It was late at night, and all was quiet. No one was at the foot of the peak, and the stewards of Cloud-Traveling Peak had not noticed Jing Jiu's arrival.
On the formation diagram in the small building that displayed the locations of the Sword Tokens, only Zhao Layue's Sword Token could be seen, deep within the distant clouds and mist.
The Sword Token belonging to Jing Jiu lay quietly in a corner of his cave abode.
Several apes kept leaping back and forth among the cliffs outside the cave.
Jing Jiu walked onto Sword Peak.
There were no trees on Sword Peak. Dread-inspiring sword intent covered the rocks among the cliffs, and apart from wild grass, few plants could survive here.
As for wild beasts, not a single one could be seen. As far as the eye could reach, all was desolate and deathly still.
For ordinary inner disciples, walking on Sword Peak was extremely difficult. Even those who had successfully retrieved a sword still felt lingering dread whenever they recalled their experience on Sword Peak. But to Jing Jiu, Sword Peak was no different from anywhere else; there was nothing special about it.
He walked among the heights as though treading level ground. His strides could hardly be called winged, yet he moved extremely fast.
No matter how steep a cliff he encountered, he never used his hands to climb, nor was there any sense of him exerting himself. He simply walked up with ease.
Soon, he reached the middle section of Sword Peak and the edge of the clouds.
If someone had looked up from the foot of the peak then, they would only have seen him as a black speck among the scattered rocks.
Any inner disciple who could reach the edge of the clouds on their first ascent of Sword Peak was outstanding.
Disciples who could walk straight into the clouds were rarer still.
Jing Jiu walked in.
On Cloud-Traveling Peak, the clouds were forever traveling.
Thick clouds laden with moisture rolled ceaselessly, blocking out all light and leaving complete darkness.
There were more strands of sword intent here, and they were even more dread-inspiring. An ordinary disciple would have been unable to withstand their assault after just a few breaths.
Neither the sword intent nor the darkness affected Jing Jiu at all. On the contrary, once he entered the clouds, he no longer needed to conceal himself, and he moved upward even faster, until he became a wisp of smoke, covering dozens of yards with each step. His ears stirred with the wind, listening to the sounds between heaven and earth to ensure he encountered no obstacles.
After an unknown length of time, Jing Jiu stopped.
He should not have been far from the summit now. Lin Wuzhi's judgment had been correct: before Uncle-Master Mo of Shiyue Peak passed away, Jing Jiu's words had indeed roused his last vestige of pride. He had actually surpassed his limits and returned his sword to such a height.
Jing Jiu quietly sensed the several hundred strands of sword intent around him, fewer now but even more murderous in their aura. Judging that it should be higher still, he leaped upward.
His feet landed soundlessly on the ground.
The dense clouds and mist gradually dispersed.
Jing Jiu saw a pair of eyes.
They were beautiful eyes, their whites like quicksilver, their black pupils like dots of lacquer.
An ordinary person would certainly have been startled to suddenly see such a pair of eyes in the clouds at the top of Sword Peak.
Likewise, the owner of those eyes should also have been startled.
But neither Jing Jiu nor the owner of those eyes was an ordinary person.
So there was no startled cry, only silence.
The fact that they could see only each other's eyes meant their faces were very close.
"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here."
Jing Jiu spoke.
His breath stirred a breeze, lifting a lock of dark hair that drifted across those eyes like a willow branch brushing the water.
Jing Jiu took a step back and saw the other person's face.
That face was also beautiful. Though not as beautiful as his, its brows and eyes could still be called a painting.
Only, the girl's brows were somewhat short and very black, and her hair was short, very short.
There was dust on both her hair and her face. She looked dirty, as though she had not washed in a long time.
This was a cliff face, with a cave half a person's height in it.
The girl sat cross-legged inside, like a stone statue.
Jing Jiu remembered who she should be.
There was only one person in the entire Green Mountain Sect who stayed on Sword Peak year-round, practicing Sword Intent Tempering Body.
Zhao Layue.
"Who are you?"
Zhao Layue asked.
Her voice was lovely, clear as a ringing sword, its final note rising slightly, like a sword bent by autumn waters finally springing back.
"Jing Jiu."
Zhao Layue thought for a moment, then said, "I think I've heard of you."
Jing Jiu said, "I've heard of you too."
Zhao Layue tilted her head as she studied his face, then suddenly said, "You're not as good-looking as the rumors say."
"Perhaps the rumors were too exaggerated."
Jing Jiu nodded to her, left the cliff face, and headed higher.
Zhao Layue paid him no heed and gave it no further thought. She closed her eyes and continued sensing the sword intent around her.
Its intent was natural; thus, by receiving and using it, all things could fulfill their own selves.
Her breathing followed the rise and fall of the sword intent, gradually settling into stillness and becoming incomparably slow, until it stretched on as though without intervals.
Her heartbeat slowed as well, becoming difficult to hear amid the wind howling across the cliff and the chaotic sword intent.
Jing Jiu circled around to a cliff on the western slope of Sword Peak.
He was still thinking about Zhao Layue.
Perhaps he had heard the name too often; it sounded familiar, yet he also felt he might have heard it much earlier.
And those eyes, with their clearly defined black and white-he kept feeling he had seen them somewhere before.
In everyone's eyes, Zhao Layue, so highly valued by the sect and cherished by her elders, waiting only for the Sword Inheritance Assembly to shine brilliantly, had a piercing gaze and brimmed with high spirits.
But in Jing Jiu's eyes, her gaze was not so simple. It seemed to conceal something, and there was a trace of melancholy.
But that had nothing to do with him.
He looked around, confirmed that the sword he sought was here, and with a slight stirring of thought, sent out his Sword Sense.
Within the several hundred yards enveloped by his Sword Sense, and even in some places farther away, the swords hidden deep within the cliffs all responded.
The cliff rocks shifted slightly, as though brushed by wind, and gravel pattered down.
Countless strands of sword intent surged up, scrambling to be first. Yet the instant they touched his Sword Sense, they retreated into the cliffs and peaks, refusing to come out again.
Like rabbits sensing danger.
If anyone could have seen this scene, they would surely have found it very amusing.
But no one could see clearly what happened within the clouds of Sword Peak.
Unless they were there themselves.
Among the cliffs on the eastern slope of Sword Peak, Zhao Layue opened her eyes. Sensing the subtle changes in the sword intent between heaven and earth, she wondered, What happened?
On the other side, far across from her.
Sensing the retreat and stillness of the sword intent, Jing Jiu said, "You needn't feel you're unworthy of me."
After a brief pause, he added, "Of course, you really are unworthy of me."
Finally, he said, "But I don't mind."
The swords among the peaks remained silent.
"I won't stay in the mountains all the time like before."
Jing Jiu understood what they meant. After a moment's thought, he said, "This time, I intend to go out and have a look."
Sword intent surged up, scrambling to be first.
Before you continue