Young Master Yuan Chengzhi and his entourage numbering a hundred had entered the audience hall of the Holy Citadel City. It was obvious that he had a disdain in his eyes, "I have expected the Holy Citadel City to be grander than this. It is nothing compared to the grandiose of the Divine Sovereign Clan. Just so and so only. What do you think Celestial Baitian?"
Celestial Baitian smiled coldly, "Indeed. A small celestial clan like the Holy Citadel City should long be designated to a second tier clan."
Elder Yuan Xiao laughed coldly, "But I will say if the Holy Citadel City is led by Celestial Baitian then it is another matter entirely."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi clapped with his fan, "Indeed. I have only the highest praise for Celestial Baitian and your wisdom."
There were burning angers against the Celestial Baitian among the protégés of the Holy Citadel City and many were muttering among themselves.
"Is he Celestial Baitian? Why is he on the side of the Divine Sovereign Clan?"
"I have heard that he is on good terms with the Divine Sovereign Clan especially with that Elder Yuan Xiao."
"How can he belittle his own clan?"
Elder Situ Ling and the other elders were alarmed when they had seen the size of Young Master Yuan Chengzhi's entourage. Out of one hundred, there were at least 30 Enlighten Celestials and quite a number of Immortal Celestials!
This entourage was like a mobile celestial clan that could overwhelm all the elders of the Holy Citadel City!
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi growled, "Where is your Holy Consort? Why is that she is not in the audience hall yet? Is this the proper attitude toward a superior celestial clan?"
Several of the protégés of the Holy Citadel City were infuriated, "We are also one of the nine patriarch clans. What is this superiority that he is talking about?"
Suddenly an enthralling voice floated, "Young Master Yuan Chengzhi. He can be considered a high prodigy. At 18, he is already an Enlighten Celestial. When he is 60, he has already breakthrough as Immortal Celestial. At 120, he has attained to the intermediate Immortal Celestial level. He is only 200 and his future is boundless. He is expected to reach the upper Immortal Celestial level in another 40 years or so. He is truly a genius among geniuses, one who is gifted with the destiny of heavens and truly a son of heavens among the celestials."
It came from Ye Jing as she made a graceful entrance to the throne of the audience hall, accompanying by the Lady Consort Ye.
Immediately the throngs of protégés and elders of the Holy Citadel City greeted their Holy Consort, relieved that she was finally here and that the insults of the Divine Sovereign Clan would finally stop.
Ye Jing smiled warmly and sat on the throne.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi was absolute delighted when he had suddenly heard someone praises him in this manner. He was even more delighted when he caught sight of the Holy Consort Ye Jing as he thought, "What a stunning beauty. I have never seen anyone as beautiful as her before. It seems that this trip is truly not in vain."
There were also some incessantly mutterings among the protégés of the Divine Sovereign Clan when they saw the Holy Consort. Her brilliant beauty was like the searing sun that had suddenly lit up in this place and that her mesmerizing smile was captivating to the point that everyone was just looking at her with stunned expressions.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi asked awkwardly, "You must be the Holy Consort?"
He had actually thought of intimidating the Holy Consort at the first opportunity and to show off the prestige power of the Divine Sovereign Clan. But he had actually forgotten about it."
Ye Jing smiled alluringly, "Isn't this obvious? And you must be Young Master Yuan Chengzhi, am I right? It is because you are the most outstanding in this group."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi nodded, "Indeed I am."
Ye Jing looked beyond him and said, "I see that my Uncle Baitian and Elder Yuan Xiao are also here today."
She pretended to ask with concern, "How is your injury?"
Celestial Baitian growled coldly, "I am well. I have totally recovered."
Ye Jing smiled, "That is so good to hear. Uncle Baitian you are the strongest fighter in the Holy Citadel City and there are still many matters waiting for you to assist…"
Celestial Baitian was provoked by her pretence and shouted, "Cut the crap…"
But he was interrupted by Young Master Yuan Chengzhi, "It seems that the Holy Consort is actually a reasonable person contrast to what I have heard. There is no need to raise our voices."
He was actually thinking that since the Holy Consort had praised him so highly from the very start then she must be trying to obtain his favors. Then he could actually work this out to his advantage. Moreover he knew that her position was weak. Therefore he was already thinking of getting her into bed and be part of his harem.
So he smiled confidently, "Actually we have a few matters to discuss with you."
"Oh?" Ye Jing asked curious, "You may speak freely."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi waved his fan, "Surely you have heard of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth?"
The protégés of the Holy Citadel City broke into loud mutterings!
Who had never heard of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth? It was one of the Two Major Mysteries and every 500-600 years, it would descend from the Immortal Realm!
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi waited for the shocked reactions to die down before saying aloud, "The Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth is an immortal heavenly palace that descends from the Immortal Realm every now and then.
It is a wondrous place where the celestials can seek enlightenment and find wondrous treasures to advance our cultivations. It is a place where all the courageous celestials want to go.
It is said that the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth is a gift by the Great God Yi Ping to aid the celestials to ascend to the Immortal Realm. The Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth and our current celestial practices are the legacies of the Great God Yi Ping."
Everyone was nodding as they remembered the many deeds of the Great God Yi Ping.
There were many myths and legendary feats of the Great God Yi Ping.
Like how from mortal to Great God, it took him only 5 years. That alone was an impossible feat. He was the War God Yi Ping. In his short life, he had fought uncountable treacherous battles and experienced many defeats. But every experience counts into his undying endurance to do even better. He may not be the best fighter but his righteousness and state of divinity surpasses all others, winning him many friends and even former foes.
He had also created the current celestial practice. In the past, there was no celestial practice to ascend as an Immortal and all the celestials were all practicing blindly.
This current practice also allows mortals and celestials alike to cultivate into immortals. In the past, only the celestials were able to cultivate as immortals.
The myths of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth were also contributed to the Great God Yi Ping.
Even the Three Known Realms were also partitioned by the Great God Yi Ping in the past.
He was also said to be the Immortal Ruler of the Six Realms and even the Desolate Immortals had been pacified by him.
It was even said that the Great God Yi Ping had even cultivated into a Divine Being and now residues in the Great Beyond.
Ye Jing had also heard of the myths of the Great God Yi Ping but to her, it was just myths. It was because it was impossible to attribute so many credits to a single person. But it was a good inspiration and encouragement to the celestials.
She was waiting patiently for Young Master Yuan Chengzhi to come to the main point and she knew that it would be a crisis that she would need to be dealing with.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi smiled and continued, "Therefore my father, the protégé grandmaster of the Divine Sovereign Clan has specifically sent me here to deliver a Golden Clan Invitation to the leader of the Holy Citadel City to attend the congregation ahead of the descend of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth to discuss pertaining strategies."
Ye Jing slowly nodded and took a secret look at her mother who had also exchanged a secret glance at her.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi suddenly smiled, "But I have a little problem here. I have thought that Celestial Baitian is actually the Holy Sovereign of the Holy Citadel City and I had already passed the Golden Clan Invitation to him."
Ye Jing thought miserably, "Now that is the main point."
But she faked a smile, "You can take it back from him and hand it over to me."
Some of the quicker witted female protégés of the Holy Citadel City could not resist giggling when they had heard the Holy Consort. It was because everyone had expected the Holy Consort to argue that she had the rightful leadership but instead of arguing, she went point blank and asked Young Master Yuan Chengzhi to surrender it to her instead.
Young Master Chengzhi was a little startled but he quickly composed himself to say, "But I have already handed over to Celestial Baitian…"
Ye Jing interrupted enchantingly, "Yes I have heard. You can always take it back unless of course you have made a terrible big blunder."
Celestial Baitian quickly interrupted, "Young Master Chengzhi has handed me the Golden Clan Invitation because he has felt that I am a more deserving leader in taking the Holy Citadel City to greater glory. Only I have the strength to overcome the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth. You must know that the position of our clan celestial rankings depend on the outcome of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth."
He stared fiercely at the elders of the Holy Citadel City, "For thousands of years, the grandmasters of the Holy Citadel City are under the Mu Clan. We have never have a Ye as grandmaster."
At this the elders of the Holy Citadel City began to mutter to each other…
Celestial Baitian smiled as he knew that he had struck a discord among the elders.
In the Celestial Fraternity, some clans have daughters that followed their mothers' clan name and that is the reason she is called Ye Jing and not Mu Jing.
Ye Jing smiled, "Uncle Baitian. That is not a good reason. Am I not my father's daughter? Ye or Mu, what does it matter?"
Celestial Baitian tapped his sword that was by his side, making it obvious to everyone. "Indeed that is not a good reason. But today, you have to surrender the leadership of the Holy Citadel City to me or don't blame me for not being pleasant."
Lady Consort Ye said angrily, "My husband has specifically appointed my daughter as Holy Consort. The elders can be witnesses. You only want the leadership because of your own lofty ambitions!"
Celestial Baitian hummed coldly, "My lofty ambitions are for the good of the Holy Citadel City. We are now the laughing stock of the patriarch celestial clans. How many Golden Celestials do we have for this generation? Only I alone have successfully overcome the life and death tribulation to become a Golden Celestial. How many Golden Celestials does the Divine Sovereign Clan have? 8! And they even have a Sacred Saint. What do we have?"
He paused before adding, "Even the lowest ranking elder of the Ancient Ascension Sect is a Golden Celestial. That is how weak we are now!"
Immediately the protégés of the Holy Citadel City were ashamed. Even the elders were also ashamed and everyone was looking down on the floor.
Celestial Baitian said coldly, "And we have a 22 year old brat on that throne now. Do you think that she will be able to take us to greatness? I don't think so. The survival of our clan is now at stake."
He clapped thrice and immediately several of the elders of the Holy Citadel City began to walk to his side, "To tell the truth. I already have the support of the majority of the elders."
Ye Jing could see that it was the truth but she did not blame them. She knew that she was a weak leader and prone to recklessness.
She was surprised that Elder Situ Ling did not move to join Celestial Baitian. It was because she had told her, "Thank you for your information. Even if you openly join hands with my uncle, I will not blame you."
Punishment Elder Sheng did not move as well. There were six other elders that were still supporting her.
Ye Jing sighed silently, "It is not so bad. It is better than I have expected."
It seemed to her that today she has to give up her position. No matter how she sees it, there is no way that she is able to snatch the Golden Clan Invitation from her uncle. Her uncle is simply too formidable for her to handle.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi suddenly laughed aloud, "Celestial Baitian is naturally the best person to lead the Holy Citadel City and the Divine Sovereign Clan will of course lend our fullest support to him. Isn't this the reason why we are here today?"
He gave another laugh, "However, I am also here to propose marriage to Maiden Ye Jing. You may lose your position of power but at least you can be my consort. You will still lead a life of luxury and you must know that the Divine Sovereign Clan is many times more powerful than the Holy Citadel City."
This time Ye Jing lost all pretences and she was really annoyed. She said coldly, "I don't want to join your harem. You are just a 200 year old freak!"
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi was slightly startled at her rebuke, "That is so unbecoming of a lady of a patriarch clan."
Ye Jing said coldly, "I say what I like. That is my mouth and not yours."
She had suddenly raised her Revelation Divine Sword, "If you want to fight then I shall battle all of you."
When she had raised her sword, everyone in the hall had also raised their swords!
Even the Lady Consort Ye had raised her precious sword as she stood protectively near Ye Jing.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi and many of the Divine Sovereign Clan were staring at her superior grade heaven-step divine sword and were secretly drooling.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi felt a little inferior when he was gripping his half-step divine sword…
What was Ye Jing thinking at this moment?
She is thinking how she has screwed up her romances with Xiaofang and prays that he will live strongly in the future. She did not want to let him know that she has a crisis today. It is because she knows that Xiaofang will not be able to handle all these experienced fighters all by himself and will even lose his immortal sword.
State of divinity and fighting techniques are two different matters. Xiaofang lacks fighting experience.
"Xiaofang…Little Fenghuang…good bye…"
Ye Jing whispered to her mother, "Please take care of Little Fenghuang for me."
Then she shouted, "If you still regard me as your Holy Consort, don't get involved in this slaughterhouse. This is my battle alone!"
Suddenly she had leapt to deliver a flash strike against Celestial Baitian. But before she could she could reach him, Elder Yuan Xiao and two other Immortal Celestials had blocked her attack, sending her backward.
Celestial Baitian took the opportunity to raise his divine sword to deliver a piercing thrust to her shoulder!
When Elder Situ Ling saw this, she shouted panicky. "We may die here today but we have to protect our Holy Consort!"
Immediately there was a great pandemonium as swords were raised against each other.
There were a great many Enlighten Celestials among the ranks of the Divine Sovereign Clan and they were formidable fighters who were able to imbue their swords with sword energies at which the mostly Master Practitioners of the Holy Citadel City had no defences. Immediately, a dozen protégés of the Holy Citadel City were killed or wounded by them.
The Immortal Celestials of the Divine Sovereign Clan numbered eight, including Elder Yuan Xiao and Young Master Yuan Chengzhi were joined by Celestial Baitian and the traitorous elders as they surrounded Ye Jing and her loyal elders.
Immediately, two of the elders that were loyal to Ye Jing had fallen. They were only Enlighten Celestials and they would not stand up to the sword energies of the many Immortal Celestials and of course Celestial Baitian was like an unstoppable titan that broke through the sword formations of the loyal elders.
Ye Jing was grieved when she witnessed the fall of the two elders. But she continued to fight with all her strength, fighting 4-7 fighters at a time.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi was startled that Ye Jing was still able to fight against so many. Her sword strokes were precise, giving away little and she seemed to know the weakness of their movements. That was a little strange…
But he was not worried. It was because she had already received several wounds and she was defending more than attacking. Also because most of the Immortal Celestials felt that they were bullying a maiden, they did not use any lethal strokes or techniques. Instead they just used some basic sword strokes or sword energies attack. If she did not have the stamina to avoid getting hit then so be it.
In a matter of moments, all the elders that were fighting along Ye Jing were on the ground while none from the opposite side had fallen.
In fact, this was not even a fight. None of her opponents even broke into a sweat and this was too easy to them!
Ye Jing was bleary eyed and her stamina was dropping fast. There were simply too many of them and no matter how she attacked anyone, there would be several of them stepping in to help each other to defend against her attacks. If it was not for her divine sword that could easily disperse the sword energies of her opponents, she would have already fallen.
Suddenly a sword stroke coming from Celestial Baitian had struck her. A bloodied Ye Jing stumbled backward as she fell onto the ground. She could sense the killing intent of dozens of swords that were pointing at her.
She lifted her head in agonizing pain, only to see that almost all the protégés of the Holy Citadel City had fallen and the few that survived were forming a protective circle around the Lady Consort Ye trying to defend against a horde of attackers. Even the Lady Consort Ye had joined in the fight…
Only a few of the protégés of the Divine Sovereign Clan had fallen. This was totally one-sided and just like a massacre.
Celestial Baitian said coldly, "I pity you. Even if we fight one to one, you still won't be able to fight me on equal term. This time there is no masked man to help you. Even if he is here today, he will still die. I know what your little trick is when you have suddenly charged into our midst. You are hoping to take as many down as possible but that is too naïve of you. Every one of us here are Masters or Elders of their clan. With your puny attainment and combat skill, do you think that you even stand a chance? Practice and real killing is not the same."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi sighed softly, "Look at her wounds. I really pity we did something so horrible to this peerless maiden. Leave her to me. I will take good care of her later. From now onward, you are the Holy Sovereign of the Holy Citadel City. May our two celestial clans work well together."
Celestial Baitian smiled warmly, "That is natural. I still need the honourable aid of your clan especially in the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi took another lecherous look at Ye Jing before he returned a reply to Celestial Baitian, "Our main opponents are the other celestial clans that are at the top."
He turned to Elder Yuan Xiao to say, "Take her away."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi turned to Master Baitian with a smile, "I will need a good room…"
"Then why don't you go there now? As quickly as possible." An enchanting yet cold-piercing voice was suddenly heard from behind them.
Somehow this voice had the mesmerizing effect to stop the fighting and everyone turned to look in her direction.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi was startled to hear such a mesmerizing voice and he too had turned to look curiously at the newcomer.
It was an extremely exquisite maiden in a white gold robe. She had three beautiful gold hairpin adorned on her head, wearing a pair of white jade bangle, adorned with a beautiful tear shape sapphire necklace and wearing a pair of pearl earrings.
Even though she had a sword by her side but she seemed totally harmless; there was no animus around her and she was almost invisible. She had dark eyes and therefore her attainment should not be higher than a Golden Celestial.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi was instantly mesmerized by her. He asked, "You are…"
Celestial Baitian immediately whispered, "Be careful, she is dangerous! There is no heart beat or breathing from her. I have never seen anyone that can conceal themselves in this manner…"
All of sudden everyone seemed to be frozen on the spot as she seemed to have walk past them like a breeze of ghostly wind. Before anyone of them knew what was happening, this mysterious maiden was already standing next to Ye Jing as she asked, "You are Ye Jing?"
She began to rebuke gently, "You are too weak. Are you living too comfortably? If they want your position, why don't you simply give it to them?"
Ye Jing had heard her and somehow her voice seemed to lend her strength as she looked up, "Who…are you?"
She could not tell what celestial level this mysterious maiden was at with her Divine Sense but it was definitely higher than her.
Everyone was also curious to know who this mysterious maiden was.
As everyone looked on, they could not help but feel that both this mysterious maiden and Ye Jin seemed to share some resembles to each other!
The mysterious maiden looked at her with delicate eyes, "I had heard that there is a person here that can fight off a Golden Celestial and is curious who he is. Can you tell me?"
Ye Jing was startled and refused to reply. Like many others, this mysterious maiden may only be interested in Xiaofang's immortal sword!
Suddenly Elder Yuan Xiao interrupted loudly, "Everyone focuses your thoughts! We may be under her bewitching array! She may be from the dark heretic celestial clan!"
When everyone heard Elder Yuan Xiao, they were alarmed and immediately recovered their wits!
They were all spellbound on the spot!
Elder Yuan Xiao turned to the mysterious maiden, "If you don't report your name and clan of origin then don't blame us for…"
The mysterious maiden asked enthrallingly, "Then what?"
She raised her fingers and before Elder Yuan Xiao could see what was happening, he was sent flying in the air!
Everyone was stunned.
Celestial Baitian was enraged as he immediately attacked her.
But before his powerful sword energies could even be mustered, he was struck by her two fingers and sent flying.
Celestial Baitian coughed out blood in total disbelief. There were no finger skills in the entire Celestial Fraternity that could penetrate through his golden body…
It did not take these celestial experts to immediately attack her with everything that they got.
But the most unbelievable thing suddenly happened. In just a few blinks of an eye, all the celestial fighters were sent flying upward in the air by her fingers and sword scabbard, hitting everyone with just one strike!
Ye Jing was totally stunned by what she had seen, "How is that possible?"
All the sword energies and attacks just go blankly through her as she moved. There seemed to be something that was invisible that caused the attacks of everyone to miss her completely.
Except for Celestial Baitian that could still stand, everyone else had coughed out blood due to internal organs injury and was yelling painfully on the ground. That included Young Master Yuan Chengzhi.
Ye Jing had read her with her Divine Sense but she could not even detect a single display of martial power or celestial energies that were coming from her. Yet she could penetrate the martial force of these celestial fighters like a piece of paper…
All the lesser protégés of the Divine Sovereign Clan were stunned at what they had seen. Their masters and elders were all disable just like this.
Celestial Baitian was enraged as he burst out in his formidable golden aura and displayed dozens of earth shaking strokes at her.
Suddenly the eyes of the mysterious maiden turned a brilliant golden and she was behind Ye Jing instantly. Before Ye Jing knew what was happening, she was on her feet and she was fending the dozens of Celestial Baitian's strokes.
She was startled because she had thought that she did not have the strength to withstand the martial power of a Golden Celestial.
The mysterious maiden divine whispered in her ears, "Did you see that?"
Ye Jing was stunned. This was the Divine Whisper, a secret whispering skill that only celestials who had cultivated for centuries could master…
When the mysterious maiden asked her did you see that, she was referring to the invisible energy signatures of Celestial Baitian's attacks.
"You don't have to fight power with power. A minimum power against the weakest point of his stroke can easily disable his strokes. He gets weaker and weaker while you barely even use any efforts."
Celestial Baitian was startled when Ye Jing had suddenly jumped to intercept his sword strokes that were aimed at the mysterious maiden. He was even more startled when Ye Jing easily countered all his attacks and had even wounded him!
He thought, "This is not possible…"
In a blink of an eye, they had exchanged another thirty strokes but Ye Jing still got the upper hand over him even when he went on to display his most ingenious secret sword skills, countering as though she had already experienced those strokes before…
The mysterious maiden divine whispered, "I am going to teach you the Purity Spirits Heart Intricacy. Then your Divine Sense will go up another notch."
Suddenly Ye Jing could see faint energy fluctuations coming from Celestial Baitian and through his sword energies attacks.
The mysterious maiden divine whispered, "Good. It is done. Watch my strokes."
Ye Jing really did not know what was happening. Even though it appeared that she was the one fighting but a mysterious force was actually the one that was currently controlling her. In her heart, she was totally freak out that someone could control another in this manner…
When Celestial Baitian made another desperate powerful attack, Ye Jing's sword energies in her Revelation Divine Sword seemed to double up as she seemed to have gathered up residue sword energies all around here and absorbing into her divine sword.
She had only moved her finger and her sword energies had suddenly pierced through the golden aura and golden body of Celestial Baitian, splitting him into half and killing him instantly.
Everyone was shocked by what they had seen and immediately the protégés of the Divine Sovereign Clan dropped their swords to surrender.
It was also at this time that the more and more reinforcements of the Holy Citadel City had also poured into the audience hall. Everyone was shocked by the scene…
Ye Jing looked at the mysterious maiden and stammered in fear, "Did you…just kill a… Golden Celestial?"
The mysterious maiden divine whispered, "Not me. It is you. From now onward, you will have the power to kill Golden Celestials."
Ye Jing stammered, "Who…are…you?"
Lady Consort Ye had turned ashen and she was begging the mysterious maiden, "Please have mercy on us. Don't take her away…"
The mysterious maiden said coldly, "Haven't you guessed already? Even your mother already knows."