A Martial Odyssey

The Immortal Saint of Swords and the Immortal Sword Sages had left.

The once beautiful white celestium hall of the Tranquil City was in an appalling mess, with cracks and splinters everywhere.

Only a handful of the most powerful celestial clans could afford such splendor.

The Tranquil City was once the headquarter of the Dominating Aura Clan, an aggressive celestial clan that had quickly expanded in their dominations.

The entire hall was extremely dusty and many of the visiting celestials were coughing weakly.

There were more than a hundred visiting celestials at the start. Some had come to disrupt the wedding and some had come here to be acquainted with the new Domain Lord of the Tranquil City. But now there were only fifty of them now!

More than fifty celestials were scattered around the hall, unable to move ever again.

The surviving celestials were worn up and many of them were had sustained serious internal injuries. A few of them were even wailing aloud for the dead.

But most of the celestials were looking at the Celestial Alice and Yi Ping’s group in the middle of the hall…

Yi Ping had fallen and his breathing was extremely weak.

Yu’Er, Mei’Er, Youxue, Yunzi, the Shishi the Stellar Heaven Fairy, Lele and Lie Qing were surrounding him and were trying to resuscitate him while the Universal Old Man was popping several pills in his mouth…

The Universal Old Man struck Yi Ping’s chest with a heavy pounding blow after another, causing the unconscious Yi Ping to quiver and foaming blood each time!

Lele said exasperating, “Dirty old man, what are you doing? You are killing him! I have never seen anyone hitting a person to save a person!”

Youxue was also saying exasperating and she was close to tears, “Stop please. You are killing him…”

The Universal Old Man smiled bitterly, “Why should I kill my own protégé? I am saving him…”

Yunzi was also staring at the Universal Old Man in disbelief, “I…I think I go get the Heaveness…”

The Universal Old Man wiped away his beads of perspiration as he stammered, “Trust me, trust me. Even if you get the Heaveness to be here, it is futile. Moreover, she cannot be distracted now. My pills may not be miracle pills but it is better than nothing…”

It was true that it was futile to get the Heaveness here. Or even Shen Xingyue or Yixian. It was because right now, they were expending their internal strength to save the Ascension G.o.ddess. Internal strength energies were extremely precious to the martial pract.i.tioners and would take them a long time to recover. Moreover, recklessly expending their internal energies carried a mortal risk too. That was why martial pract.i.tioners were reluctant to expend their precious internal energies for anyone.

But Yixian did not hesitated at all when she had used the Eternal Heavenly Tear internal energies in an attempt to save the Ascension G.o.ddess. Either did Shen Xingyue and Lingfeng!

At this moment, the Universal Old Man and the other maidens were also expending their internal energies to aid Yi Ping without any hesitation even though they were still being surrounded by hostilities!

The Stellar Heaven Fairy whispered to Yu’Er and Mei’Er, “You are Golden Celestials now. Are you really the Eclipse and Axis Heaven G.o.ddess? Is there anything you can do?” She was tearful. She had not expected that her wedding would be ruined because the bridegroom had been met with a mishap. She lamented silently, “There is nothing but tragedies that awaits me in the Celestial Realm…”

Mei’Er looked at Yu’Er melancholy as she channeled pulses of golden light into Yi Ping, “Sister, have you remember?”

Yu’Er nodded gently as she struck Yi Ping in his life channels with her fingers, “Yes I have remembered but Master Yi Ping is too grievously injured. We can only try with our Midheaven Epiphanies intricate energies…”

Mei’Er said gently to the other maidens, “Sisters. Don’t expend your internal energies futility. Leave it to the Universal Old Man, Yu’Er and I. If the three of us are unable to save Master Yi Ping’s life, then no one else is able to…”

Lie Qing, Lele, Yunzi, Youxue and the Stellar Heaven Fairy were startled by their transformation. They reluctantly complied. Mei’Er voice may be gentle but it had a mystifying commanding pull in it.

Yu’Er said softly, “There are six different intrinsic sword energies in his body. The best we can do now is to suppress the six conflicting sword energies first and then think of a way to save his life…”

All of a sudden, her voice became extremely tender as she was heard murmuring. “Yi Ping…the White Sage…I have thought that I won’t be able to see you again…but when I did, why is that it have to be in this situation…”

Most of the visiting celestials were only paying scant attentions to them except for Xuan Kong, Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You. Instead, their eyes were on the black relic that was impaled in the middle of the grand, the Celestial Alice!

A divine sword was impaled in the middle of the grand hall and no one was claiming it!

Xuan Kong, Xuan Wei, Xuan Qian, Xuan You, the Northern Tyrant, the Deadly Wanderer and many others were now staring at the Celestial Alice nervously!

But no one wanted to be first to go to the middle of the grand hall to pick up the Celestial Alice while the Universal Old Man was there. It was because the only celestial that had survived the ordeal unscathed was the Universal Old Man. He was not only an Ancient Celestial but he was one of the seven super celestials in the past ranking together with the Immortal Saint of Swords!

Having witnessing the epic duels of the Immortal Sword Sages and the Immortal Saint of Swords, the surviving celestials were dumbfounded by their sword practice as well as their energy practice. They had never expected that their martial differences would be this vast!

Even Yi Ping and the Ascension G.o.ddess were leagues above them!

They could not understand how a celestial pract.i.tioner like Yi Ping who had not successfully attained as a Golden Celestial would be able to exchange so many strokes with the Immortal Saint of Swords!

The secret verdict among the visiting celestials was, “They are too exaggerating!”

The conclusion of that secret verdict was, “Is it because of the divine swords that are in their hands?”

Divine swords were divine swords because unlike ordinary swords, it was able to absorb and dissipate the powerful sword energies shockwaves that were being generated by internal energy pract.i.tioners.

And of course, martial energies and forces were easier to channel and amplified through the use of a divine sword.

In the Martial Fraternity and in the Celestial Realm, internal energy pract.i.tioners were commonplace but sword energies pract.i.tioners were extremely rare. It was a martial path that was fraught with dangers and difficulties, with just one or two in every few generations that could attain the immaterial energy level and even harder to ascend to the Celestial Realm. While energy pract.i.tioners were all martial exponents that everyone wanted to avoid, they were not invincible. Any injuries or disruption to their vital energies channels could be fatal to them.

Therefore, the reason why they were all staring at the Celestial Alice was not because they dared to dream of challenging the Immortal Saint of Swords or the Immortal Sword Sages.

It was because the divine swords not only offered them an advantage over their closest opponent but it was because divine swords were known to aid the celestial pract.i.tioners in overcoming the dreadful Heavenly Tribulations!

Therefore many of the visiting celestials were now staring at the Celestial Alice and were pondering over their next move.

The Immortal Saint of Swords had said that this sword here was a divine sword and it was christened the Celestial Alice. But was the Celestial Alice really a divine sword? But where was its divine air? All the celestials were not able to feel it…

But even though they were not able to feel it, they knew that the Celestial Alice was not an ordinary divine sword. It was because when the Immortal Saint of Swords had casually dropped it, it had impaled deep into the white celestial marble stabs which were nearly impervious to most forces and cuts!

Could it be that the Celestial Alice was a True Divine Sword, an immortal sword from the G.o.ds’ Realm? Given their current state of divinity, maybe that was why they were not able to recognize it?

Most of the visiting celestials were not able to recognize a divine weapon unless it had been unsheathed in the first place. Only the epitome celestials were able to recognize the auras of the divine weapons from afar.

The Northern Tyrant was a friend of Ximen Nanqing the protégé master of the Dominating Aura Clan. Together, they had forged an unlikely alliance to dominate the Celestial Realm.

Imagine the horror of the Northern Tyrant when he had heard that Ximen Nanqing had been killed and the Dominating Aura Clan had been disbanded!

He quickly regrouped the celestial pract.i.tioners of the Dominating Aura Clan that had come to defect to his clan. He had come to confront the new master of the Tranquil City who had the audacity to rename the domain of the Dominating Aura Clan and cast out all the celestial pract.i.tioners that had survived.

His initial surprise was that of absurdity when he had heard of the first report, “A small group of unknown celestial pract.i.tioners has taken over the Dominating Aura City?! Ximen Nanqing has been defeated and his whereabouts are unknown?”

Subsequent reports by the surviving celestial pract.i.tioners of the Dominating Aura Clan that had defected to him revealed further information, “The Holy Ascension Sect has made their move against the Dominating Aura Clan, annihilating all other resistances. So this Yi Ping is just a lucky fellow that happen to be in the right place at the right time and is just picking up the remnants of that battle. But as long as Ximen Nanqing is still alive, then that Yi Ping won’t last long and he will be in for a surprise.”

That was because he knew what a powerful exponent Ximen Nanqing was. His martial strength, his intellect and his cunningness made him a foe not to be underestimated!

Then the death of Nanqing Ximen was suddenly announced and that the new Domain Lord of the Tranquil City had buried him decently!

He was stunned!

He quickly gathered some of his best fighters and contacted some of his celestial allies to seek vendetta for Ximen Nanqing!

Of course that was not his only purpose. Everyone knew that the Dominating Aura Clan was fabulous wealthy, with a large store of white celestium stones and precious celestium metals. So very naturally, he had the intention of seizing the Tranquil City for himself. But of course, the martial secrets of Ximen Nanqing must not be allowed to fall into the hands of others!

But now when he had witnessed the epitome skills of Yi Ping’s group and the pathetic state that they were in, he was more than startled!

He was thinking, “This Yi Ping can actually fight the Immortal Saint of Swords one to one. Even though the Immortal Saint of Swords has conceded but he has not really lost. Even though this Yi Ping has fallen but there is still the Universal Old Man…”

Quite a few of the visiting celestials were secretly looking at him and from their eyes, they were hinting. “They are just a few. We are many. If we all make our moves at the same time, surely we can overpower the Universal Old Man?”

Another was nodding as he looked at the fallen celestials, seeming to hint. “With so many dead here, our actions will surely be justified. After all, we are just seeking justice for the fallen and there are fallen celestials from more than twenty celestial clans here…”

Another celestial shook his head as though he was hinting as he looked at the Deadly Wanderer. “That will really depend on the cooperation of everyone but not all the other celestials want to fight or have the martial strength left now.”

All of a sudden, Xuan Kong had stepped forward towards the middle of the grand hall, towards the Celestial Alice followed by Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You!

The hearts of many of the visiting celestials were pounding hard as they were afraid that Xuan Kong would seize the Celestial Alice first!

Even Lele and Lie Qing were provoked by their approach that they had quickly stepped in front of the Universal Old Man and the Celestial Alice!

Lele said coldly, “What do you want?”

Xuan Kong appeared to be humbled this time as he bowed respectfully, “We…we want to ascertain something.”

Xuan Wei stammered, “Yes, that’s right.”

Lele asked coldly, “Oh? What is it?”

Xuan Kong looked past them as he looked at Yu’Er and Mei’Er, stammering to answer. “Is that the Eclipse Heaven G.o.ddess and the Axis Heaven G.o.ddess?”

Mei’Er paused briefly while Yu’Er continued to use her intrinsic internal energies to stabilize the conflicting sword energies within Yi Ping’s body. She turned around to say, “Yes? I am the Axis Heaven G.o.ddess.”

Xuan Kong began looked at his protégé brothers…

It was because even though they were the elders of the Ascension Sect in the lower realm and in the Celestial Realm, they had never seen the Eclipse and Axis Heaven G.o.ddess before. The Ascension Sect is a major celestial clan in the lower realm and many of the celestial pract.i.tioners of the Ascension Sect had actually meditated alone in their lofty mountains. Therefore they had never met them before.

However, they did know that the Eclipse and Axis Heaven G.o.ddess were among the first celestial pract.i.tioners of the Ascension Sect. In terms of seniority and ranking, they were their elders even though they had ascended first. The first to ascend was accorded a superior rank than those that was later except for the Supreme Celestials of the Ascension Sect. And the Eclipse and Heaven G.o.ddess were the Supreme Celestials of the Ascension Sect!

It was because the Supreme Celestials of the Ascension Sect had a different celestial practice than the others, requiring a far longer time than anyone else! Therefore they had a special position within the Ascension Sect!

Xuan Kong, Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You immediately bowed their hands to say respectfully, “My respects to the…”

But Mei’Er interrupted softly but her voice was awe-inspiring, “Forget it. You didn’t believe us at the start. You should leave immediately.”

Xuan Kong stammered, “But…you are our…”

Mei’Er said expressionlessly and her golden eyes were a bright golden, “Supreme Celestial, am I right? My divine soul, my holy body belongs to the Ascension Sect and to the Ascension Supreme. My mortal body, my spirit to the Ascension Fire. You can tell that to the Lord Supreme. Now leave. We will pay a visit to the Holy Ascension Sect very soon.”

Xuan Kong, Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You gave a respectful bow before they made their way to the entrance.

The other visiting celestials were startled.

Xuan Kong, Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You were probably the best fighters that could possibly be on their side and now they had left!

The four ascendant priests were the elders of the Holy Ascension Sect and they were extremely respectfully to the maiden in the middle. They had been in the Celestial Realm long enough to know that the Supreme Celestials were not Golden Celestials to be trifled with even if injured. Moreover, quite a few of the celestials here had already sworn fealty to the Holy Ascension Sect and those celestial clans that did not, was not willingly to make enemies of the Holy Ascension Sect.

Therefore, twenty of the celestials immediately gathered their dead and walked off quietly!

The remaining thirty celestials were all hesitating and thinking of their next step!

Lele saw them and she said coldly, “You have not come here in goodwill and definitely not to attend our wedding. Why are you all still here? Are you trying to pick up a fight?”

Yunzi looked at the Celestial Alice as she said coldly, “They are thinking that since this Celestial Alice is being left behind then they may have a chance to obtain this divine sword.”

Yunzi had spoken their minds and immediately, several of the visiting celestials were fl.u.s.tering!

Lie Qing said coldly as she pointed her divine sword at them, “But it seems that they can’t do their math properly. If you want to seize the Celestial Alice and our divine swords, I am more than willing to fight with you.”

The Stellar Heaven Fairy said coldly, “And me as well!”

Youxue added coldly, “You can try me as well. Maybe I will actually drink their blood and their beating hearts to further my attainment.”

She was joking of course but it was a threat that was real. The dark celestial pract.i.tioners were forced to drink the blood of the other celestial pract.i.tioners to prolong their lives.

Normally, these Golden Celestials were disdainful of the half-celestial pract.i.tioners who had not attained to their levels. Their golden eyes marked them as true celestials over the numerous half-celestial pract.i.tioners who had crimson eyes. But today, they were all smiling bitterly…

While they were still smiling awkwardly, Lele had reached out for the Celestial Alice to pull it up from the ground when she too, coughed out blood as she stepped back with a stunned look!

Lie Qing was startled, “Lele, what is happening?!”

Everyone was startled too!

Lele coughed weakly as she immediately circulated her internal strength. She answered quickly, “I…I can’t pull the sword up. When I tried to do so, my internal energies immediately reverse upon myself!”

All of a sudden, everyone had a sudden realization. That was the reason why the Immortal Saint of Swords had dropped the Alice Celestial! Given the sword practice of the Immortal Saint of Swords, how was it possible for someone as highly attained as him to drop his own sword?!

That was the real reason why the Immortal Saint of Swords’ fighting movements had become awkward all of a sudden!

That was what he meant by, “Impossible…Why did you betray me…”

And when the Immortal Sword Zealot Sage tried to pick up the Celestial Alice, he too had suffered internal injuries!

No wonder, the Immortal Saint of Swords and the Immortal Sword Sages had left without taking the Celestial Alice!

That was something that was improbable and out of the world even for everyone to understand!

The Universal Old Man was also staring at the Celestial Alice and trying to figure out…

The Deadly Wanderer offered a help, “If we cannot pull up the sword, then why don’t we start by digging around it first?”

Immediately, there was some exciting muttering among the visiting celestials.

Even the Northern Tyrant was nodding and stroking his long beard in approval.

He was happily applauding his bright idea when Yu’Er got up and stared coldly at the visiting celestials in a not so amused manner. That was because judging by what Lele had said and piecing it together with what she had seen earlier, she knew that the Celestial Alice had already bound itself to the ground with the Universal Force. Even if they had used this method, it was completely futile.

She said exasperatedly as a powerful wave of malevolent air swept through the entire hall, “We need some quiet moments. Please leave or I won’t be polite anymore.”

The visiting celestials knew that she was serious.

Since they had no wish to offend the Holy Ascension Sect and they had no confident that they could defeat the Universal Old Man given their injuries and smaller numbers now, they reluctantly made their way to the entrance.

The Deadly Wanderer was reluctant to leave. Before he left, he actually had the audacity to say, “Maidens, if your bridegroom dies you can always look for me for comfort…”

But he quickly shut his mouth up when the maidens’ cold stares and cold demeanors turned him to flight as he hastily made his exit!

Lele had already raised her long scythe to attack him but he was one step ahead of her!

It was not long before all the visiting celestials had left the place but Yi Ping’s situation was still extremely critical!

Lele voice was coa.r.s.e from weeping, “How is he?”

Yu’Er replied softly, “No good. We can only hope to stabilize the conflicting six intrinsic energies in him but while the six intrinsic energies remained in him, we cannot treat any of his internal injuries…”

The Universal Old Man added as he gave Yi Ping another forceful push of his martial force on his heart, “No good. It is already a miracle that I can prolong his heart pulse this long…”

Lele was so upset upon hearing that she gave the Celestial Alice a kick, “Stupid Sword!” as she dropped a few tears on the sword. She was about to give the Celestial Alice a slice of her long wicked scythe when she was startled to see that Yi Ping was coughing out aloud!

All of a sudden, he had suddenly got up and startling everyone!

All the maidens were crying aloud, “Ping’Er, Yi Ping, Master Yi Ping!”

But Yi Ping did not seem to hear them as he staggered to the Celestial Alice which was next to him. As soon as he touched the metallic hilt of the Celestial Alice, it split into two different intricate black swords and there was a bright rainbow halo enveloping both swords!

As Yi Ping grabbed the Celestial Alice, he yelled aloud. Immediately, the six conflicting sword energies of the Ley Negative Sword Energies were expelled from him in a ring of spatial energies!

Yu’Er and Mei’Er immediately cried out, “Watch out!” as they deflected the deadly sword energies with Lie Qing and the Universal Old Man!

As Yi Ping fell onto the ground again, he was grasping both swords while muttering. “Celestial Antonym Alice…Celestial Synonym Alice…”

Ch32 End