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

Everything had happened too fast.

Those flying swords over the top of Tianguang Peak didn’t have time to respond to it.

And it was also because the Green Mountain disciples had been too stunned to make any response.

The result of life and death was decided instantaneously when the flying sword flew out. The reason they were so stunned was neither because of the blood on the cliff nor because of the broken arms and Elder Bai who was wailing appallingly.

The reason they were stunned was not because Zhao Layue was the most talented Cultivation practitioner at the Green Mountain Sect and entered the upper state of the Free Travel at such a young age. It was because she had taken the opportunity of Bai Rujing’s flying sword being swallowed by the Master White Ghost to attack suddenly; though she was not yet in the Broken Sea State, such a sudden strike resulted in an unexpected outcome.

Most of all, the Green Mountain didn’t expect her to take advantage of such an opportunity and strike.

The opportunity she took was too relentless and brutal, giving others a feeling of her achieving her goal in an extremely cruel manner.

The Green Mountain disciples only had the similar feeling when they witnessed those devil men of the deviant sects doing such a thing; they didn’t expect to witness her doing it.

Zhao Layue was of natural Dao quality and the most admirable person for these young disciples of Green Mountain before Jing Jiu became more popular with them. She had been like a Buddha in their eyes.

Since she became the peak master of Shenmo Peak, she had a higher status and power and become more out-of-reach for the regular disciples.

Unexpectedly, they had witnessed such an act that day.

Many Green Mountain disciples remembered by now that when Zhao Layue traveled the world the first time while still in a low Cultivation state, she killed many Cultivation practitioners and demons, shocking the whole of the human world. They couldn’t help but feel bewildered, thinking that she was still as brutal as before.

Ada glanced at Zhao Layue while sitting on Jing Jiu’s shoulder, and then shot a glance at Nan Wang who was standing by the cliff in the distance, wondering why these two women had similar temperaments.

“You, a sword devil, dared attack an elder of our sect in such a cruel manner.”

Fang Jingtian exclaimed icily while staring at Jing Jiu, “You’ve done so many evil things; do you really expect to leave Green Mountain alive?”

Though everybody saw with their own eyes that it was Zhao Layue who had struck, it didn’t prevent Fang Jingtian from blaming Jing Jiu for the act.

“You have been a boring person ever since you entered the mountain gate, especially today; you have said too much. You are too eager to show off your intelligence, but instead you have shown your stupidity today. It’s because your intelligence is not very useful.”

Jing Jiu went on while staring at Fang Jingtian, “Your Master is the smartest person in the world, but he has achieved nothing so far; instead, he has to wander about like a homeless dog.”

Upon hearing this statement intended to humiliate his Master, the expression in Fang Jingtian’s eyes grew gloomier and more full of lethal intent.

Jing Jiu said, “He is too smart and too eager to win. He has always attempted to predict what was on my mind. But he failed to understand that I’m a person who doesn’t think so much, especially about those external affairs. I have never thought of convincing you people to believe that I am Jing Yang, nor do I intend to carry on the post of sect master. How can he defeat me?”

Fang Jingtian sneered, as he wanted to ask Jing Jiu why he had accepted the Will of Big Brother Liu Ci and had done so many things.

Jing Jiu continued before Fang Jingtian could speak, “You can’t keep me here. Later, you will wonder why I won’t leave the Inherited Heaven Sword and the Seal of Underworld Emperor behind since I’m leaving.”

Many elders and disciples of Green Mountain had a hard time choosing which side to support.

Yet, they thought that Jing Jiu should leave these two treasures behind since he intended to leave.

Only the sect master of Green Mountain was qualified to take possession of the Inherited Heaven Sword and the Seal of Underworld Emperor.

“I’m not going to hand out the Inherited Heaven Sword and the Seal of Underworld Emperor.”

Jing Jiu continued calmly, “It’s because I’m not going to give up the post of sect master of Green Mountain.”

Upon hearing this, the crowd was astounded, as they thought that it would be equivalent to giving up the post of sect master if he intended to leave Green Mountain with the people of Shenmo Peak.

“I’m Jing Yang. I’m still the same as I was before.”

Having said that, Jing Jiu led Zhao Layue and the others heading toward the edge of the cliff.

It was quiet and soundless on the top of Tianguang Peak.

The crowd didn’t know what to say.

What kind of a person was Jing Yang then?

Though the young disciples of Green Mountain had no idea, the elders like Fang Jingtian, Fu Wang and other peak masters couldn’t forget about it.

Young Senior Master Jing Yang didn’t care so much about outside affairs; he was only preoccupied with cultivating behind closed doors.

When he was disturbed too much by Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing during those significant events, he would only utter a few words.

What he said was not the mantra of the Green Mountain Sect: “Do you have a death wish?”, but “It’s truly…troublesome.”

Was it because he felt it troublesome so that he was to leave Green Mountain without giving up the post of sect master?

Seeing Jing Jiu heading to the edge of the cliff, many Cultivation practitioners thought it was exceedingly preposterous.

“Only the dead man won’t feel troubled,” Fang Jingtian said emotionlessly.

A cold and formidable sword will appeared in the sky.

The ocean of clouds gave a response by producing countless pointed edges, resembling leaves.

The ends of these leaves were the tangible tips of the sword wills.

The sword wills that would straighten now and bend then looked like the branches of a plum tree being twisted by human hands, covering the entire sky.

No matter how swift Jing Jiu could move around, he had no chance of passing through these sword wills.

Was this the prowess of a great figure in the Heavenly Arrival State?

How could Fang Jingtian achieve this?

Now that he had just entered the Heavenly Arrival State, it was hard for him to block heaven and earth in an instance; not even those in the upper state of the Heavenly Arrival could achieve this feat.

Only the Immortal Bai could figure out the reason since she was the person with the highest Cultivation state among the crowd.

Fang Jingtian had been talking since he pushed the wheelchair to the top of Tianguang Peak.

He hadn’t said anything when the Immortal Tai Lu was bombarded to death by Jing Jiu with one strike and Bai Rujing’s two arms were cut off by Zhao Layue.

He had only stated the evidence in a gloomy, furious and mocking manner, and he said what he was supposed to say in his position.

As Jing Jiu commented, he was indeed boring.

Unexpectedly, he had kept on infusing the sword wills in his body into the peak of Tianguang the moment he arrived on the peak top.

Those sword wills had passed through the peak and arrived in the ocean of clouds after turning into the tiniest strands, and they had been accumulating until they became as powerful as a real ocean.

Once he summoned his command, the sword wills would block heaven and earth and trap Jing Jiu inside until his death.

He was the fourth disciple of the Immortal Taiping, and had kept a low profile on Green Mountain for a great many years. He broke through the Heavenly Arrival State in the midst of blooming flowers all over the mountain only after having stayed behind death doors for nine years in the hermit peaks.

He might be a boring person, but he was far from powerless.

…

…

The sword wills that blocked heaven and earth fell down like a violent rainstorm.

A flying sword headed toward Jing Jiu.

It was very swift.

It was the Old Sword.

The elders and disciples of Xilai Peak and more of the Green Mountain disciples who thought Jing Jiu was the sword devil rode out on their flying swords and struck as well.

The bright spring sun grew dimmer instantly. Countless bright sword lights illuminated the top of Tianguang Peak and arrived from the sky, destroying those flying swords intended to protect Jing Jiu in the blink of an eye.

The sky was filled with the flying swords, and they had an unimaginably powerful combined energy. Even though Jing Jiu held Ada in his arms, they still had no chance of resisting such an attack. He was on the brink of being slashed into pieces by the striking swords!

Jing Jiu continued walking to the edge of the cliff with Ada in his arms, as if he had no awareness of hundreds of flying swords striking down at him.

A light mirror had suddenly appeared in the sky.

This light mirror was huge; it enveloped the whole of Tianguang Peak.

Though it was called the light mirror, it was not transparent at all, giving people a sense of being suppressed.

Innumerable words of script in golden color were flowing on the surface of the light mirror.

In fact, those words were rotating, like the twirling leaves.

A peaceful but profound Zen will was present among the peaks.

Boom!!!

The light mirror blocked the Old Sword of Fang Jingtian’s. A violent wind kicked up in the sky, and the flowing clouds dissipated. Even the Great Formation of Green Mountain had been forced to show its true appearance.

The flying swords of the elders and disciples of various peaks, numbering over a hundred, fell down onto the light mirror like a rainstorm, making rumbling sounds.

As the golden words of script in the light mirror grew larger and brighter, those flying swords were knocked away, and in the meantime the grunting cries could be heard everywhere on the peaks.

Fang Jingtian wobbled a little, his face pale.

He, as a figure in the Heavenly Arrival State, had even suffered in the presence of this light mirror; what kind of a Zen magic treasure was it?

Fang Jingtian looked up at a spot in the sky and demanded sternly, “Does the Young Zen Master want to protect this sword devil?”

It was unclear when the Young Zen Master had left the cloud platform and returned to his own lotus sedan.

At the moment, he sat by the lotus flower and plunged his bare feet into the cloud, his eyes showing a naïve temperament, resembling a mischievous child.

Though he seemed to hold the small light mirror in his hand harmlessly, the power exuded by him was unbelievably formidable.

“Though you don’t believe he is the Immortal Jing Yang,” the Young Zen Master said to Fang Jingtian, “I believe him.”

It became quiet again on the peaks of Green Mountain.

Those flying swords ready to attack Jing Jiu had been put away one after another.

It was well known that the Immortal Jing Yang had few friends in the world with the exception of the Young Zen Master of the Fruit Formation Temple. The two of them had discussed the Dao for one hundred days on Shenmo Peak; their relationship was both friendly and that of a master and his disciple.

In addition to Yuan Qijing and Fang Jingtian, the Young Zen Master was the one in this world who was most familiar with the Immortal Jing Yang.

His opinion was of course very significant, which could affect many others.

Fang Jingtian reached out his hand and called back his Old Sword, saying expressionlessly, “This devil has possessed the spiritual soul and memories of Young Senior Master Jing Yang, so he seems to be the same person. I hope you are not deceived by him.”

The Young Zen Master laughed out loud, as if he had heard something that was most ridiculous in the world. “Do you think I can be deceived?” he pressed.

The Fruit Formation Temple was good at the Two-Mind Connection.

It was a fact known by everybody.

Fang Jingtian turned pale as he said, “This is an internal affair at our Green Mountain Sect; I hope that the Young Zen Master won’t get involved in it so carelessly.”

The Young Zen Master stopped smiling, and said in a serious tone, “You’re wrong. Anything related to the Immortal Jing Yang is important to the whole world; so everyone must get involved in it.”

…

…

“Enough.”

The cold and solemn voice of Yuan Qijing echoed among the peaks.

He paused for a while as he looked at Jing Jiu who had already reached the edge of the cliff, and then said, “You can take a break outside the mountains, but don’t stray too far.”

“Big Brother, what are you doing?” demanded Fang Jingtian, his eyes turning cold.

Yuan Qijing returned expressionlessly, “I’m the Sword Justice of Green Mountain; so my decision doesn’t need your approval.”

This was the sect rule of Green Mountain. Even though Fang Jingtian was an important figure in the Heavenly Arrival State, he still didn’t have any reason or qualification to overthrow the decision made by Yuan Qijing.

Fang Jingtian stared into Yuan Qijing’s eyes and said, “Like the Young Zen Master said, the matter related to Young Senior Master is something concerning the whole world; so you can’t make decision about this matter all by yourself.”

If what the Young Zen Master said was sensible, what Fang Jingtian said was also sensible.

As for who was selected as the sect master of Green Mountain, it was indeed the internal affair of the Green Mountain Sect, with which other Cultivation sects shouldn’t meddle.

If the new sect master of Green Mountain were a devil who had colluded with the Underworld and threatened the human race, other Cultivation sects could not simply sit on the sideline and not get involved.

What Fang Jingtian meant was clear enough; even though Yuan Qijing opted to postpone the discussion of the matter, he had no choice but let the entire Cultivation circle make a decision on it.

All the gazes fell on the cloud platforms.

…

…

The first person who expressed his opinion was the sect master of the Great Marsh who didn’t usually show a strong presence.

This kind looking and tall man with a long and loose hair said, “We have no objection.”

This was a neutral attitude.

The sect master of the Mirror Sect expressed the same opinion after glancing at Que Niang and hesitating for a brief moment.

Though he was inclined to think Jing Jiu was the All in One Sword, who could ascertain such a matter anyway? And the relationship between the Mirror Sect and the Immortal Jing Jiu was…rather close lately.

The sects in the south that had a closer relationship with the Green Mountain Sect were the Great Marsh, the Mirror Sect, the Hanging-Bell Sect and the No-Mercy Sect.

Since the No-Mercy Sect was behind the sealed-off mountains, the next was the Hanging-Bell Sect to express their opinion.

Sitting in the wheelchair, Chen Xueshao smiled amiably while looking at the man in white on the top of Tianguang Peak before saying, “We of course trust the Sect Master Jing.”

Sese turned her head away from her mother, feeling helpless.

State Duke He stood up and swept his gaze across Yuan Qijing, Fang Jingtian and others. Then he said earnestly, “As for whether Immortal Sect Master is the Immortal Jing Yang or the devil transformed from the All in One, this old man can’t discern that with my mortal eyes. However, I’m not troubled by all this; it’s because the Emperor has written a distinct decree: The Sect Master of Green Mountain is the Immortal Jing Jiu.”

Hearing this decree, the crowd, after an initial bafflement, understood the meaning of it.

It was indeed the case that Jing Jiu was still the same person no matter whether he was Jing Yang who had possessed the sword or he was the sword devil who had possessed his spiritual soul. This understanding would suffice no matter what.

It was because the person the Emperor acknowledged was nobody else but Jing Jiu.