The Path Toward Heaven

The girl with black hair was speaking at a normal level; she didn’t attempt to let others hear her, but she had no intention of lowering her voice to avoid being heard.

Some students had heard her and felt startled. Zong Lizi was taken aback as well. She uttered a faint “hmm” after shooting Jing Jiu a glance.

“My name is Jiang Yuxia, an exchange student from the College of Divinity,” said the girl with black hair, smiling. “I like the novel very much.”

Jiang Yuxia’s black hair was straight and a little damp, the expression in her eyes as calm and as tranquil as lake water flowing slowly.

This beautiful girl looked like she was made from water, giving off an aura that made the onlookers feel fairly comfortable.

It was for this reason that Zong Lizi agreed to exchange the contact information with her.

Jing Jiu didn’t like crowds, saying, “Let’s go.”

Having said that, he turned to head toward the gate of the University of Stargate.

Zong Lizi followed close on his heels after flashing a small smile at Jiang Yuxia.

Looking at the youth wearing a blue tracksuit, a perplexed expression showed in her eyes, wondering who this person was and why Zong Lizi listened to him.

It was rumored that her family had was a distant kin of the priest clan; but it was not accurate. In fact, she was the heir selected and trained by the priest clan.

The members of the priest clan were not the descendants of the female priests of the previous generations, but a clan that had been serving the female priests. The whole of clan hoped that she would be able to overcome tradition and become the next female priest. The main reason she came to the University of Stargate as an exchange student was because she could gain more supporters, which would help her win the final victory in the priest selection.

Jiang Yuxia befriended Zong Lizi on the order of the elders of the clan. Those elders had learned through some information channels that the Twirling Rain Company was working on an important project and that this girl with silvery hair from the underground institute was the author of the original novel and the planner of the project, and that it seemed that she had some more significant backgrounds.

The priest clan would pay attention to any possible influence. An organization as powerful as the Twirling Rain Company was a supporter they desired for. As such, Jiang Yuxia was requested to keep a good relationship with Zong Lizi. However, Jiang Yuxia didn’t lie when she said that she liked the novel. After she had finished reading the novel in wonder, she became a steadfast fan of the Immortal Jing Yang.

…

…

The University of Stargate was the most famous and best university on this planet, having about seven thousand students; fewer students were allocated to each faculty and class. The small class size was considered to be more appropriate for elite education.

The voices in the discussions and debate were heard in the holographical classrooms. The students had been instilled a great deal of basic knowledge by means of an input system a few years ago, and as a result, the task of their learning in the university was not the rote learning but to improve their ability of analyzing and speculating.

As a piece of electronic music with a special rhythm rang out, it indicated it was time for recess. However, the voices of discussions didn’t lower down, but instead they grew louder. Yet, the students were not discussing the difficult academic issues, instead talking about the girl with black hair named Jiang Yuxia.

The candidate for the female priest from the College of Divinity had a beautiful appearance and sacred aura, attracting almost everybody’s attention.

Due to the conversation between Jiang Yuxia and Zong Lizi at the gate of the university, many students in the classroom began to pay more attention to Zong Lizi now. Some gazes were cast on the girl with silvery hair by the window in secret. It was vaguely heard that some people were talking about the “Twirling Rain”, “Novel” and “Chaotian” etc. in a low voice.

Zong Lizi ignored these gazes and discussions. She looked at the outside of the window with a nonchalant expression, her eyes full of disbelief and bewilderment.

The lecture building was constructed on a slope. The paths partitioned by the ginkgo trees looked like the streams flowing among them; and a lawn was situated further away.

The University of Stargate was situated in the west of Shou’er City, occupying a large patch of land, and the lawn was so large that it looked like a vast grassland.

Lying on the lawn, the youth in blue clothing was quite noticeable.

He seemed to be bathing in the sun. However, the others on the lawn wore much less than him while bathing in the sun. Jing Jiu wore the full tracksuit, and his face was covered by the hoodie and the collar, looking rather strange. He looked quite different from the others around him.

Those playing with kids and walking dogs on the lawn had noticed him, wondering where this weird person came from.

…

…

By dusk, the permanent star had descended behind the mountain range on the other side of the large canyon. The world darkened as the stars appeared in the night sky.

It was time to dismiss classes. All the buildings in the school were lit automatically, and the ginkgo trees displayed a sort of eerie beauty.

Zong Lizi followed the path lined by the ginkgo trees and arrived at the edge of the lawn, where Jing Jiu was waiting for her. The two of them headed to the outside of the campus side by side.

The lights in the distant buildings passed through the ginkgo trees and cast onto their bodies with countless light specks, turning both the red tracksuits and the blue tracksuits into a yellow color.

Some students witnessed the scene and couldn’t help but praise them. But after they came back to their senses, they couldn’t even tell what they had praised them for.

…

…

“I’ve had with me the wooden figurine you gave me this entire time.”

“Hmm.”

“I wear it even when I take the shower.”

“Hmm.”

“This place is much larger than the New Era Institute. I was almost lost when I toured the campus two days ago. Do you see the water tower ahead? I came back by using it as a signpost. I did pretty good, eh?”

“Hmm.”

“I didn’t know until I came up from the underground that the sky is so blue and the clouds are so white, and it turns out that the sun of our solar system is much smaller than those in the movies. But why don’t we feel cold? Is it because we have a protective layer? Yeah, I’ve also found out that the yellow fire exists.”

“Hmm?”

“Look at these ginkgo trees! Don’t the golden leaves look like the fires when they are ruffled by the wind?”

“Oh.”

“The Twirling Rain Company told me that the project is progressing as planned, and that they will send a copy of the internal testing version to me in a few days so that I can do some role imaginations.”

“Hmm.”

“Gao Shu told me that there will be an appreciation banquet tonight and that I, as the author of the original novel, will meet the staffs of the studio. I’m a bit nervous. Can you accompany me to the banquet?”

“No.”

“Then…then I’m not going.”

“Okay.”

The conversation didn’t go so well. Jing Jiu was of course responsible for the breakdown of communication.

Zong Lizi tried her hardest to come up with a topic and asked for his opinion after a long thought; but she was replied to by a single word.

The ginkgo trees had become the faint yellowish flames in the distance as they came back to the suite in the hotel.

Jing Jiu came to the deck, took off his blue tracksuits and lay on the incline chair.

Zong Lizi came out drying her silvery hair with a towel after she took a shower. Seeing his naked body under the starlight, she was taken aback for a moment; her face blushed abruptly. “What are you doing?” she asked in a slightly trembling voice.

“Taking a sunbath,” replied Jing Jiu.

There were countless stars in the night sky; each of them was a sun exuding the fairy energy. However, they were all too far away, and it was kind of difficult to absorb their fairy energy.

He could absorb a little bit of the fairy energy when he sunbathed during the day, but it was more effective to take the sunbath without clothing at night.

No matter what, the effect of sunbathing here was much better than in the dark and gloomy underground neighborhood.

Zong Lizi understood what he meant after the initial perplexity. After uttering two grunts, she threw the towel she used to dry her hair toward Jing Jiu, which happened to land on his private part. “You’re really a weirdo,” she whispered.

Jing Jiu didn’t mind her remark; but he felt it uncomfortable to have a damp towel on his thing. He picked it up and put on the arm of the chair.

Zong Lizi couldn’t do anything to change his mind; so she opted to go back to the suite while thinking the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind”.

Seeing the blue tracksuit on the carpet, she suddenly thought of something, asking in surprise, “…Don’t…you have any underwear?”

“Too troublesome,” replied Jing Jiu, his eyes still closed.

As the silvery starlight shone on his body, he looked even more perfect than the gods painted on the frescos in the Fire-Passing Pagoda.

After remaining silent for a while, Zong Lizi asked hesitantly, “In the last few days…where have you been?”

Jing Jiu didn’t answer her. It was because he had been to so many places and done so many things in the last few days; it would take ten thousand words to describe the happenings thoroughly.

After he came back up to Shou’er City from the underground laboratory that night, he went to the cliff where the assassin in overall attempted to shoot him and checked the whole place meticulously, but he didn’t find any clue. Later, he hid in the cliff wall and waited overnight.

As the morning sun rose, he went back to the midst of the wild reeds by the edge of the lake, keeping a close eye on the hotel.

That ascendant found him through the novel; and it was possible that the person was also keeping an eye on Zong Lizi.

Jing Jiu watched the hotel for a few days in secret, though he ultimately found nothing.

The person was so patient and prudent, it seemed as though this ascendant didn’t from Chaotian. Then again, this person and Jing Jiu were pretty much alike .

Jing Jiu decided to go back to Zong Lizi in the end because he had thought one matter through.

Why did that ascendant want to kill him?

No, actually that person didn’t intend to kill him.

The gun reinforced with the EM force could easily destroy an entire building from a distance, but it had no way to kill an ascendant, which, as an ascendant themselves, this person should have known.

The assassination on the square was probably a test or a warning.

The other party wished to discern his identity while also warning him: Don’t try to be discovered through the publishing a novel, lest the secrets of Chaotian be revealed.

It was unclear how long the ascendant had been in the Federation of the Milky Way. Maybe the person was a very wealthy merchant on a planet, or a female professor at a college who had married a male student, or a member of the expedition team of the galaxy…All in all, the person must have already become accustomed to life here and didn’t wish to have his or her identity and origin discovered by others. As such, the person wanted to continue living a peaceful life with his or her current identity.

Would the other party keep on testing and warning him?

Jing Jiu opened his eyes and looked up at the countless stars in the night sky, the expression in his eyes tranquil, even a bit cold.

Regardless of what the ascendant had in mind, he wouldn’t give up. As such, he returned to Zong Lizi.

You could attack me by employing the guns of the battleship.

It turned out that he wasn’t look at the stars but at few battleships amid them.

It was then that the ring on his finger cast a faint glow.

He pulled back his line of sight and sent his awareness into the interplanetary network. His awareness traveled at a high speed until it came to that room.

It was eight o’clock on the Stargate Base. It was unclear what time it was in other places. The room was quite desolate at the moment.

The snowflakes scattered at first and then gathered together to form a line of words:

The person you were looking for…

They have been found.

…