Chi Yan smiled bitterly. He knew perfectly well what sort of person his senior brother detested most. Back then, even the mention of their youngest martial uncle would not soften his expression in the slightest. He hurriedly changed the subject. "I thought Various Peaks would ask about Jade Lake Peak today."
Yuan Qijing sneered. "Our sect master junior brother won't allow questions. Who would dare ask?"
Chi Yan said uneasily, "Even if they don't ask, we still have to give them an answer."
Yuan Qijing said, "Just say Junior Brother Lei was ambushed in Chaoge City by the Never-Old Forest and the Nether Department working together, suffered some injuries, and is recuperating."
Chi Yan nodded silently.
Naturally, he knew this was not the truth.
Lei Poyun, the peak master of Jade Lake Peak, had gone mad.
He had already been mad when he was brought from Heavenly Light Peak to Shangde Peak.
Yuan Qijing walked into the deepest part of the cave abode and came to the well.
The summit of Shangde Peak stood untold thousands of feet above the ground. Even if there was water in the mountain walls, it could not possibly be drawn up.
That there was a well here was truly bizarre.
The mouth of the well was black. There was no telling how deep it went.
Throughout the Green Mountain Sect, only the truly important figures knew that this deep well led straight to the underground Sword Prison.
That Sword Prison held fiends no one wanted to face, as well as those traitors.
An utterly piercing, wretched cry rose from the dark bottom of the well.
Its source must have been extremely far away. It sounded somewhat indistinct, but the venom and madness concealed within it were unmistakably clear.
"Even if there's no one, what about two!"
The cry was steeped in bitter anguish, like a ghost's wail, striking fear into those who heard it.
Chi Yan had entered the Wilderness Roaming Realm many years ago and could be called a Sword Immortal, yet his face still paled somewhat at the cry.
Or perhaps it was because, not long ago, this madman in the deepest part of the Sword Prison had still been the highly esteemed peak master of Jade Lake Peak in the Green Mountain Sect?
He asked, "What exactly should we do? We can't keep Senior Brother Lei locked up forever. He keeps shouting that same sentence, and we don't even understand what it means. How are we supposed to investigate?"
"Why can't we keep him locked up forever? Whatever drove him mad, and whether or not he was truly mad when he struck, daring to disrespect the sect master is reason enough to imprison him."
Yuan Qijing looked down into the well, listening to that piercing cry, his expression ugly.
"No one-what about two!"
"No one-what about two!"
Chi Yan could not understand those words.
Few people in the entire Green Mountain Sect could understand those words.
He could.
He even knew that those words might have been the very reason Lei Poyun had gone mad.
But if the sect master had driven him mad, why not simply kill him? Only the dead would never speak, whether truth or madness.
Why had the sect master sent him to Shangde Peak? Was it truly because Heaven cherished life? Or...
What are you trying to sound me out about with this madman?
Jing Jiu touched his faintly warm bracelet and walked into the secluded little building.
The building stood behind South Pine Pavilion. Seven miles along the mountain path, it suddenly appeared before one's eyes, like a barrier separating two worlds.
He knew why the bracelet was growing warm: portraits of its previous owners were now inside this building.
The building enshrined portraits of the Green Mountain Sect's successive sect masters and important figures.
Twofold Forgetting Peak fought the Green Mountain Sect's battles against the outside world and was the peak that had shed the most blood. Its successive peak masters naturally qualified as important figures.
But cultivators lived long lives. Even though most masters of Twofold Forgetting Peak had died in battle, there were only seven such portraits in the building.
Following the bracelet's wishes, Jing Jiu looked at all seven portraits. As for the portraits of the ancestral masters in more prominent positions, he did not look at them.
At the end of the long corridor, he stopped before a portrait. It still looked rather new and probably had not been hung there for many years.
It was a portrait of True Person Jingyang.
Jing Jiu quietly studied the face in the portrait, seemingly real yet illusory, for a long time. "I'd almost forgotten what you looked like."
Upon leaving the building, he left the mortal world behind and entered the Green Mountain Sect's inner sect.
Jing Jiu looked up. All the peaks of Green Mountain were hidden, leaving only nine peaks standing beneath the vault of heaven.
The clouds between the peaks did not move. They hung motionless like umbrellas, like canopies, their thinnest parts resembling sheets of paper. The scenery was beautiful beyond measure.
Master Lü was waiting outside the building. Seeing his thoughtful expression, he could not help smiling, thinking that he had finally seen some reaction from the young man.
Then he remembered how he, too, had stood in a similar daze at the sight of the Nine Peaks upon first entering the inner sect, and could not help feeling a surge of emotion.
All these years, he had remained unable to enter the Wandering the Wilds Realm. With his lifespan limited and his prospects unclear, he had had no choice but to leave the Nine Peaks and become an immortal instructor in the outer sect.
Had he not happened to overhear those words, searched patiently around Yunji Town, and finally found Liu S sui and Jing Jiu in that little mountain village, he might have spent the rest of his life at South Pine Pavilion. How could things have turned out as they had now? He had been rewarded with superior pills for his service and could even return to Shangde Peak to continue cultivating. Perhaps the day would really come when he broke through into the Wandering the Wilds Realm.
"Junior Brother Jing, what are you thinking about?" Master Lü asked with a smile.
Once they entered the inner sect, they addressed one another as senior and junior brothers, since they were all third-generation disciples. As for their specific lineages, that would be decided after the Sword Inheritance Assembly. Of course, they would also have to catch the eye of a teacher from one of the peaks.
Master Lü came from Shangde Peak and naturally hoped Jing Jiu would cultivate there in the future.
Jing Jiu said, "True Person Jingyang ascended. He didn't die. Why has his portrait been hung in the building too?"
Master Lü froze. How could he have expected such a question? He thought Junior Brother Jing truly was unlike ordinary people. Countless disciples had paid their respects to the portraits of the ancestral masters in that building, but who would have thought of that?
Unable to answer the question, he could only offer a bitter smile. Then he said solemnly, "I'll return to my peak for secluded cultivation. After we part today, there's no telling when we'll meet again. Take care, junior brother."
Jing Jiu looked at him. "I don't think you'll have any problems."
Master Lü smiled bitterly again, thinking Junior Brother Jing really was a remarkable fellow.
A stream ran between the Nine Peaks. Buildings of every kind dotted its banks, small courtyards and tall buildings, while many cave abodes lay among the cliffs.
Before the triennial Sword Inheritance Assembly, the young disciples admitted into the inner sect would all study the Sword Dao here.
Whether because disciples often washed their swords beside it or for some other reason, the stream had acquired a name: Sword Washing Creek.
And this stage of a Green Mountain disciple's cultivation was called Sword Washing.
Here, disciples had to break through the two realms of Zhitong and Guarding the One in succession. Only when they reached the threshold of the third major realm would they qualify to participate in the Sword Inheritance Assembly.
If a teacher from one of the peaks selected a disciple at the Sword Inheritance Assembly, that disciple could become a Personal Disciple and gain access to the Green Mountain Sect's true sword arts.
Of course, that disciple could also apply to join Twofold Forgetting Peak-provided those senior brothers with eyes set above their heads thought you worthy.
Twofold Forgetting Peak held a very special position in the Green Mountain Sect.
This peak had neither a lineage nor teachers of its own, but its disciples could receive the most patient and rigorous instruction from the teachers of all nine peaks.
For Twofold Forgetting Peak was the Green Mountain Sect's sword.
Apart from cultivation, the most important task of Twofold Forgetting Peak's disciples was to fight the outside world on the Green Mountain Sect's behalf, battling those terrifying fiends and powerful figures of the Nether Department.
Becoming a disciple of Twofold Forgetting Peak was, of course, extremely dangerous, but constant battle would also bring great progress.
More importantly, it was an immense honor in itself.
But what if, no matter how hard one cultivated beside Sword-Washing Creek, one could not break through those two realms, could not attend the Sword Inheritance Assembly, and was even further from being selected as a Personal Disciple by Various Peaks?
Such cases were rare, but they were not unheard of.
When Jing Jiu arrived beside the creek and faced the martial uncle from Past Arrival Peak, this was the first question he heard.
He thought about it very seriously, then said, "I've never thought about that question."
He truly had never thought about it, but to others, those words sounded somewhat arrogant.
Far from being angry, the martial uncle from Past Arrival Peak laughed and patted his shoulder. "Just what I'd expect of Jing Jiu. That really is the perfect answer."
(The reason I'm almost out of stockpiled chapters is that I spent five days lying in a hotel in Beijing... I was ill, with a fever for three of those days, soaking one set of sheets after another, quite thoroughly. I'm home now, and I feel like I should be almost better, right? Spreads hands. Here's hoping. The reason I said this was a very long story is that there was a beginning, a twist, and someone left carrying the blame, but it's so complicated that I can't be bothered to report it all to you. It's been a week since The Great Way Toward Heaven launched. I believe you've all seen what I'm aiming for, and the feedback so far has been very good indeed. I've received so much praise that I'm a little... No, I won't be embarrassed. Please praise me to your hearts' content. Finally, please don't hesitate to cast the recommendation votes you have. Does this count as the first appeal for votes for The Great Way Toward Heaven? Please cast those free recommendation votes. A little pat and a kiss.)
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