A Martial Odyssey

When the others had arrived in the cave, Yixian was standing regally beside Yi Ping and they were sharing some nuts together.

When Yixian saw their approach, she smiled gently at them, "You are all here. Do you want to have some nuts too?"

Lele sighed softly as she looked at Yi Ping, "I have no appetite."

None of them had any appetite.

Xiao Shuai and Han Shaodong had a solemn look on their faces.

Yi Ping was looking at the gathering dark clouds and the flurrying winds that were sweeping into the dimly lit cave.

But they waited patiently for Yixian to finish her last meal.

Han Shaodong asked, "Xian'Er, you eat so simple…"

Yixian smiled comfortingly, "Brother Han, have you forgotten that I am a vegetarian? These are delicacies to me."

Han Shaodong sighed, "That's right. Time flies and I have forgotten…"

Yixian smiled gently as she looked calmly at everyone, "If only there are some good wines to be shared among us. That will be nice too."

Xiao Shuai sighed, "It is a pity that there are none right now…"

The Martial Sage sighed, "That's right."

Yi Ping immediately said, "Xian'Er, wait for me. I go get the wines…"

Xian'Er caught hold of him immediately with a quiet smile, "Silly! By the time you have returned, more than a day will have passed. That is just a casual remark. Don't go, alright?"

Yi Ping hesitated for a while before he was interrupted by Yixian. Her melancholically eyes were gazing at the gathering dark clouds, "It has come. Remember to stay back and don't come out of the cave."

Yi Ping said bitterly, "Xian'Er! You cannot go out. It is too dangerous…surely we can think of another way?"

Xiao Shuai said gravely, "Xian'Er, is there another way?"

Yixian smiled gently, "Brother Shuai, it is already too late. Everywhere that I go, the Divine Calamity will follow me. This is also the reason why this cave is picked for you to witness the furies of the Divine Calamity. Remember to do more good, stay away from evil and avoid needless killings."

She paused for a while before adding woefully, "It is precisely because I have killed so many people that my Divine Calamity will be difficult to overcome. Let my fate be a lesson to all."

Xiao Shuai stammered, "You call me Brother Shuai…I am still your Brother Shuai? After all that I did?"

Yixian nodded gently, "That's right."

Xiao Shuai murmured, "Xian'Er…"

Han Shaodong said quietly, "Xian'Er, be strong. I know that you can overcome the Divine Calamity."

Yixian said gently to him, "Thank you Brother Han. Let the past be the past. You should put the past aside and look forward. Given your intelligence, you can easily ascend to be a Celestial eventually."

Han Shaodong smiled bitterly, "I have the blood of many in my hands as well. Can I still hope for that?"

The Martial Sage quickly said, "Xian'Er, I know that you can surely overcome the Divine Calamity. You don't have to worry about my safety. Later when you are in trouble, I will surely…"

All of a sudden, Yixian had raised her fingers and had struck the Martial Sage three times on his chest!

The windforce of her fingers were so resonate and the blows received by the Martial Sage were so loud that the entire cave could feel the windforce that was generated by her fingers!

Xiao Shuai and Han Shaodong was startled that Yixian's finger skills would be so astonishing that she could even penetrated through the Martial Sage's Iron shroud skill and to numb him!

The Element Sage praised Yixian, "Xian'Er, your skills have improved! Even with my skills, I am not confident of striking through his Iron Shroud Skill and hit his pressure points."

The Martial Sage was suddenly gasping for breathe and he had fallen on his knees, "My foot! Quickly help me to clear my channels!"

The Element Sage smiled bitterly, "I just say I am not confident of bypassing your Iron Shroud Skill. If I fail to hit your channels properly, I may even worsen your numbness. I think you have better wait for your channels to clear on its own. Unless of course, you want to tell me the weakness of your Iron Shroud Skill…"

The Martial Sage interrupted him, "Do you think that I am foolish and senile?"

But he quickly turned to Yixian to say, "Xian'Er, why did you do that for…"

Yixian said gently, "Brother Ironfist, I know that you will surely come to aid me. That is what I am most afraid of. I have temporary disable your internal strength. With your internal strength, it won't be long before you clear your channels and regain your strength. But that will be enough to stop you for acting recklessly."

The Martial Sage hit his fists on the ground as he wailed aloud, "Xian'Er, I…if you are gone, I really don't know what my existence is for!"

The Sword Sage sighed and helped him up, "Maybe Xian'Er will live. Don't you think too much."

Yu'Er was downhearted as she tried very hard to withhold her tears, "Protégé Mistress will surely survive the Divine Calamity."

What she had said did not match her emotions.

As everyone looked at Yu'Er and her fluffy eyes, they could sense her heartfelt emotions.

Yi Ping sighed sadly. But at this moment, he refused to say anything because he did not want to distract Yixian!

He could only lend her his silent support!

After Yu'Er had ascended as a Celestial, her Dual Inertness Intricacy had advanced to the level of the 'Reflective Emotions'. Her emotions were like a mirror that affected everyone and her feeling could be felt mutually by all the others!

Immediately, those who were already saddened by her voice found themselves shedding silent tears!

Yi Ping and Ji Lingfeng managed to suppress their emotions with their present attainment of the Emptiness Translucence but only barely…

Lingfeng was unaffected but she was sighing melancholy…

Yixian sighed softly. This was really something that she did not want to see.

Even with her cultivation in the Emotionless Rhyme, she was already brimming with tears as she embraced Yu'Er.

Yixian said gently, "Yu'Er, you are always more mature than Mei'Er. Take good care of Mei'Er for me. She needs your care and support…"

Even as Yu'Er nodded, Mei'Er had already flown into her embrace as she began to sob uncontrollable, "I don't want protégé mistress to leave us! You are more than our protégé mistress to me…I…mistress, I don't want you to leave us…"

Yunzi and Youxue had already looked away with silently tears as they could not bear to look anymore.

Yixian caressed Meijian's face gently, smiling fondly at her. "Mei'Er, don't be willful anymore. Be a good wife to Ping'Er and take good care of him on my behalf."

Mei'Er cried, "I will…I will…"

Yixian held Yujian and Meijian with loving hold as she said, "I'm so happy that both of you are Celestial Being now. This is the lifelong wish of our clan patriarchs to overcome the Divine Calamity and see the world beyond. Finally, we have the two of you. I am so proud of you…"

Yu'Er pursed her lips as she cried aloud, "This is not Yu'Er wish at all! Without protégé mistress to guide us, we really don't have confident to survive even the next celestial crisis! I only want mistress to be with us forever!"

Mei'Er cried, "Yes. Without protégé mistress to guide us, what hope do we have? We are so young and there are so many things we don't know yet. We can never be as good as protégé mistress. Why is Heavens so unfair to us? The one that should be a Celestial Being is Protégé Mistress and not us!"

Yixian smiled gently and looked at Lele and Lie Qing with a soft sigh, "Sisters, help me to take care of them as your dear sisters too. And Ping'Er…"

Lele glanced at Yi Ping unhappily, "Ping'Er, you do not have any last words to say?!"

Yi Ping sighed softly, "I have already said all I want to say when we are alone."

It was true. There was nothing he could do now at this point.

He had of course, his own decisions but he was determined to keep it to himself. In order not to make the others worry for him, he refused to say anything!

Yunzi sighed softly as she looked keenly at Yi Ping as she thought, "I don't believe you will not do a thing."

She had witnessed his fearless gut and how he had stand in front of adversity many times. The first time was when she had met him at the Honor Manor. The second time was when he dared to battle Yuan Shao alone so that she could escape and the third time was when he battled the Three Evils of the West, refusing to put down Lie Qing.

If her analysis was correct, he would surely rush into the Divine Calamity to take the blunt of it!

Therefore she had decided to keep a watchful look on him…

In the meantime, Lie Qing pulled Lele's sleeves, "Sister, surely you know that this is the inevitable and is irrational to ask Yi Ping to do anything at this moment. Let Heavens decide the forthcoming outcome and lets us just pray for Sister Xian'Er."

Even Suxin, Sufeng and Suyue who did not know Yixian were also embracing her and they were also inconsolable!

Shangguan Qingyun recited aloud, "Sorrowful partings, sorrowful farewells. Destinies meeting, destinies parting. When will Provident be kind to the empty soul?"

As he recited, he began to draw his long sword with his left hand and engraved the words that he had just recited into the wall!

Yan Nanfei immediately said, "You, you…!"

Shangguan Qingyun laughed bitterly, "What's the matter, Brother Yan? You didn't expect that my calligraphy skills and my swordsmanship to be this good?"

Yan Nanfei said bitterly, "Indeed! I am really surprise!"

Shangguan Qingyun sighed, "If only all these praises would turn my solemn mood into joyous mood…"

Yan Nanfei interrupted angrily, "You really think I am praising you? I feel like beating you up instead!"

Everyone was startled.

It was because Yan Nanfei had suddenly turned hostile and he was looking dead serious.

The Sword Sage was startled, "What's the matter with you brothers?"

Shangguan Qingyun quickly asked, "Yes, what's the matter? You seem upset with me all of a sudden?"

Yan Nanfei smiled bitterly, "I only realize that you are a left-handed swordsman today. You have cut off your thumb on your right hand and I did the same. You have not lost your sword skills but I have. Now tell me, why shouldn't I be angry with you?"

Shangguan Qingyun was stammering as he tried to pacify him, "Don't be angry, Brother Yan…I can explain…"

In his melancholy mood, he had actually forgotten to conceal the fact that he was also an ambidextrous swordsman and had accidentally let his secret slipped out…

The Element Sage said, "Both of you cut your thumbs willingly. Now it is not the time to quarrel. You will only be distracting Xian'Er."

Shangguan Qingyun said quickly, "That's right. We will only be distracting Xian'Er…"

Yan Nanfei kept quiet immediately but he was sighing heavily…

He was not really upset and was just venting. He took a quick glance at Yixian who was smiling to him and immediately he was not gloomy anymore.

He said aloud, "Forget it. This is just a small trivial. I don't really like to fight…"

Shangguan Qingyun interrupted, "Of course it is trivial to you. Everyone knows you are more renowned for your Vacuum Fist than your swordplay. As for me, not able to use a sword in the Divine Sword Clan is a big handicap and is a subject of scorn."

Yan Nanfei stammered, "You! You are the Old Master of the Divine Sword Clan. Who will dare to ridicule you and get away from it? And your swordplay isn't even impaired…"

Yi Ping was amused that these two Old Seniors were poking fun at one another. But he knew that the two of them were old friends and had also aided him in the past. Moreover Shangguan Qingyun had given him the precious Divine Dragon Pill…

He murmured to himself, "They are good men…"

Even Yixian was amused as she giggled softly, "Stop it. I really got to go now."

Shangguan Qingyun and Yan Nanfei sighed as they called out at the same time, "Xian'Er…"

Yixian was now standing at the entrance and the heavy, powerful winds were sweeping into the cave. The entire skies had turned dark even though it was still noon.

The winds were lashing so furiously now that everyone could barely stand straight!

Yi Ping had mustered his martial power immediately to steady himself while his attention was still on Yixian.

Yixian was about to exit the cave when Shen Xinyue called out to her, "Sister Xian'Er. Can I call you sister?"

Yixian nodded gently and held her hands.

Shen Xinyue smiled and took out a pouch, "Inside the pouch are three Heavenly Dreams Divine Pills. Take it when you are in desperate needs. These pills can grant a temporary boast to your internal strength and can even treats internal injuries. But be warned, these pills are also lethal and are poisonous."

Yixian nodded as she smiled faintly, "Thank you, my good sister…"

Xiao Shuai immediately interrupted, "If these are poisonous then where are the antidotes? You didn't give it to us…"

Shen Xinyue blinked at him, "There are no antidotes. I haven't managed to concoct one successfully yet. The only way to prevent the poison from reacting is to suppress it with another Heavenly Dreams Divine Pills periodically."

Han Shaodong stammered, "What happens when the poison reacts?"

Shen Xinyue sighed softly, "Then you will feel like a thousand scorpions stinging on you all at the same time."

The Element Sage was well versed in herbalism and he quickly asked, "What are the main ingredients of this Heavenly Dreams Divine Pill that cause it to be so poisonous and lethal?"

Shen Xinyue said coolly, "I am afraid I cannot tell you or else you will not be able to sleep or eat for days."

Han Shaodong, Xiao Shuai, the Element Sage, the Sword Sage and the Martial Sage were all smiling bitterly at her…

While they were talking, Yixian had quietly walked out of the cave as she struggled to walk in the fury winds to the platform outside the cave.

Yi Ping clenched his fists as he watched her walking towards the rugged platform.

The entire skies above the platform had turned eerily dark and the winds were howling so loud that it seemed almost supernatural. And in the middle of the skies, a dark whirling vortex had appeared!

It was a lucky thing that they were in a cave shelter or else they would be swept off their feet by the wailing winds!

Yi Ping had never seen such a powerful gale before.

He immediately increased his martial power again and executed the Thousand Weighed Skill to steady himself, as did the rest too!

Even though they were in the cave shelter, they could already feel the powerful might of the howling windforce. They could only imagine how strong the windforce was and the difficulties that Yixian had to brave outside!

As the intensity of the windforce grew in fury, Yujian and Meijian were forced to use the Divine Emerald Skill continuously to stay on their feet.

Yujian said to her sister as she stood in front of her, "Mei'Er, at this rate we will surely exhaust our martial power. Let's take turn to use the Divine Emerald Skill."

Meijian nodded silently as she withdrew her Emerald Intricate Energy and just steadied herself with her internal strength!

Lie Qing was beside the Martial Sage at a startling speed as she quickly struck him several times on his body, freeing him from his immobilization.

The Martial Sage sighed, "Thank you…"

Lie Qing combed her long hair as she laughed softly, "Quickly clear your channels. Things are getting more dangerous soon."

The Martial Sage nodded as he took a deep breathe…

Chi Zhengqi, Qiu Wufeng, Gongsun Jing and Nangong Le had already broken into cold sweat. They had already mustered all their strength and yet this windforce seemed to be trying to suck them out of the cave!

Lele quickly thrust her long sickle into the hard rocky ground with a large implosion as she said anxiously, "Everyone, stand behind Yu'Er quick! This is not an ordinary Divine Calamity. In all my years, I have never seen anything like this before! Grab my pole everyone!"

Xiao Shuai and Han Shaodong were startled at her internal strength.

The Sword Sage murmured, "She can pierce through this rocky ground with her pole. That is some amazing feat…"

Chi Zhengqi was puzzled. He quickly drawn his long sword and tried to thrust his long sword into the rocky rock; his long sword could only pierce just a little of the rocky rock before it got deflected! There was no way his long sword could go into the hard rocky ground…

When he had diverted part of his martial power away, he had lost his balance and in that instant he was swept off his feet; the powerful vortex had threatened to suck him out of the cave when the Element Sage caught hold of his foot, "Careful nephew!"

Priest Liu Qingcheng, Priest Bai Chongzhen and Priest Ling Kongquan were all sweating as they exercised their entire martial power to keep themselves on the ground!

Even Xiao Shuai who had profound internal strength was panicky as he asked, "Does anyone knows how long this wind vortex will last? We can't maintain our martial power like this!"

Xiao Shuai was right. Martial power was a sudden burst of a practitioner's internal strength and using martial power itself was physical demanding.

Ji Wuzheng had just mustered a martial shout as he raised his palms continuously to fight off the sucking wind vortex with his Holy Amalgamate Force by absorbing and neutralizing the windforce. He too, was sweating heavily and was worried for his wife and daughters, "At this rate, we will all be forced out of this cave and sweep into the skies!"

Shen Xinyue had turned pale completely, "Be careful. This windforce is not just trying to knock us to the ground. It is trying to pull us towards the dark vortex up the skies above."

She too, had never seen anything like this before!

Yujian was already standing at the entrance of the cave where it was the strongest as she lifted her fingers to deflect the furious vortex!

If she was not there, many of them would have already been swept out of the cave by now!

A tree that was outside the cave had just been uprooted by the strong winds and was swept in a circular motion up to the skies above. As it touched the vortex, it was ripped apart!

Only Yi Ping, Shen Xinyue, Lele, Youxue and the Element Sage could still maintain their balance through the Thousand Weight internal skill but from their expressions, it was also taking considerable effort to do so!

Xiao Shuai cursed aloud as he grabbed the Element Sage to steady himself, "If I know this would happen and that the Divine Calamity would be like this, I would have focused on internal strength training rather than martial power training!"

The Element Sage managed a weak smile, "Don't envy me. Maybe it is because Xian'Er is an internal strength practitioner so that is why this Divine Calamity was a test on internal strength foundation."

Yujian almost cried. Like Yi Ping, she had wanted to aid her protégé mistress but she could barely move at all!

Earlier, Shen Xinyue had emphasized to Lie Qing, Lele, Mei'Er and her that on no circumstances must she lend any lending hand to the Celestial Fairy. It was because once they had decided to aid her, the Divine Calamity would transfigure and that would cause Yixian to ascend as a Dark Celestial.

But when Yu'Er saw how terrifying this Divine Calamity was and the worst had yet to come, she did not care for that warning anymore and just wanted her protégé mistress to live!

Yi Ping had steadied himself with his martial power as beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. He saw that Yixian was now standing in the midst of the furious winds.

Without giving any prior warning to the others, he began to take slow steps as he walked out of the cave towards her!

Yi Ping could only move very slowly, lifting his feet slowly. As he stepped onto the ground, he left behind a deep imprint onto the rocky ground. Each step of his was likened to a ton of force as he concentrated all his martial force into his center of gravity.

He could see that Yixian was now sitting in mediation in the middle of the platform. He was in awe of her internal strength. As he moved closer to the platform, he could feel the lashing of the furious winds that continuously seek to cause him to lose his balance and blown him into the skies.

He could only move very slowly for each step was extremely tedious and difficult now.

Shen Xinyue and Ji Lingfeng called panicky to him but their voices were quickly drowned as Yi Ping had already stepped out of the cave!

Shen Xinyue was stunned and she was not sure if Yi Ping could hear her even though she had traversed her words through the Thousand Mile Skill.

Lingfeng sighed softly, "It is no use. Even if you have used the Thousand Mile Skill and even if Yi Ping has heard you, he probably won't turn back. He is this stubborn…"

Dugu Yunzi was breathless as she raised the martial power of her Invincible Divine Force once again to maintain her balance, "That's right. Right now, we can only pray."

Youxue was battling the furious vortex with her Divine Emerald Skill beside Yu'Er and Mei'Er, pursing her lips silently as she watched helplessness when Yi Ping had walked past her…

Yu'Er and Mei'Er called after Yi Ping but their concerned voices were drowned out by the howling winds. They had tried to move forward but could not resist the slaughtering of the winds so they were forced to remain in the cave shelter.

Dugu Zhen said aloud, "Everyone, save your strength. We can only pray for now. I got a very bad feeling about this and this is best that we conserve as much strength as possible."

Shen Xinyue sighed softly and said, "That's right. We are in equally precaution position as well. I have thought that we are out of reach from the Divine Calamity but it seemed that this is a most unusual Divine Calamity. I have never seen anything like this before…"

Her voice was soft but everyone could hear her clearly despite the howling winds. That spoke volumes of her internal strength.

Lingfeng said quietly, "This is the Divine Wrath."

Lele, Lie Qing and Shen Xinyue had an astonished look in their expressions.

Lele asked, "You have never even seen a Divine Calamity before. How do you know what it is?"

Lingfeng who was the Heaveness and had recovered her memories kept quiet and did not reply to Lele. Instead she was looking intently at what happened outside.

Shen Xinyue's suspicious was immediately aroused. It was only now that she had noticed that Lingfeng was able to maintain her balance in perfect harmony and seemingly effortlessly!

She immediately thought, "What martial skill is she using? And she is not even using the stance of the Thousand Weight Skill for her posture was too casual. That isn't a skill from the Holy Hex Sect as even Ji Wuzheng, Dugu Zhen and Dugu Yunzi are all struggling against this forceful vortex."

Lie Qing and Lele were also exchanging curious looks to one another…

Lie Qing was already thinking, "If this is the legendary Divine Wrath, how can mortals like us overcome this?"

All of a sudden, she had felt mortal and was even afraid. Even though she was a Celestial but she felt no different from the others…

Not only was she trembling with fear, Shen Xinyue was also trembling and a sense of petrifying fear had also began to creep into everyone!

Suxin was already gasping as she struggled against her fatigue, "I cannot hold much longer. I am too tired…"

Lingfeng said softly, "Everyone, sit on the ground and hold each other hands. This divine storm isn't something that we can handle alone."

Nangong Le said panicky, "That's right. Let us hold hands. I have already exhausted all my strength." He tried to move towards Lingfeng and Shen Xinyue when he caught an angry glance coming from Suyue. He smiled bitterly and walked towards her instead.

As soon as everyone had sat down and holding each other hands, there was a loud rumbling earthquake as the ground began to shake violently and at the same time, multiple flashes of purple lightning began to flash thunderous across the entire skies!

Lele gasped, "This is an electric thunderstorm!"

There was a light drizzle and all of a sudden, a fireball freaked from the sky and headed right towards the middle of the platform where Yixian was mediating!

Everyone was shocked at the sudden appearance of the huge fireball that had burst out of the blue from the darkened skies!

Lingfeng said quietly, "This is just the beginning of the Divine Wrath and more are yet to come."