The Path Toward Heaven

Now that the battle had already begun, Guo Nanshan couldn’t stay here for too long for Tong Lu’s sake.

In fact, the battle ended soon after it began.

The battles between the Cultivation practitioners were always indifferent, cruel and quick.

Life and death would be decided in a short time; by comparison, the battles between mortals were more like playing house.

Hundreds of sword lights and magic treasure lights traveled back and forth in the night sky; and then many sword lights fell down like rainfall.

Many people had died.

Seeing the scenes in the night sky, Nan Zheng suddenly felt it was like playing house when she acted as an assassin to kill people for the Old Ones, though her Cultivation state was much higher than some of the Cultivation practitioners in today’s battle.

The Cloud Platform had been destroyed.

She turned around and headed downward. She staggered all the way down, falling down many times on the cliff. It was still painful even though she wasn’t injured.

Nan Zheng was aware that it was also dangerous inside the fog, but she would rather face those dangers than stay atop the cloud witnessing those terrible scenes.

It was a lot quieter under the clouds, and the battle cries were further away. Still, her eyes displayed a strong caution, as she untied the Green Stone Zither from behind her back.

Her thin fingers were placed on the zither, and she plucked the strings noiselessly, letting out a crisp ringing tone; the invisible zither tunes spread out in all directions, cutting through the thick fog.

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

A few thuds were heard.

The cavalrymen of the Magic Army hiding in the dark night knew they had been discovered by their target, so they charged forward, the iron hooves stepping on the ground, causing a slight earthquake.

Nan Zheng moved back as quickly as she could while holding the zither with one arm, but she couldn’t dodge a few cavalrymen approaching from her side.

Along with a thudding collision, she retreated to the foot of a cliff, her face ashen.

The amulet paper slips were ablaze after being cut open by the zither tunes, emitting a faint glow that illuminated the surroundings.

At least a dozen cavalrymen of the Magic Army were approaching her. Their dark figures looked like the stone forest.

Nan Zheng looked at the leader in front of other cavalrymen without showing any fear in her eyes.

The leader of the cavalrymen hid his face behind the helmet, so she could only see his eyes, which were clean and young, but incredibly cruel.

Nan Zheng moved her sight downward, and saw that leader of the cavalrymen had a flying sword on his back.

The flying sword was bound up tightly, but it exuded a crisp and cold intent, indicating this sword wasn’t an ordinary one.

The leader of the cavalrymen took out the magic treasure, looked at the pictures in its green glow and then looked at Nan Zheng’s face illuminated by the green glow, saying, “You are an assassin of the Old Ones. I’ll only give you twenty seconds to surrender.”

This leader of the cavalrymen was Gu Pan, who led his subordinates looking for an object during the day.

On their way back, he didn’t want to get involved in any unrelated matter; but he couldn’t simply walk away since they happened to encounter an assassin of the Old Ones.

There was no doubt that Nan Zheng wouldn’t surrender herself, and she didn’t wait for her enemy to finish counting to twenty either. She reached her right hand to her waist for the Barren Vase.

However, she had never learned the secret methods of the Bloody Demon Sect, so she couldn’t employ the full power of the Barren Vase like Yu Buhuan did; but she should be able to use the vase to resist these cavalrymen easily.

As her fingers almost touched the Barren Vase, a gust of wind suddenly occurred before the cliff.

It was a foggy night in the late spring, but the wind was extremely cold.

There was no temperature or watery element in the wind.

Someone arrived by her side along with that wind and took down the Green Stone Zither from her back, and then walked to the front of the cavalrymen.

Nan Zheng was stunned, thinking that this person didn’t possess a powerful energy, but when this person took her Green Stone Zither, why didn`t she even attempt to resist?

That person was a young woman in white clothing, wearing a white veil over her face. As the white veil fluttered in the wind, an ordinary face was exposed.

Gu Pan said tersely, “Tell me your name.”

This young woman in white had a mild and calm energy, indicating clearly that she had practiced the orthodox magic methods and should be a practitioner in an orthodox Cultivation sect.

Yet, Gu Pan and the cavalrymen of the Magic Army remained cautious because of her behavior.

The young woman in white said, “You have no need to know my name, but you should know what my target is.”

Gu Pan’s face was covered by the helmet, but the exposed eyes displayed the solemn expression.

Is her target the sword on my back?

This is a secret mission, so how did she learn of it?

The young woman in white knew that these cavalrymen of the Magic Army wouldn’t hand over the sword, so without saying anything more, her right hand placed on the zither, plucking the strings gently with her forefinger.

Zing!!!

The sound of the zither burst out.

Nan Zheng saw it clearly from behind that this young woman had probably never played zither before, because she used the hand movement for lute to play the zither and her lute hand movements were not even proficient, even awkward, just like a beginner. But the zither tune was…indeed very crisp and clear, even comparable to the sound of a phoenix.

Besides, this one single zither tune was full of lethal intent.

The cavalrymen of the Magic Army were ordinary mortals, so they couldn’t sense the terror in the zither tune.

However, the horses under them somehow sensed it and were ill at ease. They turned around, ready to flee, disregarding their masters’ commands.

Yet, it was too late. The zither tune of full lethal intent had already spread in all directions, reaching the amulet paper slips on the cavalrymen and their horses, cutting them into pieces.

The amulet paper slips were set ablaze and spread out in tiny specks of flame, looking like fireflies before they had enough time to emit the last glow.

Before the fireflies flew into oblivion, hundreds of these cavalrymen fell down off their horses one after another, and their horses dropped to the ground as well, letting out frequent thudding sounds.

Without the aid of the amulet paper slips provided by the One-Cottage House, the cavalrymen and the horses had no way to withstand such heavy helmets and armors. They struggled to stand up from the ground, but failed.

The young woman in white approached Gu Pan and took down the flying sword from his back. Sensing the cold and clear energy exuded from the sword, she nodded in satisfaction.

She used an unknown method to make the sword disappear on her palm.

Then, she spun around and walked toward Nan Zheng.

Gu Pan was an external disciple of the Center Sect. Though his Cultivation state was ordinary, he was nevertheless a Cultivation practitioner; so he pushed the horse off his leg and took off the heavy helmet and armor from his body with tremendous effort, exposing his sweaty face and anxious eyes.

He shouted to the back of the young woman, “Who the hell are you?”

The young woman in white paid no attention to him, walked to the front of Nan Zheng and asked, “Are you from the barbaric tribes?”

Nan Zheng nodded nervously. Though the young woman didn’t have a strong energy, the instinct in her spiritual awareness told her that she would be sorry if she struck.

The young woman in white asked, “Your name?”

“Nan Zheng,” she replied.

The young woman asked, “What is the relationship between you and Nan Wang?”

Judging by her energy, this young woman was apparently a Cultivation practitioner of an orthodox sect, and she might know Nan Wang.

Nan Zheng thought that she might be in trouble if she told the truth.

As she was about to tell a lie, she recalled the scenes above the clouds, and suddenly had the desire of giving it all up. “She hails from my tribe and is my nemesis,” Nan Zheng said with gritting teeth.

Having said this, the corners of her mouth revealed a hint of sneer, and then she was prepared for the combat.

Though she was certain that she was not an equal of this young woman, she had to die with some kicking and screaming.

Unexpectedly, the young woman in white said after shooting her a glance, “I also dislike that woman; for that reason, I let you live.”