A Martial Odyssey

The tavern was large but today it seemed to be a little too small. Hundreds of people had gathered inside and from the first floor to the third floor, it was fully pack with onlookers.

The onlookers were standing on the second floor and the third floor as they looked down to the first floor which was the center of the tavern.

A plump middle age man had just walked in with a smile. There was a noble air around him and the crowd whispered, "That is Master Nangong Le! He has come alone!"

He waved his fan as he looked squarely at the majestic bearded man who was sitting on the table. On his side were his four Hall Chiefs and thirty subordinates!

This majestic bearded man was none other than Master Sikong Zuo, the new Martial Alliance Chief of the Martial Fraternity and the Protégé Grandmaster of the Fraternity Alliance Clan!

Needless to say his martial skill was naturally formidable!

As for his four Hall Chiefs, their martial feats were the equal of the major orthodox clans and they were also known as the Four Hedonistic Butchers!

In recent years, the Fraternity Alliance Clan had swept aside all resistances to become the most powerful clan in the Martial Fraternity!

Nangong Le sighed softly, "Yes I have come alone."

Sikong Zuo said coldly, "I have heard that you have three other sworn brothers so where are they?"

Nangong Le smiled and said, "Alas. Brothers Yi Ping, Gongsun Jing, Qiu Wufeng…"

He stopped smiling and said piercingly, "If my Brother Yi is still alive, you won't be able to be so insolent! As for my other brothers, they have long retired from the martial fraternity so there is no need to involve them!"

He pointed to the onlookers on top of the tavern and said aloud, "Where are the righteous ones of the martial fraternity? Where are the courageous fighters? Are you willing to submit to this tyrant and not to do a thing and allow him to step on you like a worthless thing? Step up if you are still a man!"

All the hundreds of onlookers from tens of clans began to lower their eyes and did not dare to say a word!

Sikong Zuo smiled, "They are under my absolute control. If I want them to smile then they will smile. If I want them to cry, they will cry. It is pointless to incite the others. Might is right. It has always been the case in the martial fraternity. Only the stubborn and the foolish refuse to submit. Today, I will kill you and destroy your clan. Because you are man of repute so I am going to let you die in my hands."

Nangong Le smiled wryly as he bowed, "My pleasure, my pleasure! I know that the Fraternity Alliance Clan has been yearning after the riches of the Nangong Clan for ages. If you want to dominate the fraternity then you have to have money. So naturally no matter what I am going to say today, I won't be allowed to leave alive!"

Even though he had appeared to be fearless, he was actually secretly fearful and his legs had already turned to jelly!

It was only because he had been practicing the Exuberant Divine Skill. Even in the direst of situations, his face would always be smiling!

Sikong Zuo smiled, "I am glad that you have known. So are you thinking of fighting me with your fan or your fist? Where is your weapon?"

Nangong Le smiled forcefully as he said righteously, "Against an evil doer such as you even a fan will be able to beat you off."

But secretly he thought, "Oh crap. I am out of practice with my sword…alas to think that I, Nangong Le, who has always been roaming the fraternity so carefree, is now going to meet my demise in such a dirty place…"

Sikong Zuo stood up as he shouted, "Rubbish!"

Immediately the whole tavern was reverberating with the power of his martial shout!

Such powerful internal strength!

Sikong Zuo pointed at Nangong Le, "One of your sons is now sitting as the Grandmaster of the Holy Hex Sect now. Today, I am going to purge the remnants of the heretic sects from the martial fraternity!"

"Then get rid of us as well then!" A voice was heard from the outside.

Nangong Le was startled as he quickly turned to face the entrance. It was because it was a familiar voice!

He had turned around to find not one familiar face but two!

Two middle noble men had walked into the tavern!

Nangong Le was startled as he stammered out, "Brother Gongsun Jing, Brother Qiu Wufeng! Why are you here?!"

Gongsun Jing laughed as he raised his long sword, "We may have retired but now that you are in trouble, naturally we are here to help."

The onlookers were startled as they whispered incessantly to themselves!

Gongsun Jing the Benevolent and Qiu Wufeng the Windless Swordsman were the two most accomplished swordsmen of their time before they had retired!

And Gongsun Jing was the scion of the once powerful Gongsun Clan. Until today, there were many stories about the Gongsun Clan!

Sikong Zuo laughed aloud, "Good! This saves me the trouble of finding the two of you! Today I will give you the honor of fighting me at the same time!"

Gongsun Jing asked, "Where is your weapon?"

Sikong Zuo pointed to a tall and muscular man behind him, "This is my iron sword. It weighed twenty kilograms and in this world, only I am able to wield it. But today, I am going to use my bare hands. To kill an ant, do I need to use a butcher knife?"

Qiu Wufeng said, "Even an ant will sting. Don't regret it!"

Sikong Zuo had already walked forward. He had an imposing aura and it seemed that in this entire world, nothing could hurt him. He was like a undefeatable titan!

He said coldly, "So what are you waiting for? I am still waiting for you to strike."

The four Hall Chiefs were all smirking coldly, "They are stupid as pigs. Fancy challenging our Grandmaster!"

Gongsun Jing displayed his sword stance as he shouted, "Go!"

Immediately Nangong Le and Qiu Wufeng flew left and right around Gongsun Jing as they attacked Sikong Zuo at the same time!

To the astonishment of the onlookers, barely had Nangong Le, Qiu Wufeng and Gongsun Jing made their moves, they were floored on the floor, struck by dozens of iron breaking blows that thundered tremendously!

Nangong Le, Qiu Wufeng and Gongsun Jing all coughed out blood as they struggled to stand again.

But Sikong Zuo had already made a quiet move and had raised his palm on Nangong Le's forehead!

This quiet move was so fast that Nangong Le could not believe his eyes. By the time he had seen Sikong Zuo moving, the iron crushing palm was already upon his forehead!

Well, almost.

It was because a hand had caught the wrist of Sikong Zuo, stunning everyone!

It was a slender young man in white that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

On his back were two very long swords that seemed out of place given his slender body.

How did he appeared in the middle of nowhere without anyone noticing him? More than half of the people here were first rate fighters!

Some was muttering, "Did you see that? How did he come in?"

This slender young man in white was very charismatic and there was an air of righteous around him. Immediately, more than half the onlookers were moved to follow this slender young man automatically for reasons that they could not even finger!

The slender young man gently pushed back Sikong Zuo and said gently, "They are my brothers. Do not harm them!"

This gentle push had the effect of pushing the astonished Sikong Zuo back all the way to the end of the hallway, stunning everyone!

Suddenly the aura of Sikong Zuo was diminished and this weak scholar that had just appeared was like an undefeatable titan!

How was it possible? He was only a young man!

Nangong Le, Gongsun Jing and Qiu Wufeng could only stare blankly at this slender young man in white, not knowing what to say!

The slender young man rubbed his nose and smile wryly, "What? You don't recognize your brother anymore? It is just a little while only!"

Nangong Le blinked his eyes before he laughed aloud on the floor, "Darn it! It is really you, our Brother Yi Ping! Brother Jing and Brother Wufeng, did you see, did you see? It is really Yi Ping! What a little while only? You rascal! It has been decades since you have left mysteriously!"

Gongsun Jing stared blankly before he laughed aloud as well, "For a moment, I have thought that you are Yi Ping's son. You are really Yi Ping!"

Qiu Wufeng stood up and beat his fist on his chest to say aloud, "All you onlookers! Open your big eyes and see who is here! He is Yi Ping! The hero of the Holy Amalgamate Battle!"

The onlookers were all staring, not knowing whether to believe or not as they muttered, "He is the Yi Ping that had fought with hundreds of exponents on the Holy Amalgamate Mountains? He is really the one? He is that peerless fighter and the number one fighter of all time?"

The four hall chiefs were enraged as they raised their weapons. They moved with lightning speed to strike the slender young man!

But the slender young man appeared to walk past them. No one could see his martial moves but the four hall chiefs were fallen to the ground with blood in their mouths and their weapons were shattered!

Yi Ping muttered, "I hope that I did not use much force."

All the onlookers were stunned!

It was because they were fully aware of the martial accomplishments of the four hall chiefs!

For them to fall in just a single move was unthinkable!

Moreover, they were grouping together to fight just a single foe!

Sikong Zuo was enraged as he grabbed his heavy iron clad sword from his arm bearer and shouted, "I don't care who you are but today, I will make you pay heavily for your audacious behavior! I will tear you apart and feed you to the dogs…"

All of a sudden a maiden in white had flew in from nowhere and had struck the chest of Sikong Zuo, breaking through his heavy iron clad sword with her fingers in the process!

Sikong Zuo could not believe his eyes and he could not even scream out aloud, such was his agonizing pain!

Only when this maiden in white stopped moving, everyone could finally see her looks and were awestruck by her heavenly appearance!

Next, everyone was now too stunned to believe that this maiden in white had actually destroyed Sikong Zuo's famous heavy ironclad sword with just her fingers alone and that she had also fell Sikong Zuo with just a single move!

Yi Ping groaned softly, "Xiang'Er, you are too harsh. You have disabled his martial strength permanently…"

Indeed this maiden in white was the Goddess of Mercy Xiang!

Xiang laughed jovially as she raised her fingers to shoot four needles and struck the four fallen hall chiefs, "So what are you going to do with me then? I have disabled them just as well!"

She softened her eyes to say gently, "They are evil men and have many blood in their hands. It is impossible for them to ascend so don't be too anxious about them."

Nangong Le was staring at the maiden in white as he flushed redly, "Yi Ping, who is she? Why didn't you introduce her? Since my wife had passed away, I have been so lonely."

Yi Ping pretended not to hear him as he turned around to say, "You are with Xiang too?"

It was because everyone was astonished to see three other peerless heavenly maidens sitting on the table in the corner all of a sudden!

One of the heavenly maidens was even cuddling a baby!

If the white maiden that had just appeared was stunning enough, these three heavenly maidens were even so, causing everyone to be completely enthralled and losing their souls!

For these onlookers, they would never be able to forget about this scene ever in their lives. Some among the onlookers would even retire from the martial fraternity and be painters, attempting to recreate the scene that had mesmerized them forever!

Nangong Le, Gongsun Jing and Qiu Wufeng were all equally stunned. It was because they could recognize that two of the maidens were Shui Yixian the Celestial Fairy and the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing!

Like Yi Ping, they had not aged at all!

Yi Ping had used his softened windforce to deflect Xiang's needles but another countering force had neutralized his attempts to stop Xiang.

Lie Qing smiled mesmerizing and winked, "Ping'Er, they are evil doers. Disabling them is but a small price. Don't be too benevolent. We can't stay here for too long so treat it as a favor to the martial fraternity."

Asura was beaming with happiness as she cuddled her baby boy. She could be heard muttering, "My child, soon you will begin your trial in the mortal realm. Are you looking forward to it? Your destiny is great and your journey will be a long one. One day, we will surely meet once again. Only in the mortal realm can you advance as a celestial practitioner. May you overcome your divine calamities and be stronger after each experience."

The three heavenly maidens that were seating were indeed Xian'Er, Lie Qing and the Goddess Asura!

Xian'Er smiled gently, "Ping'Er, shall we go now?"

Yi Ping gave a gentle nod.

Almost immediately, the slender young man, the four heavenly maidens, Nangong Le, Gongsun Jing and Qiu Wufeng all vanished from the place, leaving all the onlookers stunned with astonishment!

From that day on, Yi Ping became a living legend in the martial fraternity and evil men dare not be as bold lest it attracted the living legend to return!

The onlookers were aroused by fire and their hearts were fired up as they raised their weapons with great shout that thundered up all the way to the heavens, "Down with the Fraternity Alliance Clan! We are freed now!"

The protégés of the Fraternity Alliance Clan became fearful as the crowd began to storm down from the stairs with their brandish weapons!

Nangong Le, Qiu Wufeng and Gongsun Jing were taken away by Yi Ping and his group!

Nangong Le, Qiu Wufeng and Gongsun Jing were astonished at the swiftness movements that were displayed. In just a few blinks of an eye, they had already traveled ten miles and were in the wilderness of a forest!

Once they had all settled to a stop, Yi Ping immediately turned around to say. "Brothers…"

Nangong Le, Qiu Wufeng and Gongsun Jing had noticed that Yi Ping and his group were still serene and they had only expended just a little of their internal energies even though they had enhanced their speed and had traveled ten miles!

They were astonished by their astonishing breathing techniques!

Nangong Le laughed heartily, "Brother Yi Ping, please feel to say."

Qiu Wufeng nodded, "It is good that you have come earlier. We didn't think that it will be you."

Gongsun Jing said emotionally, "Let's us go for a drink together! Together! Till we have become as drunk as pigs!"

Yi Ping smiled as he said emotionlessly, "I can't join you. I am in a hurry. I am so sorry about this."

Gongsun Jing sighed, "We have only just had our reunion and we didn't even have the time to chat yet."

Qiu Wufeng sighed melancholy, "It is too sudden."

Yi Ping took out from his pouch three pristine purple pills and said quietly, "Brothers, once you are weary of the mundane fraternity, please consume this pill and go to the Tranquil Mountains. It will depend on providence and your own cultivation to ascend to the Celestial Realm. When the time of your Divine Calamity has come, please invite the Goddess of Mercy Xiang. She will be your guardian to ensure that the transcendent will be favorable to you."

Xiang nodded and said, "My lord Yi Ping has appointed me to be the ruler of the mortal realm. I will reside in the Heavenly Mountains for only a brief period, no more than 60 years then I will have to return to the Immortal Realm to continue my cultivation. Every 600 years, I will return briefly."

Xian'Er smiled as she took out three incense pouches, "The Goddess of Mercy will be the new Eternal Mistress of the Eternal Ice Palace. Once you have reached the Heavenly Mountains, burn the pouch to a bonfire and the protégés of the Eternal Ice Palace will naturally take you to the Eternal Ice Palace."

Nangong Le had already taken the pill from Yi Ping and had swallowed on the spot!

Qiu Wufeng asked him, "Why are you so hasty? We haven't consumed it yet and you have already consumed it. What is the meaning of this?"

Nangong Le laughed as he secretly looked at the Goddess of Mercy shamelessly, "I can't wait now to go to the Celestial Realm now. I hope that the Goddess of Mercy will instruct me to how to cultivate!"

The Goddess of Mercy was amused as she said with a lit smile, "You are supposed to go to the Tranquil Mountains to begin your cultivation practice first. Judging by your willpower, you may need more than thirty years to cultivate to a reasonable level and another thirty years for the Divine Calamity to happen. Look for me at the end of sixty years then!"

Nangong Le was stunned as he blinked his eyes, "Sixty years?!"

Lie Qing laughed as she said jovially, "She is only teasing with you. The pill that you have consumed will increase your internal strength to sixty years. If you have already cultivated to sixty years, then it will be increased your internal years by another twenty years. If you cultivate well, you may only take twenty years."

Nangong Le quickly regained his composure as he smiled cheekily, "That is a relief then!"

Yi Ping quickly said, "Take good care brothers. I am sorry that I won't be able to stay. I need to go now. Farewell!"

Nangong Le, Qiu Wufeng and Gongsun Jing were brimming with tears as they bowed emotionally, "Farewell Brother Yi Ping!…"

In the next instant, Yi Ping, Xian'Er, Lie Qing, Asura and Xiang had departed.

All they could hear was Yi Ping echoing voices, "Asura, after we have placed our son with Xiang then we have to go to the Celestial Realm. Xian'Er, Shi Shi and Yunzi are still waiting for us…"

Lie Qing was heard laughing, "Don't forget Yang Min as well!"