After passing through the blue portal, they had found themselves in a place that was surrounded by misty mountains, waterfalls and floating land masses. There was no sun but the whole area was bright.
Feng Minyue took a look at the surroundings before saying, "The spiritual force here is really strong. We can actually cultivate here…"
Ye Jing was astounded, "We are in the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth now?"
Xuan Danfeng gave a soft laugh, "Welcome to the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth. It is probably not what you are expecting."
Ye Jing asked, "Where is the labyrinth? I thought that we are supposed to be in a maze?"
Xuan Danfeng giggled softly, "We are in a maze. The entire Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth is a massive maze with untold treasures that are scattered throughout its levels. Right now, we are probably standing on a floating land mass itself…"
She pointed at one of the thousands of floating land mass in the sky, "Did you see that? It may look small but it is actually further than you think and it is a land by itself. So it is not advisable to fly there on your own even if you have a flying mount. In order to escape or go to the next level, we have to find a similar portal. Blue portal will take us to the next level while a green portal will take us back to the outside."
Feng Minyue said gently, "You seem to know a lot from someone that have never been here before. Moreover you don't seem surprised at all."
Xuan Danfeng pretended not to hear her comments and instead she turned to ask Xiaofang, "You are Xiaofang? I'm sorry that we didn't get a formal introduction. Do you want to take a rest first?"
Xiaofang shook his head even though he was looking very pale, "No, I'm fine."
Ye Jing knew that he had virtually sacrificed his own internal strength to revive Fan Yuqing. She felt bad that he had to piggyback Fan Yuqing but she was also envious because Fan Yuqing was gripping him tightly and she was looking so serene in her sleep…
Xuan Danfeng formally introduced herself as she smiled cordially, "I'm the Lofty Snow Palace, Palace Mistress Xuan Danfeng. It is rare to meet such a promising rare talent such as you."
Feng Minyue was not slow either, "I'm the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue. From now on, the Heavenly Fragrance Villa will hold young hero in high regards and welcome you to visit. You may also disperse with all formalities and just address me as Senior Minyue."
Xiaofang replied wearily, "My respects to Palace Mistress Xuan and Senior Minyue."
Ye Jing was smiling weakly as she watched them. Earlier in the Golden Clans Congregation, they were obviously treating Xiaofang as though he was invisible. Now that they saw that Xiaofang had an immortal sword and had the healing focus ability, their attitude towards him had completely changed. Suddenly Xiaofang had become a rare talent and a young hero in their eyes…
Ye Jing asked as her eyes admired the breathtaking scenery around, "How many levels are there in the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth?"
Xuan Danfeng smiled patiently, "There are rumors that there are six levels altogether. But no one knows for sure. The highest level that the patriarch clans had reached in the past was only the third level and that was already considered to be one of the better results. The last round that the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth had opened, the patriarch clans had barely made it to the second level."
Ye Jing smiled weakly, "Don't scare me like this. You sound as if this place is so dangerous…"
"It is dangerous," Xuan Danfeng said. "Although we don't have the advantages of numbers but we are mostly superior fighters here. So we shouldn't have an issue."
Ye Jing and Feng Minyue were looking at each other nervously. It may be easier for Xuan Danfeng to say so because she was a saintess.
Xuan Danfeng chucked softly, "Please don't think so much, alright? There is always a first time and the first time into the unknown is always a little nerve racking."
Suddenly Xuan Danfeng whispered cautiously as she broke in a cold sweat, "Wait! Don't make a move and be quiet…"
She quietly took a leap up the rock ledges before she took a glimpse on the other side.
Ye Jing was secretly alarmed because she could sense a powerful presence that was approaching on the other side of the mountain. The powerful presence was monstrous but it was also strangely moving extremely quietly.
When Feng Minyue saw Xuan Danfeng and Ye Jing solemn expressions, she knew that something was up and did not dare to make a sound.
Suddenly there was a weird profound darkness that covered everything in darkness in the vicinity. There was also a terrible oppression that threatened to devour all life in the area…
Xuan Danfeng was trembling with fear as a monstrous draconian head appeared along the outline of the mountain ledge that she was hiding. The distance between them was extremely close and after what seemed to be like eternity, the monstrous draconian head finally departed.
Xiaofang, Feng Minyue and Ye Jing had turned completely pale at the sight of such a powerful presence and they were still shivering with fear as they collapsed weakly against the mountain walls.
As for Xuan Danfeng she had suddenly dropped like a fallen bird from the rocky ledge above…
Ye Jing gasped and quickly caught her in mid-air. Xuan Danfeng was as white as ghost and she was covered in cold sweat. She muttered, "This is so embarrassing. I may have peed in my panties…"
Feng Minyue had stumbled weakly to their side as she gasped softly, "What is that monster?"
It was obvious that 'monster' was completely out of their league to fight…
Xuan Danfeng muttered while still in Ye Jing's hold, "That is the Brahman Behemoth …it is the Divine Lord and ultimate existence of the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth …and extremely rare to be encountered. This monster is beyond classification. Once you have provoked it, it is total annihilation. There are three instances in the history of the patriarch clans that detailed such an encounter with it. It always ends up in a disaster and so far, this monster is considered undefeated."
Ye Jing nearly cry when she had heard her, "It is not so rare an encounter or we are just plain unlucky. This place is too horrible…"
Xiaofang suddenly said, "It is lucky that we are in a small group. If we are in a big group then this monster would have seen us and it will be disastrous for us."
Ye Jing, Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue slowly nodded…
Xiaofang was right. If they had come together with the patriarch clans and had encountered the Brahman Behemoth in the vicinity, they would surely end up getting exterminated by it.
He said, "We should go in the opposite direction of where the Brahman Behemoth is going. That should be the wiser option."
"You know…" Ye Jing tried to force a smile, "Maybe that monster is guarding a saint treasure. We should at least investigate the vicinity." Somehow when Xiaofang suggested that they should be going to the opposite direction, she could not resist saying the opposite. It was because she knew that Xiaofang had always been overly cautious.
Xuan Danfeng said weakly, "Forget it. It is not worth losing our life. We ought to find a shelter and regain our strength first. Let's look for a cave first."
All of a sudden she had spotted a bright light in the distant horizon, "What is this light?"
All the others had also spotted the sparking light as well.
Because it happened to be on the other way that the Brahman Behemoth had gone to and because they were also curious, they decided to check the strange looking light.
Ye Jing said quietly, "This light is too obvious. Surely the Brahman Behemoth isn't blind?"
Xuan Danfeng shook her head, "It can only mean that this light is part of this realm and therefore the Brahman Behemoth isn't too concerned about it."
That was the only explanation…
In a short while, they had quietly found the source of the strange light. It had originated from a levitating object between two ravines.
Xiaofang swiftness movement skill was not poor and he could consider himself as having an exceptional level with it. But compared to these three maidens, they were like breezes as they leapt from ledge to ledge effortlessly.
Even if he was not carrying Fan Yuqing, he knew that they were still better than him. He had thought that once he had reached the Traverse Divinity, his lightless skills would be superior to most.
He had not known that the Heavenly Fragrance Villa was renowned for its swiftness skill, the Fragrance Wonderful Steps which was highly acclaimed to be the number one swiftness skill in the celestial realm. As for the Lofty Snow Palace, their Floating Snowfall was the number one lightless skill in the celestial realm.
But of course, none of their swiftness or lightless skill could be compared to Ye Jing who seemed to be able to hop at least twice as further as and higher than them, stunning both Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng…
Now the four of them were looking at the strange object that was between the two ravines and they were mystified. There appeared to be no monsters around but this strange levitating object seemed to be protected by an invisible barrier. As soon as there winds or any disturbances, a visible blue barrier could be seen.
Feng Minyue asked, "What is that object?"
Xuan Danfeng observed for a while before she said quietly, "It may be a heavenly relic or even better, a rare sanctorum relic. Regardless what it is, from the light that it is generating, this seems to be a heaven-step grade. Moreover it may even add an inertia barrier as an added bonus."
Ye Jing and Feng Minyue were grasping excitingly. A heaven-step Heavenly Relic can be forged into a superior grade heaven-step divine sword while a sanctorum relic is able to augment the divine power of a divine sword and even improve upon its grade!
Xiaofang said quietly, "It is definitely a sanctorum relic. I've seen it before."
Everyone was looking at Xiaofang in astonishment, "You have seen it before? When?"
Xiaofang said, "Hm, I saw my mother displaying it and showing it to me in the past. So I am sure. I have also seen a heaven-step heavenly relic before…"
He looked at Ye Jing as though he was trying to say, "That heaven-step heavenly relic had been made into your divine sword…"
Ye Jing understood immediately when Xiaofang had glanced at her and the divine sword that was with her since they were linked together through the Dual Cultivation.
"So that is a sanctorum relic," Xiaofang firmly said.
A sanctorum relic was ten times even rarer than a heavenly relic and was rarely found. It was highly coveted upon in the celestial realm…
Xuan Danfeng smiled weakly, "I didn't think that it is time for us to talk about the loot distribution. There are four of us here and only one sanctorum relic. Moreover that is a heaven-step sanctorum relic. There is no doubt about it that this sanctorum relic is extremely precious."
Feng Minyue asked quietly, "So you want it?"
Xuan Danfeng smiled, "I do want it. Does anyone of my sisters want to compete with me for this sanctorum relic?"
Ye Jing gave her a wink, "Only a fool will say they won't be interested."
Feng Minyue smiled, "So how do we propose who will get this sanctorum relic then?"
All of them were thinking of using this sanctorum relic to enhance their divine swords…
Xiaofang suddenly said, "I must get this sanctorum relic. If not, I won't be able to defeat the two old freaks from the Devil Isle. Moreover this sanctorum relic is actually guarded and it won't be easy to get it."
"It is guarded?" Ye Jing scanned her perception around but she did not find the presence of any denizens in the vicinity. "I don't sense anything…"
Xiaofang said quietly, "Do you remember the Brahman Behemoth earlier? It is guarded by it. I can sense its aura here. Even though it appears to have gone far from here, the minute that someone disturbs the sanctorum relic, the diminished light will alert it and given its huge size, it will be here in an instant."
He had analyzed the situation for all of them to visualize.
Feng Minyue muttered, "There is no way we can fight that thing…"
Xuan Danfeng shrugged her shoulders, "That thing is even stronger than the two old freaks…"
If it means they had to provoke that Brahman Behemoth, they would rather not take the sanctorum relic. After all, they valued their own lives.
Xiaofang said, "May I try? I have a way…"
Before anyone and even Ye Jing could even stop him, he had piggybacked Yuqing to the ravines below. But he had stopped short of the invisible barrier.
Ye Jing muttered, "I hope that he knows what he is doing…"
Feng Minyue purred, "He should at the very least put Sister Saintess Yuqing down first…what if he endangers her…"
Xiaofang had unsheathed his divine sword as he simply stood near the inertia barrier for a while. All of a sudden, his divine sword was emanating with light and the intensity of the light kept increasing until it matched the light sparking light of the sanctorum relic.
Suddenly Xiaofang had whirled his divine sword into a spinning sword as he displayed his Flying Sword Technique and he had knocked the levitating sanctorum relic to his hand while replacing his divine sword in its place.
Then he quickly leapt back to where they were with a grin, "Let's run as quickly as possible! The fake divine light won't last forever."
Ye Jing stared at him with her big eyes, "What did you do? How come your divine sword can glow so brightly?"
Even Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue were staring at him in bewilderment!
Xiaofang slowly explained as they ran together, "I've used my healing focus ability to purify my divine sword's spiritual core to elevate it temporary to the level of heaven-step quality…"
"Waaa?!" Ye Jing was astonished. "You can use your ability in such a manner?"
Xiaofang said sheepishly, "I have suddenly thought of it. I didn't know I can do that either. It is just a sudden inspiration but I thought that may just work."
All the maidens were rendered speechless by Xiaofang…
Xiaofang had newly attained to the Traverse Divinity. At this state of divinity, his sense of perception with his healing focus had also increased tremendously. Because of his enlightenment with the Traverse Divinity, he was able to gain such an inspiration all of a sudden.
Even though Ye Jing and Xiaofang were both at the Traverse Divinity, their perceptions were shaped in two totally different directions based on the skills that they often used. For Ye Jing, it was her divine sense and evading ability while for Xiaofang it was his healing focus and sword skills.
Feng Minyue smiled faintly as she looked at Xiaofang, "A divine sword in exchange for a sanctorum relic. I must say that it is really worth it."
Xuan Danfeng smiled weakly, "At least Xiaofang won't be getting any loot for a while since he has already claimed his."
Ye Jing laughed softly, "Why is that I can tell that Sister Danfeng sounds a little 'sour'?"
Xuan Danfeng scoffed before she chuckled, "That is because I really am. Such a precious treasure and it slips from my hands!"
As the four of them disappeared over the mountain ledges, there were chorus of jovial laughs from the three maidens.
"I've never known that partying with all of you can be so fun…"
"Same sentiments here!"
"It won't be funny if we all died together later…"
"Geez…"