A Thousand Years of Longevity for Jinling's Shi Zhidao
Song Dynasty: Xin Qiji
Outside the wall, the autumn grass, and the good news. On the table, the hero. The golden soup creates the atmosphere, the pearls and jade float on the beach. Spring is near, the plum blossoms are hard to grow old.
No regrets, the Golden Venerable falls. Feng Zhao sees. Can't keep, the River East is small. Go from Rong Juwo, tidy up the universe. Thousands of years, from now on, it's the Hall of Governmental Affairs.
…
…
From Propriety to Spiritual Stability, from Knowing Perfection to Preserving One, from Inherited Will to the Undefeated, from Free Swimming to Breaking the Sea and to the Heavenly Arrival State, the Cultivation states of the Green Mountain Sect were progressing one state at a time. For Zhao Layue, Zhuo Rusui and those names in the story, this was a natural process, and it looked simple, but it was not the case.
Cultivation was a very difficult thing. About half of the practitioners would be stopped at each state. From the Knowing Tong State to the Breaking Sea State, one needed to break through the state five times. It was easy to calculate that only one in a thousand practitioners could reach that stage.
Some cultivators didn't have enough talent, but they had strong willpower. They wanted to use years to break the threshold. But the problem was, how many years could they have if their state was not enough?
Therefore, most cultivators would be sure that they had nothing to do with ascension, and then they would be stuck in a certain state. They knew that they would live here, and then die here.
This was a very despairing thing.
But just like the mortals' attitude toward death, desperate things happened too many times, and they would naturally get used to it.
This could be called numbness, but it was actually not thinking about it.
Ming Guoxing was such a disciple of Aoyama. He had entered the initial state of the Undefeated many years ago, and then … there was no then.
These years, he was responsible for registering visitors at the mountain gate. He had the title of an immortal master and did the work of a deacon. In these two years, he had finally become an immortal master at the South Pine Pavilion. But his nature had not changed, and there was no hope.
He didn't expect to be as lucky as Brother Lyu, who met those disciples and was rewarded with elixirs to break the state when he returned to the Nine Peaks.
But his days at the South Pine Pavilion were comfortable. The admiration in these young people's eyes was really pleasant.
Because of these admiring gazes, Ming Guoxing decided to say more today. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Do you know about the Platanus Sect?"
Those young outer court disciples nodded repeatedly, excitedly waiting for the next part, some of them couldn't help but shout out.
"It's Martial Uncle Jing Jiu!"
"Little Martial Uncle is too amazing!"
Ming Guoxing smiled and said, "You know that he also came out of the South Pine Pavilion, but you probably don't know that I was the one who connected him to Aoyama."
If asking for his name at the mountain gate and making a record could be considered as welcoming … He thought to himself, Senior Brother Lyu won't come back to the South Pine Pavilion anyway.
Hearing this, the outer sect disciples were very surprised. The way they looked at Ming Guoxing became even more passionate. They all asked what kind of person Martial Uncle Jing Jiu was. Ming Guoxing stroked his beard and squinted his eyes, as if he was recalling the scene of that time. "That young man back then, his white clothes fluttered in the wind, and he was indescribably beautiful. One look and I knew he was extraordinary …"
His voice suddenly stopped.
The outer sect disciples were puzzled, wondering what was going on.
Ming Guoxing walked to the window and looked at the peaks in the distance, his expression becoming solemn.
…
…
The twilight shone on the Sword-Washing Stream, like a golden whip in the hand of a god, ready to rise from the ground and lash out at any time.
The young disciples by the Sword-Washing Stream hadn't inherited swords yet, so they weren't qualified to go to Tianguang Peak. But compared to the outer sect disciples at the South Pine Pavilion and other places, they at least knew what was going on, so they were not in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery they had enjoyed for years. Gazing at the distant Tianguang Peak, they discussed in low voices who the new Sect Master would be.
Some of them even thought about something even further away. Who among the disciples of the third generation would become the future Sect Master in a few hundred years?
Guo Nanshan was the principal disciple of Aoyama, and Zhuo Rusui was the personal disciple of the Immortal Sect Master. Both of them seemed to have a good chance of becoming the next Sect Master. Several other names were mentioned at the same time.
Then, a certain extremely intelligent disciple used a single sentence to deny the possibility of these people above.
"Don't forget that Senior Master Layue and Senior Master Jing are still very young."
It was true that Zhao Layue and Jing Jiu were the Senior Masters, but they were younger than Guo Nanshan and Zhuo Rusui.
How could the disciples compete with the elders for the position of Sect Master?
But these two elders were so young that they couldn't even outlast them.
It seemed that the Young Senior Master might become the Sect Master in a few hundred years.
…
…
The twilight shrouded the peaks.
The top of Tianguang Peak was still brightly lit by the last sunlight, and the scene was very clear.
Nobody spoke, because they were all shocked.
Countless gazes fell on the chair.
It represented the position of the Sect Master of Aoyama.
What was going on?
What had happened?
Why was Jing Jiu sitting there?
The crowd wondered if they were seeing things or seeing things.
The Round Turtle was very slow. He didn't realize what was going on until the Inherited Heaven Sword had been taken away, uttering an "ouch".
The "ouch" woke everybody up.
They all uttered the "ouch" in their minds, as they remembered what Jing Jiu had just said.
"Let me do it."
…
…
What are you doing here?
Is it the wind or the rain?
Are you waiting for the food or the dishes?
Are you here to rest or to play?
It can't be that … you are going to be the Sect Master.
…
…
Sitting in the chair, Jing Jiu lowered his head and looked at the sheath of the Inherited Heaven Sword, showing no intention of getting up.
The gazes in the crowd's eyes changed from bewilderment to astonishment, then to anger, and then to bewilderment again.
You want to be the Sect Master of Aoyama?
This was simply too preposterous!
It was so ridiculous that the peak heads and elders didn't know whether they should be angry or laugh out loud.
Nan Wang raised his eyebrows, feeling that it was quite interesting, as he asked, "Is this really possible?"
Guangyuan Zhenren tilted his head and looked at Jing Jiu curiously.
Since it was a ridiculous matter, it had to be settled as soon as possible. Otherwise, how could the Aoyama Sect keep its face?
Yuan Qijing remained strangely silent, but there were always people who were more infuriated than him.
"Are you crazy?!"
Bai Rujing walked out of the crowd and shouted at Jing Jiu sternly.
No one thought that Elder Bai had lost his composure, because many people thought that Jing Jiu was crazy. If it weren't for the special occasion today, people would have liked to say to Jing Jiu the mantra of Aoyama, "The selection of the Sect Master of Aoyama is such an important matter that even if you are Jing Jiu, you can't be so ridiculous!"
Yao Songshan, Lei Il-kyung, and the other young disciples who had always admired Jing Jiu felt quite embarrassed at this moment, and turned their faces away unconsciously.
Even a thick-skinned guy like Zhuo Rusui felt a bit embarrassed and fanned himself with his hand.
The people of Shenmo Peak were even more nervous. Gu Qing's face was a bit pale, and Yuan Qu and Ping Yong-Ka were shivering together even though they weren't really hugging each other.
Only Zhao Layue looked calm, as if she didn't know how serious the matter was.
…
…
Jing Jiu was calm as well, as if he wasn't involved in the matter, as if he hadn't stepped on the Round Turtle's back to take the Inherited Heaven Sword, and as if he hadn't sat on the chair and said, "Let me do it."
He withdrew his gaze from the sheath of the Inherited Heaven Sword and looked at the disciples on the peak and in the sky, meeting hundreds of gazes.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
He said, "It's not like I wanted to be the Sect Master."
Having said that, he patted the sheath of the Inherited Heaven Sword, neither too lightly nor too heavily, as if he didn't feel anything special.
It wasn't like those poets patting the railings upstairs, but more like fishermen patting the railings and singing.
A sword will drifted out from the opening of the sheath.
The Peak Heads and Elders sensed it clearly that this sword will was the Inherited Heaven Sword Will of the Immortal Sect Master, which no one could forge.
The sword will met the remaining mist on the peak of Tianguang Peak and condensed into countless tiny water droplets, which gradually took shape under the illumination of the setting sun.
The crowd was astonished, wondering if this was the Will left behind by the Immortal Sect Master.
As the water droplets grew denser and the words became clearer, the crowd became more and more nervous.
Whose name did the Immortal Sect Master write in the Will?
Was it Fang Jingtian, Guangyuan Zhenren, or a Peak Head that no one had expected, like Nan Wang?
Looking at the words that became clearer and clearer, Nan Wang's mood became somewhat heavy.
She didn't have any ambition for the position of the Sect Master, but if her Big Brother doted on her so much, she would certainly accept it.
Finally, the words appeared completely.
The content of the Immortal Liu Ci's Will was very simple, consisting of only five words.
"Aoyama belongs to Jing Jiu."
…
…
These five words couldn't be misread or interpreted as something else.
The Will of the Immortal Liu Ci was very clear that the next Sect Master of Aoyama would be Jing Jiu.
The crowd of Aoyama looked at the chair in shock again, but the expression in their eyes was different from before.
They had thought Jing Jiu sitting on the chair had gone mad.
Now they thought the world had gone mad.
Was it really Jing Jiu?
How could it be Jing Jiu?
…
…
All the disciples of Aoyama were investigated thoroughly before they joined the sect.
The background of Jing Jiu was very clear, and the Shanghai Peak had already concluded that there was no problem with it.
He was the second son of the Jing family in Zhaoge City. He had pursued the Dao since he was a child and left home to seek the immortals everywhere. He was found by a disciple of the Shanghai Peak in a mountain village and brought back to the sect. Later, he had participated in the Inherited Sword Competition, the Sword Trial, the Plum Meeting, and the Dao Competition. He was famous for his swordsmanship, and became the strongest swordsman of the young generation in Aoyama and even in the whole Cultivation world.
There were many disciples of Aoyama like Yao Songshan and Lei Il-kyung, who admired him greatly. The title of "Young Senior Master" had become his exclusive title in Aoyama.
His talent had surpassed the level of a regular genius, and the speed of his Cultivation state improvement was probably the fastest in the history of Aoyama.
After the battle of the West Ocean, many people had been guessing his true identity in private, and they even suspected that he was the descendant of the Immortal Jingyang.
Regardless, Jing Jiu was merely a young man.
He had been in Aoyama to learn the sword work for no more than thirty years, and his Cultivation state was still far from that of the real swordsmen.
Why would the Immortal Liu Ci hand over Aoyama to him?
It was deathly quiet on the top of Tianguang Peak.
People didn't know what to do.
The Will of the Sect Master was so absurd; how could they accept it?
But it was a Will after all.
At this moment, someone finally came forward.
"I object!"
The person who dared to oppose the Will of the Immortal Liu Ci was not Yuan Qijing, who didn't want to read the Will, nor was it Guangyuan Zhenren, who had the highest Cultivation state after Yuan Qijing. It was not even a second-generation Elder, but a young disciple of the third generation, whose name was Jian Ruyun.
Jian Ruyun was from Yunxing Peak, ranked fourth on Liangwang Peak, and had the title of a genius. However, he was merely an ordinary young disciple on such an occasion. No one had expected him to be the first to oppose the Will of the Immortal.
Many disciples of Aoyama were surprised, but those who knew the past thought it was reasonable.
Jian Ruyun's younger brother was killed by a devil man of the Underworld while investigating the case of Zuo Yi of Bihu Peak. He had always blamed Jing Jiu and Liu Shisui for this.
How could he watch Jing Jiu become the Sect Master of Aoyama?
No, he wouldn't agree even if he had to die.
Jing Jiu expected that someone would oppose the Will of the Will of the Immortal.
He didn't care who would oppose the Will of the Will of the Immortal; all he did was shoot a glance at Yuan Qijing.
According to the rules of Aoyama, this was a problem that should be settled by the Sword Justice.
"The position of the Sect Master is appointed by the Will; this is the rule of the sect."
Yuan Qijing continued while looking at Jian Ruyun, "Do you know what you are doing?"
The Will was enough.
At least, it was written in the rules of the sect.
"As a disciple of Aoyama, disobeying the Will of the Sect Master is a capital offense."
Jian Ruyun landed on the peak top and bowed to Yuan Qijing, saying in a deep voice, "I'll atone for my crime with my death, but I'm still against the Will of the Sect."
This was the meaning of "with my blood".
Even when facing the Sword Justice of Aoyama, Jian Ruyun was still fearless and had no intention of retreating.
Well, if he wasn't even afraid of death, what else could he be afraid of?
Such a solemn and stirring attitude moved many people.
Few Cultivation practitioners were willing to sacrifice their lives to accomplish something, let alone to prevent it.
"Your opposition is not important," said Yuan Qijing.
In fact, Jian Ruyun's life and death were not important to the Aoyama Sect.
He stood on the peak top, looking a bit lonely.
Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking wind.
A fat disciple of Aoyama landed on the peak top, standing by Jian Ruyun's side.
Yuan Qijing and the other peak masters didn't know him. If Jian Ruyun had some influence, who was this fat man?
Zhao Layue knew that his name was Ma Hua. His Cultivation state and talent were ordinary, but his mind was quite complicated. Zhao Layue was surprised that he had come forward.
There were many people in Aoyama who admired Jing Jiu, but there were also some who envied him, disliked him, or even hated him.
For various reasons, a dozen more disciples of Aoyama landed on the peak top, standing behind Jian Ruyun.
Yuan Qijing said that Jian Ruyun's life was not important, but what about the lives of a dozen disciples of Aoyama?
(End of this chapter)
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