The most exciting talk in the Ancient Ascension Sect right now was the sudden forthcoming duel between two saintess, Saintess Yuqing and Huiyin.
Suddenly all the clan leaders and all the gossipers were rushing to find out more. It was as though to them, this was one of the greatest fights of the century that was not to be missed and the thousands of protégés from the hundreds of clans were now making bets on who would emerge victorious in the duel outcome.
They were soon disappointed that only clan leaders, elders and only Golden Celestials could enter the Upright Hall of the Heroes. Almost immediately the Upright Hall of the Heroes was packed with thousands of people. Many were even afraid that if they had come late then they would not even have any spaces to stand.
Never had the celestial clans been as united before as the protégés of the different clans began to talk loudly with one another.
"Who are you betting?"
"I am a fan of Saintess Yuqing…"
"I am a fan of Saintess Mu Huiyin…"
"This is the fight between two formidable saintess!"
"Haha, I am here to see the grace of Saintess Yuqing again. This time, I can stare at her all I want…"
"Saintess Mu Huiyin is a great heroine. Have you heard of her past exploits? She was one of the celestial martial experts that beaten the Devil Goddess silly until she disappeared for two centuries."
"Then you are saying that there is a higher chance that the Saintess Mu Huiyin may win the duel?"
"You guys are not at the Nuer Mountains and didn't see the fight that is between Saintess Yuqing and Devil Isle Xiao Shuai…"
"Why are the two heroines fighting with each other?"
"Tsk tsk, don't tell anyone. I've heard that it has to do with one man…"
"Damn, who is that lucky man…"
"Look who is here now?"
"Isn't that the Left Ascendant Custodian that is behind Elder Lin Wucheng?"
"It is really her! What grace…"
Elder Lin Wucheng had just walked into the Upright Hall of the Heroes and immediately he was greeted by Ascension Master Tie Nansen.
Now Elder Wucheng had a lofty status within the Ancient Ascension Sect and that he was also an Elder Uncle to the Ascension Master Tie Nansen. But the most important reason was that Lin Wucheng was the direct disciple of the Left Ascendant Guardian the Saintess Ziyue and this Saintess Ziyue was the ex-Ascension Master that had passed the leadership position to Tie Nansen!
It was said that the Saintess Ziyue may ascend anytime soon but she had made a point to return to the Ancient Ascension Sect to see it through its greatest crisis ever.
She had not attended the recent banquet as she was someone that preferred her own quiet time so that she could continue to cultivate. The many celestials had not expected her to grace the duel and many were in awe of her calming demeanor. This spoke volumes of her current state of divinity!
Ascension Master Tie Nansen humbly greeted Saintess Ziyue but she merely gave a faint smile and a light nod before she sat quietly at a corner with her eyes closed.
"Saintess Ziyue is a peaked saintess and she may ascend soon…"
"I hope that she gets to ascend soon…"
"I have heard that she used to be from the Erudite Sect before it was merged with the then Holy Ascension Sect which was later renamed to the Ancient Ascension Sect…"
"She is one of the very last Ancient Celestials in the Nine Celestial Fraternity…"
"Look isn't that Ancestor Yuan from the Divine Sovereign Clan? Even he is here…"
At this moment Mu Huiyin had walked into the hall with Celestial Liang Ni and Saint Qin Tianming. The expression on Celestial Liang Ni was gloomy and he could be heard saying, "You can still stop the duel if you want to."
Mu Huiyin hummed coldly as she walked to Tie Nansen but she soon noticed the Saintess Ziyue and she was startled, "Senior, junior greets you."
Even a formidable saintess like Mu Huiyin had to address herself as junior in front of Saintess Ziyue.
Saintess Ziyue opened her eyes and gave a light smile, "Please disperse with formalities. I am only here to watch the duel and will not interfere."
Mu Huiyin secretly heaved a soft sigh of relief. She had never expected that Saintess Ziyue would suddenly turn up and suddenly she had lost her haughty air. In front of her, she was like a docile cat.
Fan Yuqing had just walked into the hall with Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue. Immediately Xuan Danfeng had turned ashen as she gasped, "Saintess Ziyue is also here…"
Feng Minyue had not seen the Saintess Ziyue before but she had certainly heard of her name as she gasped, "Left Ascendant Custodian Saintess Ziyue. She is here…"
Saintess Ziyue merely nodded and said, "I am merely here to observe out of curiosity. I won't be interfering." As she said that, she was quietly looking at Fan Yuqing.
Fan Yuqing laughed softly as she returned a smile at Saintess Ziyue and Saint Lin Wucheng. Her mesmerizing eyes soon caught sight of many known faces among the thousands of people like Yun Xinghe, Yun Chen, Yuan Chengzhi, Zhou Hai, Su Shanyue and the rest of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa that had arrived earlier than them.
Everyone was growing with anticipations and excitement as the time for them to duel grew closer.
Fan Yuqing was looking around the hall as she muttered, "There seems to be more people than at the banquet. How did this duel become so hot all of a sudden…"
Even Xuan Danfeng was dazzled by the number of people that had squeezed into the hall as she muttered softly, "These busybodies…"
Fan Yuqing slowly met the eyes of Celestial Liang Ni as she smiled before she looked at Mu Huiyin, "I am here now."
Mu Huiyin nodded and said coldly, "This is only a friendly duel. If you are able to defeat me then you shall stay in this place. But if you were to lose this duel then please leave the Unmoving Mountains immediately!"
Fan Yuqing frowned lightly but did not say anything. Although the conditions of this duel seemed unfair to her but this Mu Huiyin was discreet enough not to disgrace her as a suspect that was in cahoots with the Devil Goddess. Therefore for this, she was quite grateful. Although she had prepared her script in advance but at least she did not need to follow up with explaining anything.
Mu Huiyin continued, "Since this is a formal duel and I am the challenger therefore you may pick a martial expertise of your choice."
Fan Yuqing smiled, "I have long heard that the Listening Rhythm Pavilion excels in swordplay and I will like to meet it. But I prefer to use my bare hands. Will that do?"
Immediately there was a large muttering among the thousands of onlookers. Fighting unarmed against someone of the same level that had a sword was a great disadvantage!
Mu Huiyin said coldly as she unsheathed her sword, "Since this is your wish then I shall not insist."
Fan Yuqing smiled as she displayed a bodhisattva stance with two fingers extended outward and a leg up in mid-air.
This invited a lot of praises and astonishments from the onlookers. This bodhisattva opening dance stance was difficult to display early in the opening match. It was because as the body started to tremble lightly in any direction, this provided an opening for the opponents to exploit. But when Saintess Yuqing displayed this stance, she was completely motionless except for her eyes and lips.
"She is able to remain motionless totally…"
"Only when one has reached the heavens and earth as one can one remain so motionless. Moreover, she is only standing still with only one leg…"
Even Mu Huiyin had a twitch on her beautiful countenance when she saw her stance but she said coldly, "I am a Great Saintess, having just reached the upper sacred saint level in recent years. I have already cultivated for 1100 years."
Fan Yuqing smiled as she introduced herself, "I have merely cultivated for 240 years. I am at the peak of the sacred saint level…"
When Fan Yuqing made her introductions, the entire hall was completed stunned into disbelief as they stared at her. To be at the peak of the sacred saint level at a young age of 240 years was totally unheard of…
Even Mu Huiyin was muttering, "This…this is not possible…"
Even Saintess Ziyue had a soft gasp and her fingers were trembling…
Celestial Liang Ni was looking with a stunned expression at Fan Yuqing…
Grandmaster Yun Xinghe muttered to himself, "She is even younger than me…"
Feng Minyue gasped silently, "Sister Saintess Yuqing is even younger than I? This is impossible? How old was she when she had become the Devil Goddess? Is it really true?"
Lin Wucheng jaws dropped as he thought, "The…Devil Goddess…is so young?!"
Yun Chen and Zhou Hai were looking at Fan Yuqing with disbelief in their eyes…
Xuan Danfeng was blinking her eyes with shock as she thought, "I thought that she must have thousands of years of cultivation in order to become a great saintess. Did she not say that she had already been to the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth several times already? So which is the truth?"
Tie Nansen, Ancestor Yuan, Yuan Chengzhi, Qin Tianming and many others could not believe what they were hearing…
Mu Huiyin said weakly, "You must be teasing us, am I right? How can you be a peaked saintess at a tender age of 240?"
Fan Yuqing smiled as she heaved a soft sigh, "Believe it or not, it is up to you. I've nothing to say." Actually she was already a peaked saintess at the age of eighteen and had become the Devil Goddess at twenty. But she thought that it was better for her to keep this to herself.
Feng Minyue, Xiaofang, Xuan Danfeng and Ye Jing had all assumed that Fan Yuqing was thousands of years old because she had told them that she had been to the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth several times. What they did not know was that she could access the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth from another location without any limitations to the number of times and at any time.
Then someone shouted at the huge bronze mirror that was laid in front of them, "Look at the Mirrors of Truth…"
Everyone was gasping for the colors of the Mirrors of Truth shown that Fan Yuqing was in her early two hundred years and that her true aura was really that of a peaked sacred saint level!
This caused everyone to be stunned as they were all thinking at the same time; to cultivate as a saint at only 200 years of age was a monster genius…
Even Saintess Ziyue had quietly stood up as she stared in disbelief at Fan Yuqing…
Fan Yuqing was thinking, "What is so surprising about that? Ye Jing is also a saintess at 22. Moreover she seems to be practicing multiple cultivation methods at the same time too…"
Because Fan Yuqing was a daughter of the heavens, she totally had no concept how difficult it was to cultivate for most of the celestials. In fact, cultivation was something that she enjoyed more than martial training which she found to be much harder.
Mu Huiyin was muttering, "Your cultivation level may be a little higher than I but I am definitely much more experience in my martial arts than you. We are not contesting who have the higher cultivation level here."
Fan Yuqing laughed softly, "You are indeed right. So who shall make the first move?"
Usually the junior of the cultivation level could make the first move in a formal duel. Mu Huiyin was expecting Fan Yuqing to be her junior but it turned up that her cultivation level was the same as Saintess Ziyue who was watching them!
Slowly Mu Huiyin said, "Since I have the advantage of a sword here, you can make the first move then." No matter what happened, she did not want to make the first move or she would be regarded as a junior.
Fan Yuqing gave a faint smile, "Alright then…"
She was thinking, "Ye Jing, Ye Jing. Where are you? You are missing my duel and all the fun…"
But at this moment, she did not know that Ye Jing had other plans on her own as she had mobilized the Celestial Liege, the Confession Lady, Xiaofang, Gong Nanyan, Chu Yunfeng, Li'Er and Luo Bihua for a heist while everyone was being distracted…