A Martial Odyssey

Youxue had led everyone to a secret martial chamber that was hidden behind the garden of the palace residence. From the looks of it, it had not been used for many years. What was astonishing about this secret martial chamber was that there was an extremely concealed secret chamber underneath!

Yi Ping muttered, "Youxue, how did you manage to find something as conceal as this? I am really astonished by your ability!"

Youxue was delighted that Yi Ping was praising her in front of the other maidens.

Yunzi was smiling at her while Lele was kicking the walls of the passageway while muttering softly, "This doesn't make any sense at all. There is a conceal panel within a panel…"

Youxue looked at Yi Ping tenderly. If Yixian and the Ascension Goddess were not clinging to him intimately at the moment, she would have flown into his embrace and asked him shyly, "Really? I did well?"

But when she saw how intimate Yixian and the Ascension Goddess was beside him, she just said shyly, "There are more surprises inside."

Yi Ping was really curious and he was walked beside her, smiling at her. "Then you must quickly show me! From the looks of it, I think even Ximen Nanqing is not aware of this secret passage!"

Shen Xingyue nodded, "indeed…"

She was secretly looking at Youxue, Yixian and the Ascension Goddess. For the first time, she was envy of them.

Even Lie Qing was resigning softly to herself and was wondering what was going on!

The Stellar Heaven Fairy was still startled that the all-powerful Ximen Nanqing was actually dead now. She was still in disbelief that a lower celestial could actually defeat a golden celestial!

Lingfeng was quiet.

It was not because she was envious but because she was thinking of her future with Yi Ping! Before she was aware that she was the incarnation of the Heaveness, she had already liked him and even her first kiss was given to him.

But even if she was the Heaveness, does it really matter to her?

When she was the Heaveness, she dreamed every day that she could be an ordinary mortal. She wished she was able to lead a carefree life, got married and had a family. That was because she knew that her next tribulation was the Heavenly Wrath. The Heavenly Wrath would only occur to the Celestials who had reached the final Celestial Stage. And her Heavenly Wrath which was to be her tenth was already her limit and she would surely perish unless she could find a way to ascend.

That was why together with the Universal Old Man and the Great Sage Lord, they had taken a huge gambit to find a way to the lower realm to look for the final clue to ascend to the God Realm.

They were all struck in the final stage; somehow the final path for the transmigration of the Gods' Realm had been blocked. According to all their calculations and knowledge, there should be a final ascension. Unless they could find a way to transmigrate to the God Realm, eventually they would all be destroyed by their heavenly tribulation for it would only grow increasing powerful as it increased by a fold each time.

However when she had returned to the lower realm, she started to develop nostalgic for the realm that she had come into. In the past as the Heaveness and also an Ancient Celestial, she did not need to fear the Divine Calamity. She was never a celestial practitioner in the first place and she and her kind was supreme in the lower realm till they successfully transmigrate to the Celestial Realm.

In the Celestial Realm, the Ancient Celestials and the Golden Celestials that had successfully transmigrated from the lower realm were at the mercies of the Divine Wrath and the Heavenly Wrath.

Because she had missed the lower realm and would rather destroy her attainment, she discovered something that no one else knew about or had long forgotten when she regained her knowledge as the Heaveness.

As Heaveness if she were to remain in the lower realm, she was virtually immortal and did not need to transmigrate to the Celestial Realm or to the God Realm to seek immortality.

It was because with her attainment, she did not need to face any Divine Calamity at all!

She had a sudden thought then, "Is the different realm related to the state of divinity? What if the God Realm has an even more fearsome heavenly tribulation? If I were to return to the Celestial Realm, my state of divinity may not be able to grasp the full mysteries of the Heavenly Wrath and my cycle of Heavenly Wrath will begin anew again. Since I have previously been to the Celestial Realm and back, my state of divinity will now virtually render me an immortal in the lower realm. And because I had destroyed my old body, I was able to stop the Heavenly Wrath from happening…"

By a coincident, she had become an immortal should she stay in the lower realm, free from any Divine Calamity, Divine Wrath and the Heavenly Wrath that faced the celestial practitioners.

However, she knew that Yi Ping and the rest of her sisters were only mortals and that they must transmigrate in order to escape the Divine Calamity.

It was because the odds of passing through all seven celestial divinities were really low. Most celestial practitioners would not be able to survive the arduous tribulations. Even though the rest of her sisters were formerly celestial practitioners, they had all completely taken a new path now.

Moreover, the odds of surviving a Divine Calamity stacked against them, especially to Yixian the Celestial Fairy. Unlike the others, Yixian had to face the Divine Wrath which only happened to the celestials in the Celestial Realm. It was because she was too powerful and her state of divinity was too astonishing that a normal Divine Calamity would not have affected her much. She had survived one narrowly when she had first awakened but there was no assurance that she could survive her second Divine Wrath.

For the sake of Yi Ping and the other sisters, she chose to keep silence on her immortality and even agreed to guide them to the Celestial Realm with the Cosmos Stellar Formation which she had learnt in the Stellar Sanctuary.

It was because she knew that if they would be able to reach the Celestial Realm, they would not be affected by any heavenly tribulations until they had become a Golden Celestial. So they would slowly cultivate at their leisure.

It was because the heavenly tribulations in the Celestial Realm only affected the Ancient Celestials and the Golden Celestials.

However because there was no Divine Calamity in the Celestial Realm, there was no way for the mortals in the Celestial Realm to become a celestial practitioner either.

Only the mortals in the lower realm could be a celestial practitioner.

But maybe deep in her heart, she was still curious to find out the secrets of the Stellar Sanctuary and that was also the reason why she was back in the Celestial Realm. She had guessed that the Dark Lord of the Chaos Cosmos had previously returned to the lower realm to seek the Universal Force for eventual ascension to the God Realm.

It was because the Universal Force could only occur in the lower realm and it was the most powerful primeval force in the entire universe and extremely difficult to find or even seen in the lower realm itself. However, she knew that the Heavenly Earth Sword contained vestiges of the Universal Force and that was what made the Ultimate Celestial Star Formation so deadly.

And the elusive Heavenly Earth Sword had reappeared from the heavens when Yixian the Celestial Fairy was facing her Divine Wrath, enabling her to overcome it and awakened as a celestial practitioner.

Was Yixian the one that could unravel the secrets of the Stellar Sanctuary and was the one that was destined to be an immortal?

Or was it Yi Ping?

Or the Holy Ascension Sect? While she was still the Heaveness, she had aided many celestial practitioners to avert their Divine Calamities. Among them were the celestial practitioners of the Ascension Sect. She was curious about the Celestial Dual Progression of the Ascension Sect. She had already noticed that the Eclipse and Axis Heaven Goddesses were already at the final celestial level but it seemed that something was preventing them from the final ascension.

Finally, a grateful elder of the Ascension Sect revealed to her some of the secrets of the Celestial Dual Progression of the Ascension Sect. In order to ascend, they required their own divine weapons and they followed an entirely different celestial path from the other celestial practitioners. It was said that an immortal being or a highly attained celestial had left behind this celestial cultivation method. This celestial cultivation method was arduous and extremely difficult to attain and had an unknown purpose once they were in the Celestial Realm.

If Lingfeng did not guess incorrectly, the Ascension Goddess and Shen Xingyue were supposed to be counterparts for the Celestial Dual Progression as well.

Even though she was intrigued by the God Realm, it was in the past. She was still the same Lingfeng that loved Yi Ping with all her heart. By any accords, it only enforced her desire to lead an ordinary life.

She knew that she had lost the innocence that she had when she had first met Yi Ping. She became aware that she had serious contenders and all of the maidens were also vying for his attentions. She was suddenly shy and she was even thinking, "This is so embarrassing. I have never expected to find the Universal Old Man so soon. Now I have to maintain the cover of my Heaveness self or he will surely tell all the other celestials what he has known about me…"

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Yi Ping who asked Youxue, "Xue'Er, this passageway to be in disused for a long time. These recent footprints that are in front are made by you?"

Even though the passageway was quite dim and the light from the torches were flickering wildly but Yi Ping who had cleared all his meridian channels were able to see clearly in the darkness.

At this moment, Youxue turned around and laughed softly. "If Brother Ping can't recognize my footprints then I will surely be very upset."

When Yi Ping caught her mesmerizing laughs and had eye contact with her, he began to fluster. It was because he could sniff her light fragrant and it was intoxicating to him; it was because he was still suffering from the aftereffect of the Forget Affections Wine that caused his willpower to falter. Moreover, Youxue was really a mesmerizing maiden that could stop people in their tracks when she had removed her veil.

Yi Ping thought, "If she isn't always enveloping herself in her coldness, it is not hard for men to fall into her charms…"

All of a sudden, Youxue fell into his embrace as she gasped aloud.

Yi Ping asked panicky, "Xue'Er, what is wrong?!"

Lele answered for Youxue, "There are rats in this passageway…"

But she was secretly thinking, "I am also afraid of rats too but at the moment, there are no rats in sight yet and she already taken the opportunity to jump into his embrace. Because she has already used this trick once, it will be so embarrassing for me to use it later…"

Therefore she suppressed her fear.

She was not the only ones that were thinking of the same. Yu'Er, Mei'Er and even Lie Qing were also thinking the same as her!

Youxue was blushing when she was in Yi Ping's embrace as she nodded shyly, "That's right…"

When Yi Ping caught hold of her soft body, he was starting to nosebleed again. It was because he had suddenly recalled that Xue'Er was the Endor Vixen Fairy previously and that the White Sage had lost his chastity to her. He had also recalled how he had violated Yixian and the Ascension Goddess at the same time much earlier…

Now that he had recalled this, he could feel the burning heat of the Forget Affection Wine was stirring up again. He quickly tried to suppress it with his Absolute Spirits Heart Intricacy but because Xue'Er was hugging him tightly, he found himself grabbing her waist tightly.

Youxue gasped when Yi Ping had suddenly put his arm around her and she was flustered as her heart began to beat rapidly!

She had realized that she was suddenly in his embrace and it seemed that time had stood still for them. In that instant, she had forgotten that the Universal Old Man, Yixian, Lele, Lie Qing, the Stellar Heaven Fairy, the Ascension Goddess, Shen Xingyue, Yu'Er, Mei'Er, Yunzi and Lingfeng were all watching them with envy.

The Universal Old Man was sighing softly but no one knew what he was thinking about.

Lingfeng whispered softly to him, "Old man, if you are having mortal thoughts then you have better not forget that you are a celestial."

Even though her voice was soft, Yi Ping and Youxue had heard it aloud and reluctantly separated from each other.

But as soon as they had separated from each other, Yixian and the Ascension Goddess were besides Yi Ping as they looked shyly at him!

Yixian said gently and was full of concern when she saw his nosebleed, "Ping'Er, are you alright? Your nose is bleeding now…"

The Ascension Goddess smiled gently, "I think…"

She stole a glance at Youxue before adding, "I think he still needs our care later. The effect of the Forget Affection Wine has not yet been totally purged out yet."

Yi Ping was flustering and he did not know what to say.

All of a sudden, he had thought of something and he quickly changed the topic. "Xue'Er, can I ask you something?"

Youxue smiled at the attention that Yi Ping had given her and asked, "Yes, Brother Ping?"

Yi Ping asked solemnly, "When we got to the scene, Ximen Nanqing was already dead. How did you and the Stellar Heaven Fairy defeat someone as formidable as him?"

This was something that had been bothering him.

It was because Ximen Nanqing was a super exponent. Even if he could not overcome a strong opponent, surely he could still be able to flee?

Youxue said melancholy, "I was already at the brink of exhaustion and if he could persist a little longer, I wouldn't have defeated him. He was trying to defeat us as soon as possible and tried to match me with his martial power and he had underestimated my ability to resist. If he was more caution then he wouldn't be in that sorry state. In short, he was being impatient."

That was the truth. Ximen Nanqing was used to being a Domain Lord for a long time and the instant he had met resistance from an inferior opponent, he had totally lost his cool. In a fight, the ability to keep cool was an important factor to determine the eventual winner.

Even though Xiao Youxue was able to use the Divine Virtuous Force, the Golden Invincible Body and the Divine Emerald Skill at the same time, the effort to maintain these three divine skills were considerable and she could only maintain it briefly. Moreover, she had to reserve her entire martial power for her offensive!

If Ximen Nanqing had paused to think for a while and used a delaying tactic, he would not have met his end so tragically!

Yi Ping nodded as he said in praise of her, "I really wish I could arrive earlier to witness such an earthshaking fight but the most important thing is that you are alright…"

Lingfeng could not resist a tease on him as she smiled alluringly, "But I am sure you are doing something even more important at that moment."

Yi Ping began to fluster and even Yixian and the Ascension Goddess lowered their heads shyly away.

Youxue suddenly said, "Here! We have reached."

She tapped and pushed a brick that was part of the wall. Immediately, there was a loud rumbling sound as the walls in front of them opened as it revealed a big chamber inside!

The chamber was vast and airy. Inside were many artefacts, books and scrolls that were covered with dust.

Immediately, the group walked inside and as they started to look around.

Everyone except for Yi Ping and Youxue immediately started to explore the chamber excitedly!

The Stellar Heaven Fairy muttered, "I have been in this place for a long time yet I do not know that such a secret passage has actually existed."

Yi Ping was not interested in the artefacts or the secret martial knowledge that was in here so he asked Youxue, "Xue'Er, you mention that you have something interesting to show us but what it is? I see nothing but old books and…"

Lingfeng could not resist a chuckle as she leaned against a wall and her alluring soft laughs were infectious.

Immediately, the rest of the maidens except for the Universal Old Man, the Stellar Heaven Fairy and the Ascension Goddess were left wondering why all the maidens were suddenly laughing so merrily!

Yi Ping began to fluster deeply.

The Ascension Goddess asked curiously as she looked at everyone before looking at Yixian for an answer, "What is so funny?"

Yixian stole a glance at Yi Ping quietly but she did not say anything. After all, she did not want to criticize her husband publicly in front of everyone.

Yu'Er walked to the Stellar Heaven Fairy while Mei'Er walked to the Ascension Goddess as they whispered silently to them. Almost immediately, the Stellar Heaven Fairy and the Ascension Goddess were laughing so jovially that they had tears in their eyes!

The Universal Old Man was now extremely curious as he asked, "Can anyone tell me what is so funny? I want to know?"

Lele laughed softly, "If you tell me one or two of your intricate heart formulas, then I may consider telling you."

The Universal Old Man smiled bitterly, "May consider only? Hurry and tell me. I am really curious or I can't sleep tonight."

Lele hummed coldly, "Never!"

The Universal Old Man could only smile bitterly.

But everyone seemed to ignore the Universal Old Man completely.

Yi Ping tried to salvage the awkward moment by asking, "Xue'Er, you say you have something to show to me?"

Yi Ping naturally knew why the maidens were secretly laughing. It was because he was almost illiterate. When he had mentioned there were nothing but old books around, Lingfeng could not suppress her laughs anymore. These books and scrolls were obviously very precious to the martial practitioners and were of great value but to Yi Ping who could not read, it was worthless in his eyes!

Youxue nodded excitedly, "Brother Ping, look at the contents of this scroll. Do you think that this posture is very similar to the Dominating Force?"

When Yi Ping took a look, he remarked excitedly. "I think this is indeed the secret manual of the Dominating Force."

But he soon said, "It is unwise to learn new martial skills. Every school has their advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the heart intricacy formula of all the formidable divine skills often clashed with each other. Greed doesn't pay when it comes to martial progression…"

The Universal Old Man approved of it as he said wisely, "That's right! I am glad that my protégé knows about this and can resist this temptation which has actually caused the downfall of many practitioners."

But obviously Youxue and the rest of the maidens were not paying any attention to Yi Ping or the Universal Old Man as they crowded around the many martial scrolls.

Lie Qing was startled as she looked at Yunzi and Youxue, "Why is that the second half of this scroll has the same exact posture as the Invincible Divine Force?"

Yunzi was also startled as she said thoughtfully, "Can it be that the Dominating Force and the Invincible Divine Force share the same root before it got branched off?"

Lie Qing nodded, "There is a possibility…I wonder who is the owner of this place and where he is now?"

Lingfeng had took a quick look around and she was suddenly very solemn, "This place is the meditating chamber of an Ancient Celestial…"

The Universal Old Man had picked up some scrolls and he was saying excitedly, "The name of that Ancient Celestial is the Astrology Sage. He used to be our rival and always vying with us whenever the Stellar Sanctuary has appeared. This star charts…"

Lingfeng began to examine the star charts when all of a sudden, she exclaimed excitingly, "These constellation markings…I have recognized it. These were all the locations when the Stellar Sanctuary had previously appeared."

The Universal Old Man was excited as well, "Indeed! I am wondering why that old fellow is always one step ahead of us! That is because he could actually predict the next appearance of the Stellar Sanctuary."

Lingfeng nodded excitedly and her eyes shone, "The Stellar Sanctuary only appears briefly. With our current state of divinity, we can forecast the next timing of its appearance but there is no way we can know its exact location. This star chart may be able to gain us sufficient time to unravel the mysteries of the Stellar Sanctuary!"

Yi Ping was delighted to hear that as he said, "This is most excellent. I am honestly curious about the Stellar Sanctuary. Lingfeng, when you are free, can you explain what exactly is the Stellar Sanctuary? I don't understand how it is able to fade out of sight and only reappeared every few centuries? This is really a most bewildering thing!"

The Universal Old Man was suddenly solemn, "Unfortunately even with my celestial knowledge, I can't understand any of the markings on this star chart."

Lingfeng was solemn too, "Neither did I…"

All of a sudden, Yu'Er exclaimed aloud. "These symbols on the Celestial Star Chart are arranged like harmonics…"

Mei'Er was excited too, "I think I may be able to decipher it."

Everyone was startled.

Yi Ping said excitedly, "Mei'Er, you can really decipher it?"

Mei'Er winked at him, "I will definitely try!"