The Path Toward Heaven

Jing Jiu had no idea that Stargate Museum collected the relics of the distant ancient civilization even though they were often depicted in the movies.

No words could be found in the interplanetary network and the hidden network about the distant ancient civilization. The female priests who were responsible for inheriting the distant ancient civilization didn’t go online at all. The database of the Science Academy had set up a physical barrier. If Jing Jiu couldn’t find any clue, nobody else could. The descriptions on TV and in the books about the distant ancient civilization were mostly conjectures, which were not substantiated by the archaeological evidences. Many people in the Federation of the Milky Way had even suspected that the so-called distant ancient civilization was a scam of the government to offer a sense of security for the populace.

Seeing the Mecha buried in the dirt today, Jing Jiu realized that it was not a scam and that the distant ancient civilization had indeed existed.

The reason he could find the deeply hidden storage house was because he had checked the online map before he came to the museum. He had compared it to the construction drawing used for building the new museum three hundred years ago; and he found out some discrepancies. When he listened to the opera, he fetched more materials, including the amount of alloy the construction workers used for building the museum. In the end, he discerned the existence of the storage house and located its site.

He came to the square after getting out of the museum. He watched the people bathing under the sun and the chubby pigeons, remaining silent for a while when he thought of the Mecha that would never be shown to the public. Then, he turned around and headed to the Arts Gallery.

Similar to the museums, the actual items in the Arts Allery looked quite different from those seen on TV or online.

The electronic books had no way to preserve the sword wills and energy of the original authors; but the actual books could.

The scenes on TV and online were flat, on which one could neither see the mountain range piled up by the painting materials nor the trembling marks left by the painters. As such, one couldn’t tell if the painters felt excited when they saw the morning sun outside the window or they felt agitated when they thought of the approaching old age the moment their painting pens touched the canvas.

Jing Jiu strolled at a normal pace past the paintings; however, his speed was still different from everybody else in the Arts Allery, which is why he drew attention from many people.

He paid no heed to it. Jing Jiu stopped in front of a painting and stayed there for a relatively long time.

The painting had sunflowers in it. The canvas was filled with at least a dozen sunflowers with no empty space in between, making the onlookers feel a bit stifled.

In many aspects, this painting was not consistent with the aesthetical principles, which could easily make the onlookers feel physiologically uncomfortable. However, the painting had a high status in the history of arts; it was because the painter was a female priest on the Main Planet. It was said that she had copied a painting from the distant ancient times.

Yet, nobody knew whether the rumor was true or not. All the people knew was that the female priest passed away after she drew this painting.

More and more onlookers were gathering in front of the painting of sunflowers; Jing Jiu was encircled by the crowd, and he could hear the private discussions around him.

No one dared make negative comments on the famous painting left by this female priest; what they did was express their incomprehension and attempt to give their own explanations.

Jing Jiu looked at the painting quietly. All of a sudden, he found that the sunflowers must have been bound by something originally, like a cotton ribbon or a rope; otherwise, the dozen dehydrated sunflowers should have toppled on all sides rather than stood straight in the low vase.

What was it that bound the sunflowers then? Why didn’t the female priest draw it, or why didn’t she keep it when copying the painting?

…

…

Strolling on the streets around the square, Jing Jiu was in a good mood and looked at the sunlight being reflected into all sorts of shapes in front of his eyes.

He was indeed strolling. The pace at which he walked today was the slowest, excluding one time when he traveled various states and counties with Lian Sanyue and two times when he went back and surveyed Green Mountain.

It was not because he was in a good mood when he saw the Mecha, the painting of sunflowers, the inhabitants bathing under the sun on the grassy ground and the children and dogs playing; nor was it because he sensed a happy and joyful feeling permeating this world; it was because he was quite satisfied with the speed of the internet here.

It was indeed a high-level society. Besides the happy atmosphere in the air, it had all sorts of wireless signals in the air as well; and the bandwidth of the data transfer was quite broad here. Hence, he had no need to go to the library of the New Era Institute to get online, like what he had done in the underground. He could feel the unlimited starry night simply by pointing his fingers.

Yet, he wouldn’t connect directly to the internet for the sake of security. If he inserted his finger into the silvery computer while walking around, he would be definitely noticed by others in sympathy. As such, he decided to make a router, which could be also used as a filter.

This city was called Shou’er City, located between the middle section of the crust and the large canyon on this planet, having twelve districts.

Jing Jiu was on his way to Yajing District, where a few largest electronic companies were located in addition to many unknown electronic component companies in its remote neighborhoods.

As a draft of gentle breeze blew over, no sooner had Jing Jiu come out from a remote gate of the magnetic floating train station than he was blocked by someone.

“I want one that can transfer from seventh level to the whole galaxy; how much?”

Jing Jiu had no idea what the person wanted. He didn’t pay any heed and rounded past the person, disappearing into the end of the street.

As he walked on the street of Yajing District, Jing Jiu figured out what the person wanted. Many young people stood scattered in the shadows on the other side of the street; they wore the same tracksuits with hoodies as his, with their heads and faces covered, having the same black backpacks on their backs. They would ask the tourists or pedestrians if they wanted any network crackers in a low voice.

The Federation of the Milky Way had loosened the control of the classifications of the networks, especially in the upper level society. The government kept a blind eye on many methods of cracking the barriers of the networks.

Jing Jiu had no need for a cracker. He lifted his head to look at the building up ahead. After making sure that it was the network security company he was looking for, he took out the computer and broke through the technological barriers of the company in a short time and created a brand-new identity in the central region for himself while storing the data traits in his bracelet.

As Jing Jiu walked into the network security company, the lady at the reception desk was alarmed when she saw his apparel, wondering how a person selling the network crackers came here. She informed the security guards and asked them to keep an eye on him.

Jing Jiu had no idea that a person was judged by their attires and that he had drawn attention of the company. When he came before the automatic door, he brought up the bracelet and scanned it on the sensor. Along with a faint ding, the automatic door opened. Feeling surprised, the lady at the reception desk waved her hand imperceptibly to motion for the security guards to back down, thinking that he must be a bigshot at one of the network departments who had re-experienced his life as an electronic ware vendor after being driven crazy by the tight work schedule.

A few minutes later, Jing Jiu walked out from the back door of the network security company. Looking at the ring on his left forefinger, he nodded in satisfaction.

This ring was the transfer filter he needed, which was quite light and inconspicuous. It was in contact with the skin all the time, ensuring that he wouldn’t be disconnected from the internet.

Based on the maps and information he found online, Jing Jiu had easily obtained all the electronic components he needed from the network security company. He spent a few minutes on assembling the components. He did it very meticulously, believing that no similar product could be found among the civil sectors in the Federation of the Milky Way.

Standing in the shadows of the buildings, his apparel was no different from those worn by those young people, except that he looked a bit lazier than them.

He craned his neck to take a glance at the sky, finding that the red small fireball was near the middle of the sky. He decided to find Zong Lizi. It was because it occurred to him that if the Snow Girl read the novel and came looking for him, she might kill Zong Lizi if she couldn’t find him and thought it was a trap.

If she were another ascendant, she wouldn’t act so brutally by beating and killing others. The other ascendants would find out truth before acting. But it was her temperament…In the eyes of the Snow Girl, the humans were no different from the ants; who knew what she might do?

It was not appropriate for the girl with silvery hair to die for no reason since she had lived with him for some time now.

A map appeared in front of him. It depicted clearly the locations of the universities in Shou’er City. The outside campus of the University of Stargate occupied a large patch of land in the east, facing the whole city and the underground world at the bottom of the large canyon on a higher ground with its back against the magnificent mountain range on the crust of the planet.

Jing Jiu rode in the magnetic floating train heading toward the western part of the city. It didn’t take long before he arrived at the side gate of the University of Stargate and saw the building that was described in the message sent to him by Zong Lizi.

The white colored building had large sundecks on each floor. There was a blue swimming pool under each sundeck; and there was a low door on each sundeck, through which the dwellers could jump into the swimming pool. If the dwellers were not afraid of such a height, they must be highly achieved in Cultivation.

This hotel looked luxurious on the outside, which was different from those associated with the universities Jing Jiu saw on TV and in the books. It was more like a resort.

Walking on the path lined by the tropical trees while looking at the men and women wearing the bathing towels, Jing Jiu had a strong feeling of such sort. He raised his right hand and patted a big tree gently. He walked into the front lobby of the hotel after shooting a glance at the blue sky and white clouds that seemed to be lower than those in the city.

Like how the personnel acted in the network security company, the staffs at the hotel were taken aback when they saw his apparel; but they acted much more politely, asking with a smile what they could help him with. Jing Jiu was in no need for any help, nor was he willing to speak to anyone. Ignoring the staffs of the hotel, he walked into the elevator and placed the bracelet on the sensor.

Ding!!!

The staff flashed a satisfactory and apologetic grin, as she retreated with a bow.

The magnetic floating elevator moved soundlessly. It ascended at a high speed, but didn’t render the riders any uncomfortable sensation.

One could see through the transparent glass the distancing forest and swimming pools, the looming blue sky and white clouds, and a large lake that looked increasingly clearer in the distance.

Many residents of Shou’er City opted to spend a large amount of money coming to the top floor of the hotel to dine for their anniversaries. The main reason for this choice was the wonderful scenery it commanded.

Yet, Jing Jiu didn’t pay any attention to the scenery. He lowered his head to look at his own hands; it was unclear what he was examining at the moment.

The elevator stopped at the ninety-ninth floor. He came before the door of the room. He raised his right hand after he had concealed the data in the surveillance system.

He didn’t press the door bell, but placed the bracelet on the sensor.

Ding!!!

The door of the room opened soundlessly. He walked in.

Zong Lizi stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the wonderful scenery outside. She was wrapped with a bathing towel, indicating that she had just finished taking a shower.

“Put this on,” said Jing Jiu when he came up behind her.

Zong Lizi was startled and almost cried out. When she realized it was Jing Jiu’s voice, she covered her mouth with her hands to restrain herself from screaming.

Jing Jiu shoved the item in front of her, saying, “Tie it to your neck; don’t lose it.”

“What is it?” asked Zong Lizi after taking the item.

Jing Jiu had patted on the big tree outside the hotel and took a piece of wood from it; then he carved a wooden figurine when he was in the magnetic floating elevator.

“If you encounter a dangerous situation, show the other party this,” said he.

Zong Lizi believed that he had a mysterious background; so this item must be a clan symbol or an emblem of an outstanding family. She was considerably moved.

“I’ll take good care of it.”

Looking at the wooden figurine, she wondered, “But…why it is a chair?”