A Martial Odyssey

"𝘼𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙖 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙩…𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚…𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨…"

The secular sect Eternal Ice Palace was one of the three most influential outer fraternity clans in the martial fraternity.

It was located on top of the misty mountains of the Heavenly Mountains in the far north of the northern fraternity. At the top of the Heavenly Mountains was a great lake and it was where the Eternal Ice Palace was said to be located.

The Eternal Ice Palace was forbidden to men and naturally, the Eternal Ice Palace consisted of only women.

The sectarian leader of the Eternal Ice Palace was the Celestial Fairy. It was not her beauty that lured Yi Ping to the Heavenly Mountains for the Celestial Fairy was said to be a ninety year old hag.

The Celestial Fairy was greatly feared in the vicinity and in the martial fraternity. She was also highly accomplished in her martial skills; a single martial stroke from her would usually spell the end for her opponents!

It was rumored in the fraternity she had just passed away after leading the Eternal Ice Palace for the past twenty years.

When the news of her death broke out in the martial fraternity, it immediately caught the attention of the martial pugilists. The imagination of her wondrous secret martial arts caught on like wildfire among the pugilists.

Therefore pugilists from all over the fraternity had been making their way north to the forbidden Heavenly Mountains, hoping to lay their hands on the fabulous martial treasures of the Eternal Ice Palace.

Yi Ping had come for the very same reason.

There was another reason that drawn him into these desolate mountains; to witness a possible conflict between the martial exponents which to him, was even more exciting than the secret martial arts of the Celestial Fairy!

He was young and a roving swordsman. He was not from any major clans, orthodox or not. He was just a busybody and was like many pugilists took every opportunity to meddle into the affairs of the martial fraternity.

Even if he was killed, he had to witness one of the most important events of the martial fraternity. Or at the very least, befriend some heroes of the martial fraternity. It would be even better if he could gain some recognition in the fraternity!

Therefore with this in mind, Yi Ping had set off to the bitter cold and harsh lands of the north!

On the third day, while walking and whistling, he heard the sound of trees crushing onto the ground. At first, he thought nothing of it until the thunderous sound of the trees gets louder and louder.

Then an injured middle age man was running and tripping onto the ground. When he saw Yi Ping, he immediately cried out, "Young hero, help me!"

Yi Ping responded by drawing out his sword. He thought, "Is the man being chased by bandits?"

Yi Ping shouted at him as he ran towards him, "Get behind me!"

A foolish hero usually died young. Yi Ping was not even thinking of how many bandits were chasing him. Fortunately, there was only one and it was a yellow dressed lady with a yellow veil.

She had appeared in the horizon and she did not even have a weapon in her hands. So then why did this man flee from her? From his expressions, he seemed to be terrified of her.

Even though that yellow dressed lady was veiled and Yi Ping could not see her face clearly, he could tell she must be a beautiful maiden. Her complexion was extremely fair and appeared flawless. She had thin delicate eyebrows and her mesmerizing eyes were sparking.

The yellow dressed lady walked elegantly in a straight line. Even though she appeared to be walking slowly but the paces covered by her was astonishing; Yi Ping had never seen anyone who could walk as swiftly as her yet she appeared like she was taking a stroll!

But when a tree blocked her, she gently kicked the tree and the tree flew off in another direction as she continued to walk towards them!

Yi Ping was astonished and he looked on with disbelief!

An inner strength practitioner might take sixty years of practice to do what she did with considerable efforts but she did that effortlessly.

Yi Ping looked into her eyes. She had beautiful and sharp eyes. When he looked into her eyes, she too paused in her tracks and looked back.

Yi Ping heart was pounding fast.

Yi Ping mustered his voice and said, "Lady, why are you chasing him?"

The yellow dressed veil lady replied, "Do you know who he is?" Her voice was unmistakably youthful.

Yi Ping was shaken by her reply, "I do know who he is. But a man in dire straits requires help, if I do not help, can I still be considered a man?"

The yellow dressed veil lady hummed coldly, "He is the Bandit King Yao Duo, a vicious killer of the innocents! And you still want to protect him?"

The Bandit King Yao Duo was the most brutal man in the martial fraternity in recent years. His martial accomplishments were high too. Even the renowned Eagle King Yin Tianzheng was not his match! He gained his renown through sheer notoriety! His victims were many and his evil deeds were too numerous to be accounted for!

Even the seven major orthodox clans dare not offend him lightly after a few attempts to get rid of him. And moreover, his evil cohorts were many too.

Yi Ping was shocked and he turned to the stranger to ask, "Are you really Yao Duo?"

The middle-age stranger laughed aloud, "Indeed I am! A true hero will never change their name…"

"Good and you can now be a dead hero!" All of a sudden, the yellow dressed veil lady kicked Yao Duo in his face and crushed his skull. That happened so fast that Yi Ping was unable to stop her at all.

Then the yellow dressed veiled lady turned around and said, "If you want a long life, don't meddle into the affairs of others especially for those that you did not know."

There was a weird expression in her eyes but at that moment, Yi Ping did not notice it. She said, "If you are thinking of going to the Heavenly Mountain, you are only courting your own death. Even if your martial skills are as good as the Bandit King Yao Duo, a cruel fate awaits you in the mountains. Turn back if you cherish your life!" With that, she started to walk away.

Yi Ping rubbed his nose and watched her disappeared into the background. It was as if she had never appeared.

He began to dig a hole into the ground as he said, "Even if you are a notorious man, how could I bear to let your body be food for the wild beasts and birds when you have tried to ask for my help? Since you have died, everything should be buried under the earth."

Unfortunately, Yi Ping had already decided to proceed to the Heavenly Mountains despite the advice that he had been given. He was still young and he got nothing but courage in his heart.

It was not too long when he reached the foot of the Heavenly Mountains that he started to see dead corpses and abandoned emblems littered along the mountains route. There seemed to be a battle not too long ago and he hurried his pace.

All of a sudden, he heard menacing voices in the corner of the mountains. Out of curiosity, he sped towards it.

"It seems that this lovely damsel here is in distress and there is no one here to save her."

"Who would expect that we can find such a beautiful woman here?"

"We did not make it to the Heavenly Mountains in time but we got ourselves a prize here. Hahaha."

An extraordinary maiden of great beauty, dressed in silky white dress had her back against the cliff. She looked badly shaken. She was teething with rage and fear. Even then, her grace was extremely enthralling.

Yi Ping was stunned at her beauty for she was like a fairy that had descended onto the mortal realm.

In front of her were three men, wielding swords and halberds. From the looks of it, they had already decided to devour this young maiden in their minds.

Yi Ping stepped in angrily and shouted, "What are three despicable men doing here?" He brandished his long sword and pointed at them.

The three men were taken by surprise. They quickly turned around and saw a young man. They looked at one another before roaring out loud.

One of the men with a long bushy beard stared at him and said fiercely, "So what are you going to do with us? Kill us? Do you know we are the Three Evils of the West?"

There was a glitter of hope in the eyes of the extremely beautiful maiden when Yi Ping had first appeared but that hope was soon crushed at the mention of the Three Evils of the West.

Yi Ping was taken aback. The Three Evils of the West was renowned in the martial fraternity for their wickedness and brutality! Not only that, they had killed countless highly skilled pugilists as they rampaged the martial fraternity for twenty-years! That was why they were greatly feared.

Another man with the moustache laughed, "Or are you thinking of joining in the fun after we are done?"

This aroused Yi Ping anger. Even though he had to die, he could not abandon the righteousness in his heart. Yi Ping eyed them fiercely and smirked, "If you scram now, I will be forgiving."

The third man with a short beard and wielding a halberd in his hands suddenly attacked him, "Outrageous! I will kill you today and cut your body into many pieces!"

Yi Ping was surprised at the speed and ferocious of his halberd attack. He barely managed to parry the attack and was knocked back. But before he could steady his footing, he received a kick in his chest and was knocked down to the ground.

The short beard man laughed, "I thought he is some daring hero. But he turns out to be an amateur. A sword in your hand is like a piece of worthless metal!"

Yi Ping coughed out blood and wiped his mouth, "This is not over yet!" All of a sudden, he lifted his sword and pieced the throat of the short beard man who was still laughing!

When the short beard man collapsed onto the ground, he was still staring in disbelief! What a swift sword!

Yi Ping had succeeded for two reasons; His opponent had underestimated him and let down his guard.

The other two men were experienced pugilists and after seeing one of their own had fallen, they did not dare to be careless anymore and had immediately attacked Yi Ping with their swords! All their attacking strokes were lethal!

They immediately attacked Yi Ping in all directions! There was a saying; two hands were hard to beat down four hands. It was not long before Yi Ping had been pierced in his chest and hacked on his back!

He soon collapsed on the ground, barely taking ten strokes from them.

Now the man with the moustache, who was the more cunning and vicious of the two, stabbed Yi Ping in his heart again.

The man with the long bushy beard asked him angrily, "What did you do that for? He is already dead!"

The man with the moustache laughed wickedly, "I want to make sure that none disturb us later."

The man with the long bushy beard paused and laughed wickedly, "True, true…" But before he could finish laughing, he was grasping a dagger in his throat for breath! When he fell on the ground, his eyes were still staring at the man with the moustache!

The man with the moustache turned and looked wickedly at the extremely beautiful young maiden, "Such an extraordinary beauty. You belong only to me and there is no one else to share in my enjoyment."

The young maiden pursed her lips and there were now tears in her eyes. All of a sudden, her alluring eyes were staring in bewilderment.

When the man with the moustache saw her expressions, he quickly turned around and got a fright of his life!

The young man that he had just killed was standing in front of him! Before he could react, he felt the cold metallic length of a sword piercing through his stomach! When he had died, he was still in disbelief!

The young and extraordinary beautiful maiden nearly fainted from fright as she asked, "Are you a ghost or a man?"