Ye Jing smiled weakly when she had suddenly seen the immortal sword that was in the Ancestor Yuan's hand. This added a layer of difficulty and complexity to her already challenging plan.
She forced herself to say nonchalantly, "I didn't expect that the Divine Sovereign Clan to have an immortal sword in their possession. But to me, this doesn't change a thing."
Ancestor Yuan replied coldly, "All the patriarch clans have their own celestial secrets. If you are thinking of challenging one then you must be prepared to face the consequences. If you still insist on moving on the wrong trajectory then don't blame me for being merciless."
Ye Jing whispered, "I guess that I have to trouble my two seniors for this."
The Celestial Liege said, "No problem. We will settle this for you."
Ancestor Yuan chuckled coldly, "Young lass, if you want to take my clan's treasures why don't you do it yourself? Or are you incapable of doing so?"
Ye Jing smiled and replied coolly, "I'm afraid that I really not your match. This, at least I am smart enough to know. You don't have to use psychology on me. It won't work on me."
Ancestor Yuan glanced briefly at Grandmaster Yuan Tianba and said, "Take out the Nightingale Divine Pearl now."
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba sketched out his hand and the Nightingale Divine Pearl materialized from his spatial ring to his hand. Not understanding Ancestor Yuan's intentions, he asked. "May I know why…"
The Nightingale Divine Pearl was actually a black shaped pearl with an imposing aura within it. This was the first time that Ye Jing had seen it.
Ancestor Yuan said to Ye Jing, "The might of the entire Divine Sovereign Clan is not something that you can handle. Why don't we do it in a more civilized manner? If you can take a blow from me and still remain standing then I will gift the Nightingale Divine Pearl to you and you will depart from here amicably."
Ye Jing asked, "What if I don't then? Do I need to leave behind a leg or a hand?"
Ancestor Yuan laughed coarsely, "There is no need. If you can't take my blow then you are more likely to be half-dead. If you survive my blow then you shall depart in peace."
Ye Jing smiled, "Then I will like to take your challenge."
The Celestial Liege whispered, "Jing'Er, this may not be a good idea."
Ye Jing said nonchalantly, "Should I die here then so shall it be. There is nothing to be worried about."
When she had finished saying, she had already walked several steps in front of her and laughed softly, "May Ancestor Yuan display your martial feat on me then."
Ancestor Yuan was slightly disturbed that this Ye Jing did not seem to fear death and she was fearlessly taunting him.
The Celestial Liege secretly whispered into Ye Jing's ears, "Jing'Er, you should use your Divine Rejuvenation Force. Your opponent is a peaked sacred saint."
But Ye Jing seemed to ignore the Celestial Liege as she readied a defensive stance.
Ancestor Yuan roared thunderously and he had flown forward with his stretched palm. So powerful was his martial power that the entire floorings below his charge were all ripped apart and high velocity debris were flying all over the hall!
Ye Jing gave a martial shout as she imbued her entire martial power into her palm to receive the incoming blow.
There was a thunderous burst of explosive thunderclap and Ye Jing was jerked with a great shock as she was sent flying all the way to the entrance before she took seven steps to steady herself…
Everyone was gasping that Ye Jing did not fall.
Usually taking a step backward means a power disparity of 10%. But to be sent flying back with such a tremendous force means that the power disparity was actually more than 100%.
Ye Jing began to jolt and trembled before she coughed out a bout of blood even as she tried to walk with steady steps.
It was obvious that she was seriously injured through this martial power exchange and that Ancestor Yuan martial power was way above what she could handle.
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi could not resist gasping out loud, "Maiden Ye Jing, are you alright?!"
Ancestor Yuan snatched the Nightingale Divine Pearl from Grandmaster Yuan Tianba and tossed it with startling speed to Ye Jing, "You have won. Take it and leave."
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba was shocked, "Do we really have to give it to her…" But before he could mutter a word more, he was silenced by the sudden intense cold stare of Ancestor Yuan.
Ye Jing lit a slow smile on her pale face as she turned around, "Good, you have kept your side of the bargain. Seniors, let's go."
The Celestial Liege quickly placed his hand on her back to treat her internal injuries as they departed together.
Seeing that they were gone, Grandmaster Yuan Tianba said solemnly. "I don't understand. We already have them surrounded. At a command, none of them will be able to escape from here."
Ancestor Yuan hummed coldly, "At what price? You are planning to sacrifice thousands of celestial protégés so that we can proudly declare to everyone that we have won?"
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba said gravely, "The Nightingale Divine Pearl is extremely precious to us and had been with us for thousands of years. It is the main reason why the Divine Sovereign Clan is now a patriarch clan…"
Ancestor Yuan smiled coldly as he interrupted, "Of course I know that. But do you want to lose the Sovereign Aura Vessel as well?"
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba found himself looking at Elder Zhou Hai and Elder Jin Lei before he asked weakly, "May Ancestor Yuan please enlighten us."
Ancestor Yuan said, "Actually I have only used 70% of my martial power."
"What?!!!"
Everyone was staring at Ancestor Yuan with disbelief in their eyes!
Judging from Ye Jing's injuries, if Ancestor Yuan had used 100% of his martial power on her, she would surely be flattened on the spot and may even die instantly.
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba stammered, "I don't understand why Ancestor Yuan will want to lose on purpose…"
Ancestor Yuan looked at them, "From the very start, we have already lost!"
He raised his fingers to rebuke them, "Can't you tell that the two saints that are with her are equally as formidable as me? Maybe even more so."
Elder Zhou Hai smiled weakly, "Surely not. Ancestor Yuan is already a legend in the celestial realm in your heydays. None of the present generation of celestials is your equal…"
Ancestor Yuan smiled bitterly, "What do you think of Dark Monarch Beitang Ze?"
Beitang Ze was a peaked monarch and he had recently died in Tranquil City.
Everyone was looking at each other, not knowing what Ancestor Yuan was trying to say by suddenly mentioning Beitang Ze.
Ancestor Yuan looked up the ceiling and said solemnly, "He was killed by someone. A friend of mine who had witnessed it told me that someone had killed him in an open duel with just three strokes."
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba was stunned, "That is impossible…"
Not only was Grandmaster Yuan Tianba stunned to hear that, so did everyone. It was because once a celestial had reached the saint or monarch level, they were difficult to die.
Elder Zhou Hai stammered, "Are you saying that one of the saints that are with Ye Jing is actually the one that had killed Beitang Ze?"
Ancestor Yuan nodded, "You are not stupid after all."
Young Master Yuan Chenggong bowed with his hands and said, "Even if that is the case, I don't see why we have to lose the Nightingale Divine Pearl when we can retain it?"
Ancestor Yuan looked at Young Master Yuan Chenggong and then he looked at Young Master Yuan Chengzhi before he rested his eyes at Grandmaster Yuan Tianba, "You have two sons here but it seems that none of them can succeed your mantle. Why should that lass Ye Jing accept my dueling proposal even knowing that my martial power is above her? Have you all thought of that before?"
Grandmaster Yuan Tianba was smiling weakly as he thought, "Is Ancestor Yuan indirectly scolding me as well?" It was because he was unable to figure it out himself as well.
Everyone was looking at each other for a while until Elder Zhou Hai said, "Let me put this way then. The reason why she has accepted the duel is because she knows that you will be lenient to her?"
The ruddy face Ancestor Yuan stroked his long beard and said, "Finally we have a smart one here. So what if we have won this time round? You want to lose everything on the second round? It is a good thing that we have lost this time round and given a respite by the Goddess Palace. If I am not wrong, the Goddess Palace will be going around to the other major celestial clans after this. Just one Nightingale Divine Pearl for the lives of thousands, do you think that this is only a small bargain now?"
Then he bitterly smiled, "Even if I use 100% of my martial strength, that lass Ye Jing will still be able to hold up against me."
"What?!" everyone was exclaiming in disbelief. It was because they had seen her barely able to withstand that blow of his.
"She is smart. Rather than using all her internal strength to resist my martial power, she allowed my martial power to overwhelm her to lessen the impact of her injuries. Against an opponent that does not care for face, she is really a smart and tough one to beat."
When high level celestials fought with each other in contests of martial power, face saving was extremely important so they would definitely not give an inch to their opponent. If they could lose three steps, they would not give four steps. Therefore they would resist with all their might so that they could improve upon their power disparity the next time round.
But Ye Jing had simply disregarded that and let the martial power lifted her all the way to the entrance.
Ancestor Yuan looked sternly at Young Master Yuan Chengzhi and said, "I saw her subtly looking at you a few times just now. It seems that the main reason why we got such a big discount is due to your friendship with her."
Young Master Yuan Chengzhi was jolted as he stammered, "I…"
Then he had rushed out of the audience hall in a hurry.
Ancestor Yuan sighed, "Nowadays I don't know what up with these young people…"