A Martial Odyssey

Seven maidens stood in a seven pre-determined positions as they aligned themselves according to the constellation of the seven stars.

The order of the alignment was in this following order; Lele, Yunzi, Youxue, Mei'Er, Yu'Er, Xingyue and the last was the Stellar Heaven Fairy.

Lingfeng nodded at them but at the same time, she stole a glance at Yi Ping who was meditating anxiously next to Yixian and Lie Qing who were slumbering serenely.

She quickly composed herself as she looked intently at the seven waiting maidens.

Lingfeng was secretly anxious. It was because she was not sure if it would works but she had proposed it as a last desperate measure. She did not want to see Yi Ping and the others fell into despair. But if she failed, they would lose their internal strength for nothing and even Yi Ping would lose his life!

She sighed quietly to herself, "But if I do not propose this, you will be unhappy for the rest of your life. How can I not know when I can read your innermost thoughts through my Great Emptiness Translucence? Let fate determines our destiny for us then…"

"Lingfeng, are you alright?" Yu'Er asked.

She recollected her thoughts as she smiled, "I am alright. I am just thinking about something."

Yi Ping stood up as he was not able to focus on his mediation, "Lingfeng, you must be careful. Everyone, I am grateful to all of you…"

Mei'Er nodded melancholy, "Master, we will be alright. You must take care…"

Yi Ping smiled at Meijian, "Don't worry, alright?"

Mei'Er nodded weakly and she was trembling.

Shen Xingyue, Youxue, Yunzi, Yu'Er and Lele were all looking at Yi Ping with longing glances too. It was because they feared that after today, they may lose him! Compared to his sacrifice, their sacrifices were insignificant!

Lingfeng sighed softly everyone as she forced herself to interrupt their sacred moments, "After I have displayed the Holy Amalgamate Skill, everyone must strike me with your internal strength on my right hand gesture and my heart accupoint. There must be no hesitation and everyone must strike as fast as possible so that I can synergy your internal strengths as one. Afterward I will gather your internal strengths to force open my Heaven Eyes. Now, does anyone have any further questions?"

All of a sudden, Yi Ping asked. "Lingfeng, what if your Heaven Eyes cannot be forced opened?"

Lingfeng smiled at him, "We leave it to fate, alright? Let proceed with it now."

The Stellar Heaven Fairy said quietly, "She will die if she fails to open her Heaven Eyes. She doesn't want to tell anyone because she did not want anyone to worry."

Yi Ping was startled, "Lingfeng! Why didn't you tell us?!"

Even Xiao Youxue, Yunzi, Shen Xingyue, Lele, Yu'Er and Mei'Er were stunned.

Lingfeng took a quick look at the Stellar Heaven Fairy before she smiled faintly at Yi Ping, "Yi Ping, be quiet alright? The risk is small, really."

Yi Ping was trembling as he clenched his fists, "Lingfeng, I know you are lying. You have exactly the same expression as the Heaveness when you are lying. I can never forget that expression that you have when you lied to the White Sage on that fateful day when you decided to leave. That memory is so fresh in my mind till today…"

Lingfeng smiled gently at him, "You are thinking too much."

She quickly said to the seven maidens as she mustered the martial force of the Holy Amalgamate Skill around her, "Quickly! I can't maintain this for long!"

Lele hesitated for a while as she stole a look at everyone before she sighed softly, "Forgive me…"

She imbued her fingers with her martial power as she moved forward and struck Lingfeng's right hand gesture and her heart accupoint with a forceful impact!

Blood dripped from the tip of Lingfeng's lip as she trembled lightly when she received and absorbed Lele's internal strength through her right palm!

At the same time, Lele had turned pale immediately as her internal strength was drained away from her. But she recovered quickly as she called out in alarm, "Yunzi! Hurry! Her vital energies are starting to reverse! She doesn't have enough internal strength!"

Yunzi quickly imbued her fingers with her martial power, striking Lingfeng in the same position as Lele!

Lingfeng continued to tremble and she was looking extremely pale!

Yi Ping shouted, "Lingfeng, are you alright?! Stop it please…surely we can think of another way?"

This time, he was really fearful for Lingfeng!

But Yunzi interrupted, "Youxue, Mei'Er, Yu'Er, quickly!"

Youxue, Mei'Er, Yu'Er, Xingyue and the Stellar Heaven Fairy ignored Yi Ping's pleads as they danced forward and struck Lingfeng's one after another!

Finally, the seven maidens grouped around Lingfeng as they struck Lingfeng's on seven of her major vital channels with their fingers as they transferred their vital internal strengths to her!

By now, Lingfeng was extremely pale as she tried very hard to remember the intricate formula of the Heaven Eyes as she tried to unblock her Heaven Eyes' crucial vital channels. It was a skill that she was extremely proficiency in the past but now, she lacked the state of divinity to use it. Knowing the skill did not make it easier for her. The Heaven Eyes was a celestial skill that took her a long time to perfect to its current state of divinity when she was the Heaveness. But as a mortal, that state of divinity was beyond her present celestial cultivation!

It must be noted that she was only borrowing the internal strengths of the other seven maidens in an attempt to clear the crucial vital channels that the Heaven Eyes were utilizing. The Holy Amalgamate Skill like other absorbing skills did not have the ability to absorb the internal strength of others as their own permanently. Rather, it was used to replenish their own internal strength and to clear crucial vital channels. That was what Lingfeng was doing now.

All of a sudden there was an evil laughter from their surroundings and from behind the shady trees, a handsome man in a scholarly robe walked calmly into their view! He had a pair of golden eyes and there was no doubt about it; he was an Exalted Celestial!

All eight maidens began to tremble and turned pale immediately! It was because they were in a crucial maneuver and could not move or else they would have experienced phenomenon deviation immediately!

The handsome scholar laughed lecherously, "What do we have here? There are so many heavenly maidens in this place? I am really lucky. Shishi, why didn't you introduce your friends to me?"

The Stellar Heaven Fairy coughed out weakly, "He is She Weilun and he is a rotten bad egg!"

She Weilun laughed, ""No wonder Lian Longba did not return. Shishi, you dare to betray the Dominating Aura Clan. Do you know the consequences that befall traitors? It is not too late to yield to me. But I am wondering what did you do with Lian Longba? The likes of you wouldn't have possible defeated him?"

The Stellar Heaven Fairy hummed coldly.

Yi Ping immediately recalled that this She Weilun was an advisor to Ximen Nanqing and he was one of the two men that the Stellar Heaven Fairy had cautioned him about!

Yi Ping had raised both his divine swords as he staggered forward, "Leave or else I won't be polite!"

She Weilun eyed Yi Ping and everyone with a calculated look as he smiled. It was because he had already noticed that they were all inferior Celestials and none of them were in his league. The difference between an Exalted Celestial and a Lower Celestial was vast. Unless an Exalted Celestial was careless, most Lower Celestials simply did not have any chance against an Exalted Celestial!

So he laughed as he looked greedily at Yi Ping's divine swords, "What can you do with me? Surrender your divine swords to me and I may consider sparing your pathetic life."

Yi Ping shouted angrily, "You despicable man! I don't know how a despicable man like you manages to become a Celestial in the first place!"

She Weilun had already noticed that the eight maidens seemed to be immobilized and they were attempting a dangerous internal martial arts maneuver. If they were distracted, then it may be fatal to them and they may be afflicted by phenomenon deviation!

Lele almost cried out as she gasped softly, "Ping'Er, don't be rush. I…we…will be ready soon…"

Shen Xingyue coughed out blood immediately as she lost her concentration, "Ping'Er…"

Yunzi and Youxue had immediately coughed out blood; it was because they knew that Yi Ping would surely attack She Weilun in order to protect them!

And before the rest of the maidens could stop him, Yi Ping had already leapt towards She Weilun with a startling speed with his two divine swords as he displayed his Horizon Swordplay, sending two flurrying sword arcs at his opponent!

Yi Ping thought, "Lingfeng, Yixian, Qing'Er, Yu'Er, Mei"Er…all of you. I will protect you with my life…"

She Weilun grinned.

Immediately he sped forward and raised his hand forward at the same time as he evaded Yi Ping's rippling sword arcs. In a blink of an eye, he had struck Yi Ping on his chest with a tremendous implosion!

Yi Ping was flung off with startling speed towards a large tree with another thunderous impact!

Yi Ping coughed out blood as he rolled on the ground!

He was trembling nonstop! It was obvious that he was trying to stand up but his body refused to heed his will even though he had exercised his Absolute Spirits intricacy! He was not afraid of pain and was renowned for his endurance but this time he was completely at the mercy of his physical limitations!

Yi Ping clenched his teeth as he continued to struggle to stand as he thought, "Oh Heavens, is it because my internal injuries are too severe that I am unable to stand or is my enemy is too strong that my body trembles in fear?"

All eight maidens immediately cried out, "Yi Ping!"

The eight maidens were startled and were fearful. The swordplay that was displayed by Yi Ping was not weak. In fact, it was an intrigue swordplay that was not only swift and deadly. Even a super exponent could not possible evade and counter-attack at the same time against Yi Ping's swordplay but his opponent's reflexes was simply too startling!

With one stance and barely a blink of an eye, She Weilun had defeated Yi Ping!

She Weilun hummed coldly, "Even with two divine swords, you won't stand a chance against me. I just don't understand how an inferior Celestial like you will have such prized divine swords?"

Just as he was full of boasts for himself, he was startled to see that Yi Ping had stood up again. Instead of a broken opponent, he could sense that his opponent's fighting spirit seemed to have increased!

He murmured, "That is impossible. I have used seven folds of my Golden Thunder Hand. An Inferior Celestial will not possible still have the strength to stand. Don't tell me, he could draw upon the strength of the divine swords?"

All of a sudden, She Weilun had sensed a killing malevolent air from Lingfeng.

She had stepped forward while the other seven maidens had immediately sat in a meditating position to recuperate their internal injuries!

Lingfeng said quietly, "Yi Ping, step aside. I…can handle him myself."

Yi Ping coughed weakly, "Lingfeng, you have succeeded in opening your Heaven Eyes?"

Lingfeng nodded gently and all of a sudden, there was a bright halo that appeared briefly behind her before disappearing in another second!

She Weilun was startled that her eyes had turned into rings of brilliant gold!

He was startled as he thought, "She is an Exalted Celestial too?"

Lingfeng said coldly, "You better flee while you have the chance or else I won't be polite."

She Weilun was not someone who could be cowed by anyone, especially with preys that were almost in his hands.

So he laughed, "So what are you going to do with me if I refuse to leave?"

Lingfeng said coldly, "Then you have to die."

She Weilun laughed aloud, "I don't mind getting killed by a beauty like you."

All of a sudden, there was a rainbow halo that flashed briefly behind her and Lingfeng's eyes had turned green on right and golden on the left. There was a seeping invigorating force that was enveloping her!

She Weilun was stunned by the colors of her eyes as he took a step back, "This…this is impossible…she is an Ancient Celestial?! And the martial force that is around her is the Divine Invigorate Force?"

Little was known about the reclusive Ancient Celestials. They had rarely intervened in the celestial affairs of the Exalted Celestials. But one thing was sure; the earliest records of the Exalted Celestials indicated that the Ancient Celestials were here long before the first Exalted Celestials!

She Weilun was secretly thinking, "I may not lose to her. It is obviously that she is injured. If I can drain her essence, then won't I be even more powerful than Ximen Nanqing? I can be the new leader of the Dominating Aura Clan instead."

But just when he thought that he may have the chance to overpower her, the seeping invigorating force that was forming like vapors around her had aligned into a blue shape of a giant eye that seemed to be staring creepily at him!

He was startled for he had never seen anything like this before.

So he smiled charmingly and quickly thought of a ruse as he said, "Why don't we talk things over first? I can see that you are an Ancient Celestial. I am the Romantic Rustic Wanderer. May I know your celestial name? There must be a small misunderstanding…"

The Stellar Heaven Fairy opened her eyes and interrupted bitterly, "He is trying to charm you with honeycomb words. Don't fall for his tricks. His victims are many and his methods are dirty."

She Weilun laughed heartily, "I am the good guy and yet I am being accused as the bad guy. This is indeed laudable. The Stellar Heaven Fairy must be in a good humorous mood today. You are nothing but a *****. The numbers of celestials that have been lured by you to their ends are so numerous that at the mere mention of your name, the entire Celestial Realm knows of your deeds immediately. Do you dare to deny it?"

The Stellar Heaven Fairy wanted to say something but the rage emotion had attacked her heart. She coughed out a bout of blood and fainted on the ground!

Yunzi called out panicky as she abandoned her mediation pose and quickly hit several of her accupoints, "Shishi!"

This was followed by Yu'Er, Mei'Er and Youxue who did the same as well!

Lele was slower as she was still in the midst of a crucial mediation breakthrough. She quickly got up and said with urgency, "Oh no! We must save her immediately! She is afflicted by phenomenon deviation!"

Shen Xingyue had broken out in cold sweat when she had overheard their conversations but Lele had quickly turned to her to say, "I am here to help the Stellar Heaven Fairy. Sister Xingyue, stay focus and don't get distract."

She quickly said to the others, "Yunzi, Youxue, Yu'Er, Mei'Er, keep a watchful eye for me as my guardians. I cannot be disturbed." Almost immediately, Lele had sat behind the Stellar Heaven Fairy and struck on her vital channels with her Celestial Force!

Yunzi, Youxue, Mei'Er and Yu'Er quickly nodded as they stood in front of Lele and the Stellar Heaven Fairy as they eyed She Weilun with burning hatred!

She Weilun smiled, "What is this? I am only stating the truth!"

Yi Ping said, "You are despicable…"

All of a sudden, Yi Ping turned ashen as he staggered backward as he stared at a dark figure behind She Weilun and even Lingfeng was trembling!

She Weilun had noticed Yi Ping and Lingfeng's expressions as he asked, "What's wrong? Why don't you continue? I am tolerant of criticism usually. After all, I am a good guy…"

Lingfeng said quietly, "Look behind you. There is someone behind you right now."

She Weilun laughed aloud, "Do you think I will be a fool to fall for one of the oldest tricks in the books? But let me tell you, even if I turn my head back, there is no chance for you to ambush me."

"She meant well and you better believe her." An old croaking voice that was behind him was heard saying.

She Weilun had immediately turned pale!

It was because for someone to walk so silently behind him without his knowing, he must be a frightening opponent!

He quickly turned away and was prepared for evasive action when he was struck on his chest by a powerful palm strike! That immediately sent him flying through the air and crashing into a tree with a tremendous impact!

Immediately, She Weilun coughed out blood when that palm strike broke the invulnerability of his Golden Thunder Martial Force!

He looked up and saw a fat old man with long white beard saying coldly to him, "Now scam!"

Even though the eyes of this fat old man were normal but there was no doubt that he was an Ancient Celestial with a profound state of divinity. Only Ancient Celestials could disguise their true state of divinity and moreover, could break his Golden Thunder Martial Force with such ease!

She Weilun sighed at his bad luck. He got up and bowed respectfully, "Before I go, can senior honor me with your name?"

The fat old man growled, "You don't deserve to know my name. Now go!"

Lingfeng quickly gasped out, "Don't let him go!"

But She Weilun had already vanished out of sight!

The fat old man said, "If I don't let him go, do you want me to kill him? That is too detrimental to my cultivation. You should know this…"

Lingfeng said unhappily, "You should at the very least break his vital channels…"

The fat old man was startled as he quickly asked, "My Heaveness. How is it any different from killing him?"

All the other maidens with the exception of Lele and the Stellar Heaven Fairy were astonished that Lingfeng knew this old man and was talking to him as though they were old friends. Even though they were arguing but there were no animosity between them.

But they were also relieved at the same time. It was because at first when they had first caught sight of him, they were wary of him and were secretly afraid that another super exponent had appeared.

Lele was focusing on treating the Stellar Heaven Fairy and was not aware of her surroundings…

Lingfeng said coldly to the fat old man, "What takes you so long to arrive?"

The fat old man replied awkwardly, "Aren't I just in a nick of time? The Celestial Realm is vast and you have come back without informing me. If it isn't for my skills at divination, I wouldn't have even known that you are back. You should thank me instead for coming to your aid. But why are you so weak now?"

The fat old man took a look at the other maidens and were grinning, "You have brought so many friends from the lower realm? How can it be even possible? Don't tell me you have discovered the secret that is left behind in the lower realm by the Dark Lord of the Chaotic Cosmos and…"

All of a sudden, he froze as he caught sight of Yi Ping and looked intently at him. "He looks like our protégé disciple but somehow, he isn't now?"

Yi Ping smiled weakly as he stepped forward, "I am Yi Ping! It is a long story. I can explain later. My respects to the Universal Old Man!"

By now, Shen Xingyue was done with her mediation techniques and when she heard that this fat old man was the Universal Old Man himself, she simply could not believe her ears! It was because the Universal Old Man and the Heaveness were legendary Celestials and their states of divinities were impossible to guess.

She looked at Lingfeng and secretly thought, "Lingfeng, what else have you been hiding from us?"

Lingfeng said to the Universal Old Man, "Right now, all these are not important. Hurry and give me the Negative Core Divine Pill."

The Universal Old Man was startled, "My Heaveness, what do you want it for? Do you know how precious this divine pill is? It is the only one of its kind in the Celestial Realm. Have you forgotten how we have risked our lives to take it out of the Stellar Sanctuary? Whether we can survive the Heavenly Wrath the next time, will have to depend on this divine pill…"

Lingfeng said coolly, "So you are not willing to surrender this divine pill to me?"

Yi Ping said weakly, "Lingfeng, we shouldn't force and impose our wills on others. Let it be…"

The Universal Old Man turned to Yi Ping and said, "I am talking to the Heaveness. Just because you resemble our protégé disciple, you think you can interrupt us anyhow you like?"

Even though the Universal Old Man was speaking slowly but Yi Ping was seized by an invisible chains of fear that caused him to take three unconscious steps backward. The air around them had turned eerie cold!

Yunzi, Mei'Er, Yu'Er, Shen Xingyue and Xiao Youxue wanted to step forward and to interrupt the invisible icy air but found themselves unable to muster their internal strength in their weakened state.

Lingfeng snapped her fingers and broke the invisible icy chains that were strangling everyone as she said coolly, "He is my husband and I am his wife. So you should call him your protégé master or have you forgotten that I am your protégé mistress?"

The Universal Old Man was stunned, "What? He is your husband? That is impossible. Have you forgotten who you are? And when did I become your protégé disciple?"

Lingfeng laughed softly, "It is because our protégé disciple still lives and he is right in front of you now. Therefore I am still your protégé mistress. Have you forgotten about our gambit? You are to address me as your protégé mistress while our protégé disciple still lives."

The Universal Old Man was bewildered and he was stammering, "I…the Heaveness is always so mysterious and profound. You better explain to me then…"

Lingfeng said, "Not now. I will need the Negative Core Divine Pill now."

The Universal Old Man asked solemnly, "You still have not explained to me why you need it for?"

Lingfeng looked at Yi Ping as she winked alluringly at him, "I need it to stop someone from turning into an idiot later."

The Universal Old Man looked at Yi Ping and knew who she was referring to but he asked, "Who's that idiot? It will be interesting to know."

Yi Ping smiled bitterly, refusing to say anything or else it would be as good as admitting that he was that idiot.

Yunzi broke into a smile as she said, "Thank you old senior!"

The Universal Old Man asked, "Why do you thank me for?"

Youxue smiled, "Because you are going to save an idiot and we are grateful!"

All of a sudden, Lele interrupted exasperatedly. "Can anyone of you come and help me if you are all so free now?"

Lingfeng immediately turned around and flew to the Stellar Heaven Fairy, hitting several of her pressure points in a blink of an eye as she remembered that the Stellar Heaven Fairy was in a critical condition!

The Universal Old Man was not slow either. He was beside the Stellar Heaven Fairy in an instant as he patted her back gently with his martial force!