The Path Toward Heaven

The banquet of the Twirling Rain Company would take place on the top floor of the hotel associated with the University of Stargate. One reason for choosing the place was because it was the most popular dining place for the residents of Shou’er City; more importantly, it was because Zong Lizi resided in this very hotel. All she needed to do was to walk out of her suite and ride the elevator for three more stories.

Yet, Gao Shu didn’t expect this mistress from the underground world would refuse his invitation.

He came before the reception desk and announced this news to his colleagues and staffs of the studio in regret.

The personnel of the company had already paid close attention to the project “The Path toward Heaven” because of the allocation of the resources. As for the staff of the studio, they had been extremely curious about the author who saved their studio from the verge of being laid off. They all felt disappointed after they heard the announcement from Gao Shu, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Gao Shu waved his hand to decline the champagne offered by the manager of the studio and walked into the resting room on the side of the front lobby. He said while bowing to the CEO sitting in the sofa, “She is unwilling to come.”

The CEO of the Twirling Rain Company waved his hand to indicate that it had nothing to do with him and that he shouldn’t feel too troubled about it. “Looks like we’re not going to meet her by accident…” said he.

Then, he suddenly changed the topic, asking, “Who is the youth in the tracksuit?”

“We haven’t found out yet,” replied Gao Shu embarrassingly.

The CEO said after some thought, “Don’t do it too hastily.”

“Yes.”

“We have to speed up the construction of the gaming world as requested by her. The channels for the characters have to be wider, leaving enough freedom for them.”

Gao Shu said uncertainly, “Without the standard designs of the images, it will be harder to promote the game.”

The CEO stood up and said, “let that young lady do the designing then.”

Gao Shu understood the intention of the CEO and nodded with a small smile.

As the CEO headed toward the outside of the resting room, he suddenly stopped short and said, “Take good care of the young lady. Don’t let her feel mistreated in the least in the aspects of foods, clothing and transportation.”

“Rest assured,” said Gao Shu while bowing deeply.

…

…

The Twirling Rain Company was indeed taking good care of Zong Lizi. They provided her with the best means without being discovered by her, with the purpose of making her feel comfortable and content. Though the suite they rented for her was not the most expensive one with only one bedroom, it had the best scenery outside the windows.

The deck was outside the suite, which completely blocked the view from the outside, offering the perfect privacy for the tenants in the suite. One could see clearly the large lake up ahead and the night sky.

Jing Jiu had no worry that he would be seen by others when he took off all of his clothes and bathed under the stars.

Zong Lizi pulled back her gaze uncomfortably and pretended she had to cough twice, saying, “The air in the upper world is much better than that in the underground, and we can even bathe in the sun. I’ve coughed less than before recently.”

It suddenly occurred to her that she had concealed a significant thing from him. “In fact…I’m sick,” said she after a moment of silence.

“I have the right medicine,” said Jing Jiu.

Zong Lizi burst out laughing before she said earnestly, “What I said is true…This illness of mine is really problematic. If the gene modification won’t succeed…”

“It will be cured,” Jing Jiu cut her off.

His tone was rather casual and carefree, sounding like a superior comforting a subordinate with insincere words.

Yet, Zong Lizi was well aware that he didn’t know how to comfort others; so what he said must be true, which was the best comfort and blessing he could offer.

“Have you…found the person you were looking for?” she asked concernedly.

Jing Jiu gave a thought to his calculation and re-ascertained that the behind-the-scenes master who had sent the assassin to test him must be an ascendant from Chaotian, uttering “hmm”.

Zong Lizi felt both surprised and happy for him, asking, “Then…should we continue the game?”

“Of course we should,” said Jing Jiu.

The novel “The Path toward Heaven” and the modified game and movie based on it would be promoted throughout the Federation of the Milky Way, which meant the Snow Girl would be able to see it.

The Snow Girl was the best choice for dealing with the powerful weapons full of fairy energy on those battleships.

If she showed up, he had no need to hide on this planet anymore. He would be able to go to the center of the planet to look for the clues for the distant ancient civilization. But where was she? She came to this world not long before him. Based on her temperament, she would have killed many people on a colonized planet and left clues in the news.

Zong Lizi had no idea what he was thinking about and said while touching her slightly damp hair, “I’ll go to bed…then.”

Jing Jiu didn’t respond to her, remaining in a stupor while staring at the night sky.

A barrage of faint noises could be heard in the bedroom after she entered it; it grew quiet later.

A while later, the noise of her turning around on the bed could be heard.

Listening to her breathing and heartbeat, Jing Jiu knew that she was turning side to side while thinking about all sorts of things at the moment, meaning she was unable to fall asleep. He waved his hand a few times.

As the night breeze rose on the deck, the scene outside the window grew blurrier in Zong Lizi’s eyes, and the starlight looked more like water. As a result, she fell asleep.

…

…

The stars filling the night sky hung on the black canvas silently.

As far as Jing Jiu was concerned, it was not a desirable thing to have too many stars.

There were more than one hundred million permanent stars in the galaxy where the Federation of the Milky Way was situated. The Federation of the Milky Way had researched seven million of them, but they had merely observed them in the long distance without sending an expedition team to them.

There were many solar systems outside this one.

Which star was the one he was looking for?

He fell unconscious for a period of time after he had killed the heavenly demon of the outside world full of destructive intent. As he woke up, he found himself in the lab of the Stargate Base.

Where was the sun for Chaotian then?

It was difficult to find a specific permanent star amid the vast universe and countless stars, especially without the aid of any clues and a map of the star locations.

When he conversed with the “Wild Rabbit” in the hidden network today, he had snuck into the battleship undetected and found some top-secret military information.

Tens of thousands of burning battleships traveled in the universe, indicating that a significant military mission was under the way; some marks would inevitably be left behind.

As expected, he had successfully found the date of the military mission and the location of the solar system of the mission.

Based on his flying speed and time spent after he left the bamboo chair, he calculated and determined that the blue permanent star was adjacent to the star he was looking for.

It was simple enough now.

The code name for the blue permanent star was “M31”.

It was right there.

There was a star nearby the “M31”; but it was a bit dimmer and rather unnoticeable.

Looking at the star, Jing Jiu brought out the map of stars in his brain. He had finally found the permanent star after adjusting the angles of the map for a while.

The permanent star grew bigger in his awareness, and became an image he could see clearly with his naked eyes.

It was a white fireball.

Its size and color were exactly the same as the one he saw when he lay on the bamboo chair.

Jing Jiu gazed at the star in the distance, mesmerized.

It used to be his home.

Though he could see it, it was extremely far away.

The star was located in a remote spot of this solar system, outside of which was the endless emptiness one could hardly pass through even if they tried to use the black hole as a shortcut.

The endless emptiness was called the Dark Region of the universe, where the Sea of Dark Matter was situated.

As Jing Jiu gazed at the star quietly, his fingers were placed on the arm of the chair, tapping softly.

Back when he was in the small village and by the pond, he often tapped the arm of the bamboo chair reflexively and rhythmically while lying on it.

He was thinking of important issues each time he did this.

The ascendants from Chaotian would pick which path to take after they calmed down from their initial bewilderment.

Though they would not head to the same direction initially, they were definitely to move toward a star later on.

The humans were not different from the moths as far as their desires for the light; the ascendants were no different.

According to the recordings, twenty-seven Cultivation practitioners in Chaotian had ascended. They were all the highly achieved practitioners in a profound Cultivation state.

Among them were the founding grandmasters of the Green Mountain Sect, the former church master of the Bloody Demon Church, the free-traveling practitioner on Penglai Island, the Immortal Chunyang, and Jing Jiu himself.

All of these ascendants had either an extraordinary Dao Heart or a demonic flame as vast as the sea; no matter what they encountered, they couldn’t be confounded, and they wouldn’t have any mental issues. Some of them might be killed by the heavenly demons of the outside world, but many of them should be able to arrive on the closest permanent star and contact the human civilization of this world.

However, where were these ascendants? Who was the one trying to warn him?

Jing Jiu spun his head toward the brighter side of the night sky.

The center of the solar system was located there.

There were countless stars there. It was said that there was no difference between day and night on the Main Planet; the people had no choice but to live inside a protective shield because the light pollution and radiance were too much.

It was rumored that the distant ancient civilization originated there, but Jing Jiu didn’t think so.

In comparison to the center of the stars, the sun of his home planet was more suitable for a weak civilization to come into being and develop.

It was because that sun was much dimmer and unnoticeable, and in a remote spot of the universe.

It was much easier to live a life in the rural area than in a city.

Next, he began to ponder some more profound issues. He reached out his finger and wrote some words by using the patch of bright night sky as a piece of paper.

“Year”.

“Month”.

“Standard day”.

“Robot”.

“The eclipse of the moon”.

“The eclipse of the sun”.

…

…

The suns were the general term for the permanent stars in a solar system where the human civilizations could exist.

The moons were the general term for the satellites of the planets on which the humans could live.

The sunlight was so bright during daytime that the humans couldn’t see the moon because the moon was located between the planet and the sun, unless the onlookers had a high Cultivation state. Only when the moon happened to move right in front of the sun would it block the sunlight, revealing itself in the form of a shadow.

In the beginning, the students at the University of Stargate didn’t pay close attention to Zong Lizi because she had an attractive appearance and silvery hair. It was because she came up from the underground and she would have no choice but to go back if she didn’t earn enough credits. The student at the University of Stargate who were renowned for their talent and hardheartedness would sometimes show a hint of pity for her, but they wouldn’t show too much affection for her.

However, the situation had changed lately; it was because recently the girl with black hair named Jiang Yuxia had visited Zong Lizi frequently.

When the students wished to see the girl with black hair, Zong Lizi was once in a while in their sights.

Why did a candidate for the female priest from the College of Divinity pay so much attention to her? The people couldn’t help but pay more attention to Zong Lizi in their shock.

The people remembered to look at the moon during the daytime only when an eclipse of the sun occurred.

The news that the two girls had a conversation at the gate of the university spread around the campus. The students had learned by then that Zong Lizi wrote a popular novel. To their surprise, they found out that the novel was selected by the Twirling Rain Company to be developed into a game, and it was said that the Twirling Rain Company had high expectations for the game…If all of this were true, this girl from the underground would be able earn enough credits for her residential transfer with ease.

Because of this potential, Zong Lizi’s silvery hair and beauty, in the eyes of these students, became more appealing.

She had received seven love letters within two days.

Though the moon was seen more clearly when the eclipse of the moon occurred, the people were still used to praising it even after the sun came out.

Jian Yuxia, wearing a traditional white priest robe, walked into the classroom, her soft and long hair scattered around her shoulders, her even band of hair in front of her forehead covering her straight but not dull eyebrows. She gave off a sacred and tranquil aura while walking.

The scene drew a great deal of attention. The gazes were pulled away reluctantly not until Jiang Yuxia came to the rear of the classroom and sat down next to Zong Lizi.

She had often sat with Zong Lizi over the last few days, and the two of them talked about the content of the novel. Jiang Yuxia couldn’t help but ask her when she would continue writing the last half of the novel that day.

Zong Lizi thought that that guy might not continue making up the rest of the story, judging from his mood; so she had no idea how to answer Jiang Yuxia and gave her an unclear reply.

Jiang Yuxia noticed that she was somewhat unfocused and was afraid that she might be mistaken about her inquiry. Following her line of sight, Jiang Yuxia saw the patch of gingko trees outside the window and the vast lawn by the gingko trees.

In the end, she saw a strange man lying on the lawn to take the sunbath with his entire body covered with the clothes.

…

…

The leaves of the gingko trees were still yellow-colored. Few of the leaves had been flown off in the last few days since the wind was not so strong on campus.

As the black leather shoes stepped on the fallen leaves, an appealing crispy sound rang out along with a special aroma filling the air.

The black hair billowed slightly in the breeze. The paperback books held in the bosom of the girl seemed as if giving off a faint fragrant scent.

Many gazes followed Jiang Yuxia as she walked toward the gingko trees. She had traversed a third of the campus, but nobody dared approach her or talk to her.

Besides her beauty and fragrant scent, she exuded a sacred aura that made others scatter away.

“Hi, I’m Jiang Yuxia, an exchange student from the College of Divinity.”

She arrived on the lawn and stood before the youth in a blue tracksuit. “We’ve met at the gate of the university. Are you Zong Lizi’s…friend?” she asked softly.

Jing Jiu pulled up the collar to cover his face, and his head was covered under the hoodie. He looked as adorable as a worm cocoon.

He was unaware of who this female student was. He thought that she was similar to that female student at the New Era Institute…whose name he forgot. So he ignored her.

It was evident that Jiang Yuxia was not like that female student; and it was probably because she concealed herself more effectively. She didn’t feel upset with Jing Jiu’s cold response.

She sat down by Jing Jiu with a faint smile. Following his gaze, she also looked up at the sky.

The clouds were drifting in the blue sky. The edges of the clouds had a golden glow as the sun was setting down on the other side of the canyon.

But, it was an often-seen scene; why was it worth watching for such a long time?