Yuan Ji repeated, "Fairy Ye Chengxi…"
"She is like a heavenly fairy, her grace is the most beautiful grace and her heavenly loftiness is the most admirable." Yuan Ji added.
Xia Jiaqing was trembling lightly as she stared coldly at Yuan Ji.
"But after I have seen Palace Mistress, I now know what a goddess looks like. If Ye Chengxi is a heavenly fairy then my Palace Mistress is like a heavenly goddess." Yuan Ji continued to say without faltering.
All of a sudden Xia Jiaqing was smiling. "And what about Xue Qianxue? How does she compare to me? Who is prettier?"
Yuan Ji began to scratch his face, "I have never seen her before but I have heard that her Celestial Orthodox Sect only have female protégés. Therefore I think she may be a little lacking in the eyes of men."
Xia Jiaqing was smiling nonstop now. She whispered to him out of the earshot of her personal attendants, "The others only know how to flatter me with their one side flattering but you are smarter than them."
Then she said aloud, "Your name is Yuan Ji? I like your honesty. You're such an honest man."
Then Yuan Ji was startled when she had suddenly whispered to him. But he quickly said. "If it isn't for Palace Mistress whom is willing to place your trust in me and even reward me for bringing back the two bodies, I may have already been executed. Therefore I think that Palace Mistress can also be considered a virtuous heavenly goddess."
Xia Jiaqing was absolutely delighted that there was someone who was idolizing her. "From today onward you will be a senior core protégé of our sect."
She pointed to her attendants, "Hurry and give him the senior protégé token."
The female protégés were shocked.
"Palace Mistress, are you sure about this? He is only a newcomer. We have a strict advancement in our sect…"
"Do as I've said." Xia Jiaqing said willfully. "Can't you all see that he has done our sect a meritorious service by bringing back the bodies of our two senior protégés? If we don't reward him with the appropriate return, who will dare to be honest with us in the future? If we have more dead bodies in the future then won't they be rotting in the wilderness for the desolate beasts?"
"Yes, Palace Mistress…" the many female personal attendants said at the same time, giving her a half-bow.
Yuan Ji smiled, "I thank Palace Mistress for your grace. Your generosity is second only to the Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue."
Xia Jiaqing frowned lightly, "I am only second to her?"
Yuan Ji nodded, "I've heard that Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue is always giving doubly reward for the deserving and she has a generous reputation."
Xia Jiaqing asked, "If I make you an elder, will I be considered to be more generous than her?"
Yuan Ji replied nonchalantly, "Naturally Palace Mistress will be considered the generous virtuous heavenly goddess."
Xia Jiaqing chuckled softly, "I won't fall for your honeycomb tricks." Then she turned to say to her personal attendants. "Give him the elder token. From today onward, he will be an elder of the Emperor Hall Sect."
Not only were the personal attendants greatly shocked when they had heard their Palace Mistress but also Yuan Ji.
Yuan Ji actually did not expect that she would suddenly make him an elder. He actually knew her as Xia Jiajia and knew of her rivalry for Xue Qianxue. Therefore he was actually only trying to provoke her.
"Palace Mistress, this is…"
"Didn't Palace Mistress say that she won't fall for his honeycomb tricks…"
"Shouldn't Palace Mistress have a discussion with the other elders first?"
Xia Jiaqing hummed coldly, "Do as I say. Hurry."
"Yes Palace Mistress…"
When Yuan Ji received the elder token, he said. "Yuan Ji thanks Palace Mistress for the appointment."
Xia Jiaqing winked at him as she smiled, "So Elder Yuan, don't disappoint me and I hope to see more of your contributions to the sect in the future."
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It was night and Yuan Ji was lying on the roof top. He was biting a straw and was feeling his empty chin as he looked at the full moon.
As he stared at the full moon, he began to reflect upon his last scene with Ye Chengxi; after she had briefed him on the Emperor Hall Sect, he had suddenly said to her. "Thank you. I'm going to the Emperor Hall Sect now."
Ye Chengxi gasped, "You are still going to court your own death? Why don't you learn to cherish your own life?"
He smiled and pointed to the two dead bodies, "Someone has to give a proper accounting before it is too late, am I right? Don't worry, I will be fine."
Ye Chengxi shook her head as she looked up at him with melancholy eyes, "You won't be alright. This Palace Mistress is extremely fickle minded. She doesn't follow the norm."
But he had said to her, "It is worth a try. If you have never tried, you will never know."
There was a sudden smile on Ye Chengxi as she averted her eyes, "My old master has once said the same thing to me. Before he had gone into seclusion, this is his last words."
Yuan Ji: …
He snapped out of his trace and began to rub his clean chin, "I mustn't let her know that I'm her old master. If she knows that I've lost my beautiful beard then I will be a laughing stock in her eyes and my good reputation as her respected old master will forever be tarnished. Therefore I can only help her discreetly."
Then his thoughts had returned to Xia Jiaqing. "Isn't she Xia Jiajia? Why is she here? Most importantly, why has she founded a rival celestial clan next to my Orthodox Sword Sect?"
The Emperor Hall Sect certainly did not exist a hundred years ago and it was founded by Palace Mistress Xia Jiaqing out of the blue as she united several smaller celestial clans into the Emperor Hall Sect.
The Emperor Hall Sect had quickly risen to prominence and had dominated the Five Heavens Peaks, leaving just a few celestial clans like the Orthodox Sword Sect in its nearby vicinity. As of now, the Five Heavens Peaks was now known as the domain of the Emperor Hall Sect with the smaller celestial clans suppressed into almost non-existent.
"To think that I had once saved her life from Xue Qianxue and because of that, I had almost lost my life…how can she be so ungrateful as to bully my Orthodox Sword Sect?"
He began to sigh heavily.
A hundred years ago, he had saved Xia Jiajia from the hot pursue of Xue Qianxue and had offended her. At that time, Xia Qianxue was already a seventh realm cultivation expert and was a saintess. She was just a step short of being a Great Saintess if she could reach the upper seventh realm level. There was no eighth realm cultivation level and seventh realm cultivation experts were all greatly feared.
He was an upper sixth realm golden supremacy back then while Xia Jiajia was only a peaked fifth realm golden celestial and they were not the match of Saintess Xue Qianxue who was a middle tier seventh realm golden saintess.
Therefore when Xue Qianxue had threatened to cut off his beautiful beard and painted his naked face as a portrait, he had decided that this was the last straw. That was the main reason why he had suddenly decided to take the gambit to breakthrough to the seventh realm level.
Now, in the realm of cultivation there were altogether seven cultivation levels. From the fifth realm onward, the cultivator must undergo a life and death tribulation in order to overcome their cultivation limitations. It was extremely risky.
But basically, from the fifth realm onward, the cultivators were basically known as golden celestials and were half-step immortals. They would never need food, water and even their organs would regenerate, drawing upon the spiritual force of the mountains to empower them.
The golden celestials were the true cultivators of the Desolate Celestial Fraternity and they had celestial titles that reflected their lofty statuses; Fifth realm experts were known as Celestial, sixth realm experts were known as Supremacy and seventh realm experts were known as Saint. Those that could reach the upper seventh realm level were known as the Great Saint. The Great Saints were the true powers of the Desolate Celestial Fraternity and there were only just a few handfuls.
Yuan Ji heaved a soft sigh and just as he was about to retire for the night, he had heard some noises below.
He took a peek and saw that it was Elder Hai Sheng and he was talking to a female protégé.
Yuan Ji had recognized the female protégé to be a personal attendant of Xia Jiaqing.
At this moment Elder Hai Sheng appeared to be 'playing' with this female protégé and he was saying plenty of lewd things to her.
Then it got extremely steamy below.
Yuan Ji gave a disinterested look and he was about to leave quietly when Elder Hai Sheng said to the female protégé, "I know that tonight you will be on duty. Put this Elating Happiness Powder in her bed chamber and on her pillow. Put a few pinch into her tea as well."
The female protégé was gasping softly, "If Palace Mistress knows about this, I will be dead."
"Don't worry. She won't know."
"But she is a golden supremacy. Poisons and toxins don't work on her…"
"This is the magic of this Elating Happiness Powder. She will never know about it. When the deed is done, I will reward you handsomely and will request for you to be my concubine."
"Really? Then…I will do it…"
"Good. Put on your clothing now and go now." Hai Sheng chuckled softly.
After the personal attendant was gone, Hai Sheng was smirking. "Xia Jiaqing, my son's death will not be in vain. Tonight I shall make you pay dearly for this. You have even made a man of unknown origin an elder of our sect. Do you really think the Emperor Hall Sect is your personal sect?"
Then with another soft chuckle he added, "I will like to see the humiliating look that is on your beautiful face as you beg me for more…"
Yuan Ji was frowning silently, "If she really do as he has instructed, I'm afraid that she will surely be dead in the next morning. This Hai Sheng is really too wicked."
He knew that Hai Sheng would surely silence this foolish personal attendant to cover his own tracks.
"This is none of my business…I just pretend that I never hear anything…"
But when he thought that Xia Jiaqing would be violated by such a man, he felt indignant and he began to follow the personal attendant.
"Maybe I will just take a little look."
Then with another sigh, "I'm helping Xia Jiajia and not Xia Jiaqing…"