The sacred peace of the lofty beautiful mountains was broken by the bloodshed that was followed by the battle of two groups of cultivators, the orthodox righteous cultivators and the unorthodox heretic cultivators.
The battle was extremely fierce for such a small group of some two hundred cultivators.
Among the ranks of these cultivators, were tens of third and fourth realm cultivators that were leading the fiercest fight.
The two groups were patrolling the mountains when they had clashed with each other.
Three maidens with golden masks were quietly watching the battle above; they were Fan Yuqing, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng.
Feng Minyue asked, "Shall we aid them?"
Fan Yuqing shook her head, "It is just a small melee. They will pull back soon. There are others who are watching this battle too and we don't want to let them know that we're here."
Indeed, there were several high level cultivators that were also watching the battle. Among them were at least two saints from the side of the orthodox righteous camp.
Just as Fan Yuqing was about to turn around, she had halted her footstep and said softly, "Who is there?"
Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were immediately alarmed. It was because Fan Yuqing would not be wrong if someone was in their vicinity!
Indeed, the beautiful form of Yue Lingxi was seen smiling at them as she walked coolly toward them.
"Yue Lingxi. Or should I address you as the Desolate Sacred Maiden?" Fan Yuqing said coldly.
Yue Lingxi chuckled softly, "Should I address you as Qin Keqin or the Golden Mask Devil Goddess?"
Fan Yuqing: …
She was thinking, "How did she know my secret identity?"
But she quickly said, "Do you think that you are a little foolish to appear in front of three great saintesses on your own?"
Yue Lingxi chuckled, "I don't really consider the other two to be on my equal footing except for you."
Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng: …
Xuan Danfeng muttered, "Maybe after we have thrashed her up, she won't be able to say a word more."
Yue Lingxi hummed coldly, "Maybe before you do that, do you want to know how I am able to find you? Let me give you a hint. It is not a lucky guess."
Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly as she displayed her divine sword, "No need. I'm not interested to talk to someone that I've thrashed up."
Feng Minyue had also quietly displayed her divine sword.
"How do you know who I am?" Fan Yuqing was frowning. Her curiosity now got the better of her.
Yue Lingxi giggled, "Have you forgotten that you have taken my Sky Heaven Lithe garb? I am able to track it no matter where it is. You may have removed my profound signature from it but it doesn't matter. It is because there is a fragment of my soul in the Sky Heaven Lithe."
"Also, you may have disguised your voice and mannerism. But you can only fool the celestial cultivators but not the desolate immortal cultivators like myself. Therefore I can recognize from your aura who you are." She added with a faint smile.
Fan Yuqing was giggling now as she removed her golden mask. The instant that she had removed her mask, her profound aura had changed to a mesmerizing aura and even her voice had become extremely mesmerizing as she said. "So you are here to finish our…fight? What makes you think that I will fight you one to one like the last time?"
Yue Lingxi smiled, "You don't have to fight me because you've already won the last time."
"Oh? Then why are you here? To deliver yourself to me?" Fan Yuqing asked curiously.
Yue Lingxi returned a mystifying smile, "You may say that if you want to. I wish to join you."
Fan Yuqing was startled as she gave her a perplexing look, "Join me for what? We're on the losing end. You should join Great Saint Gao Tianshou side or threaten me with my identity."
Yue Lingxi frowned as she folded her arms, "You think too lowly of me."
Fan Yuqing smiled coldly, "You are joining me or are you going to replace me? I don't want to constantly guarding against someone that can kill me anytime."
Yue Lingxi inhaled softly, "I can pledge you my undying loyalty but I've a condition."
Fan Yuqing's eyes hesitated briefly as she stole a glance at Xuan Danfeng and Feng Mingyue before she said quietly, "What is the condition? You can tell me first before I decide if it is worthy to consider your offer."
Yue Lingxi said quietly, "Three months ago, I've met your disciple Lu Qingyun in the Moon Demon Forest."
Fan Yuqing gasped softly as she gripped her fists tightly when she had heard her…
"Don't worry." Yue Lingxi hummed coldly. "I had failed to kill him and to wrest the Horizon of the Heavens from him."
"Why are you telling me this?" Fan Yuqing said with a perplexed look.
"It is because I've finally realized who he is." Yue Lingxi replied. "How can I be so blind?"
Fan Yuqing smiled coldly, "Surely you don't expect me to ask my disciple to give you the Horizon of the Heavens, am I right?"
Yue Lingxi took a look at her before she smiled, "You are letting him grow in strength right under the nose of the Pangu Immortals. Who exactly are you?"
Fan Yuqing chuckled softly, "And for this answer, you are willing to pledge me your loyalty? To a mere celestial like me? An immortal of your high status will pledge your loyalty to me? I don't believe."
Yue Lingxi nodded lightly before she inhaled softly, "Because I know you can offer me the last protection against the Pangu Immortals. I want to remain in the Celestial Realm. This…is where my homeland is, below the desolate mists. Can you do it?"
Fan Yuqing laughed softly, "How do you know that I can offer you the protection? I can't even fend for myself right now from the patriarch celestial clans that are invading my dark divine realms."
Yue Lingxi said quietly, "You are not only the mistress of the Tranquil Mysteries Flute, the sacred heritage artefact of my Chaos Mysteries Citadel but you have also possesses the combined divine skills of both the Great Goddess Fantian and the Great Goddess Alice. Isn't it obvious to me who you are now?"
Fan Yuqing smiled, "It isn't what you have said to me previously. You mock me as a mere seventh realm cultivator while you are a high and lofty immortal cultivator."
Yue Lingxi said quietly, "I was wrong back then. I was wrong on many things. Now I'm repenting. Do you accept my repentance?"
Fan Yuqing turned around before she said in a low voice, "Something happen? Your spirit seems to be broken."
Yue Lingxi refused to reply her.
"It seems that your fight with my Yun'Er did not exactly go to your way?" Fan Yuqing asked.
Then she turned back to look at Yue Lingxi and said coolly, "I don't want your loyalty because I don't believe in it."
Yue Lingxi looked a little disappointed and she was about to turn around when Fan Yuqing said, "But I will need a capable fighter to aid me against Saint Gao Tianshou and his cronies. In return, I will swear to the Nine Heavens to protect you against the Pangu Immortals. You will be allowed to stay in the Celestial Realm, even if I were to fight against all the Immortals in the Nine Heavens."
Yue Lingxi was startled as she looked at Fan Yuqing and she was trembling.
Xuan Danfeng turned to look at Fan Yuqing as she thought wryly, "If I didn't know that Sister Saintess Yuqing's father is the Great God Pangu, I will think that this is a trick by her. How did she manage to keep me in the dark for so many hundreds of years?"
When she thought of the Great God Pangu, she was delighted and had chuckled softly, drawing surprise from Fan Yuqing and Feng Minyue at the same time.
"Why are you laughing? What so funny?" Fan Yuqing frowned lightly.
Then she turned to Yue Lingxi and pointed a finger at Xuan Danfeng, "Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi is not someone you can mock whenever you like. This time, I'm not going to help you. Good bye, Sister Saintess Danfeng…"
Xuan Danfeng panicky stammered out, "Hey, hey! Wait! I'm not mocking anyone. This is a setup." Then she panicky looked at Feng Minyue, "Minyue, help me. Yuqing is framing me…"
Feng Minyue chuckled softly, "Who ask you to laugh at this time. You are courting your own death. I'm not helping you."
Fan Yuqing frowned lightly, "Danfeng, you're not supposed to call out our names when you are wearing your mask. You are endangering our real identities."
Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "But you are the one that is calling out my name first."
Fan Yuqing laughed jovially, "Yes but I've removed my mask. So what's your issue?"
"You're also not supposed to know me when I am wearing my mask, you know." Xuan Danfeng chuckled. "Therefore the blame is still on you."
"I am going to kick you down the mountains…"
"Try me then. My lightless skill isn't weak."
"Minyue, help me…"
"No Minyue, help me instead…"
Feng Minyue laughed softly, "I should punish the two of you instead for breaking our rules. There will be no more allowances for the two of you for a month…"
"A month?!"
"I don't mind. Yuqing's one month is equaled to one year of my expenses anyway…"
"Minyue, whose side are you on?"
Yue Lingxi was quite startled that these three saintesses were suddenly so playful.
Just as she was thinking if she had joined the right side, Fan Yuqing had tossed a golden mask to her and laughed. "From today onward, you will be one of my golden shadows. I have only two golden shadows previously. Now you are my third golden shadow."
Yue Lingxi smiled as she looked at the golden mask, "Why do I have to wear a mask? I'm not afraid of being recognized…"
"Because we still have many places to visit and we don't want to be recognized. Got it?" Fan Yuqing laughed softly. "If you are recognized by the others, I'm afraid that I will no longer be able to bring you along and you will really need to be holed inside the desolate mists. There are many interesting places in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that we can visit. Do you agree with me?"
Yue Lingxi quickly put on the golden mask as she quickly nodded, "I agree."