwellers.

Not long afterwards, the disciples of the Green Mountain came back one by one. Yao Songshan shook his head toward Nan Wang.

Nan Wang became very angry, as she didn’t think the enemy could escape the Sword Formation of the Green Mountain. She also became cautious.

Were those old men of the Center Sect involved?

“Are you okay?”

Nan Wang asked Zhao Layue this emotionlessly while looking at her. The question was supposed to be caring, but somehow her tone was extremely uncaring, devoid of any warmth.

Zhao Layue answered Nan Wang with an even more uncaring tone:

“I won’t die.”