A Martial Odyssey

Yi Ping was uneasy. These three old men had a familiar feeling around them.

When Xuan Kong had mentioned the name of the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan, he was suddenly jolted! It was because he had suddenly remembered Zuo Tianyi who was the protégé leader of the Infinity Sword Clan!

All of a sudden, he was fearful for Shen Xingyue as he stole a quiet glance at her.

Shen Xingyue was looking uneasy and she was trembling lightly.

Yi Ping smiled bitterly and he was trembling slightly from the suppressing presence of their powerful sword auras!

Yi Ping asked in a low whisper, “They are Immortal Sword Sages? Are they powerful? I feel really uneasy.”

The Ascension G.o.ddess smiled bitterly, “They are extremely difficult to deal with opponents. Even the Holy Ascension Sect is unwillingly to meddle with them. The one in the middle is the Immortal Sword Aegis Sage. He is the celestial leader of the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan. The two old men beside him are the clan elders, Immortal Sword Zealot Sage and Immortal Sword Blitz Sage.”

When the three old men had arrived, it was as though the entire scene had been frozen in time; no one had dared to move as they held their breath. The suffocating weights of their sword auras were simply irresistible!

Yi Ping tried to move but it seemed as though he was being held immobilized and he was suddenly feeling extremely fatigued!

He crackled his knuckles and willed his consciousness with the Absolute Spirits Heart Intricacy as he struggled against the invisible suffocating sword auras!

Xuan Kong muttered, “Such powerful sword auras! Even the Immortal Sword Aegis Sage of the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan is here today!”

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage said solemnly, “Our sword auras may be powerful but it is still too weak to restraint the Four Reverend Elders of the Holy Ascension Sect, Xuan Kong, Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You.”

Xuan Wei stroked his beard as he said, “Is there a need for the three most powerful Immortal Sword Sages of the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan to be here? Is that an overkill? Just anyone of you is more than sufficient.”

The Immortal Sword Zealot Sage laughed, “The Four Reverend Elders of the Holy Ascension Sect is too humble. If I am alone, I may not be your combined match. Moreover…”

He paused and looked at everyone in the hall, “This is no ordinary gathering today. We sensed the sword energy of a divine sword here but we have never expected that there will be eight divine swords here!”

Immediately all the other visiting celestials were dumbfounded as they quickly looked at Yi Ping and his company!

Eight divine swords! That was something unprecedented! Divine swords were extremely rare in the Celestial Realm compared to the Mortal Realm. The appearance of one divine sword was enough to cause a terrible bloodshed in the Celestial Realm, moreover there were eight in the same place now!

The Immortal Sword Blitz Sage stared fiercely at Shen Xingyue as he said coldly, “But we have only one purpose. Surrender the Blue Heavens Divine Sword immediately. This is the Heritage Artifact of the Infinity Sword Clan and does not belong to anyone else.”

Shen Xingyue said coldly, “Why should I do as you say? It is in my hands and I am obviously the owner. Just because you say it belongs to the Infinity Sword Clan, then it belongs to the Infinity Sword Clan?”

She raised the Blue Heavens Divine Sword in front of her and immediately a blue radiance could be seen, “Moreover, I have merged one with the Blue Heavens and I am the chosen. Unless I am dead, the Blue Heavens will not choose a new master.”

The three Immortal Sword Sages were slightly startled that she had indeed merged one with the sword and from her simple demonstration, it validated her claims.

The Immortal Sword Blitz Sage said coldly, “You have no idea how malicious and accursed this divine sword is towards its master. It will only bring forth tragedies and sorrows to all its masters. I will advise you to give it up before its accursed fate gets to you.”

Shen Xingyue laughed softly, “You really think I am just a child to believe in this fairytale? If I surrender the Blue Heavens to you, do you think you are able to wield it? Or don’t tell me the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan has a way of using the Blue Heavens without falling victim to it?”

The Immortal Sword Blitz Sage said coldly, “We will of course seal the Blue Heavens in a secure place. This, you do not have to worry too much.”

He paused for a while as he gave a cold smile, “Unless of course, you think that you are able to stop us from seizing back the Blue Heavens. Even if your friends have divine swords in their hands, do they think they are able to stop the three of us? Do you think they can do so without losing their very own lives?”

Yi Ping sighed softly.

Even though his sigh was light but it was like a cool refreshing breeze that immediately seize the attention of everyone, lifting the heavy sword auras of the three Immortal Sword Sages!

The three Immortal Sword Sages were startled that a lowly celestial pract.i.tioner could actually dissipate their Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Aura in such a causal manner even though it lasts briefly!

The Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Aura was an epitome level of the Infinitude Energy Skill, representing one of the highest embodiments in energies mastery. In the Celestial Realm, the Six Ley Infinitude Sword Aura was one of the most epitome divine skills and the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan was renowned for its sword energies techniques!

Yi Ping said firmly with righteous fire in his eyes, “It is no difference from stealing. It is what a hooligan will do and not what a respected celestial is expected to do. Is there no righteousness in the Celestial Realm?”

All three Immortal Sword Sages and all the celestials were startled by Yi Ping’s remarks! It was because no one dares to be disrespectful to the three Immortal Sword Sages!

The Immortal Sword Zealot Sage hummed coldly, “You are scolding us? You are saying we are hooligans? Very good! Very good! No one has dared to be disrespect to us for a long time. Those that did are no longer living. You know very well that the Blue Heavens Divine Sword is the Heritage Artifact of the Infinity Sword Clan and you are flipping black to white with your reasoning!”

Yi Ping said casually, “This, I really do not know!”

That was the truth. He had always a.s.sumed that Shen Xingyue was in possession of the Blue Heavens Divine Sword.

The Immortal Sword Zealot Sage was a highly attained celestial and he was not someone who could be easily be moved by anger but Yi Ping casual reply had a somewhat upsetting effect on him as he said coldly, “I have three swords on my back. One is a precious sword, one is a steel sword and the other is a wooden sword. At first, I require a precious sword to guide my sword energies. Eventually I am able to discard the precious sword and use an ordinary steel sword. Over time, my proficiency in sword energies is so mastery that I am able to use a wooden sword. Finally, I am able to cast away the wooden sword and use my fingers.”

Not only Yi Ping was startled by his proclamations, all the other celestials were taken aback as well! It was because the mere act of generating sword energy was extremely difficult. It not only required a high level of energy mediation, it also required a precious sword in order to focus the vital energies of the pract.i.tioner into the lethal power of the sword energies!

When vital energy was materialized as sword energy, it literally became a destructive energy. The sword was a conduit to channel the destructive energy known as ‘Sword Energy’ before it was materialized from the invisible form to the visible form. However, sword energy was so destructive at the point of creation that it was known to destroy the pract.i.tioner. That was why it was important to imbue the sword energy with a precious sword so as to make the channeling easier or else when the sword shattered, the pract.i.tioner would be the first to perish!

And the Immortal Sword Zealot Sage seemed to be suggesting that he was able to use sword energies with his fingers!

What an extraordinary feat!

The Immortal Sword Zealot Sage raised his fingers into a sword finger stance as he said coldly, “Young man if you want to die, all by means try.”

Yi Ping replied calmly as he displayed the Heaven Stance of the Divine Horizon Hands, “I am not only going to try, I am also going to kick you all out of the hall!”

Shen Xingyue was startled as she quickly used the Great Whispering Skill, whispering to Yi Ping, “Ping’Er, this is my destiny. They are here for the Blue Heavens Divine Sword. It is true that that I have taken this sword from Zuo Tianyi. These three old men are unfathomable. Even though they are impudent but at least they are reasonable to give me a choice…”

At the same time, Lele, Yixian, the Stellar Heaven Fairy and the Ascension G.o.ddess were also whispering to Yi Ping with the Great Whispering Skill as they raised the same concerns as Shen Xingyue; these three old men were all unfathomable exponents!

“You really think they will go away just like this?” A soft whisper could be heard by Yi Ping, Shen Xingyue, Lele, Yixian, the Stellar Heaven Fairy and the Ascension G.o.ddess at the same time, startling them!

They could actually hear her voice at the same time?!

Yi Ping knew that she was using her Great Listening Skill, a feat that she had made known to him. But she could actually whisper to all of them at the same time without alerting the others!

Lele whispered with her Great Whispering Skill, “Good Sister! You can hear us? What type of internal martial skill is this? Teach me…”

The Ascension G.o.ddess and Yixian were suddenly flushing! It was because they did not know that someone else could actually eavesdrop on them all this while when they muttered their sweet nothings to Yi Ping!

The Stellar Heaven Fairy was astounded as she realized that the Heaveness was actually whispering to all of them at the same time without alerting their opponents! In a fight, this was an extremely huge advantage over her other opponents! And judging by her Great Whispering Skill, her internal strength was extremely pure and concise!

Yixian, Lele, the Stellar Heaven Fairy, Shen Xingyue and the Ascension G.o.ddess were all internal martial art experts. The Great Whispering Skill was an internal martial skill that required a pure internal strength and extremely hard to master, enabling them to whisper their soft voice to the ears of the receiver only.

This actually required a great deal of focus and effort and in a fight was almost impossible to use!

But the Heaveness could actually use the Great Whispering Skill on all of them at the same time!

Yi Ping, Yu’Er, Mei’Er, Lie Qing, Youxue and Yunzi were aware of this secret epitome skill but they were incapable of using it. They were in awe of Lingfeng.

What else could Yi Ping do except to smile bitterly to himself?

He thought, “Only she can talk to me, I am unable to convey my thoughts to her. If it is a martial shouting contest, I can definitely do better…”

All of a sudden, Yi Ping noticed that Lingfeng was looking at him with a amused smile. He was startled as he thought, “She can hear my thoughts? No, that is impossible…it is a just a coincidence. No one can hear a person’s inner thoughts…”

Lingfeng could indeed hear his thoughts! She was amused as she thought, “Hmph! You really think I want to listen to your disturbing thoughts all the time?”

While she was thinking, she had also seated herself on the throne casually, lifting her leg over the other as she yawned softly.

Yi Ping, the Universal Old Man, the other maidens and the other celestials were all looking at her. To their startled surprise, the heavy suffocating sword aura seemed to have totally dissipated!

The three Immortal Sword Sages were stunned that this alluring serene maiden was able to dissipate their powerful Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Aura with such a casual movement! Her state of divinity was simply unbelievable!

The alluring maiden who had seated herself at the throne seemed to be radiating a mystique aura; a serene force immediately distinguished her from the others!

Immediately, the other celestials had suddenly realized that she was an Ancient Celestial!

The Ascension G.o.ddess had immediately thought, “So that is your true aura? The aura of the Heaveness?”

The Ascension G.o.ddess had acute innate energy sense. When she had met Yi Ping, she immediately knew that he was unusual and that Lingfeng was an Ancient Celestial. While she was not surprised by her state of divinity displayed, she was still incredulous that the powerful Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Aura could be dissipated with such little effort! It was because the Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Aura was similar to her Despairing Aura. Unless their opponents could find a way to neutralize the deadly auras, their fighting capabilities would be impeded. In a critical fight, this was fatal!

The Ascension G.o.ddess laughed softly as she brandished her Despairing Heaven Sword, “Disrespectful fools. My sister, the Fiery Phoenix is a Supreme Celestial of the Holy Ascension Sect and you are so bold to threaten a Supreme Celestial of the Holy Ascension Sect? Even she allows it, I will not.”

When the three Immortal Sword Sages saw her divine sword, they immediately knew who she was!

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage said solemnly, “So it is the Ascension G.o.ddess of the Holy Ascension Sect. While I have never heard of the Fiery Phoenix but your reputation in the Celestial Realm is simply horrid and your att.i.tude is really insolent. It is time for us to teach the junior some lessons. There is always a sage above a sage and a heaven above a heaven!”

The Ascension G.o.ddess laughed softly, “You think that just the three of you are able to teach me a lesson? You still a long way from that! Maybe if you manage to ask the Immortal Saint of Swords to come out of his retreat, only then I will be fearful. Why don’t the three of you have a go at the same time?”

She was actually fearful but this battle was actually also a psychology contest and a battle of the wits as they fought to gain the mental edge over one another. When she saw the Heaveness had actually dissipated their deadly Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Aura, she was emboldened!

The Three Immortal Sword Sages were moved to anger by her insolence. It was obvious that their martial skills were above her.

Before the rest of the celestials had recovered from the stunning display of Lingfeng, they were stunned once more by the bold declarations of the Ascension G.o.ddess!

Many of the visiting celestials were shaking their heads in disbelief.

They were all top martial exponents. How could they not know how deadly the three Immortal Sword Sages were? Even though the three Immortal Sword Sages were not ranked among the top celestials in the new celestial ranking, their sword techniques were considered to be unfathomed and many of their challengers had failed to return. And that included a former number one celestial fighter!

Their golden eyes were also extremely piercing, striking fear in the hearts of the celestials. That spoke volumes of their martial level; even before the battle had started, the victor had already been decided!

Yi Ping was already gasping as he stared at their piercing golden eyes.

Even though their deadly powerful Six Negative Ley Infinitude Sword Auras were suppressed, that was just one of the many forms of their Six Negative Ley Infinitude Energy Intricacy Skill!

When Yi Ping was looking at them he saw the materialization of their ‘Sword Intents’ taking an invisible form that could be seen by him, how every stroke of his would be dismantle and countered, resulting in his death!

He broke into a cold shiver, as did many of the celestials at the same time!

The deadly killing malevolent airs of the three Immortal Sword Sages were everywhere now. The Ascension G.o.ddess had succeeded in provoking them!

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage said coldly, “It has been a long time since I have exhibited my killing intent.”

The Immortal Sword Zealot Sage gave a cold smile, “Indeed! At our state of divinity, all our strokes no matter how light are fatal.”

The Immortal Sword Blitz Sage sighed softly, “Someone is courting her own death. Xuan Kong, you have heard her. Do don’t blame us. Or you may want to join forces with her?”

Xuan Kong was caught in a dilemma!

He was opposed to the union between the Ascension G.o.ddess and Yi Ping. To him, she was perfect and no mere celestials or men were worthy of her. He had actually feared for her because the Holy Ascension Sect had no room for traitors and there were many powerful reclusive celestials in the Holy Ascension Sect. The Ascension G.o.ddess had only been in the Celestial Realm for a mere hundred years and may not have an idea how the elders of the Holy Ascension Sect regarded traitors.

At the same time, he was an elder of the Holy Ascension Sect and also a subordinate of hers. It was because Supreme Celestials in the Holy Ascension Sect had a special ranking. He remembered how the Ascension G.o.ddess had saved them on numerous occasions and also the numerous difficult battles that they had been through.

All of a sudden, he laughed aloud. “I am with the Ascension G.o.ddess of course! The Holy Ascension Sect has always been united against external foes!”

Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You hummed at the same time as they proclaimed proudly, “We are all behind the Ascension G.o.ddess!”

The Ascension G.o.ddess was secretly touched in her heart as she muttered, “Everyone…”

Even Yi Ping was moved. He was someone that could be easily moved by brotherhoods and the righteousness of the fraternity. He immediately raised his thumb up and exclaimed aloud, “Good!”

Shen Xingyue had moved quietly beside to the Ascension G.o.ddess as she said quietly, “You don’t have to take the rap for me. This is after all my battle. But…thank you!”

The Ascension G.o.ddess gave a modest smile, “So…we are sisters?”

Shen Xingyue smiled faintly, “Of course we are. This is the first time we have battle together on the same side? To think that this may be our last.”

The Ascension G.o.ddess laughed softly, “Maybe yes, maybe no.”

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage smiled coldly, “It seems that this battle is inevitable. I wonder how many will die today?”

Yi Ping interrupted as he had already stepped forward, “I don’t care how strong you are but I will not give up without a fight.”

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage raised his eyebrows, “You want to fight us with your bare hands? That is suicide against our sword energies! You need at least a precious sword in order to come within three yards of me. Give it up!”

Yi Ping said, “If that is my destiny, so be it!”

Almost as soon as he had finished it, Lie Qing and Lele had stepped beside him at the same time as they brandished the White Phoenix and the Divine Echo divine swords!

Lie Qing smiled sweetly at him, “I have my Perpetual Darkness Divine Sword now. You can use the White Phoenix Divine Sword. I will fight alongside you!”

Lele stroked her long hair slowly as she said gently, looking melancholy. “Ping’Er, here is the Divine Echo. Use it well. With two divine swords, you don’t have to fear their sword auras!”

Yi Ping muttered, “Qing’Er…Lele…”

The three Immortal Sword Sages and many of the celestials were startled to learn the names of the White Phoenix and the Divine Echo. That included Xuan Kong, Xuan Qian, Xuan Wei and Xuan You!

The Deadly Wanderer could not help muttering, “Aren’t these divine swords the Heritage Artifact of the Melody Palace? Why are they here?”

Immediately at the mention of the Melody Palace, more of the celestials were startled as they reacted nervously!

It was because while many of the celestials were still practicing celestials in the lower realm, they had heard of the three divine swords and the Celestial Star Annihilating Formation of the Melody Palace! The Melody Palace was one of the major celestial clan in the lower realm. Even though the Melody Palace had ceased to exist in the upper realm and was not a major celestial power now, their legacies still survived.

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage murmured, “It is really the divine swords of the Melody Palace. So you are all from the Melody Palace?”

Lele replied coldly, “That’s right!”

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage hummed coldly, “No one can use wield two divine swords. The nature of the divine swords itself inhibited their use. Forcefully trying to wield two divine swords will only result in severe internal injuries and even cause a permanent deterioration of the pract.i.tioner’s martial skills even if he has survived. You are just harming him with your ignorant actions…”

While he was still rebuking them, Yi Ping picked up the two divine swords from Lie Qing and Lele. Immediately, there were two halos from the two divine swords!

The Immortal Sword Aegis was startled, “That’s impossible…”

All the other celestials were gasping and they were equally stunned!

Yi Ping said quietly, “Why the talk? If we are going to fight, so be it.”

The Immortal Sword Aegis took a quiet look at the other two Immortal Sword Sages. They were secretly wary of the presence of the eight divine swords. Moreover, they had to gauge the martial level of their opponents and at the same time, preserving the good reputation of their celestial clan by offering options to them.

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage quickly tried to change the conversation by pointing at Yixian the Celestial Fairy who was standing beside Lingfeng as he asked, “Then the ident.i.ty of that last divine sword is the Heavenly Earth Divine Sword?”

All this while, Yixian and Lingfeng had been secretly exchanging whispers to each other with their Great Whispering Skill.

When all the celestials had turned their attention to them, they were all immediately mesmerized by their heavenly faint smiles and glorious radiance, which seemed to be manifesting with increasing heart stopping effect!

All of a sudden, one of the celestials immediately coughed out blood!

Immediately, several of the celestials were all closing their eyes. This was really too much for them! Some of the celestials were pract.i.tioners of the emotionless heart intricacies. When they were moved by emotions, their vital energies would reverse and that resulted in internal injuries!

The Celestial Fairy said gently as she nodded towards the Stellar Heaven Fairy, “That’s right. We are all from the Melody Palace. And this is my protégé mistress, the Stellar Heaven Fairy. My incarnation name is Revelation Star but I am now known as the Celestial Fairy. And indeed, the sword in my hand is the Heavenly Earth Sword.”

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sword smiled weakly, “How did you manage to bring these three accursed divine swords to the Celestial Realm?”

But before Yixian could reply him, Lingfeng laughed softly, “It seems that you have all forgotten about me. I don’t think knowing how the three divine swords are in the Celestial Realm is the priority question, am I right?”

The Immortal Sword Aegis Sage said coldly, “I have not forgotten about you. Even if you are an Ancient Celestial, there are no opponents that can survive our sword formation. No one at all. With our present level of celestial divinity, I am afraid that even the Ancient Celestials may not be able to match us.”

Lingfeng replied calmly with a gently smile, “I didn’t say I am going to give them a hand, am I right? That may not be necessary at all.”

She smiled to Yixian and the Heaven Stellar Fairy, “Am I right, sister?”

The Stellar Heaven Fairy sighed softly, “We have been expecting everyone. But as an added precaution, I have instructed my former protégés on the secret intricacies of the formations of the Melody Palace and have it created in this place.”

All the celestials had turned pale!

It was because the Melody Palace was renowned for one celestial formation and it was the most deadly of all known formations, a celestial killing formation!

Everyone was suddenly nervous!

Yixian looked at the three Immortal Sword Sages with equally piercing cold gaze as she said gently and unhurriedly, “What is so great with the sword formation of the Infinity Sword Celestial Clan? You didn’t realize that you are all within the Celestial Star Annihilation Formation?”

Ch25 End