The Path Toward Heaven

Chapter 653: No Match for Him on Green Mountain

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

Nobody expected that Zhao Layue would use the Thoughtless Sword as the bet.

As for whom she bet on to win, the answer was so obvious that the crowd had no need to think about it.

Next, Yuan Qü and Ping Yongjia walked over.

Yuan Qü laid down the nameless and strange gray sword. Ping Yongjia checked his body for a while and took out a pie embarrassingly, which was given to him by the Drifter.

Zhuo Rusui coughed twice and took out a golden leaf after pretending to check all of his pockets.

His was a very minimal bet, which was even less valuable than Ping Yongjia’s pie.

The gentle wind kept on blowing on the top of Tianguang Peak, and the footsteps were heard constantly. Led by Zhao Layue, more and more people put down their bets.

The elders of various peaks were prudent and didn’t make the wager. Though Nan Wang had made the suggestion, a majority of the participants in the gambling game were the disciples of the third generation.

Unexpectedly, all the bets were wagered on Jing Jiu; nobody favored Fang Jingtian.

The elders of Xilai Peak remained silent. Even if they wanted to save some face for their peak master, they didn’t have any treasure that could match the value of the Thoughtless Sword, a sword in the Fairy State.

Seeing the swords, a pie and a golden leaf to the left side of Nan Wang and nothing to her right side, the Immortal Guangyuan couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Even though Jing Jiu had broken through the Heavenly Arrival State in Zhaoge City, he had only done it a short time ago; how could he be a match for Fang Jingtian, who was a swordsman in the middle of the Heavenly Arrival State?

The reason for their bets was quite simple.

The Immortal Jing Yang had never lost in fights.

Jing Jiu had never lost either.

Jing Jiu had gotten involved in many fights in the last one hundred and fifty years.

He fought Gu Qing at the Inherited Sword Competition, Ma Hua and Gu Han at the Sword Trial, the young practitioners of the Cultivation circle at the Cultivation tournament of the Plum Meeting and at the Dao Competition, and those battles against those powerful swordsmen later on.

In the beginning of these fights, most people didn’t think he had a chance of defeating his opponents; but he had won all of the fights.

He was known to have no match in the same Cultivation state in the Cultivation circle.

Considering he was the reincarnation of the Immortal Jing Yang, people believed that he was undefeatable.

As long as Jing Jiu participated in a fight nowadays, nobody would think his opponent had a chance, even if his opponent was Fang Jingtian that day.

...

...

The fight between Fang Jingtian and the Immortal Guangyuan in contending for the title of sect master was friendly and gracious, devoid of vicious smoke and fire; it was over in a short time. That was because they didn’t fight for life and death. All they wanted was to determine the difference in their Cultivation state. However, the fight in the hermit peaks between the two in the Heavenly Arrival State was a matter of life and death. Even if their Cultivation states were different and their strengths were not the same, which one of them would be willing to admit defeat?

Nan Wang was right; it was unclear how long the fight would last.

The people looked in the direction of the hermit peaks while standing on the top of Tianguang Peak. They felt very anxious even though they couldn’t see anything.

The stone monument gave off frequent thuds, sounding like a battle drum being struck, and the dust kept on falling off from it, making everyone feel uneasy.

Dusk arrived, and later night fell with bright starlight, shining on the peaks and the clouds like flowing water.

Nobody spoke on the peak top. Gradually, some of them pulled back their gazes and looked at the scenes around them or their own hands; it seemed that they were pondering something.

Zhao Layue lifted up her head and looked at the stars. She noticed that the stars had suddenly grown dimmer for a fleeting moment. She spun her head around reflexively to look at the stone monument.

It was unclear when the Round Turtle had opened his eyes. A corner of his mouth was holding a piece of starlight, and it looked like he was swallowing the starlight slowly.

After he had finished swallowing the starlight, the Round Turtle turned his head slowly to look in the direction of the hermit peaks. A hint of irritation and resentment appeared in his aged and composed eyes.

Maybe he felt frustrated that those two were going to deplete the resources of Green Mountain.

...

...

The starry night sky was more beautiful in the hermit peaks.

The stars were not twinkling; it seemed as if they were to hang quietly in the night sky permanently.

Countless marks appeared in the night sky, some of them appearing to be bent, some straight. The marks seemed to be carved deeply into the sky, but had no sign of rupturing.

The sword lights were even brighter than the starlight. The sword lights traveled and shuttled relentlessly under the dark night sky, bumping into each other and dodged each other. Sometimes the sparks exploded when two sword lights collided with each other, and sometimes they brushed past one another. They acted like two relentless and ignorant shooting stars trying to destroy each other.

This was an amazing scene, but it also made the onlookers feel dizzy. There was no opportunity for anyone in the real world to observe such a scene, so it couldn’t be drawn by a painter.

Ada blinked his eyes, and those wonderful and amazing sword lights and marks were all sliced into pieces in his eyes; but soon, they appeared in his peculiar cat eyes again.

He couldn’t enjoy watching such a wonderful scene; he was merely a cold-hearted and indifferent observer.

The sword lights that shot out like the growing plum branch were so formidable and ferocious that they could easily match his sweeping paw at full strength.

The straight sword lights were boring, tedious and weak even though they were fairly fast. Ada wondered why Jing Jiu dared challenge Fang Jingtian by traveling in such a boring and chaotic manner.

Thinking of all this, a large flame suddenly formed in his eyes.

The two sword lights met again.

Well...Jing Jiu seemed to be in a worse situation this time.

No matter whether Jing Jiu would admit it or not, Ada would insist that he thought Jing Jiu was on the verge of being defeated; so he had no choice but to help. Jing Jiu, as the sect master of Green Mountain, must feel grateful to him.

It was the time for him to strike, Ada thought.

Thinking that the history of the Green Mountain Sect would record such a heroic deed performed by the Master Principal Guard, Ada felt like he was to faint at the happy thought. He wagged his tail and was ready to leap into the night sky to sneak-attack Fang Jingtian...

All of a sudden, a soft paw landed on his head and pressed him to the ground; he couldn’t move an inch now.

The paw was very soft and warm, and it felt very comfortable when it was on his head. But Ada was extremely horrified; the pupils in his eyes shrank to the size of a small pea, his white hair billowing out as he let out a dreadful and cautious shriek.

Damn it! Wasn’t he one hundred miles away? How come he suddenly came here?

Damn it! How come he became so formidable in a few hundred years?

...

...

The sword lights that were many times brighter than the starlight illuminated the hermit peaks.

In comparison to those hidden and intact marks in the sky, the ground in the hermit peaks was in a considerably worse condition; the ditches of one hundred feet deep and several miles long were everywhere, looking like scars covering the entire skin.

Dozens of peaks had been destroyed; but the manor caves in those peaks all had the green lights on.

If these two were to fight to the end, they wouldn’t take the consequences into consideration when their lives were threatened. By that time, the sky and earth would rupture and collapse; what would happen to those elders of the previous generations staying behind death doors in the manor caves?

The Dead Dog was watching the fight in the hermit peaks; what he intended to do was to prevent such consequences from happening.

As soon as Ada snuck into the hermit peaks, the Dead Dog had noticed him.

Ada had often snuck into the hermit peaks and made a fuss many years ago. He was quite familiar with the surroundings here, but the Dead Dog was much more familiar with the place, not to mention that the Dead Dog had prepared for many years to guard against the cat.

As a result, the Dead Dog used his right front paw to press Ada to the ground when he was ready to leap up into the night sky and launch a shameless and powerful sneak-attack on Fang Jingtian.

...

...

One was a huge dog, the size of a black mountain.

The other was a small cat, the size of a dandelion.

The difference in size and such a scene were quite amusing.

The Dead Dog didn’t pay further attention to Ada after pressing him to the ground. The Dead Dog watched the two sword lights in the night sky quietly and closely.

The straight sword light traveled really fast.

The Dead Dog hadn’t seen any sword light that could travel faster even though he had lived on Green Mountain for a great many years.

The bent and plum-like sword light was doing pretty good as well. Its sword will was swirling and unpredictable. No matter how fast the straight sword light traveled, it had a hard time finding the precise position of the bent sword light. On the other hand, the straight sword light had nearly been trapped by the bent sword light a few times.

“Meow?”

A weak cat cry broke out in the peaks.

The Dead Dog lowered his head and took a look at the white cat under his paw. The expression in his eyes was calm and amiable, but showed determination more than anything.

“I know Jing Jiu is the sect master, but I can’t interfere with this fight, and neither can you,” said the Dead Dog in his mind.

Ada was aware that the Dead Dog hadn’t learned the Two-Mind Connection from the Immortal Taiping, so he swore a few times in his mind as he thought that the Dead Dog and the Dark Phoenix had slaughtered a large number of Green Mountain disciples alongside the two brothers back then.

After that, Ada meowed loudly and confidently one more time.

The Dead Dog cocked his head and looked at Ada in surprise, bringing up a gust of night wind. “How come Ada is hungry?” he wondered in his mind.

Ada meowed twice to confirm that he was indeed very hungry.

The Dead Dog thought about it for a while before he lowered his head and held Ada in his mouth. They went to a distant peak soundlessly as the night wind whipped up.

This peak was different from all the other hermit peaks; it was a barren stony mountain, devoid of weeds and plants.

There were many grottos in the cliff wall.

And there was a stone statue in each grotto.

Each stone statue represented a swordsman of Green Mountain who had failed to break through the Heavenly Arrival State and died in the hermit peaks.