The Path Toward Heaven

Patience is needed when fishing, so is boiling tea.

Yet drinking tea is different. One has to wait until the tea is boiled to drink it.

The silvery coals in the small stove turned red slowly, and the water in the iron kettle wouldn’t boil until a while later.

Jing Jiu came to the deck and looked at the night sky. It was unclear what he was pondering.

The stars were visible even during the daytime. And more stars could be seen at night, which were much more than those seen in Chaotian and on the Stargate. It seemed as if the entire sky was covered by the stars. It was rather terrifying for those who suffered claustrophobia. If the Main Planet were not protected by the shield, it would definitely unsuitable for the humans to reside on.

Even though most of the starlight was filtered by the protective shield, the mansion and the distant mountains were still quite visible.

Zong Lizi, Jiang Yuxia, and Hua Xi sat on the grass.

Hua Xi played with the seemingly tangible starlight with her fingers with delight.

Zong Lizi remarked softly, “I knew he was an outstanding guy, but I have never known he was that outstanding.”

He, recognized by the female priest of the Stargate as the new god, had come back unharmed after he destroyed the building of the military headquarters, which surpassed her imagination.

Looking at the figure on the deck, Jiang Yuxia sighed, “I didn’t expect that either.”

Hua Xi had no idea why these two big sisters’ mood was so heavy during such a wonderful evening and under such beautiful starlight. She gazed at them, wide-eyed.

“I didn’t expect to be qualified to even tell him that I like him after just beginning to like a boy,” Jiang Yuxia continued.

Stroking Jiang Yuxia’s head a few times, Zong Lizi comforted her by saying, “It’d be useless even if you told him that. He would have mentioned something like hormones, reproduction, low-level desire, and all the other boring terms.”

“How do you know?” Hua Xi asked curiously.

…

…

Those things that should be known were all known.

It referred to the incident in the building of the military headquarters.

Of course, the truth was only known by those important figures in the upper echelon of the Federation of the Milky Way and the officers in the building at that time.

The populace who watched the news were very upset, eventually becoming outrageous, so much so that they were brave enough to take to the streets. Even the inhabitants on Planet Tianpu, who usually kept to themselves, had protested on the streets several times, demanding the government to step up the effort to suppress the yielding faction.

The Fire-Passing Pagodas on various planets had received much more pilgrims, and the praying halls received more tributes. It was unclear if this was an unexpected benefit of the incident.

The military must do something to quell the anger of the populace and to show their attitude on the surface.

The Internal Affairs of the military headquarters, helped by the local police force, launched a campaign on various planets to persecute the members of the yielding faction.

The Star-Vanguard Fleet entered deep into the Jiali Galaxy to vanquish those monsters of the Sea of Dark Matter who remained on the surface of those cold planets.

The young master Shen, an advisor of the highest level, was the commander of this fleet, which is why he left the Main Planet.

The news wasn’t broadcast, and the regular residents couldn’t see the monsters who remained in the distant Jiali Galaxy and the true danger of the terrorist attacks by the yielding faction.

Yet what was the connection between the outgoing of the Star-Vanguard Fleet and the returning of the battleship fleet that had stationed on the Second Forward Base?

And why did the important departments of the government, the priest mansion, and the praying hall suddenly activate the generating devices of the gravitational field almost at the same time? And why didn’t they care so much about wasting energy as they turned the devices to the maximum power?

The Administrative Bureau of the Federation suddenly called an emergency meeting early in the morning. Did it have something to do with the budget of the fleet?

More importantly, why did the Cloudy Battleship, the command ship of the latest model and with the highest status in the Federation, pass through the Yinhai Nebula and head toward the Main Planet?

Three days after the Cloudy Battleship had passed through the Yinhai Nebula, the invitation card from the praying hall traveled past the gravitational field of the mansion and landed on the tea table.

A small stove was not far from the tea table, with the water making plopping sound in the iron kettle. It sounded like a mockery, at least as far as the main preachers of the praying hall were concerned.

Jing Jiu didn’t read the invitation card, nor did he give the main preachers a hard time. “Let’s go,” he said after he got up from the chair.

…

…

There was a female priest on every planet in the Federation of the Milky Way, responsible for inheriting the civilization and consolidate the belief of the populace.

These female priests were all named after the planet on which they resided, like the female priest of the Stargate with whom Jing Jiu was most familiar.

The female priest on the Main Planet was different from the others; it was because she was special to begin with.

She was the first female priest during the revival of the human civilization, and she somehow obtained the inheritance of that one distant ancient civilization.

Using the knowledge of the distant ancient civilization, humans appeared on the Main Planet again to start an era of intelligence before ultimately taking a giant leap into the interplanetary era.

She was the sole connection between this world and the civilization that had disappeared more than a hundred thousand years ago, making her a pioneer in the truest sense.

All the female priests were her students. And they could become the female priests only after they were approved by her. As such, Zong Lizi came here from the Stargate Base.

The whole human world must feel grateful and praise her.

Those important figures, be it the councilors of the Administrative Bureau, the heads of the significant clans or the ambitious generals, had to kneel down before her and kiss her feet.

Nobody dared to address by name…no one even knew what it was, nor did they know how many generations she had inherited.

Since she didn’t have a title, people simply called her That One.

The female priest of the Stargate believed that Jing Jiu was the new god in the prophecy, but it required the approval of That One.

This was one of three reasons Jing Jiu came to the Main Planet.

The gravitational field of the priest mansion opened up a passage. A silvery and elegant spacecraft with a streamline left the ground, heading toward the magnificent mountain range in the north.

The human civilization had already ushered in the interplanetary era and possessed an abundance of energy, which meant spacecrafts with a streamlined design were rare now, and they therefore bore an ancient and classic majesty.

The beautiful silver spacecraft flew over the mountains and arrived at a patch of prairie that was even more beautiful.

Sitting by the window, Jing Jiu looked down at the buildings scattered on the prairie through the window and sensed the existence of the gravitational field that he loathed.

In the next moment, he noticed many heat sources under the prairie; it was unclear whether they were the platforms for the laser guns and missiles or the secret heavy ion guns developed by the military.

These buildings were the praying hall of the Main Planet.

Still, the silvery spacecraft didn’t land among the buildings, instead heading north. After a while, it arrived on a plateau with flat desert in the northernmost area.

The plateau was covered with white snow. Patches of moss could be spotted occasionally; they looked like the paints tossed onto the canvas by those vanguard artists.

Compared to the ground, the scene in the sky was much more amazing.

Countless snowflakes drifted down from the dark clouds, but they couldn’t land on the ground. It seemed that they were controlled by an invisible force, as if they were drifting or flowing slowly along a curved surface. Viewed from a distance, the snowflakes looked like a huge snowball being crushed into the ground by a deity.

Jing Jiu gazed at the surface of the huge snowball submerged in the ground, which reminded him of a small toy he saw in Zong Lizi’s apartment. The main preachers of the praying hall on the spacecraft were used to seeing the scene, so they remained calm. But it was the first time Ran Handong saw it. Feeling astonished, she muttered, “What is it? Why haven’t I seen it on the satellite map?”

“It’s the gravitational field,” said Jing Jiu.

It was easy to speculate that the trail of the flowing snowflakes and the curved surface of the snowball were due to the effect of the gravitational field.

Though Ran Handong was very knowledgeable and would be able to ascertain what it was, it was still difficult for her to believe it. “How can the surface of the planet have such a powerful gravitational field?” she exclaimed.

Jing Jiu didn’t respond to her question, nor did the main preachers of the praying hall. It took a while for her to come to terms with the fact.

That One lived here, so all sorts of miracles happened.

The silver spacecraft came before the huge snowball. The gaps between the alloy sheets began to vibrate violently. If this vibration continued, the spacecraft could pull apart. Fortunately, a hole appeared on the surface of the huge snowball soon enough, and the silver spacecraft flew into it soundlessly. The scenery outside the windows changed abruptly.

The snowflakes drawn by the powerful gravitational field acted like the catkins picked up by the willow branches from the lake water, which almost filled up the sky; but the vision was not totally blocked. The sky seemed a bit dim, looking like a regular cloudy day.

There were many mountains in this world. They were not very high and covered with dense forests. The snow could be spotted occasionally, giving off a sense of cold beauty.

A green lake was situated among the mountains. Its surface was devoid of ripples and was as smooth as the Green Sky Mirror.

If looking away at the distance, one could spot the traces of glaciers.

It was considerably picturesque.

A gray building was situated by the lake. The material on its surface should be concrete, but it didn’t seem to be intrusive even though it was at the edge of a forest. At least it looked more harmonious than a dozen spacecrafts there.

Dozens of people stood before the gray building, discussing something in a low voice in groups.

“The middle-aged men and women wearing formal suits on the left are the members of the Administrative Committee. The old men wearing civilian clothes at the front are the generals of the military. You should be able to see my father among them.” Ran Handong introduced the identities of those people quickly in a low voice as she and Jing Jiu walked toward the lakeside.

The councilors of the Federation of the Milky Way and the governments of various planets as well as the military and the organization hidden in the shadow were exceedingly cautious.

Not all military personnel obeyed General Li. There were many of them like Ran Donglou who were loyal to the priest clan.

These important figures came to the plateau in the uppermost north in hopes to find out the outcome at first hand.

If that one recognized Jing Jiu as the new god, they would all cooperate with the propaganda of the priest clan and any other measures.

Seeing the silver spacecraft descend, the important figures looked in its direction, though none of them moved toward it.

Jing Jiu paid no mind to them. Led by the main preacher of the praying hall, he and the others came to the lakeside and embarked on a fishing boat powered by the primitive gasoline, heading toward the middle of the lake.

The boat cut a straight rift on the mirror-like surface of the lake. The fog in the middle of the lake, after being disturbed by the movement, didn’t grow thinner but thicker instead.

Seeing the fishing boat disappear into the fog on the surface of the lake, Ran Handong folded her arms reflexively, her eyes full of worry.

“If he were the new god, he would be recognized by That One; nothing will happen to him. If he were the god chosen by That One, he would be fine for sure.”

Ran Donglou came up behind her.

Ran Handong turned around and looked at her father. She intended to say something but didn’t know how to put it.

Noticing her worried expression, Ran Donglou asked, “What’s wrong?”

After a moment of silence, Ran Handong said, “I think he didn’t come here to be recognized by that one.”

…

…

The fishing boat arrived on the other side of the lake soon after it entered the fog.

Jing Jiu disembarked the boat and stepped onto the ground. After passing through a forest, he saw a city up ahead.

His intuition was correct. There was an exceedingly powerful generating device of a gravitational field and an advanced protective shield in the green lake enshrouded among the mountains.

Neither person nor sound could be found or heard in this city. It was like a graveyard.

The buildings here were all very tall, usually forty stories high. The surface of the buildings was covered with glass sheets, with no intention of saving energy.

The streets between the buildings were all very wide, wider even than those in Shou’er City and the Special District of Capital City. One hundred people could walk on the streets shoulder to shoulder

Jing Jiu soon found out why it was this way; it was because of the vehicles he saw parked on the streets.

Those vehicles were all rusty, as if they would fall to pieces when one touched them slightly. However, he could still sense particles coming out from them.

Like the fishing boats, these vehicles used a lower-level biological energy source.

The bones of those large demons at the bottom of the Gathered-Soul Valley were turned into powder after tens of thousands of years, but why could these vehicles conserve their original façade?

The whole city was shrouded in the thin fog. Jing Jiu was walking amid it in the city.

It didn’t take long for him to come up with the conclusion that this city was a part of the remnants of the legendary distant ancient civilization.

In these remnants, one couldn’t find the generating device of the gravitational field, the device of nuclear power, or the space elevator. Based on the details he discovered around the city, Jing Jiu determined that the remnants were from the early period of the distant ancient civilization and much more backward than the Federation of the Milky Way; but why did That One choose this place to reside?

“It’s because this reminds me of the world I observed originally, and it was the time period I missed most.”

The door of a black car by the street opened slowly.

A girl walked out from it.