Jing Jiu said, "If Jingyang were still alive, what would he say to you?"
Zhao Layue understood, of course. Her granduncle-master had chosen her to inherit his sword because he hoped she would eventually ascend that Great Dao reaching to heaven. But... if something really had happened to him, how could she, as his Sword-Inheriting Disciple, ignore it?
Jing Jiu said, "Just now, as I traveled with you by Sword Control and looked down at the earth, the rivers seemed like slender branches, their surging waters already motionless in my eyes. Why was that? Because we flew high enough and were far enough from the earth. That is why Daoist cultivators must keep their distance from all things in the mortal world."
Zhao Layue said, "If you cannot return to the ground, what meaning is there in flying any higher?"
Jing Jiu said, "The purpose of cultivation is neither to compete and win nor to seek meaning. It has always been to fly higher."
Zhao Layue said, "Why?"
Jing Jiu said, "We seek eternal life through the Great Dao so we can spend more time looking at heaven and earth. We fly higher so we can see farther. Everything is for this. People say Daoist cultivators are heartless, and that is not wrong, because Daoist cultivators never look at what is before their eyes, only at what lies millions of miles away. Their hearts need hold no hills and ravines, because they must hold heaven and earth."
Zhao Layue did not respond to these words. She said, "I know you have flown before."
Only someone who had once flown freely through the sky could have been as calm as Jing Jiu on his first Sword Flight, without the slightest excitement.
Jing Jiu said nothing. Of course he had flown. He