Since many, many years ago, Jing Jiu liked to lie on the bamboo chair and play the game of piling up sand in this ceramic plate.
Neither Liu Shisui nor Zhao Layue knew what this game was. It wasn't until the Plum Meeting in Zhaoge City, where Jing Jiu and Tong Yan played an amazing game of Go and said something to each other, that they vaguely understood that this game was a method of calculation.
Many years had passed, and Jing Jiu had gradually stopped playing this game. The people on the Shenmo Peak had seldom seen this ceramic plate and the fine sand, until now.
A fine sand grain fell down and formed a picture.
The surface of the undulating mountains and rivers was extremely smooth, with no cracks visible.
It was because all the sand grains were arranged in an orderly manner according to Jing Jiu's idea.
This required an unimaginable ability to construct space and calculate, which was beyond the capability of humans.
It was quiet in Scenery Garden. The wind blew over the stream and the flowering trees by the stream, not daring to make any noise.
Ping Yong-Ka looked at the sand painting in the ceramic plate with his eyes wide open, thinking that his Master was truly formidable, and that this was something even more difficult than ascension.
Ada had left Zhao Layue's bosom and crouched obediently in front of Jing Jiu, his buttocks sticking up high in a respectful manner.
Zhao Layue's reaction was the most natural. Perhaps it was because she had seen Jing Jiu play with the sand the most.
She looked at the sand in the ceramic plate sideways while hugging her knees. Her messy hair was tousled by the gentle wind, passing through her eyes and dividing her black and white pupils into countless worlds.
Her eyes suddenly grew brighter. It was not because she had seen the true meaning of the path in the sand, but because her eyes were brimming with tears.
It was unclear what she had thought of that made her feel so sad.
Back at the Plum Meeting in Zhaoge City, Jing Jiu said four words to her, "It's better if you don't understand it."
At the time, she thought he had become very far away from her.
Now she was a swordsman in the upper limit of the Broken Sea State. There were few things in the world that she didn't understand, so she understood what he meant by "far away".
All he needed was enough time to get far away from her.
"It's still early."
Jing Jiu knew what she was thinking. He reached out and rubbed her head to comfort her.
Zhao Layue's short hair became even messier under his palm.
Jing Jiu took out a braid and showed it to her.
She had cut it off one hundred years ago when she left the Jing House in Zhaoge City. Gu Qing had always kept it under his pillow because he was a reliable and meticulous person.
"So dirty." Zhao Layue looked at it with some disdain, but she didn't take it. Sword fire ignited on her fingertip, burning the braid into smoke.
Whether it was the hair that was cut off, the peach blossoms at the entrance of Shui Yue Nunnery, or the begonia, they could all be forsaken, but Aoyama still had to be returned.
They left Scenery Garden and headed for Cloudy Town.
That restaurant, which had been passed down for more than two hundred years, no longer served any other dishes, only various kinds of hot pot.
With the protection of the Gu Clan and the support of the tourists and the Cultivation practitioners, the business of the restaurant was unimaginably good. However, they didn't dare take any more customers that day.
Unfortunately, the group in Scenery Garden had just eaten a hot pot that day, so the manager could only kneel on the ground and watch those figures disappearing in front of him in disappointment.
As they came to the outside of a house, Jing Jiu glanced at the horse-drawn carriage through the wall of the courtyard, and then continued walking forward.
Though they didn't ride on the swords and walked on their feet, it didn't take long for them to pass the long mountain path and arrive outside the southern mountain gate due to their current Cultivation states.
The thick fog dispersed without the aid of the wind. A simple and even crude stone gate appeared in front of them. A caretaker of Aoyama was dozing off behind the table, but he was not the caretaker of the past.
Jing Jiu didn't disturb the caretaker. He walked past the stone gate, his white cloth fluttering in the mountain wind, looking like the clouds and fog.
Zhao Layue and the others followed Jing Jiu into the gate while holding Ada in her arms.
Not far from the southern mountain gate was the South Pine Pavilion. It was here that Jing Jiu practiced his external sect cultivation, if sleeping could be counted as cultivation.
The green pines were everywhere on the plateau, looking like umbrellas. The external sect disciples were sitting diligently under the pines, with the white hot fog rising from their heads. Occasionally, they could hear the yelling and practicing boxing in the deep end of the pine forest.
Jing Jiu didn't meet those young external sect disciples, nor was he interested in guiding them in their cultivation. He passed through the pine forest and went to the small building.
Many years ago, he walked like this when he returned to Aoyama, like a lion inspecting his territory. What was he going to do today?
Zhuo Rusui and Yuan Qu eyed each other nervously.
The guard of the small building was an elder of Shiyue Peak. As he was about to yell at the group of intruders, he suddenly saw Jing Jiu's face. He rubbed his eyes reflexively and bowed to Jing Jiu with a shout.
Jing Jiu waved his hand to signal for him to get up. He started looking at the portraits in the building with his hands folded behind his back.
He started seeing the founding grandmasters of Aoyama, the Great Grandmaster, the Immortal Daoyuan, his Master, the Immortal Chenzhou, and then … Taiping Zhenren and himself.
The portrait of Liu Ci was placed at the end.
Standing in front of this portrait for a while, Jing Jiu suddenly pointed to the other two portraits in front of him and said, "Take them down."
The elder of Shiyue Peak was startled, but he didn't dare object. He took down the portraits with trembling hands and asked, "Immortal Sect Master, this …"
Jing Jiu said, "I'll hang them up when one of us dies."
…
…
There was a mountain outside Shangzhou City. It was not famous, and there was no scenery on the mountain. There were only a dozen regular farmers living in their own courtyards, and it seemed that they didn't have any contact with each other.
In the most secluded and remote courtyard of a farmer's house, there was a stone mill that had been in disrepair for many years. The Dark Phoenix stood on the stone mill, looking quite formidable. However, he looked a bit pitiful because one of his tail feathers was missing. He was like a rooster crowing every morning and finding that the sun hadn't risen for a few days.
"Why? Why was his luck so good?! Why is he the winner this time?! "
The Dark Phoenix started pacing back and forth on the stone mill, looking rather anxious, like a tiger that had been trapped in a cage for many years. His voice grew sharper and more ear-piercing as he said, "The Immortal has obviously calculated everything and made Little Fourth the sect master. It will only take a little more than ten years for us to return to Aoyama and take back the power in secret. We can conquer the Center Sect in the north and achieve the fruits in the south. After that, we can control Zhaoge City, and Chaotian will be ours … But why did he wake up at this moment? And he's so powerful! "
"Pooh!" The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect spat on the ground and cleared his throat, and then went back to gnawing on a greasy bone.
The Dark Phoenix shot him a look of disgust, exclaiming, "How could you eat such a meat? It's disgusting! Since you've had a hard time eating it, can't you just throw it away? "
The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect put the bone in his hand on the stone mill and said after panting twice, "I don't have good teeth right now, so I don't have a good appetite. Otherwise, why can't I eat it?"
The Dark Phoenix said in a mocking tone, "I've never seen a deviant devil as stupid as you. That's the All in One! You even dared to swallow it. How can your stomach recover when your stomach has such a big hole? "
The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said earnestly, "I'm different from you. It's not because of the injury; it's because … I'm a bit old now."
Hearing the word "old", the Dark Phoenix fell silent, a hint of pity in his eyes as he looked at the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect.
He was the Principal Guard of Aoyama and had a long life, so he could live for many years; but the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect … was indeed very old.
It was exceedingly quiet in the courtyard of the farmhouse. The wind blew over from the west, lightening the twilight and making the stars in the sky brighter.
Looking at the large locust tree outside the courtyard, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect sighed in an old voice, "Immortal, I don't have many years left. I've been following you around the world for so long; when will it end?"
A youth was sitting on the treetop of the large locust tree. His red clothing was rather eye-catching in the remaining twilight, as if it were on the verge of burning.
His left arm had recovered, but it looked extremely fair and tender, like that of a newborn baby, or a lotus root that had just been dug out from the mud.
It was unclear if this was the magic that came with the total transformation, as it could even heal the wound caused by the All in One Sword.
"Yeah, when will these days come to an end?"
Squatting on the treetop, Yin San picked up a stone and threw it at a rat in the field.
Seeing this, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect and the Dark Phoenix eyed each other, feeling extremely puzzled and worried.
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