The Path Toward Heaven

“It’s because I’m going to die, so I’d like to talk to you. And It’s because I’m going to die, I’d like to figure out those matters that I couldn’t understand before. Besides Liu Ci and Lian Sanyue before their deaths and Jing Yang before his ascension, you’re the strongest swordsman in Chaotian in the last one thousand years; but I don’t understand why you can’t beat the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom.”

Looking at the large Buddha sitting on top of the Heavenly Well, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said angrily, “I should know that I fought against Green Mountain. Though I was beaten badly by the pair of brothers and forced to crawl into the underground for hundreds of years, I’m somehow still alive. You have to admit that I’m quite outstanding. After I came up from the underground, I’ve guarding the Immortal and fought with a few formidable foes in the past one hundred and more years. I don’t think the Unicorn is as powerful as you, nor was Liu Ci even though I was slashed by his sword at the Fruit Formation Temple…And the other person is not as powerful as you.”

His hands covering his ears showed bulging veins; it seemed that the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect was doing it with all his strength. And it was as if he attempted to crush his own head like a rock, in the meantime having a headache because of the effort.

I’m going to be slashed to death by your broadsword because I’m not as powerful as you.

But you can’t beat the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom. How powerful is she then?

The Cultivation practitioners pursued the longevity and superior state; so they were curious of the being in the highest state in the world.

It was the most puzzling matter before the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect left this world.

“Don’t talk anymore,” Cao Yuan reminded him. “Be careful. It would be hard to put them together if I didn’t cut it right by mistake.”

“What will happen to me if I don’t talk? Will I be able to live?” snapped the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect while covering his ears. He laughed out as he thought of a funny thing, “If you attempted to cut open Jing Yang’s big windy ears, my method would be useless.”

“The Immortal Jing Yang has a sword body. I can’t cut it in half regardless of if I do it the straightway or sideway,” said Cao Yuan.

“Hence, he is hard to be killed; so he is brave enough to travel the world lately. Speaking of the transformation, the Immortal is truly outstanding. He has come up with the idea of the total transformation.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said this sentimentally. The black fog seeping out from his fingers grew increasingly colder, and some snowflakes fell on the cliff. “It’s a pity that we couldn’t find the rosefinch, so the Immortal’s total transformation is not complete; otherwise, both Jing Yang and you are not his equal,” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said in an aged and trembling voice; it was unclear if the weather was too cold.

Cao Yuan asked, “If he has actually succeeded in the total transformation, he could ascend a long time ago. Why is he still here?”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect remained silent for a while, his eyes full of admiration. “It’s because the Immortal has figured it out and made such a decision.”

“The Immortal Taiping’s ideas and actions are all evil, but his mind and efforts are truly admirable.”

Having said this, Cao Yuan grabbed the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect with his right hand.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect didn’t make any effort to evade him.

The palm of the large Buddha was really big; it wrapped the body of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect like an iron clamp.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said to Cao Yuan, “I’m a deviant practitioner; I’m really evil; I ate people, and I’ve enjoyed eating people. Why are you still keeping me alive?”

“You’re a living being regardless,” said Cao Yuan. “Even if you’re not a human but a dog; it’s still a life.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said with a laugh, “If I didn’t find out that you’re an honest person, I would think you were cursing me. The lives lost to your broadsword are probably more than those killed by me; but why are you showing so much unnecessary benevolence to me?”

“Like you said, everything we do has something to do with life and death; you’re right.”

Cao Yuan’s voice was still deep and loud, echoing like the sound of a bell over the East Ocean, “I kill for the purpose of saving lives.”

“The lives…” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect remarked sentimentally with his eyes narrowed, “It’s right; everything is about the lives.”

His gaze followed the sound of the bell drifting to the deep part of the ocean. “Has that stupid bird already died?” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect asked. “Though we had been arguing for more than one hundred years, I don’t feel so good after I’ve learned that he is dead. Fortunately, the sorrowful feeling of mine won’t last long. Yet, I don’t know how the Immortal will feel when he finds out that all of us have died. Will he feel sad or resentful? I think it will be the latter. The Immortal, a truly outstanding man, has gotten old and become a complete loser; it’s a wretched fact when you think about it.”

“You’re also very outstanding. If I were you, I wouldn’t pay any attention to these trivial matters and would try to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Having said this to Cao Yuan, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect released his hands and closed his eyes.

A tiny bloody hole appeared in the center of his eyebrows.

The bloody hole expanded and extended visibly; soon it became a straight bloody line.

The bloody line extended past his forehead, chest and stomach; his body was separated in two precisely equal halves.

A great amount of black and bloody smoke came out from the bloody line.

It was so cold in the sky that the weather was back in winter again. The cliffs by the Heavenly Well were clad with a layer of frost and then dyed with an inky color, resembling the dark night. There were many flames remaining in the dark and cold sky; and those flames rose in the wind, drifting here and there like light specks. They vanished instantly after they formed a large Buddha over the surface of the ocean.

No one could tell if this was the result of becoming a Buddha or an idea.

Cao Yuan looked at the surface of the ocean silently for a while. Then, he drew back his gaze and looked at his empty palm, saying to the others, “You people rebuild the formations here. I’ll go down have a look.”

The swordsmen of the Fruit Formation Temple and the Water-Moon Nunnery were all surprised and astonished.

The green smoke started in the Underworld. When the exit was blocked, it would wreak havoc down under.

The inhabitants of the Underworld would suffer and face the threat of death.

Cao Yuan had told the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect that a life was always a living being.

Hence, he had to go down to the Underworld.

…

…

There was no sun, no flower and no grass in the Underworld; there was only a glow coming from the black and gray Underworld River.

But many flames were in the air that day, illuminating the cliffs and the dim sky; they brought in many foreboding omens as well.

The ocean of fire expanded in all directions, but the green smoke was spreading much faster. Those residents in the remote villages and the fleeing soldiers sprawled on the ground amid the green smoke, a painful expression remaining on their faces. More of the green smoke followed the strong wind heading to a place at the guidance of the great formation, which was the bottom of the Heavenly Well.

There were two more holes in the sky of the Underworld; one let in the strong wind and the other let the endless sea water fall down.

The inhabitants of the Underworld on the ground were scared considerably when they saw the peculiar phenomena in the sky; they knocked their heads on the ground while kneeling on their knees, praying toward the sky.

Standing on the highest spot of the peak top, the Underworld Master looked up at the scenes over his head with his hands folded behind his back, ignoring his subordinates who were looking for him for the guidance. The glow on his face was gleaming, revealing a complicated emotion.

He was wounded after Tong Yan sneak-attacked him with the Scenic-Cloud Bell; but it was not severe. What he was worried about at the moment was that the dropping speed of the sea water had evidently slowed, that the wind from the Thousand-Mile Wind Corridor had weakened, and that the green smoke going into the Heavenly Well seemed to be blocked somehow.

It was then that the green smoke in the air had suddenly dispersed, as a large Buddha descended from the sky.

…

…

The downpour was still pounding the Tianguang Peak; the noises of cliffs collapsing and the monkeys’ terrified screams could be heard once in a while.

In addition to the frequent raindrops in the sky, the Cultivation practitioners of various sects were also remaining in the sky with a grave expression on their faces. Their gazes, along with the rainwater, fell down on the two figures by the cliff’s edge.

The Immortal Taiping asked, “You should know clearly how much energy of heaven and earth you need to ascend; but you gave your fairy energy to Cao Yuan. Do you still have the confidence to ascend?”

“If I didn’t have such a confidence, it would be a waste to cultivate for a thousand years,” said Jing Jiu.

The Immortal Taiping said, “You’re right. Ascension is not something hard for you and me.”

This statement suppressed the noise of the rumbling thunder, reaching the ears of the Cultivation practitioners of various sects and the Green Mountain disciples unmistakably.

Did they mean that ascension was an easy task? They were all stunned speechless, wondering how confident and narcissistic these two brothers felt about themselves.

But no one felt unconvinced though. The Immortal Taiping and the Immortal Jing Yang were qualified to make such a statement. If these two brothers didn’t become enemies due to their different ideals and other reasons, no sect in the Cultivation world would be able to have their opinion heard over the last few hundred years.

Jing Jiu said, “I thought you should have ascended a long time ago.”

“Like I said before,” the Immortal Taiping said, “I won’t let anybody leave this world unless every practitioner can ascend, including myself.”

Jing Jiu snapped, “Don’t try to keep your spirit up this way; it’s a ridiculous idea. It’s because you’re nobody but an ignorant man who is worried about the sky going to fall down.”

“I’m an ignorant man?” pressed the Immortal Taiping in an annoyed voice.

Jing Jiu said, “You’re worried that the sky might fall down, so you’re troubled all night long and can’t sleep. You can’t even taste the flavor of the hotpot. All you think about is how to solve this issue, but you forget to live your life in the meantime.”

The Immortal Taiping retorted with raised brows, “You only drink the water soup of the hotpot and eat a few green vegetables; how could you reproach me for not living my life fully?”

The voice of Zhuo Rusui suddenly rang out amid the rain.

He said to the Immortal Taiping by the edge of the cliff, “Grandmaster, I agree with you on this. The Immortal Sect Master is the most boring person in the world; but…you have already lost. When will you admit your defeat? Can you hurry up to do so? The rain is really heavy; the snow has almost buried Shangde Peak; and Bihu Peak is nearly flooded by water!”