The Romantic Cultivator

When Ji Yuan was being pulled into the golden portal that had shown up in front of him, he had suddenly noticed that he was being pulled into the smelly toes of the Great God Pangu; he was literally at the 'footstep' of the great monument mountain statue of the Great God Pangu.

"What the heck?! Is this a joke or what?!"

Xiang Li had heard him and she was laughing in his soul sea. "Big Brother is sniffing the smelling toes of the Great God Pangu…"

So startled was Ji Yuan that he had lost his focus to maintain his profound animus and he had almost become the second cultivator to fall upon reaching the portal of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth.

Luckily he was quick enough to grab the 'toes cliff' of the Great God Pangu and regained his profound animus.

"Whew!" He shivered to think what would happen if he fall. Even a blink of an eye would cause him to drop from a great height and he would be forced to ascend again.

"Ops!" Xiang Li said.

But it was not Xiang Li's fault. Talking to Xiang Li was always a good way for Ji Yuan to relax himself and to refocus his thoughts.

He was really startled by the fact that of all the places, he had to enter the toes of the Great God Pangu.

What a bad start…

"What an unlucky start, Xiang Li. I've got a bad omen about this." Ji Yuan muttered.

"Why Big Brother?" Xiang Li asked curiously.

"Because we have entered through the toes, that's why. We are treading thinly on our toes. Haven't you heard of this saying before?" Ji Yuan frowned.

"No…" Xiang Li pondered very hard but she could not remember hearing this saying before.

Ji Yuan frowned. "You got to read more books. You're behaving like an uneducated couth like me but even an uneducated couth like me knows more sayings than you."

"Of course I don't know more than Big Brother! You are the best! My Big Brother is the Great Poet Ji Yuan and I am inferior than Big Brother!"

"Haha Xiang Li! You're right. Haha. I am actually quite knowledgeable…"

When he had said that, he had entered into the golden portal.

The golden portal was actually quite big and dozens of cultivators were entering at almost the same time as Ji Yuan.

When the cultivators that were nearby saw Ji Yuan nearly had a trip, they were quite speechless but did not dare to say a word; it was because Ji Yuan is a great saint and they did not dare to be impolite to him.

They were all shaking their heads silently.

"We are all entering the smelly toes…"

"Even Ji Yuan nearly had a trip at the toes, it is a sign of bad omen for all of us…"

"Should I turn back now…"

"I am smelling the toes of the Great God Pangu now…"

There was a brilliant white light as Ji Yuan entered into the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth.

When he had regained his sight, he saw that he was now standing among tall grasses and there were even some inexpensive spirit plants near him. There were also many mountains that he could see but he was actually standing on a vast flat plain with grasses that were taller than a tree.

"A legendary plain land?" Ji Yuan muttered. He had never seen a plain land before as the Celestial Realm is a mostly mountainous place.

Above him there were thousands of floating islands.

He was a little awe by the sight of so many floating islands. How the heck does these islands float?

Xiang Li laughed. "Woot! Can I come out now to play? We are finally in the Labyrinth!"

"No, you stay inside my soul sea. It isn't safe until we know where we are." Ji Yuan immediately cut her short. "Plus there may be other cultivators around."

"The Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth is inside a vast spatial space. Some say the exact location may well be in the Great Beyond Realm. When we pass through the portal to the inside, we will be teleported to a random location within the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth." Xiang Li giggled. "See, you know where you are now!"

Ji Yuan: …

"How the heck do you know about this?!"

Xiang Li chuckled. "I have overheard Saintess Fan Yuqing saying to Lu Qingyun while they are inside my Lotus Sword Mansion Trials."

Ji Yuan laughed before he asked. "Then what else did they say about the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth?"

"Saintess Fan Yuqing said it is descending soon and taking the trials of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth is like taking a walk inside." Xiang Li pondered before answering.

Ji Yuan: …

Ji Yuan: …

Ji Yuan: …

"She is really very humorous…"

Xiang Li laughed. "She is. She jokes and teases Lu Qingyun all the time."

"Well, lucky for Lu Qingyun…" Ji Yuan muttered as he took a careful look at his surroundings.

He cast an anxious look around because he was a little cautious. The terrain here is very bad for fighting and he would have no hiding place unless he could reach the nearest mountains.

According to the briefings about the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth that he had received, the portal to the next level is a hidden one and that they must search for it while exploring the place. Also there would be dozens of trials on each level.

"What else did Fan Yuqing say? About the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth?" Ji Yuan asked curiously.

"Well…" Xiang Li pondered very hard to recall. "She said that it is actually a massive maze hence the naming but it is a maze with plenty of untold profound treasures to be found throughout the levels. She also said that once we have entered the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth, we will see thousands of floating land masses and these are actually the different worlds. The higher floating land masses represent the different levels inside."

Ji Yuan muttered. "Interesting. So it means that we are actually standing on one of the floating land masses now…hmm, this Saintess Fan Yuqing sure is knowledgeable..."

But he was soon bursting with excitement. "Oh well. It is time for us to explore the place now. We are going to have a good start. And for the very first time, we are going to be freed from the maidens. Haha!"

Xiang Li protested immediately. "I am a maiden…"

Ji Yuan smiled weakly. "No, you're not. You are my best confidant…"

Xiang Li was flustered. "Oh hehe…"

"Are you talking to Xiang Li now? So Xiang Li is your best confidant then what about us then?" A beautiful yet familiar voice giggled in the still air.

Ji Yuan was startled as he quickly turned around; his eyes nearly popped out when he saw Ling Feiyue and behind her was Little Princess.

Ling Feiyue giggled with great delight. "I say, the world is really so small. We have actually met in this place. Now I truly believe that we have four lifetimes together. This is perhaps the fifth lifetime."

Behind her, Little Princess was also laughing mesmerizing as she nodded. "Although it is nearly impossible to meet one another in the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth but we have really met. This is too good to be true. Now we can all take our trials together…"

All of a sudden Ji Yuan had unsheathed his immortal-step divine sword and he was pointing solemnly at Ling Feiyue and Little Princess. "Who are you?"

Xiang Li was startled as she asked in her soul sea. "Big Brother, what are you doing?"

Ji Yuan said loudly. "They are not real! They must be the demons from the trials of the labyrinth to test us because the real Feiyue has never come into the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth!"

"But she is real, Big Brother…."

Ji Yuan shook his head with a determined look. "She isn't real. Although her disguise is good but she can never fool my eyes. Trust me. I know my women very well, clothes or no clothes!"

Xiang Li muttered with a stunned expression. "She isn't real?"

"We are inside the dangerous trials of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth. Unless we can prove their identities, everyone is our enemy and a competitor!"

Ji Yuan then raised his voice to say coldly. "Who are you? How dare you take the guise of my women? If you don't answer me immediately, don't blame me for slaughtering the two of you without any mercy! I give you a count of three to declare your real identities!"

"One…"

"Two…"

"Are you listening?!" Ji Yuan was now frowning at the two maidens who looked quite amused.

"Three!..."

Ling Feiyue quickly said. "Ji Yuan! If I am not Ling Feiyue, how do I know that you are talking to Xiang Li?"

Little Princess was also giggling. "He is being overly cautious again. At first I don't believe but now I really believe. Why is Ji Yuan so cute?"

Ji Yuan said coldly. "I won't be cute once I have slaughtered all of you for not taking my warnings. No one shall green me or deceive me with the looks of my consorts!"

All of a sudden he had attacked 'Ling Feiyue' with his sword energies waves, creating nine bursts of powerful sword energies at the same time as his sword energies approached her.

Hehe! This is my improvised sword energies waves and you're the first to taste it in the trial. If you have heeded my warning and back off, I will be merciful. You probably won't die but you will definitely be severely injured by my sword energies…"

All of a sudden 'Ling Feiyue' had unsheathed her heaven-step divine sword and unleashed a brilliant profound light that immediately shattered all his sword energies and the white light was so condensed with profound power that it continued on its path to retaliate against Ji Yuan!

Ji Yuan was startled as he quickly raised his sword to defend himself; he skidded for seven steps before he managed to muster his profound strength to deflect the white light off him, causing it to explode thunderous to the side!

He was stunned. "She is a great saint too?! The Heavenly Light of the Coiling Dragon? She can even copy my technique?!"

THIS TRIAL IS TOO LAME!!!

Immediately he had mustered his sword spirit and a white flare appeared on his forehead. With the sword spirit now, the profound power of his sword arts would also increase but at a cost of more profound strength.

Ji Yuan began to shout furiously. "Let me show you what the real Heavenly Light of the Coiling Dragon is like…"

All of a sudden there was a thunderous eerie and evil voice that interrupted Ji Yuan. "Hahaha. Ji Yuan! So you are here! Then it will save my trouble to look for you!"

Ji Yuan was startled as he turned to see a powerful build cultivator walking with a heavy footstep toward them.

"Yin Wei?!"

Ji Yuan was shocked to see Yin Wei. It was because Yin Wei now looked completely different and he was looking more like a monster now; he retained the characteristics of his face but there was armor plating and wicked spikes all over his body…

But he quickly composed himself because he had realized that this Yin Wei was also a complete fake; it was because it was impossible for Yin Wei to regenerate his body in two weeks time. Given his injuries, he would at least take twenty years to completely recover, not two months or two years! Even two hundred years to recover was not a surprise at all!

Unknown to Ji Yuan, it was indeed Yin Wei and he was holding his left hand over his chest; there was a five talon scar on his chest. This wound had been afflicted by the Great Demon God and until now it had not been truly healed.

"Yin Wei! I have finally found you!" Little Princess shouted angrily as she unsheathed her divine sword. "Today it is either you die or I die!"

Yin Wei laughed as he stretched his neck left and right as he unsheathed his divine sword. "Little Princess, you will only be warming my bed…"

Ji Yuan was staring blankly at Little Princess as he cursed.

Darn!

This trial Little Princess sure looked like and act like my Little Princess. Luckily I have the experiences of the Dream Trial to thank for or else I would surely be fooled into thinking that this is real. But the trial is a little stupid. It is common sense that the cultivators won't be able to party up and encounter a friend so easily...

It is mathematically impossible and moreover there are two people that I know here. Luckily, I am not so dense and know something about the nature of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth.

Yin Wei had suddenly pointed his sword at Ji Yuan. "Ji Yuan, since you are here. Why don't you use your most powerful profound sword art on me instead? I will stand right here to receive your attack. How about it?"

"Ji Yuan! Don't fall for his tricks!" Ling Feiyue panicky shouted to him. "Let's fight him together!"

"He won't take your profound sword art and he will evade at the last minute!" Little Princess panicky cried out to him.

Ji Yuan rolled his eyes; this trial is too tricky. Now they are trying to cloud my judgments. This Yin Wei may not be real as well. He looks too ugly to be the true Yin Wei. Therefore what I really have here are three enemies…once I start to attack Yin Wei with them, they will start to attack my back. Then I will end up fighting on two fronts. Therefore it is better that I will remain standing where I am instead…"

His quick mind had now worked on quick plan and he had analyzed his enemies completely.

So he laughed at Yin Wei. "Haha. You will really let me use my profound sword art on you?"

Yin Wei smirked coldly. "Naturally I will."

"You know, they are right. What if you will suddenly evade my attack? You don't mind if I come with twenty paces within you? Even if you want to evade, it will be too late." Ji Yuan was grinning.

Yin Wei laughed. "Sure, come. I will wait for you then."

Ji Yuan: …

Ji Yuan: …

Ji Yuan: …

Ling Feiyue shouted to Ji Yuan. "Don't listen to him! We will fight him together…"

Ji Yuan turned to her to say bitterly. "Stay where you are and don't approach me!"

"My lord!" Ling Feiyue was saying with great exasperation. "At least allow us to cover your sides and act as your support!"

Ji Yuan frowned. "I'm warning you not to come near me."

Yin Wei laughed. "It seems that you have a little issue with your beloved consorts today and you have an infighting?"

But secretly he was thinking. They must have known that I am nearby and this is only their ruse. I must not fall for it…

At the same time Ji Yuan was also thinking as he walked within twenty paces of Yin Wei; this must be their ruses. But what is the ruse? I can't figure it out. Is this fake Yin Wei stupid or what? He is calling for me to kill him?!

Never mind first. Kill him first.

Ji Yuan grinned. "Well, you are asking for it then…" This fake Yin Wei is just a simpleton…

Does the trial knows that the full hit of my most powerful profound sword art can kill even a high level desolate beast instantly?

Yin Wei laughed. "Then can I receive your Super Heaven Light of the Coiling Dragon now?"

Ji Yuan rolled his eyes; he can't wait to die…

All of a sudden Ji Yuan had mustered the might of his sword spirit to merge with his profound energies as he began to display the profound energies of his Heavenly Light of the Coiling Dragon. When his sword spirit had merged with his profound sword art, his Heavenly Light of the Coiling Dragon would be turned into a Super Heavenly Light of the Coiling Dragon!

The bad part is, the super version needs three blinks of an eye longer to charge and only lasts a second longer. But it is several times more powerful and had a greater range.

Ji Yuan hesitated for a while after he had charged up his profound energies and he was hesitating to see if Yin Wei would make a move to evade his attack. Once he had startled to execute his attack fully, the drain on his profound strength would be massive and his profound strength would be drained fully for three blinks of an eye at an insane rate. But if he canceled the attack then the profound strength drain would cost him little.

He grinned. "Well, be prepared for my attack. I will count to a three and you better prepared yourself. One…"

All of a sudden he had made his move and a large burst of profound light had flown with a stunning brilliant white light where Yin Wei was standing!

Ji Yuan had lied of course.

"Big Brother, you say to a count of three. You lied…" Xiang Li muttered in his soul sea.

"Haha…" Ji Yuan laughed in his soul sea. "You can't keep your promise to an evil cultivator or you will be screwed by him…"

"It's not that. I am unprepared. You didn't tell me…" Xiang Li chuckled.

Ji Yuan: …

Yin Wei had kept his word and he had tanked the full blast of Ji Yuan's attack as he raised all his profound defenses into defending himself with his divine sword.

Three blinks of an eye later and after shrouding in a burst of bright profound light, Yin Wei was forced to take ten steps backward by the tremendous force and he was yelling with great agony…

But when the dusts had settled, Yin Wei was still standing in the background with smog and burning wisps around him. But he was smirking coldly...

Ji Yuan was stunned; he didn't die?! He doesn't even look like he is hurt by my most powerful profound sword art at all…what is going on?

Even Xiang Li was stunned. "Big Brother, he is a monster…"

Yin Wei was now laughing jovially.

It was because Ji Yuan had completely fallen into his ruse. Now he had weakened Ji Yuan's profound strength by half in order to reduce his profound power. At the same time, he had also ensured that Ji Yuan would not be able kill him later. It was because he knew that Ji Yuan would only use this trump card of his only two times.

Ji Yuan's second time trump card would be much weaker than the first. That was why Yin Wei had focused all his profound strength into his defenses. In this way, he could avoid getting caught by Ji Yuan when he was making his attack.

Now he was certain of his own victory by fulfilling several objectives.

So Yin Wei chuckled coldly. "I can't let you hit me for free. Now it is my time to hit you back..."

"Do you know that you can only recover your profound strength in a limited way here?" Yin Wei chuckled. "The higher the level, the hard it is for you to regain your profound strength."

Ji Yuan was startled as he tried to muster new profound strength via his internal profound energies from his spiritual sea to his fingers and he had instead found out that Yin Wei was telling the truth...

He solemnly said to Xiang Li. "I think we are in trouble now…"