The Path Toward Heaven

Chapter 512: The Sect Master Chen and Her Daughter

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

By the time Jing Jiu opened his eyes, the Sword of the Universe had just come back.

Liu Ada closed his mouth, his eyes gazing at Jing Jiu full of admiration and sentiment.

He had run faster than his own flying sword, Ada thought; what kind of sword style did he use?

The sword style Jing Jiu had used was none other than the Underworld Fairy Sword.

After Liu Ada figured out the formations on the path and the position of De Yuanquan, Jing Jiu had calculated the route and stored the energy of the true sword for a minute before striking suddenly.

What Jing Jiu employed was a common “lightning” method adopted by many Cultivation practitioners in a high state. Yet the fundamental difference between Jing Jiu and other practitioners was that the sword he used was himself.

The Underworld Fairy Sword he employed at the moment was far inferior to when Liu Ci used him as a sword; but his sword will was nonetheless as swift and unpredictable as a fairy man or a ghost. As such, his sword was still fairly formidable.

De Yuanquan had a very high Cultivation state; he didn’t show any fear when facing the threat from the elder of Green Mountain in the Broken Sea State. But he didn’t expect Jing Jiu’s sword work to be so irregular, and he had died unexpectedly.

Liu Ada had seen Jing Jiu’s Underworld Fairy Sword never before had he borne witness to the Underworld Fairy Sword at such a level. He stared steadfastly at Jing Jiu.

How come he had suddenly become so powerful?

“The Broken Sea,” Jing Jiu said.

He referred to the Broken Sea State he had entered successfully a few days ago on Bihu Peak.

Liu Ada glanced at him sideways, thinking that Jing Jiu shouldn’t treat him like that stupid dog, as he was fully aware that nobody in the Broken Sea State could possibly be so powerful.

If he could kill someone like De Yuanquan instantly in his Broken Sea State by employing the Underworld Fairy Sword, it meant that he would be able to kill anyone he wanted to in Chaotian when he was in the Heavenly Arrival State.

Jing Jiu had told Zhao Layue many years ago that he was actually most suitable for working as an assassin in Chaotian.

He had come to this conclusion after he pursued and killed those monsters of the Snowy Kingdom overnight in the snowland during the Cultivation tournament.

Those monsters of the Snowy Kingdom had a sensitive and inborn perception, but they still couldn’t sense his arrival in the dark of night, which meant that it would be impossible for human Cultivation practitioners to detect and evade his assassination attempt.

However, he wasn’t playing the role of assassin who carried out their deed in the darkness of the night when he De Yuanquan today; he had done it in the broad daylight.

The reason he had done it this way was because he had complete confidence in his ability to kill the opponent.

He had developed a brand new sword style back in the Fiend Prison. From that moment on, the traditional Cultivation states were not applicable to him anymore, or at least, not entirely applicable.

Due to his Underworld Fairy Sword, Jing Jiu in the Broken Sea State possessed an unimaginably fast speed and lethal prowess.

It wasn’t until now that he had finally gained the ability to sufficiently protect himself. Of course, this was only a concept in his mind.

He only dared leave Green Mountain when he had Liu Ada with him. And he dared to lure out his Big Brother with the First Child Sword because he had such confidence.

However, he was too lazy to explain all these concepts and reasons to Liu Ada.

Jing Jiu put on the conical hat, got up and headed for the outside of the room.

Liu Ada noticed that his face was a bit pale and his steps were staggering slightly. So Ada knew that he had actually used a great amount of energy by thrusting that sword.

Thinking of this, Ada felt it a bit regretful. It would be so great if he could wield such a powerful sword continuously, Ada thought.

When Jing Jiu came to the courtyard, the two monks were preparing for supper. It was unclear what was boiled in the pot, though it smelled pretty good. Some fresh vegetables were placed by the side.

“The veggie foods were provided by the Hanging-Bell Sect for our lunch. Only my Master and I ate them at noon, so quite a bit are left. I thought it’d be a pity to throw them away, so I brought the remaining food back.”

The young monk went on inviting Jing Jiu to the dinner, “I have just picked these vegetables in the field myself. They’ll taste delicious after boiling them. Do you like to eat with us?”

Ada shot a glance of contempt at the young monk, thinking that Jing Jiu didn’t even like eating hotpot, let alone this sort of greaseless and messily boiled pot.

In the next moment, Ada felt sympathy for the monks, as he thought they lived a grueling life and wondered why that little girl Sese wanted to marry a monk.

“No, thanks. I’m going to the lakeside to walk about,” Jing Jiu replied.

Ada was startled, thinking that he had just come back from walking about.

As Ada walked out of the small courtyard, he found that Jing Jiu had already recovered; he couldn’t help but curse inwardly. He thought that Jing Jiu had recovered a bit too fast.

Jing Jiu didn’t go to the lakeside though. He came to the backside of the residences provided by the Hanging-Bell Sect for their guests and found a well there.

Ada jumped onto the opening of the well and looked inside. He found that it was not a dry well and that it had a great deal of water at its bottom. He couldn’t help but hesitate.

Though he had lived by Blue Lake for several thousand years, he still loathed water.

Jing Jiu grabbed him and chucked him into the sleeve before jumping into it.

Flop!!!

Soon after, the water in the well had gradually returned to its former condition.

...

...

Many islands scattered in the middle of Morning Lake.

One of the islands was very remote, and it wasn’t quite eye-catching.

A faint noise could be heard on that island, as if something had broken apart.

Jing Jiu did a few jumping jacks, and the mud and soil on his body had all dropped, as if they were dew rolling down the lotus leaves.

Ada fell out from the sleeve; his head and face were covered with the mud and soil splashed from Jing Jiu’s body. The cat looked appalling.

Yet he didn’t complain, nor did he get upset, because he was fully aware that Jing Jiu would pay no attention to his emotions anyway.

Jing Jiu put on his conical hat, and observed the formation on the island. He found that it was somewhat different from that when Ada had seen it earlier. After ascertaining that this was the Formation of Natural Source of Heaven and Earth, he couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised. “This formation is a bit strange,” he said. “How did you find the mother and daughter?”

Ada thought he was such an idiot. The cat shook his head forcefully to get rid of the mud and soil; then he raised his head and showed a contented countenance.

The bell tied to his neck was the very Clean-Heart Bell given to Jing Jiu by Sese, and the bell had helped Jing Jiu a great deal in the Fiend Prison.

As Ada lifted his head, the bell rose up without the aid of the wind, pointing diagonally forward; it seemed that the bell intended to point out a position.

With the help of the Clean-Heart Bell, it didn’t take long and much effort before Jing Jiu arrived before that stone wall.

The stone wall was actually an illusionary magic; the real cell was located behind it.

Jing Jiu placed his hand on the stone wall, and began to employ the Inherited Heaven Sword to dismantle the formation.

A rupture appeared on the stone wall, and it expanded gradually, until more contents inside were exposed.

Jing Jiu sensed the true formation inside by now, and he was certain that he had no way to dismantle it; it would at least take a long time to do it, which would alert the Grandmaster.

He realized that he hadn’t learned the Inherited Heaven Sword well enough, and that he needed to improve this sword style no matter how badly he disliked it.

Afterwards, he recalled that the Snow Girl had learned it by seeing it twice.

Now he understood why Yuan Qijing and other Cultivation practitioners had that sort of feeling when they looked at him.

That was not a comfortable feeling indeed.

The comforting part was that the success in Cultivation was dependent on talent, but it was not enough. Cultivation was a relatively fair play.

Regardless of how talented one was in Cultivation, they still needed to accumulate their knowledge and experience over time. For a being like the Snow Girl, she would live as long as heaven and earth, but she still needed a longer time to accumulate knowledge and experience.

As he thought of all this, a large hole had already shown at the place where the illusionary stone wall was, exposing the cell inside.

There was no bed in the cell, save for a few casually piled-up dry reeds.

A pretty woman was lying on the reeds. She looked pale, with both of her legs broken and her skirt soaked with blood; but her beautiful eyes and brows still manifested a gentle air completely devoid of hatred and resentment.

Kneeling by the woman, Sese dabbed the corner of the woman’s dried mouth softly with a handkerchief after dipping it in the water on the stone wall.

The Clean-Heart Bell on Ada’s neck suddenly gave off a faint ringing noise.

Hearing the sound of the bell, Sese wheeled around and saw Jing Jiu wearing a conical hat and a white cat. She was startled.

Seeing the expression on Sese’s face, the pretty woman let out a faint smile, as she asked the man in the conical hat, “Are you He Zhan?”

“No...no! He is one of my friends.”

Sese hopped up and waved her hands frantically. She walked to the front of the cell and signaled Jing Jiu with her eyes, as she intended to tell Jing Jiu not to speak or to take off his conical hat.

Jing Jiu didn’t quite understand what Sese meant, and said to the pretty woman, “I’m Jing Jiu.”

Sese couldn’t help but hold her forehead with her hands as she grunted once.

The expression on the pretty woman’s face changed slightly, but her eyes gleamed soon after, saying, “It is cloudy today; why is this young master still wearing the conical hat?”

Lying on the pile of reeds with her legs broken and blood all over her skirt, she looked awful; but her voice was as pleasing as ever, making the listener feel a sense of welcome, as if she were talking amicably to a guest coming from a distant place while lying on an elegant and luxurious bedding. Her words coupled with her gentle voice could warm any listener’s heart like the spring breeze.

Jing Jiu knew that this severely wounded woman was the Sect Master Chen of the Hanging-Bell Sect.

And he finally understood why Sese had said she couldn’t let her mother see him. So he didn’t take off his conical hat, nor did he give a response.

Seeing him behave as asked, Sese felt relieved. She dropped her hands and asked him, “What are you doing here? Did you come to save me?”

Jing Jiu uttered “hmm”.

Sese was a bit moved. She said while pointing at dozens of stringed wind-bells outside the cell, “It’s impossible to dismantle this formation.”

Those stringed wind-bells were hung from the top of the cliff all the way to the bottom of it, forming a barrier, the formation changing shapes along with the air flow from heaven and earth. It was indeed exceedingly difficult to dismantle.

Jing Jiu uttered another “hmm”.

Sese urged him, “You should get out of here quickly. If the Grandmaster found you here, I’m not sure what kind of trouble would ensue.”

Jing Jiu didn’t utter “hmm” this time, as he said, “I promised to kill some people for you.”

Sese looked at him quietly. Then she suddenly laughed. Her emotional face looked rather attractive, but it also appeared somewhat piteous.

She didn’t expect Jing Jiu to remember her mischievous request when she was still young; but she was not a young girl anymore.

“Big Sister Layue had mentioned that you were good at killing people back then, so I thought of asking you to kill a few people for me in secret.”

Sese went on while looking at Jing Jiu with a faint smile, “But both sides have already shown their true colors, and it’s impossible to sneak-attack those people any longer. So forget about it.”

She still had no idea that her grandmother would send someone to kill her mother tonight.

Ada told Jing Jiu about it; but Jing Jiu had no intention of telling her about it.

“I’ll probably stay on Green Mountain all the time. So it will be harder for me to do it for you later. Give me the list.”

Jing Jiu continued, “I’ve promised you to kill five people. Don’t forget it.”

After a pause, Sese began to tell him the names.

She could remember those names by her heart.

Those were the people who had instigated the deteriorating relationship between her grandmother and her mother, and they were the people who had stood firmly on the side of her grandmother and helped her grandmother take control of the Hanging-Bell Sect.

As long as those people were dead, the majority of the elders and disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect would side with her mother.

“De Yuanquan...”

Sese said this name at the end. “He is someone I want to kill the most; but he is also the hardest to kill. If you think it’s hard to do, don’t do it then...No, take this name off the list.”

“He’s dead,” said Jing Jiu.

Upon hearing this, Sese was dumfounded.

Her grandmother intended to let this wicked person, De Yuanquan, be the next sect master...how come he was dead?

It was almost impossible for a Cultivation practitioner to die of an acute illness, and they wouldn’t be trampled by a frightened horse easily. Then, there was only one answer.

Jing Jiu must have known that De Yuanquan was one name in her list, so he had killed him ahead of time.

“Well done!”

Sese got back the same brutal temperament as when she killed Jiang Rui in the snowland; she continued while staring at Jing Jiu appreciatively, “I’d definitely marry you if I didn’t have He Zhan already.”

“I think I need to thank him for that.”

Jing Jiu turned around and headed for the outside of the island.

The Sect Master Chen said in a gentle and elegant voice, “Take care, Young Master.”

Jing Jiu didn’t turn his head around, as he thought that Sese was like her mother in some aspects, but she was far inferior to her mother in terms of Cultivation and temperament.