The Path Toward Heaven

Chapter 522: Unconvinced

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There was an uproar.

Guo Nanshan was the principal disciple of Green Mountain, and Zhuo Rusui was the personal disciple of the Sect Master; both were the most important disciples of the Immortal Liu Ci.

Though they were the disciples of the third generation, they were far from the regular disciples of the third generation; they had enjoyed a special status on Green Mountain.

Now that two of the important disciples came out to oppose Bai Rujing...as Jing Jiu had said, was Bai Rujing qualified to represent Tianguang Peak?

Bai Rujing felt a bit astounded, his body turning slightly rigid. He swept his glance over the rest of the elders and disciples of Tianguang Peak.

He had an immensely high status on Tianguang Peak, and had earned more respect over the years; but those disciples chose to avoid his gaze, and some of the elders even stared at him in anger.

Bai Rujing suddenly felt a sensation of crisis. He turned toward Guo Nanshan and Zhuo Rusui, saying sharply, “Don’t forget that I’m your senior master!”

He then abruptly toward Jing Jiu and yelled sternly while staring into Jing Jiu’s eyes, “Do you think this method of yours will work?! I’m an elder with the highest status on Tianguang Peak! I’m in the upper state of the Broken Sea! Who is qualified to oppose me?!”

It was true, and it was an issue; but it was also a nonissue. So Jing Jiu ignored him.

Mo Chi came out, Regret and sadness written all over his ugly face. “What about me?”

he demanded.

Bai Rujing’s voice sounded a bit hoarse, as he asked, “What are you doing? Do you intend to compete with me?”

“I’ve never competed with you over these few hundred years,” Mo Chi replied, “but I have to this time, and that’s because we are the members of Tianguang Peak and we have to comply with the Will of the Sect Master. And yet what are you doing?”

“This is exactly my opinion,” Zhuo Rusui chimed in. “You’ve been opposing the Will of my Master vehemently since the very beginning. What qualifications do you have to represent Tianguang Peak?”

Bai Rujing didn’t pay attention to Zhuo Rusui, but stared at Mo Chi as he said through gritted teeth, “Don’t you forget that I’m the Big Brother!”

Mo Chi was struggling to find the words to rebut him.

Jing Jiu shot Yuan Qijing a glance.

Yuan Qijing furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He turned to Bai Rujing and said, “Mo Chi entered the gate one day earlier than you.”

Bai Rujing’s face turned pale. “I entered the gate earlier; it must be recorded in the register. You can check it out on Xilai Peak if you don’t believe me,” he said.

“It’s because you persuaded him to change the date of entering the gate,” Yuan Qijing said nonchalantly. “Do you want me to tell more?”

Bai Rujing’s face was even paler now.

Everybody realized that there must be a secret hidden in this matter, but they were not aware of the details.

“Is it important to be one day earlier or later? It’s truly pointless,” said Zhuo Rusui droopily after making a yawn.

What he said had scorned Yuan Qijing, Bai Rujing and Mo Chi, even Jing Jiu, who hadn’t spoken the entire time.

“Even if you’re the most experienced, so what? I’m still unconvinced.”

Zhuo Rusui turned to Bai Rujing and continued expressionlessly, “Should we ask all the members of Tianguang Peak and find out how many of us support you?”

Jing Jiu thought that he began to like this kid more and more.

Bai Rujing realized that he couldn’t keep on claiming to represent Tianguang Peak anymore under the circumstances. He grilled Jing Jiu with an awful expression, “Do you think anybody would support you even if you succeeded in inciting discontent?!”

That was true. It would be merely one vote even if Jing Jiu got the support from Tianguang Peak.

Apart from Shenmo Peak, who would support Jing Jiu in becoming the sect master?

Bai Rujing thought so, and so did the Immortal Guangyuan, Fu Wang and the vast majority of the Green Mountain disciples.

“I support him.”

The speaker was Nan Wang.

Bai Rujing’s face looked even worse now.

Many people were stunned speechless.

If she agreed to the Will of the Sect Master in the first place, they thought, why would she second Bai Rujing in selecting the sect master by the peaks?

“I know this Will is kind of irresponsible, but it was his last wish; I’ll support it, of course.”

Nan Wang went on with a carefree expression, “Don’t you people think this is very interesting?”

...

...

This was a losing battle for Jing Jiu in the beginning; but all of a sudden it seemed to have a chance for him after Tianguang Peak changed their minds and Nan Wang voted irresponsibly.

Shenmo Peak would undoubtedly vote for Jing Jiu, which meant that three peaks had supported him. What if Yuan Qijing would vote for him?

Though Bai Rujing’s face looked awful, his despair hadn’t reached the bottom yet. The situation seemed to be dire at the moment, but it was not that bad. To become the sect master, Jing Jiu needed the support from six peaks; the supporting votes were not even close to that number.

It was then that Chen Youtian suddenly claimed, “I support the Will of the Sect Master too.”

Bihu Peak had been acting in a low-key manner because of the incident of Lei Poyun;

they had been actually rather deplorable.

In many people’s minds, he would choose to give up his right of voting at the very most;

how could he choose to support Jing Jiu?

As a matter of fact, the others didn’t make a mistake about him. Chen Youtian planned to give up his vote; but he saw the white cat squatting by Zhao Layue’s skirt at the moment...

And the white cat was watching him with an extremely cold expression in his eyes.

He had recognized the cat; what could he do otherwise?

Chen Youtian’s supporting vote aroused another barrage of discussions. The looks were even more awful now on the faces of Bai Rujing and others. Yet, the situation was still not out of control yet, they thought.

All they needed was another vote against Jing Jiu; then they would win.

That vote was in the hands of Xilai Peak.

Elder Chen, the representative of Xilai Peak, had expressed his objection to Jing Jiu being the sect master without hesitation earlier.

And Jing Jiu didn’t ask Elder Chen if he was qualified to represent Xilai Peak like what Jing Jiu did to Bai Rujing.

The matter was basically settled.

Yuan Qijing had no need to vote. Even if he and Zhao Layue supported Jing Jiu, it was still meaningless, because Jing Jiu wouldn’t be able to obtain enough supporting votes.

“Unless you could do what the Immortal Taiping and the Immortal Jing Yang had done, to make all the peaks submit by beating them up...”

Bai Rujing continued while staring into Jing Jiu’s eyes, “Otherwise, you won’t be able to become the sect master today!” He was actually quite furious though he appeared calm and composed.

Jing Jiu still ignored him.

“Who will become the sect master then? If we go by this rule, nobody will be able to get support from six peaks. Should the seat of the sect master be empty from now on?”

Nan Wang didn’t pay any attention to Bai Rujing either. She went on while looking at the Immortal Guangyuan, “Why are you making a fuss here?”

Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing couldn’t even discipline this little sister of theirs, let alone the Immortal Guangyuan, regardless of how powerful he was.

The Immortal Guangyuan had no intention of arguing with her. “I recommend Big Brother Yuan as the next sect master,” he said without hesitation.

Many people thought that the Immortal Guangyuan was the best candidate to be the next sect master; but he recommended Yuan Qijing for the position. Though it was unexpected, it was a best solution nonetheless.

As Nan Wang said, the two sides had already become rather antagonistic; as such, no one could procure the support of six peaks. In other words, nobody could convince all the others.

At the moment on Green Mountain, Yuan Qijing in his Heavenly Arrival State was the only one who could convince more of them.

Even if Yuan Qijing didn’t wish to be the sect master for some reason, he had no choice but to take the position under the circumstances in order to avoid the turmoil on Green Mountain.

The elders and disciples of Green Mountain thought this should be the result of today’s meeting.

Who could possibly feel unconvinced?

Meow!!!

All of a sudden, the people on the top of Tianguang Peak heard the call of a cat.

Countless gazes searched the sound and found a white cat crawled out from under Zhao Layue’s skirt.

The Immortal Guangyuan and Fu Wang blanched; Nan Wang opened her eyes wide, feeling startled; Bai Rujing became extremely alarmed, as if he faced a formidable foe.

The disciples of Green Mountain felt it odd, wondering how a cat came here.

In the next moment, they noticed the expressions on their masters’ faces; they couldn’t help but feel astonished, wondering why a small cat was so horrifying to these masters.

Ada shook his body, the white hair opening up like a dandelion.

If one looked closely at the hair of the cat, they would find that the hair was in locks, resembling the swords.

The regular disciples of Green Mountain didn’t have such vision though, but they could sense a powerful and unimaginably formidable energy on Tianguang Peak.

Along with many grunts, those disciples in a low Cultivation state sat down onto the ground after their knees giving in. The likes of Zhuo Rusui had to release their sword wills to resist this formidable energy.

The Green Mountain disciples were exceedingly astounded, wondering what this white cat was...since only someone in the Heavenly Arrival State could produce such a formidable energy.

However, everybody understood the meaning of the meow uttered by the white cat.

“I’m unconvinced.”

...

...

“Master White Ghost, please take away your magic,” the Immortal Guangyuan said helplessly.

Ada shot him a glance, and the formidable energy on the peak top had suddenly vanished.

Hearing the name of White Ghost, the Green Mountain disciples had all guessed his identity, feeling both shocked and excited. They were all aware that there was a mysterious Principal Guard of Green Mountain, called Master White Ghost; but nobody had seen his true appearance. They didn’t expect him to appear today; and more unexpectedly, he turned out to be...a cat.

Gu Qing said to Bai Rujing, “According to the sect rules, the opinions of the four Principal Guards count when selecting the next sect master.”

Ada bounded to the small hut behind the stone monument, the erect white hair coming down gradually.

He came before the chair, jumped up and landed on Jing Jiu’s lap.

He then turned his head slowly around, staring at the crowd on the peak top.

The expression in the cat’s eyes was indifferent, showing an extraordinary aura, as if he was looking down at the world.

A hand landed on the cat’s head, and slid down backwards in a steady and gentle manner.

“Very good,” Jing Jiu praised.

...

...

All gazes were fixed on that small hut.

Jing Jiu was sitting in the chair.

Lying in Jing Jiu’s lap, the white cat made a faint snoring sound.

Yet, the sound assaulted the hearts of many people like a thunder.

This scene had astounded many people, including Bai Rujing.

He didn’t come back to his senses until a moment later. Recalling what Gu Qing had said, he found a bitter taste in his mouth.

The sect rules of Green Mountain were clearly written: Each Principal Guard of Green Mountain had a vote, like all the peak masters, for selecting the next sect master.

What were the opinions of the Principal Guards? The White Ghost had expressed his opinion unmistakably, though the opinions of the other two were not known yet.

He had already jumped onto Jing Jiu’s lap, and he narrowed his eyes comfortably when being stroked, and started purring.

How could a cat express his opinion in any other way?

The Immortal Guangyuan, Fu Wang and Nan Wang had known a little bit about the recent experience of the White Ghost; but they didn’t expect him to actually side with Shenmo Peak.

Ada didn’t express his opinion by Jing Jiu’s request; it was his own idea.

He was unwilling to see Yuan Qijing become the next sect master; otherwise, how could he face that dog again?

He was well aware that the dogs became more vicious in front of their masters. He had suffered a great deal when the Immortal Taiping and that dog were in the hermit peaks.

Though Ada appeared to be a lazy cat who was only concerned about lying in the bosom of a young woman and nothing else, he wouldn’t hesitate to stand his ground regarding his own interest, since he was one of the Principal Guards of Green Mountain.

The situation for Jing Jiu at the moment was like the mountain path on Liangwang Peak, where one turned around after reaching a dead end.

Eight peak masters and three Principal Guards of Green Mountain had a total of eleven votes. To become the next sect master, one needed to obtain at least eight supporting votes.

If Jing Jiu could obtain the support from the remaining votes, the votes of Yuan Qijing, the Dead Dog, and the Round Turtle, he would become the next sect master indisputably.

“Do you support him?”

Yuan Qijing inquired the Round Turtle under the stone monument.

The Green Mountain disciples who had never visited Tianguang Peak were shocked again.

They had experienced too many shocks already that day.

They thought that the turtle under the stone monument was a real stone turtle; but was he actually a Master Principal Guard?

The Round Turtle didn’t open his eyes.

The twilight had been gone, and countless stars twinkled in the night sky. The peak top was still bright, but it grew quieter.

Everybody gazed at the stone turtle, waiting for his decision.

Jing Jiu was fully aware that they would have to wait for a few years based on the Round Turtle’s slow temperament. He uttered “hmm” out of impatience.

In fact, there were two “hmm” sounds uttered.

The Round Turtle opened his eyes, poked his head out and tore off a piece of the starlight. He uttered a faint “hmm” indignantly after swallowing the torn starlight.

It was truly a very faint “hmm”.