The Path Toward Heaven-Chapter 722 - A Genius will Sometimes Make Stupid Mistakes

Ping Yongjia’s origin was rather suspicious.

Those seemingly simple and unwary documents were as clean as Jing Jiu’s, which was the source of suspicion.

The issue was not noticed when he joined Green Mountain; but Chi Yan couldn’t investigate him anymore when Shangde Peak noticed it, the reason being that his identity had changed.

He was the newest member of Shenmo Peak and the personal disciple of the Immortal Sect Master, and now he had another prominent status, the peak master of the Sword Peak.

Many disciples of Green Mountain were not convinced, thinking that Ping Yongjia relied on the Immortal Sect Master to obtain the position. What was his true prowess since sleeping on the Sword Peak all the time?

To be able to sleep on the Sword Peak full of formidable sword wills for several years in a row was a significant achievement in itself.

Moreover, the Immortal Guangyuan, Nan Wang and a few others had witnessed what he had done with their own eyes.

The flying swords that had been the component of the Sword Formation of Green Mountain only listened to him, and the sword light traveling heaven and earth only followed the movement of his fingertip.

By the time the crisis of the world’s destruction had been averted and the chasm in the ocean had been replenished, Ping Yongjia had fallen asleep again.

The people thought that he did so because he was extremely tired; Zhao Layue and the Green Girl knew that he feigned it.

Yunxing Peak in the twilight didn’t look like a sword in the least, but an awkward miniature landscape. The path leading to the peak was cordoned off. And yet, the most formidable guard belonged to the nonchalant eyes in the distance.

The Dead Dog was keeping his eyes on this place.

Yuan Qü arrived at the foot of the peak. After a pause while looking at the deep part of the clouds and fog, he entered it.

Due to his special status, the elders and disciples of Yunxing Peak didn’t dare stop him. The Dead Dog in the distance opted to ignore him.

Yuan Qü arrived on the highest spot of the Sword Peak after having passed the steep cliffs and the stone chips that had collapsed a few days ago. He looked at the cliff wall while listening to the cries of the iron eagles.

There were three grottos on the cliff wall, in each of which a person could sit.

The Green Mountain Sect had three shapeless sword bodies so far.

Ping Yongjia opened his eyes and was very happy to see him. “Big Brother, you came!” he exclaimed.

Yuan Qü returned, “Since you’re pretending to sleep, you should feign it a bit more convincingly. Why do you choose to wake up?”

“I’ve thought about it for more than ten days, but I’m still troubled,” said Ping Yongjia. “Big Brother, your sword is most suitable for making a sword rope, and you’re good at the Seven-Plum Sword style. Could you please tie me up?”

Yuan Qü looked like him like he was an idiot, murmuring, “I knew this must be the case.”

“Big Brother, where is your sword?” asked Ping Yongjia, feeling quite hopeful.

“I haven’t brought my sword with me. Didn’t you see me walk up here?” snapped Yuan Qü.

Ping Yongjia felt despaired, yelling, “Since you knew I would ask you for help, why didn’t you bring your sword with you?!”

Yuan Qü sneered, “Since I knew you would make a stupid mistake, why would I, your Big Brother, allow you to do so?!”

“You have no idea what I’m scared of,” Ping Yongjia cried while clutching his head with his hands.

Yuan Qü took two steps forward and yanked his hands apart. “What on earth are you scared of?” he demanded while staring into Ping Yongjia’s eyes.

After a long pause, Ping Yongjia said in a low voice, “I thought I was just a regular disciple with common talent when I was young, and I believed that it was simply my good luck that my Master and Senior Master Zhao picked me for Shenmo Peak.”

Yuan Qü was fully aware of the past events, commenting sentimentally, “You were truly ignorant at the time.”

Ping Yongjia raised his head and turned to Yuan Qü. “I had no idea what my Master and Senior Master Zhao had on their minds at the time,” said Ping Yongjia indignantly. “It wasn’t until I slept on the Sword Peak for a few years and obtained the shapeless sword body that I found my talent was actually quite outstanding.”

“More than outstanding actually…” Yuan Qü chimed with a complicated emotion.

“Later in Zhaoge City, I started mulling over it when I saw those swords fly around me…That I didn’t speak my mind doesn’t mean I haven’t found it suspicious; I’m not an idiot.”

Ping Yongjia looked at the morning sunlight on the horizon, his face full of bewilderment. He continued after a moment of pause, “I had the strange feeling again a few day ago when my Master and the Senior Master had destroyed the Sword Formation of Green Mountain. It seemed that I could understand what those swords were thinking. Afterwards, my Master…you know…I was half-surprised and half-excited to learn that I’m, like my Master, a sword devil…but…”

He drew his gaze away from the horizon and said to Yuan Qü pitifully, “Big Brother, I’m not a sword devil; it seems that I’m the All in…”

Yuan Qü reached out his hand as fast as lightning and covered his mouth. “Don’t say it,” commanded Yuan Qü after looking around cautiously.

Ping Yongjia nodded many times. After Yuan Qü pulled his hand away, Ping Yongjia said in a hushed voice, “I know what my Master is thinking; and I can even send my Master to places. A special connection seems to have been established between him and me. I’m really scared…”

“What is your Master’s condition?” asked Yuan Qü while staring into his eyes.

Ping Yongjia replied after some thought, “I don’t know how to describe it. It seems that he won’t be able to wake up.”

“What are you talking about?!” exclaimed Yuan Qü, smacking Ping Yongjia’s head with his palm.

Ping Yongjia said indignantly, “It’s true, which is why I’m so scared.”

Looking at the ordinary face of his young brother under the sunlight, Yuan Qü asked mildly after taking a deep breath, “What on earth are you scared of?”

“I’m afraid…I might possess my Master’s body,” replied Ping Yongjia with lowered head.

He raised his head abruptly after he thought of something. “I don’t mean that I have such a disrespectful idea,” said he while waving his hand in tandem. “I’m just afraid that the special connection might suck me over when I’m close to my Master.”

“How can you say such an idea is disrespectful?”

A gray flying sword landed on the cliff in a wobbly manner.

The Swallowing Boat Sword was renowned for its pathetic and fallen-leaf like manner. Its movement became slower after it had been wounded badly by the Fairy Lady.

Zhuo Rusui behaved very much like his sword, his droopy eyes looking sleepier than before. He didn’t even look like he was awake.

He came before Ping Yongjia and revealed the shocking fact casually, “If you were the spirit of the All in One Sword, that body would be yours in the first place. And if the Immortal Sect Master were dead, the body would be returned to its original owner when you took it back.”

Feeling helpless, Yuan Qü thought that he shouldn’t have spoken his mind regarding such a matter. His eyes signaled to Ping Yongjia that he wanted to know why this guy was here.

“I’ve asked Big Brother Zhuo to give me some advice if your sword rope couldn’t bind me,” said Ping Yongjia nervously while rubbing his hands, a few sword wills drifting out, leaving a few marks on the cliff.

Looking at the sword marks on the cliff, Zhuo Rusui said, “If you were the spirit of the All in One Sword, no sword rope could bind you.”

Yuan Qü felt more helpless, thinking that Zhuo Rusui had made even a bigger deal out of this.

“What should I do then? Don’t tell me the nonsense that the body will be returned to its original owner. I’m definitely not going to do that!”

Ping Yongjia went on bitterly, “Otherwise…how about the two of you kill me?”

Zhuo Rusui snapped angrily, “Zhao Layue couldn’t even do such a brutal and merciless thing, let alone us.”

Ping Yongjia lowered his head even more, and his voice grew weaker, “I knew that Senior Master Zhao wanted to kill me.”

Zhuo Rusui said, “Zhao Layue won’t kill you for something you haven’t done. She was just observing your weakness, in order to make sure she can kill you right away if you threaten the Sect Master’s life.”

If Ping Yongjia had gone to Dayuan City, he would have seen a blood-red sword light even though the Thoughtless Sword was broken in half at the moment.

This was the very reason why Zhao Layue was unwilling to bring Jing Jiu back to Green Mountain.

The morning sunlight suddenly scattered, as three large sword boats left the flat ground by the Sword-Washing Stream, heading toward northwest.

A sword letter arrived before the cliff after breaking through the clouds and fog.

“The Sect Master is in Dayuan City.” Yuan Qü pulled back his gaze and looked at Ping Yongjia, “You should have known this.”

Ping Yongjia said nervously, “Senior Master Zhao didn’t bring my Master back; how could I tell you where he was?”

“You…” Zhuo Rusui stabbed his finger at Ping Yongjia a few times, not knowing what to say to him. He was ready to leave on the Swallowing Boat Sword.

Yuan Qü said, “I left my sword on Shenmo Peak. I have something to bring over. Please take me with you.”

Zhuo Rusui pulled him up onto his sword, gliding away.

Ping Yongjia jumped down from the grotto and waved his hand toward the sky, yelling, “I don’t dare go there. Please tell my Master that I miss him very much.”

The three large sword boats arrived outside Dayuan City. They bought the gardens and houses in the mountain and the exquisite lotus pond by force.

The imperial court acted quickly enough. The divine army cordoned off the mountain overnight, blocking the curious eyes and steps of the regular folks.

Soon after, more buildings were constructed by the banks of the stream outside the Three-Thousand Nunnery, like what had occurred on that street in Zhaoge City.

The Immortal Guangyuan and Nan Wang were recuperating in their respective courtyards. The elders and disciples of Green Mountain encircled the nunnery hall so tightly that a drop of water couldn’t even leak out of it.

The warm and red twilight shone on the small bridge and the flowing stream underneath it; as such, the lonely grave didn’t appear as sorrowful as before.

Sitting by the lake, Zhao Layue was tempering the Thoughtless Sword in her hands, her sight fixed on the surface of the lake that seemed to be ablaze while reflecting on something.

After a long while, she released her hands, and the Thoughtless Sword was still in halves.

She inserted the two halves of the sword back into her waist and went back to the meditation room through the round window. She was certain that Jing Jiu had no sign of waking up and that Bai Zao looked exactly the same as she had over the last one hundred years.

After walking out of the meditation room and coming to the small bridge, she saw a figure amid the twilight. “Can’t you be more discreet?” demanded Zhao Layue, furrowing her eyebrows.

Hearing this, Jian Xilai was slightly taken aback as he was holding the corpse of the Dark Phoenix in his arms and sensing the sword wills in it. “What?” he exclaimed.

Pointing to the corpse of the Dark Phoenix in his arms, Zhao Layue remarked, “No matter what, he was the former Principal Guard of Green Mountain. You’re using him to perceive the essence of the sword work, so his soul can’t be liberated…Though I think very little of it, don’t you think those disciples of Green Mountain outside the courtyard might go mad if they see this?”

Many disciples of Green Mountain were as crazy as she; otherwise, the famous oral mantra wouldn’t exist in the first place. If they saw the scene on the bridge, they might be enraged, their blood boiling, and charge in in the room with no regard for the safety of their Immortal Sect Master.

Even though he was the number one swordsman in the world, how could he resist the attacks when the whole of Green Mountain had gone mad?

Jian Xilai thought about it and found what she said was sensible. As a result, he made his way to the other side of the bridge through the meditation room while holding the corpse of the Dark Phoenix and sat down by the lake, resuming his perception of the essence of the sword work.

This scene was a sort of weird regardless of how one viewed it.

The wooden gate of the Three-Thousand Nunnery was tapped and then pushed open.

Yuan Qü walked in with an iron kettle and a few teacups in his hands.

Zhuo Rusui followed closely behind with a boiling hotpot in his hands, displaying an indignant expression on his face.