《The Good-For-Nothing Cultivator》


 1 The Golden Roc Flame

    Lu Qingyun age 20, was a celestial cultivator with a low cultivation base. In fact, he was only a middle tier practitioner, a tier better than the initial tier which was the lower tier.


    Now there were seven celestial levels; Practitioner, Master Practitioner, Enlighten Celestial, Immortal Celestial, Golden Celestial, Supremacy and Sacred Saint. Each celestial level was further divided into three smaller tiers; initial, middle and upper.


    He was an autonomous celestial cultivator from the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and he was on his way to the New Empyrean City to join a reputable sect.


    For most of his young life, he had practiced herbalism with his old master in the mountains until he had passed away. The final wish of his old master was that he would go to the New Empyrean City and join a reputable sect so that his ''talents'' would not go to waste.


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    However Lu Qingyun knew that his talents were not great in the first place but as this was his old master last wish, he had to obligate.


    He was actually thinking, "Alas! With my puny talents, it is really hard to join a first rate celestial clan. I will be lucky if I were to find any celestial sect that can readily accept me." He actually did not have much hope of being accepted as a direct disciple of any of the clan. He considered himself lucky if he were to become an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦.


    In the Nine Celestial Fraternity, prot¨¦g¨¦s of a celestial clan were typically divided into two main groups, the core prot¨¦g¨¦s and the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s. The core prot¨¦g¨¦s were those had familial ties with the clan itself or those that had shown exceptional talent to join as a core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    He was actually either.


    His old master did not even leave behind a letter of recommendation.


    At the same time, he was more scholarly than a fighter. He had heard stories that the celestial clans were typically rivals of each other and fights between the various celestial clans were a common occurrence.


    It was likely that he would lose his life in the first year of joining any sect.


    Just as he was lamenting his future fate, the mountains were suddenly shaking and he was startled to see two brilliant lights had suddenly crashed in front of him.


    A gigantic golden roc that was enveloped in golden flames was battling a veiled maiden in white and their battle was intense. This gigantic golden roc appeared to be a ninth rank desolate beast, the highest desolate ranking of the desolate beasts.


    Naturally Lu Qingyun was terrified and knew that today was going to be his unlucky day¡­


    As for the veiled maiden, she was graceful and had a white flute in her hands. Her eyes were golden, marking her instantly as a high level celestial that was at least that of the golden celestial level. When a celestial practitioner attained the golden celestial level, their eyes would turn golden, marking them as a golden celestial.


    And golden celestials had considerable status in the Nine Celestial Fraternity as well.


    Just as he was smiling bitterly, the golden aura of the veiled maiden had burst forth into a golden lotus as the two golden auras between the two battling entities intertwined with an astonishing speed around each other as the mountains shook.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he thought, "This poor maiden won''t be able to stand a chance against the claws of this golden roc¡­"


    The veiled maiden in white was moving with astonishing speed and was graceful but Lu Qingyun knew that she would not be able to keep up with the stamina of the golden roc. There were very few celestial cultivators in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that could contest an eighth rank desolate beast. Moreover this was a ninth rank golden roc.


    The battle prowess of a golden roc was legendary and its claws could even tear apart any seventh rank desolate beast with ease. With just a single hit, this veiled maiden would be a goner.


    Lu Qingyun was not a fighter and although he had a sword with him, it was more of a decoration than a useful weapon. He knew that he was helpless against this monster and his first thought was to get out of here.


    But when he saw this veiled maiden was faltering, he heaved a soft sigh and picked a rock. He uncorked his wine gourd as he threw a fiery pill into it before he shook it hard to dissolve it. Then he began to pour the wine over the rock.


    Inhaling deeply, he aimed the rock at the gigantic golden roc and it flew straight for its eyes.


    The golden flames of the golden roc would actually dissolve such a puny attack but weirdly enough, the rock began to disintegrate and exploded furiously in mid-air. Although the minute explosion was impressive but the protective aura of the golden roc was too formidable. It was actually only a minute distraction.


    However this minute distraction was enough to buy the veiled maiden a much precious time to steady her footings as she thrust her white flute like a piercing light through the forehead of the golden roc.


    Lu Qingyun was stunned by the ferocity of the counter-attack as the golden light of the white flute pierced through the golden roc and killing it instantly.


    The veiled maiden then began to lean her back on the cliff as she took a curious look at him, "Thank you. This is much needed¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was dumbfounded as he looked at the corpse of the golden roc. What kind of a weapon was that white flute?


    He had never thought that the inconspicuous white flute that was in her hands was actually a heaven-step divine weapon. For her to possess such a powerful divine weapon, her background must truly be extraordinary. It was likely that she was from a powerful influence.


    The veiled maiden was still looking at him and her alluring eyes were looking intensely at him, "You are¡­"


    Lu Qingyun quickly bowed with his hands as he said politely, "Your celestial, my name is Lu Qingyun. There is actually no need to thank me. I did what I can do. Actually I think that even without my help, it is only a matter of time before the golden roc can be vanquished by your celestial. May I know how do I address your celestial?"


    The veiled maiden seemed to be smiling behind her veil as she continued to look at him curiously. She was thinking, "Weird, why is that I''ve seen him before?"


    Actually even without his help, she would be able to defeat the golden roc in no time. But she was grateful that he did not ask for any reward and was humble. So she said with some hesitation, "Celestial Meixue."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and greeted, "Celestial Meixue. I shall humbly take my leave first."


    Celestial practitioners had titles according to their cultivation level. Those who had attained the Golden Celestial Level would be known as Celestial while those who had attained the Supremacy Level would be known as Supremacy. As for those that had reached the Sacred Saint Level, they would be known as Saint.


    Therefore he knew that she was at the Golden Celestial Level by her title.


    "You are leaving so quickly?" She asked curiously.


    Lu Qingyun paused in his tracks, not understanding. Surely she was not thinking of silencing him? Suddenly he had a great fear in his heart. For these prideful sons and daughters of the heavens, they treasured their pride highly. Now that he had helped her, she would be afraid that this matter would be leaked out that a lowly cultivator had helped her and this would cause her prestige to suffer. Therefore she may be thinking of silencing him¡­


    The veiled maiden said mesmerizingly as she flickered her fingers and a golden flame emerged from the corpse of the golden roc, "Since you have aided me, I should at least present to you the spiritual golden flame of this golden roc."


    Lu Qingyun was stunned as he stammered with shock, "This won''t do. It is too precious¡­"


    The spiritual golden flame of the golden roc was too precious and there were too many celestials that sought to have it. Lu Qingyun dare not even dream of it and yet this veil maiden was giving it to him in such a casual manner?


    Naturally he had to reject it because he really valued his own life. What if she was only testing him? Before he could even take the golden flame, this veil maiden may well incinerate him with the golden flame¡­


    So he quickly said with a bitter smile, "I really do not need anything at all." Then he turned around to leave.


    All of a sudden he could feel a stab with her fingers on his back that immobilized him as she said coolly, "I guess that I will have to force you to accept it then¡­"


    In the next instant, he could feel that his entire body was now burning in unbearable pain¡­

 3 New Empyrean City

    New Empyrean City was a huge walled city that was situated on the tallest mountain range, covering many peaks and there were numerous citadels that could be seen. . At the same time, the city was situated on a rich mountain vein of spiritual force that could aid the cultivators to progress in their cultivation.


    Hence, it was also a city of a hundred celestial clans and various powerhouses that were constantly vying against one another for prestige and influence over the city and its surrounding mountains


    There were four prominent celestial clans that were the powerhouses of New Empyrean City and were constantly opposing one another with their many intrigues and rivalries. These four prominent celestial clans were the Heavens Ridge Villa, Flying Armament Sect, Clear Sky Pavilion and the Solitary Manor.


    He was looking a little sheepish because he had never seen so many people in his entire life before. He had imagined himself losing his way in the celestial mountains but never in an ocean of people before. Just looking at the many street signs and the noisy moving traffic were enough to give him a big headache.


    Suddenly a pleasant voice greeted him, "Mister, are you new to the city. Do you need any help?"


    Lu Qingyun turned around and saw that it was a well groom man who was greeting him with a smile. This man appeared to be a mortal for he was not able to sense any cultivation core within him. He gave a weak smile, "Indeed I am."


    The well groom man gave an amicable smile, "Since we are fated to meet and I''m also free, why don''t I be your guide? Where are you going?"


    Lu Qingyun hesitated for a while as he began to ponder. The truth was that he had not really decided where to go yet. After all, there were more than a hundred sects in New Empyrean City alone.


    "You don''t trust me?" The well groom man asked curiously.


    Lu Qingyun immediately replied as he snapped out of his stupor, "It is not that." He was actually embarrassed to say that he had no particular destination.


    So he quickly said, "I am visiting the Heavens Ridge Villa. Do you know where it is?"


    The well groom man had immediately turned pale as he stammered all of a sudden, "I¡­do¡­please allow me to take you there."


    Lu Qingyun was perplexed when he had seen the change that was on his countenance, "Is something wrong?"


    The well groom man quickly returned a smile as he said politely, "Oh no. It is just that I am a little surprise, that''s all. After all, the Heavens Ridge Villa is one of the four most powerful powerhouses in the city. May I know why you are going there? You know someone there?"


    Lu Qingyun replied, "Actually I am just trying my luck to be a cultivator there. This is actually my first time here."


    The well groom man seemed to relax when he had heard him as he laughed heartily, "I see. There are indeed many young practitioners that are always trying to join the big four celestial clans here. Surely mister, you must be a celestial expert."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Actually I am only a First Realm Cultivator. I do not dare to profess as any expert." This was the truth.


    As Lu Qingyun followed the well groom man, he soon learnt that his name was Xiao Renjie and that he ran a small business in the city.


    "Brother Qingyun," Xiao Renjie smiled. "It is so good to be acquainted with a powerful cultivator such as yourself. Sometimes I wish that I am able to cultivate like you do and live as long as the heavens and the earth."


    Lu Qingyun could only give a weak smile. It was not true that every cultivator was able to live a long life. Only when one could reach the Enlighten Celestial Level or as a Third Realm Cultivator, aging could slow down and their life span would increase. At the Immortal Celestial Level or the Fourth Realm, the cultivator would no longer age and their life span would increase tremendously.


    As for Lu Qingyun, he was only a First Realm Cultivator that was at the middle practitioner level. He still had a long way to go.


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    As they turned into a small alley, Xiao Renjie began to smile wickedly at him and Lu Qingyun had suddenly found surrounded by six men who had swords in their hands.


    It did not take a genius for Lu Qingyun to realize that he had been led into an ambush by this Xiao Renjie¡­


    He asked, "Brother Renjie, what is the meaning of this?"


    Xiao Renjie was smirking, "Haven''t you guess already? We are robbing you. This place is our territory. You can shout all you want but no one will be able to help you. Although you have a sword in your hands, it is useless against us."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly as he took a glance at the men that had surrounded him. They seemed to be really good with their swords and one of the six men was even a Second Realm Cultivator.


    The Second Realm Cultivator seemed to be their head as he gave a broad grin at Xiao Renjie, "Good, you have even net us a cultivator this time. I wonder what wondrous treasures that he has with him."


    Xiao Renjie greeted back with a smile, "Master Hao. It is my pleasure to serve you. I''ve never seen anyone as gullible as him. Don''t forget my share of the loot!"


    Lu Qingyun gave a soft cough to attract his attention as he said coolly, "Well, since you want to take my life then don''t blame me for being ruthless."


    Master Hao took a look at Lu Qingyun as he roared with laughter, "Brat, who are you kidding? You are just at the first realm only."


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he looked at Xiao Renjie, "Did you ask him where I am going?"


    Master Hao stared at Xiao Renjie for an answer and Xiao Renjie muttered, "He says he is going to the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­but he is only going there to enrol as a prot¨¦g¨¦. There is nothing extraordinary about his background and moreover he is alone."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and looked at Master Hao, "He got the first half correct but not the second half. I am there at the invitation of a Celestial Meixue. Should I come to harm then she will not spare any of you!"


    Master Hao laughed loudly, "I''ve never heard that there is any Celestial Meixue from the Heavens Ridge Villa. Brat, are you trying to pull my leg?"


    All the other men were also laughing jovially as well.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He had thought that he could at least frighten them off with the name of a Fifth Realm Cultivator but they had actually never heard of her before.


    In all the celestial clans, anyone that could reach the Fifth Realm and become a golden celestial was a powerhouse and it was hard not to know their names.


    Did Celestial Meixue lie to him? But for what?


    At this moment, he really could not figure it out nor did he have the time to do it now for he was clearly in danger.


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "The name of Celestial Meixue is not for the likes of ignoramus to know. Since I have the confidence to enrol with the Heavens Ridge Villa, do you think that I''m a weak and good-for-nothing cultivator?"


    To prove his swordsmanship, he had unsheathed his sword to display a difficult stroke for them to appraise. But no sooner had he unsheathed his sword, he had accidentally lost his grip on it and his sword had flown over and landed on the other side of the alley¡­


    Lu Qingyun was stunned because it seemed that he had actually lost his practice. The last time that he had actually wielded his sword was six months ago¡­


    Master Hao, Xiao Renjie and the rest of the men were all roaring with laughter. They had never seen such a comedy before. At first they had really thought that Lu Qingyun was really a hidden celestial expert but to think that he would actually lose his sword even before the fight could begin¡­


    Lu Qingyun was now caught in the most awkward situation of his short life¡­


    Had his two bluffs been successful, he may be able to avert from this calamity. But he had never expected that they would not know any Celestial Meixue and that his sword would fly off due to his lack of practice.


    As Master Hao laughed, he had secretly tightened his grip on his sword as he suddenly aim to strike Lu Qingyun down¡­


    His attack was swift but Lu Qingyun''s hand was even swifter as he struck a palm at Master Hao''s chest and had sent him to fly to the other end of the alley, stunning all the onlookers with astonishment¡­


    Master Hao was not dead but he was unable to move either. It seemed that he had suffered quite a bad injury to his ribs.


    Left with no other choice, Lu Qingyun had displayed the Formless Shadow Art that his old master had taught him. He really did not want to fight until he had no other choice.


    The Formless Shadow Art was a divine martial skill that could strike quickly. Although his cultivation level was low but it was enough for him to deal with most First and Second Realm Cultivators. Moreover although this Master Hao was a Second Realm Cultivator but his foundation was quite weak.


    Lu Qingyun raised his hands in a bow at the rest of the onlookers, "I am in a little hurry so please pardon me¡­" He picked up his sword slowly and sheathed it back to his scabbard.


    Until he had disappeared from the alley, none of the onlookers had dare to move¡­

 5 YanEr

    Lu Qingyun was taken to the Iron Tower and he found himself in a confinement. He did not feel like he was a prisoner, at least not yet as his meals were excellent and he had an access to a small library in his cell. Even his cell had many rooms and was spacious.


    The elder had introduced himself as Elder Ouyang and told him that he would be talking to him in a month time when the testing of the new prot¨¦g¨¦s was over. In the meantime he should cultivate and read as much as possible.


    "Do not worry," Elder Ouyang said to him. "There are other newly initiated prot¨¦g¨¦s that are in the Iron Tower as well. You should use the time to cultivate and be ready to meet the grand elders in a matter of days."


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously, "The grand elders? I need to meet them?"


    Elder Ouyang smiled, "The next round of selection will be done by the grand elders." Then he pointed at the manuals that were on the shelves. "You should spend some time to read up on the histories of the Heavens Ridge Villa. Some wacky grand elders may choose to test you on it."


    Seeing the perplexed look that was on Lu Qingyun, he added with a wry smile. "There are six main martial halls in the Heavens Ridge Villa and each of the grand elder has their own preferences. Some may prefer prot¨¦g¨¦s that are good with the swords and some may prefer prot¨¦g¨¦s with a good aptitude on spirit sense. Therefore if you are able to get selected by them, you will be a core prot¨¦g¨¦. If not¡­"


    Elder Ouyang paused briefly to smile before adding, "If not, you will be assigned as a general prot¨¦g¨¦. There is no need for me to spell out to you how normal a general prot¨¦g¨¦ is, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he finally understood why he was taken to the Iron Tower. Although he had been accepted as a prot¨¦g¨¦ but there was still another round of selection. In order to become a core prot¨¦g¨¦, he had to impress the grand elders first.


    He thought, "Since there are six martial halls, does it mean that I have six chances? That seems to be quite a high chance to be selected as a core prot¨¦g¨¦."


    Although he was not a good martial fighter or a talented cultivator but he was a good scholar. There was no knowledge that could escape from him and his aptitude to learn new knowledge was impressive. At least, that was what he felt that it was something that he was excellent at and was confidence of handling.


    So he began to read¡­


    The Heavens Ridge Villa has a history of less than five hundred years and it is considered to be a young sect when compared to most of the celestial clans that are thousands of years old. The founder and matriarch of the Heavens Ridge Villa was a Great Saintess Yuhuan who had styled herself as Fairy Jade Light.


    No one really knows her background but the fact that she is a saintess and a Seventh Realm Expert. That alone is impressive enough. Moreover the title of ''great'' saintess is exclusive to those celestial cultivators who have attained to the upper tier sacred saint level and they are one step to being able to ascend as immortals.


    Although the Heavens Ridge Villa was the smallest and youngest powerhouse in New Empyrean City, it had a powerful presence due to the fact that Fairy Jade Light was a great saintess.


    One must know that the celestial clans that were in New Empyrean City were mostly second and third tier. The main reason why these celestial clans were second and third tier was because they could not produce a single cultivator that could reach the seventh realm. Even the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, a first tier celestial clan that holds dominant over the entire Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm was said to have only one seventh realm expert.


    This was something that the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Ridge Villa were extremely proud of and in no time, the Heavens Ridge Villa was propelled as one of the four prominent celestial clans of New Empyrean City.


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he read the histories of the Heavens Ridge Villa, "This Fairy Jade Light must be a monstrous talent¡­"


    Just as he was about to continue his read, there was a stir in his cultivation core and he was startled.


    The Golden Roc Flame was burning furiously within him and had suddenly danced out to form the image of a little girl that was around five.


    This startled him as he muttered, "The Golden Roc Flame has become a sentient flame?" This was an extremely rare occurrence and Lu Qingyun had never expected that it would happen to him.


    For a spirit entity to gain sentient, it was more valuable and precious than any ninth rank spirit entity. If the spirit entity was already at the ninth rank, its growth and aid to the cultivator was extremely precious! More precious than any wondrous herbs that could enhance the cultivator growth¡­


    He was instantly delighted as he said to the little girl, "Don''t be afraid. I am your master."


    The little girl blinked her eyes and stammered, "Mas¡­ter?"


    Although she was talking to him, her eyes were already looking wildly at her surrounding and there was a playful look on her countenance.


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "That''s right. You and I are one body and soul. I should give you a name. How about Lu Yan''Er?"


    The little girl was delighted. As she shared the same link as him, it did not take her long to understand the significant of having her name.


    She asked, "Can I play around?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Sure you can. But you must promise me never to come out if there are others around. It is because I don''t want others to see you."


    The little girl took only a moment to understand speech and she was already quite proficiency in replying, "Why not master?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Because there are many bad guys around and they may have bad intentions."


    There was actually no need for words because Yan''Er was linked to Lu Qingyun''s soul and she was part of him. When he had said that there may be bad guys around, images of various consequences had popped up in his mind and Yan''Er was gasping panicky, "There are so many baddies around¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "You can actually know what I am thinking?"


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    Yan''Er nodded as she chuckled, "Master and I are one so of course I can know what is on your mind."


    Lu Qingyun muttered weakly, "That is bad¡­"


    Yan''Er asked curiously, "Why is it bad?"


    Suddenly Yan''Er was flushing, "Why is it I am seeing images of so many beautiful big sisters that are undressing?"


    Lu Qingyun slapped his forehead to vanish the images as he forced out a weak smile, "That means no more wet dreams for me. That''s why it is bad¡­"


    From now onward, he was going to be a mental eunuch¡­


    "What did you just say?" A beautiful and alluring voice asked softly.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he quickly turned to the direction of the beautiful voice.


    An extremely alluring maiden that was dressed in black was looking and smiling at him from the corner of the cell.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. He had recognized her and she was none other than Celestial Meixue. He muttered, "Celestial Meixue?" She was not wearing any veil this time so he could easily recognized her even though he had only just a glimpse of her.


    She knitted her eyebrows as she laughed softly, "So you''ve managed to recognize me after all."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly. He did not want to tell her that he had caught a glimpse of her so he said instead, "How did you get in here?"


    She smiled as she looked at the cell, "The spatial laws here may be able to hold the likes of you but do you think that it is able to hold a mighty golden celestial like me?"


    Lu Qingyun could not help giving a smile when she had used the word mighty on herself, "Indeed, indeed. A mighty golden celestial like you won''t be restraint by the spatial space here."


    Then she turned to look at Yan''Er, "It seems that you have a sentient spirit entity. You are really so fortunate."


    Yan''Er stared at her and asked, "Hello, I am Yan''Er." For some unknown reason, Yan''Er felt herself drawing to this big sister here.


    She returned a smile to Yan''Er, "Hello Yan''Er. I''m Qin Keqin."


    Lu Qingyun was stunned as he stammered, "Celestial Meixue? Celestial Keqin? You are not Celestial Meixue?"


    She gave an affectionate smile as she said coolly, "What kind of a host are you? Why don''t you invite me to sit down first before you throw a question at me?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Yes, yes. Please have a seat."


    She giggled softly, "Then I shall not be polite and be your guest. Even if you regret it, it will be too late to drive away this malevolent star later."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling awkwardly as he thought, "How can you be a malevolent star? I wish that you will stay as long as you can. I wonder if she is attached¡­"


    Yan''Er was staring at him with her big eyes, "Master, what are you thinking¡­"


    Lu Qingyun snapped out of his trance all of a sudden as he suddenly remembered that Yan''Er was able to read his thoughts¡­

 6 Qin Keqin

    Lu Qingyun was looking at Qin Keqin with a flustered countenance. At this moment he had no idea how red his face was. After all, this was the first time that he was sitting so close to such a great beauty as Qin Keqin.


    He was stammering, "Celestial Keqin, I''m really sorry about the condition of this place. This place is a little messy and dirty¡­"


    Qin Keqin lowered her glances as she said shyly, "It is alright. Actually you may address me as simply as Keqin."


    He was startled as he said weakly, "It won''t work. You''re a highly attained Celestial while I am¡­just a lowly practitioner." Their status and disparity was like the heavens and the earth. In the future, it was also very unlikely for him to even catch up with her. For most of the celestial practitioners, the third and the fourth realm were already their lofty dreams.


    Therefore he had actually harboured no illusions that she would actually put him in her heart. After all, she may be just chatting with him just to win his loyalty for her clan. Although he was inexperienced, he had read a lot of such stuff and was wiser than most of his peers.


    Qin Keqin smiles, "Unless you despise me then just call me by my name. I shall call you Qingyun too. Alright?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed heavily as he muttered, "How could I possibly despise you¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Thank you."


    Then she said, "Celestial Meixue is the celestial name that I often use when I am out for experiential training. It means Beautiful Snow. However, it is not commonly known by anyone. Therefore, it is not surprising that hardly anyone knows about me."


    Lu Qingyun nodded awkwardly, "Now I see." He had actually thought that he had been tricked by her into coming to the Heavens Ridge Villa. Naturally, he would not tell her that.


    She continued with a smile, "When I saw the black token that I''ve given you, I knew that you are here. Therefore I''ve asked Elder Ouyang to make you a prot¨¦g¨¦. That is actually what I''ve promised you."


    Lu Qingyun had finally realized that he had almost wronged her good intentions and he was feeling guilty.


    She added, "I happen to be free so I have secretly come to see how you are doing so far. Are you adapting?"


    He nodded, "So far it is pretty good."


    She laughed softly, "Good. Glad you like your experience so far."


    Suddenly he began to grow solemn and pointed at Yan''Er, "I''m sure that you can see that Yan''Er has become a sentient spirit entity now. This gift of yours is far too precious. If you want to take her back, I am most willing¡­"


    Yan''Er could see what Lu Qingyun was thinking and immediately there were tears flowing down her cheeks, "Master, you don''t want your Yan''Er anymore?"


    Qin Keqin smiled as she wiped away her tears, "Yan''Er, don''t worry. I am not taking you away from your master."


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    Lu Qingyun was startled by her remarks. A sentient spirit entity was highly covetable even by the Seventh Realm Experts and yet she did not desire to take Yan''Er?


    Qin Keqin gave a gentle smile as she looked at Lu Qingyun.


    He was mesmerized by her soothing and mesmerizing aura. He thought that surely she had a most sacred aura and that she was like a forbidden goddess¡­


    Qin Keqin had suddenly averted her eyes and Lu Qingyun was suddenly feeling bad that he had been staring at her for quite some time.


    She rose up and smiled, "It is getting late and I must leave before they discover that there is a breach here. Then it will truly be awkward."


    Lu Qingyun nodded. He did not want anything unduly to be happened to her or want her to be punished as well. So he quickly say, "I really appreciate the visit. Hopefully we get to meet again soon."


    Qin Keqin smiled lovingly, "Yes I hope so too." She cast a look at the manuals that were scattered around before saying, "In the mean time you should also try to study hard too so that you can impress the grand elders."


    Lu Qingyun nodded eagerly, "I will¡­"


    "By the way," she smiled. "Your mental thoughts can be guarded from Yan''Er once you are able to reach the Enlighten Celestial Level.


    "Oh!" Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly as he wondered how much she had overheard¡­


    She seemed to have picked up something as she suddenly looked around the space around them before she said softly, "I must be going now. It seems that they are quicker than I''ve expected."


    Then she had disappeared into the darkness.


    Lu Qingyun stared at where she had vanished for quite some time before he suddenly jumped up to scold himself, "I''ve forgotten to ask her which martial hall that she belongs to¡­.stupid me¡­"


    He turned around and said, "Yan''Er, remind me to ask her the next time¡­" Then he paused for he had suddenly noticed that Yan''Er had fallen asleep.


    "Never mind¡­" he muttered to himself.


    He sat down to browse the manuals and he was only browsing the manuals. It was because he found himself thinking of Qin Keqin. Why was she so nice and generous to me? Lu Qingyun, Lu Qingyun¡­ you got to be realistic. It is impossible that she may be interested in you. Moreover she may even be attached to someone already¡­


    Even if she was not currently attached, he could well imagine the number of worthy pursuers that were wooing after her.


    There were only two words to describe his heart, total defeat.


    When Qin Keqin was outside the Iron Tower, she leaned her back against a pillar as she looked at the starry heavens above her while muttering softly, "It is so good to see you again. How many years have it been? I know that you have long forgotten about me¡­"


    Then she smiled and said softly to herself, "I guess that I shall keep this name for a little longer then¡­"

 7 The Six Martial Halls 1

    Lu Qingyun had been in confinement for almost a month and Qin Keqin had not visited him since.


    He was looking forward to see her again but she had not appeared since the last visit. He thought, "Is it because she had been discovered by the elders for visiting me in secret and she had been confined?"


    This day, a petite prot¨¦g¨¦ had suddenly opened the door to his cell and said to him, "It is time for the grand selection. I''m going to take you to the inner hall now."


    He was startled. This was the day that he had been looking eagerly to.


    He quickly put away the manuals and said, "Senior Sister, I''ve read that there are six martial halls in the Heavens Ridge Villa. May I know which martial hall Celestial Qin Keqin is in?"


    The petite prot¨¦g¨¦ took a second glance at him and was immediately flustered. After all, Lu Qingyun was quite handsome. She replied, "Please do not call me senior sister yet. If you manage to get into one of the six martial halls then you will be a core prot¨¦g¨¦. When that happens, I have to address you as senior brother instead." She paused ruefully, "I am just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦."


    Then she smiled shyly, "Hm, I do not know any Celestial Qin Keqin. Are you sure you got the name correctly?"


    Lu Qingyun was stunned. This prot¨¦g¨¦ did not know any Celestial Qin Keqin? How was it possible? Did Qin Keqin lie to him? But did she not say that she was the one that had asked Elder Ouyang to allow him to be a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    The petite prot¨¦g¨¦ pondered for a while before she said, "There are three Celestials that I know of. They are Celestial Shi Guanyin from the Red Heaven Sword Hall, Celestial Kong Guxin from the Green Fields Martial Hall and Celestial Bai Laoxiong from the White Spirit Hall."


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "There is really no such person?"


    The petite prot¨¦g¨¦ smiled weakly, "I''ve only been here for a year and is new too. Maybe she is a master that is in seclusion. Moreover, I''m only an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ and not a core prot¨¦g¨¦. My knowledge of the sect is actually quite limited."


    This was only a small comfort to Lu Qingyun.


    He had been looking forward to seeing Qin Keqin again and he was curious to know which martial halls that she had belonged to. He had wanted to join the same martial hall as her¡­


    She was a golden celestial. How could she not be known?


    He had really found this a little hard to believe.


    Soon he had reached the grand hall and saw there were several hundred that had already gathered. More than half was like him and he was told to go to the middle and wait for the grand elders to arrive.


    As he joined the crowd, he bumped into a familiar face and was surprised to see that it was Tang Bufan.


    Tang Bufan was equally surprised to see him, "You actually got selected?" Then he asked with a smile, "I am so surprise to see you here."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. He had almost forgotten about this young master who was a Third Realm Expert. From the look of it, this young master had the highest potential among the candidates.


    Tang Bufan smiled with cold sarcasm, "Remember that my name is Tang Bufan. I will definitely become one of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s. As for you, I wish you the best of luck."


    Although he appeared to be polite but he was full of disdain for Lu Qingyun. This did not escape Lu Qingyun''s notice. Even if he was an idiot, he would still be able to tell.


    Lucky for Lu Qingyun, he did not need to be bothered with Tang Bufan for too long. There were soon hurried shouts calling for everyone to get into lines and be quiet.


    Dozens of newcomers had entered the hall now and from the look of it, they were the elders and grand elders of the six martial halls.


    There were three celestials that had golden eyes so it was obvious that they were three golden celestials of the Heavens Ridge Villa. The three of them were the main pillar of strength in the Heavens Ridge Villa and they were also the highest ranking celestials in the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    The Heavens Ridge Villa was actually ruled by the six grand elders who formed the leadership council. Although Great Saintess Yuhuan was the founder of the clan, she was rarely seen and had hardly intervened in the affairs of the Heavens Ridge Villa. No one really knows if she was even alive or not.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was very beautiful and was graceful. Immediately many of the candidates were secretly savouring her wondrous beauty and secretly hoping to join her Red Heaven Sword Hall.


    When Lu Qingyun took a look at her, he had a bitter smile. Although she was very beautiful but he was not drawn to her. It was because she was not the Qin Keqin that he had hoped to see¡­


    An elder began to speak and Lu Qingyun had recognized that he was Elder Ouyang who he had first met when he took his aptitude test. He said with his old voice, "It is time for the grand selection. We have over a hundred candidates this time round and the result is quite a surprise to us. However the criterion remains as strict as ever. Only one core prot¨¦g¨¦ will be selected for each of the martial hall. Therefore only six prot¨¦g¨¦s in total will be selected as core prot¨¦g¨¦s."


    Everyone was startled. There were almost two hundred of them but only six would be selected as core prot¨¦g¨¦s?!


    The standard was really too high!


    "If we can''t join one of the six martial halls then we will be consigned as an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦¡­"


    "This is really too difficult¡­"


    "I wonder what the grand elders'' standards are?"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly. He was not prepared to be selected anyway. Now that he had failed to find Qin Keqin, he had already lost his interest to join any of the six martial halls.


    Elder Ouyang smiled when he saw the incessant muttering among the candidates. This was not new to him and this was an expected reaction.


    He then added, "Due to the large number of candidates, I want everyone to line up in six lines and choose the martial hall that you think you have the highest chance to succeed. Then according to the best of your abilities that are demonstrated, it shall be determined if you are selected by the grand elders or not."


    Everyone was muttering as they looked at the six grand elders that were presented.


    Out of the six grand elders, three of them were golden celestials while three were immortal celestials. A golden celestial was a Fifth Realm Expert while immortal celestial was a Fourth Realm Expert. Therefore it was not wrong to say that it was a lot more prestigious to join a martial hall that had a golden celestial but it was also a lot more difficult. After all, the grand elders who were golden celestials may have a higher standard.


    These were the six martial halls of the Heavens Ridge Villa, the Red Heaven Sword Hall, the Blue Lake Sword Hall, the Green Fields Martial Hall, the Yellow Hills Martial Hall, the White Spirit Hall and the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall.


    These six martial halls were the two sword, two martial and two spirit martial halls of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    The Sword Halls focused on swordplay, the Martial Halls focused on body training while the Spirit Hall focused on the energy cultivation of the cultivator.


    It was difficult to know which of the martial halls was the more superior of the six. However it was also not difficult to see that the martial halls with the golden celestials were the more prestigious.


    Therefore the more ambitious of the candidates were already evaluating the options of joining either the Red Heaven Sword Hall, the Green Fields Martial Hall and the White Spirit Hall where the grand elders were golden celestials.


    Tang Bufan already had a lecherous look at the beautiful Celestial Shi Guanyin so naturally he had already joined the queue for the Red Heaven Sword Hall.


    As for Lu Qingyun, he did not think that he was good with the sword or with any energies cultivation so he had joined the queue for the Yellow Hills Martial Hall.


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    Tang Bufan saw his choice and was amused. This fellow had chosen the Yellow Hills Martial Hall that was led by an immortal celestial grand elder. He did not even dare to dream of picking the three more superior martial halls.


    When everyone was in their respective queues, Elder Ouyang old voice was heard loudly once more. "Good! Let the selection begins!"


    Lu Qingyun took a quick glance around him and saw that besides the almost two hundred candidates that were presented, there were actually hundreds of curious prot¨¦g¨¦s that were in the hall as well.


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s were heard saying, "I wonder who will be the six new core prot¨¦g¨¦s that will be selected."


    Tang Bufan lit a sly smile. It was inconceivable to him that he would not be selected as a core prot¨¦g¨¦!


    Everyone was also curious to know what the examination would be in order to be selected as a core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was the first of the grand elders to speak, "Alright then. We shall start with the first candidate on my side, alright?"


    The rest of the grand elders nodded and they had no issue with that.


    She gave a faint smile as she looked at the candidates, "During the choosing, you are actually free to switch the queues so don''t be shy if you think that you are unable to perform better in a particular queue."


    When she had said that, there were quite a number of candidates that had already regretted that they were among the first to be queued.


    "Of course," she smiled all of a sudden. "Once a candidate has already been chosen, the rest of the candidates in the queue won''t be eligible anymore and must join the other queues."


    Her voice was pleasant and had clarity. Many of the candidates were now paying close heeds to her words and some had switched queue to line up for her Red Heaven Sword Hall. These candidates had thought that it may be a good idea after all to choose a master that was pleasant and beautiful.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin smiled alluringly, "The grand elders of the six martial halls will take our turn to test the candidate. I am Celestial Shi, the grand elder of the Red Heaven Sword Hall. My martial hall specialized in swordplay. It is not to say that we are weaker in martial or energies techniques. Almost all the new prot¨¦g¨¦s are actually trained in the outer courts of the sword hall for their foundational swordplay. To be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Red Heaven Sword Hall means that you get to train in the inner courts for the more advance swordplay as befitting a core prot¨¦g¨¦. In the future, you may be an elder or even a master of one of the martial halls. Therefore, we are absolutely serious in only choosing only the best candidate among you."


    With that, she pointed at the first candidate and said. "Show me a few strokes of the sword."


    The first candidate was a lean and young man. He eagerly unsheathed his sword and as soon as he had stepped forward, Celestial Shi Guanyin said with a lazy look. "Out you go. You''ve failed."


    The first candidate was shocked beyond words, "But I haven''t even started¡­" He was almost in tears.


    All the candidates who were watching the first candidate were also shocked with disbelief.


    "What?! He has failed even before he has started?"


    Hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s that were watching the selection were all laughing aloud. It was because they were all expecting it to happen. It was really not easy to be selected as a core prot¨¦g¨¦!


    What the candidates did not know was that Celestial Shi Guanyin and many of the grand elders had not selected a core prot¨¦g¨¦ for several decades. Unless a suitable candidate could be found, there was really no point in wasting valuable clan resources to groom one.


    The first candidate mustered the courage to say unhappily, "I ought to know the reason why I''ve failed, am I right?"


    Celestial Shi Guanyin stared at him with her golden eyes, "The way you have unsheathed your sword is too clumsy. Moreover your potential is too limited. You can never advance to a Fourth Realm Expert and that is the minimum criteria that I am looking for."


    The first candidate immediate hung his head low in shame, not daring to say a word more.


    Elder Ouyang said sternly, "Those who have failed, come over this side."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin smiled at Celestial Kong Guxin from the Green Fields Martial Hall, "I believe that it is your turn now."


    Celestial Kong Guxin was a young looking man with a heavy build. He looked at the remaining candidates with a wryly smile, "Those who want to switch their queues can still do so."


    Many of the candidates were now freaked out by the selection and Lu Qingyun suddenly saw that there were many candidates that had suddenly joined his queue.


    He was muttering weakly, "Actually, I don''t mind becoming an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦."

 8 The Six Martial Halls 2

    The number of candidates was quickly eliminated.


    "Show me a few basic strokes."


    "Do you know how to brew the heavenly lotus tea?"


    "What is the White Spirit Hall renowned of?"


    "Tell me the history of the six martial halls."


    "Who is Fairy Jade Light? What is her background?"


    Some of the questions asked were simply too ridiculous. It was suddenly obvious to many of the candidates that the grand elders were not particular interested in selecting anyone of them as a core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    A candidate replied eagerly, "Fairy Jade Light is the founder of the Heavens Ridge Villa." This was too easy for him. It seemed that he had a high chance of being a core prot¨¦g¨¦¡­


    "No, she is the matriarch. You are out." This was the reply.


    Another candidate was asked the same question and he answered confidently, "She is the matriarch of the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­"


    "How dare you address our matriarch as just ''she''. This is too disrespectful. Out you go."


    Everyone: ¡­


    In just a short while, nearly a hundred candidates had already been eliminated!


    When it was Tang Bufan turn to face Celestial Shi Guanyin, he was told to display a sword stroke by a smiling Celestial Shi Guanyin who said. "Finally a decent one. He is a Third Realm Expert already. Not bad."


    Tang Bufan immediately displayed a sword stroke that was imbued with sword energies enveloping around his sword.


    Many of the candidates and even prot¨¦g¨¦s were gasping, "He has grasped the principles of the sword energies already."


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong from the White Spirit Hall turned to smile at Celestial Shi Guanyin, "If you don''t want him, I want him."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin chuckled softly, "Too bad, I do want him." She raised a flag, indicating that she had selected a core prot¨¦g¨¦ and that she was no longer accepting any core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    Elder Ouyang said aloud, "Prot¨¦g¨¦ Tang Bufan, you are now a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Red Heaven Sword Hall."


    Tang Bufan was smiling with pride when he saw that he was now in the limelight. He bowed respectfully to Celestial Shi Guanyin, "Master, your Prot¨¦g¨¦ Tang Bufan pays my humble respect to you."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was pleased and said, "Good, good. Go stand at that corner first with the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s."


    With a haughty air, Tang Bufan began to walk to the corner where the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s were. He even had the mood to cast a glance at Lu Qingyun as he curved his lips at him.


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly when he saw that. He was only a First Realm Expert and compared to Tang Bufan who was a Third Realm Expert, he was really nothing at all. But this was something that he did not mind.


    By now, he had already known that getting to be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ was really such a difficult thing. He was forced to throw his dreams away. Even if he had known that Qin Keqin was in one of the six martial halls, it was quite impossible for him to be selected.


    Another candidate was soon selected. This candidate was a young man who was a Second Realm Expert. The grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall, Immortal Celestial Wang Ming had chosen him as he said, "This lad does have some potential. I am willing to use the resources of my hall to groom him."


    Soon it was Lu Qingyun turned to face the grand elder of the Yellow Hills Martial Hall, Immortal Celestial Yun Xing. She did not even glance as him as she asked, "Why do you want to join the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    Lu Qingyun replied politely, "Before my old master had passed away, he hoped that I can join a sect so that I can have a proper three meals a day and a place to cultivate."


    When everyone had heard him, they were all laughing nonstop.


    "Well¡­" Immortal Celestial Yun Xing had suddenly taken a curious glance at him as she said lazily, "That isn''t a good reason. Therefore you''ve failed the examination."


    Lu Qingyun was not surprised by the result but he could not help saying, "I have given an honest reply. Do you rather want to hear some fantastic stories that aren''t true?"


    Everyone was startled by his remarks and they were muttering, "He is courting his own death by speaking so rudely to Immortal Celestial Yun Xing¡­"


    "He actually dared to be rude to a grand elder¡­"


    "Tsk, tsk. Immortal Celestial Yun Xing is actually very petty. He is in serious trouble¡­"


    Immortal Celestial Yun Xing was clearly offended by his audacity and said coldly, "Elder Ouyang, I want him to be in quiet confinement for a month. After that, he will be assigned to some heavy chores¡­"


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    "And what if I don''t agree?" A maiden with a slim waist who was dressed in black, was standing at the entrance all of a sudden, surprising everyone by her sudden presence. She had a curtain veil over her headdress and only her beautiful small pink lips could be seen.


    "Who is she?"


    "How dare she interrupt the examination?"


    "Is she courting trouble?"


    "Should we seize her?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled and was suddenly excited. It was because he had recognized Qin Keqin''s voice and her beautiful form!


    All the elders were startled and some had even turned ashen as they all quickly greeted, "Celestial Qin¡­" It seemed that they had recognized the maiden in black.


    All the prot¨¦g¨¦s were startled why their elders were all so polite and afraid of her¡­


    Elder Ouyang quickly shouted to everyone, "Hurry up and greet Celestial Qin¡­"


    Qin Keqin faint smile could be seen as she said, "Please disperse with all formalities. I am just curious who the candidates are."


    Then she pointed at Lu Qingyun, "I think that this young fellow here seems impressive enough. Moreover he seems to have a wisp of a ninth rank spirit flame. If I''m not wrong, he has a wisp of the Golden Roc Flame within him."


    Everyone was startled when they heard that Lu Qingyun had a wisp of a ninth rank spirit flame and moreover it was a Golden Roc Flame!


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "She can''t be wrong because she already known."


    Qin Keqin purposely asked him, "What is your name?"


    Lu Qingyun replied politely, "Lu Qingyun is this prot¨¦g¨¦''s name."


    "Good. Prot¨¦g¨¦ Qingyun, why don''t you show everyone your spirit flame?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded quietly as he displayed his palm to muster a wisp of fire.


    When the wisp of fire was shown, all the elders were in awe¡­


    "He really has a ninth rank spirit flame¡­"


    "What a monstrous genius¡­"


    "If it is not for Celestial Qin, we would have missed such a talent¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled alluringly, "Good! I want him to be my core prot¨¦g¨¦ then."


    When she had said that, all the elders were stunned and some had even dropped their jaws.


    "Erm Celestial Qin¡­" Immortal Celestial Yun Xin protested weakly, "We don''t want to trouble you. Why don''t I take him in? Since he is already in my queue¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled and said gently, "This won''t do. I must have him as my core prot¨¦g¨¦. My decision is final. Please help me to make the necessary arrangements."


    She seemed to cast Lu Qingyun with a smile before she walked off.


    When she was gone, all the prot¨¦g¨¦s were muttering. "Who is she?"


    "How come we have never seen her before?"


    "She can accept a core prot¨¦g¨¦?"


    "Which martial hall does she belong to?"


    Elder Ouyang was stammering as he said to Lu Qingyun, "Senior, please take a seat with the elders¡­"


    When all the prot¨¦g¨¦s heard Elder Ouyang, they almost fell down flat on the floor. Did Elder Ouyang just call Lu Qingyun his senior and had just offered him a seat with the rest of the elders?!


    Even Tang Bufan was staring at Lu Qingyun with disbelief. Did he hear right? What was going on?"


    Even Lu Qingyun could not believe his very ears!


    Celestial Shi Guanyin saw the confusion among the prot¨¦g¨¦s and said, "Next time when everyone see Celestial Qin, you ought to pay your humble respect to her. She has only arrived lately and told us to be discreet about it. She is actually the direct disciple of Fairy Jade Light and is also her successor. In short, while she is here, she is also our acting sect leader."


    Everyone, including Lu Qingyun was startled. She was actually their sect leader!


    Celestial Kong Guxin added with a bitter smile, "She is also the only daughter of Fairy Jade Light."


    All the prot¨¦g¨¦s were stunned by this revelation!


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he thought, "I''ve almost wrong her a third time. She really did not lie to me. But I''ve never expected her to be the sect leader and also the daughter of Fairy Jade Light¡­"


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was feeling the stares of everyone on him¡­


    It was because by now all the prot¨¦g¨¦s had realized that Lu Qingyun was not only a core prot¨¦g¨¦ but he was also a direct disciple of the sect leader!


    In short, his sect ranking was even higher than the elders!


    It was no wonder why Elder Ouyang was suddenly very polite to him and had even offered a seat with the elders!


    Tang Bufan simply could not believe that he had already offended such a powerful figure and he was rueing already.


    As for Lu Qingyun, his thoughts were filled with Qin Keqin. It seemed to him that he had known her for a very long time. Even when he had not seen her face, he was already drawn to her¡­

 9 Lie Xingyuan

    Lu Qingyun had just got up of bed.


    His new quarter was spacious and even his bed was sewed with heavenly silk. It was so comfortable that he did not even want to wake up.


    Everything had seemed like a dream to him.


    It was only yesterday that he had been made a direct disciple of the sect leader and suddenly the clan prot¨¦g¨¦s were now greeting him senior brother all of a sudden. He was overwhelmed all of a sudden.


    He had never expected that Qin Keqin would actually be the acting sect leader and that she would actually intervene to make him her direct disciple.


    He was happy to see her again but he was also saddened at the same time. It was because he was secretly in love with her and he harboured a dream to be with her. But now she was his master, this type of relationship was frowned upon and discouraged in the celestial fraternity.


    "That''s alright since I got to see her. It is impossible for us to be together anyway. After all, she is a fifth realm celestial expert while I am just a lowly good-for-nothing first realm cultivator¡­"


    All of a sudden he was startled for he had suddenly noticed that there was a pretty maiden that was standing next to him.


    "Senior Brother, you''ve woke up?" This pretty maiden was smiling at him. "Then you should wash up."


    Lu Qingyun looked at the pretty maiden. There was something familiar about her. All of a sudden he recalled that she was also the same pretty prot¨¦g¨¦ that had brought him to the examination hall yesterday.


    He muttered awkwardly, "About that just now¡­"


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    The pretty maiden smiled shyly, "Senior Brother, I didn''t hear anything at all. In the future, your maidservant Lie Xingyuan will only hear what you wish me to hear and say."


    So her name was Lie Xingyuan? What a lovely name. But he asked curiously, "Why are you my maidservant? Aren''t you a clan prot¨¦g¨¦?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled shyly, "All the core prot¨¦g¨¦s are assigned a maidservant who is also an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ to attend to their daily needs so that they can better focus on their cultivation. This is considered to be a prestige of being a core prot¨¦g¨¦. I am¡­just lucky to be assigned to you. I hope that Senior Brother will not despise me and keep me with you."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "I will never despise you. You are good. Very good."


    Lie Xingyuan was very happy when she had heard him, "Thank you Senior Brother for your praises. Xingyuan is very happy to have received your praises." Then she paused for a while as though she wanted to say something but she seemed to have hesitated for a long while without saying anything.


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously as he looked at her shy countenance, "What''s the matter? You are free to speak."


    Lie Xingyuan lowered her glances shyly, "Even if Senior Brother needs me for company at night, I will be most willing. All the core disciples are free to engage with their maidservants with no questions asked."


    Lu Qingyun was startled by her bold suggestion but before he could say anything, she had shyly run off


    It was only when he had finished washing up and changed to a new set of clothing that Lie Xingyuan had stepped into his room again.


    She was smiling, "Senior Brother, are you done?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled at her, "Yea." Then he asked, "Did Qin¡­I mean did my prot¨¦g¨¦ master says she has any instructions for me?"


    Lie Xingyuan shook her head, "I do not know. I only know that you are supposed to meet Elder Ouyang at the teahouse this afternoon."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "The teahouse? Isn''t it in the city?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "That''s right."


    Lu Qingyun thought that this was strange, "We can''t meet inside the clan? What if my prot¨¦g¨¦ master comes looking for me?"


    Lie Xingyuan whispered, "This is pertaining to something personal. That is why Elder Ouyang wants to meet you outside the clan."


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes as he looked at her, "Oh?"


    Lie Xingyuan continued, "Your prot¨¦g¨¦ master will only see you in a few days but it won''t be today. All newly initiated prot¨¦g¨¦s are supposed to have a week break so that they can settle their personal stuff first. Even that Tang Bufang will be returning to his residence in the city for a week before coming back."


    She smiled shyly, "I wonder if you have a family in the city? Maybe I can also go and visit your family? That is, if Senior Brother does not mind if I come."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "Actually, I don''t have a family in the city. So I will be staying put here. As for Elder Ouyang invitation, I don''t see any issue in accepting his invitation."


    After all, Elder Ouyang was the first elder that he had met and he had made him a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa on behalf of Qin Keqin. It was possible that he may find out more about Qin Keqin from him.


    Still, he could not resist asking Lie Xingyuan. "Do you think that I can pay my prot¨¦g¨¦ master a visit first?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "This is a little problematic. I''ve heard that she is meditating in the forbidden ground of the clan. Usually, ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s and even core prot¨¦g¨¦s are not allowed to go there. Even the six martial hall masters are not able to enter there freely without permission."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "It seems that even if I got a prot¨¦g¨¦ master, it is going to be difficult to even speak to her."


    Lie Xingyuan giggled, "Usually the prot¨¦g¨¦s will try to avoid their masters lest they get extra chores or scolding."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "It is only proper that I should receive some specific instructions. After all, I am now my master''s disciple."


    Lie Xingyuan nodded and said, "Senior Brother, yesterday I was really stunned when I saw you with the Golden Roc Flame. You must be a monstrous genius in order to have such a high grade spirit entity. This is something that won''t happen to me."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "Actually I am not much better than you are. In fact, I am sure that you can tell that my cultivation level is also quite low¡­"


    Suddenly he had thought of something and asked, "Xingyuan, is it possible for you to share with me your cultivation level? I will do the same too."


    Lie Xingyuan chuckled, "Senior Brother, you are too polite. I am only at the initial master practitioner level."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "You are a second realm expert?"


    Lie Xingyuan replied shyly, "I know it is low. Please do not laugh at me¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said awkwardly, "Actually I am only at the intermediate practitioner level. I''m only a first realm expert."


    Lie Xingyuan stared blankly at him, "What?!"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling most bitterly, "It is true." He found it ridiculous that even his assigned maidservant was a realm higher than him¡­


    He could feel the burning flush of his ears as he chuckled softly, "As you can see, my talent isn''t great at all."


    Lie Xingyuan was stunned as she stared at him in disbelief. She had thought that this Senior Brother was at least a third realm expert or even a monstrous genius fourth realm expert.


    She could be heard muttering, "I''m screwed¡­"

 10 In the Teahouse 1

    Lu Qingyun was now on the way to the teahouse and he was being accompanied by Lie Xingyuan.


    Along the way, he noticed that she had an unhappy face. So he asked her, "Xingyuan, what''s wrong? Are you alright?"


    Xingyuan gave him a faint smile, "I''m alright. I''m erm¡­am just thinking of something."


    She was actually troubled.


    It was because she had thought that this Senior Brother was a high level cultivator and her future would be secured if she were to be his maidservant. She had never expected that his cultivation level would be this low and next to nothing. Even her cultivation level was higher than him¡­


    She was totally speechless and was cursing herself in her heart.


    A day ago, she did not expect Lu Qingyun to amount to anything but all of a sudden when he was made a core disciple of the acting sect leader, she was secretly delighted. It was because the Heavens Ridge Villa had a rule. The common prot¨¦g¨¦ that was leading a core prot¨¦g¨¦ could have the first priority to becoming his or her maidservant, no matter how lowly their status was.


    However it had to come at a price. This price was of course not her chastity but a bribe to the elders. Therefore she had sold everything that she had got so that she could gather ten minor soul stones. Her salary was only 10 silver a month and one minor soul stone cost 100 silvers. She had even borrowed from many others so that she would be able to earn this maidservant position.


    Since the heavens had decided to drop a pie on her head, she was naturally going to make the full use of it.


    But suddenly when she had realized how low the cultivation level of Lu Qingyun was, she was completely stunned. What was the use of a Golden Roc Flame when he was still so far away from the Immortal Celestial Level? The Immortal Celestial Level which was the fourth realm of the celestial practice was the energy level. If he could not even reach this energy level, his Golden Roc Flame was completely useless to him.


    That was why she had thought that he was a fourth realm expert. How did he even manage to have a ninth rank Golden Roc Flame in the first place?


    Come to think of that, maybe Sect Leader Qin Keqin either did not know his cultivation level or had made him her disciple out of whim.


    After all, he was actually quite handsome. This was something that Lie Xingyuan was forced to acknowledge and one of the main reasons why she was willing to become his maidservant.


    Also, a core prot¨¦g¨¦''s maidservant had many perks and could observe the many superior cultivation techniques that only core disciples had accessed to. Just that alone would ensure that her own cultivation progression would improve rapidly.


    After all, she wanted to become a third realm enlighten celestial as soon as possible. At this level, aging would slow down and her lifespan would be extended. At the fourth realm immortal celestial level, aging would completely cease and she would retain her beautiful looks.


    Like many other maidens, Lie Xingyuan only wanted to retain her beautiful youth.


    But now, her dreams were completely shattered and her future was bleak. If he was the good-for-nothing cultivator then she would be the good-for-nothing maidservant.


    She really felt like crying her heart out.


    But at least she still got her chastity intact. No matter what happened in the future, she was determined not to let him take advantage of her. Instead of her benefiting from absorbing his rich spiritual sea, she was now horrified that he would be draining her primordial yin to advance his cultivation level.


    Why was her luck so down?


    Lu Qingyun asked her again, "Xingyuan, are you really alright? You don''t look so good."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled miserably, "I am really alright. We are almost there now."


    Lu Qingyun did not know what she was thinking. He saw that she had a lovely expression even when she was looking pale. Come to think of that, she was actually a rare beauty and was very young, only 18 of age. She was even younger than him by 2 years. He actually felt quite impressed by her. At only 18, she was already a second realm master practitioner level.


    As he looked at her, he could not help muttering. "Xingyuan, you are really pretty and talented."


    Lie Xingyuan gasped as she suddenly turned pale and she had almost tripped. She was panicky thinking, "He is now lusting after me like a nasty toad. Why did I have to say to him earlier that I am welcome to his bed chamber? Isn''t this destroying myself? And now he is praising my talent. He is really trying to obtain my primordial yin for his cultivation. Someone please help me¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had quickly caught hold of her wrist, "Be careful. You''ve almost tripped."


    Lie Xingyuan stumbled weakly into his embrace with a soft gasp, attracting many onlookers on the street.


    She was suddenly flustered with shyness and could feel the warmth of his chest.


    Lu Qingyun was a full head taller than her and he was rebuking her gently, "You ought to pay more attention to where you are going. The grounds are quite uneven around here. If you are not careful, you will get a hard fall."


    "What a lovely maiden and handsome young man." An old lady commented as she saw them embracing together.


    "A truly dragon and phoenix pair." Another said.


    "This is broad daylight and they are embracing so intimately¡­"


    "What a shameless couple¡­"


    "They should go elsewhere if they want to hug¡­"


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    Lie Xingyuan was suddenly gasping as she pushed Lu Qingyun away. She had naturally heard the onlookers and she was burning with her flushes.


    She quickly said to him without looking at him, "In front of us is the teahouse already."


    This teahouse was in a rich district of the city and from the look of it, it must be expensive to drink tea from this place.


    He was thankful for Lie Xingyuan for bringing him here. If he were to come here alone, he would probably have taken many wrong turns.


    A man asked them politely as soon as they had stepped inside the teahouse, "Do you have a reservation?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled to him, "We are from the Heavens Ridge Villa. Our Elder Ouyang has asked us to come."


    The man immediately lit a smile as he said hurriedly, "Please come in immediately! He has been expecting you!"


    They were soon ushered to a room that was on the second floor and indeed, Elder Ouyang was already there waiting for them.


    As soon as Elder Ouyang saw them, he gave a broad smile and said. "Senior Brother, please have a seat. Xingyuan, same goes for you too."


    Lie Xingyuan returned a polite smile to Elder Ouyang as she greeted, "Elder Ouyang, your Prot¨¦g¨¦ Xingyuan shall not be polite then."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling awkwardly. To have an elder addressing him as ''Senior Brother'' was too exaggerating. He knew how low his cultivation level was. He felt he was undeserving to be a senior brother and knew that he was only addressed this title because he was the sect leader''s disciple.


    Technically, unless the sect leader had other disciples, he was third in line to succeed as sect leader after Qin Keqin and Fairy Jade Light.


    Lu Qingyun said, "Elder Ouyang, I am honoured to be invited by you here. Actually if Elder Ouyang has any bidding for me, I will be glad to help you. There is no need for us to come to such an extravagant place."


    Elder Ouyang was roaring with heartily laughter, "Not at all. It is only polite that I treat you. After all, I like to offer you my sincere apologies for offending you when we have first met."


    "Oh?" Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes, "I don''t remember you offending me."


    Elder Ouyang laughed, "I''m glad that Senior Brother did not put that into heart. Therefore all the more I should treat you. In the future, I am the one who will be seeking favors from you instead."


    Lu Qingyun was also laughing jovially, "Naturally I will be glad to help Elder Ouyang¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was feeling miserable as she looked at Elder Ouyang and Lu Qingyun. She was thinking, "Elder Ouyang is just cooking any excuses to treat him. His main aim is to get close to him. But does he know that he is only a first realm expert¡­"


    Elder Ouyang laughed, "Please appraise this heavenly lotus tea while we chat. This heavenly lotus tea is able to boost your spiritual energies and vitalize your mind. It is extremely expensive and hard to obtain. In the entire New Empyrean City, this is the only place where you can find the heavenly lotus tea."


    Lu Qingyun said delightfully, "Then I shall not be polite." Of course he was not going to be polite. Anything that could strengthen one''s spiritual force was very much needed tonic.


    Actually Lie Xingyuan was also thinking the same. "I may as well drink at the expense of Elder Ouyang. This is perfectly justified for being in this stupid situation. I may be able to recoup some of my losses¡­"


    Elder Ouyang had suddenly brandished a precious sword and unsheathed it in front of Lu Qingyun, "This is a heaven-step precious sword. I hope that Senior Brother will be pleased with this gift."


    Lu Qingyun was stunned as he muttered, "This is¡­really too precious¡­it is for me?"


    Elder Ouyang laughed jovially, "Indeed! I can see that Senior Brother Lu lacks a good companion sword therefore I have taken the initiative to get you a precious sword."


    Lu Qingyun was trembling as he reached out for the sword¡­


    Even Lie Xingyuan was gasping with shock. This heaven-step precious sword was worth at least 100 high grade soul stones!


    1 high grade soul stone was equivalent to 100 medium grade soul stone while 1 medium grade soul stone was equivalent to 100 low grade soul stone.


    Lie Xingyuan''s head was spinning hazily and her eyes were wide opened. This was worth 10 000 low grade soul stones. She had to sell all of her everything and borrow from many other prot¨¦g¨¦s in order to raise 10 low grade soul stones.


    The disparity between the rich and the poor was simply too great¡­


    Lu Qingyun was not shy at all and had immediately taken the precious sword, "Elder Ouyang, this is just the sword that I need. I am deeply grateful to you. How can I ever repay you?"


    Elder Ouyang laughed jovially, "There is no need to! We are kindred spirits. To be honest, I''ve liked you from the very start. Since we get along so well, why don''t the two of us become sworn brothers? If we are sworn brothers then there is no need for any repayment."


    Lu Qingyun clapped his hands as he laughed, "That is a good idea and it is close to my heart too. Then let''s become sworn brothers then."


    Elder Ouyang laughed heartily, "Then it is settled then. This toast is for us as sworn brothers, what do you say?"


    Lu Qingyun raised the cup with both his hands, "This toast to our sworn brotherhood!"


    As the two of them finished their toast, Elder Ouyang said. "Sworn Brother, about our relationship, we ought to be discreet in the clan. In the clan, you are still my Senior Brother and I am your Elder Ouyang. But outside, I am your older sworn brother. What do you say?"


    When Lie Xingyuan had heard him, she was thinking. "This is too shameless. This Elder Ouyang is making a puppet out of him¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he continued to eye the precious sword that was given to him, "Well, I totally agree with what older sworn brother has suggested."


    Elder Ouyang looked extremely pleased, "Good, good!"


    Just as Lu Qingyun had wanted to ask Elder Ouyang about Qin Keqin, he had suddenly clapped his hands loud and an astonishing beautiful maiden had walked politely from behind the curtains into their view.


    Lu Qingyun was startled that there was actually someone else who is in this room with them.


    This astonishing beautiful maiden smiled amicably at Lu Qingyun as she said gently, "I wonder if I can sit down with Young Master Lu?"


    Up close, he had noticed that she was dressed in translucent silk that showed her inner garment and enticing figure. Even her fragrances were moving to his nose.


    Lu Qingyun looked at Elder Ouyang, "She is?"


    Elder Ouyang laughed jovially, "Look at me. I''ve forgotten to introduce her to you. She is my adopted daughter, Ouyang Xue."


    Ouyang Xue immediately displayed a gentle curtsy as she said shyly, "Ouyang Xue greets Young Master Lu."


    Elder Ouyang asked him, "What do you think of my daughter? Is she beautiful?"


    Lie Xingyuan who was watching the scene unfolded was a little envious. It was not that she was envious of Ouyang Xue''s beauty but she was envious of the benefits that he was receiving. She was thinking, "This Elder Ouyang is really such a sly fellow. Should I warn Senior Brother about it? Never mind, he seems to be enjoying it¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had to admit that she was indeed an astonishing beauty. So he replied, "Very beautiful, very beautiful."


    Then Elder Ouyang had suddenly stood up and gave him a hand bow, "If sworn brother does not look down upon my precious daughter then I will betroth her to you?"


    Not only did Lu Qingyun''s jaws almost dropped to the floor, so did Lie Xingyuan.


    Ouyang Xue had a flush look on her countenance as she lowered her glances shyly.

 14 The Mysterious Hideout 1

    When Lu Qingyun had stepped into the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse with Qin Keqin, all the stewards appeared as though they did not see them. Even the man who had earlier stopped to question him if he had any reservation when he had first stepped him, was treating him as though he was invisible.


    He was greatly astonished.


    He could not help asking, "We are invisible?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "This is my instruction to them."


    "Your instructions to them?" Lu Qingyun curiously said.


    Qin Keqin was laughing softly all the way, "You will know soon enough¡­"


    By now she had taken him to the upper storey of the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse. There were many guards on this level and Lu Qingyun was actually shivering. From the look of the intense glares of these guards, they appeared to be second and third realm experts.


    But when Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun walked past them, they were treated as though they were invisibles.


    This was too unfathomable to Lu Qingyun. He was thinking, "Don''t tell me that Keqin is an honoured guest here?"


    After a few twists and turns, they had come to a beautiful decorated door.


    With a soft laugh, she had pushed the door opened and a beautiful room came into view as she said. "Welcome to my hideout."


    Lu Qingyun got a slight shock when he saw an extremely alluring maiden in white in the middle of the room. "There is actually someone here?" he thought.


    This extremely alluring maiden was equally startled when she saw him. She quickly put away the manual that she was holding in her hand on the table and said softly, "You''re back so soon? You are not supposed to bring anyone here. That is your rule, do you remember? And who is he?"


    Qin Keqin laughed as she took off her curtain veil, "He is my disciple Lu Qingyun. My one and only disciple! I have brought him to see my hideout. Don''t be so mean to him, will you?"


    Then she turned to Lu Qingyun and said in a hurry, "I get a change of clothing first. Chat with her first. There is tea on that table. Go sit down there and appreciate the tea while you wait for me. I will be back in a flash."


    With that, she had hurriedly flashed to another exit in this room.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Yes master¡­"


    Since his master had commanded him to sit down and waited for her, he did as he was told to do so. But all of a sudden he was feeling extremely awkward for the maiden in front of him was too beautiful and she did nothing except for staring at him.


    This alluring maiden in white had golden eyes and Lu Qingyun knew that she was at least a fifth realm expert. He thought miserably, "What right do I have to sit on equal footing with such a lofty cultivator?"


    As he saw several manuals on the table, he thought of pretending to read to pass the time while waiting for Qin Keqin. But when he had reached his hand for one of the manuals, the alluring maiden in white smiled coldly. "I don''t advise you to touch these manuals. Sister Keqin doesn''t like anyone to touch her manuals, especially when she has not read it first."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought. "These manuals belong to Qin Keqin?"


    "If I can''t browse the manuals, how about taking a sip of the tea? After all, Keqin has told me that it is alright to appreciate the tea?" At least that would be a distraction for him until Qin Keqin had returned¡­


    But no sooner had he reached out for the cup, the alluring maiden in white said quietly. "You can''t drink it. You are only a first realm cultivator."


    In that instant she had snatch away the cup!


    Her hand movements were simply too astonishing for even Lu Qingyun to react.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly. Indeed, he did not deserve to drink in front of a high level cultivator.


    She added quietly, "This Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea is a hundred times more beneficial than the Heavenly Lotus Tea but it will also damage the cultivation core of any cultivators who are not seventh realm experts."


    Lu Qingyun was startled. He had heard of the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea before and it was a valuable celestial resource. She actually had it and she was drinking from it now? Only those who had attained to the seventh realm sacred saint level would be able to consume it without any ill-effects.


    All of a sudden he had a startling revelation¡­


    This alluring maiden in white was actually a seventh realm expert cultivator!


    Seventh realm experts were extremely rare in the celestial fraternity and they were rarely seen, especially not in a desolate place like New Empyrean City.


    From the way Qin Keqin talked so casually to her, this alluring maiden must be her close relations. In the Nine Celestial Fraternity and the other celestial fraternities, the celestial cultivators followed a strict protocol of celestial hierarchies. A fifth realm expert like Qin Keqin was nothing in the eyes of a seventh realm expert.


    Therefore, she could only be her mother consort the Fairy Jade Light!


    He quickly bowed with his hands, "Your prot¨¦g¨¦ Lu Qingyun pays my respect to Sect Leader Fairy Jade Light!"


    The alluring maiden knitted her brows and said, "You are mistaken. I am not Fairy Jade Light."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stammered, "You¡­are not?"


    Just as he was in a daze, Qin Keqin had suddenly appeared and took a sip from the cup that was on the table as she asked. "Why are the two of you looking so awkwardly at each other? Did I miss out on anything?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled when Qin Keqin had suddenly taken a sip from the cup. He panicky said, "Master, you can''t drink from that cup. It is the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea¡­"


    Qin Keqin asked curiously as she emptied the cup and took a second glance, "Oh, what''s wrong with it?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun had a number of guesses in his head.


    One, this was not the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea at all. This was easiest the most simple reason.


    Two, the alluring maiden in white had lied to him that this was the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea because she had wanted to project a higher realm level projection to him.


    Three, the alluring maiden in white had despised seeing him and had just wanted to prevent him from drinking the tea because he was deemed too offensive for sharing the same table as her.


    Qin Keqin did not see the bewildering expression that was on him. Instead she was smiling, "So have the two of you introduced to each other yet? Are you getting along well?"


    The alluring maiden in white looked at Qin Keqin and said, "He has addressed me as Fairy Jade Light and greeted me as sect leader just now-"


    When Qin Keqin heard her, she was laughing to and fro. "This¡­this is so funny¡­" There was even a speck of a tear in her beautiful mesmerizing eyes.


    "This is my Sister Feng Minyue." Qin Keqin introduced as she laughed.


    Lu Qingyun greeted as he looked sheepish, "Senior Feng, please forgive me for any misunderstanding."


    Qin Keqin began to pour more tea as she smiled while looking intently at Lu Qingyun, "Come and have more tea¡­"


    Feng Minyue interrupted quietly, "He can''t drink this tea. This is the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea. It will only harm his cultivation core."


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he was panicky, "This is really the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea? My master has taken a few sips from it just now¡­"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin had frozen in her tracks as though she had just consumed poison.


    Lu Qingyun was looking nervously at her and was asking, "Master, are you alright?¡­"


    Qin Keqin was rolling her eyes to and fro and she was looking a little flustered. She had totally forgotten that this Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea could only be taken by only cultivators that had reached the seventh realm. She had lied to Lu Qingyun that she was a fifth realm cultivator and she did not want him to find out that she was a seven realm cultivator, at least not yet¡­


    Finally she inhaled softly as she said, "I will be alright. It is not so much as to harm my cultivation base¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had broken in cold sweat for her as he heaved a soft sign of relief. At the same time he was also staring at Feng Minyue, "Senior Feng, you are a saintess?"


    Feng Minyue poured herself another cup of the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea, "That is right. What a pity, there is only myself to enjoy this tea now."


    While Lu Qingyun was feeling stunned that Feng Minyue was really a seventh realm unfathomable cultivator expert, Qin Keqin was rolling her eyes panicky at every drop of the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea that was gone.


    Feng Minyue smiled as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "You and Keqin may have the Heavenly Lotus Tea instead. We have plenty of it here." Then she took out a tea box that was full of Heavenly Lotus Leaves, "This is for you."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "This is for me? This is too precious¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled and nodded to him, "Take it."


    Feng Minyue merely said coolly, "While the Heavenly Lotus Tea can indeed improve one''s cultivation base but it is only a minute increase and very expensive. It is unlikely to see any real improvement. However if you were to take the Heavenly Lotus Tea for a month, your cultivation level will surely be improved to the second realm. Consider this my gift to you."


    Lu Qingyun was truly startled. He had thought that Saintess Feng had despised him but this was not the case. He quickly expressed his gratitude, "Saintess Feng, I really don''t know how to thank you enough¡­"


    This box of Heavenly Lotus Leaves can indeed improve upon one''s cultivation base and this was extremely precious. That was the reason why the Heavenly Lotus Tea was so hard to obtain and why it was so valuable.


    Now he was receiving a full box of Heavenly Lotus Leaves and he was staring at the gift in disbelief. He could not help muttering, "This is really for me? This is far too precious¡­"


    He was not so thick skin as to accept such precious gift so bluntly. So he said, "Should Saintess Feng needs any help in the future, I will do my best to help."


    Feng Minyue smiled, "Don''t thank me. Thank your master. She owns this Heavenly Lotus Teahouse and this gift is actually from her. It got nothing to do with me."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he turned to look at Qin Keqin, "Master, you own this place?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "That''s right. This place is my secret hideout. Now you know."


    Lu Qingyun was speechless. No wonder all the stewards were all pretending not to see her and that all the guards were treating them as invisibles. If she was the owner of this place then she had all the influence to make such a decision. She had totally decided what they could see or hear.


    He asked awkwardly, "Does the Heavens Ridge Villa knows about this?"


    Qin Keqin was chucking delightfully, "Of course not. In this world, only my sisters and you know about this secret of mine. So don''t go around telling anyone, alright?"


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously, "While you are not in Heavens Ridge Villa, you are staying here?"


    Qin Keqin gave him a lovely look as she shook her head, "I have other hideouts elsewhere. This time I will stay a little longer¡­" She looked at him shyly and there was a certain meaning between her eyes.


    It was only then that Lu Qingyun had noticed that she had changed to a sexy light blue outfit showed the curves of her figure and when she was suddenly looking at him in this manner, he could feel that his ears were burning red¡­


    This lovely look, this return stare and the shy flushes between them caused time to suddenly stand still for them¡­


    It was suddenly interrupted when another beautiful maiden in white had suddenly walked into the room with an excited chuckle. "Something interesting is popping up now-" She had suddenly frozen in her tracks when she saw Lu Qingyun. "Who is he?"


    Lu Qingyun was equally startled to see this newcomer too and he saw that she too had golden eyes. He thought, "She is also a fifth realm expert?"


    Qin Keqin gasped softly as she switched her attention to the newcomer while Feng Minyue was smiling, "This is Lu Qingyun, Keqin''s disciple. Qingyun, this is Saintess Xuan Danfeng."


    Lu Qingyun was shocked beyond disbelief. This beautiful maiden in white was a saintess?! There were actually two saintesses in this place?


    She was really snowy white with beautiful curves, extremely enticing and moving.


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Oh isn''t he the one? Wah, Keqin has actually brought a man into our rooms. This is really the first time."


    Qin Keqin groaned softly, "Don''t mouth off rubbish like this¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng was already in their midst in the next moment. When she saw the Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea, she eagerly took a flask and laughed. "I guess that this is the leftover that is for me? Thank you!"


    Qin Keqin''s eyes began to roll and she was about to say something but she had given up at the last minute as she cursed silently, "Consider this my bad luck¡­"


    The Dragon Fragrance Spring Tea was extremely precious and difficult to obtain. And she had only taken just a few sips. Now Xuan Danfeng was taking the last drop¡­


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled heartily, "Luckily I have come back in a nick of time or else there won''t be anything left for me."


    Qin Keqin said sheepishly, "You mention that there is something interesting?"


    Xuan Danfeng clapped her hand, "Right. Come follow me sisters."


    With that, she had hastily got up and was rushing back where she had come from. "Hurry or you will be missing the show-"


    Feng Minyue and Qin Keqin had all got up at the same time and had followed her through the exit.


    "Qingyun, come join us!" Qin Keqin''s voice could be heard calling out from beyond the room.


    Lu Qingyun suddenly had a question. Who was Qin Keqin? Why did she have two sisters who were both seventh realm saintess¡­"


    Although he knew that it was rude to peek into others'' belonging, he could not help picking up the manual that Feng Minyue was reading earlier. Maybe it was a high level cultivation method¡­


    His eyes grew sheepish when he saw the contents; it was a romantic love story and not any cultivation manuals. There were other manuals on the table too and he took a quick browse. He was curious what Qin Keqin had been reading. There was actually no intention on his mind to steal her cultivation methods.


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    He was soon stunned by what he had seen. All of them were love stories and romance stories¡­

 15 The Mysterious Hideout 2

    When Lu Qingyun had entered the room where they were, he saw that they were all lying on the carpeted floor and they were all looking excitingly into a crystal ball that was in front of them.


    He nearly had a nosebleed when he saw that Qin Keqin long skirt had accidentally been dragged up and her naked beautiful thighs could be seen clearly. Even the two saintesses Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were carelessly exposing their slit dress unknowingly to him¡­


    As he quickly averted his eyes, he was startled to see that there were many graffiti on the walls. The words on the words were shocking to most cultivators and that included him.


    "Cultivation is boring!!!"


    "Cultivation is not fun at all¡­"


    "Only fools will cultivate¡­"


    "Cultivation is only for fools¡­"


    "We will never cultivate again¡­"


    "There is something more fun than cultivation¡­"


    "Being a villainess is more heroic than a heroine¡­"


    "Even seventh realm sacred saints are nothing to be proud of¡­"


    He was smiling bitterly at the words on the walls when Qin Keqin said hastily to him, "Qingyun, come lie next to me. You are missing a great show already¡­"


    He did as he was told and awkwardly lie next to her. However as the floor was quite cramped already, he found it a little difficult to lie on the carpeted floor completely. All of a sudden Qin Keqin had made more room for him by squeezing herself against him and he could feel the closeness of her body next to him¡­


    Qin Keqin had suddenly realized what she had done because she could suddenly feel the burning sensation of his body next to her. With a flushed look, she said shyly. "Quickly use your spirit sense on this crystal. You will see something interesting. Don''t worry, this won''t require you to have a high level of cultivation."


    Lu Qingyun curiously did as he was told and extended his spirit sense into the crystal sense. All of a sudden he saw a scene inside the crystal. Inside the scene were two people and he could even recognize one of them to be Celestial Bai Laoxiong from the White Spirit Hall. What more, he could even hear their voices. What was going on? It was as though he was viewing the most miraculous thing ever. What was this crystal ball?


    Qin Keqin chuckled when she saw his expression. She explained, "They are in the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse now. That is why you can view them and hear them."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "My master is actually spying on all the guests that are here?"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "Don''t you want to hear what Celestial Bai Laoxiong is saying to the other man? The other man is actually Supremacy Wen Hongguang from the Solitary Manor. The Solitary Manor is one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean City."


    Lu Qingyun was shocked, "A sixth realm golden supremacy! Won''t he be able to sense us with his perception since we are so near?"


    Qin Keqin giggled softly, "Our celestial arrays are not as easy to be discovered by a mere supremacy."


    Lu Qingyun secretly stole a glance at the two saintesses who was lying next to Qin Keqin. He thought, "Right. They are seven realm experts after all. But why are they spying on the others? This is not something that the orthodox celestials will do¡­"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was laughing and talking jovially with Supremacy Wen Hongguang.


    "The Heavenly Lotus Tea here is indeed pleasing to the spirits and is invigorating." Celestial Bai Laoxiong said.


    "Indeed, indeed." replied Supremacy Wen Hongguang.


    Wen Hongguang was not just an initial supremacy of the Solitary Manor but he was also the sect leader of the Solitary Manor. To his prot¨¦g¨¦s, he was known as Manor Grandmaster Wen.


    Suddenly he said quietly, "Let''s get to business."


    With a wave of his hand, he had released his profound energies to create a profound barrier around the room so that no one would be able to eavesdrop upon them without his knowledge.


    However he did not know that his profound barrier was useless against the arrays that were created by Qin Keqin.


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong smiled, "No one in the Heavens Ridge Villa knows that we are actually the best of friends."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang laughed, "Indeed. Throughout the years, I am thankful to have you to help me keep tabs on the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong smiled even more broadly, "And I have Brother Wen''s immerse help as well."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang nodded as he asked, "Brother Bai, did something happen recently and you need my help?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong replied, "Indeed. Lately we have an acting sect leader that has suddenly returned. Unlike previously, she has indicated that she may be staying for some time. As a matter of fact, she has even accepted a new core prot¨¦g¨¦ as her disciple."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang asked, "So she is planning to take over the sect leadership soon?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong hummed coldly, "I don''t know her intention yet. As you know, the Heavens Ridge Villa is jointly administrated by the six martial hall masters. Since the day that the six martial halls were founded, the position of the sect leader is but a token position for Fairy Jade Light who had founded the Heavens Ridge Villa. Fairy Jade Light has never intervened in the affairs of the clan and had long entered into seclusion."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang nodded, "I have heard that Fairy Jade Light has a daughter. So this acting sect leader must be her daughter Qin Keqin then?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong nodded lightly.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang laughed heartily, "Brother Bai, you are an intermediate fifth realm golden celestial. Surely you have nothing to fear from her? What is her cultivation level?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong smiled coldly, "Indeed I don''t fear her at all. I have heard that she is now at the upper golden celestial level, just a stage higher than me. This doesn''t mean that she is more powerful than me. After all, I am quite confidence in my martial level and I trained for four hours daily."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smiled, "Indeed. Cultivation and martial level are separated. A person can''t be good at both at the same time. So what do you want me to help with?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong began to grin, "I am wondering if Brother Wen will be willing to make a trip to the Heavens Ridge Villa in a week time when all the new core prot¨¦g¨¦s have returned. I need your help to embarrass her thoroughly. If you can cause her to drop the idea of assuming the sect leader position, this is even better."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was grinning as well, "I have an even better idea. I have heard that your acting leader is an astonishing beauty. What if I can even make her submit to me as a concubine? Do you think that this is an even better idea?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong laughed heartily, "Yes, this will even be better. I am sure that there are no maidens that can escape from your charms."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was actually thinking more ambitiously, "Then I can finally merge the two celestial clans into one powerful powerhouse. In the future, the Solitary Manor will be the only powerhouse in New Empyrean City."


    "Good!"


    "Then this matter is settled!"


    "I''ll be your internal help. Hahaha."


    They were laughing jovially together before they had departed from the room.


    Qin Keqin was smiling wryly, "Mm, so they are trying to plot against me. Interesting."


    Feng Minyue asked, "So what are you planning to do about it?"


    Qin Keqin gave a faint smile before she had turned to look at Lu Qingyun, "Qingyun, what do you think?" All of a sudden she had noticed that Lu Qingyun was looking very flustered and rosy. "Are you alright?" She gasped softly.


    Lu Qingyun was actually alright. He was more than alright. It was just that throughout the crystal viewing, Keqin had been unconsciously moving closer to closer to him as she was leaning forward for a closer view.


    When Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue saw Lu Qingyun''s flustered face, they immediately knew what was wrong and they were trying very hard to suppress their smiles.


    Qin Keqin was in such a situation where sometimes a person in close proximity was blind to the obvious. Her first thought was that of panic and concern as she had thought that Lu Qingyun was sick. After all, only fifth realm cultivators were immune to sickness and he had not attained to the fifth realm yet.


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "I am¡­alright¡­"


    Qin Keqin looked at him curiously as she put her hand on his forehead, "Are you having a fever?"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin had frozen; it was because she had suddenly realized that their bodies were touching and that they were looking at each other in such close proximity.


    She had a slight flush on her countenance as she quickly got up and she could feel that her back was burning hotly, even more so when her saintess sisters were suddenly chuckling behind her back¡­


    Qin Keqin cursed them silently as she quickly got up with an awkward expression.


    Lu Qingyun had noticed that Qin Keqin was awkward all of a sudden and that she must have been aware that their bodies were touching.


    He tried to find a topic to distract them from both their awkwardness by asking, "Erm, what kind of a place is this teahouse? Master, you are actually spying on the guests?"


    After he had asked this question, he had suddenly realized that he was asking an awkward question. He did not want to make it sound like he was being disrespectful to his master by questioning her¡­


    But Qin Keqin replied with a chuckle, "Qingyun, do you know something? This teahouse is actually the most expensive place in the entire city."


    Lu Qingyun was startled by her reply, "Oh?"


    She was smiling as she added, "All the most influential people always like to have a secret meeting at the most expensive place because this shows how influential they are. It also gives them plenty of faces. In this teahouse, I have many rooms that can listen into the greatest gossips of the city."


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    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    This sounded like his master was part of a secret organization? Maybe she was even a dark celestial from an unorthodox clan that was sent to infiltrate the orthodox celestial fraternity¡­


    He was about to say that this did not sound right when Qin Keqin added, "Now you are part of us. Only the four of us knows about this secret hideout. You are not to tell anyone else. In the future, you will be able to enter this place freely."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly. Now he was part of their secret organization¡­


    He muttered as he looked at Qin Keqin, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng. "Erm, may I know the purpose why you are eavesdropping on them?"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "Because it is more fun than cultivation."


    Xuan Danfeng had also replied at the same time, "Nothing beats a good gossip."


    Feng Minyue added with a faint smile, "It is entertaining."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He was thinking, "If I''m the good-for-nothing cultivator then my master is a good-for-nothing master¡­"


    Qin Keqin was looking at him earnestly and she was smiling, "Welcome to our group!"


    Lu Qingyun could only smile bitterly. It was because he did not have a choice at all. He was silently thinking, "It is better that I don''t come to this hideout as much as possible. I can choose to hole up in the sect to cultivate."


    Still he was quite worried for Qin Keqin so he said, "Master, that Supremacy Wen¡­"


    But Qin Keqin interrupted him with a smile, "Let see what he wants first. Don''t worry for me."


    Then she had turned around to say to Feng Minyue with a wink, "We''re going to pay Tang Bufan a visit real soon."

 16 The Annihilating God Seed

    Lu Qingyun had returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa alone while Qin Keqin continued to stay in the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse. She had indicated that she would be back in a week time.


    Along the way, he was constantly thinking of her. No matter how hard he tried, he could not put her away from his mind. At the same time, she had left him with many mysteries.


    One, she had given him a divine sword in such a casual manner. In the celestial fraternity, a single divine sword could even spark a war between the many celestial clans to gain ownership over it. It was not only extremely precious but also extremely prestigious to own one. As a lowly cultivator, he felt that he did not deserve to own one and with his current strength, he could not even protect this divine sword.


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    Two, she even had two sisters who were saintesses. This alone was an astonishing enough. Although there were hundreds of celestial clans in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm, it was said that there was only one seventh realm expert around. The Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm was actually among the smallest of the ten divine realms in the Nine Celestial Fraternity so the numbers of high level celestial cultivators were not as plentiful as the other divine realms.


    Seventh realm sacred saints were all lofty existences without equal in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. He had actually imagined them to be all aloof, haughty and crazy about cultivation as they aimed to ascend as immortals. However the two saintesses that he had seen did not seem to be interested in cultivating¡­


    Where were they from? And where was Qin Keqin from?


    When he had reached his abode, he saw that the place was lit but there was no sight of Lie Xingyuan.


    "Xingyuan, are you there?" He called out for her name.


    There was no reply.


    He was little anxious, "She isn''t back yet? But the lamps are all lit¡­"


    He quickly moved around the place until he came to her room. Seeing that there was light inside and that the door was ajar, he pushed it open.


    He was startled to see Lie Xingyuan lying feverish on her bed and she was muttering incoherently, "Sect leader, don''t¡­punish me¡­" She was shivering and her bed was damp with her cold sweat.


    It seemed that she got a bad fright in the day and now she was sick.


    Lu Qingyun quickly examined her pulses and forehead before he rushed out to boil medicine. She had a high fever and was in a critical condition.


    He had practiced herbalism with his old master and he had plenty of medical herbs with him. In no time he had gathered all the necessary herbs and was boiling the medicine.


    However the fire was boiling too slow and there was too many herbs involved. He was already boiling seven pots of medicine at the same time.


    The herbs had to be boiled properly for its toxicity to be removed and for it to be brewed into medicine. After that, he had to mix the medicine together to brew together again. Only then will it be the most effective.


    But now, all the pots were boiling too slowly¡­


    All of a sudden he had an idea and he called out loudly, "Yan''Er, are you there? I need your help."


    With a flash of light, the spirit form of a little girl had appeared in front of him. Yan''Er was giggling, "Master, I am so bored inside. Your inner spiritual sea is so cramped. Yan''Er feels so happy to be out."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly; his inner spiritual sea was like a small pond because he was only a first realm cultivator.


    He quickly stated his request, "Yan''Er, I need your help. Can you help me to boil these medicines? I need your fire to speed up the boiling."


    Yan''Er was the spiritual flame of the ninth rank golden roc and the ninth rank golden roc was the equivalent of an upper seventh realm sacred saint. Naturally her flames were not ordinary at all.


    She had immediately shot out golden flames and immediately all seven pots were quickly boiled.


    When Lu Qingyun saw it, he was greatly astonished. Yan''Er had accomplished the work very fast like a fifth realm expert.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was also feeling dizzy. It was because Yan''Er and him were linked together. Yan''Er was his spiritual flame and she was tapping into his spiritual sea for her strength; she could only grow stronger if he was stronger.


    It was a good thing that he had taken plenty of the Heavenly Lotus Tea today or else he would be completely exhausted by Yan''Er.


    He forced himself to focus and with great diligent, he began to mix the medicine pots together. "Yan''Er, help me to boil this too."


    Yan''Er released her golden flames and in an instant the medicine pot was completely boiled.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly. This was too actually way too fast. He used to spend hours of hard work just to boil medicines in the past but Yan''Er was able to boil the medicine in an instant. This was too exaggerating¡­


    Yan''Er said cutely, "Master, your spiritual sea is emptied now¡­"


    Lu Qingyun handled the boiled pot with care as he wrapped a wet towel over the handle, "That is already good enough. Thank you Yan''Er."


    As he quickly carried the medicine pot to Lie Xingyuan''s room, Yan''Er curiously floated behind him.


    When he had reached Lie Xingyuan''s room, he quickly emptied the medicine pot into a bowl. Once the bowl was full, he quickly took it over to her and started to cool the hot medicine by blowing over it.


    Yan''Er floated around Lie Xingyuan and said, "This is not the big sister that I have seen the last time. Who is this big sister?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This is Sister Lie Xingyuan." He had forgotten to ask Yan''Er to return to his cultivation inner sea but luckily Lie Xingyuan was too feverish to open her eyes.


    As he continued to blow on the bowl to cool it enough for Lie Xingyuan to take a sip, Yan''Er said. "Master, why is that you got another spirit entity in your inner sea?"


    Lu Qingyun said without paying her much attention as he continued to cool the bowl that was in his hand, "It is not possible. It is well-known that every cultivator can have only one spirit entity in their inner sea in their entire life time. Since I have Yan''Er already, I can no longer have another."


    Yan''Er said cutely, not fully understanding. "It is only a spirit seed now. Maybe it will grow into a spirit entity in the future."


    Lu Qingyun was lifting Lie Xingyuan upright so that he could feed her the bowl of medicine. He was not paying to what Yan''Er was saying and was fully focused on attending to Lie Xingyuan. When he was done, he had fallen into a deep sleep, fully exhausted by the drain of his inner sea.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Lie Xingyuan had waked up, she was feeling lightheaded. She had remembered that she had a sudden high fever and that she had crawled to her bed. But now she was perfectly alright and even her fever was gone.


    But when she had fully opened her eyes, she was startled to see Lu Qingyun sleeping at the side of her bed and saw an emptied bowl lying next to his fingers. Had he been attending to her throughout the night?


    Yan''Er yawned lazily, "Big sister, you''ve awakened?"


    Lie Xingyuan was startled and she was gasping with shock when she saw a floating little girl that was hovering above. "You are¡­"


    Yan''Er replied, "I am Yan''Er, master''s spirit entity."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled and she was staring at Yan''Er in disbelief, "You are a sentient spirit entity?"


    Lu Qingyun was aroused from his sleep by the noises and he was startled that Lie Xingyuan was now talking to Yan''Er.


    Lie Xingyuan was suddenly flushing when she saw that Lu Qingyun had awakened. She lowered her glances shyly and said, "Thank you." She knew that he was the one that had attended to her fever. From the look of it, his medicine was quite effective.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I am glad that you are alright now. About Yan''Er, please don''t tell anyone about it, alright?"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded as she said weakly, "I promise. You are indeed special. I have never expected that your golden roc flame will actually be a sentient spirit. This is like one in a thousand."


    She was actually also thinking, "He is not a good-for-nothing cultivator. Even if he doesn''t have the golden roc flame, he is still a good person. He has attended to me throughout the night. If not for him, I would be still be very sick¡­thank you¡­"


    Lu Qingyun asked with concern, "How your fever? Are you feeling better now?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "I am totally fine now. It is like I''ve never got a fever." Then she lowered her eyes to say melancholy, "I wonder if I will be punished by sect leader or not¡­"


    "Of course not. She is perfectly fine with you." He quickly comforted her.


    Lie Xingyuan looked at him with a soft gasp, "Really?!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I can promise you that. Even if sect leader wants to punish you, I will not let her punish you, alright?" He knew that she was sick because she was thinking too much.


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly, "I really hope so that is the case."


    Lu Qingyun took out the box of Heavenly Lotus Tea Leaves and showed it to her, "Alright. Now that you are feeling better, I''m going to boil us some of these."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as she stared at the box of Heavenly Lotus Tea Leaves, gasping at the quantity that she was seeing now. "How did you get so much of it?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "My master gives it to me."


    Lie Xingyuan was stunned as she muttered, "She is¡­this rich?" Did he know how much this box of Heavenly Lotus Tea Leaves actually cost? It was sufficient to maintain the upkeep of the entire Heavens Ridge Villa for three years. His master was really truly generous toward him¡­

 17 Tang Bufan’s Utter Shock

    When Tang Bufan woke up the next morning, he was still feeling a little sour in his heart.


    Firstly, his maidservant Rushuang had left him. If not, he would be so lonely in his bed and he had to spend the night alone.


    Secondly, Lu Qingyun actually had a heaven-step precious sword. This was a total humiliation to him and a complete loss of face for him. How would he able to show off the wealth and power of the Tang Clan in the future?


    He was the young master of the Tang Clan and in the future, he would be expected to inherit the patriarch seat of the Tang Clan. That was why his Tang Clan had been grooming him to be a potential cultivator and had used all its connection in order to send him to the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    When he was truly a fourth realm cultivator, the prestige and influential power of the Tang Clan would also grow with him as well.


    He was naturally more ambitious than that and sought to become the first ever fifth realm golden celestial that the Tang Clan ever had. He would then be the greatest scion ever and his name would be etched in the ancestor records of the Tang Clan for all future descendants to remember.


    Come to think of that, Rushuang was but a small loss to him. What if he could seduce Celestial Shi Guanyin his master to his side? Then he would truly be a dragon.


    Feeling extremely pleased with himself, he got up of his bed and shouted. "Tang Bo, get ready my practice sword."


    Tang Bo was his butler and personal bodyguard. He was also a fourth realm expert.


    But today there was no response from Tang Bo.


    "Tang Bo?" Tang Bufan curiously looked around and he was now yelling. "Tang Bo! Maids!"


    He was now angry as he thought, "Where is everyone? These servants are simply too atrocious. I have only been away for one month and they have lost their respect for their master overnight."


    He quickly grabbed his scabbard. If he did not threaten to punish them then they would have no respect for their young master. What better way to punish them than unsheathing his sword to show them that they would lose their lives at any instant?


    Therefore he unsheathed his sword and was suddenly shocked to find that his half-step precious sword that had cost him a million silvers was now just a half broken sword.


    He was completely shocked. Who had sneaked into his room and had destroyed his sword without his knowing?


    This was a precious sword and not any ordinary sword. It was made of celestium alloy and was nearly indestructible.


    This was simply not possible and could not be happening at all¡­


    As he walked out of his room into the inner courtyard, he was stupefied to see all his guards, the maids and Tang Bo lying all over the place.


    He quickly went to inspect them and heaved a soft sigh of relief. They were not dead but were all knocked unconscious by someone.


    Although Tang Bo was only an initial stage fourth realm immortal celestial, he was nevertheless still a powerful fourth realm expert. Those who could fight him were actually quite few. Moreover, that person must also be a high level cultivator in order to knock out everyone so fast and without him knowing.


    But who was this formidable person? He did not remember he had offended a malevolent star this powerful¡­


    All of a sudden he had remembered what Rushuang had told him, "Soon, you will be a dead fool."


    He had suddenly turned ashen. Could it be that the culprit would be the acting sect leader Qin Keqin?


    After all, she was the only fifth realm expert that he had recently offended.


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    She was actually this petty?


    This was a warning from her to him?


    He was now a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa and naturally the Heavens Ridge Villa would come to his protection if he was bullied by the other celestial clans. But the culprit was his acting sect leader herself.


    If he accused her then he would be in more terrible trouble.


    So what else could he do but to swallow his pride¡­


    He did not know that Qin Keqin was not just a petty person, she was a real malevolent star that had terrorized the entire celestial fraternity as a villainess in the past. Therefore there was more that would be coming up from her.

 18 Ouyang Xue Visi

    Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan were happily appreciating the Heavenly Lotus Tea in their abode when a beautiful voice greeted them from outside the room, "Senior brother, your junior sister Ouyang Xue is here to pay you a visit. May I step in?"


    They were both startled that Ouyang Xue was actually here.


    Lie Xingyuan took a wry look at Lu Qingyun as she said quietly, "It seems that your future fianc¨¦e is here to see you."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly to Lie Xingyuan as he shouted out loud, "Please come in."


    He was thinking of finding an opportunity to return her the precious sword. Now that she was actually here, it was the perfect time to do so.


    Ouyang Xue gracefully walked into the room and she took great care to be respectful. When she saw them, she smiled. "Senior brother, junior sister, how is your day today?"


    Although she still looked astonishing beautiful but she looked tired and her eyes were slightly red.


    Lu Qingyun politely said, "I am good. I like to thank Elder Ouyang for bring me to the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse yesterday."


    However Ouyang Xue was not paying any attention to him. She was gasping softly when she had realized that they had the Heavenly Lotus Tea spread out on the table and she could sniff its aromatic fragrance.


    "This is¡­the Heavenly Lotus Tea? You actually have it?" Ouyang Xue asked bewilderedly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "My master gives it to me yesterday." He quickly said, "There is more than enough for all of us. Please have a seat while we chat."


    Ouyang Xue slowly nodded. Sect Leader Qin was at the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse yesterday so it was very likely that she had brought it for Lu Qingyun. She was really a nice master to him. Did he know how expensive these Heavenly Lotus Tea Leaves were?


    Lu Qingyun asked, "Maiden Ouyang¡­erm¡­junior sister, what brings you here today?"


    Ouyang Xue inhaled a soft sigh, "Actually I am here to¡­" She looked extremely awkward and suddenly it was difficult for her to express it out.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly as she looked at her, "Let me guess. You can''t sleep well last night because something is troubling you. So you want senior brother to mediate with Sect Leader Qin and you?"


    Ouyang Xue gave a faint smile as she nodded gently, "Junior sister, you are indeed smart. I didn''t sleep well at all last night."


    Lie Xingyuan returned her a weak smile. It seemed that the two of them had the same nightmare of offending the sect leader. Ouyang Xue had more to lose as she may even lose her status of core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    They were literally caught red-handed by the sect leader for conspiring to bribe her disciple.


    Ouyang Xue was trembling lightly and she had lost her usual calm demeanour. She knew that she had done a terribly shameful thing and that was to offer herself to Lu Qingyun in marriage so that she could study his golden roc flame. Not only was she rejected by Lu Qingyun but she was caught red-handed by the sect leader.


    Lu Qingyun quickly said, "I''m sure the sect leader is not so petty¡­"


    Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan were looking bitterly at him when he had said that. He did not understand women and he did not understand that people in power did not like their influences to be undermined by anyone.


    Lu Qingyun had thought that Qin Keqin was so far quite generous to him and was not a petty person. He continued, "So don''t worry. Everything will be alright."


    Suddenly he said, "Oh yes. I''ve almost forgotten about this." He had taken out the heaven-step precious sword from his spatial ring. "Junior sister, please take back this precious sword."


    Ouyang Xue was almost brimming with tears, "It is just a token of our appreciation. You don''t have to return it¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said solemnly, "I was too blind by greed when I had accepted this. Actually I know how precious this sword is. I am sure that it is not easy for you to obtain this precious sword for me. Moreover my master has said that I should return the sword. You ought to use this precious sword for yourself."


    Ouyang Xue nodded gently with woeful regret as she took back the sword, "Since it is the sect leader wishes then I shall oblige."


    Lu Qingyun said, "I really appreciate Elder Ouyang gesture for this sword. If junior sister does not mind, you can study my golden roc flame with me."


    Ouyang Xue smiled weakly, "Senior brother thank you for putting this matter in your heart. However, I''ve come to tell you today that it won''t be a necessary anymore. Also, I won''t be coming to your abode in the future. It is better that we don''t ever meet again unless it is completely necessary."


    Lu Qingyun was a little startled that Ouyang Xue was actually coming here today to have a clean break with him.


    She added quietly, "I hope that sect leader will really forgive us for the transgression yesterday. My foster father is only trying to help me."


    When she had said to this point, she got up slowly and bowed with her hands respectfully. "Senior brother, I will greatly appreciate you for speaking on my behalf to sect leader. But if she thinks that there is a need to melt out any punishments then let it be upon me. My father is innocent and he is a good man."


    With that she had swiftly left the room. When she had left, it was with a heavy heart. He could never know how she had felt and she was not going to let him know¡­


    Lu Qingyun turned to Lie Xingyuan and smiled weakly, "Ouyang Xue seems to be so afraid of sect leader."


    Lie Xingyuan said quietly, "I understand how she feels about it. She is afraid of landing her foster father into trouble. Moreover she may even lose her core prot¨¦g¨¦ position too. Losing the core prot¨¦g¨¦ position will mean that she will be cut off from all the clan''s resources. If she were to join another lesser celestial clan, she may not get the same amount of allocated clan resources as the Heavens Ridge Villa. After all, the Heavens Ridge Villa is one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean City. Therefore she has everything to lose."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Actually she may be just thinking too much. Sect Leader Qin isn''t that petty."


    "I hope you are right." Lie Xingyuan said ruefully. She suddenly added, "It seems that Ouyang Xue really likes you."


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    He almost dropped his cup when he had heard her as he quickly muttered, "Don''t joke about this matter."


    "I am not." Lie Xingyuan lowered her glances and said, "I saw her looking at you during the core disciple examination. Back then before you are even selected as a core disciple, she has already noticed you."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "She is there as well?"


    "I was looking at you because I was hoping to strike the lottery if you can be a core disciple. Then I''ve noticed that she was also secretly looking at you." Lie Xingyuan had suddenly turned to look at him and said, "Why do you think that she is willing to throw herself at you? Just because she is all too eager to become a fourth realm expert? She only did that because she has a good impression of you in the first place."


    Lu Qingyun just smiled awkwardly, "It is not possible between us¡­"


    "Because in your heart, you like the sect leader?" Lie Xingyuan asked.


    Lu Qingyun nodded. It was not a great secret between the two of them. Lie Xingyuan had heard him calling out for her name in his sleep. Moreover on their first meeting, he was already asking Lie Xingyuan on the whereabouts of Qin Keqin.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly, "Sect Leader Qin isn''t what you think she is. She is a terrifying person. You ought to be wary of her."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Xingyuan, you think too much. Keqin is the nicest maiden in the entire world. Do you know that she is the one that had given me the golden roc flame? Moreover I am just a lowly cultivator and I have nothing for her to make use of."


    "I really hope so," Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly. At the teahouse when Qin Keqin had suddenly appeared outside the room, she had clearly felt her oppressing aura on her. It was really terrifying and she had almost broken down.


    Lu Qingyun was thinking secretly, "Why did the two of them ask me to be wary of each other¡­"


    He said as he began to think of Qin Keqin again, "I will protect her with my own life."


    When Lie Xingyuan heard him, she almost choked on the tea that she was drinking and rolled her eyes. She was thinking, "You have better worried about yourself instead."

 19 Tang Bufan Lucky Break

    Tang Bufan had not slept well for many days now and tomorrow he would be returning to the Heavens Ridge Villa for his first day as a core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    He was now looking haggard and even paranoid at every little slight movement. He looked at the precious sword that was in his hands. This was already the fifth precious sword that he had purchased in this week alone as his four other precious swords were all mysteriously shattered every morning when he had awakened. He had even tried to stay awaken throughout the night but he would somewhat passed out.


    His finances were now absolutely in the mess. Although 4mil silvers were something that his Tang Clan would still afford but to spend so much silver in a single week was still a strain to the Tang Clan''s treasury.


    Tang Bo was now standing guard outside his room with more than a hundred guards that were stationed.


    Although Tang Bufan had tripled the number of guards but every night, they would still be knocked down by a mysterious force. This caused Tang Bo and many of the guards to be paranoid as well. It was because that mysterious force was warning them that their lives would be taken at any time.


    As Tang Bufan walked around his room with a heavy step, all of a sudden the candles were flickering and he could see a shadow flashing around the room.


    He said panicky, "Who is that?"


    Just as he was about to shout for his guards, a beautiful voice chuckled to him. "Even if you burst your throat, they can''t hear you. The only way is to look for them outside."


    He quickly turned around toward the beautiful voice. He was soon startled to see a lady in black with a golden mask and she was standing right behind him.


    "Who are you?" He panicky asked as he took several steps backward.


    The golden mask lady said, "Who am I? I am your savior. Do you know that I have just saved you from the most vicious person in the Nine Celestial Fraternity?"


    Tang Bufan smiled bitterly, "I don''t trust you. What do you want with me?"


    The golden mask lady hummed coldly, "You are so ungrateful. Very well then, I shall let you be under her mercies. Farewell then¡­"


    Tang Bufan quickly said, "Hold! Who are you and who is this vicious person that you are talking about? I don''t remember offending anyone lately."


    The golden mask lady chuckled, "Oh really? You really didn''t offend anyone lately? Why is that she is lurking around you then? If I didn''t happen to see her and intervene, tonight you won''t be able to sleep well. If not for me, goodness knows what will happen to you tomorrow. Therefore if I am not your savior then who am I?"


    Tang Bufan smiled weakly, "Then may I know the name of my savior and who is this vicious person that seeks to harm me?"


    The golden mask lady giggled, "Listen well. This lady here is the Golden Mask Devil Goddess¡­"


    When Tang Bufan heard her name, he quickly stumbled backward and he had even unsheathed his sword. It was because the Golden Mask Devil Goddess was the supreme leader over the three dark divine realms of the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    It was said that she was even a seventh realm great saintess. To have a ''great'' added to the saintess as title, she had to be an upper stage sacred saint and that was the highest celestial level known to the celestial cultivators.


    The Golden Mask Devil Goddess had once terrorized the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity and she was infamous.


    Tang Bufan said angrily, "How dare you come to the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm! Do you know that this is the orthodox celestial territory¡­"


    The Golden Mask Devil Goddess interrupted coldly, "You dare to speak with such disrespect to me?" She had suddenly flickered her fingers and there was a burst of energy that sped from her fingers and Tang Bufan''s precious sword was shattered in an instant!


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    She said coldly, "I can easily take away your life in an instant. You are but an insignificant ant to me. Where are you when I am lording over the Nine Celestial Fraternity? Instead of being grateful to me, you are trying to be self-righteous in my presence. Are you courting death or what? Kneel before me or else you will be dead man in the next instant."


    Tang Bufan was totally scared out of his wits and he quickly fell before her, banging his head on the ground as he begged. "Merciful Devil Goddess, I hope that you have mercy on me. I really didn''t know it is you!" After witnessing her martial feat, he knew that her martial abilities were really formidable. He would be dead with another flicker of her fingers and he was really too young to die.


    Whether she was the Devil Goddess or not, it did not matter anymore as long as he could keep his own life first.


    "Very good." She said coldly, "At least you are not too foolish. You may raise now."


    Tang Bufan rose slowly and he was trembling.


    The Golden Mask Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "It seems that you have offended Qin Keqin. She is the one that has been troubling you lately."


    Tang Bufan nodded. He had his suspicious that it was Qin Keqin that was causing the mysterious happening. Now that the Golden Mask Devil Goddess had said it, his suspicious was confirmed. But Qin Keqin was only a fifth realm expert, it was quite impossible for her to overcome Tang Bo and so many guards without meeting any resistance.


    The Devil Goddess seemed to be able to read Tang Bufan''s thought as she smiled, "Qin Keqin alone of course won''t be able to do it. But her sister will be able to do it."


    Tang Bufan stammered, "Her sister?"


    The Devil Goddess nodded, "That''s right. Her sister. Her sister is a vixen fairy, a powerful fox vixen that can mesmerize the hearts of men. I am afraid that you will be in serious trouble in the future. Not even the Heavens Ridge Villa is a safe place for you against this vixen fairy."


    Tang Bufan was bewildered, "Vixen fairy?! What is that?"


    The Devil Goddess explained, "It is a sentient spirit entity of the nine tailed fox desolate beast. Can you stop a spirit at your present cultivation level?"


    He was speechless. That would at least require him to be a fourth realm expert to even hurt a sentient spirit entity. By right, Tang Bo should be able to handle her¡­


    "I know what you are thinking. However this vixen fairy of hers is different. It is also a powerful sixth realm cultivator. Therefore it will take you a long time to even have a chance to detect her presence and to defeat her. By then it will be too late."


    Tang Bufan was startled. He had never heard that a sentient spiritual entity would be able to cultivate. He stammered, "Then what should I do?"


    The Devil Goddess said, "If you did not have such a handsome face, I would not even be bothered to help you tonight. I can only help you this once but not forever. Unless of course, you are willing to receive the Mark of the Devil Goddess. With my mark, the vixen fairy will not dare to even come close to you."


    Tang Bufan was thinking. She was attracted to my good looks? Maybe I could even make full use of it. He quickly said, "I''m willing to receive your mark."


    The Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "Oh? Just a moment ago, you are saying that this is the orthodox celestial territory and I shouldn''t be here?"


    Tang Bufan quickly said, "Please pardon my foolhardy act. I was stupid just now. You have just saved my life and I ought to repay you with the sincerity of my heart."


    The Devil Goddess nodded, "Now that is truly delighting to hear. However, I am not anyone''s servant. Why should I help you at all?"


    Tang Bufan was startled, "This¡­I thought¡­"


    The Devil Goddess chuckled, "I merely say that my mark is helpful to you if you are willing to receive it. I never say, I really want to let you have it."


    Tang Bufan was stupefied as he stammered, "I am still doom tomorrow¡­" Tomorrow, he would be meeting the sect leader in front of all the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s for their first day ceremony.


    The Devil Goddess said, "There are no free lunches in the world. I can consider giving you my mark for your protection, that will cost you ten high grade soul stones."


    Ten high grade soul stones were like 10mil silvers. It was an astronomical amount of money to Tang Bufan.


    But Tang Bufan swallowed his saliva and said, "I¡­I am willing to pay¡­"


    The Devil Goddess said, "Oh? Lucky you are willing to accept the terms so readily or else it won''t be this little amount the next time."


    Tang Bufan was smiling bitterly but he was already thinking, "I will make sure that the Devil Goddess will fall into my hands. All my losses will then be recouped¡­"

 20 Astonishing Breakthrough

    Nearly one week had passed and tomorrow Lu Qingyun will be required to go to the Martial Hall for his official first day as a core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    For the past several days, he had been sipping the Heavenly Lotus Tea and it had an amazing effect upon him; his cultivation level was raised from the intermediate stage to the upper stage of the first realm practitioner level now.


    He was surprised and was feeling pleased.


    Maybe he would even have a breakthrough to the second realm in as short as in a month time at this rate he was going. The Heavenly Lotus Tea had played a huge part. No wonder it was so precious and was extremely expensive.


    Lie Xingyuan was startled that he had a breakthrough, "S-Senior brother, I feel so happy for you."


    Lu Qingyun curiously asked her, "Xingyuan, did the Heavenly Lotus Tea manage to help you as well?"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded as her eyes beamed excitingly. She chuckled, "I can feel that I am on the brink of reaching the middle stage of the master practitioner level."


    She looked at him with great appreciation, "Senior brother, do you really think that it is alright that I can continue to take the Heavenly Lotus Tea with you?"


    "Huh?" he said.


    "I mean, sect leader has never said that I can partake together with you. This can be considered part of the valuable clan resources. Moreover it may be limited as well. Also, you''re a core disciple while I am just a lowly¡­ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦." Her eyes had lowered down in shame even as she muttered out her thoughts.


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    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Don''t worry. There are more than enough for the two of us. Moreover, there is something about herbs that you should know. The very first time it will have the greatest impact but there is a diminishing return. It doesn''t matter if I consume it for a week or a month or a few days. The returns are actually very little. So I may as well benefit you."


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly, "Senior brother, you are really a nice person. I¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed as he waved his hand, "There''s no need to thank me really. Just treat me as your friend."


    Lie Xingyuan quietly turned her head away from him as she said silently, "Senior Brother Qingyun, thank you. If one day, you know that I''ve been lying to you, will you still forgive me? I won''t blame you even you do not¡­"


    Lu Qingyun inhaled a soft sigh, "Actually cultivation is a waste of time. So much time on meditation and yet the returns are so little. I can really spend more time on reading medicine books and alchemy."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "It seems that you are really knowledgeable in these areas."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I am able to identify at least 10 000 rare herbs and is able to concoct spirit pills to the fourth realm."


    This time round, Lie Xingyuan was truly astonished. "S-Senior brother, you are a fourth realm alchemist?"


    A fourth realm alchemist was a freaking high attainment. Most of the brilliant alchemists were only at the third realm while master alchemists who were already acknowledged as masters of their trade were actually at the second realm. Like the seven realms of the celestial practice, there were also seven realms to alchemy.


    He smiled with some pride, "My old master had taught me well. In fact, he is a fifth realm alchemist. I am still far from my old master."


    Lie Xingyuan was dizzy. She had never expected that Lu Qingyun would have such an astonishing talent in alchemy. If he had spent so much of his time on alchemy, it was no wonder that his cultivation base would progress little.


    Out of goodwill however, she said politely, "Senior brother, I feel that it is best that you focus on your cultivation instead. When you have some achievements in your celestial practice then it will be alright to be distracted by your side interests."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "You are actually right¡­" It was because he was now thinking of the big gap that was between Qin Keqin and him. She was a fifth realm cultivator while he was just a lowly first realm cultivator. Unless he cultivated hard, he would never be able to have the courage to even ask her out.


    Suddenly he had a thought as he called out, "Yan''Er, I need you."


    There was a flash of light from his inner cultivation core and Yan''Er had appeared, hovering between Lie Xingyuan and Lu Qingyun.


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling, "Hello Yan''Er, how are you?" Then she looked at Lu Qingyun, "Why did senior brother summons Yan''Er for? Don''t tell me you are too lazy to boil the tea?"


    Yan''Er smiled cutely as she hovered around her happily, "Big Sister Xingyuan, Yan''Er misses you. Shall we play together?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "Yan''Er, your master is here. Don''t get distracted. I need you to do something from today onward."


    Yan''Er had a perplexed expression as she looked at him, "Master, you look so scary now." It was because they were soul linked together and she got a bad and ominous feeling that came from his heart.


    Lu Qingyun immediately showed her a cultivation slip and said, "From today onward, you have to cultivate like us."


    Yan''Er: ???


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Yan''Er said lazily, "Why should I need to cultivate? When master is strong then Yan''Er is strong too."


    Lu Qingyun explained with all seriousness, "That is so. But what if your master is lazy and weak, then won''t Yan''Er be weak as well?"


    Just as Yan''Er was left pondering, Lu Qingyun said. "Therefore Yan''Er has to be stronger or master won''t like you anymore."


    Yan''Er was startled and her tears began to flow down her cheeks, "Master¡­I am your Yan''Er! You must like me or Yan''Er will be terribly sad¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "Of course I like my Yan''Er but you got to cultivate, alright?"


    Yan''Er sobbed as she looked at the cultivation slip, "Alright then. I will cultivate."


    Lu Qingyun clapped his hands and pat Yan''Er on her head, "Good! Now go back to my inner sea and cultivate on your own. Since we are soul ¨Clinked together, you won''t have any issue trying to figure out the first realm practitioner level."


    Yan''Er nodded and with a brilliant flash, she had disappeared into her master''s inner core again.


    Lie Xingyuan was totally speechless as she looked at him, "Did I just hear wrongly? You''ve actually asked Yan''Er to cultivate?"


    Lu Qingyun rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Nope, you have heard correctly. This should works. Since spirit entities depend on the cultivators for strength by drawing upon their elixir spiritual seas in their inner core then it should work both ways too. If Yan''Er is able to raise her cultivation level and becomes a second realm cultivator expert then my cultivation level will also be raised to the second realm as well. After all, our spiritual sea is shared."


    When Lie Xingyuan had heard Lu Qingyun, she was totally speechless as she thought. "Is this even workable? No one has ever tried this before. Tonight I am going to ask my master if this is even possible¡­"


    The reason why no one had ever thought of that was because sentient spirit entity was too rare. Even a seventh realm expert may not have a chance to have a sentient spirit entity. Even if a cultivator did have a sentient spirit entity, they would usually be at the sixth realm golden supremacy level and the cultivator was already a high level celestial realm expert.


    Of course, the most important reason was that no one was as low level as Lu Qingyun in the first place.

 21 Fixing Qin Keqin 1

    All the newly core prot¨¦g¨¦s and old core prot¨¦g¨¦s had gathered at the Martial Hall at mid-day. Altogether, there were twenty core prot¨¦g¨¦s that had gathered and that included Lu Qingyun, Tang Bufan, Ouyang Xue and the rest.


    Lu Qingyun, Tang Bufan and Zhang Gang were three of the newly recruited core prot¨¦g¨¦s. As newly joined prot¨¦g¨¦s, Tang Bufan and Zhang Gang had to address all the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s as their senior brothers and sisters.


    Lu Qingyun was an exception of course. The rest of the nineteen core prot¨¦g¨¦s had to address him as senior brother.


    Except for Ouyang Xue, the rest of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s were clearly unimpressed by this new ''senior brother'' of theirs. In fact, most of them had already done their homework and shared the gossips on him. They had already learnt that Lu Qingyun was only a lowly first realm cultivator.


    Needless to say, Lu Qingyun had broken the lowest record for being a core prot¨¦g¨¦. There was never a core prot¨¦g¨¦ that was a first realm expert before.


    Lu Qingyun could feel the hostility that had come from some of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s as they stared coldly at him.


    Some of them had even greeted him coldly with an emphasis on ''Senior Brother'' with some sarcasm.


    But Lu Qingyun did not mind at all. It was because he was rarely bothered with what people thought of him.


    The core prot¨¦g¨¦s were all standing quietly together in attendance as the six grand elders and many of the elders waited for their acting sect leader to arrive.


    Most of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s had never seen the acting leader before and were curious about her appearance. Some of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s may have seen her during the core prot¨¦g¨¦ selection but at that time, she was veiled and hence none of them had an idea what she looked like.


    Ouyang Xue and Lu Qingyun were the only core prot¨¦g¨¦s to have seen her true appearance.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin whispered to Yun Xing, "Junior sister, we are all grand elders and we have all already arrived. But our new acting sect leader has to keep us waiting for her."


    Yun Xing smiled weakly. She knew that Celestial Shi Guanyin was trying to stir up some shit so she merely nodded and did not reply to her. She was a fourth realm immortal celestial while Shi Guanyin was a fifth realm golden celestial so she had to give her some token respect. Although they may appeared to be amicable with each other, there was actually rivalries between her Yellow Hills Martial Hall and Shi Guanyin''s Red Heaven Sword Hall.


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was smiling broadly. He was patient to wait. It was because he had planned a show to welcome Qin Keqin today¡­


    Elder Ouyang had suddenly walked into the Martial Hall and announced, "Sect leader will be arriving soon."


    Immediately many of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s immediately straightened up and were prepared to show the sect leader their best attitudes.


    Even Lu Qingyun was arranging his robe to make it look neat. He had not seen her for a week now¡­


    When Qin Keqin had walked into the Martial Hall and was standing in front of everyone, almost all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s were stunned. It was because it was as though a goddess had suddenly walked into their presence. She was not wearing any veils and her astonishing beauty and golden eyes were piercing in the hearts of men and women.


    Even Shi Guanyin, Bai Laoxiong and many of the elders were also astonished. The truth was that they had also not seen her true appearance before; they had only recognized her from her leadership jade pendant and voice.


    Qin Keqin was smiling quietly as she gazed at everyone and it was as though her gaze alone could melt the hearts of anyone, men or women.


    There was a small twitch that was on Shi Guanyin''s face as she questioned in her heart, "This imposing presence¡­is she really a fifth realm expert? Or has she already broken through to the sixth realm?"


    Even Bai Laoxiong could feel her imposing presence that caused half of his strength to depart from him. It was as though her state of divinity was so much higher than him that it caused him to be deference to her.


    Some of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s were even muttering, "She is our sect leader?"


    "She looks so young¡­"


    "She must be a monstrous talent¡­"


    "I haven''t seen anyone as beautiful as her¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was probably the only one who was not in awe of her astonishing beauty. His spirit jumped when he saw her and he was very glad to see her again. He thought, "Keqin my master, today I am your core disciple¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she looked at the core prot¨¦g¨¦s who had gathered. When her eyes met Lu Qingyun, she gave him a quick wink which startled him. "Good, we have twenty core prot¨¦g¨¦s that are all here."


    She turned a little solemn as she smiled, "As you have known already, I''m your acting sect leader Qin Keqin. Thanks to the grace of my mother consort the Fairy Jade Light the Great Saintess Yuhuan, I am able to address you today in this position. My mother consort has no interest in running the Heavens Ridge Villa and has left the running of the sect to the six grand elders of the six martial halls. Similarly, I''ve no interest to take over as well."


    She chuckled softly before adding, "As you know, I have taken recently taken a prot¨¦g¨¦ to be my core disciple. So I hope that everyone will help me to look after him and be helpful to him. After all, I may not always be in the sect."


    Lu Qingyun was panicky thinking, "Keqin is not staying in the sect?!"


    When Tang Bufan had heard her, he was secretly pleased. "So this senior brother of mine actually has a master that may not have the time to instruct him. What a joke!"


    But he was also secretly looking at Qin Keqin. He had not expected that the sect leader would be such an astonishing beauty and would be so captivating to look at. To say she was a peerless beauty in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity was not an understatement.


    To think that he had once insulted her by calling her ugly¡­


    He inhaled a heavy sigh and was also thinking, "Who would have known that she will be so vengeful against me and she has actually sent her vixen fairy to cause me such endless trouble. If it is not for the Devil Goddess, I would have completely broken down by now. I ought to be more careful around this sect leader in the future¡­"


    Qin Keqin added with a faint smile, "Mm, I really don''t know what to say to everyone for my first sect speech. After all, I am quite shy too."


    When the core prot¨¦g¨¦s heard her, many of them had broken out in smiles and were laughing along with her too.


    At first many of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s had a negative opinion of her for making Lu Qingyun a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of hers. But when they had seen her and interacted with her, all their negative opinions had suddenly vanished.


    Even Ouyang Xue felt less frightened of her now. She was thinking, "Since nothing has happened to me for a week now, I should be alright now."


    Qin Keqin smiled and said wryly, "I hope to see all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s doing their best for the core prot¨¦g¨¦s competition that will be held three months later. This will determine your martial ranking within the sect. I hope for a stellar performance from all of you¡­"


    All of a sudden an elder panicky entered the Martial Hall and said with great urgency, "Urgent matters to report! Supremacy Wen Hongguang from the Solitary Manor is seeking an audience with our sect leader."


    Qin Keqin responded, "Oh? Why is he looking for me?"


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    The elder replied, "He says that since Celestial Qin happens to be in New Empyrean City, he will like to pay you a visit or it will be a missed opportunity once you have left the city."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes, "What if I refuse to see him?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong immediately said, "Sect Leader Qin, I think that may not be such a good idea. After all, he may think our sect leader is afraid of him. Worse, he may think our Heavens Ridge Villa is afraid of him. This is after all our territory. Why should we be afraid of seeing him?"


    Immediately many of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s were muttering among themselves, "Celestial Bai is right. Why should we be afraid of him?"


    "So what if he is a sixth realm expert? We are many and he won''t be so foolish as to offend us."


    "Our Heavens Ridge Villa and the Solitary Manor are actually not in the best of terms¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was clenching his fists. It was because he had already known that Bai Laoxiong and Supremacy Wen Hongguang were out to embarrass Qin Keqin. After all, he had overheard their conversations at the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse as they collaborated together.


    Qin Keqin raised her alluring voice to say, "Since Supremacy Wen wants to see me, why not? It is not as though I will be eaten by him?"


    Bai Laoxiong was smiling broadly as he thought, "How wrong can you be. He will eat you so completely that not even bones will be left."


    Lu Qingyun was startled. "She is granting him an audience? Did she not know that he will only be here to harm her? How is she going to handle a sixth realm cultivator? Moreover there is Celestial Bai who is secretly conspiring with him¡­"


    Quietly Qin Keqin had given him a discreet look as she nodded lightly toward his direction.


    He returned an anxious look at her and said silently, "Keqin, be very careful¡­"

 22 Fixing Qin Keqin 2

    Supremacy Wen Hongguang and his entourage of twenty prot¨¦g¨¦s had entered the martial hall with great haughtiness and disdain for the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    They had every reason to justify for their actions. Although the Heavens Ridge Villa was one of the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City, the Solitary Manor had looked down upon her prot¨¦g¨¦s. It was because the Solitary Manor at least had a sixth realm expert while the Heavens Ridge Villa had none to speak of.


    Although the Heavens Ridge Villa was founded by Fairy Jade Light who was a seventh rank expert but she was rarely even seen around by anyone. Maybe she had even failed in her ascension as an immortal and had gone to ashes.


    Therefore Supremacy Wen Hongguang was not in the least respectful when he had walked into the grounds of the Heavens Ridge Villa, treating it like his own clan''s backyard.


    But the minute he had stepped into the martial hall, he was a little astonished when he saw Qin Keqin looking at him lazily as she sat on her throne. She was shaking her legs and her beautiful white jade leg could be seen through the silt of her dress.


    He was actually thinking, "To think that she will actually be such a peerless unrivaled beauty¡­"


    It was not only him who was awed by her beauty. His prot¨¦g¨¦s were all staring at her as if they have never seen an exquisite beauty before.


    Even the prot¨¦g¨¦s and elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa were casting a subtle look at her exposed thigh as she shook her legs.


    Even Lu Qingyun was thinking, "She really has beautiful legs¡­" But his attention was quickly returned to Supremacy Wen Hongguang and he was clenching his fists tightly as he thought, "This man does not have any good intentions. I can''t believe that our clan Celestial Bai is actually in cahoots with him¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled when she saw Supremacy Wen Hongguang, "Manor Grandmaster Wen, what brings you here today?"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang found it a little weird that she was not overwhelmed by his superior supremacy air and she was looking casual. The fact that he was a supremacy alone would be enough to awe most cultivators and they would quickly humbled themselves in front of him. Or least, they would at least be respectful toward him.


    But Qin Keqin was either rude or respectful. It was as though she was simply speaking to a casual friend.


    He straightened his back as he looked at around the hall, "I''ve heard that Sect Leader Qin has recently arrived at the Heavens Ridge Villa to take over as acting sect leader. Therefore it is such a golden opportunity for me to offer my sincere wishes to you and at the same time I am here to befriend Sect Leader Qin so that our two celestial clans will be able to work in harmony together."


    He had thoroughly rehearsed for this speech today so that it would appear as though he had the best of the goodwill.


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "It is good that Manor Grandmaster Wen has the heart. But where are the gifts? How sincere you are, depends on your gift offerings. Am I right to say so?"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was a little startled. It was because he had prepared any gift. His purpose was to shame her and to humble her in front of the Solitary Manor therefore it never crossed his mind to bring any gifts.


    Usually no one would ask to see the gift in such a situation as this. Even a blind person would be able to see that he was being sarcastic.


    Was she stupid or too inexperienced?


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smiled forcefully, "The gift can naturally wait until we have exchange formalities. We should attend to business first."


    "Business? What business?" Qin Keqin asked curiously.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang cast a secret glance at Celestial Bai Laoxiong even as he laughed haughtily, "I have heard that the Fairy Jade Light is a seventh realm expert. I have always in awe of her but have never got the chance to witness her profound arts. Since Sect Leader Qin is her direct descendant, I will like to spar with you."


    "Oh?" Qin Keqin said coolly, "You want to spar with me? Haven''t you heard that the phoenix doesn''t always give birth to phoenixes and sometimes a mere chicken will be the product? What makes you think I am a phoenix and not a chicken?"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was slightly startled. That was the words that he had wanted to use to rub salt on her wounds after he had soundly embarrassed her after the duel.


    If she did not accept his challenge then it would be pointless for him to come here¡­


    Therefore he had to provoke her. So he said coldly, "You know, I am also here to take a consort and I think that Sect Leader Qin is ideal to be my consort."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Manor Grandmaster Wen must be joking. I''ve heard that you already have multiple consorts. Surely you are not a lecherous man like what the street peddlers have said. I don''t believe it in the least."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was growing a little impatient so he said coldly, "Indeed I am such a man. I am here to take you away to be my little consort, whether you like it or not."


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong purposely slammed his fist on the table, "This is too preposterous! Do you think that you can get away with insulting our sect leader in this manner? Do you think that the Heavens Ridge Villa is afraid of the Solitary Manor?"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang laughed as he raised his thumb to him, "It seems that in the entire Heavens Ridge Villa, only you have the guts to speak to me in this manner. Is everyone else dead or just cowards?"


    Lu Qingyun almost flipped when he had heard him as he thought, "He is singing his friend''s praises. They are so shameless¡­"


    Qin Keqin said quietly as she looked intently at Supremacy Wen Hongguang, "What did you just say just now? This is your last chance to take back your words and to depart from here immediately."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang laughed jovially, "I am going to take you as my little consort and play with you till my heart''s content. You will then wish that you will never know another man again."


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "You are really asking for it. Celestial Bai, may I beseech to take care of Manor Grandmaster Wen and show him out of the door like a dog?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was startled. This was not in their script!


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all shouting angrily, "If it is our Celestial Bai, so what if he is a supremacy?"


    "Celestial Bai is the grand elder of the White Spirit Hall and he is our strongest cultivation expert in the clan¡­"


    "We still got Celestial Shi Guanyin and Celestial Kong Guxin here. With three golden celestials here, even a supremacy has reasons to be afraid!"


    Qin Keqin gazed upon Celestial Bai Laoxiong, "Celestial Bai, what are you waiting for? Didn''t you just slam the table for me just now?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was speechless. He really did not want to fight his good friend. But because everyone was looking at him, he reluctantly took slow steps to face Supremacy Wen Hongguang.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang naturally also did not want to fight Celestial Bai Laoxiong so he turned to Qin Keqin to say, "This won''t do. I am a man of status. First of all, I don''t want to get into bad blood with the Heavens Ridge Villa. I am here to cement an alliance between both clans. Nothing is more ideal than a marriage between the two clans, am I right?"


    Then he scoffed coldly, "But since Sect Leader Qin wants to reject my good meaning offer then there is only one way. If you can handle thirty strokes from me then I will leave peacefully. But if you cannot then I shall give you two choices. Either accepts that the Solitary Manor is the superior of the two clans or you accept my marriage proposal."


    Qin Keqin replied coldly, "How come all the stakes seem to go your way? This isn''t fair, right? How about we raise the stake a little. If I am unable to defeat you within thirty strokes then I shall give you a divine sword. But if I am able to win, you must compensate me with 100 high grade soul stones."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was startled, "You have a divine sword?"


    The truth was, none of the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City had a divine sword. After all, New Empyrean City was not exactly a top tier cultivator city. Also a half-step divine sword could easily cost more than 1000 high grade soul stones. 100 high grade soul stones were considered extremely dirt cheap.


    Qin Keqin chuckled and said, "Qingyun, why don''t you show them your divine sword that I have given you a few days ago."


    Lu Qingyun had immediately stepped forward and displayed the divine sword from his spatial ring. As he unsheathed the divine sword, the sharp and profound aura was undeniably that of a half-step divine sword!


    "It is a divine sword?!"


    "Our sect leader has actually given Senior Brother Lu a divine sword¡­"


    "This is the first time I''m seeing a divine sword¡­"


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    "I have heard that a divine sword is able to aid a cultivator to cultivate better and it can even cultivate a sword spirit from it¡­"


    "Am I seeing things? This is a divine sword¡­"


    Tang Bufan''s jaws almost dropped when he saw the divine sword that was in Lu Qingyun''s hand. This was too exaggerating. Just a few days ago, he had a heaven-step precious sword and now he actually had a divine sword in his hands. Even if the entire wealth of the Tang Clan was to add together, it could not even afford one-tenth of a divine sword.


    Ouyang Xue was equally startled as she rubbed the sword hilt of her sword. She thought melancholy, "No wonder he has returned the precious sword to me. It is because his master has already given him a better sword. She is really good to him."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was truly startled when he saw the divine sword. He had to take a second look with his spirit sense to probe if it was really a divine sword. If he could lay his hands on a divine sword then his cultivation journey would be a lot easier and he could command great prestige in New Empyrean City. In fact, he could even be the number one celestial in the entire New Empyrean City.


    So he asked hoarsely, "A divine sword and a 100 high grade soul stones as additional stake?"


    Qin Keqin nodded coolly, "That''s right. No more or no less."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang laughed, "Deal then!" Did she even know how much a divine sword actually worth? She was truly stupid.


    This time round even Celestial Shi Guanyin and Immortal Celestial Yun Xing were both saying at the same time, "Sect Leader Qin, I think you ought to reconsider-"


    Celestial Shi Guanyin took over from Yun Xing and said hastily, "The worth of your divine sword isn''t something that can be measurable in monetary value."


    Qin Keqin casually said as she smiled faintly, "That''s alright."


    Then she looked at Supremacy Wen Hongguang, "However, I need proof that you have 100 high grade soul stones or else our duel can''t continue."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang bitterly smiled as he waved his hands; immediately 100 high grade soul stones had appeared out of his spatial ring. This was almost everything that he had got. His exact fortune was 101 high grade soul stones. If she had made a bet higher than 101 high grade soul stones then it was not possible for him to raise the stake.


    He did not know that Qin Keqin knew precisely how many soul stones that he had got. She was in fact more resourceful than he was aware of.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was now hell-bent of obtaining the divine sword now.


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she walked over to Lu Qingyun, "Mind if I borrow your sword for a while?"


    Lu Qingyun respectfully handed over the divine sword to her as he whispered, "Keqin, you must be careful¡­"


    Qin Keqin nodded with a gleeful smile before she said to Supremacy Wen Hongguang, "You have a much higher realm than me. Surely you don''t mind that I use a divine sword as my weapon?"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smiled coldly, "It is only fair or else the others will think that I am bullying you."


    When he said that, many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were clenching their fists. If this was not bullying then what was it?


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang had unsheathed his precious sword and at the same time a formidable aura had burst out from him.


    The sword aura on his precious sword had suddenly turned azure and he was grinning, "You may not know this but I have recently obtained the spirit core of an eighth rank Blue Emperor Dragon."


    Dozens of his high level prot¨¦g¨¦s had perished in order to help him to kill the Blue Emperor Dragon.


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all gasping.


    In the hands of a golden supremacy, the spirit core of an eighth rank Blue Emperor Dragon was enough for him to contest with a saint who had no spirit entity to aid him!


    It was no wonder that Supremacy Wen Hongguang had dared to come alone with only a few lowly prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    Even Qin Keqin was startled. This was way out of her expectations.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was laughing heartily, "Qin Keqin, be careful not to get your clothes burn off by my azure flames." He had totally dropped off any pretense of formalities by calling out her name directly.


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa was shaking their head. They had heard that the acting sect leader was only an upper fifth realm expert. Against an initial sixth realm expert who had an eight rank spirit entity to empower him, it was inconceivable that she would be able to win against such an opponent.


    Lu Qingyun was clenching his fists tightly now and he was prepared to jump in front of Qin Keqin to protect her with his very own life. "Keqin, I won''t let him hurt you."


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smiled coldly, "I shall let my future consort Keqin to have the benefit of three moves first. After all, I am a superior celestial and this is only proper."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Since you are so willing to be a gentleman, I really don''t mind allowing you to be one."


    She had suddenly raised the divine sword with both hands, in the next instant she had executed a dazzling display of the ''Heaven and Self as One'', as the earthshaking divine power of the divine sword and her became one to form a rainbow hue of startling sword burst that swept in a straight line toward Supremacy Wen Hongguang.


    The ''Heaven and Self as One'' sword stance could only be used by super exponents that had reached the peak of their cultivation level, combining their state of divinity with the awakening of the heavens sense with the sword as one to unleash the full potential of the power of their swords.


    Even a peaked seventh realm expert may not be able to awaken such a heavens sense. In reality, this was a lot more difficult and only a few geniuses were able to enlighten with the heavens sense with the sword.


    "Wait-" that Supremacy Wen Hongguang suddenly called out when he realized what was coming as he took hurried steps back.


    This happened so fast that Supremacy Wen Hongguang did not even have the time to react before the rainbow hue sword wave had passed through him his body like a demonic wind and he was sent flying into the air!


    When he had landed on the ground, a line of blood could be seen across his body. He had immediately coughed out blood and his body was trembling with shock. In that single instant, his connection to his spirit entity had been severed and he had also suffered a severe backlash from losing the spirit entity!


    With an agonizing cry, Supremacy Wen Hongguang had fainted from his injuries!


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s presented were not even able to discern what had happened.


    "What is going on?"


    "The golden aura of a golden supremacy can be bypassed in such a casual manner?"


    "Manor Grandmaster Wen did not seem to have any strength to get up¡­"


    "This¡­this is impossible right?"


    Qin Keqin quietly tossed the divine sword to Lu Qingyun and had grabbed the 100 high grade soul stones, "I did warn you many times."


    All these happened so fast that all the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor and Heavens Ridge Villa were all left with stunned expressions, not knowing how to react. They could not even believe that Qin Keqin was just a fifth realm expert and that she had only used just a single stroke to defeat him.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin who was well versed in swordplay, after all she was the grand elder of the Red Heaven Sword Hall started to mutter almost incoherently. "This¡­this is really the ''Heaven and Self as One''. In the most recent past, only the Great Saintess Yuqing was said to be able to execute it. How did she manage to attain such a high mastery in her sword art?"


    Celestial Kong Guxin was looking at Celestial Shi Guanyin and Celestial Bai Laoxiong, "Did you all see what I have just seen?" He was still staring in disbelief at the scene.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin had stood up and said to the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor, "Take your grandmaster away."


    "Y-Yes¡­" the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor quickly said humbly. All of them had lost their haughty looks and were even kissing the ground as though they had just stepped into the holy consecrated ground of the celestial fraternity.


    This Sect Leader Qin of the Heavens Ridge Villa was really too terrifying!


    Celestial Shi Guanyin quietly whispered to the other five grand elders, "I think, we ought to pay our sect leader a proper greeting."


    The truth was that none of them had really regarded the acting sect leader as a real sect leader and did not even care to exchange a single formality with her. They were all hoping that she would be gone as soon as possible.


    Yun Xing nodded with a weak smile, "We should¡­"


    Celestial Kong Guxin muttered, "I would say as soon as possible. The faster the better¡­"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong had turned pale. He was totally speechless that Supremacy Wen Hongguang would lose. He had not only lost but he had also lost very badly.


    Tang Bufan was hoping that Supremacy Wen Hongguang would help to teach Qin Keqin a lesson and to distract her from him. Now it seemed that he had to work with the Devil Goddess in order to preserve his life¡­


    Qin Keqin sighed softly, "I''ve almost forgotten that today is the core disciple ceremony and someone has to barge in to disrupt the introduction of the newly initiated core prot¨¦g¨¦s."


    Suddenly all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s were all looking at Lu Qingyun and were greeting him left and right.


    "Senior Brother Lu!"


    "What a pleasure to know you¡­"


    "You are really a handsome. I mean it!"


    "You must be a genius cultivator¡­"


    "Your junior brother here is here. Just ask me if you need any help!"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­

 23 Who Fixing Who

    Shortly after the core prot¨¦g¨¦ ceremony had just ended, the six grand elders of the martial halls had all gathered around Qin Keqin.


    The Heavens Ridge Villa had always been ruled by these six grand elders who formed the leadership council and they went by the majority vote to decide important clan affairs.


    They were Celestial Bai Laoxiong from the White Spirit Hall, Celestial Shi Guanyin from the Red Heaven Sword Hall, Celestial Kong Guxin from the Green Fields Martial Hall, Yun Xing from the Yellow Hills Martial Hall, Wang Ming from the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall and Mu Han from the Blue Lake Sword Hall.


    But now they had an unofficial sect leader who had suddenly decided to stay for a little longer in the Heavens Ridge Villa and she was Qin Keqin.


    After witnessing how she had brought Supremacy Wen Hongguang down, now all six grand elders were suddenly respectful toward this new acting sect leader.


    Qin Keqin was quite startled at their suddenly change of attitude but it was not a total surprise to her. It was because in the celestial fraternity, those who had the strength still call the shots.


    She smiled wryly, "I will be personally instructing Lu Qingyun. Have him move to a bigger abode as I will be moving in with him."


    Immediately all the grand elders were startled.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "Sect Leader Qin, this may not be a nice thing. After all, he is only a core disciple while you are a highly esteemed sect leader. There may be gossips¡­"


    All the grand elders were all nodding as were muttering.


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "It doesn''t bother me at all. I won''t be staying in New Empyrean City for too long. Therefore I want to make it as convenient as possible for me to instruct him. This decision is final."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin bowed with her hands, "Alright then¡­"


    "Oh yes, before I dismiss all of you," Qin Keqin smiled mysteriously. "There is actually something else."


    "Oh?" Everyone was looking at her and at one another.


    She had suddenly gazed upon Celestial Bai Laoxiong, "I know that you and Supremacy Wen are good friends and are even as close as brothers. Am I right?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong had immediately turned ashen as he stammered, "This is a malicious lie! Who dare to spread such malicious lie on me?"


    Qin Keqin gave him a lazy look, "Supremacy Wen is here today at your invitation. Do you really think that I do not know about it?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong smiled coldly, "I hope that sect leader will investigate this matter thoroughly. If anyone wants to accuse me then there must be evidences or else this is just false accusation!"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "What if I tell you that my words are laws and my words are the evidences?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was taken aback, "This is too unreasonable! The good name of the Fairy Jade Light will be tainted by this false accusation."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she said wryly, "Honestly I can choose to close one eye but you''ve even wanted to bed Ouyang Xue."


    Yun Xing was startled as she looked at them, "What? Bai Laoxiong! You even have designs on my core prot¨¦g¨¦?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong turned to Yun Xing with a weak smile, "Of course it is not true. I won''t dare to. I am a highly respected grand elder¡­"


    Qin Keqin interrupted coldly, "I am not here to listen to your explanation. You have three options now. One, fight me to prove your innocence. Two, cripple your cultivation core. Three, leave the sect."


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was startled but he was also thinking, "How did she know about my secret friendship with Wen Hongguang? How did she knows that I have been harassing Ouyang Xue? If I were to fight her, I may not win. It is a 50/50 chance for me. As for crippling my cultivation core, there is no way I will allow that to happen. I am already half an immortal. As for the third option¡­"


    He smiled coldly as he looked at the rest of the grand elders, "You have all seen what the sect leader has treated me. What is my fate today will be your fate tomorrow."


    Then he stared coldly at Qin Keqin, "You will remember this today! Qin Keqin! You have falsely accused me and I will not let this slight be easily forgotten. From today onward, I will have nothing to do with the Heavens Ridge Villa. My core disciples and I will be your eternal mortal enemies. Just you watch!"


    With that, he had stormed off from the hall.


    All the grand elders were startled and they had no idea who to believe¡­


    Qin Keqin chuckled, not bothered by his threats at all. She said sternly as she commanded, "Wang Ming! From today onward, you shall take over Bai Laoxiong''s White Spirit Hall."


    Wang Ming was startled as he looked at Celestial Shi Guanyin and Celestial Kong Guxin, "I¡­what? I am only a fourth realm immortal celestial. Maybe Celestial Guanyin and Celestial Guxin is a better candidate. Besides, I can''t cope with two martial halls." He was actually more afraid that the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the White Spirit Hall would not welcome him.


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    In fact, he had broken out in cold sweat. The elders from the White Spirit Hall were actually difficult to be deal with. He knew that because his Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall had been in fierce rivalries with the White Spirit Hall. Was the sect leader messing up with him? However he dared not protest because he was simply only a fourth realm expert.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "You are the grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall. Your martial practices won''t be too far from the White Spirit Hall so I feel more at ease with you in charge."


    Then she looked at Yun Xing, "I will be putting your core disciple Ouyang Xue to be a grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall."


    Not only was Yun Xing startled, so were all the other grand elders. Yun Xing stammered, "This¡­this is¡­"


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was a little afraid that her rival Yun Xing would get more power and influence over her now that her core prot¨¦g¨¦ was to be appointed to be a grand elder so she quickly said, "It is unheard of anyone to be promoted to a grand elder without first becoming an elder."


    Qin Keqin folded her arms as she smiled coldly, "I''ve already decided. Anyone else has any second opinion?"


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was left to smile bitterly to herself. They were both fifth realm experts but yet the sect leader was not even giving any face to her. After what she had done to Supremacy Wen today and the way she shove Bai Laoxiong out of the Heavens Ridge Villa, she knew that this sect leader was too tyrannical to be reasoned with. Therefore, she decided to keep her silence. At least for now¡­


    Celestial Kong Guxin who had disliked Celestial Bai Laoxiong was actually glad that he was kicked out just like that. For a number of years, he had been constantly oppressed by him at every turn. But he was equally surprised that Qin Keqin had made a reshuffle of the martial hall leadership.


    All the grand elders muttered, "We have no second opinions¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Good. You are all dismissed."


    As they left the hall, Qin Keqin was smiling delightfully to herself. "Ouyang Xue. From today onward, your hands will be quite full. This is a small lesson to you for fighting with me over him¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The news that Celestial Qin Keqin had defeated Supremacy Wen Hongguang had spread like wildfire throughout New Empyrean City and it had suddenly become the hottest gossip in the city.


    The Heavens Ridge Villa, Flying Armament Sect, Clear Sky Pavilion and the Solitary Manor were the four powerhouses and prominent celestial clans of New Empyrean City.


    The Solitary Manor and Clear Sky Pavilion both had one supremacy level cultivator. Therefore these two celestial clans were considered to be stronger than the other two.


    Now that Celestial Qin Keqin had defeated Supremacy Wen Hongguang in actual combat, the ranking of the Heavens Ridge Villa was naturally higher now in the eyes of the people of New Empyrean City.


    "That Supremacy Wen is so useless. He can''t even handle a golden celestial level cultivator¡­"


    "You are wrong to say that. A superior cultivator usually has a superior celestial teacher and Celestial Qin''s celestial teacher is Fairy Jade Light¡­"


    "I have heard that Fairy Jade Light is a seventh realm expert¡­"


    "I have heard that Celestial Qin has used a divine sword to defeat Supremacy Wen. Without a divine sword in her hands, Supremacy Wen may not lose¡­"


    "Darn. I should have enrolled as a prot¨¦g¨¦ with the Heavens Ridge Villa. The enrollment exercise had just ended¡­"


    "I had heard that the battle between them was so earthshaking that the mountains shook and the heavens wrath was produced¡­"


    "I had heard that Supremacy Wen was done by only one stroke¡­"


    "You got to be kidding. That isn''t possible. The mountains must have been shaking when they were battling¡­"

 24 Master you’re moving in?

    Qin Keqin was in jovial high spirits as she carried her blanket and pillow as she walked into Lu Qingyun''s new abode.


    After making sure that she got the place correctly, she had immediately carried her personal belonging and made her way to his new accommodation.


    "He is going to be very surprised," she thought wistfully. "I wonder if he will get a shock?"


    Lu Qingyun was reading in the hall of the new abode when Qin Keqin had suddenly entered with a chuckle, "Qingyun, look who''s here?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he immediately put down his cultivation slip, "Keqin, why are you here?"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "I am your master. Do I even need any permission to visit you?"


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes, "That may be the case but what is the meaning of this blanket and pillow? I actually already have my own blanket."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Who says it is meant for you? It is for myself. From today onward, I will be sleeping with you-"


    All of a sudden a tray that was used to carry a boiling pot of tea was heard dropping onto the ground.


    Qin Keqin had immediately turned ashen because it was not Lu Qingyun that had dropped the tray but Lie Xingyuan!


    The reason why she had turned ashen immediately was because she was exceptional good with her perception and it was extremely difficult to ambush her. Moreover she was also a seventh realm expert with an astonishing high level of spirit sense. But she had somehow failed to detect the presence of Lie Xingyuan who was also in the hall!


    Lie Xingyuan was carrying the tray of tea to Lu Qingyun when the Sect Leader Qin had suddenly dropped in and when she said that she was going to sleep with Lu Qingyun, she was so startled that she had accidentally dropped the tray. "Their relationship has even advanced to the stage of sleeping together?"


    Lu Qingyun did not notice the expression that was on Qin Keqin but he did notice that Lie Xingyuan had accidentally dropped the tray and there was a mess on the floor. So he smiled, "Xingyuan, master is here. You don''t need to be so nervous."


    Lie Xingyuan immediately stammered, "Your prot¨¦g¨¦ Xingyuan greets sect leader."


    Qin Keqin had a slight flush on her cheeks. She had wanted to tease Lu Qingyun but she had never expected that there was someone else in the same abode as him. She asked, "Why are you here?"


    Lie Xingyuan stammered with fright, "I am senior brother''s maidservant. This is my duties to attend to his daily needs so that he can better focus on his celestial practice."


    Qin Keqin was startled, "How come I didn''t know that he has a maidservant?!"


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    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly, "All the core disciples have an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ as a maidservant. This is the practice."


    Qin Keqin was muttering silently to herself, "Then I am screwed¡­"


    She forced herself to smile, "Mm, so you are also sleeping with my disciple Qingyun?"


    Lie Xingyuan had immediately turned ashen as she quickly said, "My room is far from senior brother''s room."


    Qin Keqin had purposely said that to correct her carelessness earlier. She did not want Lie Xingyuan to think that she was going to sleep with Lu Qingyun.


    She nodded before she waved her fingers, "Do you mind helping me to get my blanket and pillow to my new room? From today onward, I will be staying with the two of you."


    Lie Xingyuan quickly nodded, "I will get it done quickly." She quickly grabbed the blanket and pillow before she left the hall.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Keqin, you will be staying with us?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Naturally I am. Are you glad? Or I am disturbing the two of you?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Of course I am glad that you will be here. I am only worried that I won''t be able to see you at all¡­"


    Then he quickly smiled, "It is no wonder why we are suddenly assigned a bigger abode. It is because you will be moving in with us."


    Qin Keqin laughed, "That''s right."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "I''ve heard that you have appointed Ouyang Xue to be the new grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall."


    Qin Keqin replied, "What? It seems that news sure fly fast or is it because you are particularly concerned about her?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "All the prot¨¦g¨¦s know about this and are quite shocked to hear of it. It is not a great secret. Everyone is now talking about this matter. Keqin, may I know if there are any particular reasons why you have appointed her as a grand elder? I am just curious."


    Qin Keqin was thinking, "So that she will be too busy to look for you in the future." But she said, "I have heard that she is looking for a breakthrough. In the entire Heavens Ridge Villa, only the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall and the White Spirit Hall will have the advance energy cultivation techniques to aid her for a breakthrough. By appointing her as the grand elder of the Crystal Spirit Hall, she can freely access these cultivation techniques that she may find helpful-"


    Lu Qingyun clapped on his palm, "Keqin, you are really kind. If you had appointed her as grand elder of the White Spirit Hall then she may be too busy to fend off the hostile prot¨¦g¨¦s and elders. But instead you had appointed Wang Ming to take over the White Spirit Hall. In this way, Grand Elder Wang Ming will be too busy fending off the new hostilities to bother with her. Slowly, Ouyang Xue will be able to consolidate her influence over the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall. This is really brilliant of you to think so far ahead."


    Qin Keqin kept quiet. She had never expected for him to have guess her intentions. Although she had considered Ouyang Xue to be a potential love rival but at least she had good intentions toward Lu Qingyun. Therefore this was her subtle way of repaying her for her good intentions. Moreover, if she did not invite Lu Qingyun to the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, she would never have known his heart for her¡­


    She had clearly overheard him telling Ouyang Xue that he had already someone in his heart¡­


    "Why don''t you tell me that you like me?" she sighed in her heart. "Since you are so smart but why you can''t tell that I like you?"


    As she sighed, she had looked up and suddenly saw that Lu Qingyun was looking at her with a tender expression.


    She had no idea how long they were looking in this manner. Between the two of them, there was something unspeakable and that was she was his master and he was her disciple.


    For Lu Qingyun, there were many things that he had wanted to talk and to say to her. But she was his master now. He was really afraid that he would lose her once and for all if he were to tell her that he liked her¡­


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she took out a silver pill, "This is a high grade spirit pill. I have specially prepared for you. It will be able to help you with your cultivation. I have personally concocted myself."


    "Oh?" Lu Qingyun took the silver pill as he inspected it closely. "Keqin, you are an alchemist?"


    Qin Keqin smiled shyly, "I am only a third realm alchemist. So are you impressed? This pill takes me over a week to concoct and I''ve made it just for you. So are you touched by my gesture? Unfortunately my skills are a little lacking and this is the only successful spirit pill. I try to improve myself the next time though."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Thank you¡­" He was really touched. The ingredients to make this spirit pill were really expensive and it probably cost her a bomb.


    Qin Keqin whispered softly, "Cultivate well and take your martial lessons seriously. Don''t forget that there is a core prot¨¦g¨¦s tournament in 3 months'' time. I hope that you will be able to do well. I will be back in a few days."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Keqin, you are leaving so soon? I''ve thought that you are staying with us?"


    Qin Keqin said melancholy, "I have something to attend first." Then she gave him an alluring smile, "But look, my things are already here. I can stay with you anytime when I''m free."


    Her original intention was to spend a day or two with him but when she had learnt that Lie Xingyuan was with him, she had decided to change her mind at the last minute.


    She chuckled, "But you know where I will be mostly at, right? If you are free, why don''t you come to my hideout to look for me?"


    Lu Qingyun had a heavy heart when he learnt that she would be leaving so soon, "I hope to see you soon¡­"


    Qin Keqin nodded, "We will¡­"


    As she left the hall, she cast a look in the direction where Lie Xingyuan was last seen. "Mm, Lie Xingyuan. Just exactly who you are? You have a most extraordinary background and it is something that I will definitely find out. You may be able to fool him but you can''t fool a seventh realm expert like me."


    When Qin Keqin had left the hall, Lu Qingyun slowly took out the spirit pill that Qin Keqin had given him and took a sniff.


    He was looking palely and was sighing melancholy, "Keqin, why did you add the starforge substances into this spirit hall? What is it that you don''t want me to remember?"

 25 I’m now a Second Realm Exper

    Lu Qingyun was a fourth realm alchemist. He was not an ordinary fourth realm alchemist but a master level fourth realm alchemist with a lofty talent. This was something that even Qin Keqin and many others were not aware of. With a sniff, he was able to discern the ingredients that were used for this spirit pill.


    When he had taken a sniff of the spirit pill, he was able to dissect the ingredients that were used for the spirit hall and concluded that it contained a harmful substance that was called the starforge substances.


    These starforge substances were often used to make a person forget one''s own memories and Qin Keqin had purposely added it into the spirit pill.


    Lie Xingyuan had just re-entered the hall and she was startled that Lu Qingyun was now alone. So she asked, "Senior brother, where is sect leader? I''ve tidied up her room already."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "She will be away for a few days."


    Lie Xingyuan curiously looked at the spirit pill that he was holding and asked, "What is this pill that you are holding? It looks like a great stuff. I can sense the spirit force that is emanating from it."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This is a high grade spirit pill that can aid a practitioner to improve their cultivation base. It is a very good stuff. It also has a beautiful name and it is called the Triple Divine Essence Pill."


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    Lie Xingyuan was gasping. She had heard of the Triple Divine Essence Pill before. It was even more expensive than the box of Heavenly Lotus Tea Leaves that Lu Qingyun had. All its ingredients were all extremely rare and precious. "Is this the¡­real thing?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "It is the real thing."


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling, "It seems that sect leader really cherish you as her disciple. She has given you all the good stuff."


    When he had heard her, he was actually smiling bitterly. It was because there was an extra starforge substance in this Triple Divine Essence Pill.


    "Yan''Er, I need you." He had suddenly called her out.


    Yan''Er was chuckling with delight as she hovered around Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan, "Master, your Yan''Er is now a second realm cultivator."


    Lu Qingyun was astonished, "Yan''Er, you are now a second realm cultivator? So fast? You are really a monstrous genius cultivator."


    He quickly reached out into his inner sea and was startled that he was now an initial second realm master practitioner. He had really breakthrough to the second realm boundaries and it was all thanks to Yan''Er!


    "Yan''Er, you are really such a genius!" He praised her with a jovial smile.


    Yan''Er was very happy because she could feel that her master was really truly happy of her achievements.


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling bitterly as she thought, "Now senior brother is also a second realm expert. This is really too unbelievable. His methods really work. I can''t believe that it is really working. Who has ever heard of a spirit entity that is also a cultivator?"


    Lu Qingyun continued to praise her, "Yan''Er, you are really a genius ninth rank golden roc flame."


    Yan''Er asked, "So I can stop cultivating now?"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "You still need to cultivate a little more."


    Yan''Er asked curiously, "Why master? It is so boring to cultivate."


    He inhaled a regretful sigh, "If I die, Yan''Er will also disappear. That is, if Yan''Er is able to cultivate to the fifth realm or even higher, then we will be able to live as long as the heavens and the earth. Won''t it be good for the both of us?"


    Yan''Er nodded cutely, "Wah, I don''t want master to disappear. Therefore Yan''Er will continue to cultivate hard. Very hard so that we can live as long as the heavens and the earth."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Good. Take a little break first while I prepare the Triple Divine Essence Pill for you to cultivate. Afterward, I will need your help."


    Yan''Er said delightfully, "Alright then. I just play around here. Big Sister Xingyuan, you want to play with Yan''Er?"


    Lie Xingyuan was totally rendered speechless by Lu Qingyun so much that she could only manage a weak smile as she looked at Yan''Er, "Alright¡­"


    But she was looking curiously at Lu Qingyun. It was because she did not understand what was there to prepare for the Triple Divine Essence Pill? It was already ready to be consumed at any time.


    Lu Qingyun had taken out several herbs from his spatial ring and he was carefully arranging dozens of herbs and pills on the table. When he had done arranging, he had also taken out a small golden cauldron and he was putting the Triple Divine Essence Pill inside.


    With a quick wave of his hand, he had picked up all the herbs and pills at the same time as he tossed them into the golden cauldron.


    With a pleased look, he said. "Yan''Er, I need your flames to heat the cauldron."


    There was no need for Yan''Er to ask any questions for she could read Lu Qingyun''s mind perfectly. The minute that he had requested for her help, Yan''Er had immediately released a beautiful circle of golden flames around the golden cauldron.


    Lu Qingyun said solemnly, "Usually this will take about a week of burning to form the pill but with Yan''Er help, this may take as short as an hour."


    Lie Xingyuan saw the solemnness that was on his face. She did not really dare to ask him what was going on but she had continued to watch. It was because she knew that he was fully focused now on what he was doing and could not be distracted.


    Yan''Er golden flames were bright and emanated a strong aura. It was because she was now a second realm flame. Or rather, she had tapped into Lu Qingyun''s spiritual inner sea and he was now a second realm cultivator.


    But even then, Lu Qingyun estimated that it would take an hour for the pill to be concocted successfully as he controlled Yan''Er flames with his thoughts. During this crucial hour, he had to make sure that the fires were even and that it was properly circulated.


    An hour had passed quickly.


    "It is done!" Lu Qingyun shouted jovially.


    Very carefully, he had removed the cover of the golden cauldron and lying within a pile of dark ashes was the same Triple Divine Essence Pill. It did not look any difference from earlier except that all the herbs and pills that Lu Qingyun had thrown in were now piles of ashes.


    Lie Xingyuan could only smile bitterly when she saw that. Luckily the precious Triple Divine Essence Pill was still intact and she secretly heaved a soft sigh of relief.


    Lu Qingyun carefully handled the Triple Divine Essence Pill and all of a sudden he had taken a short knife as he sliced the Triple Divine Essence Pill into two, "Xingyuan, you may have the second halve."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "Senior brother, this won''t do. Sect Leader Qin has given you this pill. She won''t be pleased if she knows that you have given me half of it."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Don''t worry. It doesn''t benefit if I have taken the full pill. Did you see what I did just now? I have made the effect of the pill stronger so that it will be more beneficial to the two of us instead. You forget that I am a fourth realm alchemist?"


    "Really?" Lie Xingyuan asked.


    He was not lying. He had indeed strengthened the effect of the Triple Divine Essence Pill so that it could benefit two people rather than just himself.


    Of course, he did not tell her that had also removed the starforge substance from the Triple Divine Essence Pill¡­


    He did not know why Qin Keqin had added it to the Triple Divine Essence Pill but as a fourth realm alchemist, he was capable of removing it and that was what he did earlier. At the same time, he had also strengthened the effectiveness of the Triple Divine Essence Pill so that it could also benefit Lie Xingyuan.


    When he had thought of her, he began to sigh quietly. The words of his old master came back to haunt him, "Never trust female cultivators especially the beautiful ones."


    He laughed and said to Lie Xingyuan, "So what are you waiting for? Let try if this Triple Divine Essence Pill is really helpful to us or not." He took the lead by taking the one half of the Triple Divine Essence Pill first.


    Lie Xingyuan hesitated as she bit her lips, "Thank you, senior brother. One day I will surely repay you for this kindness."


    He gave a light nod as he said, "You are not a maidservant to me. If it is not for Keqin, I would never be a core prot¨¦g¨¦. I will be an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ just like you."


    Lie Xingyuan averted her glances as she muttered, "It will be good if you''re just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Huh? What did you just say?" He was not paying any attention as his mouth was full.


    "Nothing. I just want to say thank you for much." She smiled and popped in the Triple Divine Essence Pill.

 26 I’m keep leveling Up

    Immediately after Lu Qingyun had swallowed the Triple Divine Essence Pill, he would feel that his inner sea was surging rapidly.


    Yan''Er who was hovering lazily was suddenly exclaiming excitingly, "Master, your inner sea is expanding rapidly!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled. Indeed his inner sea was expanding rapidly. He was just a low level cultivator and Triple Divine Essence Pill was now exercising its best effectiveness on him.


    His spiritual boundaries had suddenly expanded to a new staging and he had attained to the intermediate second realm master practitioner level.


    Just when he thought that it would end there, his spirit boundaries had continued to expand. Within a short time, he had attained to the upper second realm master practitioner level!


    He was startled. The results were much better than he had expected.


    His spiritual boundaries had continued to expand until he was now a peak second realm master practitioner. What exactly was the meaning of a peak second realm level? It means that all he needed now was a fortuitous occurrence for a breakthrough and he would be a third realm enlighten celestial expert.


    The first realm practitioner level was just the basic cultivation level while the second realm master practitioner level was the advance level. The truth was that most cultivators were actually on the first and second realm. To the celestial cultivation masters, only the third realm enlighten celestial level was the real start and third realm experts were the real cultivators. That was why the third realm was also known as the enlightenment level. Celestial practitioners who had reached this level were known as the Enlighten Celestials.


    Lu Qingyun was now truly excited. He had never dreamed that he would reach the peak of the second realm so soon and he was now half a step into the third realm now.


    All he needed now was some luck in meditation to overcome this spiritual boundaries and he would become a third realm expert. He decided to spend the next several days to study more cultivation slips to gain an insight.


    Yan''Er was clapping her small hands delightfully, "Master, your Yan''Er feels so strong and wonderful now."


    "It is all thanks to you as well," he chuckled.


    All of a sudden he noticed that Lie Xingyuan had a weird expression on her countenance, so he asked. "Is there anything wrong? Is the Triple Divine Essence Pill helpful to you?"


    Lie Xingyuan looked at him with a shocked expression, "I''m alright. It is just that I am now an initial third realm expert now¡­"


    For an entire week, Lie Xingyuan had been consuming the Heavenly Lotus Tea. Although it did not seem to have any effect on her just yet but it did leave behind a cumulative effect. So when she had taken the Triple Divine Essence Pill, her spiritual boundaries had quickly expanded her cultivation inner sea into a peak second realm expert.


    Because Lie Xingyuan was also a talented cultivator, she had quickly overcome her limits and had attained to the third realm enlighten celestial level.


    She touched her rosy cheeks, "This means that I will no longer age and have all the time now to find a way to attain to the fourth realm?" This was actually an incorrect statement and she was making a figure of speech. When one reached the enlighten celestial level, the aging process will slow down tremendously. Since she had attained to the third realm enlighten celestial level at a young age, she would stay young for a long time.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stammered, "Xingyuan, you have reached the third realm already?"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded shyly, "It is all thanks to senior brother."


    In order to become his maidservant, she was borrowed heavily and was buried in a mountain of debt which she had no hope of repaying. All of a sudden, she felt that becoming Senior Brother Lu''s maidservant was the best thing that had happened to her. Moreover, the wages that were paid to second realm and third realm cultivators were like heavens and the earth. Now that she had become a third realm cultivator, there may even be a chance for her to become a core prot¨¦g¨¦ in the future too.


    Lu Qingyun chuckled, "That is good news! Let me go and boil of the Heavenly Lotus Tea for our enjoyment. I wonder if junior sister is willing to share with me some helpful cultivation tips as well? Ha ha ha, I think I am so lame to ask for help. This senior brother is so useless and good-for-nothing."


    Lie Xingyuan said quietly as she looked coyly at him, "You are not useless or good-for-nothing. Your junior sister will naturally share with you all that I''ve known. You are the best¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "Oh really? I''m so happy to hear that¡­"


    He did not notice that the lingering glances of Lie Xingyuan were full of admiration and wistful meanings when she was looking at him.


    "Senior brother, I''m going out a while. I won''t take too long. Is that alright with you?" Lie Xingyuan had suddenly said.


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    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Sure. Please go ahead."


    Lie Xingyuan gave a faint smile as she got up. As she left for the entrance, she took a second glance at him¡­


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly said to Yan''Er, "Hmm, Yan''Er. Since you are a genius ninth rank spirit golden roc flame entity, do you think that you can help me to achieve a breakthrough to the third realm?"


    Yan''Er laughed playfully, "Cultivation is too easy. I think I will be able to do just that in no time."


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "Great. Then I can take a break."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled when she had overheard him. This senior brother was fully taking advantage of Yan''Er to help him to cultivate while he reaped the sows of her labors. This was too exaggerating. But he had a kind heart and that was what she liked about him. Her opinion of him had totally changed over the course of a week.


    When Lie Xingyuan had left, Lu Qingyun mindlessly looked up and said to Yan''Er. "From today onward, Yan''Er you will cultivate the celestial practice while I will be practicing alchemy. Together we will work very hard so that we will be able to help each other out."


    Yan''Er said joyfully, "Master your alchemy skills are something that Yan''Er cannot do. I will be depending on master in the future to feed me more powerful spirit pills!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "My old master had left behind the recipe and ingredients meant for a rare sixth realm spirit pill. I will work hard to concoct this sixth realm heavenly spirit pill for us. I don''t want to waste the ingredients that my old master and I had so painstakingly gathered."


    For 10 years, Lu Qingyun and his old master had wandered the desolate mountains of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm to gather rare spiritual herbs. There were many times that they had run into mortal dangers. In fact, his old master had suffered a grievous injury and it had eventually claimed his life.


    When he thought of his old master, he began to sigh sadly. "Master, I am doing well right now. In fact, I''ve met the love of my life now. However, our disparities are too great. I can only watch her from afar¡­"

 27 Face-slapping Tang Bufan

    Tang Bufan was really unhappy. It was because he had learnt that he would get no maidservant, at least not just yet. It was because there was no one that was willing to be his maidservant.


    Rushuang had quit being his maidservant all of a sudden and she had secretly told the other female ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s that Tang Bufan had actually offended the new acting sectarian leader.


    When Rushuang had lost this opportunity to be Tang Bufan''s maidservant, there was actually still several interested female ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s that were willing to take up this ''lost'' opportunity that was given up by Rushuang. However, when their Sect Leader Qin had suddenly defeated Supremacy Wen, shove away Celestial Bai Laoxiong and even reassigned the grand elder positions, all the prot¨¦g¨¦s had suddenly realized that Qin Keqin was not someone that they could afford to step upon.


    Therefore, all the opportunistic female prot¨¦g¨¦s had all decided to give up this opportunity to be an attendant of a core prot¨¦g¨¦. This golden opportunity may cause them to lose their position and life. None of the female ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s were willing to risk their positions in the Heavens Ridge Ville for that.


    At this moment, Tang Bufan was on his way to see Celestial Shi Guanyin. As he walked, he was sighing heavily that he had got Rushuang into his bed yet. She was really a pretty prot¨¦g¨¦ and moreover, she was also a second realm cultivator. While he had played with many women before, there was none who was a second realm cultivator and above. So he was dying to have this experience as part of his conquest.


    "Never mind," he thought. "I can still work on my new master. After all, she is actually quite beautiful and she is quite sexy too."


    When he had entered the Red Heaven Sword Hall, Celestial Shi Guanyin was already there with three core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    Nangong Yu was the most senior of the three core prot¨¦g¨¦s and he was already an initial fourth realm expert. All the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s had to address him as senior brother and Tang Bufan was not an exception.


    Leng Qiuyue was the second senior and she was like an icy beauty. She rarely spoke unless it was necessary. She did not even bother to greet Lu Qingyun as senior brother. She was an upper third realm expert.


    Li Chen was the third senior and he was always had a smile on his face. He was a middle third realm expert.


    As Tang Bufan entered the Red Heaven Sword Hall, he immediately greeted. "Master, seniors, Tang Bufang greets all of you."


    Shi Guanyin nodded expressionlessly before she said, "The rest of you are dismissed. I will speak with Bufang alone."


    Tang Bufang was startled but he was also secretly glad. Could it be that his master had shown an exceptional interest in him? This was an excellent opportunity for him to get into his master''s good books!


    So he began to smile broadly as his seniors departed, giving a hand bow to them when they had walked past him.


    Nangong Yu and Leng Qiuyue simply walked past him without even acknowledging him while Li Chen returned a smile and a hand bow as he walked past him.


    He was silently cursing Nangong Yu and Leng Qiuyue, "There is no need to be so haughty. Soon I will overtake all of you and you will regret the day that you have slighted me."


    Shi Guanyin read a cultivation slip without looking at him, "Bufan, you are a new core prot¨¦g¨¦. I hope that you will get along well with the other seniors. Our Red Heaven Sword Halls specialized in swordplay. This does not mean that our swordplay is better than the other martial halls but your swordplay must never lose to the other martial halls. After I have dismissed you, go to the Red Heaven Sword Library and get yourself three sword manuals for your self-study. You are now dismissed."


    Tang Bufan was startled, "I am dismissed so fast? Self-study? Won''t master be instructing me personally?"


    Shi Guanyin said lazily without looking at him, "In a month''s time, I''ll be testing you on your self-study. The Red Heaven Library elder will also be giving you a cultivation slip on the third realm celestial practice. Go now."


    Tang Bufan smiled weakly, "Master, I have a small request. May I speak?"


    Shi Guanyin said lazily, "You may."


    Tang Bufang smiled, "Master, you are the most beautiful master that I ever got. At the moment, I still don''t have a maidservant to attend to my needs. May I request for an attendant to attend to my daily needs as soon as possible so that I can better focus on my cultivation?"


    This time Shi Guanyin put down her cultivation slip as she looked at Tang Bufan as she lit a smile¡­


    Tang Bufang was overjoyed. By saying that she was the most beautiful master that he had ever got, his master was indeed flattered by him. Slowly he would work on his plans on seducing her¡­


    Shi Guanyin said coolly as she looked at him, "There won''t be an attendant for you. At least not until after the sect internal martial tournament. Tang Bufan, you have better saved on your flattering. I have seen many people that are like you in the past. If you think that I am just an inexperienced maiden then you are greatly mistaken. Do you think that your Tang Clan is really that rich? You have no knowledge what the wealthy truly is in the world of cultivation. It is not something that the puny likes of you can imagine."


    Tang Bufan was startled. His master had actually rebuked him!


    Just as he was about to protest he had no ill-intentions, Shi Guanyin said coldly. "You know. I have really regretted taking you in my core prot¨¦g¨¦ and I should have let Bai Laoxiong have you instead. So what are you waiting for? You''re dismissed."


    With that, she had returned her attention to her cultivation slip.


    Tang Bufan was smiling weakly. This master of his was really not easy to handle. He did not understand why his master was so cold toward him. He had thought that he was a genius cultivator and that his master would be too eager to have him as her core prot¨¦g¨¦. But all of a sudden this seemed a little amiss somewhere¡­


    Shi Guanyin had already noticed that Tang Bufan was full of hostilities toward Lu Qingyun during the core prot¨¦g¨¦s selection. All the tiny nuances that were being displayed by the two hundred candidates were all captured by her spirit perception. She was after all a golden celestial and a fifth realm expert. Her attainment and strength were not something that a mere third realm cultivator like Tang Bufan could ever imagine until he had reached her state of divinity.


    This Tang Bufan had not only made an enemy out of Lu Qingyun but he had also foolishly made an enemy out of Qin Keqin or so the rumors had claimed as spread by Rushuang.


    She did not like surprises and she did not want to offend someone as powerful as Qin Keqin, at least not yet until she was shrewd enough to overcome her. Getting to her present position was really not easy and she had stepped upon the dead bodies of her fellow prot¨¦g¨¦s to climb to this height. She could tell that Tang Bufan was an ambitious man by his actions.


    But he was also a stupid man. She mused silently, "A stupid fellow like you won''t survive in the scheming world of the cultivators. Although you are cunning but you are stupid to think that everyone else is a stupid fool like you. I''m not surprised that you are being played by the others sooner or later."


    When Tang Bufan was out of her sight, she began to mutter. "Lu Qingyun, Lu Qingyun. I wonder what is your background? You are but a lowly first realm cultivator but you have actually possessed a nine rank spirit entity. You are not even a fourth realm expert yet. This spirit entity is such a waste on you. And I wonder why Qin Keqin has shown such a great interest in you?"


    She began to sigh. If she were to have a ninth rank spirit entity then she would have already broken through to sixth realm golden supremacy level. Then she would be one of the most powerful celestials in New Empyrean City.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Tang Bufan walked miserably out of the Red Heaven Sword Hall, cursing his master for not appreciating him and failing to fall for his handsome charms.


    Soon he was now at the Sword Heaven Library and there was an old elder who was sitting in the lobby inside.


    He took a look at Tang Bufan and said in his old hoarse voice, "You must be Tang Bufan. I''ve been expecting you."


    Tang Bufan smiled as he gave a hand bow, "Indeed I am. How may I address senior elder?"


    The old man replied casually, "Elder Kongshi."


    Tang Bufan greeted, "Elder Kongshi!"


    Elder Kongshi took out a cultivation slip and put it on the table in front of him, "As you are just at the beginning of the third realm, this cultivation slip is a third realm cultivation slip that may be helpful to you."


    "Senior elder, thank you!" Tang Bufan expressed his gratitude and happily took the cultivation slip. Third realm cultivation slips were really rare even in New Empyrean City. This was something that he sorely needed and he had finally obtained a copy of it. Finally he would fulfill his grand dreams of reaching the fourth realm immortal celestial level.


    "Also," Elder Kongshi added as he put a green jade ring on the table. "To select the sword manuals, simply tap it with your ring. As you are a third realm core prot¨¦g¨¦, you are able to access to the 3rd floor limit."


    After thanking the elder, he began to walk into Red Heaven Library.


    He was a little surprised to see that there were dozens of prot¨¦g¨¦s that were roaming around. When they saw him with his core disciple attire, they immediately greeted. "Senior brother!"


    Tang Bufan lit a smile. To be called a senior brother was such a wonderful feeling.


    He was like a blazing sun with this new attire that had marked him as a core prot¨¦g¨¦ and it was like a badge of honor.


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    This was the first floor and most of the sword manuals were only basic. Therefore he decided to go to the second floor directly. He was after all a core prot¨¦g¨¦ and it would not be good for his reputation if he pick a sword manual from the first floor.


    On the second floor, there were only about two dozen prot¨¦g¨¦s that were around. When they saw him, they hastily greeted him as senior brother.


    By now, Tang Bufan was feeling extremely superior and proud of his new status as a core prot¨¦g¨¦. The new attire of a core prot¨¦g¨¦ really worked wonders!


    He decided to go to the third floor directly. As a highly ranked core prot¨¦g¨¦, how could he compare to these common prot¨¦g¨¦s on the second floor? If he wanted to learn a new swordplay then it had to be something fantastic to fit his lofty status as a third realm cultivator.


    When he reached the third floor, there was only a single prot¨¦g¨¦ inside and that single prot¨¦g¨¦ was Nangong Yu, the eldest core prot¨¦g¨¦ of Celestial Shi Guanyin.


    He quickly greeted panicky, "Senior brother!"


    Nangong Yu stared coldly at him and said icily, "You are indeed ambitious enough to come to the third floor. Don''t bite more than you can chew."


    Tang Bufan smiled weakly, "Yes, yes."


    Now it was his turn to call someone else senior brother. The first two floors were like heavens to him while the third floor was like hell all of a sudden¡­

 29 Following Qin Keqin

    Qin Keqin had already left the Heavens Ridge Villa and she was now strolling in the forested vicinity. An astonishing beauty had suddenly come into view. This astonishing beauty was once the number one beauty of the Nine Celestial Fraternity and she was Feng Minyue.


    As Qin Keqin approached, she greeted softly. "Sister Saintess Yuqing, you are finally here."


    "Lazy Danfeng. Why isn''t she here?" Qin Keqin asked.


    Feng Minyue smiled, "She says someone got to stay behind to listen to the gossips of the city."


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she took off her golden mask and tossed it to her, "Never mind her. Minyue, now it is your turn to role-play as the Devil Goddess. In this entire fraternity, there is no one who knows that we are the Devil Goddess and that we are two persons."


    Feng Minyue heaved a soft sigh, "I don''t understand why sister saintess you are expending so much effort to weave such an elaborate scheme and concocting pills yourself. We have already burnt quite a hole in our pockets now."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Maybe because I am too bored? Maybe I have too much time on my hands?"


    Feng Minyue smiled weakly, "While your schemes are refreshing and ingenious but I can''t really say the same for your alchemy skills."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Qin Keqin forced herself to smile, "I need more practice. That is all."


    Feng Minyue smiled bitterly, "You have never succeeded on your first try, even for pills that you have concocted before."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "I just out of practice, that is all."


    Feng Minyue sighed woefully, "I wish that you will give up on your alchemy."


    "Nothing is safer than your own pills. Moreover you can add all sort of interesting stuffs inside and no one will ever know." Qin Keqin smiled delightfully as she said.


    Feng Minyue rolled her eyes, "It''s no wonder why your pills keep failing."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Don''t worry. We are still rich. Didn''t we just obtain some money from Tang Bufan?"


    "We have already finished the money."


    Qin Keqin gave a sheepish reply, "So fast¡­" It was obviously that she knew how fast she could burn money on alchemy. But she gave a purposely reply, "We ought to ask Xuan Danfeng to cut down on her expensive wines intake. We can''t afford to keep her around anymore. Maybe we can even let this good-for-nothing saintess go."


    Feng Minyue smiled weakly, "She doesn''t spend as much as you do. Not even a hundredth."


    Qin Keqin laughed but she quickly asked, "Do you know how to instruct a disciple? You know that this is my first time instructing one and I''m a little nervous."


    Feng Minyue said, "I thought that you are going to move in with him for a day or two to instruct him?"


    Qin Keqin replied, "Well, I''ve suddenly changed my mind."


    "Oh what happens?"


    Feng Minyue asked but she was soon looking beyond Qin Keqin, "Unfortunately sister, it seems that there is someone who is following you and you didn''t manage to notice her."


    Qin Keqin quickly turned around and probed with her spiritual perception but the intruder continued to remain hidden.


    She was soon growling.


    Feng Minyue said, "I don''t think the intruder is able to hear our conversations earlier. Let me locate the intruder with the spirit array that I have in place here."


    As she started to probe with her spirit sense with the spirit array, she was slowly pointing her fingers around the forested vicinity. All of a sudden she shouted, "There!"


    When Feng Minyue had pinpointed the direction, Qin Keqin had immediately flashed toward the direction with a startling speed!


    Feng Minyue said behind Qin Keqin, "20m ahead!"


    20m was just a blink of an eye for a super celestial expert like Qin Keqin and she had immediately attacked the bushes.


    As she attacked, Lie Xingyuan gave a startled cry as she quickly evaded the attack.


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly at her, "I wonder who is so formidable. So it is only you."


    Lie Xingyuan had turned ashen completely and she had fallen on her knees, "I¡­may sect leader shows your mercy on me. I didn''t mean to follow you¡­"


    Qin Keqin scoffed coldly, "Didn''t mean to follow me? You have followed me for some time already, am I right? What did you see and hear?"


    Feng Minyue had already flashed next to Qin Keqin and she was surprised that the intruder was only a lowly third realm expert that was following Qin Keqin, "Huh? Is only a young maiden? She is actually so capable of even following you?"


    Lie Xingyuan bit her lips, "I know that I won''t survive the day. Please don''t tell Senior Brother Lu what has happened to me. Just tell him that I have left for my hometown."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Lie Xingyuan was trembling, "I just don''t understand how you are able to sense me when I have already concealed to the best of my ability."


    Feng Minyue smiled, "Simple. I''ve already set up a spirit array in this vicinity. Anyone that has entered my spirit array will be sensed by me. If you are a fourth realm expert, maybe there is still a chance for you to sense my spirit array first and avoid it. But unfortunately, there is no maybe. You are still too inexperienced and low level."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "I¡­I am too careless."


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "Lie Xingyuan, Lie Xingyuan. I''ve already known that you are not an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦. The first time that I''ve met you, I cannot even detect your heartbeat. It seems that you are able to control your heartbeat to the level of a fifth realm expert. I am really curious who your master really is."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly, "I won''t betray my master. Since I am already prepared to die today, you can save on the questioning."


    Then she stared at Qin Keqin, "I''ve never expected that our sect leader is actually the infamous super villainess and the Golden Mask Devil Goddess of the three dark divine realms. You are not just a fifth realm expert but a seventh realm expert. It was no wonder why Supremacy Wen had lost so badly."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Now you know. Xingyuan, since you''ve already known who I am, surely you know there are fates that are worse than death?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly, "I know but I won''t let you torture me¡­"


    She had suddenly unsheathed her sword but Qin Keqin had knocked her sword aside and had grabbed her throat as she said coldly, "I won''t let you bite your tongue either."


    Feng Minyue said with a soft sigh as she caught hold of Qin Keqin''s wrist, "Sister, let''s not frighten her anymore. Let me handle her."


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    She turned to say gently to Lie Xingyuan, "We won''t kill you but we have to imprison you for the time being. It is because we can''t allow our secrets to be found out by anyone."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly, "Anything. But I won''t tell you who my master is. I only pity Senior Brother Lu. He is so pitiful. He doesn''t know that the person that he loves is actually a super villainess. He has actually trusted you and pinned for you. I feel so pity for him."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    "You are actually so vicious to conspire with Tang Bufan to harm Celestial Shi Guanyin. Surely there is nothing you cannot do." Lie Xingyuan spat bitterly.


    Qin Keqin smiled when she had mentioned Tang Bufan and Celestial Shi Guanyin, "Tonight there will be a fun show and I will take you to watch it with me."


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    At this point Lie Xingyuan was only regretful that she would never see Lu Qingyun again as she cried silently, "Senior Brother Lu¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Shi Guanyin said to Tang Bufan, "You say that you have the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill. You know that I don''t like anyone to lie to me or joke around me."


    Tang Bufan smiled as he presented a box, "Master, your good disciple here will never joke about such matters. It is with tremendous respect that I am presenting the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill to my most respected master. If master is strong then your disciple will only be too happy. In fact, I want nothing in return!"


    Shi Guanyin eyed him suspicious as she took the box, "Is that so? I hope you really mean what you''re saying from your heart."


    As she opened the box, she began to probe the crimson pill with her spirit sense.


    With a soft gasp, she muttered. "This is really the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill. How did you get it? Do you know how difficult it is to obtain it?"


    Tang Bufan smiled, "My ancestor who was a high level cultivator had left it behind. But I am only a lowly cultivator and I have admired master at first sight. Therefore I''ve decided to present this as a gift to my most respected master."


    Shi Guanyin looked a little sheepish as she smiled pleasantly, "Oh well, thank you."


    She was suddenly more polite to Tang Bufan and her attitude had suddenly changed after obtaining the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill.


    Tang Bufan was smiling too. It was because he could already sense the attitude change in her voice.


    "Then your disciple Bufang shall take my leave first." He said. He was purposely leaving her alone to sample the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill.


    Shi Guanyin nodded, "Alright. You may leave first. Tomorrow I will get Elder Kongshi to give you an extra cultivation slip."


    Tang Bufan bowed with his hands as he left the Red Heaven Martial Hall and his eyes were already feasting upon her as he had left the hall.

 32 I’m a Third Realm Expert now

    Yan''Er happily told Lu Qingyun, "Master, I am now a third realm expert now! That means master you''re also a third realm expert too! This is too easy. I''ve thought that cultivation is tough!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "My Yan''Er is indeed an astonishing genius."


    Yan''Er was originally a nine rank spirit entity. The first three realms of cultivation were totally inherent to her and it was like breathing. There was actually no need for her to even cultivate hard or even expend any efforts at all.


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    "Master, why is that you don''t look so happy?" Yan''Er asked curiously after seeing his expression and sensing his melancholy heart.


    Lu Qingyun sighed, "I am really anxious about Xingyuan. She has not been around for some time. I am afraid that something may befall her. I think that it is better that I take a look around."


    Yan''Er nodded and smiled cutely, "Big Sister Xingyuan will be alright. Don''t worry master."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Yan''Er, retreat to my inner cultivation sea for the time being. I''m going to take a look around."


    "Alright!" Yan''Er cheerily vanished from sight.


    After writing a note for Lie Xingyuan in the case that she would be back and could not find him, he walked out of his new abode.


    The Heavens Ridge Villa was a large place, occupying many acres and even three mountain peaks. Each one of the mountain peak housed two martial halls. His new abode was actually in the middle of the three mountain peaks where the inner prot¨¦g¨¦s who had served for many years in the Heavens Ridge Villa was.


    Although there were many senior prot¨¦g¨¦s but when they saw him, they all greeted him as senior brother.


    He stopped to ask a few of them, "Erm, have you seen Lie Xingyuan?"


    Almost all of them had never heard or even seen her before. A few had recognized her name because she was associated as his attendant but otherwise they had no other useful information for him. To the inner prot¨¦g¨¦s, Lie Xingyuan was only a nameless ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ and there were thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s in the Heavens Ridge Villa so it was really difficult for them to know everyone. Moreover she had only joined the sect for only a year.


    Just as Lu Qingyun was despairing, he caught sight of a familiar person and she was equally surprised to see him.


    "It''s you?" Ouyang Xue was startled when she saw him.


    She had been sitting alone in a pavilion and staring at the night skies.


    Lu Qingyun said, "Junior sister, why are you here?"


    She smiled, "Aren''t you here as well?" Then she said quietly, "This is my favorite spot since I was young. I used to come here to reflect alone."


    She had just succeeded as the new grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall. It was not easy for her to manage and to gain the respect of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall.


    Then she looked curiously at him, "So what are you doing here at almost close to midnight?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed with a heavy heart, "I''m looking for Xingyuan. It is now so late in the night and she isn''t back yet. I am really afraid that something unduly will happen to her."


    Ouyang Xue was startled, "This is most unusual. Maybe she has gone out? Do you have any idea where she has gone to? Does she have any friends around that you can ask?"


    Her question had caught Lu Qingyun off-guarded. It was because he had no idea where Lie Xingyuan had gone to and he did not even know if she had any friends¡­


    "I don''t know¡­" Lu Qingyun muttered with despair.


    He suddenly said, "I got to go now. I need to look for her."


    Ouyang Xue gasped, "But do you have any clue where to look for her?"


    Lu Qingyue said desperately, "I will search outside for her. No matter what, I got to try. Good bye¡­"


    "Senior Brother Lu¡­" a familiar voice called out.


    Lu Qingyue was startled. Did he just hear Xingyuan''s voice?" He quickly turned around and saw Lie Xingyuan was walking toward him and there were tears flowing down her cheeks.


    He was so overjoyed to see her, "Xingyuan, where did you go? I am so worried for you¡­"


    All of a sudden Lie Xingyuan had jumped into his embrace and cried aloud. "Senior brother, I''ve thought that I may never be able to see you again¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled. He did not dare to hold her and this was actually the first time that he was being hugged in this manner, "Did something happen? Please do tell me. Are you really alright?"


    Lie Xingyuan cried out even louder but she did not say a word.


    Ouyang Xue was trembling a little when she saw Lie Xingyuan in Lu Qingyun''s embrace. But she stood quietly aside. It was because she knew that it did not really matter what she said as only Lu Qingyun could comfort her. Therefore she did the smart thing and kept quiet.


    "If you don''t tell me, how will I know? I really want to help you. Did someone bully you?" Lu Qingyun said quite anxiously. As he said those words, he was checking her for bruises and wounds that may be a tell-tale sign that she had been brutalized.


    He was thinking, "She had just told me that she was afraid that she might never see me again¡­"


    "No¡­" she muttered.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh when she had said that. He was particular worried about how vulnerable she was and how dangerous the outside world was. On his first day in New Empyrean City, there was even an attempt robbery on him.


    "Senior brother, let''s go back. I am really tired and I don''t wish to talk about it."


    "Alright." He said, "You can tell me anytime afterward if you want to talk about it then."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly.


    Lu Qingyun turned to say to Ouyang Xue, "Don''t stay up too late. Good bye."


    When he had said that, he and Lie Xingyuan started to walk away.


    Ouyang Xue sighed softly as she muttered almost incoherently, "It''s good to see you tonight¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was still thinking about what her master had said to her earlier as she had left with Lu Qingyun.


    Her master had told her, "Don''t let anyone knows who Qin Keqin is. I can promise you that she won''t harm you or will allow you to come to harm if you can keep her secret."


    Who exactly was her master?


    Lie Xingyuan had found out that she knew so little about her master now. When she saw that she had so casually beaten off two seventh realm experts, including the two Devil Goddesses in such a casual manner, she immediately knew that her master was an extraordinary cultivation expert.


    The reason why she did not suspect previously was because her master had been teaching her several breathing techniques and clearing her meridians slowly. Moreover her master did not have golden eyes.


    She had now realized that her master had purposely hidden away her golden eyes. She had learnt of such a method with one of the meridian techniques that her master had taught her. She had been wondering, why should anyone suppress their golden eyes? It was such a wondrous feeling to be regarded as a golden celestial¡­


    Until now, she was still shocked that Qin Keqin was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqin that she had been idolizing. This shock alone was too much for her to bear and that her idol had been trying to kill her¡­

 33 Shi Guanyin’s Visi

    Lu Qingyun was displaying a swordplay that he had learnt from his old master to Lie Xingyuan in the practice courtyard of his abode.


    "This stroke is the Little Leaves Hovering and this stroke is the triple slash."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as she watched the display. Although his swordplay was ordinary, the way he had displayed it was extremely swift and smooth. In fact, it had already reached to the standard of a third realm swordplay by the speed alone.


    She was actually thinking, "Senior brother is actually so good with the sword? I am really surprised. He can easily defeat any of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s with his sword. Why is he so highly accomplished? But he is only a lowly cultivator."


    Then she corrected herself, "Not anymore. He is now an initial third realm expert. The same as me now."


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    By right when she had advanced to the third realm, she ought to report it to the elders. It was because third realm experts were all considered to be valuable clan resources and were highly regarded. In fact, third realm experts were all inner prot¨¦g¨¦s and had a chance to be masters and elders of the clan.


    However she decided not to report her new cultivation level to the elders. It was because she still want to be his personal attendant¡­


    Lu Qingyun displayed another move and asked Lie Xingyuan, "What do you think of this move? This is the encircle slash. I am a little out of practice but I am quite proud of it. I took months of practice just to get it right."


    This encircle slash combined both a slashing arc and a movement step as the practitioner turned his body quickly around. Indeed it was not an easy sword maneuver to execute. The practitioner had to be fast to turn around quickly and to steady the footing at the same time while minimizing the exposure to opening weakness as quickly as possible.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "It seems that senior brother already knows more about swordplay than me. I am indeed incomparable to you. This sword stroke is properly executed. I can really find no flaws in it-"


    "Indeed this is a properly executed swordplay. However there are still improvements to be made. Although it is just a basic stroke but you can combine it with the more advance strokes that are in my Red Heaven Sword Library."


    Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan were startled and they quickly turned around to see that the speaker was Celestial Shi Guanyin and with her was Elder Kongshi.


    They were both clapping and as soon as Lu Qingyun had turned around, they respectfully bowed with their hands.


    Lie Xingyuan immediately greeted, "Grand Elder Celestial Shi, Elder Kongshi."


    Shi Guanyin laughed as she said, "Senior Brother Lu, how are you?"


    Lie Xingyuan almost could not suppress her will to giggle. It was because it was funny to have Celestial Shi Guanyin who was a grand elder to call Lu Qingyun her senior brother.


    Lu Qingyun bowed with his hands, "Senior, I am well. Indeed, I have a lot to learn in regards to swordplay."


    Shi Guanyin smiled, "Why don''t you come to my Red Heaven Sword Library to pick a few sword manuals for some insights?"


    Elder Kongshi was also smiling, "Senior Brother Lu, please feel welcome to come to the Red Heaven Sword Library to pick some sword manuals. I''m the elder that is in charge of the Red Heaven Sword Library."


    Shi Guanyin added, "There are altogether four levels to the Red Heaven Sword Library. As your cultivation realm improves, the prot¨¦g¨¦s will be able to proceed to the next level of the library. So a fourth realm expert may enter the fourth level while a first realm expert may enter only the first floor. However, I want to make this an exception for you. You are allowed to gain free access to all the levels of the Red Heaven Sword Library."


    Lie Xingyuan was secretly startled. It was because the Red Heaven Sword Hall guarded its third and fourth floor like its heavenly secret, disallowing even the core prot¨¦g¨¦s from the other martial halls to enter. She would actually allow Lu Qingyun to enter even the fourth floor of the Red Heaven Sword Library?


    The Red Heaven Sword Library was guarded by Elder Kongshi and although he was just an ordinary elder but he was actually an intermediate fourth realm expert with extremely formidable swordplay under his sleeves.


    It was said that Elder Kongshi was already a thousand year old and he was the oldest prot¨¦g¨¦ in the entire Heavens Ridge Ville.


    Lu Qingyun was also startled, "Is that really alright?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled affectionately, "Of course it is. In fact you don''t even need a token. Just come anytime you''re free."


    Then she smiled, "After all, I like to see you doing well for the internal core prot¨¦g¨¦s martial competition too."


    Lu Qingyun had thought that Celestial Shi Guanyin was an unfriendly person but it seemed that he was totally wrong about her. So he replied, "Then I thank you in advance."


    He also made a polite hand bow to Elder Kongshi as an appreciation.


    Shi Guanyin chuckled softly, "There is no need to thank me. We are all in the same clan. By the way, I''ve come to see sect leader. Is she around?"


    Lu Qingyun answered awkwardly as he shook his head, "I''m afraid that she won''t be in until a few days later."


    Shi Guanyin was a little surprised, "Oh? I''ve thought that she is eager to move in so I''ve thought that she might be around."


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly to herself, "She is eager to move in till she has seen me¡­"


    Shi Guanyin looked a little disappointed before she smiled, "In that case, I shall take my leave first. Please help me to send her my regards. Farewell."


    Lu Qingyun replied, "I will. Farewell."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled to him after Shi Guanyin and Elder Kongshi had left, "Senior brother, this is a golden opportunity for you. Why don''t you take a look?"


    Lu Qingyun said, "How about tomorrow then? If we go there immediately today, this is a little too shameful to say that we are lusting after the sword manuals of the Red Heaven Sword Library and erm, a little too thick skin."


    Lie Xingyuan laughed, "You''re right. Alright, then I shall take you there tomorrow. However I can''t enter the place so I just wait for you outside."


    Lu Qingyun was looking a little displeased, "Since that Elder Kongshi is in charge, tomorrow I shall ask him to make an exception for you."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "They are already bending the rules for you. I am just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦. There is no need to break any rule just for me. In the end, you will be owing them an extra favor. Regarding favors, it is always not a good idea to owe too many. One day, you have to return it."


    Lu Qingyun said nonchalantly, "So be it then. There is no harm asking."


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    She was sighing softly to herself, "Senior brother, why are you so good to me? Do you know that one day I will leaving here?"


    When Shi Guanyin had left the vicinity of Lu Qingyun''s abode, she whispered to Elder Kongshi, "I want Tang Bufan to be dead."


    Elder Kongshi nodded, "He had already fled but I''ve already hired the assassins from the Black Hands Guild to hunt after him."


    Shi Guanyin nodded, "That''s good. I want him to die without a full corpse."


    Then she paused to ask quietly, "What do you think of Lu Qingyun''s swordplay?"


    Elder Kongshi replied, "He can actually turn his body around in a blink of an eye and still maintain his original attack stance. Even I can''t do that. But seeing is believing."


    Shi Guanyin nodded, "He is like a one in a million. I still can''t believe that he is only a first realm lowly cultivator."


    "Same here," answered Elder Kongshi.

 34 Visiting the Red Heaven Sword Library 1

    The next day as Lu Qingyun made his way to the Red Heaven Sword Library, Lie Xingyuan explained to him. "Usually only when an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ has reached the intermediate master practitioner level, the masters of the various martial halls will allow them to go to their martial halls to pick a skill or two. Or else, there will be daily martial practices in the outer courts."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I''ve thought that this may be the case. But why is that no one is asking me to attend any of the martial practices?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "That is because you''re their senior brother. Which masters or elders will dare to ask you to go for any martial practices? Moreover you are also a core prot¨¦g¨¦ now. Usually core prot¨¦g¨¦s do not need to go to the outer courts for their martial practice and they have to practice the more advance skills alone. You are basically left on your own now, since your master is always missing."


    When she mentioned his master, there was a slow flash in her eyes¡­


    She quickly added, "Should the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ managed to reach the upper master practitioner level, they may be allowed to access the second level but only after a stringent competition or deserving merit. It is not as simple as simple as you are a second realm expert therefore you''re allowed access to the second floor. Most second realm prot¨¦g¨¦s here have never even stepped into any of the second floor library of the six martial halls."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "It does seem that Grand Elder Celestial Shi is quite kind to me."


    Lie Xingyuan nodded lightly but she was saying silently, "That''s only because she feels indebted to your master for ''saving'' her."


    As Lu Qingyun was chatting with her, he was secretly heaving a soft sigh of relief. For the past two days, he had been quietly observing her as he was really worried what had exactly happened that day.


    He was still secretly bothered when she said that she was so afraid that she might never see him again. He was not stupid. Something serious had happened to her.


    But because she did not mention it, he did not want to force her to reveal what had happened that day. He could only quietly observe her. He had a quiet resolute not to let her out of his sight again, at least not out of his sight for an extended period.


    That night when she had suddenly fell into his embrace, he was suddenly quite startled. Till now, he was thinking on how soft her body was. He wondered if it was Qin Keqin that was in his embrace, how could it feel?


    "Senior brother?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he turned to look at Lie Xingyuan, "Yes?"


    Lie Xingyuan said, "I''ve been calling you a few times. What are you thinking about? You''re thinking of sect leader?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "I will not tell you¡­"


    "You have been calling her in your sleep this morning and it is quite loud," she said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he quickly looked around his surroundings, just in case that there were people around before he whispered. "Erm, you mustn''t tell anyone. Especially not sect leader. I am just having some fantasies about her, that''s all. It is impossible between us."


    Indeed he was having some fantasies about Qin Keqin in his wet dreams. Now that he had attained to the third realm enlighten celestial level, he could now shut off his thoughts from Yan''Er. Therefore last night he decided to do some testing secretly.


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly, "I won''t tell anyone. Please don''t worry about it." But she was secretly thinking, "The way she looks at you, I don''t think she thinks of you as just a disciple. If I were you, I would risk telling her even if I know I may get reject. It is better than not letting your feeling known to her."


    She could say that because she was standing on a third party perspective but in reality she lacked the courage to tell Lu Qingyun that she liked him.


    "It looks like we''re here now." Lu Qingyun said as he saw the building ahead.


    Lie Xingyuan nodded, "Yes, we''re here. Let''s go in."


    When they had entered the entrance of the building, there were three elders who were sitting inside.


    Lu Qingyun was able to recognize one of the elder to be Elder Kongshi so he quickly greeted, "Elder Kongshi."


    Lie Xingyuan greeted, "Elder Kongshi, Elder Xu, Elder Zhu."


    Elder Kongshi smiled when he saw him, "So it is senior brother." He quickly took out a green ring and said respectfully, "This ring will grant you unlimited access to all the floors of the Red Heaven Sword Library. Just tap on the sword manual that you like and return here for the true copy. You are only allowed to take up to three sword manuals. So make your choice carefully. After you have taken the sword manuals from me later, usually there is a grace period of 3 months to return it and you''re not allowed to take out the same sword manual again for another six months. However, we will make it an exception for you and attach no grace period."


    Lu Qingyun thanked him immediately, "Thank you so much. I''ve an additional favor. Do you think that I can bring my attendant Xingyuan along."


    Elder Kongshi laughed hoarsely, "Sure you can. Here, here is another ring."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as she thought, "Huh? It is so simple? He didn''t question our intentions?"


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled by the swift response that was given by Elder Kongshi. He was actually planning to use his supreme reasoning to persuade him. But he guessed that it was totally unnecessary.


    Elder Kongshi laughed, "Go ahead and feel at home here. You are after all our senior brother and possibly the future sect leader."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "In that case then we shall make a move ahead first. Thank you once more. Farewell elders."


    With that, Xingyuan and he had stepped into the first floor of the Red Heaven Sword Library.


    When Lu Qingyun had entered the Red Heaven Sword Library, quite a few prot¨¦g¨¦s were surprised to see him and they hastily greeted this senior brother of theirs.


    "It''s alright. We are just browsing through the sword manuals as well. Please continue what you are doing." He quickly said to everyone.


    Lie Xingyuan whispered to him, "So it is what it looks like. I''ve never been here. If senior brother does not bring me here, I''m afraid that I will need to wait ten long years to even allow a chance to enter just the first floor."


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he walked around. There were hundreds of sword manuals all over the place and the place was really big.


    These sword manuals were only an introductory copy and were incomplete. In order to obtain the complete copy, everyone had to tap on the sword manual with their clan ring and returned to the entrance where the elders were. The elders would then retrieve a copy for them to be studied for a period of 3 months.


    Lu Qingyun quickly looked at the shelves and were dismayed that there were quite a number of sword manuals that were marked with the word ''reserve''. This means that it was currently in use by the other prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    Lie Xingyuan chuckled softly when she saw his disappointment, "There are many prot¨¦g¨¦s who frequent the first floor hence it is difficult to find a decent sword manual that isn''t reserve. The ones that are not reserved are probably not the good ones. Why don''t we go to the second floor or even higher?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and smiled, "I''ve almost forgotten that we are allowed to go to the higher floor. Let''s go!"


    Soon they were on the second floor.


    The second floor was equally big but was more spacious. It seemed that there were not many shelves on the second floor hence it looked more spacious.


    It was not unusual to Lu Qingyun because he knew that it was much more difficult to elevate an swordplay to the second realm level and second realm swordplay was less plentiful.


    If the first floor was the basic introduction to swordplay then the second floor was where the advance swordplay was housed.


    Lu Qingyun was immediately intrigued by the number of advance sword manuals and was overwhelmed. He muttered, "All these are good swordplay. If anyone is to practice just one of this swordplay then they will be considered an expert swordsman."


    Lie Xingyuan took a few look and said, "Right. But senior brother, actually you should just go up to the third floor to have a look."


    "Oh?" he said curiously.


    "Although these sword manuals are really good swordplay but most do not require the use of any profound strength to execute. Therefore the strength is lacking. Now that senior brother you are a third realm expert now, you will be able to exercise your profound strength into martial power. Therefore you should directly go to the third floor to have a look."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and he smiled, "You''re right. So let''s us go now."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "Senior brother, you go ahead. I shall stay on this floor instead."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Why? Aren''t you a third realm expert too?"


    Lie Xingyuan lowered her glances, "At the moment, I don''t want anyone to know that I am a third realm expert. I just want to be inconspicuous as much as possible."


    "Erm¡­" Lu Qingyun tried to say something but this was indeed a good reason.


    "Also, it isn''t a good idea for me to be seen on the third floor with you. Although Grand Elder Celestial Shi and Elder Kongshi are gracious to let me come with you but I should keep out of sight as much as possible. This is for my own good and for you."


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    Then she smiled, "The advance swordplay here is good enough for me. So please don''t worry about me, alright? Please go ahead."


    "This¡­" Lu Qingyun really did not know what to say.


    Finally he said, "Alright then." He had made up his mind to find a suitable sword manual for her. After all, he was allowed to pick up to three sword manuals and he was actually content with just one.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "I will wait on this floor for you. Please take your time to look for your chosen sword manuals."


    Lu Qingyun nodded reluctantly, "Alright. I will be back soon."

 35 Visiting the Red Heaven Sword Library 2

    Lu Qingyun was now on the third floor. It was not only spacious but was grand. He did not see anyone around when he had first stepped in.


    He thought, "It seems that not many are granted access in here. Great, then I can have the entire place to myself."


    So he immediately marched to the nearest shelf.


    But how wrong he was that he thought that there was no one.


    No sooner had he lifted a sword manual to check its content, he could see that there was a lovely maiden standing quietly at the corner.


    He had remembered seeing her as one of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s but did not know her name. At that time, she was just standing on her own, making no effort to greet him or to talk to him.


    This lovely maiden was the renowned icy beauty and second disciple of Shi Guanyin. Her name was Leng Qiuyue and she was an upper third realm expert.


    As she was an outstanding beauty along with Ouyang Xue, he could not help remembering her as one of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    But because he felt that it was rude to talk to someone who was not interested to talk to him and that he did not want to bring any attention to himself, so he quickly got to business; he was more interested in browsing the sword manuals. So he was flipping randomly to look for a suitable sword manual for himself and for Lie Xingyuan.


    "Xingyuan is a maiden. Her profound foundation may be better than me but she shouldn''t do the heavy lifting work. Let me look for an elegant and internal energy sword art for her. As for me, I shall look for something that can work on my profound strength and be useful to protect her¡­"


    He was really lucky. He soon found an interesting sword art name the Winds Entropy Dance. He thought, "Good. I get this for Xingyuan then¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue was actually pretending to browse the sword manuals. She was actually secretly peeking at what Lu Qingyun was doing.


    "He is actually a fine looking young man. Unfortunately, he is only a lowly first realm core cultivator. Although he has the golden roc flame but it is such a waste on him. Did he even know that reaching the third realm will be a hard one and that he has to reach the sixth realm in order to fully utilize his golden roc flame to its full potential? Only a cultivation expert who has reached the soul level of the supremacy level can fully tap into a soul entity for its full potential." She was muttering to herself.


    She knitted her brows, "He didn''t even take a second glance at me or bother to talk to me. Why should I pay such a close attention to him? He only has a handsome face. He is nothing but a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator. What is a first realm cultivator doing on the third floor anyway? And who is the one that gives him such a permission? Our this new sect leader is seriously abusing her power for this disciple of his."


    Then she was noticing that he was randomly flipping through dozens of sword manuals in a fast pace and she was soon annoyed. "Do you even have the patience to go through a sword manual and try to understand its profound concept? You are just a noob trying to learn something that is out of your level."


    She did not know that Lu Qingyun was actually very quick with his fingers due to long years of picking hundreds of herbs and separating them faster than anyone. In fact, he could do it a hundred times faster than anyone. For a year, his old master had trained him by mixing thousands of colored beans and ordering him to sort them out.


    His old master had told him, "Beans are small and difficult to sort. Although all herbs look almost the same but each of the herbs have different colors that mark their potency and health. I want you to read all their vibrancy with accuracy."


    So Lu Qingyun spent a full day sorting the beans and eventually it became half a day, three hours, 1 hour and in no time, he could finish sorting thousands of beans in just ten minutes.


    That was the main reason his movements had been so quick.


    But of course just practicing on his hands movement alone was not enough. Lu Qingyun was equally fast with his eyes.


    As he flipped through the sword manuals, he had actually read the titles of the sword manuals and its basic concept. For some unknown reasons, he found himself able to understand how good or bad a sword manual really was.


    There was actually no swordplay that he could not understand or unable to pick up. Of course, practicing was another thing but the difficulty was not there. He was only limited by his lack of profound strength.


    He was actually thinking, "Maybe I have an affinity with the sword or maybe I am just randomly looking."


    He did not pay much attention to it.


    But little did he know now that in the past reincarnation, he was actually one of the greatest sword art experts in the six realms. In fact, he had once sat at the highest pinnacle and was one of the three greatest ancient immortals that were ever known.


    Leng Qiuyue took another secret peek at him, "Don''t tell me that he is actually trying to impress me and to get my attention by flipping the sword manuals?"


    Then she had noticed that he had picked the Winds Entropy Dance. "Although this is a third realm sword art, this is easy to be picked up but it is also one of the hardest to truly master. He seems to have a gentle disposition so I guess it is suitable for him."


    All of a sudden she saw that he had left for other areas. She was a little disappointed¡­


    Lu Qingyun had almost done with this shelf except for that one corner where Leng Qingyue was.


    As he did not want to disturb her, he had left quickly to look for a suitable sword manual for himself. He was soon flipping through the introduction concept of the various sword manuals and the flipping sounds could be heard quite loudly as he went from one shelf to another.


    One hour had passed¡­


    Two hour had passed¡­


    And he was still flipping through¡­


    Leng Qingyue was a little speechless. "Although he may be trying to impress me but this is a library. The way he is showing disrespect to the sword manuals is really too much."


    She suddenly had a flush, "Maybe he is trying very hard to get my attention?"


    She did not like to talk to anyone, even her fellow core prot¨¦g¨¦s as she found them to be boorish and even schemers. But toward Lu Qingyun, she actually had a good impression of him.


    "Maybe I should go and check on what he is doing?"


    This actually took her a great deal of courage to do so as she walked quietly to where he was.


    At this moment Lu Qingyun had stopped flipping and he was curiously looking at an interesting sword art as he muttered, "This is the Flaming Crimson Sword?"


    He had actually re-read its introduction three times. For some unknown reasons, he was drawn to this sword art even before he had finished reading its sword concept and practices.


    This Flaming Crimson Sword was difficult to even get past the first stage. It was because its practitioner had to consume a great deal of his spiritual inner sea to use it in order to unleash its full power.


    At the third stage, spiritual flames would burst out from the practitioner''s sword and it would be even more devastating.


    This was indeed a superior swordplay.


    But for someone like Lu Qingyun who was weak in his cultivation core, he actually should not pick this type of sword art but he found himself muttering, "I pick this then."


    His mutterings were overheard by Leng Qiuyue who said, "You really should not pick this sword art. Although it is just a third realm sword art but there are no third realm experts that have the profound strength to really get past to the second stage. In order to reach the third stage, you may even need to be a fifth realm or a sixth realm expert. Moreover this sword art takes too much time and will burn your spiritual sea often, leaving you in a mess and haggard condition. I''m not surprise if you go berserk with phenomenon deviation sooner or later if you practice it."


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    Lu Qingyun looked up and smiled weakly, "Junior sister¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue interrupted coldly, "Who is your prot¨¦g¨¦ sister? I''m a third realm expert while you are just a lowly first ream expert¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly as he muttered, "Yes, yes¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue was actually cursing herself and wished that she could kick herself. She wanted to warn him but end up being so rude to him. She did not have a habit of being a friendly person and she often did not mince her words. But this time she wished that she had¡­


    So she quickly added, "There is nothing shameful being a first realm expert. I was once a first realm expert too. If you work hard, in no time, you will free yourself from the shackles of being a first realm practitioner and be a second realm master practitioner. So work hard."


    Then she shyly said with a little hesitation, "¡­Senior brother."


    Lu Qingyun said as he tapped the sword manual with his ring, "That''s right."


    Leng Qiuyue almost fainted on the spot, "Did you just hear what I''ve just said to you? Why did you tap your ring on it? Do you know that this entire floor is the library for all the third realm sword arts? You should only be browsing through it and not picking any sword manuals. You are only harming yourself if you do so. I am really not belittling you but you should cultivate hard for now in order to reach the third realm with as much foundation as possible first. Or else you will never be able to reach the third realm level in the future."


    Lu Qiuyun politely said awkwardly, "I''ve just reached the initial third realm now. That is why I am choosing a sword manual from here-"


    Leng Qiuyue was startled as she suddenly gasped with a soft surprise, "You are a third realm expert now?!"


    Was he not just a lowly good-for-nothing first realm cultivator just a while ago when he was tested via the cultivation testing stone? How could anyone jump two big realms in less than a month?


    "You are sure?" Leng Qingyue asked curiously.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I am really sure about it."


    Leng Qiugyue: ¡­

 36 Visiting the Red Heaven Sword Library 3

    Leng Qiuyue said as she took a second glance at Lu Qingyun, "Do you know the name of your junior sister here?"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head and he was startled by her suddenly question.


    She heaved a soft sigh. She is a little disappointed that he did not know her name but she said in an amicable tone, "My name is Leng Qiuyue. Senior Brother Lu Qingyun, so how did you advance your cultivation level this quickly?"


    He was smiling awkwardly now. It was not because he did not know how to answer her question but did she not rebuke him earlier for addressing her as his junior sister? This sudden change in attitude was indeed too fast. And now she was calling him Senior Brother Lu Qingyun in such a friendly manner?


    "I have some aid from my master. She has been helping me a lot." He causally replied.


    Leng Qiuyue nodded, "She has even given you a divine sword. I''m sure that she is a great master." She had lowered her glances to say, "So now, you are a third realm expert. This is too sudden¡­"


    All of a sudden she had thought that maybe their gap was not that wide after all. It was extremely difficult for a first realm expert to reach the third realm level. Although the telling stone may gauge one''s potential, it was not the ultimate truth. More than 90% had failed in their quests to reach the third realm level in their lifetime despite what the telling stone had foretold. All the cultivators still had to cultivate hard and hoped for a lucky occurrence.


    But still, his speed was totally unheard of.


    She added slowly, "I''m the senior core prot¨¦g¨¦ of my Celestial Master Shi. So now you know who I am?" It was really bold for her to talk to him this much. It was because she was renowned for ignoring all the others. Indeed, she had taken plenty of courage just to talk to him. It had always been others who were trying to chitchat with her and not the other way round.


    Lu Qingyun said sheepishly, "Well, I guess you''ve already known who I am." So he decided to say more. "I am on the invite of Grand Elder Celestial Shi to visit the Red Heavens Sword Library to pick some sword manuals to practice."


    "Oh? My master will actually invite you?" She asked. So it was not because of his master who had pressured her master to allow him to enter the third floor?


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "That''s right. It was yesterday. She had even given me the permission to visit the fourth floor of the library."


    Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    She was startled because she did not even have any chance to visit the fourth floor of the library, not even once.


    Leng Qiuyue said quietly, "Have you heard of the two alluring flowers of the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    "Oh? Is it a type of herb?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously. When it came to the topic of herbs, his interests would naturally shoot up the roof. He had certainly never heard of this alluring flower before. His new thought was that it only grew in the vicinity of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Leng Qiuyue smiled weakly and her eyes seemed to roll to one side, "The two alluring flowers refer to Ouyang Xue and me, the two beauties of the Heavens Ridge Villa. In New Empyrean City, we are also ranked among the top 20 beauties hence this is the moniker that is given to us."


    "Oh!!!" Lu Qingyun was indeed surprised and he was smiling awkwardly. He thought, "So it isn''t a type of herb¡­"


    She sighed silently to herself, "He has never heard of me before. This is so embarrassing. I hope that it did not look like I am purposely hooking up to him."


    Then she smiled, "Well you know now. You are lucky that you''ve met me. I am friendlier than Ouyang Xue. You should avoid her as much as possible or you will soon hit an iron wall with her."


    She had purposely said that to discredit Ouyang Xue as she did not want him to get close to Ouyang Xue whom she considered as a rival to her. She was a little envious of Ouyang Xue when she got promoted to grand elder ahead of her. Both of them were upper third realm expert but her position in the clan was now higher than her.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly. He did not know what to say about the unfriendly Ouyang Xue who had offered to marry him. He had actually thought that Ouyang Xue was not that unfriendly and had a good nature.


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    Since he did not know what else to say, he raised his hands to bid farewell and said, "Junior Sister Leng, I shall make a move first. I''m thinking of taking a look at the fourth floor."


    With that he had left in a hurry, leaving Leng Qiuyue with an astonished countenance.


    She muttered, "In the end, he still picks that impossible to learn Flaming Crimson Sword and¡­he isn''t interested to talk to me."


    She had a shy flush as she quietly took out a mirror from her spatial ring, "I don''t look wrong today, right?"


    She was a little perplexed, "I am not attractive enough?" Then she sighed softly, "Maybe he has been with that goddess master of his for too long that all other beauties pale in comparison to her."


    Although she hated to admit it but Qin Keqin was the most beautiful person that she had ever seen. There was something about her that was heavenly and enticing at the same time, giving one the impression that she was not from anywhere in the celestial realm.


    This was the very first time that she had taken the initiative to approach a likeable man and this was also the first time that she felt so defeated even before she had started.


    She had actually thought of following him to the fourth floor but her sigil ring only allowed her permission till to the third floor. So it was impossible for her to even go after him.


    "What is this weird feeling that I''ve got? Am I in love?" she heaved a soft sigh of melancholy.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The fourth floor was even grander than the third floor. There were fewer shelves but there were small chambers everywhere.


    Lu Qingyun quickly took a look around.


    Indeed the fourth floor contained various sword arts that were all energy techniques. In short, it was for those cultivators that had either reached the fourth realm or for practitioners that had attained the divine state of the energy enlightenment.


    There were various energy techniques for sword energies, sword waves, sword bursts, distance attacks etc.


    Energy techniques projected one''s inn profound energy and converted it through a powerful medium like a sword and converted it to deadly invisible energy that could hurt or kill other. The reason why the energy techniques were so formidable was because it was invisible and most opponents were defenseless against it.


    However in the world of cultivators, it was less powerful than in the lower realms. It was because anyone who had attained to the cultivation realm of the fourth realm could sense and see the invisible energies. But against the third realm and below, it was rightful useful.


    Also, most of the accounts of the energy techniques were mostly exaggeration. People tended to exaggerated accounts which they could not see and fear.


    The energy techniques were actually weaker than most of the third realm sword arts on the third floor because the sword arts of the third floor emphasis on the martial power of the practitioner to give a devastating impact.


    Again, martial power had also come from one''s inner profound energy. Using a medium like the sword, one could display around 50% of one''s martial power. But the martial power for the energy techniques would drop to 30%. Naturally the martial power output could drop or rise depending on the practitioner but this was the rough theory.


    Martial power could be raised close to 80% to 100% by using palm, fist or finger techniques where there was no medium that was being used. Although the martial power was great, the killing effectiveness may lose to a powerful medium like the sword because the sword was a better weapon than being unarmed.


    No matter if it was a third realm or a fourth realm sword art, it was extremely tiring to use because it required plenty of profound energies from the practitioner to use. Hence, there were many cultivators like Qin Keqin who preferred to use their unarmed martial skills rather than a weapon.


    Qin Keqin was actually equally proficient with both weapon and her unarmed martial skills. By choice, she had preferred to use her unarmed martial skills more not because it was tiring for her to use a sword. A seventh realm cultivator like her had already reached the level where using sword or unarmed made little different in the drain of their profound strength.


    Lu Qingyun spent three additional hours to analyze the sword arts on the fourth floor.


    He had soon come to a conclusion. In order to practice the sword arts that were on the fourth floor, he would need to at least master the channeling art of channel his profound energy into his sword first. This sword art was actually the foundation of all the third realm sword arts. When one comes to the fourth realm, it was assumed that they had already known this foundation.


    It made total sense to him. First channel the profound energy from within him to the sword as a medium. When the profound energy was gathered in strength, one could harness this powerful force and unleashed it into projected profound energy called ''sword energies''.


    It was not easy to master the projected energies. In reality, although fourth realm cultivators could see or sense the invisible energies, more than 70% of the fourth realm cultivators and above had no potential to reach the energy awakening state. This really had to do with talent and one''s divine state of awakening.


    It was no wonder why there was no fifth floor here. It was because the energy techniques were really the epitome of the sword art level. Cultivators of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh would spend years studying the energy techniques to make minute improvements.


    Some of the sword arts here were extremely difficult for a fourth realm cultivator and may be suitable for a sixth or seventh realm cultivator expert.


    Just as Lu Qingyun was about to leave, he had flipped to an interesting sword art manual, the Phoenix Burst. This sword art was an advance energy skill that was more suitable for a sixth realm cultivator as it made use of one''s profound aura to give shape to the profound energy, shaping it like a phoenix. Unlike the faster energy projectiles, this was not fast, not invisible and even clumsy.


    But he had found it to be interesting so he had decided to study it.


    He was strongly attracted to anything that had flames or fire.


    When he had left the fourth floor and descended down, there was no sight of Leng Qiuyue.


    So he quickly looked for Lie Xingyuan and found her, "I have found three sword arts to study and one of the sword arts is for you. Take a look later."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "You have spent time looking for a sword art for me?"


    Lu Qingyun chuckled, "I actually don''t know if you like it or not. Don''t worry about me, alright? There are so many choices that I don''t know what to choose anyway. You can study mine if you want to too."


    Lie Xingyuan nodded quietly. Senior brother, you''re so good to me¡­


    When Lu Qingyun gave the signet ring to Elder Kongshi to inspect his choices, Elder Kongshi smiled when he saw the Winds Entropy Dance. "This is an easy to pick for a first realm cultivator although this is a third realm sword art."


    But when he saw the Flaming Crimson Sword and the Phoenix Burst, his jaws almost dropped. It was because both sword arts were beyond that of a third, fourth and even a fifth realm expert. "Mm, you''re sure?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "I am just curious and like to take a closer look."


    Elder Kongshi smiled weakly, "Alright then¡­" But he was secretly thinking that he should pick at least one or two sword manuals from the first and second floor. But it turned out that this senior brother was having his head in the clouds and was being impractical.


    But he kept those thoughts to himself and soon handed over the sword manuals to Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan, "Here you go. May the heavens watch over you and you will see improvements soon."


    Lu Qingyun said with a broad grin, "Alas, thank you so much. I''ll definitely make improvements with these sword manuals."


    Elder Kongshi: ¡­ (like real)

 37 Intermediate Third Realm Expert!

    For the next several days, Lu Qingyun spent some time to study the sword arts that he had just acquired while Leng Xingyuan was also pouring through her new acquired sword arts.


    She was more excited about the Winds Entropy Dance that he had picked for her and had immediately put aside all the other sword manuals that she had chosen for herself.


    Since the Flaming Crimson Sword was a third realm sword art, so he began on it first rather than the Phoenix Burst. The Phoenix Burst had to wait until he had a fundamental basis in the Flaming Crimson Sword first.


    He was now alone in the practice chamber as he meditated to focus on his thoughts first. First he gauged his inner sea to check his cultivation foundation and was surprised that his small pool of spiritual sea was now like a big pool.


    "It is all thanks to Yan''Er¡­" he mused.


    The Flaming Crimson Sword consisted of dozens of strokes and had a total of sixth stages of mastery. The first stage was really the foundation at which he had to first consume his profound energy to release his martial power.


    This was all too easy for him now. It was nothing much to any of the third realm cultivator. However, the real problem was that he had to imbue his aura strength into his sword and do a double burn to consume more of his profound energy in order to produce a crimson flame.


    This was not just difficult but several times more difficult!


    The profound energies that he had to expend was three times more than just a simple martial power move and he had to focus on his aura, mind and sword at the same time!


    This forced him to really focus all of his attention to overcome this first hurdle.


    After three days of hard trying, he had finally succeeded in the first stage as he produced his first crimson flame on the sword before he collapsed on the ground of the practice chamber while muttering, "After consuming tons of elixir pills and exhausting all my profound energy every day, I''ve finally succeed in mastering the first stage. This is really too difficult¡­"


    He did not know that what he had achieved could put even a fourth realm cultivator to shame and there was none in the Heavens Ridge Villa that could master the first stage as fast as him. Even that would require one year of intensive training and seclusion!


    When Lu Qingyun regained his consciousness, he was in a daze and he was suddenly staring blankly at Yan''Er.


    "Yan''Er, why did you come out?" he asked.


    Yan''Er said cutely, "Master, your inner spirit sea was burning just now and I was curious what you are doing."


    Lu Qingyun chuckled as he showed Yan''Er his new sword art, "I was just practicing a new sword art that requires a lot of my spiritual sea. I''m so sorry to disturb your meditation."


    Yan''Er giggled, "Not at all. I was a little struck at my breakthrough just now. But when master''s spiritual sea was boiling and burning, I had my breakthrough to the intermediate third realm now."


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    Lu Qingyun was startled, "So fast? Yan''Er is really a genius!"


    "It is because master you have aided me!" Yan''Er chuckled cutely. "So this sword art is really beneficial to master."


    "Actually¡­" Lu Qingyun curiously said with a little sheepish look, "This isn''t supposed to happen. I am supposed to exhaust all my spiritual sea and you are supposed to be severely affected. Therefore it is impossible for Yan''Er to have any breakthrough while I am using all the spiritual sea."


    Yan''Er took queerly at him, "Oh is it? But I didn''t feel that the spiritual sea is any lesser. In fact, I can feel the strong aura in master''s inner spiritual sea."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "No, it is impossible. When I use any spiritual strength, my aura will also decrease. This is the known law of cultivation."


    Yan''Er suddenly clapped her hands, "I know! It must be the Annihilating God Seed that is within master''s spiritual sea that is giving out the aura. It is absorbing the burned spiritual sea back to its core."


    Lu Qingyun looked at her curiously, "I think this is the second time that you''ve mentioned this Annihilating God Seed? What is it?" This time, he found himself believing her previous accounts now. It was because there was something weird happening around.


    Yan''Er chuckled, "This Annihilating God Seed is a type of immortal fire. It is several times even more superior to your Yan''Er golden roc flame. Master is indeed my master to have one in your soul. In fact, I have been stealing a lot of cultivation strength from it."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "Immortal fire? How do I get it? Where did it come from?"


    Yan''Er replied queerly, "It is master. Of course it comes from master!"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Did she even answer my question? He thought. But then Yan''Er was just a spiritual entity and she may not know too. It was already good enough that she could even identify the Annihilating God Seed that was within him.


    Yan''Er suddenly said, "Master, I want to learn the Flaming Crimson Sword too."


    He laughed, "You can''t learn it. You''re a spiritual entity. Except for your flames, you can''t really use a sword."


    Yan''Er chuckled, "But I can become master''s spiritual aura when you are using the Flaming Crimson Sword, right? Then I can go blast, blast on your opponents!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as a suddenly thought crossed his mind. Then he laughed as he tried to give Yan''Er a good slap but his hand passed through to her, "Yan''Er, you are truly a genius. If you become my spiritual aura then I won''t need to be so exhausted. I can just focus on my profound energies. At the same time, you will be able to help me to get to the higher stages of the Flaming Crimson Sword."


    Yan''Er clapped her hands and chuckled excitedly, "So master is saying yes? Thank you master! I''m sure my cultivation level will soar with this Flaming Crimson Sword too. After all, master''s Annihilating God Seed also need more fire energies. I can help master to nurture your Annihilating God Seed God Seed too!"


    Lu Qingyun thought, "It seems to me that Yan''Er is more interested to nurture the Annihilating God Seed than cultivating. What exactly is this Annihilating God Seed and how did it get inside me?"


    But these were the questions that he had to put aside first.


    He said to Yan''Er, "Alright. Now that I''ve mastered the first stage, we should begin with the second stage next¡­"

 38 I’m an Upper Third Realm Expert?

    For the next few days, Lu Qingyun and Yan''Er continued to practice on the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    Every day he would burn himself totally out with exhaustion. In the end, all his reserve elixir pills that could restore vitality and spiritual energies that he had before he came to New Empyrean City were all finished by him.


    Although he was looking haggard and exhausted, Yan''Er was looking brighter in countenance every day.


    He was a little surprised at her change.


    Yan''Er merely chuckled, "It is all thanks to the Annihilating God Seed."


    Whenever Yan''Er mentioned about this mysterious Annihilating God Seed, it would give him a headache because he had totally no idea what it was.


    Lie Xingyuan was particular anxious for him. It was because he would only take one meal a day toward the evening time and whenever he came out of the practice chamber, he would look terribly tired and haggard.


    Even his handsome face was beginning to thin and grew shadowy.


    Finally she tried to persuade him, "Senior brother, why don''t you take a break first. It is alright not to have any achievement or breakthrough for the first stage. After all this Flaming Crimson Sword that you''ve picked is really a difficult sword art. It is not a disgrace to give it up. Why don''t you take this Winds Entropy Dance back first?"


    Lu Qingyun just smiled weakly as he took a quick meal, "I''m alright. I''m going back in again¡­"


    "So soon?! You just have only a few bites¡­" Lie Xingyuan felt like crying when she saw his haggard state. "Don''t go¡­"


    But he had already left for the practice chamber¡­


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly, "Senior brother, please take care of yourself¡­"


    In the past few days, Lu Qingyun and Yan''Er had studied the Flaming Crimson Sword zealously. When Lu Qingyun lacked the strength to maintain both his profound energies on his sword and aura at the same time, Yan''Er would substitute her strength as his aura.


    Soon they had attained the second stage. The second stage was called the Lethal Burning Sword and lethal strength of this sword art was extremely powerful. Lu Qingyun thought it was not possible for most third realm cultivators to take a direct blow from it unless they too had some superior sword arts.


    Yan''Er said, "We can get Big Sister Xingyuan to test it."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "We don''t want to hurt her. Moreover, she had only just attained the third realm. Our sword skills are meant for our opponents, not allies."


    Yan''Er looked a little disappointed but she was soon happily looking at the third stage.


    The third stage was even more profound than the second stage and this was the stage that Lu Qingyun was keen to master.


    After several more days of arduous hard work, he managed to master the third stage with Yan''Er.


    The name of this third stage sword art was the Supreme Burning Sword and when he had exercised the profound arts of the Flaming Crimson Sword, there would be a flaming hue around his sword. It was twice as devastating as the second stage Lethal Burning Sword.


    Lu Qingyun felt a little weird. By right, this third stage was actually beyond his cultivation strength to even use it even with the aid of Yan''Er. Could this be attributed to the Annihilating God Seed?


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    He was extremely pleased that he was able to attain to the third stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword. This was an unexpected result. He had actually wanted to stop at the second stage should he be able to attain it but it was much smoother than he had expected therefore he decided to see if he could attain to the third stage.


    Unfortunately, the fourth stage was too demanding and his spiritual inner sea was too weak to even start. Therefore he decided to practice the Flaming Crimson Sword once his cultivation strength had further improved.


    As he was about to drop dead on the ground due to exhaustion, Yan''Er chuckled. "Master, I have just attained to the upper third realm¡­"


    Lu Qingyun muttered sleepily, "Yan''Er, that''s good. You''re so impressive¡­I''m so tired now¡­"


    "Really master?" Yan''Er chuckled delightfully.


    "Yes, you are¡­my Little Yan''Er is so adorable and cute. I hope that Yan''Er will always be like this forever¡­." He actually did not know what he was saying and he had soon collapsed into a deep sleep.


    Yan''Er looked at the sleeping Lu Qingyun as she said solemnly, "Then your Yan''Er will always be your adorable and cute Little Yan''Er."


    When he was sleeping, he began to dream of the time when he was a child¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    His old master was concocting some pills in a cauldron and he was displeased when he saw Little Qingyun entering his alchemy chamber.


    "I''ve told you not to disturb me when I''m inside. Shoo, go away. These things are dangerous and may explode anytime."


    But Little Qingyun was undeterred by the fires or the toxic heat, "Master, the fires here do not seem right. It needs a little balancing and heat."


    His old master laughed, "What do a brat knows?" But he had walked to Little Qingyun to lift him up, "Come, I get you away from here."


    But all of a sudden his keen eyes saw the spot where Little Qingyun had pointed to. It did seem a little off so he increased the heat on the side of the cauldron before he took Little Qingyun out. There was no harm trying since these pills were not really valuable.


    When he was back to the alchemy chamber, the cauldron was shaking furiously.


    Curiously he took a look and was startled; there were more pills that he could normally made and these pills were giving off a divine essence that indicated these pills were of superior grade.


    From that day onward, his old master had allowed Little Qingyun into the alchemy chamber and had taught him alchemy.


    It turned out that Little Qingyun was a true genius in alchemy. Although his alchemy level was lower than his old master but the pills that he had refined were always plentiful and of higher quality.


    Even Lu Qingyun did not truly understand why he could sense the changes in the alchemy fires and he had an exceptional affinity with all things fire.

 40 Keqin I miss you

    As Lu Qingyun did not see Qin Keqin for so many days and it was almost close to two weeks, he decided to visit her while Lie Xingyuan had gone to the mission hall to register them for the experiential mission.


    It actually took him a great deal of courage to finally decide to make this move because he did not know how she would think if he was to come unannounced. Although they were master and disciple relationship but he knew very little about her.


    Finally he had stood outside the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse where Qin Keqin''s hideout was.


    After standing there for nearly an hour, he finally took the courage to step inside the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse.


    No one greeted him. All the stewards treated him as though he was invisible.


    Therefore he made his own way to the upper floors of the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse. Although there were more guards and stewards on the upper floors but again, no one stopped him from approaching.


    He was smiling bitterly.


    It was as though he was really invisible!


    Finally he came to the hideout door and was staring sheepishly at it. Until now, he was still unsure whether he should enter?


    But a feminine voice called out from beyond door, "Since you''re already here, why don''t you enter? Do you know that you are looking so silly standing outside the teahouse for nearly an hour and not entering?"


    He recognized the voice of Feng Minyue and pushed opened the door awkwardly as he said, "Hello¡­Lu Qingyun greets seniors-"


    Inside were Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng. They were both sipping tea and Feng Minyue interrupted him softly, "There is no need to greet us next time. Just be casual. After all, you''re one of us now."


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were dazzling beautiful and Lu Qingyun dared to look at them directly as he averted his eyes to say, "I''m here to look for my master. Is she around? I have not seen her for many days so I am a little concerned."


    Feng Minyue heaved a soft sigh of melancholy, "Finally you are here. She isn''t in a good state and is sleeping in the alchemy room. Let me bring you to her but I shouldn''t advise you to disturb her for too long. She didn''t have any sleep for several days now."


    Xuan Danfeng said, "Keqin has been trying to concoct some pills for you and is working so hard. You ought to thank her profusely and not disappoint her in the future."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "She is making some pills for me? What pills are those ?"


    Xuan Danfeng replied, "She is trying to make the Triple Divine Essence Pill for you."


    Feng Minyue added miserably, "And she is bankrupting us with her many failures."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly. He knew how precious the herbs and spiritual resources were for concocting the Triple Divine Essence Pill.


    "Come." Feng Minyue said quietly.


    He followed them and soon he was taken to a large room with many urns and cauldrons. In the middle of the room were two burning cauldron and he could sniff the fragrance of the Triple Divine Essence Pill and the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill.


    Feng Minyue said, "She is sleeping in the interior of this room. You can look for her there. Since we are already here and she has not responded, this means that she is sound asleep. She must be truly so exhausted that she is unable to sense our approach. We shall take our leave first. See you later."


    Xuan Danfeng was looking around as she smiled weakly, "All these stuffs are money, money. It''s all in that cauldron now. I guess that this month we ought to tighten our pockets."


    Then she suddenly shut up and chuckled to Lu Qingyun, "Don''t mind me. Please continue your visit. See you in a while time."


    With that she and Feng Minyue had exited the room, leaving Lu Qingyun all alone inside.


    Lu Qingyun did not go into the interior directly. Instead his attention was on the burning cauldrons.


    He approached the cauldron and sniffed. This batch of Triple Divine Essence Pills was the same as the last pill that he had consumed and it also contained the starforge substances.


    Why did Qin Keqin added the starforge substances to the Triple Divine Essence Pill and to the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill? Why did she need him to be forgettable about?


    Although the starforge substances were not in any large quantities but it was still harmful in the longer term.


    Looking around, he saw several discarded batches. It seemed that Qin Keqin was not really a good alchemist and was actually quite wasteful. She was just throwing everything into the cauldron and hoped that she could actually succeed. Her rate of success was like one in ten¡­


    This was a horrible result. A skilled alchemist could easily have a rate of success of three in ten for the Triple Divine Essence Pills.


    Luckily the Triple Divine Essence Pills was not beyond him and he gently took out the lid of the cauldron.


    The first thing he did was to adjust the fire and the portions of the Triple Divine Essence Pills. Next he added more herbs to neutralize the starforge substances.


    After a while, he closed the lid again and adjusted the fire until it turned blue.


    He did the same for the cauldron that contained the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill.


    With a satisfied look and at no sweat, he began to walk to the interior of this chamber.


    Indeed, there was another room at the end and gently he knocked on the door.


    Still there was no respond.


    So he gently pushed open the door and walked in.


    At the end of the room was a bed and Qin Keqin was sleeping inside. She was sound asleep and was fully clothed. It seemed that she did not even have the energy to remove her outer garment before she fell asleep.


    As Lu Qingyun approached the bed, Qin Keqin had suddenly gasped and jumped out of her bed with her fingers in an attack stance at him!


    Qin Keqin was startled as she quickly stopped her attack, "Qingyun, it is you? Why are you?"


    She was sound asleep and was in a deep sleep. But even then, she had a high sense of alertness and was alerted to danger. When her inner perception senses the approach of a stranger, she was quickly startled from her deep sleep.


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "Keqin¡­I mean master¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "Here, you can call me Keqin. Here, I am not your master."


    Lu Qingyun nodded slowly, "I didn''t see you for several days so I am a little concern. So I am here to take a look and wonder how you have been doing?"


    She averted her eyes and sighed regretfully, "I have actually wanted to visit you sooner but I keep failing in my alchemy. I want to make you more of the Triple Divine Essence Pills to increase your cultivation base. I''m also making the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill for you as well."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Yes, I saw."


    "Don''t worry. If I fail again, I can just go and buy the pill materials again. I will try until I''ve succeeded." She was laughing jovially as she said to Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun looked a little sheepish as he recalled the vast amount of wasted pill materials. It was enough to give him a big heartache.


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    Qin Keqin suddenly had a jolt, "Oh, my fires. I''ve fallen asleep. I need to maintain the furnace heat or the pills will be screwed. Come, follow me quickly. I''ve got to take a look."


    She quickly rushed to the alchemy chamber where the two cauldrons were. There was an anxious look on her countenance as she inspected the two cauldrons.


    All of a sudden she gave a soft gasp of surprise as she turned to look at Lu Qingyun with an angelic smile, "You won''t believe it but look what I''ve made!"


    Lu Qingyun walked over to her side and saw that the Triple Divine Essence Pills were ready and were giving off a brilliant silver luster.


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "I''ve actually got three! I have never gotten more than one before. My alchemy skills must be improving a lot now."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly to himself, "Actually if you have set it up properly, you should have gotten five or even six of those pills. I was helping you to do some damage control earlier¡­"


    Qin Keqin was soon gasping with more delight as she opened the other cauldron and saw that she got two Seven Hearts Hollow Pills. She was absolute beaming with delight as she exclaimed happily, "I didn''t know that it is possible to get two of these. I must really be a genius alchemist."


    She turned to look at Lu Qingyun and chuckled, "One of the Seven Hearts Hollow Pills is for you. The other one I will be selling it as I need to recoup some of my losses. If I don''t recoup some of the losses, my sisters will be screaming at me day in and night out. They may look gentle but they can really be fierce. So don''t you daydream about them or anything. They are really badass saintess."


    Then she was really afraid that Lu Qingyun may fall in love with them so she added seriously, "They have a lot of weird fetishes too and dislike men. Why do you think that they are still single after so many years?"


    Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue were of course very beautiful. They were the renowned beauties of the Nine Celestial Fraternity in the past before they disappeared completely from view.


    Qin Keqin was also an astonishing beautiful maiden but she knew that most men were lecherous and were attracted to anything beautiful. It was not a matter of who was the more beautiful but who could keep the hearts of men better.


    She was chuckling to herself, "I hope you sisters don''t mind me slurring your good names. Just treat this as doing me a favor and I will buy you vintage wines the next time."


    Lu Qingyun just smiled awkwardly. He was only interested in Qin Keqin. He had thought that she looked very cute when she was so earnest in doing alchemy. He thought, "So she likes to do alchemy as much as I do. This is great. But I shouldn''t correct her since she is my master¡­"


    Qin Keqin grabbed all three of the Triple Divine Essence Pills and said to Lu Qingyun, "Here, you can have them all. Remember to take one pill every month. As for the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill, I will give it to you once it is ready. This thing still needs a lot of heat to purify it."


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he agreed with her. Indeed, the Seven Hearts Hollow Pills were still not ready to be taken out yet. At least not for another month.


    She gave him a wry smile, "It seems that you have some interest in alchemy too. Well, you got a good master here. In the future, you still got a lot of things to learn from me. But it is an extremely complicated process and a lot of hard work. So I rather that you focus on your cultivation first."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Alright¡­"


    She gave him a smile before she asked, "So, what is your cultivation level now? After all the aid that I''ve given you?"


    Lu Qingyun replied awkwardly, "I''m at the upper third realm enlighten celestial now. It is all thanks to master."


    "Oh." Qin Keqin began to ponder for a while before she replied, "That seems fast? Seems good. But it is still not enough. You need to be a fifth realm expert to be at least good."


    This time, it was Lu Qingyun''s turn to be surprised. He had thought that his master would be so startled at his sudden progression. But her reaction was too normal¡­


    The truth was Qin Keqin had totally no concept how difficult cultivation was. She was already a seventh realm cultivator when she was twenty. She was a unique existence in the entire celestial realm and was the true daughter of the heavens.


    Qin Keqin suddenly looked at him, "Since you have come, shall we go out to have dinner?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled. This was his first date with her!


    So he eagerly said, "Alright. I am free anyway. You have any place in mind?"


    But he was saying to himself, "Please don''t daydream about your master. This is just a normal dinner and not a date."


    Qin Keqin rolled her enticing eyes before she chuckled, "Since this is our teahouse, we can have our dinner in this place. It is free of expenses to me. We can also invite Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng as well. It is not that they really need any food or drink but we can treat it as a gathering."


    When Lu Qingyun heard that the dinner place was actually at the same place and that she was going to invite Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng along, his eyes began to roll awkwardly before he smiled weakly, "This¡­sounds like a good idea¡­"


    "You think so too? That''s great." Laughed Qin Keqin. "We can even share with you some of the gossips that we have heard over the past two weeks. It seems that one of the top twenty beauties in New Empyrean was caught two timing two men and her scandal has been discovered."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly in return.


    He was actually not interested in any of the city gossips¡­


    Qin Keqin smiled as she returned a quiet glance at him before she said gently, "Thank you for coming today. I''m really happy to see you."


    He was startled by her sudden words that he found himself stammering, "This is nothing at all. I am also really glad to see you too."


    She smiled quietly as she turned around, "Is that so? I''m really happy to hear that."

 41 Qingyun Not So Secret Dream

    When Lu Qingyun returned to his abode, he was feeling very happy.


    Although it was just a simple dinner with Qin Keqin and her two sisters, he felt that he was one step closer to her now. He had finally seen a side of her that he had never seen before; during the dinner she was happily boasting to her two saintess sisters how great an alchemist she was now.


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    He thought that this was her cute side.


    He was beginning to wonder how Qin Keqin got two seventh realm experts as her sisters? During the light dinner, he had come to know that they were not real sisters but rather very close friends. Hence, they were addressing each other as sisters similar to the way men addressed close friends as brothers.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled when she saw him, "Senior brother, you are back? It is so late. So how are things going? Did you¡­" she hesitated for a while before saying. "Did you find sect leader?"


    "Yes, I''ve found her. She promises me that she will be here in a few more days after she has finished settled some matters." Lu Qingyun said with a dreamy smile.


    "That is good," Lie Xingyuan said after she had seen his happy countenance. "Then it must have been a fruitful trip. By the way, I have reserved the experiential training for us. It will start in three days."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "So soon?"


    "I have tried to get the one after this but the elders told me that it has reached the quota of three core prot¨¦g¨¦s. So only this one is available. If not, we have to wait for another two months and since we don''t know how long an experiential training will take, you may miss the martial tournament. So I quickly make a reservation for you."


    Lu Qingyun pondered for a while, "Well, I guess this will do fine. I''m just worried that Keqin will not be able to find me then. I can leave her a note¡­"


    Then he realized he had made a blunder by calling out her name to Xingyuan and it was impolite to the sect leader, so he quickly said. "I wonder who will be the core prot¨¦g¨¦s that will be going with us?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "The elders won''t reveal it to anyone. Only on the day will we know. I have tried to ask them but they still refuse to tell me even though I''ve mentioned to them that you are the senior brother. Maybe there is no one else and it will be up to senior brother to take care of the junior prot¨¦g¨¦ brothers and sisters."


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he laughed at himself, "Maybe. Hopefully, it is not them who will be ones that are taking care of me."


    Then he said, "So we have three days before the start of the experiential training. I am a little excited as it will be first time that I will be out on experiential training."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "You will soon get used to it. This will be my third experiential training."


    Lu Qingyun smiled. "Xingyuan at least you have been to the experiential training before so you are not nervous."


    Lie Xingyuan laughed softly, "Who says I''m not nervous? I am always afraid that I may not come back alive after each experiential training."


    "It is dangerous?" he asked with a startled expression.


    "There will be always be dangers so we ought to be careful and exercise cautious at all times." She explained.


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Alright. I will keep it in mind."


    All of a sudden he clapped his hands, giving her a startled jump as he said excitingly. "Xingyuan, look what do I have for us here?"


    He promptly took out three Triple Divine Essence Pills and said, "Master gives this to me. She is indeed kind to me."


    Lie Xingyuan was quite shocked when she saw the three Triple Divine Essence Pills as she muttered, "She still got more of these?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I think these three are the last ones so we ought to be careful with its uses."


    "We?" asked Lie Xingyuan curiously.


    "Yes, we. I''m going to split the pills into halve for us to consume again. We will take one just before the start of the experiential training." He explained.


    Lie Xingyuan looked at him with a startled expression, "Senior brother, actually you don''t have to be so nice toward me. These are from your master. What if she knows about it?"


    Lu Qingyun gave her a smile, "It is pointless for me to consume the full pill. So I may as well share half of it with you. In fact, the third pill here will lose its effectiveness for us so I''m thinking that we shall keep it first."


    As he took a glance at the pills, he could not help sighing secretly. It was because until now, he did not know why Qin Keqin had added the starforge substances into these pills¡­


    "Alright then. Then I shall turn in early tonight. I''m a little tired." He said with a soft yawn.


    "Shall I prepare a bath for you, senior brother?" She asked hurriedly.


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "There is no need. See you tomorrow then. I am just going to do a small wash up and rinsing before I head to my bed."


    With that he had walked back to his room.


    That night, Lu Qingyun had a most pleasant dream about Qin Keqin and him.


    He dreamed that he was kissing her and cuddling her. It quickly turned into an erotic wet dream¡­


    All of a sudden he had heard a small scream in his head and he quickly woke up panicky. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Yan''Er who was looking at him.


    He asked dreamily, "Yan''Er, why did you shout me out for?"


    Yan''Er said weakly, "Master, I saw you have undressed Big Sister Keqin and you, and you¡­"


    Lu Qingyun stared at her blankly before he asked, "How come you can still read my thoughts? I''ve thought that I''m a third realm cultivator now?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "That is because your Yan''Er is also a third realm cultivator therefore I can see what you are thinking!"


    Lu Qingyun was completely stunned¡­


    He had never thought that a spirit entity that could cultivate and who was on the same cultivation level as him could still see his thoughts. Usually the master would be several realms higher than the spirit entity.


    Because he was depending on Yan''Er to cultivate for him, this means that it was difficult for his cultivation level to exceed Yan''Er. Which means that he had now completely screwed himself¡­?


    He was now smiling bitterly as he looked at Yan''Er.


    Yan''Er was still asking, "Master, what are you doing to Big Sister Keqin just now? I don''t understand at all. If you don''t tell me, I''m going to ask Big Sister Keqin when she is here."


    Lu Qingyun had immediately turned ashen as he quickly muttered, "Oh no, please don''t! Erm, I was just paying her a great deal of honor. This is our way of repaying our master with the highest respect and honor."


    Yan''Er started to look at Lu Qingyun weirdly but he had already closed his eyes and covered himself with his blanket¡­


    Yan''Er was thinking shyly, "Mm, since he is my master and I am respecting him so much. Should I do the same to him?"


    But she was soon saddened, "But Yan''Er is a spirit without a corporeal body. I can''t touch master¡­"

 42 Day of the Experiential Training

    Three days were quickly up and it was soon the start of Lu Qingyun''s clan experiential training.


    He had got up very early with Lie Xingyuan and they had made their way to the Experiential Hall. They were feeling refreshed after just consuming the Triple Divine Essence Pill that he had prepared the night before.


    Lu Qingyun could feel that he had already reached the peak of the upper third realm enlighten level while Lie Xingyuan felt that she could break through to the intermediate enlighten level anytime soon.


    Because this was the second time that they had consumed the Triple Divine Essence Pill, it did not have a much greater impact to them than the very first time.


    It was exactly as what Lu Qingyun had told Lie Xingyuan that night.


    Just before they had left, Lu Qingyun quickly wrote a note where Qin Keqin could easily see if she was to come.


    When they had reached the Experiential Hall, there were already more than thirty prot¨¦g¨¦s that had gathered.


    Lu Qingyun was feeling a little awkward because he had thought that he was the first but there were many others that were already even earlier than him.


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s were chatting noisily when they had entered the Experiential Hall. A quick scan around the place indicated that there were around ten female prot¨¦g¨¦s and twenty male prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    All the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were wearing their curtain hat veils that reached to their waists while the male prot¨¦g¨¦s were wearing a shorter curtain hat veil that just covered their necks. Because they had not gone into the wilderness yet, all the curtain veils were actually pulled to their backs for easy identifications.


    When he had stepped inside the Experiential Hall, almost all the prot¨¦g¨¦s had stopped their chatters or were looking in his direction as they greeted, "Senior brother."


    "So senior brother is also in this experiential training with us?"


    "But he is only a lowly first realm cultivator, tsk tsk."


    "Does it mean that we have to look out for him? What bad luck."


    "He is the weakest core prot¨¦g¨¦ that we have ever had and he is lower than most of the fellow prot¨¦g¨¦s here."


    "He is so handsome," a female prot¨¦g¨¦ muttered.


    There were both positive and negative soft remarks about Lu Qingyun after they had greeted him but he did not mind at all. It was because he knew that he had actually no right to be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ and in the first place, he was actually just content to be an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ like them. If it was not for Qin Keqin who had hand picked him as a core prot¨¦g¨¦, he would be just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦.


    But the most surprising reaction that he got was that he had recognized three of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s that were now looking at him.


    They were Rushuang who used to be Tang Bufan''s personal attendant, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue!


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were of course the other two core prot¨¦g¨¦s that were in this experiential training.


    Ouyang Xue was not just a core prot¨¦g¨¦ now but she was also the grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall.


    She was extremely startled when she saw Lu Qingyun. It was because she had been trying to avoid him but in the end, she had kept dumping into him¡­


    Leng Qiuyue was equally startled when she saw Lu Qingyun as she thought, "Why is he here? Mm, don''t tell me we are really fated after all¡­"


    She sighed softly as she said quietly to herself, "But my rival Ouyang Xue is also here. What bad luck to have her with me during the experiential training. Now I have to listen to her commands just because she is a grand elder."


    Rushuang was looking awkward when she saw Lu Qingyun. It was because she had scoffed at him in the past. As for now, she was a personal attendant of Leng Qiuyue and had accompanied her for this experiential training.


    Elder Bu Ming was the officiator of this experiential training and he said aloud, "Now that everyone is here, we can begin the briefing in advance."


    Then he smiled to Lu Qingyun and said, "Senior brother, will that do for you?"


    Lu Qingyun replied awkwardly, "The sooner we start, the faster we can get on the clan mission."


    Elder Bu Ming smiled and turned to the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s, "Some of you may be new to the clan experiential training and some of you may be old birds already. It is our customary rules that we do not tell any of the prot¨¦g¨¦s what the missions are until the start of the experiential training. This is to prevent any of the prot¨¦g¨¦s to pick an easy mission."


    Then he sighed heavily and said solemnly, "But there are actually no easy missions except for lucky missions. When you are out of the city and into the desolate wilderness, you must always be on your best vigilant. This is because dangers abound everywhere. Even a small injury can kill you if you are not careful enough!"


    He smiled and said, "Today, we have our Senior Brother Lu Qingyun, Grand Elder Ouyang Xue and Core Prot¨¦g¨¦ Leng Qiuyue who will be joining you in this experiential training. As Grand Elder Xue and Core Prot¨¦g¨¦ Qiuyue are both upper third realm experts, you will probably have an easier time than the other experiential trainings. But still, do not be careless!"


    Leng Xingyuan was smiling as she thought, "If only Elder Bu Ming knows that senior brother is also an upper third realm expert now. He will be so surprised."


    Elder Bu Ming unsealed a scroll and read out its contents, "Now for the details of the experiential training. You are to form a party to the Misty Desolate Valley and to hunt down at least a fourth rank desolate beast and at least three third rank desolate beasts before you are allowed to return. Should you return before you accomplish the mission then this mission will be considered a fail and it will be recorded down as a black mark."


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s were smiling and muttering excitingly.


    The Misty Desolate Valley was just nearby and not too far. It was only a three days journey by foot and was a well-known training ground for the celestial clans.


    Moreover their experiential mission was to hunt down only a formidable fourth rank desolate beast and it was not a big issue to an intermediate third realm expert. Moreover, they had two upper third realm experts in their ranks plus there were some thirty of them. With their dazzling sword formations and wolf pack tactics, they would be completing the mission in no time.


    A prot¨¦g¨¦ began to mutter, "Is it because we have senior brother here? He is terribly weak. That is why we are given an easy mission?"


    "Since no one knows the mission in advance, it is likely the elders are cheating for him¡­"


    "Isn''t that great? I just want to get over this experiential mission as quickly as possible¡­"


    "I have butterflies in my stomach whenever I go on experiential mission. The last mission, I was almost killed¡­"


    Elder Bu Ming made a loud cough to silence the background noises before he said aloud, "If you have no more questions then you shall hurry and be on your way. Your rations will be given to you once the experiential mission token is given to you on your way out."


    Leng Qiuyue had suddenly stepped out to say coldly, "Elder Bu Ming, honestly I feel that this experiential mission lacks challenge. I have already been through numerous fourth rank desolate beast missions. Can we have a little bit more challenge?"


    Half of the prot¨¦g¨¦s were smiling bitterly. But none of them dare to say anything loud. It was because this icy beauty was renowned for her pettiness.


    Elder Bu Ming smiled, "I''m afraid that we can''t change the mission once it has already been decided¡­"


    "Elder Bu Ming, although you can''t change the mission but you can certainly upgrade the mission, am I right?" This time it was Ouyang Xue who was speaking.


    She did not want to portray a weaker self in front of her rival Leng Qiuyue.


    Elder Bu Ming was smiling weakly, "Indeed I can but¡­"


    Ouyang Xue said, "Then as grand elder, I command you to upgrade the mission difficulty. This is too easy for us to accomplish."


    Elder Bu Ming smiled weakly as he secretly stolen a glance at Lu Qingyun. He had been secretly instructed by Celestial Shi Guanyin not to make the missions too hard for Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue.


    But now Ouyang Xue was ordering him directly to increase the difficulty of the mission.


    With a bitter smile, he could only say. "Alright then. I shall increase the mission completion to that of a fifth rank desolate beast and two fourth rank desolate beasts."


    When he had said that, many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s had a cold shiver down their spines. It was because a fifth rank desolate was as strong as an upper third realm expert to a fourth realm expert. If they were lucky, they could be able to meet the weakest fifth rank desolate beast. At the same time, if they were to go deeper into the Misty Desolate Valley, there was a chance that they would meet with even higher ranks desolate beasts and the mission time would also be lengthened considerably.


    Even Lu Qingyun''s jaws almost dropped when he had heard of the new mission objectives. He began to smile bitterly at Leng Xingyuan who was also smiling bitterly at him.


    He muttered, "What are these two maidens doing¡­"


    He was not them so he did not understand what they were thinking.


    He did not know that both maidens were using the guise of ''not enough challenge'' to purposely make the experiential training harder. It was also because they were trying to impress Lu Qingyun and at the same time, this means that they would be on this trip far longer with him.


    Because he was not them, he totally did not understand their true intentions at all.


    But to the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s, they all knew that these two beauties had a feud with each other and were merely trying to outdo one another. At first all the male prot¨¦g¨¦s were extremely delighted to have two of the top twenty beauties in New Empyrean City in this mission but now, they were extremely worried!


    Leng Qiuyue was thinking as she stole a glance at Lu Qingyun, "So this is a suicide mission. Very good then."


    Even Ouyang Xue was muttering to herself, "Hmph, what am I doing. Am I still rational anymore?"


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    Leng Qiuyue turned to smile coldly at Ouyang Xue, "Let''s see which one of us will be able to get the fifth rank desolate beast first."


    Ouyang Xue returned a cold smile, "Surely I will be the one. Is there even a need to say so?"


    Leng Qiuyue smiled coldly, "We shall see. It will be so funny if you can bite more than you can chew."


    Elder Bu Ming was smiling bitterly as he thought, "Why is that I''ve got a really bad feeling about all this?"

 43 The Misty Desolate Valley

    Heavens Ridge Villa.


    At this moment, the council of the grand elders was having a meeting.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was lamenting, "Look at our sect leader. She is already our sect leader and yet, we didn''t even catch a sight of her anywhere."


    Wang Ming, fourth realm immortal celestial and grand elder of the White Spirit Hall nodded, "Precisely. She should be coming here more often."


    Wang Ming used to be the grand elder of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall and had just recently taken over the White Spirit Hall. It turned out that it was not that hard for him to take over the White Spirit Hall after all.


    It was not actually his credit but mainly due to Sect Leader Qin Keqin who had defeated Supremacy Wen Hongguang that caused the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the White Spirit Hall to be in awe of her.


    In the celestial realm, cultivation strength and martial strength ruled over all else. Because Qin Keqin could prove that she could defeat even a sixth realm expert like Supremacy Wen Hongguang, her position and status within the clan was suddenly firm.


    Moreover this time round the Heavens Ridge Villa had soundly shamed the Solitary Manor who had been their main rival for centuries.


    Celestial Kong Guxin, Yun Xing and Mu Han were all looking awkwardly at each other. In just a matter of a few weeks, Celestial Shi Guanyin seemed to have changed her opinion of Qin Keqin and was even lamenting for her whereabouts.


    This turnabout was indeed very weird.


    However they did not say anything.


    Yun Xing said, "Grand Elder Ouyang Xue is unable to attend our meeting today. It is because she is out on an experiential mission."


    "Oh?" Celestial Shi Guanyin said, "So is my core prot¨¦g¨¦ Leng Qiuyue¡­"


    Mu Han added with a wry smile, "I''ve heard that both of them have actually requested to Elder Bu Ming to up the difficulty of their experiential mission. Therefore they got what their wish for and they have to hunt down a fifth rank desolate beast in order to complete their experiential mission."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was startled as she asked, "Are you sure about this?"


    Mu Han answered solemnly, "I am sure. I have just met Elder Bu Ming and he had told me about it. Moreover, our Senior Brother Lu is also in this experiential mission."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin said with a surprise look, "Our Senior Brother Lu is also in this experiential mission?" This was actually a playacting from her. It was because she had already gotten wind from Elder Bu Ming that Lu Qingyun would be in the experiential mission some days ago.


    She quickly said, "This is too ridiculous. Who authorizes this? This may be out of their league and moreover our Senior Brother Lu will also be in danger. How do we answer to our sect leader should he comes to harm?"


    Mu Huan smiled bitterly, "I''ve heard that it is Grand Elder Ouyang Xue that forces Elder Bu Ming to increase the difficulty. But of course, it is your Leng Qiuyue that was the first to suggest it."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was burning with rage, "The two of them are too reckless. I know that they are rivals but this is simply too ridiculous. We got to stop this experiential mission right away."


    Mu Han smiled bitterly, "It is already too late. They had already left for the Misty Desolate Valley three days ago."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin: ¡­


    Although she had specifically instructed Elder Bu Ming in secret not to pick a difficult experiential mission for Leng Qiuyue and Lu Qingyun, she did not know the exact start date of the experiential mission. To her, this was only a trivial matter so she was not particularly mindful.


    But now, she was a little panicky for Leng Qiuyue and Lu Qingyun!


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The Celestial Realm was just the middle realm between the lower Mundane Realm and the upper Immortal Realm.


    The Nine Celestial Fraternity was one of the many celestial fraternities that were in the Celestial Realm and was the biggest celestial fraternity that consisted of ten vast divine realms.


    The Celestial Realm was unlike the lower Mundane Realm where there were vast oceans and lands. The entire Celestial Realm was consisted of endless lofty mountains and it was thousands of times bigger than the lower Mundane Realm.


    The many celestial clans and populations were situated high above the mountains. Usually the powerful celestial clans would be situated on mountains that were rich in spiritual veins that were refined by rich deposits of jadeites. That would be the most ideal place for cultivation. Other than spiritual veins and jadeites, mountains that were rich in silver and gold celestiums were also ideal, since silver and gold celestiums were very much needed to make precious weapons.


    Below the mountains, were thick desolate mists and endless bottomless valleys that were filled with many powerful desolate monsters. The spiritual force below the desolate mists was poor and unsuitable for cultivation. Moreover the presence of the desolate forces was too overwhelming and could easily corrupt a cultivator inner core. However because of this very same reason, it was the ideal place for the desolate monsters that fed upon it.


    In a way, the desolate mists acted as a natural barrier between the desolate beasts below and the divine beasts that dwelled high in the mountains.


    The desolate force below the mountains had actually come from the same mountain veins as the spiritual veins that the cultivators depend upon. The only difference was that this desolate force could actually be refined by the rich deposits of jadeites in the mountains and by the purifying aura above the mountains that were continuously cleansed by the divine lightning.


    From time to time, there would always be a possibility that a powerful desolate monster would emerged from the valley below.


    The richer the spiritual force in the mountains, the weaker the desolate force that was at the bottom. Therefore it was not wrong to say that spiritual rich mountains usually do not have powerful desolate beasts below the desolate mists.


    Since New Empyrean City was just a second tier celestial area, there were plenty of powerful middle tier desolate beasts that dwelled in the desolate mists below and one of the most dangerous places around the vicinity of New Empyrean City was the Misty Desolate Valley.


    At this moment, Lu Qingyun and his party had already reached the vicinity of the Misty Desolate Valley.


    Except for Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue, the moods of the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s were solemn indeed. Even Lie Xingyuan looked a little unhappy as she heaved melancholy sighs along the way.


    It was because everyone knew that they were heading toward a certain unknown destination that may well cost them their lives.


    Although they could gain plenty of clan contributions for this difficult experiential mission but none of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s were actually rejoicing. It was because they had to first ''survive'' the outcome first.


    It was well known to them that some of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s spared no good morals as they used the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s as cannon fodders for them to defeat the powerful desolate beasts and to gain for themselves the clan contribution points at the expense of the others.


    Clan contribution points were an important contribution in the Heavens Ridge Villa where the prot¨¦g¨¦s could use to buy rare celestial resources for themselves to further their cultivation and to gain access to spirit arrays that could aid them to overcome their celestial realm levels.


    Rushuang was smiling bitterly as she followed Leng Qiuyue as her personal attendant. She had thought that she was fortunate to be Leng Qiuyue''s personal attendant after her decision to leave Tang Bufan. But to think that this Leng Qiuyue would be so crazy enough to request for a more difficult experiential mission¡­


    She really did not want to die in this experiential mission¡­


    Ouyang Xue had come alone as she currently had no personal attendant or maidservant.


    Almost all the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s had known that Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were rivals. At the same time, they were fond of changing their personal attendants on a yearly basis. Although this provided many female ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s with an opportunity to follow a core prot¨¦g¨¦ but they knew that these two jade beauties had no real attachment to any of them.


    And now that they knew how crazy they were, all the female ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s that were in the party resolved never to become their personal attendants in the future.


    Lu Qingyun took a look around the vicinity and he was quite surprised to see hundreds of cultivators at the entrance of the Misty Desolate Valley. There were actually dozens of celestial clans presented in the vicinity and even one of the big four celestial clans the Flying Armament Sect was also presented.


    However most of the celestial clans did not talk to the other celestial clans and kept to themselves.


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Flying Armament Sect had looks of hostility when they saw the party of the Heavens Ridge Villa but other than that, they continued to mind their own businesses.


    Leng Qiuyue hummed coldly when she saw the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Flying Armament Sect, "Hmph, so one of the big four celestial clans is also here. Are they such cowards that they choose to remain at the entrance?"


    Although her voice was soft, it was quite audible to the Flying Armament Sect and to the other celestial clans that had setup camp nearby.


    Ouyang Xue, Lu Qingyun, Rushuang, Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    The ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all quite startled and some of them had even turned ashen. It was because Leng Qiuyue had chosen to stir up shit at this time. What if there were real celestial experts in the party of the Flying Armament Sect then they would all be in trouble!


    Maybe before they could even step into the Misty Desolate Valley, they would all get killed!


    Indeed, a fine looking man and a beautiful maiden from the Flying Armament Sect had quietly approached them and from their attires, it was obviously that they were the core prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Flying Armament Sect.


    The beautiful maiden was indeed very beautiful and immediately Lie Xingyuan whispered to Lu Qingyun, "We are in luck or rather bad luck. She is Fairy Ling Xiu, one of the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City."


    The fine looking man said coldly as he approached Leng Qiuyue, "Maiden, did you just say that we are cowards? Do you want to repeat those words again?"


    Leng Qiuyue pulled back her curtain veil as she said coldly, "I dare to and who are you?"


    When the fine looking man saw the astonishing beauty of Leng Qiuyue, he was quite startled as he asked, "You are Ouyang Xue or Leng Qiuyue?"


    Ouyang Xue pulled back her curtain veil and said coldly, "I''m Ouyang Xue and she is Leng Qiuyue. Do not confuse us!"


    The fine looking man chuckled softly, "So it is the Twin Alluring Flowers of the Heavens Ridge Villa. I''m Young Master Ling Chong and this is my sister Fairy Ling Xiu. So the two of you are in charge here?"


    Many of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa had immediately turned pale when they had heard his name. It was because Ling Chong and Ling Xiu was the young master and young mistress of the Flying Armament Sect and they were the children of the grandmaster of the Flying Armament Sect. Their statuses exceeded that of any core prot¨¦g¨¦s!


    Moreover, it was rumored that Ling Chong was an intermediate fourth realm expert while Ling Xiu was an initial fourth realm expert.


    The ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all smiling weakly. This was really slapping themselves on the face!


    Lie Xingyuan whispered to the startled Lu Qingyun, "They are fourth realm experts¡­"


    Lu Qingyun began to smile weakly. The difference between a third realm expert and a fourth realm expert was actually quite a big gap. A fourth realm expert was one that had cultivated to the energy level and hence the fourth realm was also known as the energy level as well as the immortal celestial level. At this level, the celestial practitioner would cease to age completely as they had full mastery of their cultivation energy.


    He was thinking, "This junior sister of mine, Leng Qiuyue has really barked up to the wrong tree. Since she has stirred up this shit, I shall just stand here quietly while they settle their differences. Hopefully, this can be resolved without any fist fights¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue had suddenly pointed to Lu Qingyun and said to Ling Chong, "Did you see that person over there? He is my senior brother."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as Ling Chong and Ling Xiu had suddenly looked toward his direction. He was thinking, "Did she just drag me into her shit hole¡­"


    He began to smile weakly toward Ling Chong and Ling Xiu.


    Fairy Ling Xiu had an interesting flash in her eyes as she appraised Lu Qingyun as she said quietly, "This senior brother of yours, what is his name?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he answered, "Lu Qingyun here. Please pardon us for our rudeness-"


    Leng Qiuyue interrupted him coldly, "We do not need to apologize to them."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    If we do not, he was thinking, then we would all be in terrible troubles pretty soon¡­


    Ling Xiu said gently, "Since your senior brother looks like a nice person, we shall let this rest." She took a last glance at Lu Qingyun before she took her leave.


    Ling Chong was smiling as he stared intently at both Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue, "Indeed, indeed. Why not? We are only here for our experiential training and it is interesting to meet people¡­"


    He began to laugh as he took a reluctantly last look at Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue as he said politely, "I shall take my leave. Hopefully we can meet again."


    Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were suddenly looking at Lu Qingyun coldly, startling him.


    He was perplexed as he thought, "What did I do? I''m just trying to break a fight. Don''t tell me you really want to fight with them?"


    But what he was thinking was completely different from what Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were thinking. They were unhappy that Fairy Ling Xiu had dropped the matter because she had taken one look at Lu Qingyun. They were actually secretly jealous.


    To the rest of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa and to Lie Xingyuan, they were all thinking. "It seems that if one has the good looks, they can get out of any troubles¡­"


    The minute Ling Chong had seen Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue, his hostile reaction had immediately faded away.


    Leng Qiuyue was secretly sighing. She was acting too out of the norm. This was unlike her usual self. Maybe she just wanted to get Lu Qingyun to notice her and even get his attention on her for a while¡­


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    Even Ouyang Xue was thinking, "Leng Qiuyue, what are you trying to do? We are lucky this time. Don''t tell me, you like senior brother?"

 44 Into the Misty Desolate Valley 1

    After a quick break and preparation, Ouyang Xue announced to the party that it was time to go into the Misty Desolate Valley.


    Leng Qiuyue lifted her head to say to Ouyang Xue, "Since senior brother is here, you should allow him to make the call."


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "It doesn''t matter who makes the call. This is my first time with everyone. It is wiser that I heed the advice of the more experienced hands."


    Leng Qiuyue said coolly, "In terms of experiences, I have done more experiential missions than anyone here. So you should all heed my call?"


    Ouyang Xue said coldly, "In terms of rank, you are my junior now. Should I remind you not to overstep your boundaries. Surely you know what I mean."


    Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    But she added with a cold hum, "You may be my senior in rank but you are not the one with the highest rank in this experiential mission. This honor belongs to our senior brother here."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he muttered, "Alright, we shall break camp. Alright?"


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue replied at almost the same time, "Alright¡­"


    As they replied, they began to look coldly at each other¡­


    Lie Xingyuan, Rushuang and the rest of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s were all smiling weakly as they started to break camp.


    As Lu Qingyun started to walk into the Misty Desolate Valley, he noticed that Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were also walking behind him.


    He thought, "Actually I don''t mind following their leads but why is that they are now following my lead? I don''t even know the way."


    As he walked to the front, he noticed that the rest of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s were also giving way to him¡­


    Lie Xingyuan whispered to him with a weak smile, "You are the senior brother, naturally you are expected to lead the way now. Did you not hear what Leng Qiuyue said earlier? You are the most senior in the party."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly before he had an idea.


    He turned around and said to Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue, "Junior sisters, why don''t we walk together? It is easier this way. I honestly do not know the way."


    Without replying to him, both Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue had quietly walked next to him while they were exchanging cold glances at each other.


    Standing in their midst, Lu Qingyun could feel the frosty bitterness that was in the air¡­


    This experiential mission was totally out of his expectations.


    He began to make a sigh soft before he turned around to continue the walk into the Misty Desolate Valley.


    The Misty Desolate Valley was below the desolate mists that blankets the mountains below. As he had lived in the mountains before he came to New Empyrean City, he knew that certain mountain vicinities were danger zones and he could sense a similar feeling in this place.


    The spiritual aura in this mountains were poor which means that the desolate aura below the desolate mists were particular thick here and was a good breeding grounds for the desolate beasts below. Usually it was a place where non-cultivators would dare to venture.


    Although he seemed to be taking the lead, it was actually Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue who were leading the party and they took the party down a trail that led to below the mountains.


    Several hours had passed and they had entered the desolate fog and visibility was poor. Along the way, they had met seven other celestial clans that were on their way back to the top. All of them were solemn and there were many injured cultivators in their group.


    Because the Heavens Ridge Villa was a respected celestial clan, some of the clans greeted their party politely and looked a little relieved. It was because they were almost out of danger and the sight of a large experiential party of thirty odds gave them some courage to hurry back to the top.


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "It doesn''t look too good for these celestial clans this time hence their solemn expressions."


    Even Leng Qiuyue was forced to agree with Ouyang Xue as she nodded lightly, "I don''t think they have the strength to venture deep into the valley and they seem to be capable of handling only the third rank desolate beasts. But from the look of it, it seemed that they may have encountered some fourth rank desolate beasts."


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    Ouyang Xue took a quiet glance at her rival and nodded, "You are right."


    Leng Qiuyue was a little startled that her rival had actually agreed with her. She just smiled weakly and did not say anything more.


    It was because deep down, the two of them knew that they had to be on full combat readiness and they also had the responsibility to take care of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s that were with them.


    Although they did have some rivalries with each other, now it was not the time for it. Moreover, they had actually felt a little guilty for upping the difficulty of the experiential mission.


    When Lu Qingyun had heard them, he was already smiling weakly as he took a cautious look around the trails.


    "How long must we continue down the trail? The further we go, the more dangerous it is." He said solemnly. He had never stepped down into the desolate mists before but there were frequent attacks from the desolate beasts as they emerged to run rampage above the mountains.


    Ouyang Xue said, "Sometimes if we are lucky, within a few hours. Sometimes a few days."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "A few days? You mean we have to go deeper? That is really some risk taking."


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly as she stole a glance at Rushuang. With Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue around, she did not dare to even talk to Lu Qingyun or to voice out her concerns¡­


    Ouyang Xue replied, "This is a known trail. Dozens of celestial clans have been using this similar trail. Even the desolate beasts are smart enough to avoid it unless it is some powerful desolate beasts that suddenly decide to emerge from their dens."


    Leng Qiuyue nodded, "It is said that the Misty Desolate Valley is a gathering place of thousands of desolate beasts below. It is like a separate divine realm for these desolate beasts below. That is why the entrance of the Misty Desolate Valley is marked as particular dangerous and by the decree of the Patriarch Heavenly Fragrance Villa, all the celestial clans around this area must send their prot¨¦g¨¦s for experiential missions to regularly clean out the desolate beasts here."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "What if we should encounter a seventh rank, eighth rank or even a ninth rank desolate beast?"


    Leng Qiuyue smiled weakly at him before she said, "Then we should run. As fast as possible. However as long as we don''t go too deep, we will be alright. After all, these high ranking desolate beasts do not like the poor desolate aura above the mountains."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I''ve once seen a nine rank golden roc near New Empyrean City."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled as she took a knowing glance at him, "And you survive the encounter?" It was obvious or else Lu Qingyun would not be standing right here now.


    Lu Qingyun nodded weakly.


    It was at this moment that Ouyang Xue gave a soft gap as she had suddenly thought of something. When she had gasped, even Leng Qiuyue was gasping. It was because they had both thought of the same thing too!


    They whispered at almost the same time, "And you have killed the Golden Roc or else how did you get your golden roc flame?"


    Ouyang Xue was particular interested in studying Lu Qingyun''s golden roc flame. It was because she needed a breakthrough to the energy level to become a fourth realm expert. Likewise, even Leng Qiuyue was aroused with interest in his golden roc flame.


    Leng Qiuyue asked quietly, "Don''t tell that a low level first realm cultivator like you can actually kill it?"


    Ouyang Xue was also looking at Lu Qingyun with disbelief and she was interested to know more as well.


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "Actually I had met sect leader at that time. She was the one that had killed it, not me. Naturally she was also the one that had given me the golden roc flame."


    Behind Lu Qingyun, Lie Xingyuan was secretly startled. She had never asked how senior brother got his sentient spirit. So it was from Qin Keqin. Now that she knew, there were many things that had suddenly made sense to her now¡­


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were also startled. They had all thought that Lu Qingyun had some lucky occurrence and managed to obtain a wisp of the golden roc flame. But it seemed that he got more than just a wisp and it had come directly from the ninth rank desolate beast.


    At the same time they were exchanging startled glances silently. It was because Qin Keqin was only a fifth realm expert. How was it possible for her to be able to defeat a powerful ninth rank desolate beast that had even trampled a seventh realm expert?


    Just as they were about to ask more for more details, there was a deep howling sound that echoed aloud and the earth seemed to be trembling!


    Ouyang Xue was alarmed as she quickly shouted panicky, "Everyone, on your guard and drawn out your swords for battle."


    Leng Qiuyue was also shouting, "All the first realm prot¨¦g¨¦s, form a defensive line behind the second realm prot¨¦g¨¦s. Ready the sword formation immediately!"


    Lu Qingyun was also alarmed as he quickly unsheathed his divine sword from his spatial ring as he muttered, "We are in a real battle with a desolate beast this soon?"

 45 Into the Misty Desolate Valley 2

    Ouyang Xue quickly gently pushed Lu Qingyun away as she said solemnly, "Xingyuan, please take Senior Brother Lu to the back. We will handle this."


    Lu Qingyun protested immediately as he was already all warmed up for his fight real battle but Ouyang Xue turned to say icily to him, "No but. You will only distract us. I can''t afford any minute distractions even it is just a brief."


    There was a look of sincerity and concern as she said quietly, "This is a real battle. I can only afford to look out for myself. If I were to constantly check on you then I may not survive the battle. We may not survive the battle together."


    Even Leng Qiuyue was saying, "Xingyuan, quickly take him away to the second line. Hurry! There is no time to lose!"


    What else could Lu Qingyun do?


    With great reluctant, he forced himself to be dragged away by Lie Xingyuan. He wanted to participate in the battle but he did not want to be their distraction. From their solemn eyes, he knew that he would only be endangering them if he decided to fight alongside them.


    He could only think this way first, "If they are in any danger, surely it is not too late for me to intervene? I just need to prepare myself for any contingencies then."


    No sooner had he and Lie Xingyuan and reached the second line where the first realm cultivators were which numbered about half of the group, a terrifying large King Desolate Lizard had emerged from the confines of the mountain shadows as the ground beneath them trembled nonstop!


    This King Desolate Lizard was a powerful fourth rank desolate beast with great agility and strength. The jaws of this King Desolate Lizard could easily tear apart any cultivators and turned them into mincemeat!


    Leng Qiuyue shouted to the cultivators that had formed the first line, "What are you all fighting for? Form your sword formations, split into two sword formations and support Grand Elder Xue and I as we make our moves."


    The first line of cultivators of about 16 quickly divided themselves into two groups of 8 each with each group following either Ouyang Xue or Leng Qiuyue. The first line of cultivators consisted of all the second realm master practitioners cultivators which included Rushuang.


    The second line of cultivators was all first realm cultivators and there were 15 of them. When Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan were added, there were now 17 of them at the back who were ready to support anyone who was injured. This was the general role of the second line and they provided the first line with their timely support so that the first line of cultivators could focus all their attentions in their battles.


    It was a little ironic that Lie Xingyuan and Lu Qingyun were both third realm cultivators and they were now supporting at the back.


    Only Leng Qiuyue knew that Lu Qingyun was not a lowly first realm cultivator. It was because Lu Qingyun had told her he was already a third realm cultivator. However in Leng Qiuyue''s mind, she did not really believe him and thought that there was a chance that he may be boasting. Moreover, she knew that Lu Qingyun lacked any experience and lack of experience was fatal in a fight. So she was equally as eager as Ouyang Xue to see him supporting at the back rather than the front. This way, she could focus all her attention on the intruding desolate beast.


    This King Desolate Lizard was confident of itself despite seeing a group of thirty and it quickly charged into the group swiftly.


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    Ouyang Xue raised her sword as she swung against the thick hide of the King Desolate Lizard but her profound sword stroke just did not have the impact that she had desired. This King Desolate Lizard was a top tier fourth realm desolate beast best known for its resilient, speed and strength.


    She gasped softly as the King Desolate Lizard rushed past her and charged headlong into Leng Qiuyue.


    Leng Qiuyue took the charge calmly as she slipped high upward into the air as she cried out to the two groups behind, "Don''t let it get past your line to our support lines!"


    The two groups quickly formed two massive sword arrays as they readied their swords to meet the charge. There were real fears in their eyes as they really did not know if they could halt the advance of this King Desolate Lizard.


    Dozens of sword flashes were immediately brought down on the King Desolate Lizard as it approached. Almost immediately, an unfortunate prot¨¦g¨¦ was heard screaming as he got grabbed into the jaws of the King Desolate Lizard while two others were smacked hard and sent flying off.


    The advance of the King Desolate Lizard was halted and almost immediately half of the 16 cultivators that formed the two sword arrays had all sustained injuries.


    Ouyang Xue had quickly doubled back as she raised her sword forward the King Desolate Lizard with all her profound strength as she leapt up to deliver a powerful slash with her sword.


    At the same time Leng Qiuyue had just landed softly on the ground but her reaction was nimble. No sooner had she landed, she too had turned with all her profound strength to pierce a weak point of the King Desolate Lizard at its back leg.


    The King Desolate Lizard was enraged as it sent its tail to whack toward Leng Qiuyue who raised her sword just in time to fend the tail whack but the attack had sent her flying tens of metres away as she spurted blood.


    Within three blinks of an eye, another unfortunately prot¨¦g¨¦ was crushed under the King Desolate Lizard claw while yet another was whacked by its tail and the prot¨¦g¨¦ was dead immediately.


    The second line of prot¨¦g¨¦s were all rushing forward to drag the heavily wounded away and were raising their swords to provide a defensive cover for those that required time to regroup.


    Lu Qingyun sighed heavily as he witnessed the on-going battle with a heavy heart. This fourth realm desolate beast was indeed extremely powerful and he was unsure if he could even handle it alone.


    Ouyang Xue flashed and attacked several times, fully making use of the distractions provided by the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s to search for vulnerabilities for her attack. Finally she had found it as she delivered a deep slash by the side of the King Desolate Beast.


    This caused the King Desolate Beast to roar aloud in great pain and its momentum was halted as it began to weaken. Suddenly it was slashed and hacked from many sides.


    Ouyang Xue shouted, "Everyone, all-out attack!"


    Within a few minutes, the King Desolate Beast was dead but not before it killed one more prot¨¦g¨¦ and heavily injured another two.


    When it was finally over, there were five dead and another five were heavily wounded.


    Ouyang Xue looked extremely solemn at the bloody scene that was laid before her. Although she had taken part in many of the experiential missions, this was the first time that she had fought such a dangerous fourth rank desolate beast.


    By right, their main objective was a fourth rank desolate beast and with the death of this desolate beast, their main mission would have been accomplished. What they need to do next was to find another two weaker third rank desolate beasts and this entire experiential mission would end and they could return home.


    However the experiential mission objective was changed to a fifth realm desolate beast and two fourth realm desolate beast now.


    This experiential mission was not going to be easy.


    She was sweating profusely from the exertion that she had put into. It was not only her but all the front line fighters were all sweating profusely. This fight was not going to be easy.


    Leng Qiuyue walked with a limp as she stole a glance at Lu Qingyun and noted that he was perfectly alright.


    Ouyang Xue said quietly to her, "Are you alright?"


    Leng Qiuyue nodded lightly. She was drained from the fight and she had suffered some injuries from the impact.


    But there was a look of respect in the eyes of both maidens for each other after the fight. This was actually the first time that they had worked together.


    But at this moment, Leng Qiuyue had wished that it was Lu Qingyun who could step forward to offer her some condolences. Although that did not happen, she was secretly glad that he was alright¡­


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had walked to Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue as he asked, "Are the two of you alright? You have fought well. Thank you."


    Leng Qiuyue took a sudden look at Lu Qingyun as she thought, "He is really asking if I''m alright?"


    But she could only give a weak nod while Ouyang Xue replied, "I''m alright. I am glad that senior brother you are fine too."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly as he stole a sheepish glance at Lie Xingyuan as he sighed heavily.


    It was not out of total concern for Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue when he had walked over to ask about their wellbeing. It was because after the fight, some of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s were whispering, "So this is our good-for-nothing first realm senior brother. He just stands there and does nothing at all¡­"


    "He is just cowering behind his two junior sisters while they do the hard work¡­"


    "Even Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue put their lives on the frontline for us but what is our senior brother doing?"


    "He is really no better than an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦¡­"


    All the soft muttering had caused his back to be burning and this was the reason why he had suddenly approach Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue. It was because the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s dared not whisper anything within their earshot.


    But somehow, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had mistaken that he was overly concerned for them¡­


    Ouyang Xue took one last look at Lu Qingyun before she walked over to the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s to inspect the damages before she said solemnly, "The two of you over there, take these five badly injured prot¨¦g¨¦s to the top first and wait for us at the entrance until we are back."


    She heaved a soft sigh before she said quietly to them, "I need your help to take the five bodies too for burial."


    As she said that, her voice grew hoarse and her eyes had also become watery. But she quickly said, "The rest of you help to dissect the important parts of this desolate beast¡­"


    Out of 30 ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s, only 18 would remain to continue the experiential mission. This was not looking good at all. Even Leng Qiuyue got a bad hit and she was limping.


    She was even thinking of throwing in the gauntlet and declared that their experiential mission was a failure. She really did not know if she alone would be enough to handle more of the upcoming dangers and to protect this group¡­

 46 Into the Misty Desolate Valley 3

    Lu Qingyun was actually quite impressed by the fighting skills of Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue. They had actually dared to face such a formidable fourth rank desolate beast without showing any sign of fear or emotion.


    Ouyang Xue was more impressive than he had thought and to think that she had once offered herself to him to be his consort.


    But Lu Qingyun really did not have any undue intentions toward her except that he was quite in awe of her quiet resilient strength.


    As for Leng Qiuyue, he was quite worried about her injuries but she did not say a word about it. It was obvious that she was limping and this would affect her performance in the battle. In fact, she should be returning to the top with the seven other ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    During the fight with the King Desolate Lizard, he had actually wanted to rush forward to fight it but he was held back by Lie Xingyuan who had whispered quietly to him, "Senior brother, don''t. You will only distract Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue and only endangering them."


    Warned by Lie Xingyuan just in time, he had nodded quietly and held back. It was not because he was a real coward but because he knew that in a fight, the timing, the terrain and the emotion state played a huge part. He had studied all these before and realized that he would only be disturbing their train of thoughts with his rash acts.


    Therefore, he had held back.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Three days later, they had reached a white rock inside the Misty Desolate Valley.


    During those three days, they had slain a few of the first rank and second rank desolate beasts, second. Even a third rank desolate beast was successfully handled by them without any major hurdle.


    Ouyang Xue solemnly said to the party, "This white rock marked the boundary where the fourth rank desolate beasts frequently roamed."


    Leng Qiuyue added with a weak smile, "Usually when this huge white rock is seen, it is sign for most of the weaker parties to turn back immediately. This boundary is where we can find more of the fourth rank and even fifth rank desolate beasts that are roaming within the valley. Even for me, I''ve been inside for less than five times." She had actually only been deep inside for only three times.


    Ouyang Xue nodded, "Once we are inside, third rank desolate beasts will be a common sight and there will be more frequent sighing of the fourth rank desolate beasts. Our mission is to hunt down a fifth rank desolate beast."


    Then she looked at the party and said, "If anyone doesn''t want to follow, you can turn back now and wait us at the top. I won''t blame anyone for taking this decision and there will be no punishment or letting the elders know."


    Although the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s were solemn but none of them shown any sign of fear of and had a determined look.


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "It is still not too late to turn back now. All of us."


    Some of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s had overheard him and were secretly cursing him for being such a coward.


    Leng Qiuyue said with a weak smile, "Senior brother, why don''t you go and wait for us at the top first? We will be alright."


    "No, I will stay with the party," he said firmly.


    Then he heaved a soft sigh, "How is your leg? You are still limping after three days¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue quietly interrupted, "I''m alright, really. It is just a little inconvenient but as long as I can still wield my sword, I won''t be a hindrance to anyone."


    Ouyang Xue looked quietly at Leng Qiuyue. Although they were rivals but lately, she had a better understanding of her. This was the Leng Qiuyue that she had not known, who had fought with all her best when they were fighting the King Desolate Lizard together. And when she was injured, she still shouldered on her pains and discomfort to continue the experiential mission. She could easily have decided to wait at the top due to her injuries but she did not want to abandon the experiential mission halfway even though she knew that her combat ability was more than halfway down.


    In the past three days, she did not make things difficult for Leng Qiuyue at all. It was because she was not the type that hit upon someone who was down at the moment. On the contrary, she had secretly prayed for Leng Qiuyue to make a speedy recovery as she needed her combat strength.


    After a short preparation, they made their way cautiously past the white rock and continued their way down to the mountains.


    A day had quickly passed and a third rank desolate beast was quickly encountered.


    But Ouyang Xue quickly made a swift work out of it and dispatched it in no time.


    The desolate mists here were heavy and the spiritual aura was quite poor. This made it hard for the cultivators to regain their profound strength. Also, this affected everyone''s spiritual perception and made it harder for them to sense the approach of the desolate beasts. Therefore they had to scout with their own eyes.


    As the party was about to setup camp, all of a sudden the ground shook as a gigantic Star Desolate Ape had suddenly flew down from the cliff above and landed with a tremendous hard landing. Before anyone could react, the Star Ape had plummeted to death one cultivator and had crushed another cultivator!


    The scene was absolutely horrifying!


    Leng Qiuyue had barely lifted all her profound strength to defend the rest of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s when she was sent flying off with a might swing from the Star Desolate Ape attack!


    Ouyang Xue gasped, "This is a fourth rank desolate beast. Everyone, be careful¡­"


    This time Lu Qingyun was not about to be idle. As it was a surprise attack, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue did not have the time to issue more commands or to warn him to stay away. Therefore he took the opportunity to say to Lie Xingyuan, "Xingyuan, I need your help to distract this monster while I executed my Crimson Flaming Sword. However, this sword technique is erm, a little slow to warm up."


    Lie Xingyuan nodded and immediately she had displayed her newly acquired sword skill the Winds Entropy Dance as she flew to intercept the Star Desolate Ape.


    Ouyang Xue''s strength was faltering as she evaded and counter-attack against the Star Desolate Ape when Lie Xingyuan had suddenly intercepted the swift attacks of the Star Desolate Ape.


    In a blink of an eye, Lie Xingyuan had slashed twice against the thick fur of the Star Desolate Ape as she sent the Star Desolate Ape to take two steps backward and slowing its attack pace.


    Although it was only a brief setback to the Star Desolate Ape, it allowed everyone to regroup and to compose their minds, buying everyone valuable time to think of their next actions.


    Ouyang Xue was gasping secretly. She had recognized the Winds Entropy Dance and that Lie Xingyuan had just executed a tricky move that required the cultivator to have the profound strength of the third realm level. But she had thought that Lie Xingyuan was only a second realm cultivator?


    Even Leng Qiuyue was startled by the startling martial display that was being displayed by Lie Xingyuan.


    She thought, "She is actually a third realm cultivator? This is not possible. She has only been with the Heavens Ridge Villa for only a year¡­"


    But before their surprises with Lie Xingyuan had faded away, Lu Qingyun had suddenly taken a dozen rapid steps forward as he raised his divine sword to display the second stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword the Lethal Burning Sword as he leapt high into the air to aim for the heart of the Star Desolate Ape.


    It was as though the profound aura that was around Lu Qingyun had suddenly exploded as he sent his sword through the heart of the Star Desolate Ape. So great was the sudden thunderous explosion that was generated that the Star Desolate Ape was sent flying up into the mid-air before it landed with a large crash on the ground in the next instant.


    This caught everyone who was looking in awe as they was shocked at how easily Lu Qingyun had killed a fourth rank desolate beast!


    "This¡­is this our first rank senior brother?"


    "What kind of a sword art is this¡­"


    "It seemed to be the Flaming Crimson Sword but I''ve heard that it is an extremely difficult to master sword art. Moreover the sword practitioner has to be at least a third realm cultivator in order to have the profound strength to use the sword art¡­"


    "I have heard that even a fifth rank cultivator will also have problem learning it. Our Elder Celestial Shi Guanyin has once mentioned to me¡­"


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    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were shocked beyond words as they stared at Lu Qingyun as they thought at the same time, "Is he really our good-for-nothing senior brother?"


    Leng Qiuyue gasped to herself, "He is really a third realm cultivator and not a first rank cultivator? I have thought that he is only boasting¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was looking a little sheepish. He was actually surprised by the martial power of the Lethal Burning Sword as it easily pierced through the almost impervious thick fur of the Star Desolate Ape.


    "This sword art is indeed powerful and it is only the second stage sword art. I have yet to display the third stage yet. But it is all thanks to Xingyuan who provides me with the short preparation. I guess that the Star Desolate Ape did not expect me to attack and hence its guard was lowered."


    Leng Qiuyue muttered as she looked at him, "Senior brother, you are so strong¡­" But before she could finish saying what was on her mind, she had spurt blood all of a sudden and had collapsed!


    Everyone was shocked!


    Rushuang put her hand to cover her mouth as she was shocked to see Leng Qiuyue collapsing all of a sudden.


    Ouyang Xue panicky caught hold of Leng Qiuyue as she said anxiously, "She had taken an indirect hit earlier and she was forcing herself to stand despite the internal injuries that she had sustained. It does not look too good for her¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was also startled as he quickly said solemnly, "Let me take a look at her¡­"


    Ouyang Xue looked up at him but before she could ask him further, he said quietly. "I may be able to help her. But hurry."

 48 This is a Fifth Rank Desolate Beast?

    A group of cultivators were battling a monstrous denizen that looked like a jelly fish. Its many tentacles had already slain more than a dozen and severely wounded dozens.


    The situation was not good for this group of cultivators and their morale was already lost.


    This fifth rank desolate beast was the Hundred Eyes Beast and it had suddenly ambushed them when they had approached and caught them totally by surprise.


    Although this group had two formidable fourth realm experts in their midst but this Hundred Eyes Beast was an upper tier fifth rank desolate beast that was very close to be called a sixth rank desolate monster.


    At this moment, Ling Chong and Fairy Ling Xiu were both making a gruesome stand against this monster.


    Ling Chong had turned to his sister to say, "Little sister, I''ll cover your retreat. Quickly get the hell out of here please."


    Ling Xiu stubbornly replied, "Brother, you''re the only scion and hope of our father. Our Flying Armament Sect can''t do without you. It is better than I stay to cover your retreat¡­"


    A middle-age cultivator shouted to them as he struggled with his wounds, "Young master, young mistress! Let this useless steward here cover your retreat. I cannot allow the two of you to come to any harm or I will really let old master down!"


    "Steward Luo! You are my father''s right hand man. I can''t allow you to sacrifice yourself for us." Ling Chong said desperately as he evaded the attacks of the Hundred Eyes Beast.


    This Hundred Eyes Beast was towering and was three times as tall as anyone. The most deadliest aspect of this monster was its dozens of tentacles that were flashing and whipping in an area of effect around it, making it extremely hard to even get past to it.


    In just a short while, their group of forty cultivators was already down by more than half!


    This was a monster that they could not hope to overcome. There was nothing left to do except for a slow retreat.


    Because of the stubborn resilient fight that was put up by Ling Chong and Ling Xiu, as well as the three third realm cultivators that were in their party, the number of casualties would have been even greater.


    All of a sudden a wicked tentacle had reached out for Ling Xiu and just as she thought that it was impossible to evade the attack, a tall and fine looking young man had suddenly appeared out of the blue and had raised his beaming sword to severe the attacking tentacle.


    Fairy Ling Xiu gasped softly as she had recognized Lu Qingyun as she thought, "This is him?! He is also in this vicinity?"


    At the same time a beautiful maiden had also pulled Ling Chong out of harm''s way and threw him to the back as she displayed a couple of defensive swordplay to deflect the attacking tentacles.


    Ling Chong was startled as he looked at the beautiful maiden that had just saved him He thought, "Who is this lovely maiden? She is with the Heavens Ridge Villa too?" He had of course recognized Lu Qingyun and assumed that she was also a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    To him, the suddenly appearance of a beautiful maiden that had saved him was like a beautiful angel that had descended from the heavens and it was deeply embedded into his soul. In fact, Ling Chong had now completely fallen in love with her and was eager to know her name.


    He asked quickly, "Maiden, may I have my benefactor name?"


    But Lie Xingyuan was too busy fending off the attacks of the Hundred Eyes Beast to take notice of him¡­


    But Ling Chong did not mind at all as he quickly joined hands with her to help fend off the dangerous tentacles of the Hundred Eyes Beast.


    As for Lu Qingyun, he was startled that he would encounter a fifth rank desolate beast here and he did not dare to be careless. Therefore he quickly whispered to Yan''Er, "Yan''Er, I need your help to raise my aura to your highest level. We''ve only have one chance!"


    Yan''Er replied delightfully within his inner spiritual sea, "I am ready master!"


    Lu Qingyun had immediately mustered the golden roc flame in his left hand. This golden roc flame was actually Yan''Er and with a flip of his fingers, the golden roc flame had merged with his aura.


    He was preparing to use the third stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword, the Supreme Burning Sword. His sword had already turning a flaming hue.


    He was of course able to use the third stage of the Supreme Burning Sword without the aid of Yan''Er but he had felt that that may consume his profound aura by quite a bit and may weaken him considerably. Moreover with Yan''Er helping him, he would be able to double the martial power of the Supreme Burning Sword as he could focus all his martial power into his sword rather than splitting his profound strength between his sword and aura.


    The Hundred Eyes Beast was not a fifth rank desolate beast for nothing. It had immediately sensed that Lu Qingyun was a threat and it began to attack him with six of its tentacles!


    Ling Xiu shouted panicky to him, "Look out!"


    But Lu Qingyun moved quietly into the midst of the attacking tentacles with precision as he cleaved off four of the tentacles quite effortlessly with his sword.


    In the next instant, he was already in a direct confrontation with the Hundred Eyes Beast and had swung his flaming sword and crimson aura into the body of the Hundred Eyes Beast.


    There was a brilliant flare as his sword exploded across the body of the Hundred Eyes Beast as it rolled over with a thunderous impact onto the ground.


    The unbelievable thing had happened. The Hundred Eyes Beast was dead in the next instant!


    Everyone was in awe of Lu Qingyun. He had actually killed the Hundred Eyes Beast with his powerful sword art.


    Ling Chong was gasping with shock. This young ''senior brother'' of the Heavens Ridge Villa was actually so formidable? From the strength of this sword art, his profound strength seemed to be matched that of a fifth realm expert except that he had no golden eyes¡­


    He had of course misread Lu Qingyun''s strength as he had the aid of Yan''Er who had doubled his martial power as she acted in place of his profound aura.


    "Is he a fifth realm expert or close to one?" he muttered with disbelief in his eyes.


    Even Fairy Ling Xiu had thought so too when she saw his strength and she was gasping with astonishment and flushing with shyness.


    Lu Qingyun was secretly sighing as he had killed the malicious Hundred Eyes Beast. It was because he had suddenly lost his profound strength, "It seems that although Yan''Er is able to aid me to double my martial power but she is actually using my inner spiritual sea as her strength. Because of that, I end up using three times the usual profound strength that is required for this sword art. Alas, I didn''t think of that¡­"


    Fairy Ling Xiu had quietly interrupted his thoughts, "Our profuse thanks to Fellow Cultivator Lu for aiding us. If it isn''t for you, it will be extremely disastrous for us."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "Not at all. I''m just passing through."


    Fairy Ling Xiu asked, "Where is your group? They are in this vicinity too?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "My party is just nearby. In fact, we have a nasty encounter not too long ago so I am just scouting around."


    Fairy Ling Xiu smiled sweetly, "Luckily you are around. You¡­you''re really impressive."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Not at all. The Hundred Eyes Beast may be tired from the fighting and I am just taking some advantage."


    Ling Chong greeted politely with bowed hands, "Brother Lu, you are too humble. My sister is not one who praises another so easily. In the future, you are free to come to the Flying Armament Sect anytime and I will be sure to give you a grandeur welcome!"


    Fairy Ling Xiu had a slight flush as she looked at her brother. Her watery eyes were as bright as the moon and she was renowned for her beautiful eyes.


    Even Lu Qingyun could not help taking a look of two at her beautiful eyes.


    Ling Chong smiled as he asked Lie Xingyuan, "May I know maiden''s name? I am really grateful for you for saving my life. Look at me, I''ve forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Ling Chong and this is my sister Fairy Ling Xiu."


    Lie Xingyuan gave him a faint smile, "Lie Xingyuan. I am just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ and personal attendant to senior brother."


    Ling Chong and Ling Xiu exchanged a quick startled glance at each other. They were quite surprised that she was only an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ with her skills. She was not a core prot¨¦g¨¦? Moreover she was an exceptional beautiful maiden and she was a personal attendant of Lu Qingyun.


    This caused them to feel a little envious of Lu Qingyun.


    Fairy Ling Xiu was secretly disappointed. It was because she had heard of the rule of the Heavens Ridge Villa. With such a beautiful maiden by his side, it was hard to believe that Lu Qingyun had not touched her at all.


    Although she was very beautiful and ranked in the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City, there were also many unranked beauties. The top twenty beauties were all beautiful cultivators of some importance and that was why they were ranked. If Lie Xingyuan had any background, she would surely be ranked as well.


    Even Ling Chong was secretly sighing. He had thought that Lie Xingyuan was the most beautiful maiden that he had ever met and when she had saved his life, his impression of her was deeply entrenched in his heart.


    He did not know that from now on, he would never forget about her and she would occupy an important place in his heart¡­


    Fairy Ling Xiu forced herself to smile and said to Lu Qingyun, "You are a peaked fourth realm cultivator? At first I''ve thought that you may be a fifth realm expert but you do not have any golden eyes. Surely your cultivation strength has already reached the fifth realm and you may be overcoming to the fifth realm soon?"


    When a cultivator reached the Fifth Realm Golden Celestial Level, they would have golden eyes and even their profound aura would radiate a faint golden.


    Because fifth realm experts were rare, they were highly respected everywhere in the Celestial Realm. It was the wish of every cultivator to be a golden celestial one day for only a cultivator who had attained the fifth realm would have extreme life span that could measure more than a thousand years.


    Lu Qingyun replied awkwardly, "Actually I am only a third realm expert."


    Fairy Ling Xiu, Ling Chong: ¡­


    This was too unbelievable! He was only a third realm cultivator?!


    They were both fourth realm experts but their martial strength were so much weaker than him¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Since we have a camp nearby, will you like to join us for the night? It will be good for some protection."


    Ling Chong nodded as he looked at the heavy casualties and the wounded around him. He counted twenty odds prot¨¦g¨¦s out of forty that were remaining, "Thank you for your hospitality. Then we shall not decline."


    He secretly stole a glance at his sister Ling Xiu and expecting to see a look of disapproval or displeasure. It was because he knew that his sister did not like to mix with the other celestial clans. But instead, he found his sister to be smiling sweetly and even to the point of idiocy at Lu Qingyun¡­


    Lu Qingyun said, "I have an unreasonable request. Actually my experiential mission is for us to kill a fifth realm desolate beast so that we can complete our mission. Erm, can this¡­"


    Ling Chong immediately knew what he was asking for and said, "No problem. You can take this desolate beast back as proof. Actually we are just on an exploratory mission to gain some experiences so we don''t have any kills missions."


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    Lu Qingyun smiled with relief, "That''s great. Thank you!"


    Even Lie Xingyuan was smiling. That mean that they had now completed their experiential mission and would all be returning home. She really did not want to stay a day longer in this dangerous place!


    But at the same time she was also secretly looking at Lu Qingyun with a flush look. It was because she was also in awe of him. Did he know that he had just performed a startling feat by slaying a fifth rank desolate beast?

 49 Sixth Rank Desolate Beast!? 1

    Ling Chong said to Lu Qingyun as they walked together, "If Brother Lu does not mind at all, we can become sworn brothers?"


    Actually long before he had met Lu Qingyun, he had already known that there was a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator who had suddenly become the senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa. When he was first introduced to him and was made known his name, he had already known.


    The big four celestial clans had always been keeping tabs on each other and the appointment of Lu Qingyun as a core disciple of their mysterious sect leader was juicy news, especially when Qin Keqin had soundly defeated Supremacy Wen Hongguang, a sixth realm expert from the Solitary Manor.


    It was a good thing that he had not mocked at Lu Qingyun when they had first met. Or rather, he was being distracted by the Twin Alluring Flowers of the Heavens Ridge Villa. If it was his usual self, he would mock him by saying, "So I wonder who this senior brother of yours is, so he is the good-for-nothing first realm cultivator."


    However his sister had said timely, "Since your senior brother looks like a nice person, we shall let this rest." And they had departed.


    But it seemed that it was only a rumor that Lu Qingyun was only a first realm cultivator and that he was actually a third realm expert and his martial strength could even match a fifth realm expert!


    Fairy Ling Xiu smiled sweetly as her watery eyes looked at him, "It will be good that I have a brother like you¡­Brother Qingyun¡­" She had already addressed him as brother in an amicable manner.


    Lu Qingyun was a straightforward person and since the other party harbored no malice and was sincere, he smiled. "Sounds good. Brother Ling Chong!"


    Ling Chong laughed and chuckled, "Brother Qingyun! In the future, free to come to the Flying Armament Sect anytime!"


    Fairy Ling Xiu looked at Lu Qingyun shyly and said, "Brother Qingyun, please do feel welcome in coming anytime. Just say you are our sworn brother."


    "Our sworn brother?" he asked.


    "Since my brother is your sworn brother, naturally I am your sworn sister. Am I right?" she chuckled softly.


    "Right¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was a little surprised that there would be two fourth realm experts that would be willing to befriend a lowly cultivator like him. He thought, "Maybe it is a good thing to do more chivalrous acts after all."


    Ling Chong smiled as he looked at Lie Xingyuan, "Maiden Lie, you are also welcome to visit our humble abode anytime you like¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled as she interrupted nonchalantly, "I am just a lowly ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦. I dare not."


    Ling Chong smiled weakly, "Not at all. You have just saved my life so you are my benefactor¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled wryly, "I am just a busybody to intercept that attack for you. Even if I don''t, you won''t die."


    Ling Chong laughed weakly. He seemed to have hit a wall with her¡­


    Even Fairy Ling Xiu was secretly smiling at her brother as she thought, "This maiden is really a hard nut to crack. My brother is just a fine young man and she isn''t in the least interested in him?"


    Soon they had reached the camp of the Heavens Ridge Villa. In the first place, Lu Qingyun did not actually gone too far anyway.


    Ouyang Xue and the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were surprised to see a large contingency of prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Flying Armament Sect that was approaching them.


    Their first thought was of course that their Senior Brother Lu Qingyun had been captured and held hostage by them. Therefore they had quickly raised their swords to defend their camp.


    However Lu Qingyun quickly said aloud, "They are friends. I''ve met them earlier and they were under attack by a desolate beast. I am the one that suggest that they take refuge with us since we are all in the same vicinity."


    Ling Chong immediately paid his respect to Ouyang Xue as he said, "Indeed. That is not all. Brother Qingyun here has also helped us to kill a fifth rank desolate beast. I am truly impressed by his martial skills."


    Ouyang Xue and the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all startled. What?! Did he just say that Lu Qingyun had just killed a fifth rank desolate beast?"


    Fairy Ling Xiu could not help adding as she looked idiocy at Lu Qingyun, "In fact, with a single blow the Hundred Eyes Beast was sent to its maker by Brother Qingyun. Against this monster, we''re actually quite helpless and we are all thankful to Brother Qingyun."


    Everyone could hear that Fairy Ling Xiu was full of praises for Lu Qingyun and soon the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all muttering in amazement.


    Ouyang Xue was greatly startled, "Are¡­you sure? That is the Hundred Eyes Beast that you are talking about?"


    Fairy Ling Xiu immediately felt a little offended as she replied coldly, "I do not lie about such things."


    Steward Luo from the Flying Armament Sect immediately gave a thumb up to Lu Qingyun as he said proudly, "He is a real hero. From today onward, he is a friend of our Flying Armament Sect!" Not only had Lu Qingyun saved his young master and mistress, he had also saved his life indirectly. Therefore he was extremely grateful to Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "I was just lucky, that''s all."


    Then he smiled at Ouyang Xue and the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa who were presented, "Brother Ling Chong here has given me the permission to have the fifth rank desolate beast as our kill. Therefore we can pack up tomorrow and leave this place."


    All the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s of Heavens Ridge Villa were all gasping and their delights began to surface immediately. By completing this experiential mission, they would be gaining a massive amount of clan contribution points and other advantages. After all, not everyone was willing to take a fifth rank desolate beast mission¡­


    "I told you our senior brother is something¡­"


    "He is truly a young hero¡­"


    "That is why he is our senior brother¡­"


    "Didn''t you say that he is our good-for-nothing senior brother earlier?"


    "I only say that to test you, that''s all¡­"


    "He is truly a son of the heavens¡­"


    Suddenly the opinion of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s had all changed for a better for Lu Qingyun. Earlier when he had killed the fourth rank desolate beast, there were still some dissent voices. But when they had heard that he had single-handedly killed the Hundred Eyes Beast and even the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Flying Armament Sect were all in praises of him, they had all changed their personal opinion of their ''good-for-nothing senior brother'' and were all now immensely proud of him!


    Ouyang Xue was truly startled as her head began to spin dizzily. Did she just hear the young master of the Flying Armament Sect calling Lu Qingyun brother here and brother there? They had become so close all of a sudden and Lu Qingyun was only out for just a while¡­


    But she was also glad that the experiential mission had quickly ended. Even a fourth rank desolate beast had been quite difficult for her and there was no way she could defeat the Hundred Eyes Beast even if Leng Qiuyue was not injured.


    Ouyang Xue immediately smiled, "Welcome to our camp. I guess that we can all sit and chat later. Please tell me more about it."


    Ling Chong was smiling. The smile of a beautiful maiden like Ouyang Xue was indeed enchanting. "Of course, of course."


    There was no mention of the casualties. It was because the world of cultivators had a hidden rule and that was that deaths were actually commonplace and the cultivators were expected to give up their lives anytime for their celestial clans.


    Both everyone knew that it was not easy to venture deep here and there was a sense of camaraderie between the two groups as they put aside their deep distrust of each other aside.


    As the two groups began to mix together, all of a sudden there was a thunderous roar on top of a cliff and the dark shape of a monstrous drake could be seen clearly.


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    Ouyang Xue, Ling Chong, Fairy Ling Xiu, Lie Xingyuan, Rushuang and almost everyone had turned ashen immediately!


    It was because this was the Desolate King Drake, a sixth rank desolate beast!


    Ouyang Xue looked panicky at everyone, "Run. We must all flee before it is too late. This monster is beyond our ability to handle¡­"


    Even Ling Chong was panicky as he replied with a trembling voice, "Everyone¡­turn around and flee as fast as possible. I will try to cover our backs¡­"


    Fairy Ling Xiu gasped, "Brother, don''t¡­"


    Steward Luo immediately urged solemnly, "Let me cover our backs. I am lucky to be alive just now and I am living on extended time anyway."


    Ouyang Xue had immediately said to Rushuang, "Leng Qiuyue probably can''t move. Please get her out of here while I cover everyone tracks. Please go now!"


    Rushuang did not hesitate at all as she quickly rushed to the tent where Leng Qiuyue was.


    Lu Qingyun had also turned ashen because he knew how terrifying a sixth rank desolate beast was. But he said, "I will stay behind to cover everyone too."


    Lie Xingyuan gasped, "Senior brother, we can''t afford to lose you here. Once that Desolate King Drake engages anyone, it is really hard for anyone to escape unscathed. Please go. I will cover you instead."


    Lu Qingyun looked bitterly at Lie Xingyuan, "You don''t want to listen to your senior brother anymore?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled coldly, "Yes, I am refusing to listen to you now. I''m staying put no matter what."


    Ouyang Xue smiled bitterly, "Why don''t the two of you just go? I will stay behind instead."


    Lu Qingyun laughed coldly, "Then we shall all stay here and fight. I''m not leaving."


    Fairy Luo Xiu took a glance at Lu Qingyun and said, "Yes, let''s all stay then since all of us are all reluctant to abandon one another."


    Lu Qingyun, Ling Chong, Steward Luo: ¡­


    Ouyang Xue, Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Ling Chong had suddenly laughed out jovially, "Fine! Then we shall all make a stand together. It is time we do something for our prot¨¦g¨¦s that accompany us."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Brother Ling Chong, you are so heroic. I have much to learn from you."


    Lie Xingyuan was thinking miserably, "Two heroic fools. But am I not a fool myself to stay behind?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled at Fairy Ling Xiu, "It seems that today there will be two less beauties from the top twenty beauties list of New Empyrean City."


    Fairy Ling Xiu was smiling too, "Indeed."


    Steward Luo was shouting to the rest, "What are you all waiting for? Go!"


    "But some of us will like to fight with our young master and mistress too¡­"


    "Go now!" Steward Luo commanded sternly, "Do not let our sacrifices be in vain!"

 50 Sixth Rank Desolate Beast!? 2

    Lu Qingyun, Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue, Steward Luo, Ling Chong and Fairy Ling Xiu were making a slow retreat into the mountains while the terrifying Desolate King Drake approached closer and closer as its thundering roar would be heard reverberating in the mountains.


    They were making a slow retreat to cover the rest of their clan prot¨¦g¨¦s in order to buy them time to make a full escapade.


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "Remember, our priority is not to fight this monster. Should it come near, we just engage for a few strokes and distract it while we flee as fast as possible."


    She added solemnly, "At most we will only exchange only a stroke or two. In terms of agility, we are not as agile as that monster. It is almost suicide if we are to even engage it."


    Everyone nodded. This tactic was sound. Retaliate only when being attack but it was only a feint. The real intention was to run while the others distract for the one that was being attacked.


    Lu Qingyun said, "The plan sounds fine. We are six and there is no way for the monster to come after each of us at the same time if we are to run in six different directions. But what if the monster is quite persistent and continues to chase after one target?"


    Ling Chong replied solemnly, "Then that person will surely perish."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. He had lived in the mountains and had encountered quite a few of these desolate beasts in the past. These desolate beasts had a beastly instinct and once they had locked onto one target, it was rare for them to give it up.


    He had wanted to tell Ouyang Xue that her plans may not work but he had decided to keep this to himself.


    The mountains were suddenly shaking as a dark shadow began to flash above them with startling speed that caught them by surprise.


    All of a sudden the monstrous shape of the Desolate King Drake had landed thunderously in front of them, catching them by surprise.


    Everyone had turned ashen immediately. This was too fast!


    No one had expected this monstrous Desolate King Drake to move so swiftly through the difficult terrains of the mountains¡­


    There was no time to lose and all six of them nodded silently at each other; they were all about to make a run in six different directions!


    This was like a lottery draw to see which one of the six that the Desolate King Drake would be going after.


    Lie Xingyuan thought silently, "I don''t wish for anything to happen to senior brother, so let it be me then¡­"


    As the six of them were all high level cultivators, no sooner had the Desolate King Drake landed in front of them, they were all making a break for the run.


    But all of a sudden an enchanting beautiful voice said with a soft chuckle, "Lucky I am here just in a nick of the time."


    Everyone paused in their tracks for a blink of an eye and saw that an extremely alluring maiden in black had suddenly landed without a sound in front of the monstrous Desolate King Drake that towered four times the height over her.


    This extremely alluring maiden had beautiful bewitching golden eyes that could cause all men and women to be enticed by her alluring glaze and she was Qin Keqin.


    Lu Qingyun immediately muttered, "Keqin? Why are you here?" Then he started to panic and shouted, "Look out for that monster behind you!"


    Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan gasped, "Sect leader is here¡­"


    Ling Chong was gasping with disbelief at the beautiful form of this newly arrived maiden. She was like a beautiful goddess that was peerless in her beauty. Even the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City paled in comparison to her.


    He was thinking when he had overheard Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan calling her sect leader, "She is Qin Keqin, their sect leader? She is so beautiful¡­"


    But he was soon panicky for her as well. It was because this Desolate King Drake was a powerful sixth rank desolate beast and Qin Keqin was said to be only at the fifth realm golden celestial level.


    Even Fairy Ling Xiu had to admit silently that Qin Keqin was indeed a peerless maiden. How could anyone be so moving and graceful at the same time?


    The only person immune to Qin Keqin''s charms was of course Lu Qingyun because he was blind to her peerless beauty. When a man likes a woman, she was to him the most beautiful and Lu Qingyun likes Qin Keqin in his innermost heart.


    The Desolate King Drake did not take too kindly to this new intruder and had immediately used its giant claw to attack her.


    But Qin Keqin chuckled softly as she blinked past the attack to deliver a thunderous palm attack on the Desolate King Drake''s forehead and this immediately caused the Desolate King Drake to roll over and slamming into the cliff behind it!


    Lu Qingyun''s jaws almost dropped on the spot. Did he just witness his master sending such a monstrous monster to fly backward and slamming into the cliff?


    Although he had once witnessed Qin Keqin fighting against the ninth rank golden roc and was usually rational in his thoughts but when it comes to Qin Keqin, his rational thought had become an irrational mental block. In his mind, Qin Keqin was just a fifth realm expert and that she was only lucky that she had won against the ninth rank golden roc, with a little help from him of course.


    Even Steward Luo, Fairy Ling Xiu, Ling Chong and Ouyang Xue had a stunned expression on their countenance. Not only was Qin Keqin''s profound strength startling but her ability to evade was almost supernatural. This was impossible, right?


    Only Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly as she thought, "Qin Keqin is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. She is a seventh realm great saintess that is ranked at the top of the cultivation world with the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing. She is also the Devil Goddess of the three dark divine realms. A mere sixth rank desolate beast is nothing to her¡­"


    Then she mused further, "If I am not wrong, there is actually no such person as Fairy Jade Light. Qin Keqin and Fairy Jade Light Great Saintess Yuhuan is actually the same person."


    Qin Keqin said gently to the Desolate King Drake, "If you are still unconvinced, you can try again but I won''t be too lenient on my next move. It is lucky that you have not hurt them or else I will surely rip you apart with my bare hands."


    The Desolate King Drake moaned miserably and much to the startled surprise of the group, it had suddenly leapt away in the next instant.


    This Desolate King Drake could actually understand Qin Keqin''s warnings?!


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    Everyone was stunned¡­


    Ling Chong was stammering and trembling. This did not look right at all. His old father was a peaked fifth realm golden celestial as well but it was impossible for him to send such a monstrous monster to fly off with just a smack of a palm¡­


    Qin Keqin smiled as she turned look to look at the party of six, "Hey, all of you. You are safe now."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling delightfully. Not only was they out of danger now but his master had also arrived. He asked, "Master, how did you know that I am here?"


    She smiled as she walked over with a soft chuckle, "Mm, I saw the note that you had left on the table. So I''m here."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he clapped his hands, "Alas that! I''ve almost forgotten about that."


    Qin Keqin smiled as she thought, "Does this mean that my starforge substances are at work now? This is so wonderful¡­"


    Actually Lu Qingyun was just being absent minded when he had suddenly seen her again. He was so excited that he had forgotten even who his old master was.


    Ouyang Xue greeted Qin Keqin respectfully, "Sect leader, thank you for the aid."


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile to her before she asked, "And who are they?"


    Ling Chong immediately replied with awe, "I am Ling Chong, the young master of the Flying Armament Sect. This is my sister Fairy Ling Xiu and this is Steward Luo, my father most respected right hand man."


    He did not know why he was in awe but she was like an imposing presence that awed him. He was still thinking how it was possible for anyone to have defeated a powerful sixth rank desolate beast in such a manner?"


    Ouyang Xue was secretly thinking as she looked at Qin Keqin, "Senior brother has mentioned that our sect leader had killed a ninth rank golden roc. Come to think of that, is that even possible to accomplish for someone who is at the fifth realm of cultivation?"


    Qin Keqin nodded as she looked at Fairy Ling Xiu with a smile, "What a beautiful maiden. You have such beautiful eyes. I have heard that Fairy Ling Xiu is one of the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City. This is indeed so true."


    Fairy Ling Xiu replied with a light flush, "Sect Leader Qin is the most beautiful maiden that I''ve ever seen."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Shall we leave the Misty Desolate Valley now?"


    Everyone nodded and was eager to leave as they looked at Qin Keqin to lead them.


    But after a while, she had made no move and was instead looking shyly at everyone. "Mm, why is everyone looking at me like this? Honestly speaking, I have a bad sense of direction and am lost. Can someone lead us out of here?"


    It was the truth. She had actually spent two days wandering aimlessly in the Misty Desolate Valley¡­


    Everyone: ¡­

 51 Exiting the Misty Desolate Valley

    To the party, Qin Keqin was extremely heavenly that she did not seem to be from someone from the celestial realm. There was an enchanting air around her that caused her to look forbidden and even untainted.


    The only two persons that were immune to this feeling were Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan.


    Even Steward Luo could not help but glanced in her direction on many occasions.


    Even though Ling Chong was infatuated with Lie Xingyuan but he could not help turning his glances on Qin Keqin on many occasions while they were on the move.


    Even Ouyang Xue and Fairy Ling Xiu could not help looking and admiring at Qin Keqin¡­


    This was of course not lost on Qin Keqin as she chuckled, \"Why is everyone looking at me? I was in a hurry and lost my head gear. Am I being impolite?\"


    That was the truth. She was really in a hurry and lost her curtain hat veil somewhere in the Misty Desolate Valley.


    In the celestial realm, it was a common practice for everyone, men and women to put on a headgear or a curtain hat veil when they were out.


    Ling Chong immediately could not help saying with a flush expression, \"Oh no, not that. Sect Leader Qin is really beautiful. I cannot help taking a look or two.\"


    Steward Luo nodded as well while Lu Qingyun was thinking, \"Hmm, I think Keqin is really very beautiful. She is always the most beautiful maiden in my heart¡­\"


    Ling Chong asked, \"Sect Leader Qin, are you¡­alright?\"


    \"Huh?\" Qin Keqin asked.


    \"Earlier you have fought with that sixth rank monster. Are you alright?\"


    Qin Keqin looked a little perplexed, \"I''m fine?\"


    The reason why Ling Chong had asked was because Qin Keqin had used her palm on the Desolate King Drake and there was a thunderous cracking sound. He was afraid that she might have injured her hand hence she was just calling for a bluff against the monster.


    The skin of the Desolate King Drake was as thick as iron and rendered it impervious to most swords.


    Ling Chong muttered, \"That''s good to know¡­\"


    Fairy Ling Xiu may be looking at Qin Keqin occasionally but she was spending more of her time looking at Lu Qingyun. She had a look of idiocy as she looked at him. Moreover he had just saved her life and plus he already had a divine sword to back his formidable sword arts. Surely he would soon be one of the most outstanding bachelors in New Empyrean City. It was a good thing that she had met him earlier¡­


    Very soon, their party had caught up with the prot¨¦g¨¦s that were fleeing. It was not difficult for them to catch up when they were all going at a fast pace since the party in front of them had many wounded and injured.


    Leng Qiuyue was feeling really down after she was forced to flee with Rushuang. She hated the feeling that she could not participate in the fight against the sixth rank desolate monster. She hated the further fact that Lu Qingyun was sacrificing himself for her to escape in a cowardice manner.


    That was why all too often she was turning her head back and wishing that Lu Qingyun would be in her back but her tiny wish often ended in disappointment.


    But of a sudden she was gasping with startled expression as she caught sight of Lu Qingyun, Qin Keqin, Ouyang Xue, Lie Xingyuan, Steward Luo, Ling Chong and Fairy Ling Xiu as they sped rapidly toward them.


    Her startled gasp had also alerted the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s as they all turned with a startled expression.


    Rushuang was smiling and there was a tiny tear in her eyes, \"They have all managed to escape¡­\"


    Leng Qiuyue had also lit a quiet smile and her eyes were shining brilliantly, \"Yes they have all escaped. Sect leader is with them? She had aided them?\"


    The only mystery in her mind was that Qin Keqin was in their midst. Since Qin Keqin was a fifth realm expert, it must be she that had bought them the time to escape from the Desolate King Drake. Although a fifth realm expert may still not be able to defeat the Desolate King Drake on their own but escaping may not be an issue.


    That must be the reason why they had all managed to escape from the Desolate King Drake.


    All the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa and the Flying Armament Sect were all clapping and cheering loudly as though they were one united celestial clan. To all of them, the returning party was all heroes that had brought them time to escape!


    At the approach of Qin Keqin, many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s were all soon awe by her peerless beauty. It was not just the Flying Armament Sect but also the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa for many of them had never seen their sect leader before.


    Leng Qiuyue quickly said, \"You idiots! She is your sect leader! Don''t just stand there and quickly greet her!\"


    There were many gasping outbursts from the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    \"She is our sect leader?\"


    \"This is my first time seeing the sect leader¡­\"


    \"Same here. I am just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ at the outer courts¡­\"


    \"She is like a peerless beauty that is worth an entire city¡­\"


    \"I had heard that even Wen Hongguang was soundly defeated by her.\"


    Leng Qiuyue greeted Qin Keqin promptly as she approached and asked, \"Sect leader, why are you here?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly as she said, \"Well, I am just curious about the experiential mission¡­\"


    That was not actually the whole truth.


    Some days ago¡­


    She had just dropped into Lu Qingyun''s abode and was startled to see that there was no one around.


    As her sharp eyes saw the note that Lu Qingyun had written for her, her perception had also picked out an invisible presence that was also in the room.


    She began to chuckle and said, \"Since you''re already here, why don''t you show yourself out?\"


    An enthralling maiden had stepped out of the shadows as she smiled mesmerizing, \"You''ve seem to have improved since the last time that I''ve seen you?\" This enthralling maiden was Lie Qing, Lie Xingyuan''s master.


    Qin Keqin smiled as she rolled her eyes, \"Maybe I am in a perfectly good mood these few days. That''s why or maybe you''re not in the best of your condition, maybe that''s why.\"


    Lie Qing: ¡­


    She began to smile enchantingly, \"I am your senior and you dare to tease me?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled and asked, \"So what brings my senior here?\"


    Lie Qing began to turn solemn and said, \"Have you seen this note yet?\"


    Qin Keqin started to pick up the note and read, \"So what''s wrong? They seem to be going for an experiential mission. There''s nothing unusual right? So what''s wrong with that?\"


    Lie Qing said quietly, \"It may not unusual but it may be dangerous!\"


    Qin Keqin was suddenly startled as she realized she meant about that, \"Qingyun may be in danger?\"


    Lie Qing smiled weakly, \"My Xingyuan may be in danger as well. So I want you to go to the Misty Desolate Valley to take a look.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"Since senior is already here, I am just an extra. There is no need for me to go right?\"


    Lie Qing smiled, \"I have actually wanted to go personally but after I''ve seen you, I have changed my mind. You are the better person to go instead of me. After all, they do know you but not me. If I were to interfere, there may be a lot of questions.\"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Lie Qing said quietly, \"Please help me on this. Treat it as a favor for me and I will return it to you someday.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, \"Alright but, may I ask something? Is Xingyuan your¡­\"


    \"When I have handled her at that time, I''ve found her profound strength to be startling. It is as though someone has been purposely suppressing her progression and when I saw you, I''ve realized that she may be learning your supreme divine skill, the Invincible Divine Force.\" She added.


    Lie Qing nodded lightly without any expression, \"She is my daughter but she doesn''t know about it. To her, I am just her master. So she is also your half-sister therefore you must help her.\"


    Qin Keqin heaved a heavy sigh, \"I can guess that much actually. Why is that I have a half-sister that suddenly pops up from somewhere. My father is really¡­\"


    But she quickly regained her usual demeanor as she asked, \"I''m sure you have your reasons for not telling her but do you mind if you tell me about it?\"


    Lie Qing nodded with a soft sigh, \"Although she is born to be the daughter of the heavens but I want her to experience what it is meant by mortality so that she can be a better person and make her own personal decisions in the future. I want her to experience the hardship and bitterness of this world, to experience the joys and bittersweet of her efforts.\"


    Qin Keqin lowered her glances, \"You¡­you''re a good mother. Unlike me, I am born with a silver spoon and reckless in my younger days. Now I''m paying a heavy price for my past misdeeds.\"


    Lie Qing smiled gently, \"Your mother consort loves you a lot and has always missed you. She waits for the day of your ascension to the immortal realm.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"The celestial realm is so much fun. I''m not going to the immortal realm anytime soon. After all, I still have a score to settle with the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing over here. I can''t let her have such a comfortable life here and I have all the intentions to screw her up.\"


    Lie Qing gave a faint smile, \"She is smarter than you think she is.\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, \"Maybe but one of these days I will outwit her. She can''t be three steps ahead of me every time.\"


    Then she looked at Lie Qing and said quietly, \"Since Lie Xingyuan is your daughter and you are imparting the Invincible Divine Force to her, sooner or later she will be one of the peerless experts in the celestial realm-\"


    The Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing suddenly said, \"Someone is here. Don''t forget what you have promised me to do.\" With that she had flashed out of sight.


    Qin Keqin nodded as she stepped out of the room. Her perception had picked up a familiar aura that was approaching.


    Indeed it was Grand Elder Celestial Shi Guanyin who had come and there was an anxious look on her countenance.


    When she saw Qin Keqin stepping out of the entrance, she immediately said, \"Sect leader you''re finally here. As soon as I''ve heard that you are back, I''ve guessed that you may have come here and come looking for you.\"


    Qin Keqin said curiously, \"Oh? You sound quite urgent?\"


    Shi Guanyin sighed heavily as she said gravely, \"My disciple Leng Qiuyue has just gone for an experiential mission with your core disciple. However the experiential mission that that they have taken was to hunt a fifth rank desolate beast as well as two fourth desolate beasts. I''m afraid that this mission may be beyond their ability to handle. So I am looking for you to discuss over this. What shall we do?\"


    Qin Keqin said with a faint smile, \"Since they have set off not long ago, it is actually not too late to abort the experiential mission halfway. I will go personally to handle this.\"


    Shi Guanyin immediately said, \"I have the intention to go too as well. Why don''t I go with you?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, \"I have full confidence in my swiftness movement skill and I will catch up with them before they can even reach the Misty Desolate Valley.\"


    Shi Guanyin replied anxiously, \"Alright then if sect leader says so¡­\"


    It was not a bluff on Qin Keqin side when she said that she would be able to catch up with them. Problem was, while on the way to the Misty Desolate Valley she was lost and was lost again when she was inside.


    In fact, she had already regretted not taking Shi Guanyin along with her on the very first day.

 52 Return to the Heavens Ridge Villa

    \"See you again next time,\" Ling Chong bade Lu Qingyun and the rest of his party farewell.


    Lu Qingyun replied heartily, \"Brother Ling Chong, see you soon.\"


    \"Farewell¡­\" Fairy Ling Xiu muttered with a heavy heart. This adventure had ended a little too soon¡­


    She took a last forlorn look at Lu Qingyun before she departed with her brother Ling Chong. Now that they had exited the Misty Desolate Valley, it was time for them to return home.


    Although her glances upon Lu Qingyun were subtle, it was not totally lost on Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan. Maybe they had viewed her as a competitor and that was why they were paying more attention to her.


    With Qin Keqin around, Fairy Ling Xiu really did not dare to say much. Moreover she was also quite shy as this was the first time that she had liked someone.


    With a melancholy heart, she had left and wondered when would be the next time that she would see him again¡­


    Qin Keqin turned to say to Lu Qingyun, \"Qingyun, I will be staying at your abode when we return to the Heavens Ridge Ville. Aren''t you glad?\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled and was really happy. So he said excitingly, \"I''ve much to learn from my master.\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, \"But don''t say I didn''t warn you first. I won''t teach you my alchemy skills until you have shown some improvement in your martial levels.\"


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly as he thought wryly, \"Hmm, I think my alchemy skills are much better anyway¡­\"


    Qin Keqin turned to look at Lie Xingyuan, \"Xingyuan, someone wants to see you. You should go and talk to her.\"


    Lie Xingyuan was startled. There was no need for Qin Keqin to say more. That someone was her master. She was thinking, \"They have met again?\"


    While Lie Xingyuan was thinking about her master, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had a quiet disappointment on their countenances. \"Sect leader is going to stay with Senior Brother Qingyun from now onward?\"


    This fact alone killed off any chances of them ever visiting him¡­


    Ouyang Xue had wanted to forget about him so she had a determined thought, \"Isn''t that good? Then I can truly forget about him from now onward¡­\"


    After they had returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa, the experiential party made a quick report to Elder Bu Ming who received them with a startled expression, \"What? This is the essence spirit of a fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast? You have actually killed it?\"


    Bu Ming was starting in disbelief at the bounty that was collected as he muttered, \"I will record all your contributions down. All of you may return to your dwellings first.\"


    He took a glance at Qin Keqin as she departed with Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan as he wondered, \"Is it considered to be cheating if our sect leader helps them in this manner? Alas, I can''t complaint against Grand Elder Ouyang Xue or Sect Leader Qin. They are my seniors¡­\"


    As Lu Qingyun left with Qin Keqin, he whispered to her. \"Master, I''ve noticed that my divine sword seems to have a strange dull on it. I wonder why it is so?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, \"You mean ever since that day when I''ve borrowed it from you to defeat Supremacy Wen Hongguang?\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he replied, \"Yes, that''s right.\"


    After a quick paused, he said. \"The first time that I''ve seen it, it was a godly divine sword and then it is now a half-step divine sword?\"


    Qin Keqin gave him a sly look as she laughed jovially, \"When I had borrowed from you that day, I had purposely used my profound aura to suppress the sword aura. So when you have taken it out, it had the aura of a half-step divine sword. Divine swords are sentient swords that can recognize their masters. Although I had given the divine sword to you, it is still able to recognize me as its former mistress.\"


    Lu Qingyun asked, \"Huh? Why should you do that? I mean why did master intentionally suppress the aura of the divine sword to make it appear as though it is weaker?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, \"It is always not a good idea to flaunt off something so precious, am I right? Although a half-step divine sword is still extremely rare but it is still not good enough to cause everyone to steal it from you. But if it is a godly divine sword¡­\"


    \"Master, you have the better foresight than me. Now I know the reason.\" Lu Qing smiled. His master was indeed thinking three steps ahead of everything.


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"It seems that you have been using it quite well during the experiential mission.\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded, \"The result is much better than I''ve expected. If it isn''t for the divine sword that master had given to me, I won''t be able to kill that fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast.\"


    \"That is good. Keep up the good work, my good disciple!\" Qin Keqin chuckled.


    Lie Xingyuan who had been following them was gasping secretly, \"Senior brother actually has a godly divine sword and no one has noticed?!\"


    \"Although the aura of the divine sword is suppressed, it is still nevertheless a godly divine sword. Please use it with care. This divine sword will aid you in the future as you slay demons and gods.\" Qin Keqin said casually.


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he asked, \"What is the name of this divine sword?\"


    \"Mm, Fairy Jade Light.\" She replied.


    \"Huh?! Isn''t this the name of our founder and your mother consort?\" he said weakly.


    Qin Keqin looked a little sheepish. At that time she had used the name of this sword as her alias when she was being forced to accept the position of founder as goodwill. She did not want anyone to really know who she was and therefore she had hastily made up an alias on the spot.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled and said, \"This divine sword must have belonged to our founder and it was later given to our acting sect leader.\"


    Qin Keqin muttered sheepishly as she took a quick glance at Lie Xingyuan, \"That''s right¡­you''re right¡­\"


    \"Oh I see!\" said Lu Qingyun with a knowing nod. Now that made perfect sense to him.


    Lie Xingyuan was thinking, \"I know that you are faking your current identity. Fairy Jade Light Yuhuan and Qin Keqin is actually the same person¡­\"


    Qin Keqin smiled as she looked at Lie Xingyuan, \"Mm, don''t forget to go meet your friend. She is anxious for you. Take your own sweet time and you may stay out overnight. I''ve no issue with that.\"


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun said respectfully, \"Master, this won''t do. I rather that Xingyuan will be back as early as possible. You may not know about this but there was an accidentally some time ago¡­\"


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling bitterly to herself, \"Your master certainly knew about that. She was the one that had kidnapped me.\"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Leng Qiuyue had returned to the Red Heaven Sword Hall, her master Celestial Shi Guanyin had a look of relief on her countenance as she rebuked her gently, \"This is too reckless. I hope that you will learn you lesson the next time. It is lucky that our sect leader is there to aid you. Look at you. You have injuries everywhere. What if your cultivation were to impair in the future?\"


    Nangong Yu and Li Chen were also presented. They were her senior and junior brothers respectively as well as the core disciples of her master.


    Leng Qiuyue said nonchalantly, \"Master, I thank you for your deep concern but your disciple is really alright now. Compared to the injuries of some of the prot¨¦g¨¦s that are with me, my injuries are nothing at all.\"


    Shi Guanyin said with a heavy disapproval, \"I don''t care about the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s. I care for you because you are my disciple. Please get your priorities right. In the future, you will be expected to step over the corpses of hundreds of ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s just to reach to a higher realm level. Your life is to your master and the Heavens Ridge Villa! This time, you are lucky to be alive. I hope that you will not make the same mistake ever again.\"


    Leng Qiuyue moved her lips silently but there were no words. She knew that her master was really concerned about her and was upset with her for making such a rush act.


    As she hung her head in shame, she said quietly. \"This experiential mission is a success because of Senior Brother Lu who is with us. I owe it to him that I am alive.\"


    Nangong Yu, initial fourth realm immortal celestial as well as the oldest disciple of Shi Guanyin said mockingly, \"My junior sister, he is only a lowly first realm cultivator and can''t amount to anything great. You are exaggerating too much.\"


    Leng Qiuyue stared coldly at him and said, \"I''m not. He is already a third realm cultivator. If you don''t believe, you can have the testing stone to validate his cultivation level.\"


    Nangong Yu smiled wryly, \"He is only a first realm cultivator as recently as a month ago. The testing stone won''t be wrong. Moreover you know the rules of the clan. You are only allowed to take the testing stone examination every three years. The only exception is when an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ thinks that they may have breakthrough to the third realm and wants a re-examination. However if the claim turns out to be false, the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ will be severely punished.\"


    Then he laughed coldly, \"I am sure that Lu Qingyun knows about this more than anyone of us here. He is just eager to impress you in order to make that claim. Just think about it, if he is really a third realm cultivator now, why didn''t he inform the elders about it and request for a re-examination? That is because he is only trying to make a good impression out of you.\"


    Leng Qiuyue said coldly, \"He has killed a fifth rank desolate beast and the Flying Armament Sect can be his witnesses.\"


    \"Oh?\" Nangong Yu smiled coldly, \"But do we have any prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavens Ridge Villa seeing that account? If I am not wrong, he must be in cahoots with the Flying Armament Sect and they are just giving him the credit in order to groom their future spy in the Heavens Ridge Villa. You are still too young and do not know the evils of the world, especially the world of cultivators.\"


    Li Chen nodded and said, \"Senior brother here is right. Junior sister, you ought to exercise caution and never trust anyone so readily. He is just a handsome face and a good-for-nothing cultivator-\"


    \"That is enough!\" Leng Qiuyue said coldly as she turned around to storm off.


    Even Shi Guanyin was startled as she looked at Nangong Yu and Li Chen. It was because Leng Qiuyue had always maintained a cold and quiet demeanor. She was not someone who would lose her composures or emotions so readily. But lately she was acting too strange?


    Nangong Yu had a look of jealousy in his eyes as he cursed silently, \"This Lu Qingyun. How dare he try to steal the heart of my junior sister. I will surely make him pay dearly for this. She can only belong to me and only I am fit to be her future companion.\"

 53 Lu Qingyun is heartbroken

    The night was peaceful and two people were looking at each other for a long time and did not speak lest the serene moment would be disturbed.


    Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were the two people and although they had been looking at each other for an hour in this manner but it seemed to them that only a minute had passed.


    It was as though they could not get enough of each other and was just content to continue to look and admire with their tranquil stares.


    Lu Qingyun had an idiocy look before he finally muttered, \"Master, you are really moving in from now on? This very night?\"


    Qin Keqin gave a faint smile as she delightfully said, \"Yes, I think so.\"


    He was really happy when he had heard that, \"So that means that from tomorrow onward, I will be finally receiving instructions from you?\"


    Qin Keqin nodded with a smile, \"Aren''t you glad?\"


    Lu Qingyun laughed and said excitingly, \"Yes, I really am. I am looking forward to tomorrow instructions.\"


    Qin Keqin had a smile on her countenances, \"Tomorrow? What about tonight? Or you are unwilling to take any instructions tonight?\"


    Lu Qingyun quickly muttered, \"Keqin¡­erm¡­master, this is not what I mean. Of course I''m willing to take instructions tonight. May I know what master''s instruction for me is?\"


    Qin Keqin took a discreet look at him before she said with a faint smile, \"Do you have someone in your heart? I mean that someone that you like in your heart?\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled by this ''instruction''. He could not tell her that he liked her or else their master-disciple relationship would be over.


    So he could only nod lightly as he replied, \"Well, I guess so¡­\"


    Although there was no expression on Qin Keqin''s countenance, her heart was secretly disappointed as she forced out a smile. \"I wonder who the lucky maiden that is in your heart?\"


    \"It is you.\" Lu Qingyun thought sadly but he smiled forcefully, \"It is only an infatuation and is totally one sided. It is best that I kept it in my innermost heart.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"Well, Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and even that Fairy Ling Xiu are all so beautiful and mesmerizing. Surely it must be one of them. If you tell me who you like, maybe I can even teach you a trick or two to handle her.\"


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly as he thought, \"I just want to handle you¡­\" but he said, \"That is alright. At the moment, I really don''t want to pursue the matter of the heart and only want to focus on my cultivation.\"


    Qin Keqin nodded, \"Is that so? Well, that is good as well¡­\" But she was thinking, \"Mm, it seems that I have a lot of competitors. I wonder who this maiden is? Lie Xingyuan? Ouyang Xue? Leng Qiuyue or that Fairy Ling Xiu? It is probably Leng Xingyuan¡­\"


    All of a sudden she remembered something as she asked, \"Have you been taking the Triple Divine Essence Pill?\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded, \"Yes¡­\"


    Qin Keqin was delighted with his reply as she thought, \"I''ll wipe away all the memories of your past reincarnation. In the future, no one will ever know that you are him and you will not know too. In this world, only I will remember who you are¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun was sighing heavily in his heart, \"Keqin, why did you put the starforge substances in the Triple Divine Essence Pill? I have removed it on the sly and you will never know for I won''t be telling you in the future¡­\"


    But he quickly gave a smile as he asked nervously, \"Master, have you ever liked someone?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she looked away dreamily, \"Yes, there is one in the past. A long time ago. One day I hope that we can be together¡­\"


    When Lu Qingyun heard her, his poor heart was heartbroken instantly. He sighed, \"So Keqin already has someone in mind. I should not have asked her. Now my dreams are shattered¡­\"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The Solitary Manor;


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was laughing jovially and he was in high spirits when Celestial Bai Laoxiong and Tang Bufan saw him in the Great Solitary Hall.


    They had been summoned hastily by Supremacy Wen Hongguang and were wondering why.


    When they had reached the Great Solitary Hall, Supremacy Wen Hongguang was laughing and talking to a middle-age man and their moods were jovial.


    They had never seen this middle-age man before in the Solitary Manor and guessed that he was a newly arrived guest.


    But judging from his profound aura as he laughed, he looked extremely formidable and was a high level cultivator.


    In fact Bai Laoxiong was a little intimidated by him when he had seen him.


    When Supremacy Wen Hongguang saw Bai Laoxiong, he quickly called out to him loudly, \"Brother Bai, you are finally here. Come, let me introduce my good friend to you. This respected guest here is none other than Saint Zhou Hai!\"


    Bai Laoxiong and Tang Bufan were both gasping softly.


    Saint!


    This was a celestial title that only a cultivator who had reached the seventh realm cultivation level could use!


    Bai Laoxiong and Tang Bufan immediately greeted, \"Saint Zhou!\"


    Saint Zhou Hai laughed jovially, \"Disperse with the formalities. I''ve heard from Brother Hongguang here that there is great grievous that is being done against you and I am here to give a helping hand.\"


    Tang Bufan was in awe as he watched Saint Zhou Hai. In fact, his legs were trembling as he approached him.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang said with a smile, \"This is Tang Bufan, my Brother Bai''s new core prot¨¦g¨¦.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai laughed as he appraised Tang Bufan, \"He looks like a promising young man. Surely his future will be limitless.\"


    Tang Bufan replied nervously, \"I will need senior to take care of me in the future too.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai nodded as he laughed jovially, \"I surely will.\"


    All of a sudden Supremacy Wen Hongguang had lowered his voice as he said casually, \"Now that everyone is here, we should get to business.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai asked, \"This new acting sect leader of the Heavens Ridge Villa, her name is Qin Keqin?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang nodded, \"It is her. She had totally humiliated me and had even crippled my newly attained spirit entity. Brother Zhou, you must help me to address my grievous. As for what you will do to her, we don''t care and will even support you.\"


    Then he lowered his voice to a whisper as he smiled, \"She is an astonishing beauty that you will surely appreciate.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai smiled, \"I have seen countless beauties in my entire life. The mesmerizing beauty of the Celestial Yuehua and the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing are without a comparison. Alas, it has been such a long time since another heavenly beauty that can shake the Nine Celestial Realm has appeared. Even great beauties like the Great Saintess Feng Minyue and Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng aren''t around anymore.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang chuckled, \"You won''t be disappointed in this Qin Keqin.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai looked doubtful but he continued to smile, \"I''m from the Divine Sovereign Divine Realm and I don''t wish for anyone to know that I''m aiding you so I will be using an alias.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smiled and nodded, \"And I have already prepared a perfect alias for you.\"


    \"So what do you want me to do?\" Saint Zhou Hai asked.


    \"Take her away for a few weeks or months. Humiliated her and cause her to lose her reputation. That will be all. There is nothing malicious.\" Supremacy Wen Hongguang had a cold smile as he said that.


    Saint Zhou Hai laughed jovially, \"This is all too easy for me.\"


    Even Celestial Bai Laoxiong was smiling as he started to imagine Qin Keqin''s fate to be.


    Saint Zhou Hai said, \"But I find it a little weird so I am curious to ask. Isn''t she just a fifth realm cultivator? How did she manage to injure you?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang had a grave expression as he replied, \"She had used a despicable move on me while I was off guarded. That is why. To think that I was merely visiting the Heavens Ridge Villa on that day to offer her my congratulations but she turned out to be such a despicable person and wanted to take my eighth rank blue emperor dragon spirit entity for herself.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai growled softly, \"This is really too despicable. How did she do it?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang explained solemnly, \"She used a move that is similar to the ''Heaven and Self as one''. This move completely caught me by surprise. But I say that move is a complete fake because it isn''t possible for her to use that move.\"


    There was a dark countenance that had appeared on Saint Zhou Hai as he laid his body back slightly. Of course he had seen the real ''Heaven and Self as One'' before and only one great saintess had ever been known to execute this move successful in recent history and it was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    Could it really be Great Saintess Fan Yuqing or her descendants?


    Saint Zhou Hai was laughing jovially now, \"Then I will very much like to meet this Qin Keqin and to witness her ''Heaven and Self as One''. We ought to make haste as soon as possible.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was absolutely delighted and he immediately laughed, \"Finally we can screw her now.\"

 54 First Day of Proper Instruction

    Lu Qingyun was really excited that he would finally receive his first day of proper instructions from Qin Keqin. He got up really early and was thinking, \"I wonder what my master will be imparting to me on the first day? Is it martial arts or cultivation techniques?\"


    Qin Keqin said to Lie Xingyuan, \"Brew some of the Heavenly Lotus Tea. We will be back soon.\"


    And she said to him, \"Qingyun come, we are going out for a while?\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled but excited at the same time, \"We are going out?\" Was she about to test his endurances in the mountains?


    Lie Xingyuan muttered as she looked at Qin Keqin, \"Can I go with you?\"


    \"No.\" Qin Keqin said nonchalantly as she walked out.


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he said to her, \"Don''t worry, we will be back soon. With master around, there won''t be any dangers in the mountains!\"


    Lie Xingyuan muttered after Lu Qingyun had run out, \"Hmph! She didn''t even say where she is bringing you. What make you think she is bringing you to the mountains for trainings? Maybe she is selling you to the brothel instead.\"


    Then she thought, \"Should I quietly follow them?\"


    But she soon dropped the idea. It was because she had learnt a hard lesson the last time round. With her stealth ability, it was difficult for a fifth realm golden celestial to even sense her if she was careful but Qin Keqin was actually a seventh realm expert and her perception was really sharp.


    She sighed heavily, \"Brewing tea seems to be my job¡­\"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun found himself walking in the districts of New Empyrean City for the past two hours. There was no indication that Qin Keqin was taking him out of the city or into the mountains that were within New Empyrean City.


    As they walked along the streets, Qin Keqin was smiling with delight as she looked at the various colorful wares that were being displayed.


    He asked, \"Erm master, aren''t we supposed to be training? What are we doing?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she replied slyly, \"New Empyrean City itself is very big. We are now at the southern district where it is the most heavily populated as well as having the most plentiful supplies of exotic things.\"


    Lu Qingyun stammered, \"Eh? We are looking at the wares?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she thought, \"It is so wonderful to have someone to accompany me to shop around.\" But she replied with a solemn countenance behind her curtain hat veil, \"I''m training you to observe and to remember the things that we are seeing. In the world of cultivation, your memory and ability to remember is really important. The tiniest and vagueness of the details may serve to help you to have a breakthrough in the future.\"


    Lu Qingyun was ashamed of himself for he had been enjoying the sightseeing so he quickly said, \"I understand now-\"


    \"No, you don''t.\" Qin Keqin interrupted him with utter seriousness, \"Do you remember who are the cultivators and who are the mortals that you have seen earlier? What are their characteristics and what are they doing an hour ago?\"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He replied weakly, \"I am so wrong. I will pay more attention from now onward.\"


    Qin Keqin gave him a nod of approval, \"Very good. You ought to because I will be testing you later. Remember to take note of the price offering of the different wares too.\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, \"Do I have to check the prices of the wares too?\"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she resisted a laugh, \"Do it discreetly. You can hear the prices as they bargain with each other. Be a little bit more attentive! How do you know that it is cheaper or more expensive than the other seller? If I ask you which are the most affordable vendors then do you know how to reply to me?\"


    By now Lu Qingyun was totally ashamed of himself as he humbly replied, \"I will take note of that as well.\" Then he began with great earnest to commit everything to memory. This was really not easy but he was excited because this was his first day of training from his master!


    Just as Lu Qingyun was about to take a more detailed look at his surroundings, he was pulled by his hand by Qin Keqin who was exclaiming with delight, \"Qingyun, look over there. It is even more interesting over there and there are also street jugglers over there. Let''s take a quick look!\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled when his hand was being pulled by her soft and silky hand. He wanted to say, \"Master, what if someone sees us in this manner? They may misunderstand and gossips may start.\"


    Although that was clearly in his mind but when he tried to put that into words, he began to stammer. \"Alright. It really seems interesting over there¡­\"


    He could not believe what he was saying¡­


    But he was soon distracted from his thoughts when Qin Keqin had pulled him close to her and he could feel her body that was inclining to him.


    He sighed quietly to himself, \"Keqin, if only we can be together and be in this manner, how good it can be?\"


    Qin Keqin was also thinking the same, \"If only he didn''t like Lie Xingyuan, this feeling is so wonderful. I wish that we can be like this forever.\"


    After another hour or so in the streets, the heavens above had suddenly turned dark and it looked like it was about to rain.


    Lu Qingyun said, \"It seems that it is about to rain soon. We should go back.\"


    Qin Keqin gave a faint smile, \"It may already be too late. We are so far away from the Heavens Ridge Villa now that it is not possible to return before it starts to rain.\"


    Then she pointed at a vendor that was selling bamboo umbrellas, \"Let get one of the umbrellas for ourselves.\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and he immediately approached the vendor to say, \"I will like to have two bamboo umbrellas. How much is one?\"


    The vendor was an old man and he was smiling. Business was indeed good especially when it was about to rain soon. So he replied, \"50 copper pieces. For two, it will be a silver.\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he muttered, \"It is so expensive? I''ve thought that the usual pricing is around 10 copper pieces?\"


    The old man chuckled, \"Special circumstances require a special pricing, am I right?\"


    Lu Qingyun growled, \"Then goodbye¡­\"


    But Qin Keqin smiled as she said, \"Please give us one umbrella. Here is one silver. You can keep the change.\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stammered, \"We can get two umbrellas for a silver¡­\"


    But the old man laughed jovially and suddenly said, \"It is one silver now for one umbrella now.\"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    \"This is a rip off.\" He said unhappily.


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, \"It is alright. It is exactly what he has said. It is a silver now.\"


    \"Keqin¡­erm master, you''re not offended by his rip off tactics or unscrupulous business?\" Lu Qingyun asked.


    Qin Keqin smiled gently as she pulled him away, \"He didn''t rip us off. I''m the one that offer him a silver for an umbrella¡­\"


    As Lu Qingyun was being pulled away by Qin Keqin, he was heard muttering. \"I can fork out that one extra silver then we don''t have to share¡­\"


    The old man was smiling after they were gone, \"What a cute couple. Although I can''t see that maiden''s face but I can tell that she must be a lovely maiden. This lovely maiden is obviously interested in this fine handsome looking young man but it is a pity that the young man is too inexperienced in romances to know that the maiden only wants to share the umbrella with him. In this way, she can be intimate with him.\"


    When Qin Keqin had offered him a silver, he had purposely jack up the price to play along with her and it was not to rip her off. However Lu Qingyun had no idea what was in Qin Keqin''s mind and hence, he had thought that the old man was trying to rip them off.

 55 Changes in the Heavens

    There was a heavy downpour as Lu Qingyun and Qi Keqin cuddled together as the bamboo umbrella was not that big.


    The usually crowded street was now almost devoid of people and the few people that they saw were all running for the nearest shelter.


    As Lu Qingyun was trying to be a gentleman, he had made sure that Qin Keqin was fully protected from the rain but alas, one side of his shoulder was completely wet.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, \"Such a heavy rain. Alas, it seems that it would stop anytime soon.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled as she turned to peek at him from behind her curtain hat veil, \"Why do you want the rain to stop so soon? Now that it is raining, you have fewer things to remember and your training actually becomes easier. So it seems that even the heaven is taking pity on you.\"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly. He had completed forgotten about his training and in fact, half of the faces that he had seen were all forgotten by him. He was thinking, \"I am going to fail the training on the very first day¡­\"


    He did not know that Qin Keqin was only teasing him about the training and it was only her excuse to take him out for some sightseeing.


    At this moment Qin Keqin was saying, \"I hope this rain will never stop.\"


    Lu Qingyun chuckled, \"If it don''t stop, the city will soon be flooded.\"


    Qin Keqin looked at him as she smiled weakly to herself, \"Qingyun, you are so unromantic¡­\"


    While he was looking at the heavy downpour, there was a question that was perplexing to him so he asked, \"Master-\"


    Qin Keqin said unhappily, \"Keqin, you suppose to address me directly by my name. We are not in the clan now.\"


    Lu Qingyun was a little flustered as he said awkwardly, \"Keqin¡­\" It was unnatural for him to address his master by the name and it was considered to be an extremely rude thing in the celestial realm. It was especially rude when a disciple was to address his master by the name in front of the master. But since Qin Keqin had insisted, he felt that he had no other choice. Anyway, he thought, I was always addressing her by the name in my dreams¡­


    \"I remember that the other vendors who are selling the bamboo umbrellas are only selling only around ten copper pieces but that old man jacks up the price for fifty coppers. Isn''t it too outrageous? And why are we paying him a silver? That is a lot of money.\" He smiled weakly as he asked.


    He had thought that by remembering how much to pay for the bamboo umbrellas, he would get praises from his master and it turned out to be quite a different matter entirely. In fact, Qin Keqin had intentional overpaid and he was curious why.


    Qin Keqin had a faint smile on her countenance as she lowered her glances. To her one silver is nothing. She had often spent millions of silvers frequently every month. She had spent more than a few hundred million silvers on the celestial herbs that she had made for Lu Qingyun in the past month alone. This amount of money that she had spent exceeded the wealth of the wealthiest person and celestial clan alone.


    Although she was quite poor now after spending so much money but she still got a lot of money parked elsewhere all over the divine realms of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Worse come to worst, she could even ''borrow some money'' from her arch rival the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing. By that, she meant to exhort her provided that she could actually outwit her. There was this new epic plan that she had wanted to try on the Nine Celestial Goddess. The fight between the nine patriarch divine realms of the Nine Celestial Goddess and the three heretic dark divine realms of the Devil Goddess was about to start anew¡­.


    But that had to wait until she could settle Lu Qingyun first for he was a calculation that she had not expected to see.


    The Nine Celestial Fraternity used to have two of the greatest heroines that everyone had revered and that were the Great Saintess Ye Jing aka the Nine Celestial Goddess and the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. She was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing but she also had another secret identity and that was the Golden Mask Devil Goddess that had terrorized the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity in the past.


    When the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing had suddenly disappeared from the Nine Celestial Fraternity, it was because she had taken back her old identity as the Golden Mask Devil Goddess to pacify the three heretic dark divine realms and brought it under her dark banner.


    When the nine patriarch clans who were in charge of each one of the patriarch divine realm respectively heard that the Devil Goddess had made a comeback and had even united the three heretic dark divine realms under her banner, they were shocked and pleaded with the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing to settle her, once and for all.


    However the Nine Celestial Ye Jing seemed unwilling to get involved and since the Devil Goddess had made no move against the nine patriarch divine realms, it soon became a status quo for the past couple of centuries.


    The patriarch celestial clans had no idea that the Devil Goddess was actually not in the heretic dark divine realms most of the time and was actually in their midst, doing nothing most of the time except for gathering gossips.


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"He can only sell his bamboo umbrellas only on a rainy day. When the seasons change, only can he make some money for himself and his family. Circumstances may change all the time. It is just good that we can help him to earn a little bit more. One silver is actually nothing much to me but it may mean a lot to him.\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled by her reply and he was impressed as he thought, \"Keqin really has a good heart. She is thinking of helping the others but I am so inflexible. Alas, it is no wonder that she is a fifth realm expert. I wonder when I can ever attain to her level of cultivation?\"


    He quickly nodded but he still had another question, \"Then why don''t we buy two umbrellas instead?\"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Why was he asking me the obvious?


    But she said instead, \"I''m your master and you are my disciple. So you ought to hold the umbrella for me. But if we brought two of the umbrella, it is impossible for you to hold two umbrellas at the same time, am I right?\"


    Lu Qingyun gasped softly, \"Alas, I didn''t think of this. I am really so silly and dense¡­\"


    Qin Keqin smiled to herself, \"You are more than dense. You''re¡­hopeless¡­but this is good. In this way, no other maidens may stand you¡­\"


    All of a sudden there were several flashes of brilliant yellow lightning that thundered so loudly that the entire ground was shaking and the surroundings were all vibrating.


    This startled the two of them.


    Lu Qingyun was muttering, \"I''ve never seen yellow lightning before. Purple lightning is already scary enough. Maybe there is a war in the heavens at the moment.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"The immortal wars in the heavens do not concern us because the righteous immortals had already won the latest war.\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, \"There is a war in the heavens?\" He was only casually saying that there was a war in the heavens and he did not really mean anything about it.


    \"The saints and the righteous immortals have been at war with the desolate immortals for a long time. What is left now is now the remnants but they can still cause a great deal of trouble from time to time.\" She said. All of a sudden she had realized she had said something that she should not have said and quickly added, \"That is only a story that I''ve heard. Please don''t take it as the real thing.\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he said, \"I''ve heard similar stories about the heavenly wars. I wish that the desolate immortals can be purged from the heavens and the righteous side will win the day. Then there will be no more heavenly wars. Better yet, I hope that the desolate immortals will all go to the abyss¡­\"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin had placed her fingers on his lips in panic, \"Don''t say that because¡­\"


    \"Huh?\" Lu Qingyun had a strange look on his countenance as he smiled, \"Since the desolate immortals are the bad guys, they shouldn''t have existed in the first place.\"


    Qin Keqin looked at him with a melancholy look, \"If I tell you that you are once the leader of the desolate immortals, you won''t think of the same way again.\" But she said, \"It is just a mythical story and isn''t real. We shouldn''t let it affect our emotions.\"


    \"Right¡­\" Lu Qingyun said, \"I was getting a little too emotional. It is just a story after all.\"


    Qin Keqin looked up to the heavens as the yellow lightning kept thundering nonstop and was shaking the heavens and the earth. Therefore she quickly moved her fingers to make a divination. All of a sudden she was startled and gasped to herself, \"Something is happening in the immortal realm now?! A Great Goddess has actually fallen?! Who will it be¡­\"


    But just as she was thinking about the divination, her clan signet ring began to glow and a weak transmission could be heard echoing and it was the voice of Grand Elder Celestial Shi Guanyin, \"Sect Leader Qin, I''m sorry to disturb you¡­but this is an emergency¡­the Solitary Manor is here again¡­.and they¡­have¡­a seventh realm expert¡­we need you to come back fast¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled and stunned when he had heard the transmission, \"A seventh realm expert has come with the Solitary Manor? Keqin¡­\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, \"There is nothing to worry about. Come, let''s us return to the clan now and meet this seven realm expert. I''ll like to see what he is up to.\"


    Lu Qingyun said anxiously, \"Shall we go to the hideout first and get your sister saintesses to help you? They may be able to aid you¡­\"


    Qin Keqin said calmly, \"Our hideout is too far away from here and we will waste valuable time going there and going back to the clan. We should make haste to return to the clan and see what the Solitary Manor is up to.\"


    Lu Qingyun was really anxious and worried for her as he thought, \"How can she be so calm. My master is indeed my master and her cultivation level is really profound. If I were her, I won''t be able to maintain my composure.\"


    Qin Keqin looked up at the heavens as she mused to herself, \"So they''ve managed to find a seventh realm expert to deal with me? What a surprise. I wonder who is this seventh realm expert is.\"

 56 Might is Righ

    Qin Keqin was startled when Lu Qingyun had suddenly lifted her up and was carrying her in his arms as he said gently, \"I can''t have you dirty your shoes and dress on the way back. Let me carry you¡­\"


    He did not know why he had suddenly had the courage to lift her up or even to touch her. It was only after he had lifted her to carry her in his arms that he thought that he may be a little too disrespectful to his master.


    He had actually forgotten that she was his master and had only thought that she was a maiden that he had liked. This happened so naturally to him that he was now suddenly cursing himself for what he had just done¡­


    But Qin Keqin did not seem to mind at all; she said dreamily as she cuddled to his chest, \"Mm, thank you. Let''s go then!\"


    \"Alright!\" he said.


    Qin Keqin was actually quite surprised when Lu Qingyun was trying to be a gentleman. Actually with her lightness skill and the dissipate force of her profound aura, there was no way that her shoes and dress would ever get dirty but she kept this fact to herself.


    Quietly, she placed her fingers on his firm chest and was comforted by the warm of his body. She quietly said to herself, \"I like this feeling. It is like the old days¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun had a strange d¨¦j¨¤ vu that he had somehow carried Qin Keqin before but he placed that thoughts behind him, \"It must have been in one of my dreams¡­\"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The entire Heavens Ridge Villa was in panic.


    It was not because of the thunderstorm that was booming thunderously nonstop. Although it was almost unheard of the thunders to thunder every one second for the past hour but the leaders of the Heavens Ridge Villa was more concerned about the arrival of the Solitary Manor.


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang had brought his old patriarch to the Heavens Ridge Villa and along with him was Celestial Bai Laoxiong and tens of his senior prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    He was demanding to see Qin Keqin and that he would level down the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Although Supremacy Wen Hongguang had less than three hundred men but this was not an empty threat at all. Other than Celestial Bai Laoxiong, he had brought along two of his clan elders who were fifth realm golden celestials as well.


    But this was not all.


    This ''old patriarch'' of his, was a seventh realm saint level cultivator and was extremely formidable. He did not look old at all but was middle age. In the world of cultivators, looks could be deceiving and this old patriarch was actually centuries old.


    Old Saint Wen was his given moniker and he had come to address the wrongs that had been afflicted upon Supremacy Wen Hongguang.


    As though he was afraid that the Heavens Ridge Villa did not know that he was a seventh realm expert, he had purposely revealed his formidable profound aura as he stepped into the boundary of the Heaven Ridge Villa, triggering one celestial array after another of his approach.


    At this moment the heavy rainstorm had just stopped and the leaders of the Heaven Ridge Villa were having a face-off with the leaders of the Solitary Manor at the main entrance of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    The six leaders of the Solitary Manor were the grand elders and they were Celestial Shi Guanyin, Enlighten Celestial Ouyang Xue, Immortal Celestial Yun Xing, Celestial Kong Guxin, Immortal Celestial Wang Ming and Immortal Celestial Mu Han.


    But at this moment the leaders of the Heavens Ridge Villa did not know whether to laugh or cry when they saw the state of the intruders. Except for the high level leaders, most of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor was drenched by the sudden heavy downpour and were looking extremely pathetic.


    At this point the leaders of the Heavens Ridge Villa were feeling more pathetic along with their hundreds of senior prot¨¦g¨¦s that were behind them. It was because of this ''Old Saint Wen'' who had suddenly arrived.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin said coldly, \"I''ve told you already. Our acting sect leader is out. You won''t be able to find her even if you barge inside. So why don''t you just leave quietly? In this way, we can still maintain the amicable ties between our two celestial clans.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang laughed coldly, \"Amicable ties? Did you consider our amicable ties when you destroy my spirit entity? Today, we will be taking Qin Keqin away. If you are smart enough, then you will give way to me or else don''t blame me for being impolite.\"


    Old Saint Wen said coldly as he stepped forward, \"It is pointless to say too much to them. It seems that we can only use force to settle this.\"


    As he stepped forward, he waved his hand and immediately the wet pavements were all dried by the gentle force of his profound aura.


    Everyone was startled and many were gasping with astonishment. With just a wave of his hand, he had dissipated the waters from the ground and it was as though it had never rained!


    This was the strength of a seventh realm expert!


    Old Saint Wen coolly said, \"In case the ground may be too slippery for you, I have made it a little convenient for you to engage me.\"


    Shi Guanyin immediately whispered to the rest of the grand elders, \"Let me be the first to engage him.\" With a melancholy sigh, she said. \"Please help me to thank sect leader¡­\" she did not elaborate why she was thanking sect leader. There were some prot¨¦g¨¦s that had misunderstood that she had meant to say thank you to the sect leader for sending her to the doom. However this was not the case and she was really grateful to Qin Keqin.


    She thought silently, \"Let me be the first to sacrifice for the Heavens Ridge Villa. This is where I grow up¡­\"


    Leng Qiuyue had immediately stepped forward and drawn her sword, \"Master, let me accompany you!\"


    Shi Guanyin looked at her sternly, \"Stay back if you still have any respect for me!\"


    Leng Qiuyue said with trembling lips, \"Master, you are like my parent to me. How can I allow you to¡­\"


    Celestial Kong Guxin had immediately interrupted Leng Qiuyue to say, \"Qiuyue, listen to your master.\" Then he turned to say to Shi Guanyin, \"Let me join hands with you. He is two realms above us. Surely he doesn''t mind taking on the two of us at the same time.\"


    Old Saint Wen hummed coldly, \"All the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa can join hands against me. I don''t care at all.\"


    Ouyang Xue had drawn out her sword as she replied coldly, \"Remember this is what you have said!\" She was only a third realm expert and she knew that she would die instantly in the first round but that did not stop her from stepping forward to defend the clan.


    Yun Xing smiled as she drawn out her sword, \"Xue''Er, you are indeed my former core disciple. Well said!\"


    Wang Ming smiled hoarsely as he raised his sword, \"Don''t forget this old fellow here!\"


    Mu Han said with a straight expression, \"And me as well.\"


    All the six grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa had stepped forward to contest with this seventh realm expert!


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was secretly smiling, \"This is going to be a massacre.\"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was grinning as he thought delightfully, \"Fools, you are all courting your own death. With all of you gone, it will be easy for me to take over the leadership position of the Heavens Ridge Villa. All the six treasuries of the martial halls will be all mine.\"


    A dark hood prot¨¦g¨¦ that was hiding within the ranks of the Solitary Manor was also smiling. He was none other than Tang Bufan who was here to witness the complete humiliation of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Old Saint Wen drawn out his sword gently as he grinned, \"Then don''t blame me for kicking your asses.\" He was actually thinking, \"I am only here to see Qin Keqin but to think that she isn''t here? Then I shall teach them a little lesson so that I can lure her out of her hiding place¡­\"


    The spiritual perceptions of all the six grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all upon Old Saint Wen''s sword. Although his sword looked gentle but it contained an immerse profound strength that could explode anytime.


    All of a sudden there was a malevolent air from the eyes of Old Saint Wen and immediately the leaves of the nearby trees began to wither rapidly and were falling.


    All six grand elders were all trembling as the killing malevolent aura of Old Saint Wen had enveloped them into his field of perception!


    Except for Celestial Shi Guanyin and Celestial Kong Guxin who could still move, all the other four grand elders were immobilized by this killing malevolent aura and they were now like sheep waiting to be slaughter!


    Celestial Shi Guanyin and Celestial Kong Guxin were all releasing their profound aura to counter the effect of this killing malevolent aura and they had all broken into cold sweat!


    Shi Guanyin was thinking, \"This is impossible. This Old Saint Wen must be the top expert of the initial seventh realm expert. How can his profound aura be this powerful and intimidating?!\"


    Ouyang Xue had the lowest realm of cultivation among the six grand elders and she was trembling the most. It was as though more than half of her strength had already been sapped away even before the fight had begun!


    Even the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heaven Ridge Villa and the Solitary Manor were also affected by the killing malevolent aura and they were all trembling in the profound strength of Old Saint Wen!


    Lie Xingyuan was an inner court prot¨¦g¨¦ and therefore she was also presented at the scene. Even she was not immune to the dreadful aura that had descended upon everyone. She was pleading quietly, \"Why isn''t sect leader back yet. We really need her to be back now. If she is here, she may be able to stop this calamity from happening¡­\"


    All of a sudden a pleasant voice was laughing enchantingly, \"It is so crowded here? It seems that we have some unwelcome guests.\"


    It was Qin Keqin and walking behind her was Lu Qingyun who looked quite weary. Lu Qingyun had been running for several miles nonstop while carrying Qin Keqin. It was only when they were near the heaven gates of the Heavens Ridge Ville that Qin Keqin started to walk on her own.


    The minute that Qin Keqin had appeared, the dreadful malevolent aura seemed to have suddenly dissipated into nothingness. It was as though her enchanting voice had the power to lift the depression.


    At the sight of Qin Keqin, many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Ville were muttering excitingly, \"Sect leader is finally here! She is here!\"


    While the focus had been mainly on Qin Keqin, there were some eyes that were following Lu Qingyun.


    It was mainly Tang Bufan and Nangong Yu who had viewed him with hostilities.


    And there were also Leng Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue who were secretly looking his way.


    Old Saint Wen aka Zhou Hai began to turn around to stare at the veiled maiden who was laughing softly and walking casually forward.


    He was thinking, \"This voice¡­I have not heard this voice for a long time. It does bear a 70% resemblance to the Great Saintess Yuqing? Or is it really her after all?\"


    Qin Keqin said nonchalantly, \"Since we have guests here today, why don''t we invite them inside the great hall as a show of our hospitability?\"


    The grand elders were all relieved that Qin Keqin had finally returned but they were also anxious for her. But they were all startled by Qin Keqin lack of anxiety; she did not seem to be too anxious that a seventh realm expert had come knocking on her door and this seventh realm expert was actually about to level down the entire Heavens Ridge Ville?


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang whispered to Saint Zhou Hai aka Old Saint Wen, \"She is indeed Qin Keqin.\"


    Saint Zhou Hai began to laugh aloud, \"Qin Keqin, Qin Keqin. What a beautiful name. Since you have extended your hospitality to us, we shall be your guest and enter your great hall.\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled wryly, \"If you are not afraid that I will add poisons to your tea then please come inside.\"


    Everyone: ¡­

 57 The Mysterious Black Hood Man

    The atmosphere inside the guest great all of the Heavens Ridge Villa was extremely tense as the two groups of celestial cultivators stared coldly at each other.


    Once Qin Keqin was inside, she had taken off her curtain hat veil and her alluring beautiful features could be clearly seen. She was like the radiance sun that was shining in the guest great hall.


    Even Supremacy Wen Hongguang had to admit that she was indeed very beautiful.


    ''Old Saint Wen'' was also grinning as he thought, \"Alas, she is indeed the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. This lovely air of hers and the same identical look is unmistaken.\" He had a hobby and that was to look at beautiful maidens and the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was a top beauty that he had always admired.


    Qin Keqin had a nonchalant expression when she saw ''Old Saint Wen''. She had of course recognized who he was and was thinking coolly, \"So it is actually Zhou Hai. I wonder what he is up to. We shall see about that soon¡­\"


    She said coldly to the leaders of the Solitary Manor, \"Unfortunately we don''t have tea for our unwelcome guests here. So what do you want?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smirked coldly, \"What do we want? Haha. Sect Leader Qin Keqin, surely you have forgotten that you have destroyed my spirit entity. We are here to settle a score with you. If you come with us quietly, I can promise you that we won''t level down your celestial clan and may even spare it from total destruction. Or else, there will only be three great celestial clans in New Empyrean City not four great celestial clans in the future anymore.\"


    Qin Keqin had a faint smile as she pondered for a while, \"Oh that? I have almost forgotten about it. Is that all? Surely you can easily afford to find another, am I right?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was almost rendered speechless by her.


    This caused his countenance to flush with anger as he replied angrily, \"You have nearly crippled my cultivation core and you still have the cheek to treat this matter so lightly? You are indeed insolent. Very good then.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"You are the one that is being disrespectful to me on that day. Have you forgotten about that so fast? So what are you planning to do? Challenge me again?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang smiled coldly, \"You have only bested me because you have a divine sword in your hand and not because of your skills-\"


    \"Weird.\" Qin Keqin interrupted him, \"You are a realm higher than me and you don''t feel ashamed at all when you made a challenge to me? So what if I have a divine sword? If you are skillful enough, surely you can still defeat me but since you had failed to, I guess that your martial skills are truly mediocre.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang said angrily, \"Lass! Do you think that just because your mother consort is a seventh realm expert, I will actually fear you?\"


    Then he began to laugh jovially, \"My old patriarch here is also a seventh realm expert and today, you will be dealing with him.\"


    ''Old Saint Wen'' was grinning and nodding, \"That''s right!\"


    Qin Keqin raised her eyebrows to say, \"So you want to settle our feud with a fist fight?\"


    \"Old Saint Wen'' began to laugh jovially, \"Well, that will depend on you.\"


    Lu Qingyun was really worried for Qin Keqin so he had actually stepped forward to say, \"Let me meet you-\"


    But before he could finish speaking, ''Old Saint Wen'' had raised his palm and his palm force had sent Lu Qingyun flying backward, \"Young junior, you''re not fit to speak!\"


    Qin Keqin had quickly raised her fingers to halt the bulk of the palm force but Lu Qingyun was still sent flying into the air. She was gasping and was panicky for him¡­


    There were three flashes of shadow as Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had caught hold of Lu Qingyun at the same time.


    When Qin Keqin saw that three lovely maidens had caught of Lu Qingyun, she was rendered wordless and there was a flash of annoyance in her countenance.


    Lu Qingyun was startled by the formidable irresistible force that was directed at him. The bulk of the palm force had been neutralized by Qin Keqin or else it would be really be fatal for him¡­


    \"Are you alright?\" the three maidens who had caught hold of him asked at the same time.


    Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were also all looking at one another as they muttered the same words and they were all thinking at the same time, \"Am I an extra¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, \"I''m alright¡­\" His attention was still on the confrontation between Qin Keqin and Old Saint Wen to take notice of the three lovely maidens that had caught hold of him.


    Nangong Yu was burning with envy as he saw the concern that was being displayed by Leng Qiuyue for Lu Qingyun.


    Even Shi Guanyin was startled as she thought, \"Qiuyue seems particularly concern for Lu Qingyun¡­\"


    Yun Xing was also thinking, \"My Xue''Er likes Lu Qingyun? Even that Leng Qiuyue too? Have something happens between the three of them during the experiential training?\"


    As for the rest of the grand elders, elders and prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa, they were quite terrified of this ''Old Saint Wen'' after witnessing his formidable ''seventh realm profound arts''. With a mere wave of his hand, he had actually sent Lu Qingyun to fly off even with the intervention of their sect leader. What if they were to take a direct blow from him?


    Qin Keqin had an unhappy expression and her smiles had vanished. It was because ''Old Saint Wen'' had dared to lift his finger at Lu Qingyun!


    She stared coldly at ''Old Saint Wen'' and said with equal coldness, \"You have actually lifted your finger to harm my disciple? How dare you!\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang, Celestial Bai Laoxiong and Tang Bufan were all smiling. The more Qin Keqin was provoked, the happier they were. They were more afraid that Qin Keqin dared not confront Old Saint Wen and instead she had chosen to flee.


    ''Old Saint Wen'' began to smile weakly, \"I didn''t know that he is your disciple. You are angry?\"


    Qin Keqin said coldly, \"Do I not look angry? Aren''t you asking the obvious?\"


    Then she hummed coldly, \"We need to talk. Do you mind coming with me for a while?\"


    ''Old Saint Wen'' began to laugh jovially, \"If the goddess wants to talk to me privately, why not?\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was a little startled and he immediately whispered, \"Be wary of her tricks. Why don''t we handle her here instead?\"


    ''Old Saint Wen'' whispered back, \"Don''t be hasty. I know what I''m doing.\"


    Qin Keqin said as she turned around, \"Please come with me then.\"


    ''Old Saint Wen'' laughed as he followed her.


    Everyone was startled. What was Qin Keqin up to?


    Lu Qingyun clenched his fists when he saw ''Old Saint Wen'' followed Qin Keqin out of the great hall as he thought miserably, \"Why am I so useless? I can''t even protect the maiden of my heart¡­\"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was whispering to Supremacy Wen Hongguang, \"Is it really alright? We ought to be wary of changes.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was smiling as he whispered, \"Don''t worry. This old friend of mine is not someone who will be easily bribed and he isn''t someone who trusts anyone so easily as well. I''m afraid that this time Qin Keqin will only be disappointed by her actions. She is making a huge mistake in meeting this lecherous fellow alone.\"


    A black hooded man from the side of the Solitary Manor had suddenly stepped forward to say in a hoarse voice, \"Li Yuan here. I''ve heard that Sect Leader Qin has a new disciple and his name is Lu Qingyun. It is such a coincidence that I am also a new disciple of my respected Master Bai here. Therefore I will like to have a martial exchange with him.\" He had purposely disguised his voice so that no one would know that he was actually Tang Bufan.


    As this man was hooded excepted for his eyes, no one knew who he was.


    Lu Qingyun was still upset so he shouted, \"Lu Qingyun here. I will accept your challenge!\"


    He was upset not because he had just been knocked back by Old Saint Wen or because he had just suffered a tremendous loss of face under the eyes of everyone. He was actually quite thick skin. He was actually upset with himself because he had allowed Qin Keqin to face Old Saint Wen herself.


    How could his heart rest with this fact? Qin Keqin was only a fifth realm expert while Old Saint Wen was a seventh realm expert!


    Therefore he needed something to vent his frustrations and he readily challenged the challenge.


    Ouyang Xue quickly said coldly as she stared at ''Li Yuan'', \"I''m afraid that our senior brother will not accept your challenge. What if you are a fourth realm expert? Then you are only bullying at our doorsteps!\"


    She could only conclude that this Li Yuan was not a fifth realm expert because his eyes were not golden. It was because only a fifth realm expert would have golden eyes.


    Li Yuan laughed hoarsely, \"I''m only a third realm expert. What is there to fear from me? Rather, I have more to fear from your senior brother. I''ve heard that he has got a divine sword. That will be most unfair to me, am I right? Therefore I suggest we spar with our fists.\"


    Lu Qingyun had already stepped forward as he said, \"So shall it be then!\"


    Li Yuan was smiling secretly to himself. Today he would have his vengeance against Lu Qingyun and for this day to happen, he had also newly mastered the ''Deadly Dragon Claws'', a form of vicious unarmed martial art.


    Lie Xingyuan was startled by the sudden duel but her senior brother had already stepped forward to accept the challenge and it was too late already to stop him from doing so.


    Leng Qiuyue was also startled but for another different reason. It was because she had noticed that this ''Li Yuan'' was likely to be Tang Bufan!


    She had a hidden ability and that was to identify people from the way that they had walked. Everyone had their own unique way of walking. As she was quiet most of the time, her power of observations were actually extremely acute and she knew from the way that Li Yuan walked and carried himself, it was totally the same as Tang Bufan.

 58 The Confrontation

    When Lu Qingyun had stepped forward to challenge Tang Bufan, all of a sudden he had coughed out blood and had fallen on his knees!


    This shocked Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue who had immediately surrounded him again to support him up.


    The truth was that Lu Qingyun had already expended half of his profound strength in his haste to carry Qin Keqin speedily back to the Heavens Ridge Ville. Secondly, Old Saint Wen was already too formidable; although Qin Keqin had deflected most of the martial force away but he was still nevertheless injured.


    The moment that Lu Qingyun had tried to muster his profound strength, he found his profound energies reversing and he had suffered a bout of internal injuries that caused him to spur blood.


    Tang Bufan was startled. Even before the duel had begun, his rival had already fallen¡­


    Nangong Yu thought unhappily, \"To think that I was about to enjoy the moment that this lowly first realm senior brother would be beaten to the death, he will actually choose this moment to suffer a relapse.\"


    Lu Qingyun was muttering as he fell into the arms of the three maidens, \"I¡­am alright¡­it is¡­nothing serious¡­\"


    Lie Xingyuan was almost close to tears as she said, \"Senior brother, you should rest first. You are in no condition to accept any challenge.\"


    Leng Qiuyue had suddenly stood up after inspecting Lu Qingyun as she turned to say coldly to Li Yuan, \"I am also a third realm expert. Therefore, let me accept the challenge on behalf of my senior brother.\"


    Tang Bufan replied mockingly, \"To think that this senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa is actually such a useless fellow that he needs a maiden to fight his duel for him. Very well then. You may take his place.\"


    It was not such a bad idea too to use his Deadly Dragon Claws on Leng Qiuyue. When he was thinking he could use it on her soft and tender body, he was immediately excited. Today he was going to humiliate this ex-senior sister of his who had given him the cold shoulder in the past.


    Leng Qiuyue took a melancholy glance at Lu Qingyun before she said coldly to Li Yuan, \"Hmph, you may be able to fool the others but you can''t fool me at all. You are actually Tang Bufan and not any Li Yuan.\"


    When she had said that, everyone was startled and the most startled was actually Shi Guanyin. It was because Shi Guanyin had a personal score to settle with Tang Bufan.


    Shi Guanyin naturally knew of Leng Qiuyue''s secret innate ability to identify people and she began to say angrily, \"Take off your hood and mask. Surely you are not thinking of making a challenge without showing your true face? That is most rude!\"


    Tang Bufan had turned ashen behind his mask as he said weakly, \"I am a hideous man and that is why I am wearing a mask. You will be frightened of my bad looks and be severely affected if you see what I am like.\"


    But Shi Guanyin said coldly as she took a step forward, \"Take off your mask. Now!\"


    But as she took a step forward, Celestial Bai Laoxiong had also taken a step forward. \"Celestial Shi, he is my new disciple and of course I know who he is. Surely you are not thinking that I am already dead and decide to bully my disciple?\"


    This caused Shi Guanyin to halt her steps. It was because in term of cultivation strength, Celestial Bai Laoxiong was actually one notch or two above her. This caused her to hesitate.


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong said coldly, \"Or you are actually thinking of challenging me instead?\"


    Celestial Shi Guanyin: ¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Old Saint Wen entered the room with Qin Keqin, he was grinning broadly. \"My goddess, how have you been?\"


    Qin Keqin was groaning softly and she looked like she wanted to bite him to pieces with her golden eyes, \"Zhou Hai! Why did you come here for and why did you lift your fingers at my disciple?\"


    Zhou Hai quickly waved his hand to erect a profound force around the room, \"Shhh, not so loud¡­\"


    Qin Keqin smiled coldly, \"What? You will actually be afraid? Don''t worry. There is a celestial array here that prevents anyone from eavesdropping on us.\"


    He smiled weakly, \"I didn''t know that he is your disciple. Anyway, where have you been all these years? You have just disappeared just like that. And your current alias is Qin Keqin?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, \"That''s right and I am the acting sect leader here. So you have better don''t cause any trouble for me.\"


    Zhou Hai smiled, \"I am just a lowly initial saint. Moreover I have just reached the saint level not so long ago. Compare to you, the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, the number one heroine in the Nine Celestial Fraternity-\"


    \"You sure know how to flatter me. The number one heroine in the Nine Celestial Fraternity is the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing and the Great Saintess Mu Huiyin.\" Qin Keqin interrupted with a wry smile. \"So why are you helping that Wen Hongguang to deal with me?\"


    Zhou Hai laughed, \"Actually, I am just curious who this Qin Keqin is. I''ve heard that she is an astonishing beauty but I have never expected that Qin Keqin is actually you. I have suspected that she may be your descendant. So are you married?\"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    \"Why are you asking me this question?\"


    \"That''s because I''m still a bachelor¡­\"


    \"Unfortunately I am not interested in any old man like you.\"


    Zhou Hai: ¡­


    Zhou Hai began to smile weakly, \"I''ve thought that you have gone to the dark divine realms or to the other celestial fraternities. So you are actually here. Have you seen the Devil Goddess recently?\"


    Qin Keqin nodded with a wryly smile.


    Zhou Hai did not know that she was actually the Devil Goddess. In the past, they had both served the Devil Goddess or so Zhou Hai had thought so. Till this day, he did not know that Fan Yuqing was actually the real Devil Goddess and that she had asked Feng Minyue to disguise herself as the Devil Goddess.


    Zhou Hai sighed, \"I wonder how the Devil Goddess is doing nowadays. There is no news of her recently and the Nine Celestial Fraternity is too peaceful.\"


    Qin Keqin said with a half amused expression, \"With the Nine Celestial Goddess around, the Devil Goddess dares not mess up the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Why? You want to see some troubles? Like what you are doing now?\"


    Zhou Hai was laughing jovially, \"Seriously, the Nine Celestial Fraternity is a more fun place when the Devil Goddess is around. I really miss those days.\"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she thought, \"Well, so do I¡­\" But that was actually the last thing that she wanted to do now. So she replied, \"It is best that the Devil Goddess be forgotten in the river of history.\"


    Zhou Hai muttered weakly, \"That won''t do. Our secret fraternity is waiting for the comeback of the Devil Goddess.\"


    Qin Keqin said, \"Maybe the Devil Goddess has already forgotten everyone. Maybe she is already happily married and has retired.\"


    Zhou Hai muttered and he looked a little disappointed, \"I really hope that is not the case. If so, I wonder who that lucky fellow is.\"


    Qin Keqin laughed, \"Maybe he is the most unlucky fellow ever¡­\"

 59 What Happens to Qin Keqin?

    When Qin Keqin and ''Old Saint Wen'' had emerged to the guest great hall, they were quite astonished to see that Celestial Shi Guanyin and Celestial Bai Laoxiong were fighting with each other.


    It was obvious that Celestial Shi Guanyin was having a hard time against Celestial Bai Laoxiong.


    Lu Qingyun was recuperating on a seat when he caught sight of Qin Keqin and ''Old Saint Wen''. He muttered, \"Keqin, is she alright?\"


    Unlike earlier, ''Old Saint Wen'' looked rosier than before on his face while Qin Keqin had a slight flush on her countenance.


    Lu Qingyun clenched his fists as he muttered melancholy to himself, \"Keqin has been inside with him for a long time. Don''t tell me¡­\" When he had thought of this part, his heart was clearly heartbroken and he could not bring himself to think further.


    Grand Elder Yun Xing, Grand Elder Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and many others had noticed the same too and were wondering what exactly had really happened inside. From the way they had walked back together, it seemed that the feeling was quite amicable?


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was quite startled as he thought, \"What has actually happened inside? Why didn''t Zhou Hai takes any action against her? Or rather, he has already taken his action on her and falls for her alluring charms?\"


    Just as Celestial Bai Laoxiong was also expressing surprised that ''Old Saint Wen'' had walked back to the great hall again and looked amicably with Qin Keqin, ''Old Saint Wen'' had suddenly flashed between him and Celestial Shi Guanyin as he suddenly raised his palm to strike him.


    Although Celestial Bai could clearly see the palm of ''Old Saint Wen'' quite clearly but in the next instant all his defenses had suddenly vanished as he was struck on his chest with a thunderous impact!


    Celestial Guanyin had taken several steps back as she had thought that ''Old Saint Wen'' had meant to attack her. After all, this old patriarch was on the side of the Solitary Manor. However, she was quite startled to see that ''Old Saint Wen'' had instead attacked Celestial Bai Laoxiong¡­


    When Celestial Bai Laoxiong had crumbled on the ground and was foaming blood, he still could not believe what was happening exactly.


    He could only hear ''Old Saint Wen'' saying coldly, \"We are all guests of the Heavens Ridge Villa. Why are you attacking the host? You have totally disgrace the Solitary Manor!\"


    Qin Keqin was smiling wryly and her eyes were rolling with mischief but she kept quiet while she continued to watch.


    Tang Bufan was startled that his master had suddenly been attacked and he was totally stunned on the spot. He thought, \"What is going on?! Why is Saint Zhou Hai attacking my master¡­\"


    Even Supremacy Wen Hongguang was completely caught by surprise. He wanted to rush forward to confront this ''old friend'' of his. The truth was that he was not exactly very close with him and thought that Saint Zhou Hai would be here to help him.


    He was forced to say, \"Old patriarch, you''re supposed to help us to settle Qin Keqin. Why are you acting in this manner?\"


    The rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor were all equally confused. In fact, they had all been newly introduced to ''Old Saint Wen'' and only known him as an old patriarch of the Solitary Manor that was rarely seen.


    ''Old Saint Wen'' laughed jovially, \"I have already settled the score with Sect Leader Qin. From now onward, the Solitary Manor is not to disturb the Heavens Ridge Villa anymore.\"


    \"What?!\" Supremacy Wen Hongguang was startled and looking perplexed, \"This won''t do at all-\"


    But before he could protest further, ''Old Saint Wen'' had suddenly gave him a tight slap which sent him to fly next to Bai Laoxiong, shocking everyone and that included the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa!


    \"I have already done my investigations. Wen Hongguang, this is all your fault. From today onward, I shall wash my hands off this matter but should you decide to harass Sect Leader Qin or the Heavens Ridge Villa again, I shall not spare you.\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang was completed stunned by the sudden reverse and just as he was about to get up to protest angrily, ''Old Saint Wen'' had suddenly flickered his fingers rapidly and had an energy burst had pierced through his body and caused him to cough out a bout of fresh blood!


    ''Old Saint Wen'' said coldly, \"For the next three months, you are not to exercise your profound strength. Do well to recuperate at home.\"


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor were all rendered speechless, including the other two golden celestials that were in the group. However, none of them dared to make any move. After all, ''Old Saint Wen'' was not only Supremacy Wen Hongguang''s senior of the highest rank but he was also a seventh realm expert of the saint level. If ''Old Saint Wen'' wanted to punish anyone, it was as easy as crushing an ant.


    Then ''Old Saint Wen'' turned to smile at Qin Keqin, \"I beg for Sect Leader Qin''s forgiveness. Are you satisfied with the way I''ve punished them?\"


    Qin Keqin nodded with a faint smile, \"It is good. You can dismiss them now. I shall return you this favor one day and pay you a honorable visit in the future.\"


    ''Old Saint Wen'' laughed jovially before he turned to stare coldly at the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Solitary Manor, \"So what are all of you waiting for? Hurry and scram!\"


    Supremacy Wen Hongguang, Celestial Bai Laoxiong and Tang Bufan were all rendered speechless by this sudden reverse. Not only did they fail to make Qin Keqin pay for her transgression against them but they were also further humiliated in front of her¡­


    What was going on?


    But there were nothing for them to do except to bolt to the entrance as soon as possible.


    Even though Supremacy Wen Hongguang had been humiliated by Saint Zhou Hai in such a manner but he did not dare to be respectful. It was because Saint Zhou Hai was not only the elder of the powerful Divine Sovereign Clan but he was also a seventh realm expert that could finish his clan and position overnight. He was well aware of the fact that there were few cultivation experts that could stop him should he decided to be nasty.


    After Supremacy Wen Hongguang and his group had exited the great hall, ''Saint Old Wen'' coolly said aloud. \"It is time for me to leave too.\"


    Then he flashed a smile at Qin Keqin, \"See you tonight then.\"


    Qin Keqin merely nodded and in the next instant ''Saint Old Wen'' had flashed speedily out of the great hall.


    Although the great calamity had been averted, there were many ugly expressions that were on the faces of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    The most unhappy was naturally Lu Qingyun. It was because at this moment, it was all too obvious to him that Qin Keqin had sacrificed her chastity inside with Old Saint Wen in order to save everyone. Or else it would be inconceivable that a seventh realm expert would spare a fifth realm expert. And Qin Keqin was going to see him tonight¡­


    He was totally heartbroken and was trembling nonstop¡­


    But he was not the only who was trembling as well. Celestial Shi Guanyin, Yun Xing, Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and many of the grand elders, elders and core prot¨¦g¨¦s were all trembling with rage against Old Saint Wen.


    Their sect leader had saved their lives by sacrificing her very own chastity. Qin Keqin was a most irresistible alluring maiden and they could understand why Old Saint Wen had a sudden reversal. After all, there were few men in the world that could resist her charms.


    But that was not the whole point. The great honor of the Heavens Ridge Villa was at stake here and their sect leader had chosen to destroy her reputation and chastity for the sake of her prot¨¦g¨¦s. This was something that put everyone in shame and upset with themselves at the same time¡­


    Ouyang Xue''s tears were flowing down her cheeks as she muttered, \"Sect leader¡­\"


    Leng Qiuyue was trembling nonstop as she looked at Qin Keqin while thinking, \"Our sect leader is only putting on a brave and nonchalant manner in front of all of us. But deep down, she must be weeping¡­\"


    Qin Keqin: (o_o)??


    Qin Keqin was perplexed as she saw the solemn expressions that were on everyone. She thought, \"Why is everyone looking like that? Shouldn''t they be happy that the clan is safe now?\"


    Only Lie Xingyuan was thinking, \"Qin Keqin is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and is an upper great saintess. She is not someone that an ordinary saint can easily best. Judging by that Old Saint Wen reaction, it is possible that Old Saint Wen may have tried to attack her inside but has suddenly realized that she has the superior realm level and therefore he tries to downplay the actions of the Solitary Manor. But why is Qin Keqin meeting him tonight?\"


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly spurted out blood as he collapsed. His heart simply could not take the thought that Qin Keqin was meeting this Old Saint Wen tonight and his internal injuries had exaggerated.


    Qin Keqin gasped as she flashed next to him, \"Qingyun¡­\"


    She panicky thought, \"Zhou Hai! Look what have you done to my disciple! I''m going to skin you alive tonight¡­\"


    Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue had all turned ashen when they saw the sudden condition of their senior brother¡­

 60 We Have a Vendetta to Settle!

    Almost immediately after the unwelcomed guests of the Solitary Manor had left, Celestial Shi Guanyin had called for an urgent meeting to all the grand elders in a secret room.


    It was obvious that she was still flushed with anger over her fight with Celestial Bai Laoxiong. In actuality, she was even more upset that Tang Bufan had got away.


    But this was not what had upset her the most.


    It was because of what had happened to Qin Keqin.


    All the other five grand elders had a solemn expression on their countenances as well.


    Shi Guanyin said with burning rage, \"Our sect leader has sacrificed herself for the sake of our clan. I don''t want anyone to gossip about this or it will be the most severe clan punishments for the offender. Her shame is our shame as well.\"


    Ouyang Xue nodded. Her beautiful face was ashen and she was still shaken by the earlier encounter with Old Saint Wen. But she said courageously, \"Our sect leader is nobler than we know her. I am truly ashamed to be a grand elder of the Heavens Ridge Ville because there is nothing that I can do.\"


    Even Yun Xing who rarely agreed with Shi Guanyin was saying solemnly, \"We have to avenge for our sect leader''s honor even if it mean that we will be inviting destruction upon ourselves.\"


    Celestial Kong Guxin, Wang Ming and Mu Han were all looking at the ladies quietly. They could understand why they were so indignant and they were also boiling with rage.


    It was because the old patriarch of the Solitary Manor had taken advantage of Qin Keqin right inside the Heavens Ridge Villa. By taking advantage of Qin Keqin in their home ground was akin to bullying the Heavens Ridge Villa. How could they, as grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa bear this shame?


    Shi Guanyin said furiously, \"This is a vendetta that we have to settle with the Solitary Manor even if it means our total destruction. What do you say?\"


    Celestial Kong Guxin asked quietly, \"So what do you propose?\"


    Shi Guanyin replied coldly, \"We can make use of the absence of their old patriarch tonight to make a night raid against the Solitary Manor tonight.\"


    Mu Han muttered, \"Even if the raid will be successful, we will still be wiped out tomorrow by that Old Saint Wen when he eventually found out that it is us. Moreover, the strength of the Solitary Manor is stronger than us. They have three fifth realm golden celestials, including Celestial Bai Laoxiong and a sixth realm golden supremacy in Wen Hongguang himself. We may not be able to win.\"


    Wang Ming said solemnly, \"Both Wen Hongguang and Bai Laoxiong are both injured at the moment. This is our one and only chance to deal with them. Moreover they won''t be expecting us to attack them on this very night.\"


    Mu Han muttered, \"I''m sure they will. It is a common practice for all the major celestial clans to place a spy or two in each other midst. I am sure that we do have some prot¨¦g¨¦s that are serving the Solitary Manor on the sly.\"


    Yun Xing said quietly, \"Mu Han, do you fear death?\"


    Mu Han began to stammer as he looked at Yun Xing¡­


    Yun Ying was someone that he had secretly liked. Although they had quarreled in the open on a number of occasions, it was because he was trying to get her attention and was not meant to really oppose her. But this time was different. This concerned the fate of their clan in the future.


    \"I don''t¡­\" he muttered.


    Yun Xing smiled coldly, \"Is that so? Our sect leader has sacrificed her chastity for our survival so that we can all live with borrow time. But is it really what we want? Is it the honor that we want? This is a shame that we have to cleanse with the blood of our enemies.\"


    Shi Guanyin added with teething rage, \"To touch our sect leader Qin Keqin is a face smacking act on all the leaders of the Heavens Ridge Villa. We cannot allow this shame, this despicable act to live in their memories.\"


    Mu Han smiled coldly, \"Since the ladies are all for it, can a real man like me say no?\"


    Yun Xing was slightly startled by Mu Han''s reply. For the very first time, she saw him as not a political opponent but a respected prot¨¦g¨¦ of the same clan. She had thought that Mu Han would be arguing with her just like before.


    Wang Ming gave a pat on Mu Han''s shoulder as he laughed, \"Good brother! This old man here applauds your courage!\"


    Celestial Kong Guxin smiled coldly, \"So it will be two golden celestials versus their two golden celestials then. This is a battle that I am actually looking forward to.\"


    Shi Guanyin said with a note of caution, \"Bai Laoxiong and Wen Hongguang are still around. So we must be extra vigilant.\"


    Yun Xing turned to Ouyang Xue and said, \"Xue''Er, you are the youngest here. You ought to stay behind.\"


    But Ouyang Xue smiled coldly, \"Benevolent master, what is the point of staying behind if I am to die anyway? I rather die in battle than in the hands of that despicable Old Saint Wen.\"


    Yun Xing did not reproach her but she was smiling, \"Xue''Er good. You are indeed my good disciple! Very well then, we shall fight together then!\"


    Shi Guanyin said melancholy, \"Don''t tell our sect leader. She is putting on a fake smile in front of us but deep inside her, she must be feeling very sad and depressed by what had happened. It is all our fault for unable to protect even our sect leader.\"


    Then she said solemnly as she trembled lightly, \"Gather all the upper second realm master practitioners and above. Don''t tell them the mission yet so that our enemies may not get wind of our movements so quickly. This very night, we will all attack the Solitary Manor to avenge the honor of our clan and for the dishonorable act that is being done to our sect leader. This vendetta must be paid with the blood of our enemies!\"


    Yun Xing had never seen Shi Guanyin so upset before. She muttered with a faint smile as she lowered her glances, \"Senior sister, I think that this is the very first time that I truly agree with you on something and I am not putting on an act.\"


    Shi Guanyin lit a slow smile, \"Junior sister, I''m sorry for my past actions. Truly sorry. If the time can be reversed, I will be more sincere and nicer to you.\"


    Wang Ming was laughing hoarsely with his old voice, \"This is actually the first time that I have seen our clan so united.\"


    Celestial Kong Guxin was also smiling, \"Our sect leader is really a charismatic leader. Although she isn''t here often but she seems to have made a huge impact on all of us. This is good¡­\"


    Ouyang Xue nodded as well. Qin Keqin had saved her life back in the Misty Desolate Valley and had even appointed her as a grand elder so that she could freely access the martial library of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall for her breakthrough. To this day, she had often wondered why Qin Keqin did not punish her for making the ridiculous marriage proposal to Lu Qingyun in the past. It was obvious that she had overheard their conversations¡­


    But now, nothing mattered anymore. Because after tonight, she would soon be dead.


    She could only hope that Lu Qingyun may be able to survive the aftermath of this calamity. This was her one and only wish now¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    At this moment, Qin Keqin was attending to the internal injuries of Lu Qingyun who was unconscious when she sensed an uneasy feeling in the air.


    \"Weird,\" she muttered. \"Why is that I am feeling that I am the subject of a topic?\"


    Heaving a soft sigh after she had stabilized the condition of Lu Qingyun, she said to Lie Xingyuan. \"Xingyuan, please take care of him. I am going out now.\"


    Lie Xingyuan replied weakly, \"Sect leader, you are meeting Old Saint Wen?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, \"That is right. I am supposed to meet him tonight and it is about time that I set off soon.\"


    Lie Xingyuan muttered, \"Erm, may I know what exactly happens inside? I think senior brother may have some misunderstanding earlier.\"


    \"Misunderstanding? Huh? About what?\" Qin Keqin asked curiously.


    Lie Xingyuan did not know how to tell her. As she hesitated for a while to put forward the words to say, \"I think that everyone-\"


    As she lifted her glances, she stopped in her tracks. It was because Qin Keqin had already left the room.


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly, \"She is really in such a terrible hurry¡­\"


    She turned around as she tenderly looked at Lu Qingyun before she covered him properly with the cotton blanket as she muttered, \"Please rest well senior brother¡­\"


    Lie Xingyuan did not know that a dark storm was about to be loosened this very night as the fighters of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all being summoned at this very moment by the grand elders to make an attack on the Solitary Manor.

 61 Breakthrough to the Fourth Realm

    When Lu Qingyun opened his eyes, he was coughing weakly but at the same time there was a surge of revitalizing energies that seemed to have flowed through him and that he could clearly feel the spiritual reservoir of his inner sea¡­


    It was obvious to him that he had already attained to the fourth realm immortal celestial level¡­


    What had happened to cause his sudden breakthrough? Was it because of Yan''Er?


    As he reached into his inner cultivation sea to communicate with Yan''Er, Yan''Er replied delightfully. \"Master, we are now at the fourth realm level and it is all thanks to you. Yan''Er is unable to breakthrough it on my own.\"


    \"Thanks to me? What did I do?\" Lu Qingyun asked curiously.


    Yan''Er said, \"Just now a weird profound energy had invaded your body and because of that weird energy, it gave an extra push to us and enabled master''s inner sea to expand rapidly.\"


    Weird profound energy?


    Lu Qingyun was not an expert in energy techniques so he could not fully understand it as well. However this weird profound energy was likely to be the profound force of Old Saint Wen who had injured him.


    He was actually right even though he did not fully understand what was going on. Because of the multiple effects of the Triple Divine Essence Pills that he had consuming, his cultivation realm was at the peak of the third realm enlighten celestial level. Given the right condition, he would breakthrough to the fourth realm immortal celestial level.


    And this right condition was the invasive profound energy of a seventh realm expert that had immediately stirred up his inner reservoir sea and awakened his potential for the fourth realm. However this was simply not enough for this invasive profound energy had actually caused him to have internal injuries and he could even lose his life.


    It was the intervention of Qin Keqin that had helped him to neutralize the erratic profound energies that were running amok within him and had treated his internal injuries with her profound energies. Her soothing profound energies had not only totally treated his serious internal injury but had also stabilized his current realm level to the initial fourth realm cultivation level.


    Unknown to him or even Yan''Er, and even Qin Keqin, the Annihilating God Seed within his inner cultivation sea was the main factor in absorbing both Zhou Hai and Qin Keqin profound energies that enabled this breakthrough as well. It did not just absorb their profound energies but were actually shaping the two profound energies as its own. This would cause Lu Qingyun profound energy strength to eventually have a solid foundation at the fourth realm without a need to lay any solid energy foundation.


    The internal injuries that were caused by Old Saint Wen to him was actually not that serious as the bulk of the powerful martial force had already been deflected by Qin Keqin. His internal injuries were actually mostly self-inflicted because his broken heart could not bear the thought that the maiden of his heart had actually sacrificed her own chastity for the sake of everyone¡­


    Yan''Er was extremely delightful as she was now bathed with new profound energies and this profound energy had doubled the energy vitalities of the third realm level.


    The difference between a third and a fourth realm level was indeed a huge boundary, between the path of life and death!


    As a fourth realm expert now, Lu Qingyun would no longer age anymore.


    \"Senior brother, you are awake?\" Lie Xingyuan said tenderly as she looked at him with deep concern. \"Are you feeling much better now? Is there anywhere that you feel uncomfortable with? Your internal injury isn''t light at all. Luckily, Sect Leader Qin is here earlier to help you to clear your blocked energy channels.\"


    She added melancholy, \"She is really good with her profound energy arts.\"


    Lie Xingyuan was the type that would not hesitate to hide the credits of others. Moreover, she knew that Qin Keqin was truly concerned for Lu Qingyun and she had never seen her so panicky before.


    Lu Qingyun had a blanked expression when he had opened his eyes. It was because he was still badly shaken by what Qin Keqin had done for the sake of the others in the celestial clan. He really hated himself for being so weak.


    He turned slowly to look at Lie Xingyuan to mutter, \"Thank you Xingyuan, I''m alright now. Are you tired? Why don''t you go take a rest?\"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, \"I''m alright. Let me get you a refreshing cool drink. You must be feeling thirsty.\"


    Lu Qingyun quietly nodded as he watched Lie Xingyuan. Earlier when Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had all gathered around him twice to help him, he was suddenly aware of their feelings.


    He thought silently, \"Xingyuan, I''m sorry. In my heart, there is only Keqin. She is my everything and everything to me. I really love her. Now that her reputation is destroyed, all the more I can''t abandon her. I will look down on her and will accept her for what she is.\"


    \"Keqin¡­\" he melancholy muttered.


    He turned to ask Xingyuan, \"How long have I been unconsciousness? Where¡­is Keqin¡­\"


    Lie Xingyuan turned around to smile weakly. Only he could address Qin Keqin by her name. That was because he had a romantic fantasy about her. She really did not want to burst his romantic bubble to tell him who Qin Keqin really was. Moreover she had also promised her master not to tell anyone about Qin Keqin.


    She could only answer after a brief hesitation, \"Just a couple of hours only. Sect Leader Qin, she had just gone out.\"


    Lu Qingyun''s heart had immediately sunk to the abyss. She must have gone to meet that Old Saint Wen. She would probably not return this very night¡­


    He muttered, \"Xingyuan, I like to take a bath. Can you help me to get the tub ready?\"


    Lie Xingyuan replied without hesitation, \"I will get it ready now.\"


    As she left the room, Lu Qingyun got up with a sunken heart and he was weeping miserably. \"Keqin, why can''t I protect you and you have to suffer because of us¡­\"


    Slowly he inspected his spatial ring for his divine sword and had a determined look in his eyes, \"Keqin, I will avenge your honor tonight.\"


    With that, he had left the room quietly.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Zhou Hai had arrived at the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, he was cordially invited to a reserved room and treated like a guest of great honor by the teahouse stewards.


    He was smiling for today he finally got a personal date from the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. Although he did not know why she had asked to meet him here or cared for the reasons, he knew of the reputation of the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse as the most luxurious and most expensive place in the entire New Empyrean City.


    \"Great Saintess Yuqing is generous indeed!\"


    As he sat down to sample the Heavenly Lotus Tea, the door had opened and three extremely beautiful maidens had walked in.


    They were Qin Keqin, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng.


    Zhou Hai was astonished and startled for he had recognized Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng. In fact he was so startled that his countenance had turned pale immediately!


    Qin Keqin was smiling alluringly, \"What? You thought that I will be meeting you alone? I have brought my sisters along too.\"


    Zhou Hai immediately stood up as he paid his humble respects to Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng, \"Great Saintess Xuan, Great Saintess Feng. Elder Zhou Hai from the Divine Sovereign Clan pays my humble respect to you.\"


    Even though he was an elder of one of the top three patriarch divine realms in the Nine Celestial Fraternity but in front of them, he was actually just an insignificant celestial cultivator.


    The two of them were not just seventh realm great saintess but were also the ex-patriarch leaders of one of the nine patriarch divine realms.


    Feng Minyue herself was the ex-patriarch leader of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. She was also the most respected great saintess in the entire Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm because she was the only seventh realm great saintess that was said to have currently existed in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. Although she was currently said to be missing and was in seclusion but because of her existence, the other divine realms did not dare to easily intrude into her domain.


    As for Xuan Danfeng, she was the ex-patriarch leader of the Lofty Snow Palace, the leader of the Lofty Snow Divine Realm which was a middle tier divine realm. She had disappeared from the Nine Celestial Fraternity around the same time as Fan Yuqing and no one knew of her whereabouts. Moreover she was once the most beautiful maiden in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity until she was replaced by Feng Minyue.


    Zhou Hai was feeling quite giddy because in just a single night he had actually met the three most beautiful great saintesses of the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    Feng Minyue coolly said, \"I am only here because my Sister Saintess Yuqing has asked me to come.\"


    Xuan Danfeng was smiling, \"I am only here because of the good wines.\"


    Zhou Hai smiled as he said, \"I didn''t know that the three of you are together and in this small place.\"


    Feng Minyue stole a glance at Qin Keqin but said nothing. The reason why Qin Keqin had chosen to be near the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm was because this divine realm was where Lu Qingyun''s past reincarnation had once stayed and that she had a hope that one day he would be reincarnated again in the same divine realm.


    Qin Keqin was laughing softly, \"I hope that you don''t tell anyone because we are enjoying our quiet lives.\"


    Zhou Hai immediately responded jovially, \"Of course I won''t! I am so honored today that I have the chance to drink with the three greatest great saintess in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity. If only if your Sister Saintess Ye Jing is here then it would be most perfect!\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled at his response but she was actually thinking, \"She will never have the chance! Not unless she actually acknowledges me as her senior prot¨¦g¨¦ sister!\"


    Xuan Danfeng rolled her eyes and smiled, \"Why don''t we enjoy the good wines. This place is really good although it seems to be a little expensive.\"


    Zhou Hai laughed jovially as he patted his chest, \"Don''t worry! Leave it to me! I will pay for all the tabs!\"


    Qin Keqin was smiling in her heart, \"Heh! When you see the tabs, get ready for a good heart-attack!\"


    And the three great saintesses were exchanging sly and secret glances at one another. After tonight, this Zhou Hai would get the shock of his life and would be very poor. He was like a sheep that had suddenly dropped from the heavens to pay for their high maintenances.


    If they did not leech him dry and high then this was not justifiable to them. After all, it was not every day that they would get a high roller customer to the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse.


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"We can chat and drink the whole night. You can tell us what has happened recently in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. After all, we have completely lost touch with the outside fraternity.\"


    That was of course a blatant white lie. Her information network was almost everywhere and anything that happened to the nine patriarch clans and the patriarch divine realms, she had a better understandings than anyone else.


    Zhou Hai laughed jovially, \"Even if it is for three days and three nights, I will only be too glad. After all to have the three most beautiful great saintesses to drink with me is the dream of every man.\"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, \"Is it? I am a perfectly good drinker, you know. Let me pick the wines and we shall drink as we chat!\"


    She did not lie at all. She was really a good drinker. In fact, Xuan Danfeng was renowned for getting herself drunk on too many occasions because she really drinks a lot. She was very white because she had cultivated in the snowy mountains for many centuries. In fact, her cheeks were almost never rosy from drinking too many wines and had maintained its snowy white complexion.


    \"My sister saintesses have forbidden me to drink because finances are tight this month. If I don''t drink to my heart''s content tonight, I am not Xuan Danfeng at all!\" she was smiling and thinking happily as she looked at Zhou Hai.


    Feng Minyue was thinking, \"Is it such a good idea to fleece from your own henchman, Sister Saintess Yuqing?\"


    But Qin Keqin almost knew what was in her mind as she stole a glance at her. It was as though she was saying wryly, \"To have three great saintesses to be his hostesses, he is really lucky tonight. This will be a night that he will never forget. After all, the tab will be very, very expensive.\"


    She had a soft chuckled as she added to herself, \"This includes the tab for Lu Qingyun''s internal injuries too. To think that I will be so lucky to have met you today. You are just the right person to solve our finances for this month. I didn''t ask you to jump into this burning furnace but since you have offered to pay for the tab yourself then I won''t decline.\"


    At this moment, she had totally forgotten that Zhou Hai was the Devil Goddess'' henchman and she was counting the money that could be regain back from her money losing alchemy crafting.

 62 Ambush?!

    Six cohorts of cultivators that were all dressed in black had appeared in the mountains of New Empyrean City. These six cohorts were all led by one of the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa and they numbered nearly a thousand.


    All these cultivators were all at the upper second realm and above and they were the core fighters of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Tonight they were all making a night raid against the Solitary Manor to avenge the honor of their acting sect leader Qin Keqin.


    Most of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were aware of what had happened earlier and they were furious that their clan pride had been trampled upon by Supremacy Wen Hongguang and Old Saint Wen.


    Even Nangong Yu who did not like Lu Qingyun very much was also upset with the Solitary Manor for tramping upon his clan honor. This was not only just a matter of his clan vendetta but that of his own personal honor as well!


    Even though he knew that he would be courting upon his own death by attacking the powerful Solitary Manor but he was never a coward.


    And he was not only the only one.


    At this moment, everyone seemed to have shared the same heart and spirit; no one should be allowed to talk or gossip about what happened to their sect leader Qin Keqin to Old Saint Wen. In fact, they would all defend her honor fiercely as though it was their own.


    A number of old elders, including Elder Ouyang who was the patriarch father of Ouyang Xue had also joined the cohorts.


    These old elders were too indignant to stay at the Heavens Ridge Villa and they had all volunteered to join the raid.


    In fact, never before had all the elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa been so united before. After all their loyalties had always been divided into the six martial halls and there was never a strong leader to lead them.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin, Celestial Kong Guxin, Yun Xing, Ouyang Xue, Mu Han and Wang Elder who were the grand elders of the six martial halls had never thought that the prot¨¦g¨¦s under their charge would be so fired up. In fact, a great number of them had actually wanted to attack the Solitary Manor this very night on their very own initiative but was held back by the more cool headed prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    So when the grand elders had suddenly mustered all the fighters of the Heavens Ridge Ville and to inform them of their intentions, they were quite surprised that there were many cheers and even zealous agreements.


    Even the more cowardly and cool headed prot¨¦g¨¦s were forced to go along with the majority of the prot¨¦g¨¦s who had wanted blood and vendetta for their sect leader.


    \"Are we still men? Our sect leader has sacrificed herself for our sake and yet we are hiding like turtles?\"


    \"We are cultivators and fighters. Our way is to fight and not shy away from any battle!\"


    \"Even if we were to die, we will make sure we take away half of the Solitary Manor with us!\"


    The current strength of the Heavens Ridge Villa was around ten thousands versus the fifteen thousand strength of the Solitary Manor. Most of the ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s of the two clans were lowly cultivators that were between the first and the second realm. It was estimated that the Solitary Manor had some two thousands capable fighters.


    As the six cohorts made their way rapidly through the mountains in great haste and with great secrecy, they were suddenly startled by the sudden burst of flares and torches in front of them and they had suddenly found themselves being surrounded by a great number of cultivators!


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was startled, \"Have our movements been discovered and that an ambush has been set upon us?\"


    Celestial Kong Guxin shouted aloud, \"Be careful. Their profound strength and cultivation levels are not weak!\" Then he said solemnly, \"It is only to be expected that we have dogs of the Solitary Manor in our midst!\"


    Ouyang Xue had turned ashen as she quickly unsheathed her sword while shouting to her prot¨¦g¨¦s, \"Everyone gets ready for battle¡­\"


    The cultivators that had surrounded them were all masked and were also dressed in black assailant clothing.


    But all of a sudden three of the ambushers, two men and a woman had suddenly landed quietly in front of them. One of the three had golden eyes and it was obvious that he was at least a fifth realm golden celestial¡­


    But the one who spoke was the man who did not have golden eyes and he said, \"We have heard that you are leading an attack upon the Solitary Manor. Therefore we are here to give you a helping help.\"


    Shi Guanyin was startled. Allies? When did the Heaven Ridge Villa had such powerful allies? She estimated that the ambushers numbered some three hundred and they were all above average fighters.


    The man laughed as he slowly unmasked himself, \"Look at me, I have forgotten to introduce myself.\"


    When he had unmasked himself, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were gasping. \"Ling Chong!\"


    Ling Chong laughed, \"It seems that I have not been forgotten yet.\"


    Shi Guanyin had actually never seen Ling Chong before. But she certainly knew who this Ling Chong was. So she asked, \"Young Master Ling Chong from the Flying Armament Sect?\"


    Fairy Ling Xiu had also unmasked herself, \"Fairy Ling Xiu pays my honorable respect to all the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa.\"


    The man who had golden eyes had also unmasked himself as he said coolly, \"I am Elder Ling Feijian. We have not seen each other for a long time.\"


    Shi Guanyin was gasping and she appeared to be a little shaken. It was not only because this Elder Ling Feijian was an uncle to Ling Chong and Ling Xiu but that he was also a peaked fifth realm golden celestial. But that was not all. He was also someone that she had secretly admired for a long time¡­


    She merely nodded and did not look at him in the face.


    But she soon regained her composure to say, \"How did you know that we will be attacking the Solitary Manor tonight? It seems that we have a couple of spies in our midst!\"


    Ling Chong replied coolly, \"I''m afraid that we are not the only ones who know about it. Even the Clear Sky Pavilion and Solitary Manor may have gotten wind of it. After all, your movements are not actually too secret due to the huge movement.\"


    Shi Guanyin nodded. Actually she had not expected it to be a secret at all. There was bound to be some spies in their midst.


    She said, \"So why are you here? To help us?\"


    Ling Chong nodded, \"We have a favor to return to your Senior Lu Qingyun hence we are here. He isn''t around?\"


    When he had said that, the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all looking at one another and were muttering.


    \"He is here because of our senior brother?\"


    \"It seems that this senior brother isn''t completely useless¡­\"


    \"I''ve heard that he is a good-for-nothing cultivator¡­\"


    \"No, he isn''t.\" someone who was with Lu Qingyun during the experiential mission said angrily.


    Fairy Ling Xiu darted her eyes around and she was secretly disappointed that Lu Qingyun was actually not around¡­


    She had actually played a huge part in persuading her patriarch father to aid the Heavens Ridge Villa when they had gotten wind of the night raid that the Heavens Ridge Villa was undertaking.


    Shi Guanyin said solemnly, \"Go back! This has nothing to do with the Flying Armament Sect. Do you know that you are not only dealing with a seventh realm cultivator but also from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa? You cannot bear the consequences of your clan''s destruction because of us.\"


    Ling Feijian said coolly, \"The history of our Flying Armament Sect is older than any of the big four celestial clans here. But we have never heard that the Solitary Manor has ever got a single seventh realm expert. The number of seventh realm experts in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm can be counted with the fingers of a single hand.\"


    Then he smiled, \"Therefore we''ve done a little investigation and found out that this Old Saint Wen had actually arrived from the Divine Sovereign Realm a couple of days ago and if we are not wrong, he is actually from there. Currently we are still unable to establish his identity. If we report this to our sovereign patriarch, the Heavenly Fragrance Princess of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, not only will she not punish us for transgressing upon the Solitary Manor, she may even reward us.\"


    Shi Guanyin was startled, \"Is that the true? That seventh realm expert is really from the Divine Sovereign Realm?\"


    Ling Feijian nodded, \"You know I won''t lie.\"


    Shi Guanyin nodded and began to ponder.


    If they had made a major offensive against the Solitary Manor, win or lose, their sovereign patriarch would not hesitate to punish them. But if the Solitary Manor was in cahoots with the other divine realms then this was another matter entirely. The Solitary Manor would be a traitor in the eyes of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess.


    On hindsight, the spying network of the Flying Armament Sect was too scary and they could even mobilize their fighters with such a short time of preparation. They had even gotten wind of where Old Saint Wen had come from even though Wen Hongguang must be trying his best to cover his tracks.


    Shi Guanyin said quietly, \"Even if that is the case, the Flying Armament Sect and the Heavens Ridge Villa will still be at the mercy of this seventh realm expert when he found out about our deeds. Moreover, our raid may not be a successful one. They are probably ready to meet us.\"


    If the Flying Armament Sect could get wind of their movements, there was no reason that the Solitary Manor could not get wind of their movements either.


    Ling Feijian smiled, \"There are two main reasons and a minor reason. We think that this seventh realm expert may not want his identity to be known or else it won''t be just a minor clan fight but a major conflict between two divine realms.\"


    Shi Guanyin said coldly, \"The Divine Sovereign Realm is one of the three top tier divine realms and is many times larger than the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. Maybe they do welcome a conflict with a bottom tier divine realm like the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.\"


    Ling Feijian laughed, \"Maybe, maybe not. The second reason is that we have heard that this seventh realm expert had beaten up Supremacy Wen Hongguang and therefore, he probably won''t be helping him for quite some time.\"


    Shi Guanyin raised her lovely eye lashes, \"You even know about this too?\"


    Ling Feijian laughed, \"We need to analyze all the tiniest of all details so that we may know if it is worthy to aid the Heavens Ridge Villa.\"


    Shi Guanyin asked, \"So what about the minor reason?\"


    Ling Feijian smiled and said, \"Is that important? The minor reason can never be more important than the main reasons.\"


    Shi Guanyin replied coolly, \"We need to analyze all the tiniest details so that we may know if it is worthy for the Flying Armament Sect to aid us.\"


    Ling Feijian laughed and his voice dropped to almost an incoherent whisper, \"Because of you.\"


    Shi Guanyin suddenly had a slight flush as she quickly turned around to say, \"We shall join forces with the Flying Armament Sect.\"


    Everyone else were wondering what Ling Feijian had whispered to Shi Guanyin to cause her to have such a weird expression on her countenance¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Elsewhere in the Solitary Manor;


    Supremacy Wen was having a dark mood as he watched the dancing maidens that were in the hall. All the elders and leaders of the Solitary Manor were actually in the hall at the moment. The reason for his dark mood was because he ''knew'' that the Heavens Ridge Villa was on their way to attack his celestial clan now.


    He had never expected that the Heavens Ridge Villa would be so bold to launch an all-out assault on the Solitary Manor, after all the Solitary Manor was a full notch stronger than the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    A messenger had suddenly arrived panicky at the hall as he stammered, \"A masked man has stormed up the heaven gate and is on his way here!\"


    Supremacy Wen said coldly, \"So the Heavens Ridge Villa has finally arrived. It is time for us to deal with them.\"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong said coldly, \"This is a perfect opportunity for us to wipe them all out.\"


    The messenger interrupted panicky, \"It may not be the Heavens Ridge Villa. It is only a single man. He was shouting to see Supremacy Wen.\"


    \"What?!\" Supremacy Wen said, \"A single man has dared to attack the Solitary Manor? This is too outrageous. What is his realm level?\"


    The messenger replied quickly, \"He shouldn''t be in the fifth realm yet. However several of our third realm and even a fourth realm expert had already been beaten by him. So he should be around the fourth realm. Elder Shi is heavily injured and he had sent me here to request for reinforcements.\"


    Elder Shi was of course the fourth realm expert that was assigned to stand guard at the heaven gate of the Solitary Manor.


    Supremacy Wen was growling, \"A single puny fourth realm cultivator has actually dared to attack the Solitary Manor? Who exactly is he?\"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong said coldly, \"No matter who he is, he is only courting his very own death.\"


    Supremacy Wen angrily rebuked the messenger, \"You are all idiots! A mere fourth realm cultivator can''t wriggle his way through our celestial sword formations. Why didn''t you use the sword formations against him?\"


    The messenger replied awkwardly, \"We did but the sword formations are all shattered by him.\"


    Supremacy Wen was startled, \"Is it even possible?\"


    The sword formations of the Solitary Manor consisted of thirty prot¨¦g¨¦s and were extremely formidable and there were at least ten such celestial sword formations waiting at the heaven gate for the arrival of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    It was to say that a single man had managed to cause three hundred prot¨¦g¨¦s to be helpless against him?


    Even the elders and core disciples that were in the hall were all muttering with disbelief. This was not possible, right?


    The celestial sword formation of the Solitary Manor was actually quite formidable and with ten such celestial sword formations, even a peaked fifth realm golden celestial may not be able to hold out against it, moreover the intruder was only someone who was a fourth realm cultivator.


    Supremacy Wen said solemnly, \"Muster all the prot¨¦g¨¦s. We''re going to meet this intruder.\"

 63 The Unstoppable Lu Qingyun

    The masked lone ''intruder'' that attacked the Solitary Manor was actually Lu Qingyun.


    Before he had set off for the Solitary Manor, he had taken the last of the Triple Divine Essence Pill that he had saved for Lie Xingyuan and him. He was actually forced to consume it if he were to confront the Solitary Manor as his body was still weak from his recent internal injuries. Only a miracle pill like the Triple Divine Essence Pill would be able to fully treat his injuries and renew his profound strength.


    At the same time he had also dissipate the profound aura of his divine sword. It was because he knew that his opponents would be able to recognize his divine sword and recognize who he really was. Therefore by revealing the true state of his divine sword, they may think that he was another person instead.


    He said to Yan''Er, \"Yan''Er, once my life force is extinguished, please blow me up.\"


    Yan''Er was startled, \"Master¡­but why¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, \"I don''t wish for my opponents to recognize who I am and I don''t wish to bring trouble to Keqin. Do as I have said.\"


    Yan''Er reluctantly said, \"Alright master. If master dies, so will I¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded sadly, \"That''s right. So I want you to use the last of your profound strength to blow me up so that they will not defile my body. It is something that is within your means. I hope that Yan''Er will help me to fulfill my last wish.\"


    Yan''Er was sobbing as she could read his thoughts, \"Master, you are thinking of challenging a sixth realm expert and so many others¡­because you love Big Sister Keqin¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun said with a weak laugh, \"Indeed. In my heart, she is my everything. Even if we are not together and not on the same level but this is the least that I can do for her. After all, what I have now is mostly attributed to her.\"


    Then he muttered, \"Keqin, I hope to see you again in my next life¡­\"


    Back to the present, Lu Qingyun was now fighting at the heaven steps of the Solitary Manor and he had already reached the entrance of the heaven gate of the Solitary Manor.


    He knew that he would be butchered before he could even see the sight of Supremacy Wen but he was not deterred at all. It was because he was upset with himself. He could never forget the pitiful glance that Qin Keqin had given him when she had come out of the room with Old Saint Wen¡­


    If Qin Keqin could know his thoughts, she would roll her eyes immediately. It was because she did not know that she had created such a big misunderstanding in the minds of everyone. To all the others, it was inconceivable that a fifth realm cultivator like her would suddenly be spared from the clutches of a seventh realm cultivator. Therefore something must have happened. Moreover Qin Keqin was extremely beautiful and there was few who did not think so.


    Lu Qingyun was really, really upset with himself that he lost his usual rational and he was storming the Solitary Manor to seek vendetta for Qin Keqin.


    He did not mind dying in vain because he had already lost his rational mind.


    But at this moment, his divine sword was sending all his opponents to scatter like kittens.


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled by how powerful his godly divine sword was.


    He had used just a little of his profound strength and his profound strength was manifold by his godly divine sword as he sent one celestial sword formation after another to scatter like the winds.


    Previously the first stroke of his Flaming Crimson Sword was taxing on his profound strength to execute. But ever since he had attained to the fourth cultivation realm, he was using it freely like a normal stroke.


    He was astonished but he had no time to actually think of the reasons why. It was because he was now being surrounded by hundreds of cultivators.


    \"His divine sword¡­is too formidable¡­even our sword arrays are unable to form into its proper place in front of him¡­\"


    \"Even if we did form our sword arrays, we can''t even stop him¡­\"


    \"Is he wielding a heaven-step divine sword?!\"


    \"How is it possible for a divine sword to be so powerful. Even Elder Shi is severely wounded by the sword energies of his divine sword¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun shouted behind his masked veil, \"I want to duel with Wen Hongguang and Old Saint Wen! Bring them to me!\"


    With a wave of his sword, he had sent a sent a wall that consisted of more than twenty cultivators to yell aloud and they had all flown back with great agony when they were struck by the sword energies of his divine sword.


    Now that Lu Qingyun was a fourth realm expert and had reached the energy level of the fourth cultivation realm, his profound energies was naturally able to convert his martial power into sword energies via his sword. And because he was wielding a godly divine sword, his little nuance of sword energies had become a deadly barrage of sword energies waves that were striking fear into the hearts of all the opponents that had surrounded him.


    His opponents were fearful because they had never seen such blatant display of sword energies and it was something that not even Supremacy Wen and all the elders of the Solitary Manor were capable of doing.


    But of course, Supremacy Wen and the elders of the Solitary Manor never got a divine sword in the first place and no one had actually known how powerful a divine sword was. Moreover the divine sword that was in Lu Qingyun''s hand was a beyond heaven-step divine sword, a godly divine sword that was almost unheard of.


    At the same time Lu Qingyun was actually using very little of his profound strength as he was conserving his strength for Supremacy Wen and Old Saint Wen.


    However the first stroke of his Flaming Crimson Sword was actually a powerful sword technique. Normal cultivators actually had no chance of defending against it. What was more, this first stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword had also evolved to a more powerful stage now because of his newly attained fourth realm cultivation.


    Many of his opponents only saw a crimson flare and in the next instant, they were struck down by the burning sword energies that had invaded their bodies and were all rolling on the ground in great agony.


    Although Lu Qingyun had the upper hand and he had lost his rational mind but he had actually stayed his hand. As long as his opponents could no longer fight him, he simply walked past them and left them to roll or to lie on the ground. He had no wish to kill anyone unnecessary.


    After all, it was only Supremacy Wen, Old Saint Wen and Celestial Bai Laoxiong that were his targets of hatred.


    Elder Shi had engaged the masked intruder several times and his internal injuries had worsened. He simply could not believe that he would be repeatedly be beaten back by a mere intruder and by now, more than half of his fighters were all out of the fight and were rolling on the ground.


    He stammered to his men, \"Where are the rest of the elders?! Send another messenger, quick!\"


    \"Useless fellow!\" A solemn voice said.


    Elder Shi turned around and saw that it was Supremacy Wen and behind him were hundreds of elite fighters that were supposedly to lie in wait for the arrival of the fighters of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Supremacy Wen said coldly, \"There is so many of you and you can''t even handle a lone assailant?\"


    Elder Shi stammered, \"That fellow has a formidable divine sword in his hands. Most of us can''t even get close to him.\"


    Supremacy Wen turned to appraise the divine sword that was in the intruder''s hand and was immediately startled. \"This is a heaven-step divine sword?!\"


    He had of course given the wrong appraisal. He had never seen a heaven-step divine sword before and he had thought that the godly divine sword was actually a heaven-step divine sword.


    Suddenly he had a wryly cold smile, \"It seems that the heaven is kind to me indeed and is throwing a divine sword into my hand. This is most excellent.\"


    He turned to say to the two elders that were near, \"Elder Yan Chiyou, Elder Yan Chilong. I need your help to subdue that intruder and to bring me his divine sword.\"


    Elder Yan Chiyou and Elder Yan Chilong were the two fifth realm golden celestials and they were also presented earlier at the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    There was no further need for more words as the two elders immediately displayed their profound auras and had charged toward Lu Qingyun!


    Tang Bufan smiled coldly to Celestial Bai Laoxiong, \"It seems that this intruder is courting his own death!\"


    Celestial Laoxiong was smiling, \"Indeed. He will not only lose his life but his divine sword as well. I am just wondering who he is?\"


    Supremacy Wen smiled, \"We shall see after he is dead. After all, there is a lot of information on a corpse as well. Sometimes having a dead corpse is better than a living person.\"


    Celestial Laoxiong laughed loudly as he flattered Supremacy Wen, \"Indeed, indeed!\"


    Lu Qingyun had already seen Supremacy Wen and he was already angrily fighting his way through to challenge him when the two fifth realm golden celestial elders had suddenly displayed their profound auras and had unsheathed their swords.


    The might of a fifth realm golden celestial was not to be underestimated and moreover there was actually two!


    Lu Qingyun had a shudder when he saw them. After all, he would never dream that he would actually be fighting against a mighty golden celestial in the past.


    But he could not allow Qin Keqin to sacrifice herself in vain¡­


    But today he had no other choice because he was now fighting for his very own survival. Immediately he had raised his sword as he displayed the third stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword, the Supreme Burning Sword as a fiery hue burst out from his sword as he silently said, \"Yan''Er, please lend me your strength!\"


    As soon as he had said that, his profound aura had an outburst of martial force similar to a peaked fourth realm cultivator.


    But compared to the faint golden aura of the two fifth realm golden cultivators, his profound aura was completely suppressed by them.


    But as soon as Lu Qingyun had swung his Supreme Burning Sword, the fiery hue from his sword seemed to have a life on its own as leapt from his sword to transform into a fiery soaring firebird.


    The two fifth realm golden celestials that had leapt into mid-air to attack Lu Qingyun were also startled and were gasping. It was because the fiery soaring firebird seemed to have a life of its own and had suddenly flew into them with a mighty burst of profound energies explosion!


    In the next instant the two golden celestials were rolling in agony on the ground as they coughed out bouts of blood!


    Supremacy Wen was startled and he had turned ashen with disbelief. This was not possible, right? How was it possible for a fourth realm expert to have defeated two golden celestials at the same time?


    Even Celestial Bai Laoxiong was startled as he took a step back.


    Lu Qingyun had never used the Supreme Burning Sword on anyone except for a fifth rank desolate beast. Moreover his Supreme Burning Sword had jumped a notch higher now and had become a true energy level sword art after he had attained to the fourth cultivation realm.


    What he did not know was that after he had reached the energy level, the Annihilating God Seed within his inner spiritual sea had also awakened. While he thought that the shape of the firebird was in fact Yan''Er doing as she was the incarnation spirit of the Golden Roc Flame but this firebird was in fact a combination of the Golden Roc Flame and the Annihilating Fire.


    The result of this fiery firebird was so devastating that even the protective profound auras of the two golden celestials were suddenly shredded to pieces and the profound energies of the Supreme Burning Sword had severely wounded them.


    Lu Qingyun had no time to think further and instead he was taking bold steps toward Supremacy Wen!


    After witnessing what Lu Qingyun had done to the two elders, the hundreds of cultivators that had surrounded him were all startled with disbelief as they took slow steps backward¡­


    Just as Supremacy Wen was staring with utter disbelief at the strength of this mask assailant, there was a white flash that had happened in front of the mask assailant.


    And before anyone could react, this white flash had taken the mask assailant away!


    Supremacy Wen was further shocked by the white flash as he muttered, \"Seventh realm expert¡­\"


    The white flash was a veiled maiden in white and from her extraordinary reflexes, she was a seventh realm expert and he was shocked.


    \"The assailant is gone?\"


    \"We are safe?\"


    \"I have only seen a white flash?\"


    \"What is going on?!\"


    Supremacy Wen appeared to be shaken but he was also heaving with relief. It was because he had not recovered his cultivation strength yet and he was not confident of defeating this masked assailant with the divine sword on his own.


    Just as he muttered, \"We have finally driven away this malicious star¡­\" There were great shouts in front as the words spread like wildfire, \"Hundreds of attackers are storming up the heaven steps now!\"


    Supremacy Wen had turned pale immediately. It was because he knew that the Heavens Ridge Villa had two fifth realm golden celestials while all the fifth realm golden celestials on their side were all imjured¡­

 64 Fairy Jade Light?

    In front of this veiled maiden in white, Lu Qingyun could not even muster his profound strength and he was soon thrown into a mountain cave in a rather nasty manner. In fact, he had been immobilized by her profound strength and that even his divine sword had been seized by her.


    He was soon thrown on the cave ground as the veiled maiden in white looked at him with her alluring golden eyes before saying, \"Where did you steal this divine sword from?\"


    As soon as she had loosened her grasp on him, he was able to speak again.


    Lu Qingyun replied coldly, \"Hmph! This divine sword is given to me by my master! I will never steal or rob! Return the sword to me!\"


    The veiled maiden in white said with great displeasure, \"Then your master must be a thief or a robber.\"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    When he had heard that, he replied angrily. \"My master is the most perfect master in the entire celestial realm. Do not ever insult my master!\"


    \"Then what is the name of your master?\"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, \"Why should I tell you? So that you will harm my master?\"


    The veiled maiden in white shot him a cold glance before she displayed the divine sword, \"Weird, my seal is still intact within the sword. It seems that she has given you the divine sword on her own free will? This is indeed weird.\"


    Then she tossed him back the sword and asked, \"Is the name of your master Fan Yuqing?\"


    Lu Qingyun was started when she had so readily returned him his divine sword and he replied. \"I don''t know any Fan Yuqing.\"


    But as he muttered the name of Fan Yuqing, he was thinking. \"Why is it that this name sounds so familiar to me?\"


    There was a soft groan from the veiled maiden in white and she could be muttering, \"She does have a bad habit of changing her name every now and then¡­\"


    Then she looked at Lu Qingyun as she said coolly, \"Listen carefully. I am your master''s master. So you ought to be respectful to me. I don''t expect you to kowtow or anything but if you were to offend me then I can cripple your cultivation core anytime. Got me?\"


    Lu Qingyun could tell that this veiled maiden was a great beauty behind her white veil and looked extremely young. But was she really his master''s master? Or was she pulling a trick on him? Also, her cultivation level looked extremely high and she had golden eyes.


    Wait. Did she just say that she had given his divine sword to his master? Was she Fairy Jade Light? The mother consort of his master? After all, Qin Keqin did mention that her mother consort was also her master.


    Lu Qingyun quickly asked, \"Erm, are you Fairy Jade Light?\"


    The veiled maiden quickly replied, \"Hmph, so you have finally recognized me!\"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he immediately raised his hands to bow to stammer, \"Grandmaster, erm¡­I didn''t know it is you¡­\"


    The veiled maiden smiled coldly, \"Quickly bring me to your master. I have important matters to speak to her. It is extremely urgent.\"


    She had lied of course. Actually she did not know any Fairy Jade Light but she was highly intelligent and could make use of any available leaks to make up a story. She had purposely misled him into thinking that she was ''Fairy Jade Light''.


    Lu Qingyun replied after a short hesitation, \"Alright¡­\"


    Actually he did have some doubts in his mind. But all of a sudden he had thought of something important that he had completely forgotten. It did not matter if she was the real Fairy Jade Light or not. He would take her to the ''Hideout'' first. If she was really Fairy Jade Light then Qin Keqin''s two saintesses would be able to recognize her and if she was not, then the two saintesses would be more than enough to handle her.


    But that was not the most important thing that he had forgotten.


    Old Saint Wen may be formidable but he was certainly not a match for two saintesses. He would seek their help to help Qin Keqin. This was something that he had forgotten!


    And if she was really Fairy Jade Light, then Old Saint Wen would be dealing with three formidable saintesses.


    When Qin Keqin had looked at him when she came out of the room with Old Saint Wen, she must be trying to drop him a hint to send a message to her sister saintesses for help. He had completely misunderstood that she was giving him a pitiful look.


    Alas! How could he so stupid and had wasted valuable time that could save Qin Keqin by coming to seek vendetta with the Solitary Manor?


    He began to sigh heavily¡­


    The veiled maiden in white: ???


    Lu Qingyun quickly said, \"Let''s hurry up! The sooner the better!\"


    The veiled maiden in white thought, \"Why is he in such a hurry to lead me now? Is my acting so convincing? Or is he leading me into an ambush?\"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    In the meantime, the fighters of the Heavens Ridge Villa and the Flying Armament Sect had overrun the Solitary Manor with ease.


    It was because Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai Laoxiong had fled.


    That was not all.


    It seemed that the fighters from the Solitary Manor seemed to be heavily demoralized and that a fight had taken place earlier. What more, even their two golden celestial elders were also seriously injured and did not have the strength to stop them.


    With three fifth realm golden celestials leading the fighters of the Heavens Ridge Villa and the Flying Armament Sect, there was not even a high level cultivation expert that could stop them and the battle was soon over.


    \"There was a masked assailant earlier? And he is a lone assailant? And he has injured the two golden celestial elders?!\"


    \"Who exactly is this mysterious assailant that has aided us?\"


    Celestial Shi Guanyin muttered with surprise, \"Isn''t this raid too smooth and too easy? We have won just like this?\"


    Indeed, in less than an hour, the bulk of the fighters from the Solitary Manor had surrendered. It was because Supremacy Wen had fled with most of his core disciples, leaving only a handful of elders to buy him enough time to flee.


    There were few casualties on both sides as a strict code of honor existed; no wounded or disabled fighters were harmed on either side.


    Even Ling Feijian was scratching his head. It was just a raid for a punitive attack against the Solitary Manor and they would pull out after an hour. They had never expected that this punitive attack would be so successful and was a little too successful that the bulk of the Solitary Manor had actually surrendered?!


    The Solitary Manor was one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean City and had a powerful presence. Even if two other powerhouses had combined with their forces against the Solitary Manor, it was not possible to vanquish it overnight.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were secretly looking at each other. They had not expected to live through this raid and yet they did¡­


    Celestial Shi Guanyin said coolly to the surrendered leaders of the remnants of the Solitary Manor, \"Appoint your most respected elder as the new leader of the Solitary Manor. Supremacy Wen must never be allowed to return to the Solitary Manor. He is the sworn enemy of the Heavens Ridge Villa. This is the only condition that we have.\"


    She was careful not to trample upon the pride of the Solitary Manor as this would bring about another round of endless vendetta.

 65 Back to the Hideou

    No sooner had Qingyun took ''Fairy Jade Light'' to the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, the veiled maiden said coolly, \"She is indeed here!\"


    It was because with her strong spiritual perception, she could discern the almost invisible celestial arrays that were carefully laid around here. These spiritual celestial arrays were almost invisible to even most seventh realm cultivation experts but to her, it was a totally different matter entirely.


    Lu Qingyun said, \"Grandmaster, please wait here while I check if she is here.\"


    ''She'' here did not refer to Qin Keqin but her two sister saintesses!


    But ''Fairy Jade Light'' laughed softly, \"No need. I know where they are. Come with me.\"


    With that she had headed to the second level of the teahouse.


    But since she had taken her own initiatives and was not led by Lu Qingyun, immediately several stewards had immediately gathered to stop her as they said at the same time, \"You need an invitation¡­\"


    But no sooner had they muttered out the words, they were shoved aside by her sleeves.


    Lu Qingyun immediately stepped in to apologize to the stewards, \"She is my guest. Don''t be rude to her¡­\"


    Once they were at the third floor, ''Fairy Jade Light'' had suddenly pushed the door opened and behind the room silk curtains were a grand feast and there were four people inside.


    These four people were none other than Qin Keqin, Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng and Zhou Hai.


    When Lu Qingyun had stepped into the room, he was startled to see ''Old Saint Wen'' and he immediately drawn out his divine sword!


    Zhou Hai was startled to see the door being pushed open in such a rudely manner and was startled to see Lu Qingyun unsheathing a godly divine sword and pointing it toward him as he said coldly, \"Fairy Jade Light, this despicable man here is the one that has been bullying your daughter!\"


    Qin Keqin was startled to see Lu Qingyun and even more startled to see the white veiled maiden, \"Qingyun, why are you here? What Fairy Jade Light?\"


    Fairy Jade Light was herself and naturally, it could not be anyone else. Therefore she knew that this white veiled maiden that claimed to be Fairy Jade Light was actually making a false claim.


    Zhou Hai ignored Lu Qingyun and his eyes were on the white veiled maiden as he laughed aloud, \"Who is this beauty?\"


    The white veiled maiden turned her alluring eyes to Qin Keqin as she said nonchalantly, \"Yuqing, send him out immediately. I don''t want to see him.\"


    Qin Keqin immediately protested weakly, \"He is my guest of honor-\"


    \"Now.\" She simply repeated coldly.


    Qin Keqin had a reluctant look as she looked at Zhou Hai while looking hatefully at Lu Qingyun at the same time. It was as though she was saying to Lu Qingyun, \"Why did you have to bring her here?\"


    In the meantime, Lu Qingyun was perplexed. Why did this white veiled maiden address her as Yuqing? Was Yuqing her childhood name and why was Keqin not happy to see him?


    Qin Keqin muttered, \"Zhou Hai, I am afraid it is time for you to go now.\" Then she added with a wry smile, \"Don''t forget to pay for our tabs!\"


    Although Zhou Hai did not know the situation but he could feel that the veiled white maiden had a profound high cultivation. In fact, it may even be higher than him. And he seemed to have seen her somewhere before¡­


    But since the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing had spoken, he had no other choices but to leave. \"Great Saintess Feng, Great Saintess Xuan, Great Saintess Fan. I''ll take my leave first. This feast will be on me, don''t worry.\"


    He would of course pay the tabs for them. It was because he felt a little sad that after they had entered into seclusion, they seemed to have fallen into hard times.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. Did Old Saint Wen just address all of them as Great Saintesses? And why was Qin Keqin and her sisters in his company? He had thought that he would come here to seek Saintess Xuan and Saintess Feng help to rescue Qin Keqin¡­


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were all frozen in place and they had turned pale. It was because if they were not wrong then this veiled maiden in white must be¡­


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly as she watched Zhou Hai vanished from her sight before she said politely, \"We need to talk in private.\"


    She stole Lu Qingyun a glance before she pulled the veiled maiden in white away.


    Lu Qingyun was bewildered suddenly. It suddenly did not seem that Qin Keqin was in trouble at all and that she was actually quite friendly with Old Saint Wen. And her sisters were actually great saintesses?


    He turned to ask them, \"Erm, you are all great saintesses?\"


    When he was first introduced to them, they had casually introduced themselves as just saintess. There was a big disparity between a saintess and a great saintess even though both titles were both reserved for seventh realm cultivation experts. A great saintess was an upper seventh realm sacred saint and was at the pinnacle of the cultivation level. There was no cultivation level that was higher than the seventh realm!


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, \"Saintess or great saintess, does it really matter? It is only a title.\"


    Feng Minyue smiled and said casually, \"Indeed.\"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. Keqin''s sisters were more formidable than he had thought¡­


    But there were still many questions on his mind.


    So he asked, \"Why did Keqin calls him Zhou Hai? Isn''t he Old Saint Wen?\"


    Xuan Danfeng gave him a strange look, \"What Old Saint Wen? He is Zhou Hai. He is a friend of Keqin.\"


    Zhou Hai?! A friend of Keqin?!


    Lu Qingyun was truly startled. He had totally misunderstood the situation then and had attacked the Solitary Manor¡­


    All of a sudden, he was remorseful and cursing himself. Why did he have to attack the Solitary Manor¡­


    All of a sudden he felt like he was a villain¡­


    All of a sudden he was back to his old self and was suddenly clear headed.


    He was asking solemnly, \"Great Saintess Fan is Keqin?\"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, \"That is right. Haven''t you heard of the name of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing?\"


    Lu Qingyun was frozen in place and was suddenly startled. It was because he had suddenly remembered why the name of Fan Yuqing was so familiar. It was because she was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing that was at the pinnacle of the Nine Celestial Fraternity and there were many stories about her.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun''s heart sunk. Although he had a recent breakthrough to the fourth cultivation realm and there was a huge disparity between the fourth and the fifth cultivation realm, he still harbored a small hope that he would be compatible to her in the future.


    But she was actually a seventh realm expert, not just an ordinary seventh realm expert but a great saintess and also a renowned heroine of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. In her eyes, he must be a speck of dirt¡­


    Feng Minyue had noticed Lu Qingyun''s expression and she had quickly stepped on Xuan Danfeng''s foot, \"You are drunk and talk too much. Aren''t you afraid that Yuqing will kill you?\"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled as she said to the disheartened Lu Qingyun, \"If you like her, why don''t you say it directly to her? How do you know that she isn''t interested in you?\"


    Lu Qingyun stammered, \"She is my master. It is impossible between us.\"


    Feng Minyue gave Xuan Danfeng a cold glance, \"Danfeng, you are really drunk now and mouthing nonsenses now.\"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly as she said with a sly look, \"Hmph, maybe I am really drunk and talk too much tonight.\"


    Then she looked at Lu Qingyun before she said coolly, \"Are you afraid that you may get rejected by her?\"


    Lu Qingyun replied without hesitation as he said firmly, \"She is my master.\" But he was secretly thinking, \"Of course I do¡­\"


    Xuan Danfeng lit a faint smile, \"So in your heart, she is just your master and you have no lofty thoughts about her? Are you sure about that? Because I find it hard that you are not moved by her enticing beauty.\"


    Lu Qingyun replied weakly, \"I have only respect for my master and don''t have any lofty thoughts on her.\"


    When he had said that, he felt a little sheepish because he was lying in his own face.


    Xuan Danfeng laughed softly but did not say anything while Feng Minyue seemed a little annoyed with Xuan Danfeng¡­


    Xuan Danfeng replied slyly, \"Is that so?\"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Secretly Lu Qingyun had some doubts about Qin Keqin. It was because he still could not understand why she had added the starforge substances into the divine pills and the main reason was, if she was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, why did she have to lie about being a fifth realm expert?


    But secretly he was also relieved. At first he had thought that Qin Keqin was a dark celestial and was spying upon the celestial orthodox clans. At least for now, he could rule out this possibility.

 66 The Heaveness

    The veiled maiden in white asked quietly as she looked at Qin Keqin with her alluring eyes, \"So your current name is Qin Keqin and you have a disciple now? This is so unlike you. And your disciple is actually a man? Or is he your man?\"


    Qin Keqin was struck speechless by her and she was stammering, \"I¡­erm¡­who says he is my man? Nonsense¡­\"


    \"Because I don''t believe you at all,\" the veiled maiden in white simply said.


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    \"Great Aunt-\" Qin Keqin protested immediately but the veiled maiden in white interrupted softly, \"You may address me by my immortal title the Heaveness. I have expected none the less from you.\"


    Qin Keqin muttered almost incoherently, \"Why are you so unfriendly all of a sudden?\"


    The Heaveness said coolly, \"From today onward, I will be Fairy Jade Light and I will be your mother consort and master.\"


    Qin Keqin was startled as she protested immediately, \"This¡­won''t do¡­at all¡­\"


    The Heaveness said coolly as she browsed the room, \"Didn''t you say that you want to be a senior prot¨¦g¨¦ sister of Ye Jing? This is your one and only chance.\"


    Qin Keqin was immediately delighted as she quickly asked, \"Do you mean it? Seriously?\"


    The Heaveness lifted her fingers to browse several of the manuals that were on the table, \"Will I lie to you?\"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she thought, \"Several times in the past¡­\" but she quickly said, \"No, I trust the Great Goddess Heaveness the most.\"


    The Heaveness smiled coolly, \"Excellent!\"


    But Qin Keqin asked, \"But I don''t understand. Why brings you here? I mean I thought that¡­\"


    All of a sudden she had remembered the yellow thunderstorms and asked, \"Don''t tell me the signs in the heavens have to do with you?\"


    The Heaveness replied coolly, \"That''s right. That is because I''ve been disposed from my heavenly throne in the heavens and the first person that I have thought of, is you.\"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    \"What exactly has happened?\" she asked. Then with a sly smile, she said. \"Well, maybe I can help you? For a price of course.\"


    The Heaveness had raised her fingers immediately while Qin Keqin had suddenly dodged out of her way with a giggle, \"I am only joking!\" Then she asked again, \"So what exactly happens anyway?\"


    The Heaveness sat down and knitted her eyebrows, \"This is all your father''s fault.\" Then she looked at her and said, \"Or rather Ye Jing and you have a hand in my downfall as well.\"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    \"What did we do? I didn''t do anything for a long time already¡­it must be Ye Jing''s fault for sure¡­\" Qin Keqin protested her innocence immediately.


    The Heaveness said bitterly, \"The romance stories that you have given me to take to the immortal realm had cause great unhappiness in the immortal realm and this caused your sovereign father to be enraged.\"


    Qin Keqin: ???


    The Heaveness continued in a bitter tone, \"The romance stories are quite popular and I''ve made quite a tidy amount of spirit stones but your father, the Great God Yi Ping has labeled the stories as heresy. He says that I am creating a new social disorder by promoting true love, one consort order and this caused an upheaval in the immortal realm. He even accuses me of leading the immortals astray with non-existence romantic notions and profiteering from the unrest. So we have a quarrel and¡­\"


    She paused for a while before she said wryly, \"And I have divorced him.\"


    Qin Keqin was wordless, \"You what?!\"


    But she quickly growled softly, \"He is wrong for sure. Why should a man need so many consorts for? I''m with you there.\"


    \"Precisely,\" the Heaveness replied melancholy.


    \"So how long will you be staying?\" Qin Keqin asked with a weak smile.


    The Heaveness smiled coldly, \"You are already thinking of driving me away this soon?\"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly as she thought, \"Of course. I can''t have my freedom restricted by you and moreover, you are a fallen great goddess now and have no use to me anymore.\"


    The Heaveness looked at her and said, \"I know what you are thinking. But you won''t find me leaving so soon. In fact, I will be staying for as long as I like.\"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and chuckled softly, \"Welcome, welcome¡­\" But she was actually cursing secretly.


    Then she asked with a sly smile, \"I wonder how much that you have made in the immortal realm? You have promised me a 20% commission.\"


    The Heaveness said coolly, \"I will honor my promise but unfortunately, your father is so unhappy with what I did that he has confiscated all my wealth.\"


    Qin Keqin stammered out, \"What?! He can''t do that. This is an extremely mean act and an act of war!\"


    The Heaveness nodded, \"This is exactly what I have thought so too. Therefore we are going to fight back and dethrone him. You will join me of course.\"


    Qin Keqin was startled, \"Mm, you can''t be serious, am I right?\"


    The Heaveness smiled alluringly, \"I am perfectly serious about it.\"


    Qin Keqin muttered, \"I have not enjoyed myself yet and have no death wish to go against the immortals. Can I not be involved in this?\"


    The Heaveness said coldly, \"No, you can''t. You know that since I''m here, I can perfectly make a living hell for you and your man.\"


    Qin Keqin smiled bitterly, \"You are such a bully¡­\"


    \"Indeed I am.\"


    Then the Heaveness added, \"One more thing, I need you to find Lie Qing, my sister. She is in the Nine Celestial Fraternity now. Exactly where, I do not know. With her help, we will be one step closer to achieve our objectives.\"


    Qin Keqin was speechless as she thought, \"That will be ten thousand steps actually¡­\" but she gave a faint smile, \"I think I do know where she is. I have seen her recently actually.\"


    The Heaveness was startled, \"Really? Quick, bring me to her!\"


    Qin Keqin smiled, \"But first, you have to help me with some questions first. Like, how did you meet Lu Qingyun? And what did you say to him?\"


    The Heaveness smiled, \"It seems that you have been hiding a lot of things from him, am I right? And you are afraid that I may expose your cover? Well, it may already been too late.\"


    Qin Keqin quietly said, \"We shall see about it first.\"


    \"Well, I see him confronting the Solitary Manor alone. I did not want to intervene but I did recognize the divine sword that was in his hands as the one that I had given to you. So I had seized him to ask some questions because I was looking for you.\"


    Qin Keqin was startled and was perplexed, \"Why did he go alone to the Solitary Manor for?\"


    Then with an anxious look, she said. \"Tell me more what else¡­\"

 67 Keqin/ Yuqing?

    Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were now talking a slow stroll back to the Heavens Ridge Villa. Along the way, they were actually quite awkward and avoided looking at each other.


    After some time, Lu Qingyun finally mustered the courage to ask. \"Master¡­\"


    Qin Keqin said quietly, \"We are not in the clan now. Did you forget what you have promise me? You suppose to call me Keqin while we are outside.\"


    Lu Qingyun heaved a heavy sigh, \"Your real name isn''t Qin Keqin, am I right? You are the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing?\"


    Qin Keqin paused in her tracks as she turned to look at him quietly, \"Is that important? Keqin or Yuqing, is that really important? Am I not your master?\"


    Lu Qingyun had also paused in his tracks as he said quietly, \"Indeed. It did not really matter. You are always my master and shall be.\"


    Qin Keqin gave him a faint smile, \"You seem to have many things to bottom up in your heart. Why don''t you share it with me? Perhaps you will feel much better after you''ve shared it with me?\"


    Lu Qingyun kept quiet. It was meaningless to ask her why she had lie to him. After all, she was a renowned great saintess and that was reason enough for her to hide her identity.


    He could have suspected that she was a seventh realm expert after she had single-handedly defeated the ninth rank golden roc on the very first day that they had met. It was not luck at all that she had defeated the golden roc. Moreover, if she was so hard pressed by the golden roc then she would have unsheathed the godly divine sword to defend herself but she did not even see a need to do so and that was because she was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, one of the two renowned heroines of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. The other heroine was the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing.


    \"You are upset with me for not telling you who I am?\" Qin Keqin asked melancholy.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, \"I am just upset with myself. I have thought that Old Saint Wen and you¡­\"


    Qin Keqin giggled, \"And because of that, you have stormed the Solitary Manor on your own? Because of me?\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and smiled awkwardly. \"I have thought that¡­alas, it is all a misunderstanding.\"


    Qin Keqin heaved a soft sigh, \"Do you know that what you have done is very foolish? What if you have lost your own life? All because of me?\"


    Lu Qingyun had a light tremble as he muttered, \"Even if I were to lose my life, it is worth it because it is your honor that I''m defending¡­\"


    Qin Keqin looked blankly at him, \"My honor. Is my honor worth your precious life?\"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, \"Keqin, your honor is everything to me. My precious life is incomparable to your honor.\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she hit him on his chest, \"If it was not for my mother consort who had taken you away from the Solitary Manor, you would have lost your precious life several times over. Why are you so foolish and stupid?\"


    When she had hit him lightly on his chest, Lu Qingyun had a jolt. It was not because it was painful as she had only tapped him gently. He was suddenly emotional as he said with a bitter smile, \"Because I like you, Keqin.\"


    Qin Keqin had a jolt too as she gasped softly, \"What did you say?\"


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly awkward. He had accidentally blurted out what was in his heart. It was because he knew that he had no hope of ever winning her heart because their disparities were simply too great and hence he had blurted out what was in his heart.


    He quickly stammered, \"Master¡­Keqin¡­don''t get me wrong. You will forever be the master that I will respect-\"


    Qin Keqin interrupted him shyly, \"You¡­like me? Really? But didn''t you already have someone else in your heart? Are you two timing?\"


    Lu Qingyun protested immediately, \"There is no one else in my heart. Only you¡­\"


    Then he had suddenly realized that he was creating one blunder after another nonstop¡­


    Qin Keqin gasped again, \"Only me? Not Lie Xingyuan? Not Ouyang Xue? Not Leng Qiuyue?\"


    Lu Qingyun was flustered now and he was extremely awkward by now, \"I like you since the very start. There is never anyone in my heart.\"


    Qin Keqin was gasping again and there were flushes on her countenance as she trembled lightly. She thought, \"Is this a confession of his love for me?\"


    Lu Qingyun was now regretting everything that he had said. It was because he could have known that he would be disowned by his master for having lofty thoughts on her and now he could no longer even see her anymore¡­


    \"So because you have thought that Zhou Hai and I¡­you are mad with jealousy? That''s why you have stormed the Solitary Manor alone?\"


    And all of a sudden Qin Keqin was resting her head on his chest, \"Qingyun, why didn''t you tell me earlier that you like me? So when you say you like me at that time, you really meant it and it is not a tease?\"


    Lu Qingyun was truly startled that she was suddenly in his embrace, \"Keqin¡­\"


    Qin Keqin looked up to him as she murmured, \"I don''t want to be your master. Why are you so dense? It is just an excuse to get you out of trouble. I too, have liked you since the very start.\"


    Lu Qingyun muttered with surprise, \"Keqin has also liked me from the very start¡­I didn''t know¡­how it is possible¡­am I dreaming?\"


    Qin Keqin looked at him dreamily, \"It isn''t a dream. We''re finally together¡­\"


    Lu Qingyun held her tightly with his trembling fingers. As long as he could have Keqin by his side, there was no need to question her further. Although he did not know why Qin Keqin had added the starforge substances into the divine pills but he was not bothered at all.


    It was because she was the maiden of his heart and that he felt that he had known her for a long time¡­


    Qin Keqin muttered softly as she cast him an anxious look, \"Let''s keep our new relationship a secret first. I don''t want my two sisters to know as they are great gossipers. And don''t let my mother consort knows as well.\"


    \"Fairy Jade Light?\" but he quickly replied, \"Alright.\"


    Qin Keqin explained sheepishly, \"My mother consort is actually very mean and may not like us to be together. You should get into her good books first, am I right to say so?\"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and sighed, \"Yes, I really need to get into Fairy Jade Light''s good books¡­\" He was only a lowly fourth realm cultivator while her daughter was only a seventh realm cultivator. Would she agree to their unison?


    Qin Keqin was actually thinking, \"That Fairy Jade Light is a fake. I need to settle her first. In the meantime, I mustn''t let her know anything about Qingyun and I or it will be disastrous for me¡­\"


    With that they had walked hand in hand in blissful delight as they headed back to the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Lu Qingyun simply could not believe it that he was actually holding the hand of the maiden of his heart at this moment.


    Even Qin Keqin could not believe it as she blissfully thought, \"I have finally broken my ill-fated curse? I hope that this time it will last and not fade¡­\"


    \"Keqin, you really like me? But I am just a lowly cultivator¡­\"


    \"What does liking you to do with your cultivation level?\"


    \"Because I may grow old one day while you are young forever¡­\"


    \"That is not a problem right? You just need to cultivate to the fourth realm and you will never grow old. Mm, you seem to have attained to the fourth realm now, am I right?\"


    \"Right but I will pass away before you unless I''ve attained to the fifth realm¡­\"


    \"That is easy enough to reach the fifth realm, right?\"


    \"It isn''t easy¡­\"


    \"The Seven Hearts Hollow Pill is almost ready. I''m sure that you will be able to attain to the peaked fourth realm or even the fifth realm after you have taken it¡­\"


    \"I don''t think so¡­\"


    \"Then I can just make more divine pills to aid you. After all, I am a high level alchemist now¡­\"


    \"Actually...\" There was a long pause from him. He did not want to tell her that her alchemist skills were just so and so hence the long pause.


    \"Huh? What is that you''re trying to say?\"


    \"Nothing¡­I just want to say that alchemy is too expensive and not worthy of the time. It is better that I cultivate to a solid foundation first¡­\"


    Qin Keqin was quite startled when she had returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa. It was because she had received words from the grand elders that they had attacked the Solitary Manor and was actually quite successful.


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled that they were just behind his footsteps.


    But the credit had to do with an earlier unknown assailant that had taken down two of the golden celestial elders of the Solitary Manor. No one knew who he was but his actions had caused the morale Solitary Manor to plummet and had even caused Supremacy Wen to flee in the cover of the night.


    Qin Keqin was actually quite touched but said nothing, \"They have actually raided the Solitary Manor because of me? Mm, I am beginning to like this place.\"


    The news of this raid had also quickly spread like wildfire in New Empyrean City that the Heavens Ridge Villa had actually attacked the Solitary Manor and was even successful. It had suddenly become a hot talking point among the commoners and the dozens of celestial clans.

 68 Great Saintess Feng Minyue

    Lie Xingyuan thought that there was something between Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin when they had returned. It was because they were constantly making eye contacts with each other.


    When they were alone in the room, Qin Keqin had suddenly said to her as she took out an envelope. \"Xingyuan, this is a sealed letter for the eyes of your master. It is from an old friend of your master. Give it to her and don''t let this letter be read by any others.\"


    Lie Xingyuan curiously took the letter as she said, \"Yes, sect leader¡­\"


    Qin Keqin suddenly smiled to her, \"Xingyuan, why don''t you drop the sect leader title and address me as your sister when we are alone?\"


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, \"This won''t do. You are our sect leader and your position is lofty¡­\"


    But Qin Keqin interrupted with an enchanting smile, \"Don''t worry about that, Sister Xingyuan. You can address me as your Sister Keqin. This is my request and moreover, we will be staying in the same abode for quite a while.\"


    Lie Xingyuan hesitated for a while before she said quietly, \"Sister Keqin¡­\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she clapped her hands. They were actually half-sisters but Qin Keqin was not going to tell her yet. But she was happy enough to acknowledge her as her sister now because Lie Xingyuan was not a love threat to her anymore, at least by the look of the current situation.


    Lie Xingyuan asked quietly, \"Will Sister Keqin stays a little longer this time round?\"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she nodded, \"The martial tournament is next month and is less than a month''s time. I will be staying here to instruct Qingyun.\"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded as she said, \"With sect leader around, I''m sure that senior brother will be able to benefit from your hindsight and he will be able to win a place in the martial tournament.\"


    \"That is for sure!\" Qin Keqin laughed softly.


    Then she rolled her eyes before saying, \"I am going to my room first.\"


    When she had returned to her room, she had immediately took out a transmission and whispered, \"Minyue, I need your help to settle something for me. And find Zhou Hai as well.\"


    \"Oh?\" Feng Minyue answered. \"You sound so urgent? Should I let Danfeng knows?\"


    Qin Keqin replied with a soft laugh, \"That is because something has cropped out suddenly in my celestial clan. Let Danfeng have her maiden sleep. She should be dead drunk for many days. This time, only you can help me¡­\"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The Solitary Manor;


    The elders of the Solitary Manor had all gathered in the hall and they were debating hotly.


    It was because Supremacy Wen had sent a messenger to request that the elders of the Solitary Manor and the new leadership of the Solitary Manor to support his return. When he had returned, they would all seek vendetta on the Heavens Ridge Villa once more.


    Elder Yan Chiyou was now the new leader of the Solitary Manor and his brother Elder Yan Chilong was the acting leader. The two of them were also the two golden celestial elders of the Solitary Manor.


    Right now, there was an assembly of more than thirty elders who were debating hotly.


    \"Why should we fear the Heavens Ridge Villa?\"


    \"Our honor and pride have been trampled by the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­\"


    \"Once Supremacy Wen has regained his strength, we can trample on the Heavens Ridge Villa anytime. They are not our match¡­\"


    \"Have you forgotten that Old Saint Wen has warned us not to act against the Heavens Ridge Villa?\"


    \"But if Old Saint Wen knows that the Heavens Ridge Villa had attacked us then this will be a different matter entirely¡­\"


    \"So you are saying that we are not going to avenge our humiliations?\"


    The voices that were raised to fight the Heavens Ridge Villa were greater than the pacifists.


    An elder angrily stepped forward, \"Elder Chiyou, are you going to stand up for the Solitary Manor? Or have you forgotten who our Manor Grandmaster Wen is?\"


    Elder Yan Chiyou was at a loss. Although he was a powerful golden celestial but the injuries that he had received from the mysterious lone assailant was not light at all.


    The Heavens Ridge Villa had picked a time to attack when all their strongest cultivation experts were all injured and were demoralized. That was why their fighting ranks were quickly overwhelmed by the vengeful attacks of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    If the Solitary Manor were to attack the home ground of the Heavens Ridge Villa, it was as good as mounting a suicidal attack.


    All of a sudden ''Old Saint Wen'' had stepped into the hall with a lovely peerless maiden.


    He was smiling coldly, \"What? Who gives you the permission to attack the Heavens Ridge Villa?\"


    \"Old Saint Wen¡­\" Many of the elders greeted respectfully.


    The same angry elder said, \"Old Saint Wen, our pride and honor have been trampled by the Heavens Ridge Villa. Do you know that they have actually attacked us? We can''t let this insult go just like this. In fact, we should even report them to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa for attacking a brotherly celestial clan so boldly. They have transgressed the celestial laws of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and we can''t let it pass just this!\"


    When he had said that, many of the elders were nodding and their angers were further aroused by him.


    But Old Saint Wen said calmly, \"I have heard of the attack too. However if it isn''t Wen Hongguang to blame in the first place, will the Heavens Ridge Villa be this outrageous?\"


    All the elders were startled that Old Saint Wen was speaking for the Heavens Ridge Villa. They had remembered that he was also the one that had struck down Supremacy Wen and if it was not because of the severity of Supremacy Wen''s injuries, would the Heavens Ridge Villa have succeeded in their attacks?


    The elders were now beginning to suspect that this Old Saint Wen, who was supposedly to be their old patriarch, was a total fake!


    It was because there was no reason why he should be helping any outsider and moreover this was his very own celestial clan!


    Old Saint Wen knew what they were thinking as he laughed coldly, \"So you want me to take actions on the Heavens Ridge Villa? For example, by demolishing them?\"


    One of the elders laughed coldly, \"That will be the best. If old patriarch is able to lend a helping hand then there is no reason for the Heavens Ridge Villa to exist.\"


    Almost all the elders were nodding at the same time. Since the old patriarch was a seventh realm expert, destroying the Heavens Ridge Villa was as easy as crushing an ant.


    Some of the elders were actually looking at Old Saint Wen with a look of disdain. It was because he was the very reason why the Solitary Manor was in this state and moreover today he had also a peerless maiden in his company. From the look of it, this Old Saint Wen was actually a lecherous man and he could even sacrifice his own clan because of his lusts.


    Another elder said coldly, \"It is enough that old patriarch refuses to help your clan that is in trouble but you have to bring a common courtesan with you. Isn''t this too disgraceful-\"


    But before he could finish what he was saying, the lovely peerless maiden had suddenly moved her sleeves and fingers. Almost immediately all the elders were struck by her profound force and were sent flying all across the hall!


    Even the furniture was all ripped apart by her profound strength!


    And this profound strength of hers clearly marked her as a seventh realm expert!


    All the elders were shocked and startled. Even Yan Chiyou and Yan Chilong were helpless when she had displayed her profound strength.


    Everyone was soon startled and was stammering with fright, \"Who is she¡­\"


    Old Saint Wen laughed coldly, \"Who is she? You dare to call Great Saintess Feng Minyue as a common courtesan? You must be having a death wish!\"


    When everyone heard that this lovely peerless maiden was the Great Saintess Feng Minyue, they had all grown pale immediately. Who was the Great Saintess Feng Minyue? She was the previous Heavenly Fragrance Princess of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and the ruler of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. It was said that she had long retired into reclusion but her sheer presence alone prevented the other divine realms from having lofty thoughts on the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. What was more, she was also said to be the only great saintess in the entire Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.


    The big four powerhouses could not compare to even a single Heavenly Fragrance Villa. None of the celestial celestials could compare too. It was because the Heavenly Fragrance Villa was a first tier celestial clan and was the overlord of the entire Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. The big four powerhouses were only second tier celestial clans that could be crushed like ants.


    And in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm, all the celestial clans had to obey the orders of their patriarch clan and that was none other than the Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    \"Great Saintess Feng?!\"


    \"Is she really Great Saintess Feng?!\"


    Great Saintess Feng Minyue unsheathed her divine sword with a brilliant light as her sword energies pierced the hearts of the elders, \"Do not bother the Heavens Ridge Villa again or I shall wipe out the Solitary Manor.\"


    Then she tossed the heavenly fragrance token on the ground, \"Do not tell anyone that I''ve been here. Is that understood?\"


    When the elders saw her divine sword and the heavenly fragrance token, they knew immediately that she was indeed Great Saintess Feng Minyue and they were all trembling.


    Yan Chiyou was stammering nonstop, \"She is indeed the Heavenly Fragrance Princess¡­we deserve death for not recognizing your grace¡­\"


    Even without the heavenly fragrance token, the minute that Feng Minyue had displayed her divine sword and her profound aura, most of the elders were suddenly aware that this peerless maiden was a seventh realm expert with a considerable background. They had all known that Feng Minyue was an astonishing beauty and after witnessing her true appearance today, it was indeed true after all.


    Feng Minyue had already turned around to leave while ''Old Saint Wen'' was cursing the elders, \"You have better heed Great Saintess Feng''s warnings or else even I can''t promise that I can keep the Solitary Manor intact!\"


    All the elders were now bowing on the ground as they humbly said, \"Yes, yes¡­yes¡­\"

 69 The Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing

    A most mesmerizing maiden in finery was now standing in front of Lie Xingyuan. She was none other than the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing, Lie Xingyuan''s master.


    Lie Xingyuan had just handed over the letter over to her Master Lie Qing, "Mistress, this letter is from Qin Keqin to you. She says that an old friend has entrusted her to hand over this letter to you."


    "Oh?" Lie Qing opened the envelope curiously as she read the contents. Slowly she lit a wryly smile as she thought, "So the Heaveness is here in the celestial realm. Good. I''m getting bored here anyway."


    Lie Xingyuan quietly observed the countenance that was on her master. Previously she had thought that she had known her master very well but she was proven to be wrong. Her master had saved her from the clutches of Qin Keqin and could even scare her off. If Qin Keqin was the legendary Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, there was nothing much in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that she would fear. Moreover she was also the Devil Goddess¡­


    She did not know the realm level of her master but she was beginning to suspect that she may also be a saintess.


    But she got nothing but respect to her master. It was because only in her master presence that she truly felt at peace and although she was her master but in her heart, she had regarded her master as her only kin.


    "Yuan''Er," her master had turned to her with a smile. "It seems that your profound strength has been showing a great improvement. It has to do with your senior brother?"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded quietly, "Yes, senior brother has been helping me a lot."


    Lie Qing nodded as she said, "Yuan''Er, turn your back around. It''s time for your breakthrough."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled but she turned around nevertheless, "It is time for my breakthrough?"


    Lie Qing had suddenly hit her on her back several times as she said coolly, "I have actually wanted you to go slow but it seems that this senior brother of yours is treating you too well."


    When Lie Xingyuan heard the mention of her senior brother, her eyes were melancholy as she muttered. "Yes, he is indeed kind toward me¡­" But she knew that it was impossible between them because in his heart, he had only Qin Keqin¡­


    All of a sudden Lie Xingyuan could feel an overwhelming profound strength in her inner cultivation sea as she had breakthrough to the intermediate enlighten celestial level. Just when she had thought that it was over, her cultivation level had broken through to the upper enlighten celestial level, shocking her!


    Lie Xingyuan turned her and stammered, "Mistress, I am at the upper enlighten celestial level now¡­"


    Lie Qing merely smiled mesmerizingly, "That''s good. You may go now. Remember to recite the intricate formula daily that I have taught you."


    Lie Xingyuan replied with a nod, "I will. Thank you, mistress. I shall take my leave now."


    When Lie Xingyuan had left, Lie Qing muttered. "Xingyuan, my daughter. Please forgive your mother consort for not acknowledging you. It isn''t the time for our family unison yet. By now, you should be a fifth realm expert but I have sealed your profound strength so that you can progress in a normal pace. You are the daughter of the heavens and if I did not seal your profound strength, you will progress at an abnormal rate and it will not be difficult for the others to notice you. This is for your own good."


    She had taken a quick look at Lie Xingyuan''s profound strength and it was currently at the peaked fifth realm golden celestial level. If she continued to progress any further, even her sealing would soon fail¡­


    Then she turned around and pondered, "This Lu Qingyun¡­interesting¡­" She heaved a soft sigh, "Xingyuan is so unlike me. She has a heroic spirit and is more like her father¡­"


    But her thoughts quickly returned to the letter, "I should pay the Heaveness a visit first."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Supremacy Wen was stunned by the news that the elders of the Solitary Manor had denied his request and had even denied him as the Manor Grandmaster.


    He kicked the messenger angrily and shouted, "These traitors! How dare they usurp my position?!"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong was startled by the news as well as he said solemnly, "This is unbelievable. But we still got a fighting chance."


    Supremacy Wen turned to look at him, "Explain?"


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong turned to look at Tang Bufan and the dozens of prot¨¦g¨¦s that remained, "We still got a few dozen fighters with us. Moreover it won''t be long before we can regain our profound strength. When we do, we can easily fight back to reclaim back our lost position."


    Supremacy Wen said quietly, "That will be a year or more. I don''t have the patience to wait this long."


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong laughed coldly, "In the meantime, we can always pay a visit to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and seeks the help of our patriarch to reclaim your position. The Heavenly Fragrance Princess will certainly stand on your side and will punish these usurpers."


    All of a sudden Supremacy Wen lit a smile, "Brother Bai, you are indeed a genius. Why didn''t I think of that? Not only will these traitors get their just desserts but the Heavenly Fragrance Villa will not hesitate to punish the Heavens Ridge Villa for the acts of transgressions."


    Celestial Bai Laoxiong laughed, "And when that happens, Qin Keqin will fall into your hands and you can toy with her whenever you want to. In front of you, she will be your humble slave and we can even destroy the Heavens Ridge Villa once and for all."


    Supremacy Wen laughed jovially as he said to the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s, "What are you all waiting for? We are setting off now for the Heavenly Fragrance Villa!"


    Tang Bufan was delighted as this would be the first time that he would be visiting the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. He said, "I have heard that the Heavenly Fragrance Villa is an only female prot¨¦g¨¦s clan and that the previous Heavenly Fragrance Princess is a renowned beauty in the Nine Celestial Fraternity."


    Bai Laoxiong laughed, "Indeed. The Great Saintess Feng Minyue is not only a great beauty but she is also one of the top cultivation experts in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Because of her, the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm has been quite peaceful for a number of years."


    Supremacy Wen was also having a sly smile, "If it isn''t for this crisis, I will not dare to visit the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. This is a golden opportunity for us to visit the current Heavenly Fragrance Princess and to seek her help to address our wrongs."


    Bai Laoxiong was also smiling broadly as he added, "Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su Shanyue is a junior sister of Great Saintess Feng. I''ve heard that she had just recently breakthrough to the saint level and she is also a great beauty."


    Tang Bufan gasped softly, "So the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm actually has two saintesses and not just one?"


    An evil thought had suddenly crossed his mind. If he could get into the good books of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess then his cultivation future would be secured. In this way, he would no longer need to pay any attention to the likes of Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai¡­


    He was suddenly grinning as he began to make plans of his own.

 70 Yan’Er, You…

    Lu Qingyun was quietly looking at Qin Keqin while Yan''Er was hovering above them. They were actually sitting quite near to each other and were leaning nearer with every passing moment.


    All of a sudden Yan''Er laughed jovially, "Master, are you thinking of kissing Big Sister Keqin?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Qin Keqin was in a fluster as she laughed it off, "Yan''Er, your imagination is so wild¡­"


    Yan''Er replied cutely, "It isn''t Yan''Er imagination! It is my master! He wants to kiss you¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was also in a fluster as he quickly said in an awkward manner, "Yan''Er, it isn''t true! It just crosses my mind but I am not going to do it!"


    Qin Keqin turned to look shyly at Lu Qingyun, "Is that so?"


    Then she chuckled, "So Yan''Er, what else is Qingyun doing with his imaginations?"


    Yan''Er pondered for a while before she muttered, "I saw him undressing Big Sister Keqin and he was on top of you¡­"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin was flustered as she gave Lu Qingyun a light slap on his face, "Shameless! So you are only thinking of this all this while?"


    Lu Qingyun was stammering, "Keqin, please hear me out. It isn''t what you think."


    Qin Keqin was muttering almost incoherently, "Is all men like this? Totally shameless!"


    Although she looked upset but it was actually the opposite. She had only pretended to be upset to cover her own shyness as she did not know how to react after hearing what Yan''Er had said. She was thinking shyly, "So he wants to bed me¡­"


    Lu Qingyun knew that Qin Keqin was not really upset with him as he smiled awkwardly. He quickly caught hold of her hand that was still on his face as he muttered gently, "Keqin¡­"


    Qin Keqin was equally shy as she muttered, "Qingyun¡­"


    He had leaned even closer to her¡­


    All of a sudden Lie Xingyuan had entered the room with the hot tea that she had just brewed.


    As Qin Keqin had her spiritual perception on the entrance of the door, she quickly pushed Lu Qingyun away from her with almost supernatural reflexes as she gently rebuked him while giving him a wink. "Alas, you still got so much to improve upon. At your current rate of progression, I don''t think you will even win the top three ranking in the clan martial tournament. Or you are thinking of winning the bottom three ranking instead? Do you still want the others to think that you are a good-for-nothing lowly cultivator?"


    Qin Keqin immediately gave a soft laugh as she continued, "So Qingyun, how is your martial progression so far? Surely you are not thinking of losing in the martial tournament?"


    Lu Qingyun had immediately snapped out of his trance as he pretended to say, "I''m making some progress with my martial training. I am thinking of training the Flaming Crimson Sword to the fourth stage before the martial tournament. Previously I was not able to start on it as it requires me to attain to the fourth cultivation realm. But I think that I may just have the profound strength to begin my practice again."


    Qin Keqin nodded, showing little interest in his sword art.


    Lu Qingyun was of course eager to show her so he said excitingly, "Master, why don''t I show you my Flaming Crimson Sword?"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "That won''t be necessary. This isn''t the practice chamber. Why don''t you focus on your cultivation first?"


    As Lie Xingyuan placed the hot brewing tea, she smiled. "I don''t think senior brother is able to improve much without any martial guidance from sect leader. Why don''t sect leader spends some time with senior brother in the practice chamber?"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes to the cultivation slip that she was holding. She was at an interesting and romantic point of the chapter at the moment and had no wish to distract herself. Moreover she did not really want to instruct Lu Qingyun on any martial arts. It was because she did not want to see him becoming a good fighter at the moment¡­


    If she had known that Lu Qingyun''s Flaming Crimson Sword was actually a first rate powerful sword art, she would definitely be shocked and would stop him from practicing it. But she did not suspect at all.


    So she merely said, "It is better for him to find his own path by exploring the martial path himself. After all, if I were to instruct him then he may have missed out on many wrong notions himself and he can''t improve."


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly to herself, "If he keeps exploring the wrong notions then how will he improve¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun nodded since it made perfect sense to him, "Indeed. If I only know all the right notions then my sword art won''t be flexible enough and I can hardly improve on my own."


    Qin Keqin was not wrong to say that except that it would take a genius to improve upon the wrong notions. Therefore Lie Xingyuan was right to say that Lu Qingyun would never improve on his own.


    But unfortunately they were both wrong because Lu Qingyun happened to be a genius with his own martial spirit, especially now that his Annihilating God Seed was awakening and the more that he was practicing the Flaming Crimson Sword, the more his innate talent would also grow.


    Lie Xingyuan muttered, "The martial tournament is approaching soon. Surely sect leader will want to see senior brother coming in the top three places? I''ve heard what you''ve said earlier to senior brother. Without martial instructions, how will senior brother be able to improve?"


    She was really concerned for senior brother and doubly concerned that he would be injured during the martial tournament. She had thought that with Qin Keqin guiding Lu Qingyun, his martial level would actually improve by leaps and bounds.


    But for the past several days, she had noticed that Qin Keqin had paid very little attention to his martial progression and was simply just reading her cultivation slips. It was as though she did not want Lu Qingyun to be triumphant at the martial tournament at all.


    Qin Keqin merely smiled, "His martial foundation seems good so there is no hurry at all."


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun was looking quite pleased that Qin Keqin was praising his martial foundation as ''good''. He smiled, "I can still make further improvements."


    Actually Qin Keqin did want Lu Qingyun to rise to the occasion during the martial tournament. But it had nothing to do with his sword art but his profound strength. She was actually waiting for the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill to be completed so that she could give it to him. Therefore she was in no hurry. She was actually quite confident that after he had taken the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill, his profound strength could easily have topped any of the core disciples.


    To her, there were always plenty of superior martial arts around but profound strength was something that was hard to gain and once it was gained, was the foundation of the cultivator himself.


    Therefore she smiled to Lu Qingyun, "You ought to pay more attention to your cultivations. Since I am here, I can advise you directly. As for your martial practices, while it is equally important but I would prefer to see you spending more time on your cultivations instead."


    Lu Qingyun replied earnestly after a quick ponder, "I should be able to split my time with both."


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly to herself, "She only wants senior brother to keep her company. She doesn''t care about his spiritual cultivation or martial strength."


    She took a quick and pitiful look at Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother, do you know that Qin Keqin is actually a seventh realm expert. She is not only the number one heroine Great Saintess Fan Yuqing but she is also the number one villainess Golden Mask Devil Goddess. I''m sorry¡­I wish that I can tell you all these but I really can''t¡­senior brother¡­sorry¡­please forgive your Xingyuan¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Sister Xingyuan, are you thinking of something? What''s on your mind?"


    Lie Xingyuan immediately stammered, "Nothing¡­"


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously, "Sister Xingyuan?"


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile, "I really like Xingyuan a lot. So Sister Xingyuan, don''t forget to address me as your Sister Keqin when the three of us are alone in the future. Since we are sisters, you mustn''t do anything like hmm¡­stealing my beloved."


    Lu Qingyun thought that it was a good idea so he said nothing. In fact, he was happy that Xingyuan was a sister to Keqin. He thought, "One day, I''m sure that Xingyuan will have a big shock when she finds out that Keqin is actually the Great Saintess Yuqing. I hope that Keqin will be able to help Xingyuan in her cultivation in the future¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan could only smile weakly. Qin Keqin was dropping a most obvious hint to her that she must not steal Lu Qingyun from her. It was too plain and blunt.


    Then Qin Keqin turned to look dreamily at Lu Qingyun, "When the three of us are alone, you can simply call me Keqin as well."


    Lie Xingyuan was sighing with a tingling melancholy in her heart, "She is seducing senior brother in such an obvious manner. Even a blind person can see through her naked intentions. Only senior brother is blinded¡­"


    But she comforted herself by saying in her heart, "Senior brother, although I do like you but we can never be together. Therefore I wish that Keqin is really the one that you want to be in the future. I hope that Keqin is truly sincere and she isn''t making use of you."


    Her master had told her on too many occasions that once she had elevated her cultivation realm to the fourth realm, she would have to leave the Heavens Ridge Villa. And she was now an upper third realm enlighten celestial and there was only a small step left to become a fourth realm expert.


    Typically it would take years and even decades for a cultivator to reach the fourth realm from the third realm. But somehow Lie Xingyuan had a feeling that it would not take her too long¡­

 71 Qin Keqin Background

    The Heaveness was smiling alluringly to Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng, "So this is your ''hideout''? I''m beginning to like to this place. But why are there so many scrying arrays here? You are spying on your guests?"


    By now, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng knew that the white veiled maiden was the Heaveness and they were deferential to her. And who was the Heaveness?


    The Heaveness was the successor to the Great Goddess Fan Tian, the grand matriarch of the Three Known Realms. She was a beyond seventh realm expert, an immortal and a great goddess. In the celestial realm, the renown of the Heaveness was known to all the celestials. It was because she was one of the few great goddesses that could move freely from the immortal realm to the celestial realm. At the same time she was also said to be one of the first celestials in the Celestial Realm.


    In the celestial lore of the Celestial Realm, the immortals had their own ranking as well. The Great Goddess was at the top of the female immortals, followed by Goddess, Sagess and Fairy. Without a doubt the Heaveness was also known as the Great Goddess Heaveness.


    Even an upper seventh realm saint level cultivator was nothing in her eyes.


    Several centuries ago, the Heaveness had taken a celestial cultivator as her successor and that was the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing. Although Ye Jing had ''Goddess'' in her title, it was just an honorable title and she was actually a great saintess of the upper seventh realm level.


    As for Qin Keqin or Fan Yuqing, her mother consort was the Great Goddess Fan Tian. She was the true daughter of the heavens because of her lofty status as the only daughter to the Great Goddess Fan Tian. But like all the children of the immortals, she was abandoned in the Celestial Realm because the immortal realm had no divine calamity to further the cultivation level of the cultivators.


    One must know that the immortals had a pinnacle existence. Due to their lofty cultivation, it was nearly impossible for them to give birth to their own kind. And Fan Yuqing existence was an unbelievable anomaly. That was why she was not brought up in the Immortal Realm but was just a ''normal'' celestial practitioner in the Celestial Realm.


    But this ''normal'' celestial practitioner was not normal at all. Her pace of cultivation soon outpaced any of the celestials and she was the genius of the geniuses. By the time she was eighteen, she was already a saintess and by the time she was twenty, she was a great saintess.


    But it was also during this time that Fan Yuqing had entered her most rebellious phase of her life. She was the youngest great saintess ever known and she had thought that the whole Nine Celestial Fraternity was her playground. Before anyone could stop her, she had become the Golden Mask Devil Goddess that had terrorized the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    Her ''fun'' had abruptly ended after a few short years after she was chased down the bottomless abyss by her enemies. Even her mother consort the Great Goddess Fan Tian had thought that her only daughter had perished and was deeply grieved.


    It was not until Ye Jing had found her and rescued her that Fan Yuqing had a more positive image. She was actually just an ''accidental heroine'' that aided the Nine Celestial Fraternity in the fight against the Devil Isle and the Dark Descendant Calamity.


    The reason why she had aided Ye Jing was because she had long known about the Dark Descendant Calamity that would befall to the Celestial Fraternity. She had thought that she would be able to make a difference but being a half-immortal, she had actually caused it to worsen. That was the reason why she had taken the guise of the Golden Mask Devil Goddess.


    When Fan Yuqing was the Devil Goddess, she had literally forced the divine realms of the Nine Celestial Fraternity to host banquets after banquets whenever she had gone to. Although she was a known villainess for her antics, she also had many followers. Among them were Zhou Hai and even Xuan Danfeng.


    Xuan Danfeng was not a true follower of hers. But she enjoyed appreciating wines and she was a socialite. Whenever the Devil Goddess was, there would be free banquets, wines and guests. And whenever the Devil Goddess was, there would be Xuan Danfeng.


    At one point, Fan Yuqing was even envious of Xuan Danfeng''s good figure and beauty that she had hung her upside down on a tree for three days but that was another story¡­


    But the cultivators of the Nine Celestial Fraternity were not good-for-nothing cultivators and would not take it lying down. Therefore the number one heroine of the time, Saintess Mu Huiyin had led many cultivation experts to fight her and finally succeeded in forcing her to jump off to the bottomless abyss.


    Saintess Mu Huiyin could not have succeeded if Fan Yuqing did not have an earlier fight with Celestial Yuehua, a renowned beauty. Because of her internal injuries, she was forced to be on the run by Saintess Mu Huiyin and the hundreds of cultivation experts before finally forced to jump into the bottomless abyss.


    In the bottomless abyss, she was forced to remain in a half-dead state for the next two centuries until Ye Jing and Dugu Fang had found her.


    It was also at this time that she had changed from her name from Fan Yuqin to Fan Yuqing.


    Many things had happened since then and Fan Yuqing soon took up the mantle of the Devil Goddess once more and united the three dark divine realms under her banner while the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing was the spiritual alliance leader of the nine patriarch divine realms.


    In the eyes of the others, the Devil Goddess and the Nine Celestial Goddess were the opposite poles that were fighting on opposite ends. The truth was that they were actually quite close while maintaining their rivalries.


    In fact, they had conspired with the Heaveness to sell the romance stories that could be found in the Celestial Realm to the Immortal Realm¡­


    Xuan Danfeng smiled weakly, "A little gossip here and there helps to pass the time for us."


    The Heaveness smiled coldly, "Only Yuqing can think of this. She must really be so bored."


    Then she was smiling amicably, "My sister is finally here."


    A mesmerizing maiden was suddenly at the entrance and she had returned a smile.


    Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue were startled. It was because there was no indication of her coming and the celestial arrays seemed to have failed to detect her approach?!


    The Heaveness said, "Lie Qing, you are finally here."


    Lie Qing took a slow stroll as she approached her with a mesmerizing smile, "It has been such a long time. Lingfeng, what brings you here to the Celestial Realm? I saw your letter. Do you really need my help?"


    The Heaveness smiled wryly, "I really do need your help."


    Feng Minyue was gasping. She had of course recognized this ''Lie Qing'' as Lie Xingyuan''s master and she had met her once in the forest.


    The Heaveness turned to say to Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng, "This is the Great Goddess Heavenly Temptress."


    Xuan Danfeng was gasping as well. Great Goddess was a lofty existence in the Immortal Realm. With just a look, Xuan Danfeng knew that this Lie Qing was not a celestial cultivator but an immortal cultivator.


    There were actually two great goddesses that had gathered in this small place?


    The Heaveness spoke quietly, "I am going to revolt against the heavens. I am going to teach him a lesson."


    Lie Qing looked at her with a wryly smile, "Oh? With just the four of us?"


    The Heaveness smiled, "Don''t forget to include Yuqing too."


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were quite panicky. Did they just hear that the Heaveness was going to revolt against the Heavens?!


    Lie Qing shook her head, "You are pushing Yuqing into the burning furnace. But¡­I like the idea. So what is our first move?"


    The Heaveness smiled, "Welcome aboard! You shall assume the mantle of the Devil Goddess and we shall create havocs in the Nine Celestial Fraternity as our first step."


    Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng: !!!


    Lie Qing laughed softly, "It seems that my sister knows me the best. There are none who is better than I who can be a super villainess. After all, I am a real badass super villainess in the past."


    Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue were completely stunned. It was totally unexpected and they did not even know what was going on¡­


    Was the Heaveness not a champion of righteousness in the Celestial Realm? Why was she going against the Heavens now?


    More importantly, why were they even involved without their approvals?!


    But there were nothing they could do. It was because the Heaveness had completely become their new mistress without Qin Keqin knowing. But even if Qin Keqin knows, there was probably nothing she could do.

 72 The Untimely Fortune Telling

    Qin Keqin had a sudden meeting with the grand elders this morning and she had left in a hurry.


    Therefore Lu Qingyun had decided to take a stroll outside his abode and explored the inner courts of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    After a while he saw an old man with pure white hair squatting at the pavement and he was picking and arranging the pebbles.


    He thought, "What is he doing?"


    Curious, he approached the old man to have a closer look as he asked, "Old senior, what are you doing?"


    The old man laughed hoarsely, "I am divining. You may not know this but nothing in this world escapes my eyes. Say, young man. You look like a fine young man with a bright future. Do you want me to read your future?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "If the future can be known then it may not come true eventually. I will rather that my future is an unknown and I''ll determine my own path."


    The old man chuckled hoarsely, "The future is but a guide. You may or may not heed to it. But it is good if you are able to avoid some unnecessary pitfalls. In this way, there will be less bitterness in it and you will lead a sweeter life."


    Lu Qingyun nodded slowly, "Maybe."


    The old man threw more pebbles on the ground as he said solemnly, "Pardon me for saying so. I really want to help you as we are fated to meet. So do you have a beloved now?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "I have someone in mind." But he could not tell the others who she was because he had promised Qin Keqin that he would keep their relationship a secret.


    The old man gave him a queer look, "If I am not wrong, you should have plenty of peach blossoms luck lately."


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly. He did not say anything. He was curious to listen more especially when this old man did not seem to have recognized that he was the senior brother. He did not seem to be such a great fortunate-teller after all.


    "You may have the good fortune to meet a most beautiful maiden and she is even, erm¡­quite a most outstanding maiden too."


    Lu Qingyun thought, "Indeed. Qin Keqin is indeed a most outstanding maiden. She is a great saintess after all. Hmm, Keqin is beautiful in many ways¡­" He was not just thinking of her physical look but what Qin Keqin had done for him that was beautiful to him¡­


    ¡­when she had given him the golden roc flame¡­


    ¡­when she had made him her disciple¡­


    ¡­when they had first hold hands¡­


    ¡­and many more¡­


    The old man began to grow solemn, "However, there seems to be a great misfortunate star around you that may bring misfortunate to your beloved. So it is better that you do not stay too close to her lest you will bring upon her a great calamity."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought with a dark frown, "I will bring upon a great calamity on Keqin?"


    He was clearly disturbed as he began to walk away¡­


    But he had suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to bid the old man goodbye and thought that it was rude so he quickly turned around.


    But the old man was nowhere to be seen.


    He was clearly astonished, "Is the old man an illusion? How did he disappear so fast?"


    He did not know that the instant that he had turned around, this old man had taken the form of a young man and had quickly vanished from his sight.


    As this young man disappeared, he was smiling almost incoherently. "I will not let you win the heart of my Yuqin. Yuqin, you shouldn''t have given him your divine sword¡­"


    When Lu Qingyun had returned to his abode, Qin Keqin was heard happily chirping to Lie Xingyuan and they were both chatting jovially.


    The minute that he had entered the main hall, Qin Keqin said to him. "Qingyun, let me tell you a good news!"


    "Oh?" He had never seen Qin Keqin so happy before. Even Lie Xingyuan was smiling as well.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "I just received word that I''ve just been nominated as one of the top twenty beauties in New Empyrean City. Isn''t this a most delightful news?"


    Lu Qingyun was surprised too as he replied curiously, "Won''t there be twenty-one instead of twenty now?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Apparently, one of the beauties in the ranking was caught in a scandal for two-timing and she was removed from the ranking now. Therefore I am the new replacement."


    The top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City may not necessary be the most beautiful but they all had one common thing and that was their influential background. After all, beauty was in the eyes of the beholder.


    Qin Keqin smiled and looked happily at Lu Qingyun, "Aren''t you glad for me? I am in the ranking now along with Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue. And my ranking is higher than them too!"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "Sister Keqin, she is in the first place actually."


    No other beauties in the top 20 had a more powerful background than Qin Keqin. After all she was the acting sect leader of the Heavens Ridge Villa and the Heavens Ridge Villa had just recently defeated the Solitary Manor, causing a huge uproar in New Empyrean City.


    Lu Qingyun nodded quietly. He was still deeply troubled by what the old man had said to him. Would he really bring upon a great calamity on Qin Keqin?


    Qin Keqin added with a delightful expression, "There is a ceremony for that tomorrow. So I will bring you and some of the clan prot¨¦g¨¦s to attend the ceremony. There will be many people tomorrow¡­"


    She chuckled jovially as she looked excitingly at him, "Qingyun, I have one more good news for you. The Seven Hearts Hollow Pill is now completed. Aren''t you glad?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he looked at her, "Yes¡­" But he was actually not glad but was worried that he may bring misfortunate upon her as he thought, "This Seven Hearts Hollow Pill must have put her into a deep debt and yet she is so willing to give it to me? Keqin, what if I don''t take the pill and you sell the pill instead?"


    "Qingyun, come with me to the practice chamber first. I''m going to show you something else first that will shock you." Qin Keqin had already made a move to the chamber practice. Then she chuckled, "Something shocking."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as she muttered, "Something shocking?!"


    Lu Qingyun was also curious by her remarks, "What is it that Keqin wants to show me?"

 73 Divine Sword Jade Ligh

    When Lu Qingyun had entered the practice chamber, Qin Keqin had taken out a small gourd.


    As Lu Qingyun approached her, she displayed the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill from the small gourd with a flicker of her fingers, "Quick, take it."


    Lu Qingyun hesitated and said, "Keqin, so this is the shocking thing that you want to show to me? Maybe you should sell this pill. It is really too expensive for me to consume it. Moreover I am only at the start of the fourth cultivation realm. It is too early for me to take such a valuable pill and it will be a terrible waste to use it on me. I can wait until I''m at the fifth cultivation realm. What do you think?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "As long as it is for you, it isn''t a waste at all. Come, be a good little boy and open your mouth."


    But still Lu Qingyun did not heed her. He was still thinking of the great calamity that he would bring to her¡­


    Qin Keqin looked a little upset as she said sternly, "You are disobeying your master''s direct order?"


    Lu Qingyun immediately protested, "I don''t mean to¡­" But no sooner had he opened his mouth to speak, Qin Keqin had thrown the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill into his mouth and forced him to swallow it, almost choking him!


    As he coughed miserably for air, Qin Keqin was laughing softly. "Now that''s a good little boy."


    The eyes of Lu Qingyun were brimming with tears as he had almost choked. He began to sigh, "Keqin, this pill is really¡­"


    But Qin Keqin had put her fingers on his lips as she said gently, "Qingyun, I love you. Please say no more. This little pill isn''t enough to bankrupt me yet and you don''t need to be shy."


    What else could he say?


    "Keqin, I love you too¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled dreamily, "Qingyun¡­"


    But she quickly composed herself to say, "Qingyun, I am going to teach you how to use your divine sword today." Then she added with a mysterious smile, "This is the real shock. If you had thought that the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill was the shocking part then you are very wrong."


    Lu Qingyun asked, not understanding, "Huh? Teach me how to use my divine sword? How can this be a shock to me?"


    She laughed gently, "Every divine sword is unique and has its own characteristics. Unless you are its original master, there is no way for you to know its special skills. Your divine sword, Jade Light is a godly divine sword and therefore it is a lot more superior to any other divine swords. Today, I''m going to reveal its secret to you. Summon your divine sword."


    Lu Qingyun curiously took out the godly divine sword from his spatial ring and held it gently in front of Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin smiled as she gently took the godly divine sword, whispering. "Jade Light, it''s so good to see you again. I hope that you like your new master here."


    Suddenly she tossed the godly divine sword into the air in front of her and suspended it in mid-air with her profound force.


    With another wave of her hand, the godly divine sword had split into ten other divine swords that hovered around it.


    Lu Qingyun was stunned, "There are eleven divine swords now?"


    Qin Keqin laughed, "These ten other divine swords are only half-step divine swords. Although they are far weaker than the original but they are still divine swords nevertheless."


    As Lu Qingyun was weaker in cultivation than Qin Keqin, he was completely awe by the presence of eleven divine swords. To him, even a half-step divine sword was a lofty divine sword without any equal.


    He reached out gently to touch one of the half-step divine swords and gasped, "These divine swords are real and not an illusion?"


    Qin Keqin nodded as she withdrawn her profound strength and once again, there was only one godly divine sword. "All these divine swords are real and are copies of the original Divine Sword Jade Light. What I am going to do next is to teach you how to control the divine swords of the Divine Sword Jade Light."


    With another wave of her hands, there were eleven divine swords again.


    Lu Qingyun had a curious thought so he asked, "I have only two hands. What is the point of having eleven divine swords? I can''t use all of them."


    Qin Keqin had a soft laugh, "I''ve asked the same question when the Heaveness had given me the sword¡­"


    Lu Qingyun asked, "The Heaveness? The Great Goddess Heaveness? But isn''t your sword from your mother consort?"


    Qin Keqin was panicky all of a sudden and was looking a little sheepish. It was because she had forgotten that she had made up a story about her divine sword¡­


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "It shouldn''t have been the Great Goddess Heaveness. She is a mythical goddess. No one has ever seen her before. Keqin must be teasing me."


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "Right I am. You are so smart."


    Secretly she heaved a soft sigh of relief. About the Heaveness, she was really worried that she had left her in her hideout with Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng. It was because their transmissions to her had been quite depressing lately. But it seemed that they were afraid to tell her anything because the Heaveness had sharp perceptions. Therefore it may be time for her to return to the hideout to have a look very soon¡­


    She quickly regained her composure to say with a faint smile, "In a battle, your swords may suddenly decide to break at an unlikely time. Therefore you may need an extra sword."


    Lu Qingyun was laughing gently, "I have heard that divine swords are made of the heavenly relics and are indestructible. It is impossible to break one¡­"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin had casually taken one of the half-step divine swords and snapped it into two halves with her fingers.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Did she just break a divine sword with a snap of her fingers? How was it possible at all?


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Why are you so surprised? I am an upper seventh realm expert and a great saintess. With my profound strength, I can break a half-step divine sword. There are many forces in the three known realms that can break a divine sword as well. There are even places in the Celestial Realm that are occupied by beyond divinity desolate beasts that can destroy a divine sword with ease. Surely you don''t want to end up weaponless, do you?"


    Lu Qingyun had broken into cold sweat, "Keqin, erm¡­this divine sword is now broken and that is one less divine sword now¡­"


    Qin Keqin lit a faint smile, "It is a copy and will be fully restored in a month time. So there is nothing to worry about."


    Then with a more solemn tone, she grabbed another one of the half-step divine sword as she flew it like a piercing light into the wall before the divine sword snapped into two halves again with a thunderous impact that thundered like so loudly that the walls were all shaking. "If I were to use my full profound strength, even a half-step divine sword may not be able to withstand my might."


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "My profound strength is so weak. It is impossible for me to break a divine sword. It is one less divine sword now¡­"


    Qin Keqin stroked the godly divine sword gently as she said slowly, "It is best that you don''t use the main divine sword in the future but focus on using the half-step divine swords."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "Isn''t it better to use the more powerful sword? As the saying goes, you only got one life. If you don''t fight with your best then you may not see another day."


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "It is because I''m going to tell you a shocking secret about this Divine Sword Jade Light."


    "Shocking secret?"


    She nodded as she said gently, "Although these half-step divine swords look far more inferior to most divines swords but they actually contain the profound aura of their master copy. Therefore it is easier to unleash the full might of the Divine Sword Jade Light without expending too much of your profound strength."


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly nodding as he said with a sudden awareness, "The more powerful the divine sword is, the more profound strength I have to use."


    "Right," she smiled.


    "Therefore you didn''t really break the second half-step divine sword with your profound strength but it self-destruct because the half-step divine sword actually cannot cope with the outburst of the master divine sword?" Lu Qingyun said after a short ponder.


    Qin Keqin began to laugh, "Why are you so smart? That''s right. Now you know its secret."


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he appraised the Divine Sword Jade Light again, "It is truly an extraordinary divine sword."


    Then he gave her a melancholy look, "Keqin, why are you so good to me? Why are you giving me such a precious divine sword? Why don''t you keep it for yourself? I really can''t take something so precious. Moreover with my present strength, I can''t protect this divine sword from falling into the wrong hands¡­"


    Qin Keqin softly interrupted, "Jade Light is a sentient divine sword and can only be wielded by its master. Should you perish, it will fly back into my hands."


    She did not mention to him that the Divine Jade Light would also be sharing a connection to her via Lu Qingyun¡­


    Qin Keqin waved her hand again and this time, the remaining half-step divine swords had a slightly different form.


    Lu Qingyun was truly startled. "They can change their forms?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "That''s right. You can use your profound strength to change their forms too. Isn''t it fun? But with your current profound strength, it is quite impossible for you to change their forms yet."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "Can I have them all look slightly different instead of having an identical look?"


    "Of course you can. But why should you want them to look differently?"


    "So that I can identify each and every single one of them. And I am going to call them Sword One, Sword Two, Sword Three and so forth."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes before she gave him a weak look, "Can''t you think of a better naming like Jasmine, Orchid, Violet, Rose and so forth?"


    "No, I quite like Sword One, Sword Two and Sword Three. It is easier to remember too."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    "Well, you win¡­but¡­"


    All of a sudden she was smiling wryly as she had suddenly waved another motion of her hand as she sent eight half-step divine swords to fly like piercing thunderbolts into the walls at the same time!


    "You may have only two hands but do you know that you can actually control all these divine swords with your profound strength alone?"


    Lu Qingyun was completely startled as he stammered, "I can actually control all these divine swords?"


    While Qin Keqin was only jesting with him and did not expect him to really have the ability to control all the divine swords at the same time, there was a burning fire that was within Lu Qingyun as he stroked Jade Light gently while murmuring. "This divine sword art is so beautiful¡­"

 74 Uproar in New Empyrean City

    This was a most unusual day in New Empyrean City and the Eastern District City was unusually crowded today.


    Not only were there many thousands of cultivators but hordes of commoners were also swarming around the Eastern District City.


    Although New Empyrean City was quite a big city and covered dozens of mountain peaks and there were some fifty celestial clans that had some renown but it seemed that almost all the major celestial clans had come today.


    What was the reason for this strange activity?


    It was because today was the crowning ceremony of one of the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City and her name was Qin Keqin. By now, most of the denizens of New Empyrean City had heard of Sect Leader Qin Keqin and the uproars that her Heavens Ridge Villa had caused in recent months.


    "I wonder what Qin Keqin really looks like?"


    "I''ve heard that she is fifth realm expert but even a sixth realm expert like Supremacy Wen had fallen to her¡­"


    "I heard that she is quite a peerless beauty but I wonder if that is true."


    "She has just entered the top twenty beauties ranking and is being nominated as number one¡­"


    "That is because she is a sect leader of one of the four major powerhouses in New Empyrean City. This got nothing to do with her beauty but her position¡­"


    "Hehehe, I am here to look at the other peerless beauties that will be attending the ceremony¡­"


    "I doubt that you will be able to see any. They are all in their carriages and we are not allowed to enter the ceremony hall unless we have an invitation¡­"


    "I just need to catch a glimpse when they got off their carriages¡­"


    Although there were few people that had actually seen Qin Keqin in person but the rumors of her peerless beauty had spread like wildfire from the Heavens Ridge Villa to the rest of the New Empyrean City.


    It was not just Qin Keqin who would be attending the ceremony. There were also rumors that several of the ranked twenty beauties would also be attending the ceremony. Naturally many of them were not there to offer their congratulations to Qin Keqin but to know this new ''rival'' of theirs.


    After all since she had suddenly been ranked as the top beauty, a position that none had managed to attain for a long time, surely she must be quite extraordinary.


    A horse-drawn carriage had just stopped in front of the ceremony hall and the curious onlookers were edging for a closer look. This carriage had a clear marker and there were the insignia and banner of the Heavens Ridge Villa on it.


    Inside the carriage were Lu Qingyun, Qin Keqin, Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue.


    Qin Keqin had brought Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue along because they were in the top twenty beauties ranking as well. Therefore there was no reason for her not to bring them along.


    Throughout the journey, Lu Qingyun was in a state of awkwardness. It was because he was suddenly aware that he was sitting with four extraordinary beautiful maidens. Moreover today they were all dressed up in their best and their fragrances were drifting up his nostrils.


    He had never taken a serious look at Lie Xingyuan and Qin Keqin. But today, he had realized that they were extremely beautiful indeed. He muttered to himself, "Qingyun, you are not a lustful man. So please don''t have any lustful thoughts on Xingyuan or Keqin¡­"


    Throughout the journey, Leng Qiuyue had lowered her glances and was extremely quiet as well. It was because she did not dare to look at Lu Qingyun¡­


    Ouyang Xue was also avoiding looking at Lu Qingyun as well. It was because she knew that Qin Keqin was quietly observing her and that it was obvious to her that Qin Keqin was constantly looking at Lu Qingyun with unusual loving glances.


    When they had alighted from the carriage, Leng Qiuyue was the first to step out.


    Immediately there were many gasps from the crowds of onlookers as they muttered, "She is Leng Qiuyue, one of the alluring flowers of the Heavens Ridge Villa. If she is here then Ouyang Xue must also be here too. Maiden Qiuyue is indeed a peerless beauty¡­"


    The impression that Leng Qiuyue gave was that of an icy beauty. Her countenance was jaded and she was like a lofty beautiful heavenly fairy that was untainted and untouchable.


    "She is too beautiful¡­"


    "If she could smile at me then I don''t mind dying for her at all¡­"


    There were more gasps as Ouyang Xue had stepped out of the carriage. While Leng Qiuyue was an icy beauty, Ouyang Xue was her opposite and her figure was extremely enticing. Many of the men had hot blood of lusts after taking a glimpse of her and had already started to imagine lustful images.


    "She is Ouyang Xue¡­"


    "It seems that the two beauties of the Heavens Ridge Villa are really true beauties after all¡­"


    "Where is Qin Keqin? Is she in the carriage?"


    Many of the crowds were now filled with eager anticipations and were all pushing each other to get a closer look. Since Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were such peerless beauties then this Qin Keqin must be one notch higher or else why would she be nominated as the number one beauty in New Empyrean City?


    The men were soon disappointed that the next person to emerge from the carriage was a tall and handsome man.


    "Who is he?"


    "No idea but I''m sure he can''t be considered to be a beauty, right?"


    "He is Qin Keqin?¡­"


    "But he is certainly quite handsome¡­"


    The crowds were not entirely consisted of only men and half of the crowds were actually women. It was because the women were even more curious than the men. After all, they could gossip about the top beauties of New Empyrean City and they were also curious about the latest fashion that could be created from the attires of the top twenty beauties.


    And these women were now all gasping when they saw Lu Qingyun.


    "What a fine looking young man¡­"


    "Who is he?"


    "He could be Lu Qingyun. I had heard that Qin Keqin had taken in a new disciple and he is said to be quite handsome. This must be him¡­"


    "It is a pity that he only has good looks but is just a lowly good-for-nothing cultivator¡­"


    "I want to marry him¡­"


    "Is he single?"


    There were even some screams of excitation from the female crowds when they saw Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun did not know that his moniker nick would soon be changed from the good-for-nothing cultivator to the handsome good-for-nothing cultivator by his newly found female admirers.


    "So he is Lu Qingyun, the senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    "Then the next person to emerge must be Qin Keqin?"


    A dedicate maiden with mesmerizing features had slowly emerged from the carriage¡­


    Many of the crowds were startled as they felt mesmerized by her eyes and delicate mannerism.


    "So she is Qin Keqin? She is indeed a dedicate beauty and is like a dedicate flower¡­"


    "She doesn''t look too lofty but look humbled. She is indeed a goddess¡­"


    "So we have the three alluring flowers of the Heavens Ridge Villa now?"


    "I wonder if she is engaged to anyone?"


    "She looks quite gentle. Is she really the same Qin Keqin that had defeated Supremacy Wen?"


    At this moment the real Qin Keqin had just emerged from behind Lie Xingyuan¡­


    Everyone was stunned when Qin Keqin had suddenly emerged. It was because she was like a peerless heavenly goddess that seemed to have suddenly descended from the heavens.


    Her alluring smiles as she emerged from the carriage caught the imaginations of both men and women. How could such alluring and bewitching smiles have existed in the Nine Celestial Fraternity?


    The crowds had suddenly realized their mistakes and knew that this peerless heavenly goddess was the real Qin Keqin because her golden eyes were equally alluring and were reflecting the light of the sun, making it look like she was being surrounded by a faint soft golden glow.


    There were many high level cultivators who had a high state of divinity and were not moved by the three earlier maidens but the sight of Qin Keqin was like a thunderbolt that pierced through their very souls and shook their dead sentiments alive.


    Moreover she was a wearing a low cut dress that had an open slit that revealed her long pure white naked thigh and many of the men were filled with lusts when they saw it.


    At the same time the profound aura of this peerless heavenly maiden made her exude a forbidden and lofty presence. And when she walked, it was as though she was threading lightly and was just drifting.


    Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue, Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan had taken five blinks of an eye to emerge and disappeared into the ceremony hall''s entrance.


    As for Qin Keqin, the moment that she had appeared and disappeared were only a short two blinks of an eye but to all those who had seen her, it had left a much more lasting impression.


    "This¡­"


    "Who is she?¡­"


    "She is the real Qin Keqin, so who is the earlier maiden?"


    "I''m so glad that I am here today. I can''t believe that such a heavenly goddess exists in the world¡­"


    "Now I can totally understand why Supremacy Wen had lost to her. He must have got distracted by her extremely alluring look¡­"


    "This number one beauty in New Empyrean City truly deserves her title¡­"


    "After seeing her, this lifetime of mine is fulfilled. Even my next lifetime is also fulfilled¡­"


    Even after she had long disappeared into the ceremony hall, the crowds were still standing with stupefied look of awe outside and many of the men were all muttering, "Qin Keqin¡­what a beautiful name¡­she is a goddess of my heart¡­"

 75 Number 1 Peerless Beauty

    The ceremony hall was huge and there were hundreds of people that had already gathered when Lu Qingyun had entered.


    He took a quick look and was astonished by the number of beautiful maidens that were in the hall and they were all looking at his entourage.


    But at the same time Lu Qingyun had a solemn expression and he was actually deep in thoughts. It was because he had suddenly realized that Qin Keqin was attracting a little too much attention for his liking and he was feeling a little sour inside¡­


    These beautiful maidens were quite startled by the appearance of Lu Qingyun as he was really quite handsome and a great number of them were unconsciously moving their lips in their startled state.


    But of course Lu Qingyun was not the star of his entourage. His sudden appearance and the four beautiful maidens that were walking behind him had suddenly caused the buzzing hall to almost fall into dead silence as everyone had turned their eyes to look in their directions.


    The beautiful and moving sight of Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan walking together were enough to cause quite a big stir and caused the hearts of many men to stop.


    But the sudden appearance of Qin Keqin who was smiling delightfully as she swept her bewitching golden eyes curiously around, causing everyone, men and women to fall into stunning silence. It was as though Qin Keqin was a heavenly fairy, untainted, lofty and forbidden.


    Her peerless allure was so exceedingly that many of the beautiful maidens were looking at her with shame in their eyes; it was because many of them were actually attending this ceremony to show off their personal beauties as they were not pleased that an upstart had suddenly usurped the position of the number one beauty of New Empyrean City.


    They had all wanted to show Qin Keqin that she was not the most beautiful but once they had seen her, they were quite stunned¡­


    Qin Keqin knew that she was causing a great stir and thought delightfully, "They must really like my make-up¡­"


    Make-up or not, Qin Keqin was an astonishing peerless beauty without a doubt.


    She was smiling delightfully because it had really come from the bottom of her heart. She was really happy that she had a place among the top twenty beauties ranking and the thoughts that her two sister saintesses did not have a place in the ranking make her only all too pleased.


    "Minyue, Danfeng. I am going to show off to you every now and then."


    She was soon smiling again to herself, "Qingyun, are you proud of me today? That your beloved is in first place?¡­"


    Only Lu Qingyun mattered the most to her now.


    "Qingyun, this is my most beautiful moment today. I hope that you can remember this day¡­" she had a shy flush as she said in her heart.


    She did not know that Lu Qingyun was not glad at all. Instead he was not pleased that she was gathering so much attention to herself.


    As for the men, they were stunned by her and many of them were muttering. "She is a goddess¡­"


    Everyone was thinking, "She must be Qin Keqin? It is because only she has the golden eyes that clearly marked her as a fifth realm expert¡­"


    "I''ve heard that in the past, the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is the acclaimed goddess and she has even toppled peerless beauties like the Great Saintess Feng Minyue and Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng¡­"


    The master of ceremony was a grey hair old man. His jaws had almost dropped when he saw Qin Keqin¡­


    He had not expected Qin Keqin to be such a peerless goddess¡­


    Regarding the nomination of Qin Keqin as the top beauty of the New Empyrean City, he had actually quarreled with the ruling councilors as he had felt that Qin Keqin did not deserve the title.


    However the ruling council had insisted because she was a golden celestial and her cultivation strength was also the highest among the top twenty beauties.


    He had questioned hard with the ruling council, "Just because she has the highest cultivation level so she should be ranked number one? This is too ridiculous."


    But the ruling council had already made up their minds firmly. Although they had never seen Qin Keqin before but they knew that everyone would be curious about her as she had been in the gossips for quite a while. However, they were unsure if she would accept the nomination since she was a high ranking golden celestial and is also a sect leader of one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean City.


    Therefore they had decided to bait her out by offering her an offer that she could not resist.


    The Ruling Council of New Empyrean City had various interest groups of councilors and they controlled vast resources. When a beauty was nominated, a reasonable amount of cultivation resources would be granted to their celestial clan as well. In this way, it made the celestial clan harder to decline the nomination. Over time, this ranking became a source of pride among the beautiful cultivators.


    What did the Ruling Council have to gain from the nominations?


    Plenty.


    A business relationship was formed between the various influencers of the interest group to the celestial clan. How could a celestial resource be transferred? It was via the interest groups. It was actually a two way transfer.


    After all, if the celestial clan had any excess cultivation resources they could sell it to the interest groups and the interest groups would resell it for a profit to those that were in need through their vast networks.


    In this way, the ruling council was able to keep the peace between the celestial clans in the city and also befriended the powerful cultivators to be their protectors in times of trouble. After all, there were few cultivators in the council and none among the ruling council.


    That was the reason why the ruling council had made a unanimous decision to nominate Qin Keqin into the top twenty beauties ranking and even decided to have her crowned as the number one beauty.


    This old man was Old Councilor You and he was unhappy with the decisions that were made by the ruling council as he had strongly disagreed about the top beauty nomination that was to be made to Qin Keqin.


    But when he had seen her now, he had totally changed his mind!


    It was because she was deserving fit to be nominated as the number one beauty of New Empyrean City!


    He quickly gave a welcoming smile as he proclaimed loudly, "So it seems that Sect Leader Qin has finally arrived."


    Several of the junior councilors were amazed at the sudden transformation that had happened to Old Councilor You. Earlier he was grumbling unhappily that Qin Keqin was late and that the bulk of the guests had to wait for her arrival.


    Since the nomination was all about her, the crowning ceremony could not kick start without her presence.


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile, "Sorry I''m a little late. I''ve taken too much time in dressing up for this occasion."


    Old Councilor You was laughing jovially, "That''s perfectly normal and understandable. After all, it is our esteem honor to wait for the number one beauty. Moreover you''re not late at all, not late at all. Haha."


    The junior councilors were almost rendered wordless by the sudden transformation of Old Councilor You: ¡­


    As Qin Keqin was chatting with Old Councilor You, a fine looking young man and a beautiful maiden had approached Lu Qingyun¡­


    "Brother Lu!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled that it was Young Master Ling Chong and his sister Fairy Ling Xiu.


    Fairy Ling Xiu shyly looked at Lu Qingyun as she smiled faintly, "Brother Lu. How are you?"


    Lu Qingyun quickly greeted, "Brother Ling Chong and Sister Ling Xiu. You are here for the crowning ceremony as well?"


    Ling Chong laughed jovially, "Naturally it is an occasion not to be missed." Although he was talking to Lu Qingyun but his eyes were secretly glancing at Lie Xingyuan as he thought, "She is so beautiful today¡­it is a good thing that I''ve come today¡­"


    Fairy Ling Xiu was pleased secretly that Lu Qingyun was here today. She had been a little disappointed that he was not presented when she had aided the Heavens Ridge Villa against the Solitary Manor that night¡­


    Ling Chong, Fairy Ling Xiu, Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had also exchanged quick pleasantries. If it was in the past, these two celestial clans would have simply ignored each other. But ever since the Flying Armament Sect had come to the aid of the Heavens Ridge Villa, these two celestial clans had formed an unspoken alliance. After all, the Flying Armament Sect was taking a considerable risk by aiding the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Many of the maidens that were looking at Lu Qingyun were secretly unhappy that Fairy Ling Xiu was seen talking to him.


    They were mostly thinking that this bitch had actually seized the initiative to approach Lu Qingyun ahead of them and were upset¡­


    However there was nothing that they could do and they did not dare to gossip in front of her. It was because Fairy Ling Xiu was a fourth realm cultivator and the young mistress of the Flying Armament Sect. Her level of cultivation was ahead of them and she was actually ranked as one of the top cultivators in New Empyrean City.


    Although Young Master Ling Chong was chatting with Lu Qingyun and was even secretly stealing a few glances at Lie Xingyuan, like all the people here, his attention was soon upon Qin Keqin; she was simply too beautiful today in her white golden dress.


    Old Councilor You was looking lustfully at Qin Keqin''s tight bosoms and was heard saying, "Sect Leader Qin is really stunning today¡­"


    From afar, an elegant maiden with a half veiled mask was quietly looking at Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin. There was envious in her eyes as she saw how beautiful Qin Keqin was. This elegant maiden was Qiuxiang Huan, a senior core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Pavilion Mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    She was not only the highest ranking senior core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei, who was the sect master of the Clear Sky Pavilion but she was also her only daughter. Needless to say, she enjoyed a lofty standing in the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Like many others, she was curious who Qin Keqin was and like many, she was also unhappy that Qin Keqin had got the position of the top beauty of New Empyrean City. This was unacceptable to her because she was also quite a beautiful maiden and could be described as peerless. But when she saw how peerless Qin Keqin was, there was a burning envious in her eyes.


    Qiuxiang Huan was a renowned beauty of New Empyrean City and she had many suitors. Recently, she had just ousted her rival, who was one of the top twenty beauties by plotting her downfall with a scandal. Until now, this rival of hers had no idea that she had masterminded her downfall.


    And then the ruling council had suddenly announced that Qin Keqin would not only be ranked as one of the top twenty beauties but she would be ceremonially crowned as the top beauty of New Empyrean City. This news had caused her to be secretly infuriated.


    Although by all appearances, Qiuxiang Huan was only a fourth realm cultivator but she was actually a peaked fifth realm golden celestial. The reason why she did not have any golden eyes was because she had purposely suppressed her profound strength with a secret mystical divine pill that was only produced by the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Therefore she did not fear Qin Keqin at all.


    In fact she was thinking with cold-hearted calculation, "We are both peaked fifth realm cultivation experts. I wonder how do you measure against me?"


    She had a sudden wry smile, "Although you are beautiful but you cannot hope to keep your number one position for too long. Everyone knows that you''ve been defiled by Old Saint Wen. Moreover, Supremacy Wen is now on his way to screw you up soon. I''m afraid that you will soon have your times of troubles."


    The Clear Sky Pavilion was one of the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City and therefore it was not hard for them to get the necessary information about their rivals.


    Then she turned to look at Lu Qingyun with a faint smile, "How about I seduce your core disciple and make him fall out with you first?" Her heart was suddenly pacing when she stole a look at Lu Qingyun but she was soon saying to herself, "There is no way that I will fall in love with any man. Especially not a good-for-nothing cultivator. He is just a good looking fellow with no substances inside him."


    Old Councilor You was now announcing loudly with a broad grin, "Since Sect Leader Qin is here, we can now begin with the ceremony¡­"

 76 Qiuxiang Huan 1

    There were hundreds of eyes that were now upon Qin Keqin as Old Councilor You announced the crowning ceremony.


    The crowning ceremony was actually a simple show of gesture and Qin Keqin did not have to do anything. All she needed to do was to stand next to Old Councilor You as he proclaimed to everyone that she would be crowned the top beauty of New Empyrean City.


    "Today, we are honored to have Sect Leader Qin here. The ruling council has unanimously made a delightful decision to have her as New Empyrean City''s leading beauty¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was thinking with an anxious look, "Keqin is now the top beauty in New Empyrean City¡­in the future, she may have a lot of admirers and suitors. I am really unworthy of her¡­moreover she is also a great saintess¡­"


    The gap between them was extremely vast and Lu Qingyun felt inferior in many ways to her. He began to heave a soft sigh of melancholy to himself¡­


    While he was feeling inferior and unworthy of Qin Keqin, he did not know that Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Fairy Ling Xiu were all looking at him secretly at various points of time. To them, Lu Qingyun seemed to be someone who was going to shine in the future.


    Fairy Ling Xiu had personally witnessing him killing a formidable fifth rank desolate monster and he had even saved her life. Although she was a fourth realm cultivator but it was difficult for her and her brother to defeat a fifth rank desolate monster single-handedly. But he had actually killed one on his own.


    When she had told her father about it, he was in disbelief and shock as well.


    "Even if he has a divine sword, it is useless in the hands of a lowly cultivator." He had said.


    Ever since that fateful day when he had rescued her, she had been thinking of him day in and night out¡­


    As for Leng Qiuyue, although she appeared to be emotionless and cool to Lu Qingyun but her heart was filled with delightful warmth when he was around. It was just that she did not dare to look into his eyes lest she would not be able to control her emotions¡­


    She was extremely grateful to him because he had given her a precious Triple Divine Essence Pill to treat her internal injuries during the experiential mission. Because of that, not only was her cultivation core not impaired by her serious internal injuries but she had also secretly advanced to the fourth realm immortal celestial level.


    "Why did he give me the Triple Divine Essence Pill? Doesn''t he know how precious it is? Don''t tell me that he likes me as well.."


    Ouyang Xue had also advanced to the fourth realm immortal celestial level after gaining access to the cultivation library of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall. She could be considered a monstrous genius as she was only 19 this year.


    But her breakthrough to the fourth realm was mostly accomplished because she had wanted to forget about Lu Qingyun and also because she was forced to gain the respect of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall that she was leading. Therefore she had spent almost all her time on her cultivation.


    But, no matter how hard she had tried, she could not forget about this man that had once rejected her¡­


    These were the hidden thoughts that were from Fairy Ling Xiu, Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue.


    As for Lie Xingyuan, she was the closest to Lu Qingyun and was aware that he had only Qin Keqin in his heart. Therefore she did not really have any wistful thoughts. Moreover one day she would leave the Heavens Ridge Villa and there was no chance for her to be with him.


    And she knew Qin Keqin''s secrets all too well¡­


    She thought, "It may be many centuries later that I will be able to cultivate to a saintess. Only when I am saintess can I hope to be the Devil Goddess'' match. Senior brother, I hope that by then you will be well¡­"


    Old Councilor You was heard exclaiming, "So let us welcome Sect Leader Qin into the ranking of the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City¡­"


    All of a sudden there was an interruption by a beautiful dressed maiden, "Hold! I think that isn''t quite appropriate, am I right to do say so?"


    There were few in the hall that could recognize who this beautiful dressed maiden was but many of the beautiful maidens were now smiling. It was because they had all wanted Qin Keqin to fumble and could not wait to see her in all kinds of ugly situation.


    And of course, the most delightful maiden was Qiuxiang Huan. It was because the beautiful maiden that had just spoken was her hired black hand. But of course, this beautiful maiden did not know she was actually the mastermind. She was crafty enough to conceal her own tracks.


    In the eyes of the public, she was always the most beautiful and apolitical innocent damsel while she pulled the strings from behind.


    Old Councilor You had a furious frown on his countenance. He knew what this maiden and what the other maidens were thinking. That they were envious that Qin Keqin had won the top beauty position, had long reached his ears.


    The smiles that were on Qin Keqin had suddenly faded away and she was startled that there was actually out to ruin her happy occasion in front of Lu Qingyun¡­


    This beautiful dressed maiden chuckled as she swept her glances around, "Do all of you agree with me?"


    To her surprise, there were few supporters who were actually nodding.


    It was because most of the maidens that were presented were not foolish to express their displeasure with Qin Keqin in public. After all, this Qin Keqin was a sect leader of one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean and she had just defeated Supremacy Wen recently.


    This beautiful maiden was expecting claps of applauds from the crowd but there were mute silence. In fact, many of the men in the crowd were showing great displeasure at this interruption for this new goddess of their hearts. And the unhappiest was of course Lu Qingyun.


    Qiuxiang Huan was humming quietly to herself. This was also not the reaction that she had been expecting too. It was because she had never expected this Qin Keqin to be so peerless in her looks. She had of course heard rumors that Qin Keqin was astonishing beautiful but that was only a rumor; it was quite difficult for an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ in the Heavens Ridge Villa to catch a glimpse of her and moreover she had heard that she was almost never in the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Old Councilor You said solemnly, "Quickly back off before it gets too unsightly."


    This beautiful dressed maiden was not backing off. Since she had already spoken, she was not going to let this matter rest easily. After all, she was a known shrewd so she coldly said. "All the beauties in the top twenty ranking have a considerable good background and are the leading ladies of New Empyrean City."


    She waved her hand and said, "Have all of you forgotten the previous beauty that had fallen from grace because of her scandal? And now we have a scandalous beauty here that is here to replace her? Isn''t this something that is extremely ridiculous? If Councilor You did not give us a good explanation, not only will I not be convinced but the others here are not convinced at all!"


    This time, there were more people that were nodding¡­


    Old Councilor You said angrily, "What scandalous beauty? Be mindful of your words!"


    This beautiful dressed maiden mocked coldly, "Since Councilor You wants me to say it out loud then I shouldn''t decline your kind offer. There are rumors that Sect Leader Qin Keqin and the Old Patriarch Wen are¡­"


    She had purposely let her words lingered in mid-air for the imaginations of the people to fire up.


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling to herself, "This maiden isn''t a complete idiot. In this way, she can even protect herself because they can''t accuse her of smearing later. But this shrewd isn''t too smart to realize that that a hole has already been dug for herself."


    Then she was looking quietly at Qin Keqin, "So how are you going to get out of this? My soon-to-be disgraced Sect Leader Qin¡­"


    Qin Keqin was trembling slightly and there were flashes of anger in her eyes¡­


    Even Lu Qingyun was clenching his fists. It was because he knew that nothing had happened between Qin Keqin and Old Saint Wen¡­


    Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were seething with anger. Their sect leader had sacrificed herself for the Heavens Ridge Villa. Even if that is the truth, they could not allow their sect leader to be humiliated by anyone. They were just feeling strange that there had been no news from Old Saint Wen and for the past several days, the entire Heavens Ridge Villa was actually in high state of alert as they had fear that Old Saint Wen might have attacked them all of a sudden to repay the humiliating insult.


    But it was like, Old Saint Wen had suddenly disappeared and even the Solitary Manor had suddenly gone very quiet after a day or two of unrest.


    "Shut up!" It was Lu Qingyun and he could not suppress his anger anymore.


    Qin Keqin was startled. It was because she had never seen him so angry before. But she was also secretly pleased, "He is defending my honor?"


    She had quietly withdrawn her fingers to her back. In just a split second later, she would have flashed to the maiden that had just humiliated her and would have given her a few slaps.


    There would be no one that could stop her from doing so. She did not mind losing her grace because she had no real attachments to New Empyrean City and moreover she was the vengeful Devil Goddess that never forgives a slight¡­


    "Oh? Heh! What did you just say?" The beautiful dressed maiden mocked coldly.


    Lu Qingyun returned a cold gaze, "What you have heard is just a rumor so you shouldn''t be spreading rumors without any proof."


    "Hey! This is a rumor that everyone in New Empyrean knows about. Rather, you should be the one showing me the proof that the rumor is falsified!"


    Although Lu Qingyun had a burst of outrage but he had not completely lost his cool-headedness.


    He replied coldly, "You may not know this but Old Saint Wen and my sect leader are actually old friends."


    The beautiful dressed maiden laughed, "Of course they are old friends. After what had happened¡­"


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had flashed in front of the beautiful dressed maiden and had given her a tight slap on her cheek, causing her to fall onto the floor in stunned silence¡­


    This beautiful maiden was stammering, "You¡­dare to slap a lady¡­are you still a man¡­you''re a bully¡­"


    Not only was she stunned, but Qin Keqin, Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue, Fairy Ling Xiu and many others were all gasping with shock.


    Lu Qingyun replied coldly, "I am not a gentleman. I''m just a lowly good-for-nothing cultivator that is also my sect leader''s disciple. Her honor is mine as well. Therefore before you insult her, please think again."


    All of a sudden there were a few claps from a beautiful dressed maiden with a half-mask as she quietly walked forward.


    Although she was only wearing a half-mask that veiled her upper face, her lips and chin were extremely refined and it was not hard to recognize her as the renowned beauty Qiuxiang Huan.


    "Maiden Qiuxiang Huan has also stepped forward?"


    "I''ve heard that she is a formidable fourth realm cultivator as well¡­"


    "She is the successor to the Clear Sky Pavilion, so what do you think?"


    Many of the beautiful maidens were all smiling wryly. It seemed that there may soon be a catfight very soon¡­


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled as she said in a low voice to Lu Qingyun, "Did you just slap her?"


    It was now time for her Plan C. Plan B was unworkable now because the situation had suddenly changed and Plan C was a plan that she had just come out with and it was crucial that she would be involved herself.


    She lifted a slow hand to the beautiful dressed maiden, "It is a little awkward for a beautiful maiden to be lying on the ground in such a state. Come, let me assist you up¡­"


    Lu Qingyun felt a little awkward now after he was rebuked lightly by this gentle maiden who had just come forward. In normal circumstances, he would never have slapped someone in this manner, especially someone who was weaker than him. He would never have used force to bully anyone but this was an impulsive act because he was really infuriated that Qin Keqin''s honor was being insulted upon.


    There was now soft mutterings by the maidens in the hall, "He is not only a good-for-nothing cultivator but he is also a good-for-nothing man that uses force against a weaker sex¡­"

 77 Qiuxiang Huan 2

    Qiuxiang Huan had gently lifted the beautiful dressed maiden up as she gave her an encouraging smile.


    As the beautiful dressed maiden got up, she began to shot an icy stare at Lu Qingyun while saying coldly. "What is your name? Do you dare to tell your name to the public? You are just a good-for-nothing¡­"


    She did not have the chance to finish because Qiuxiang Huan had suddenly given her a tight slap on her cheek!


    Not only was Lu Qingyun shocked by what Qiuxiang Huan had just done, everyone else was also startled. It was because they had all thought that Qiuxiang Huan was here to address her wrongs¡­


    But they were all wrong because Qiuxiang Huan was saying to the beautiful dressed maiden, "Although he is a man and shouldn''t have slapped you in public but as a woman, I can slap you for ruining Sect Leader Qin''s crowning ceremony."


    This beautiful dressed maiden had of course recognized who Qiuxiang Huan was. She was not only a fourth realm cultivator but she was also the successor to the powerful Clear Sky Pavilion. In front of her, naturally she did not dare to protest too much because she had heard rumors that Qiuxiang Huan was actually quite a vengeful person.


    "Consider it a justifiable lesson to you. Why don''t you scram now? The sooner the better. Or are you thinking that you still have the cheek to remain here after all the troubles that you have caused?"


    The beautiful dressed maiden quickly bolted for the entrance after hearing what Qiuxiang Huan had said to her. She really did not have the shame to remain in this hall.


    The reason why Qiuxiang Huan had suddenly stepped in to aid Lu Qingyun was because her main objective in embarrassing Qin Keqin had already been accomplished and that a stigma would remain in her honor forever. So that was enough for her to stop. But of course this was only a small part of her plan to cause further embarrassment to Qin Keqin. Her next step would be to seduce her core disciple¡­


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he bowed with his hands, "Thank you for your chivalry aid."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled gently to him, "I did what I can do. I''m Qiuxiang Huan, a core disciple of the Clear Sky Pavilion. What about you?"


    Lu Qingyun replied without a thought, "Lu Qingyun here. I''m a core disciple of the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    "Oh I see. You are indeed outstanding. Next time don''t raise your hands to strike a woman. Leave it to the women." She gave a wryly smile as she teased him gently.


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly looking awkward because he knew that he should not have done what he had just done.


    Qin Keqin had an unhappy look when she saw that Lu Qingyun was talking to a stately maiden. However she was not the only who was unhappy.


    Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Fairy Ling Xiu were all looking none the pleased as well. They knew who Qiuxiang Huan was and she was a not so simple maiden. Half of the maidens in the hall did not like Qiuxiang Huan either because they had heard that she was quite a manipulative maiden.


    Although Qiuxiang Huan was talking to Lu Qingyun but she was quietly observing Qin Keqin and was somewhat pleased that she had lost her earlier smiles.


    In her heart, she was thinking. "Hmph! Qin Keqin! Now that everyone knows that you have been defiled by Old Saint Wen, I''m sure that you are now too flustered for words. Although you have the position for the top beauty but I''ll like to see how long you can hold onto this fragile position."


    Although Qin Keqin was annoyed by the interruption, she was more curious about Qiuxiang Huan. It was because she had found her name to be familiar. As she knitted her thin brows, she had suddenly remembered that Qiuxiang Huan was responsible for masterminding the downfall of one of the great beauties in New Empyrean and that it had even caused a great scandal. As a matter of fact, Qin Keqin and Xuan Danfeng were gossiping about it one or two months ago.


    There was a wry smile on Qin Keqin''s face as she thought, "This crafty schemer. She is up to no good¡­but you don''t know that I have actually known your secret, am I right?"


    Qiuxiang Huan had secretly arranged for the scandal in the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse as she did not think that anyone would be eavesdropping on her. Moreover, she had already taken plenty of precautions by checking for scrying arrays and found none.


    She had thought that her schemes were flawless and that that there was no one in the entire world that would possibly know about what she had plotted.


    However there were no secrets that could remain in the dark forever. She did not know that Xuan Danfeng was particularly interested in her gossips and were keeping tabs on her. In fact, Xuan Danfeng had updated frequently update Qin Keqin on her as well.


    Lu Qingyun merely nodded without any expression.


    He may be ashamed of his actions but he did not trust this Qiuxiang Huan at all.


    Although Qiuxiang Huan was extremely charming and had a gentle demeanor that attracted the men around her but strangely, Lu Qingyun''s defense against her was also at its peak.


    He had suddenly remembered what his old master had told him in the past, "Be wary of the beautiful maidens, especially the female cultivators¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was actually thinking. This is too much of a coincidence. Why should a refined maiden like her even bother to taint her repute by slapping another in public? All these for the purpose of introducing herself? Or is she trying to win Keqin''s favor by doing so?


    In the entire hall, only Lu Qingyun was thinking likewise as all the others had thought that Qiuxiang Huan was trying to defend Qin Keqin''s honor and that she was trying to win the favor of Qin Keqin for the sake of the Clear Sky Pavilion. After all, it seemed that the Heavens Ridge Villa and the Flying Armament Sect were suddenly very close and that could be the cause of her intervention.


    Even Fairy Ling Xiu, Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were beginning to see Qiuxiang Huan in another different light now¡­


    Ling Chong could not help remarking, "That maiden deserves a slap. Even if Brother Lu did not slap her, I would have done the same too."


    He had of course known who Qiuxiang Huan was and at one point of time, he was even declined by her.


    However Qiuxiang Huan did not pay scant attention to him and instead she was looking intently at Lu Qingyun. Why was that he did not seem to be interested in carrying the conversation further with me? Am I not attractive in his eyes? Or he is shy in front of the others?


    Lu Qingyun could be as smart as a genius and as dense as a pig in different situations. In front of Qin Keqin, all the warnings that were given by his old master were easily forgotten and he was utterly careless in front of her.


    But in front of Qiuxiang Huan, somehow he did not trust her at all. That was why he was cool towards her and did not display any affectionate expressions.


    He merely said indifferently, "On the behalf of my master, I thank Maiden Qiuxiang Huan for your kind words." And his eyes had already wandered to where Qin Keqin was.


    His indifferent had completely caught Qiuxiang Huan off guarded and she was staring with disbelief at Lu Qingyun. In this world, there was not a man who could resist her charms and yet this young man was so cool to her, even seemingly eager for her to leave as quickly as possible.


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly as she walked over to Lu Qingyun and Qiuxiang Huan, "I wonder who this charming maiden is, so it is Maiden Qiuxiang Huan from the Clear Sky Pavilion. I''m so glad to meet you today. Thank you for coming to my aid earlier."


    Qiuxiang Huan was a little startled by the friendliness that was being displayed by Qin Keqin. It was because she had played the situation in her mind; Qin Keqin would be too flustered to react and there was even a chance that she may even leave the crowning ceremony halfway out of embarrassment.


    After all, this Qin Keqin was a fifth realm expert and surely she could not fail to hear the whispers that were now floating around, "So this Qin Keqin and Old Saint Wen have something shady together¡­"


    "One is so beautiful and the other is a lecherous old cultivator. I''m not surprised at all¡­"


    "Alas, pity this goddess¡­it''s no wonder that the Heavens Ridge Villa has attacked the Solitary Manor¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled gently, "We are all cultivators of the way. Naturally we ought we help each other out."


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile, "Well said."


    Qiuxiang Huan did not understand why Qin Keqin would be so composed. Her cool reaction and the muted reactions from the hundreds of people in the hall were also not what she had expected as well.


    Before the ceremony had started, almost everyone in the hall was gossiping about Qin Keqin and how unworthy she was in getting this new title.


    But when Qin Keqin was here, the men were too awe by her alluring beauty and many of the maidens were speechless at how peerless she was. Even though many of them had known about the scandal between Qin Keqin and Old Saint Wen but there was a sudden muted reaction that defied logic.


    It was as though most of the guests had suddenly conceded defeat and had admitted that Qin Keqin was indeed worthy of the top beauty title.


    So Qiuxiang Huan said with a soft smile, "Sect Leader Qin, it is my pleasure to meet you in person. I do have a curious question in my heart and I wonder if you are able to help with the doubts that are troubling me?"


    "Oh?" Qin Keqin said nonchalantly.


    All the curious onlookers were now paying close attention, including Old Councilor You. Could it be that Qiuxiang Huan was about to ask Qin Keqin about her relationship with Old Saint Wen?


    Many of the maidens were secretly smiling now. It seemed that the fun was not over yet.


    Qiuxiang Huan said in a slow manner as she observed Qin Keqin for every changing nuance, "I have heard that the Heavens Ridge Villa had attacked the Solitary Manor. By the look of it, it seems to be true and not a rumor. Well, I''m just wondering how does the Heavens Ridge Villa plan to do to pacify our patriarch overlord should if she were to question you? As you know, there is a strict rule that is laid down by the Heavenly Fragrance Princess against open conflicts like this."


    Many of the listeners were secretly gasping. Unlike the low hand tactics that they were visualizing that Qiuxiang Huan would be using, she was actually using a higher end tactics to embarrass Qin Keqin. By knowing why the Heavens Ridge Villa attacked the Solitary Manor was akin to knowing that Old Saint Wen had indeed screwed Qin Keqin.


    Although Qiuxiang Huan''s question sounded innocently enough but it was actually a crafty question that was out to embarrass Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin was blinking her eyes. I had nothing to do with this matter. What does this got to do with me? How do I answer a question that got nothing to do with me?


    *Chapter 40, Qin Keqin had heard about the scandal.

 78 The Difficult Question

    Qin Keqin had to admit that this Qiuxiang Huan had indeed caught her off-guarded. She had never thought of giving any excuse for the attack on the Solitary Manor since she was not involved in it. However, the gestures that were displayed by her prot¨¦g¨¦s had touched her deeply.


    Therefore she had decided to take the rap for it.


    She had also never thought that Celestial Shi Guanyin would actually lead an attack on the Solitary Manor for her sake. Previously Celestial Shi Guanyin had been a little indifferent to her. Therefore she had played a trick on her and this had caused Shi Guanyin attitude to change.


    Although Qin Keqin had played a trick on Shi Guanyin, she was also quite generous and had actually given a real Seven Hearts Hollow Pill to her as a secret compensation.


    She had of course lied to Tang Bufang that the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill was tempered with. As a matter of fact, it was not. When Shi Guanyin had taken such a powerful divine pill, naturally she would be consumed by the heat of the divine pill and would temporary lose her profound strength since her profound strength would be consumed in the process of absorbing the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill. It was at that time that she had stepped in to aid Shi Guanyin.


    Shi Guanyin was actually not the target of her prank and instead it was Tang Bufan. It was because Tang Bufan had not only interrupted her moment with Lu Qingyun, he had also insulted her by calling her an old hag that lusted after her new disciple Lu Qingyun.


    Of course she would have punished Tang Bufan directly but if she did that then she would not be the ''Devil Goddess''.


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled gently, "It is perfectly alright for Sect Leader Qin not to disclose the reasons. After all, it is good to teach Supremacy Wen a lesson or two. After all, he had been quite a bully lately."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she tried very hard to think of a reason. Usually she was quite quick witted but because Lu Qingyun was now looking gently at her therefore she was a little distracted by him as she stole several glances at him.


    Between the two of them, it was as though the others did not exist at all.


    Lu Qingyun seemed to be saying to her, "Keqin, we don''t need to explain to anyone. If the Heavenly Fragrance Princess comes down hard on us, I am willing to lay down my life for you."


    Even though Qin Keqin was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing but the might of the entire divine realm was not something that she could clash with. After all, the celestial cultivators were mortal as well and no one had unlimited profound strength.


    Qin Keqin lit a faint smile as she replied, "I don''t mind telling you or anyone here the real reasons why the Heavens Ridge Villa had attacked the Solitary Manor. I believe that it is time for me to give everyone an accounting too. After all, you are all here to attend my crowning ceremony and to befriend me, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan: ???!!!


    Lu Qingyun, Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan were suddenly anxious. It was because if their sect leader had said the wrong words then it would be a total disaster for the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Ling Chong and Fairy Ling Xiu were both thinking, "You mustn''t tell anyone that the Flying Armament Sect is involved¡­" Although it was not a secret that the Flying Armament Sect had aided the Heavens Ridge Villa on that night but some things were better left unsaid.


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling wryly. It was not easy to cook a story that could convince everyone. If she was thinking of telling a story then it would be easy for the many ears to find a plot hole in it and she would be furthered dragged into the mud hole of her own making.


    It was a fact that the Heavens Ridge Villa had broken the sacred laws of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. No excuses could possibly have justified such an act. In fact, several smaller celestial clans and interest groups were already distancing themselves from the Heavens Ridge Villa as they had predicted that it would not be long before the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa were to take action against it.


    In New Empyrean City, there were many fragile alliances and formidable enemies. Throughout the years, the Heavens Ridge Villa had made plenty of enemies. Even if Supremacy Wen did not lodge a complaint against the Heavens Ridge Villa in the presence of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess, there were bounded to be others who were willing to do so.


    Lu Qingyun quickly stepped in to say to say to Qin Keqin, "Master, there are some important matters waiting in the clan for you to settle. Why don''t you make a move first?"


    Qin Keqin smiled faintly as she looked gently at him. She knew that he had only said that to get her out of this awkward situation. "Yun''Er, that''s alright. Master has some spare time anyway. It will be rude if I don''t give an explanation since all the dignitaries are here today and I can''t allow the reputation of the Heavens Ridge Villa to be tarnished due to unsightly gossips."


    Then she turned to Qiuxiang Huan to say gently, "Since you have asked, I may as well make an earlier announcement first."


    Although her voice was soft but in the ears of all the hundreds of listeners in the hall, it was clear and everyone was edging to have a closer listening ear¡­


    Qin Keqin had suddenly taken out a white and blue token as she said in a stern voice, "This is the leadership heavenly fragrance token of our Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Seeing this token is as good as seeing an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa!"


    This heavenly fragrance token that was displayed by Qin Keqin was not the same as the one that was tossed by Feng Minyue to the Solitary Manor. That was an order token and the one that was displayed by Qin Keqin was the leadership token.


    The instant that Qin Keqin had displayed the leadership token, there was an intimidating profound aura that shook the hearts of all the people in the hall.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were both stunned. How did their sect leader got her hand on the leadership heavenly fragrance token of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess?!


    Old Councilor You was startled, "This¡­"


    He had seen quite a few of the leadership heavenly fragrance tokens in the past and had only seen only one in the past with this kind of intimidating profound aura. The leadership tokens of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had their own auras depending on the profound strength of the Heavenly Fragrance Princesses that issued it.


    There was only one Heavenly Fragrance Princess that had this kind of profound strength and that was the Great Saintess Feng Minyue!


    So he was stammering with shock, "This is¡­the leadership token that is issued by the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Min¡­" but he stopped short of completing his words as he had suddenly realized that it was horribly rude for him to call out Great Saintess Feng Minyue personal name.


    But it could not stop the some of the panicky crowd from muttering, "Great Saintess Feng Minyue¡­it is the leadership token of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue¡­"


    Even Qiuxiang Huan was stunned by the display of the leadership heavenly fragrance token as she thought, "This can''t be real right? This token must be a fake¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had sharp ears as well and at this moment, his countenance had a weird expression on it and his mind was pacing. "Senior Feng Minyue is the Great Saintess Feng Minyue?! She is the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue?!"


    He did not know who Feng Minyue was back then. It was because after Feng Minyue had passed the Heavenly Fragrance Princess position to her successor, she had gone into seclusion.


    The astonishing alluring maiden that had poured tea for him during their first meeting was actually the divine ruler of this entire divine realm?! Was this even possible?!


    He felt as though his legs had gone jelly and his head was in a great daze¡­


    Now it made sense to him all of a sudden. He knew that Feng Minyue was a great saintess and there was only one great saintess in this divine realm and that was Feng Minyue. No, wait! There is also Xuan Danfeng and she is also a great saintess. And who is Xuan Danfeng? Even Keqin is also a great saintess. There are actually three great saintesses in New Empyrean City and they have addressed each other as sisters?!


    "Keqin is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and the great heroine of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. It is not surprising that she knows the Heavenly Fragrance Princess¡­but why should a lofty existence like Senior Feng Minyue be in this small city and is doing petty things like ''spying'' on the others? To think that I am part of their ''gang'' and I have the lowest cultivation level¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as well but she was not too surprised. It was because she was more interested in the histories of the past celestial heroines and she knew that the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing had adventured together in the past with Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng and Ye Jing. The four of them were as close as sisters. Moreover the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was her idol that she had worshipped in the past and she knew everything about her¡­or so she had thought until she had discovered that she was the Devil Goddess.


    She still could not believe that she would actually be staying under the same roof as her idol. Although she had disliked the Devil Goddess but she was actually glad that she would be seeing her idol everyday¡­


    "Alas, if only she isn''t the Devil Goddess¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled and said with authority, "I''ve met ''Old Matriarch Feng'' by accident and she had made me an elder, entrusting me with the task of reprimanding the Solitary Manor."


    She had purposely said Old Matriarch Feng because she did not want Lu Qingyun to fall suddenly in love with Feng Minyue and to hint him that Feng Minyue was many centuries old. Sisters were sisters only if they were not love rivals. After all, at one point Feng Minyue was even the renowned number one top beauty of the Nine Celestial Fraternity until she had unofficially ousted her from the position.


    Then she swept her eyes across the hall, "I''m sure that all of you have already known what had happened in general."


    She paused to say with a smile, "I had a private conversation with Old Saint Wen because I did not want to alarm anyone that I''m an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. I had merely showed him this token and he was wise enough to stand on my side¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan and many others in this hall had heard that after Old Saint Wen had come out of his private meet with Qin Keqin, he seemed to be a changed person and he had even attacked Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai Laoxiong. Needless to say, everyone had assumed that Qin Keqin had sacrificed herself in order to save her celestial clan¡­


    So that was the reason why Old Saint Wen had a change of attitude¡­


    Everything seemed to make sense now for everyone¡­


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were looking with blanked expression at each other. Did it mean that it was unnecessary for them to attack the Solitary Manor? What a big blunder¡­


    Qin Keqin added, "Why do you think that I will dare to attack the Solitary Manor and why do you think the Solitary Manor will take this lying down?"


    That was the weirdest part. The Solitary Manor with its numerous prot¨¦g¨¦s and branches was surprising quiet about the whole incident. Of course, they did not know that Qin Keqin had actually sent Feng Minyue to silence the Solitary Manor because she was starting to like the Heavens Ridge Villa and its people.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had suddenly realized that Qin Keqin was making up a story. It was because their sect leader had no clue that they had attacked the Solitary Manor as they did not inform her about the attack. It seemed to them that their sect leader was trying to take up the rap for them¡­


    Qin Keqin smiled alluringly, "I actually didn''t want to let anyone knows that I''m the elder of Heavenly Fragrance Villa but I guess that I''ve no other choices now."


    Old Councilor You was secretly pleased. To have an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa in New Empyrean City was an extreme honorable affair and moreover she was also the top beauty of New Empyrean City now.


    "We have all wronged Sect Leader Qin¡­"


    "She is a true goddess with an outstanding background¡­"


    "She is even an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa¡­"


    "Does it means that the Heavens Ridge Villa is also under the direct protection of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling weakly. Although the story itself had many plot holes like, how did she meet the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue and why did the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng make her an elder. There were more questions that she had wanted to ask but she knew that she had to trend carefully lest her malicious intentions would be revealed prematurely.


    Therefore she said gently, "Thank you for sharing. This is truly enlightening. I didn''t know that Sect Leader Qin is also an elder of the Heavens Fragrance Villa as well. I really wish that I would have the honor to play host to you in the future at the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Why should we wait for the future? We can go to the Clear Sky Pavilion now."


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled and her lips were trembling lightly. She was just making a polite speech and had not expected that Qin Keqin would really want to visit the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    She muttered, "Welcome, welcome¡­"


    Why was it that all her plans seemed to be so screwed up all of a sudden?


    Qin Keqin whispered to Lu Qingyun, "Yun''Er, are you well? You don''t look so good?"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly, "I''m good¡­"


    He was still recovering from his shock that he had seen the Patriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue in person and could not believe his experiences¡­


    When Lie Xingyuan saw the shocked expression that was on Lu Qingyun, she was also secretly gasping. "Senior brother seems a little startled after hearing the name of the Great Saintess Feng. Omg¡­don''t tell me that the other Devil Goddess that I''ve seen is actually Feng Minyue¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was clearly shocked. If that was the case then this divine realm had already become the dark territory of the Devil Goddess¡­


    In the meantime Qin Keqin was laughing in her heart, "Minyue, guess that I have to borrow your name and token for a couple more times now." She had made up this story at the very last minute.

 79 The Heavenly Fragrance Villa

    The endless flower mountains range of the Heavenly Fragrance Mountains was where the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa was situated and this was the place where the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa ruled over its divine realm which was named after it.


    There were nine patriarch clans that ruled over the nine divine realms that were collectively known as the Nine Celestial Fraternity. The three dark divine realms were conveniently excluded of course.


    All these nine patriarch clans were first tier celestial powerhouses of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Although the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa was a first tier celestial clan and ruled over hundreds of second and third tier celestial clans in its divine realm, its divine territory was one of the smallest and at the same time it was ranked at the bottom three of the patriarch clans.


    Among the nine patriarch clans, only the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa consisted of wholly the females and men were strictly forbidden from its consecrated domain. The prot¨¦g¨¦ grandmaster of the Heaven Fragrance Villa was the Heavenly Fragrance Princess and the present Heavenly Fragrance Princess was Saintess Su Shanyue.


    At this moment two men were seeking audience with the Heavenly Fragrance Princess and they were nervous.


    They were none other than Supremacy Wen Hongguang and Celestial Bai Laoxiong. As for the rest of their prot¨¦g¨¦s, they were not even allowed to step within a hundred miles of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and were told to wait at the borders.


    The many palaces and halls of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were all stately and there were hundreds of emotionless female prot¨¦g¨¦s that were watching their every step until they had arrived at the main audience hall.


    Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai were actually quite surprised that the Heavenly Fragrance Princess was willing to meet them in person and they began to wonder in secret what she looked like.


    They did not even dare to whisper to each other because there were a dozen female prot¨¦g¨¦s who were escorting them, including a sixth realm expert.


    As they waited in the audience hall, a beautiful and stately maiden with a phoenix and peony crown had quietly walked into the honor seat of the audience hall and she was followed by several high level cultivators with golden eyes.


    Needless to say, she had to be the Heavenly Fragrance Princess because she was the only one wearing the white and blue heraldry of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Moreover she was the only one who was wearing a crown.


    Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai did not dare to be slow to greet her as they quickly said their obeisance, "Our humble greetings to the Heavenly Fragrance Princess!"


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su Shanyue nodded quietly before she said coolly, "I''ve heard that you have a wrong to address. What is it?"


    Supremacy Wen humbly said, "My Solitary Manor has always been a friendly celestial clan in New Empyrean City without any lofty ambitions. But overnight the despicable Heavens Ridge Villa had led an attack on the Solitary Manor. We are not a match for the despicable Qin Keqin who had just assumed a leadership position in the Heavens Ridge Villa. Therefore we are pleading with our patriarch leader to intervene on our behalf and to punish the evil-doers."


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess nodded, "Indeed I will act. It is considered a heinous transgression for any celestial clans in my divine realm to attack in such an open manner. I can close my eyes to small conflicts but this is something that I cannot close my eyes to."


    She pointed to a stack of scrolls that were in front of her, "I''ve already received words from many others on the happenings in New Empyrean City and the complaints against the Heavens Ridge Villa are in the hundreds."


    Supremacy Wen was smiling now. It seemed that Qin Keqin had not only offended him but several hundred others as well. It was no wonder that the Heavenly Fragrance Princess was willing to see him.


    This time round, he had lost some of his anxiety and could lift his eyes upon the Heavenly Fragrance Princess. She was indeed a beauty and he wondered if she was attached. Perhaps he could work on his future with the Heavenly Fragrance Princess¡­


    Therefore he quickly said with a crafty smile, "Not only is our Heavenly Fragrance Princess beautiful and wise, the glorious future of our divine realm will be bright with your leadership."


    He had purposely added ''beautiful'' to curry her favor. It was not a lie at all and she was indeed a beautiful lady.


    Even Celestial Bai was smiling broadly and praising her, "This is our honor to serve such a wise and righteous patriarch ruler."


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess smiled and was less icy than earlier before she asked, "This Qin Keqin. What does she looks like?"


    Supremacy Wen smiled, "She is beautiful but not as beautiful as our Heavenly Fragrance Princess. This Qin Keqin has the heart of a venomous snake and is detestable to say the least."


    "Oh?"


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess waved her fingers and a prot¨¦g¨¦ had walked to her with a scroll in her hands. "I happen to have a portrait here and wonder if she is Qin Keqin?"


    Supremacy Wen was startled that the Heavenly Fragrance Princess actually had a portrait of Qin Keqin. This Qin Keqin must have so many enemies that even her portrait was delivered to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    The scroll was soon unfolded and the beautiful features of Qin Keqin could be seen. Although this portrait could not capture her true beauty but everyone could tell that this portrait was beautifully drawn and was a masterpiece painting.


    Why would anyone even bother to spend so much effort to draw her portrait to such a fine and beautiful masterpiece level? The painter had to be someone who was a master of the arts and Supremacy Wen could not recall any master painter who had the skills to draw such a masterpiece.


    "Do you recognize the person in this painting?"


    Supremacy Wen immediately snapped out of his daze and said hatefully, "She is indeed Qin Keqin!"


    Celestial Bai replied coldly at the same time, "Yes, it is her. She is the one that has led the attack on the Solitary Manor."


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess smiled, "You are wrong. She is not Qin Keqin."


    Supremacy Wen, Celestial Bai: ???


    "She is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing." She simply added.


    Supremacy Wen, Celestial Bai: !!!


    She was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing? The number one heroine in the Nine Celestial Fraternity? Surely there was a mistake somewhere right? They were all thinking at the same time¡­


    Supremacy Wen was trembling all of a sudden as he started to recall his duel with her. Qin Keqin had displayed the ''Heavens as One'' sword stance, a sword stance that only the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was known to have displayed in the past. If she was really the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing then her realm level was that of a seventh realm expert and not a lowly fifth realm level¡­


    Even Celestial Bai had a stunned expression as he muttered, "This¡­is impossible. She can''t be the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. Her mother consort is Fairy Jade Light¡­"


    "Qin Keqin is indeed the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing."


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess smiled coolly as she added, "As you know, my senior sister Feng Minyue is a close sister of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. As for me, I''ve known Fan Yuqing for a long time as well. In fact, she had recently helped me in my breakthrough to the saintess level."


    At this point of time, Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai were both trembling with fear when they had heard her to this point. How did it turn out to be like this?! The Heavenly Fragrance Princess and Qin Keqin were actually friends?!!


    "My senior sister had already informed me about the happenings in New Empyrean City. She had told me that her Sister Saintess Yuqing is too merciful and she is always leaving behind plenty of enemies to screw her later. Therefore she said that should the two of you dare to come here to complain to me then you are simply courting your own deaths. Since the two of you are here, you should know what to do, am I right?"


    Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai were both too stunned for words as they quickly fell upon their knees, "We are wrong! Please have mercies on us!¡­"


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess was humming coldly, "You already had your chances to repent but you had used up all your chances. It is not only my senior sister wishes but it is also the wishes of everyone in the Heavenly Fragrance Villa that no one disturbs the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. Therefore your fate is already sealed when you have come here."


    When her words had just ended, profound energies were zapping from the dozens of swords from the female prot¨¦g¨¦s and the two men were instantly cut down.


    "The Great Saintess Yuqing is a great benefactor of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. No one is allowed to disturb her from having her fun and no one is allowed to screw her up. No one is allowed to know who she is." The Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su Shanyue coldly added after the two men were cut down.


    A female prot¨¦g¨¦ asked, "What about their prot¨¦g¨¦s? Should we deal with them as well?"


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess replied indifferently, "No need. Let them go. They are just small fries."


    "Alright."


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess was smiling wryly. This was not the first time that her senior sister had been helping to get Fan Yuqing off her troubles. Fan Yuqing seemed to have a fondness for endless troubles while her senior sister had the unenviable task of ending her troubles for her in secret.

 80 Clear Sky Pavilion 1

    New Empyrean City, near the vicinity of the Clear Sky Pavilion;


    Two horse carriages were trotting on the road. One of the horse carriages had belonged to the Heavens Ridge Villa and the other had belonged to the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    "Master, we are really going to the Clear Sky Pavilion?" Lu Qingyun asked quietly.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Why not? I''ve heard that the Clear Sky Pavilion occupies one of the most beautiful peaks in New Empyrean City and there is even a large waterfall in its back mountains. That will be quite a sight, right?"


    Then she smiled as she looked at Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue. "You will be interested to take a look right?"


    Lie Xingyuan merely smiled at her question while Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were smiling bitterly. It was not because Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue did not like the beautiful views but because somehow they did not feel that this Qiuxiang Huan had any good intentions.


    At first they had a better impression of Qiuxiang Huan after she had stepped in to aid Lu Qingyun but when she had asked Qin Keqin the cause of the Heavens Ridge Villa attack on the Solitary Manor, they had become wary of her and their backs had turned cold. It was because the two of them were involved in the attack against the Solitary Manor that very night. If their sect leader screwed up in this matter in public, they would all be screwed up as well.


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "Ke-, erm¡­Master. I don''t think this Maiden Qiuxiang Huan has any good intentions for you. You ought to be wary of her."


    Qin Keqin had a sudden smile, "Oh? You''re asking me to be wary of such a beautiful maiden? I''ve thought that all men are lustful animals that cannot resist a pretty maiden."


    Lu Qingyun had an awkward smile, "I don''t know. I''m just feeling uncomfortable around her."


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "Senior brother is right. Moreover there are only the five of us now, minus the two prot¨¦g¨¦s that are driving the carriage. If anything were to happen to our sect leader then it is our failings."


    Qin Keqin smiled wryly, "Don''t worry. We''ll be fine¡­"


    Qin Keqin was never a cautious person and she had frequently paid dearly for her curiosity. She was really curious what the Clear Sky Pavilion really looked like. Moreover she did not want the others to fear her, she only wanted to see their true self.


    In her heart, the Celestial Realm was like her playground before she ascended to the boring Immortal Realm. Therefore she had wanted to experience all the fun that she could before her future ascension. But the troubles that she had caused to herself had almost killed on a number of occasions.


    Although that was the case, the word fear did not even exist in her dictionary.


    Therefore when Qin Keqin said she would like to visit the Clear Sky Pavilion, Qiuxiang Huan was totally caught by surprise. Usually such a visit would need some preparations and a strong mental will to visit a rival celestial clan. Anyone would need some time to fortify their mental preparation for such a visit and moreover Qin Keqin was visiting with such a small entourage.


    Qiuxiang Huan was thinking, "Did I misjudge her? She is a more formidable opponent than I''ve thought?"


    Ouyang Xue asked in a soft whisper, "Sect leader, please pardon me for asking this. But are you really an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and to extend her spirit perception to ensure that there were no eavesdroppers around before she chuckled softly, "Of course I am not! If I am, I would not be here."


    Lu Qingyun, Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Ouyang Xue was stammering, "If the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa found out about this then we will all be in serious trouble¡­"


    Even Leng Qiuyue who had remained emotionless till now was startled as she gasped, "Sect leader, that leadership token is a fake?"


    Lu Qingyun almost dropped his jaws when he had heard Qin Keqin¡­


    With a soft laugh, Qin Keqin whispered. "It is a real leadership token. I took it from someone."


    Lu Qingyun, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    Only Lie Xingyuan was thinking, "Does sect leader really knows the Great Saintess Feng Minyue?"


    Ouyang Xue had turned pale, "Sect leader, we have caused quite a big disturbance today. It won''t be too long before news that you are an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa spreads like a caustic cloud. When it reaches the ears of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess, we will be in serious trouble."


    The eyes of Leng Qiuyue were panicky as she muttered, "When that happens, our celestial clan won''t exist on the map anymore. Our home will be gone."


    Qin Keqin was startled, "This is this serious?" She was now thinking, "I''ve better ask Feng Minyue for help again¡­"


    She did not know that Feng Minyue had already cleared plenty of troubles for her as she though, "Maybe it will be fun if I ask Minyue to make me a real elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa? Then I can show off in front of Qingyun and the rest of my clan?"


    But she replied nonchalantly, "I know what to do, don''t worry. I won''t get any of you in trouble."


    Lu Qingyun said, "Master, I have something to ask of you."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "What is it? You sound so serious?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "I have heard that the Matriarch of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa is the Great Saintess ''Feng Minyue''." He had purposely emphasized her name.


    Qin Keqin nodded slowly, "That''s right."


    Then he heaved a soft sigh before he smiled, "I see."


    "That''s all?" Qin Keqin asked.


    "That''s all." Lu Qingyun smiled.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were quite astonished to see that Lu Qingyun did not seem as anxious as earlier. In fact, he was returning to his normal self and was smiling.


    It was as though this question had a mystifying magic that could ease his anxiety?


    Lu Qingyun was thinking. Since the Great Saintess Feng Minyue was Qin Keqin''s sister, naturally she would be able to bail her out anytime. Even though faking one''s position was considered to be disrespectful and could even lead to angry splits but from what he had observed from Feng Minyue, she did not seem to be someone who was particular about little things.


    "So you know who Feng Minyue is now¡­" Qin Keqin thought silently as she stole a glance at Lu Qingyun.


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling weakly to herself, "The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and the Great Saintess Feng Minyue is said to be extremely close to each other. It is no wonder that Qin Keqin is not bothered by her white lie. But for senior brother to ask this question, does it mean that he had already met with the Great Saintess Feng?"


    Ouyang Xue was still anxious and suggested softly, "It may be wise to return the leadership token to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. In this way, we may get a lighter punishment instead of a heavier one."


    Qin Keqin was not going to return the leadership token to Feng Minyue anytime soon. In fact, she had just thought of abusing the position of being an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. So she smiled, "Although I am not an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa yet but this leadership token is really from the Great Saintess Feng Minyue. As a matter of fact, she has already promised me to make me an elder when she is free."


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were smiling weakly. A lofty seventh realm divine ruler would never be free for anyone.


    Leng Qiuyue asked doubtfully, "Sect leader, you have really met with the Great Saintess Feng Minyue? What does she looks like?"


    Qin Keqin answered solemnly as she lifted her head to ponder, "She isn''t as beautiful as rumored. She is just so and so only¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Feng Minyue was actually quite an alluring maiden. This was one thing that Lu Qingyun was sure about. When he had heard Qin Keqin, he almost choked on himself.


    Leng Qiuyue said with a weak smile, "The leadership token of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa isn''t something that can be given out freely to anyone. Even a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa isn''t going to be an elder."


    She did not mean to doubt her sect leader but this was something that was pretty hard for her to believe that the leadership token would be freely given to Qin Keqin.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were both looking anxiously at Qin Keqin for a reasonable explanation. It was not that they did not trust her but they were anxious for the safety of their clan and on this issue, they were on the same side.


    Strangely enough, after they had been through the same experiential mission together and after they had fought together in the night raid against the Solitary Manor, there was a kind of bonding between the two of them and even their old rivalries were now forgotten, leaving behind a grudging respect for each other.


    Now the two of them were concerned about the celestial clan that they had called home and in this matter, they were quite united.


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile as she looked at them. This was the type of cordial relationship that she liked and did not fault them for raising so many doubting questions.


    She merely returned a faint smile, "Now is not the time for you to know. When we are back to our clan, I will tell you more."


    At this moment, there were shouts from the prot¨¦g¨¦s helming the carriage. "We have reached the Clear Sky Pavilion!"


    She immediately snapped her fingers and looked at everyone delightfully, "Come follow me! This is going to be fun!"


    When Lu Qingyun saw that Qin Keqin was so delightful, he was glad too as he thought dreamily. "Keqin, every single day, I am learning to know you more and more. I am so happy to have you by my side¡­"

 81 Clear Sky Pavilion 2

    Qiuxiang Huan smiled to Qin Keqin, "Sect Leader Qin, welcome to the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    The heaven gate of the Clear Sky Pavilion was on top of an impressive three thousand flight of steps and there were sentries at every five hundred steps.


    To any third realm cultivators and above, walking up the steps to the top of the heaven gate was not a big issue.


    So when Qiuxiang Huan had led Qin Keqin and her group to the top, she was quite startled to see that Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan were still at ease and they were not in the least tired.


    "Isn''t he just a lowly good-for-nothing first realm cultivator?" She thought. "And his personal attendant is also not tired too?"


    She knew who Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were. After all, the two of them were in the top twenty beauties ranking and were her rivals. So naturally she would keep tabs on their gossips and keep track of their cultivation strength.


    She did not know that Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had just a breakthrough to the fourth cultivation realm and in her eyes they were just third realm experts. But even if she had known, it did not matter to her because she was a secret fifth realm expert and there was no way for Ouyang Xue or Leng Qiuyue to overtake her anytime soon.


    Only Qin Keqin mattered to her because they were on the same cultivation realm and she was a potential rival.


    It was not only Qiuxiang Huan who was quietly observing Qin Keqin and her entourage. All the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion was all stunned by the beautiful sight of Qin Keqin, Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan.


    "They are the two alluring flowers of the Heavens Ridge Villa, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue¡­"


    "But the other two beautiful maidens, I have no idea at all¡­"


    "This one is like a peerless goddess. I wonder who she is¡­"


    And of course, the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were also secretly looking at Lu Qingyun and was wondering who he was.


    "That tall young man looks like a fine person indeed," several of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s was smiling shyly when they saw Lu Qingyun.


    Qiuxiang Huan said to the prot¨¦g¨¦s standing at the heaven gate, "Please inform the Pavilion Mistress that the sect leader of the Heavens Ridge Villa is here."


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s at the heaven gate were clearly started. The sect leader of the Heavens Ridge Villa was here? This had never happened before in the history of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    This had never happened before because the Heavens Ridge Villa had no real sect leader for a long time. Even Qin Keqin was an ''acting'' sect leader on behalf of Fairy Jade Light, a role that she had doubled up herself since she had no real interest in managing the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Qiuxiang Huan turned to smile at Qin Keqin and the rest, "The Pavilion Mistress who is my mother consort will be seeing you shortly. Please allow me to lead the way."


    Qin Keqin nodded as she turned around to wink at the rest, "Aren''t all of you glad that we will be the meeting the Pavilion Mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion today?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly. Although this place seemed to be stately and several notches more beautiful than the Heavens Ridge Villa, he did not feel at ease here.


    The Flying Armament Sect and the Clear Sky Pavilion had a longer history than any of the celestial clans in New Empyrean City and these two celestial clans had occupied two of the highest peaks in New Empyrean City.


    The beautiful peaks of the Clear Sky Pavilion were renowned throughout New Empyrean City but it was strictly off limited to most of the celestial clans. It was because the Pavilion Mistress had rarely stepped into the heartlands of the New Empyrean nor did they entertain any guests.


    Therefore there was a certain mystifying feel about the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    But Qin Keqin knew that beneath this lofty and reclusive place, the Pavilion Mistress and Qiuxiang Huan were ambitious people that wished to dominate over the three other celestial powerhouses and become the dominant power in New Empyrean City.


    As a matter of fact, Qin Keqin had already known that Qiuxiang Huan was a peaked fifth realm golden celestial expert as she had the Primordial Heaven Chart, an ancient immortal artefact that could reveal the cultivation level of any cultivation experts.


    She knew that Qiuxiang Huan was hiding her cultivation level by concealing herself as a fourth realm cultivation expert.


    As Qiuxiang Huan led them in an unhurried stroll to the inner palaces, they soon reached a place where they could view a large terrace and there were hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s who were practicing with their swords and moves.


    And these hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s who were practicing below them were all startled by the entourage of the Heavens Ridge Villa and had all ceased their practices.


    "Who are they?"


    "Several goddesses have just come¡­"


    "Who is that fine young man?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling, "It seems that the prot¨¦g¨¦s are curious about you."


    Then she took a curious look at Lu Qingyun, "I''ve heard that the senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa is a most outstanding man of talent and he is also the direct disciple of Sect Leader Qin. Do you think that it will be alright for him to spar with some of the prot¨¦g¨¦s below?"


    Lu Qingyun was growling secretly, "You mean I''ve a reputation of a good-for-nothing cultivator, right?"


    But he returned a smile, "I am still fresh from joining the Heavens Ridge Villa and unable to even grasp a hundredth of the profound arts of my clan. I am afraid that-"


    "My Disciple Yun''Er here will spar with your prot¨¦g¨¦s," Qin Keqin chuckled.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Leng Qingyue, Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    "This¡­" Lu Qingyun stammered.


    Qiuxiang Huan knew that Lu Qingyun was hesitating so she quickly interrupted softly, "This is most excellent. We will be extremely honored to have a core disciple of the Heavens Ridge Villa to give my prot¨¦g¨¦s a pointer or two."


    Leng Qiuyue said all of a sudden, "I''m also a core disciple of the Heavens Ridge Villa. Let me take the place of senior brother to spar with them."


    Qiuxiang Huan chuckled softly, "You are a senior core prot¨¦g¨¦ while these prot¨¦g¨¦s are too junior. Most of them are just on the first and second realm level. This won''t be fair at all."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "That is true. Why not let Yun''Er spar with them first."


    Lu Qingyun replied with a slight shake of his head, "I''ll obey my master''s commands."


    Qiuxiang Huan was delightful as she whispered to the female prot¨¦g¨¦ next to her before she stepped forward to slap her hand aloud to garner the attention of the prot¨¦g¨¦s below, "Today we are honored to have the senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa to be here with us to give us a pointer or two. Therefore I will like everyone to pay close attention to the duel."


    There were incessant mutterings among the hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s below.


    Most of it was negative.


    "This senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa is Lu Qingyun?"


    "I''ve heard that he is a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator¡­"


    "And he wants to give us a pointer or two? What a joke!"


    "The Heavens Ridge Villa seems to be quite insolent lately¡­"


    "Why don''t we teach him a lesson and gives him a pointer or two instead?"


    The same female prot¨¦g¨¦ that Qiuxiang Huan had whispered to earlier was now at the terrace below and she was seen whispering to a petite female prot¨¦g¨¦.


    This petite female prot¨¦g¨¦ was soon nodding and smiling as she listened.


    In the next instant she had unsheathed her long sword and was bowing with her sword to the terrace above as she said with clarity, "Qiuxiang Hanyu pays respect to Sect Leader Qin and to all the dignitaries from the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she turned to look at Qiuxiang Huan, "This little maiden here, she seems a little young? She is also a Qiuxiang?"


    Qiuxiang Huan returned a wryly smile, "She is my youngest sister. Therefore she is the most suitable person to spar with Senior Brother Lu here."


    Lu Qingyun had an ugly expression on him now. It was not because he was afraid of losing this duel but this Qiuxiang Hanyu was really a little too young and she looked like she was only thirteen or fourteen.


    With a soft sigh, he jumped down from the pavilion above to the terrace below and he was soon looking at Qiuxiang Hanyu eye to eye. The problem was this eye to eye was not on the same level and he was two heads taller than her.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu was gasping softly to herself when she had a clear look at Lu Qingyun, "This big brother here is so charismatic. There is no other man as good looking as him in the Clear Sky Pavilion. Moreover, he has jumped from such a high place and there is not a single sound. This means that his lightness skill is at a high level. Is he only a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator?"


    It was not only the prot¨¦g¨¦s that were startled when Lu Qingyun had jumped down from the pavilion instead of taking the stairs, even Qiuxiang Huan was a little startled as she said silently. "This feat alone is impossible for someone who is only a first realm cultivator. He has to be at least a third realm cultivator in order to accomplish such a feat. Maybe even higher."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly to the little maiden in front of him, "Lu Qingyun here. Erm, do we really need to have a duel?"


    Qiuxiang Hanyu chuckled, "Big brother, you are looking down on me because I am only thirteen? Let me tell you this. I''m a third realm cultivation expert now."


    Lu Qingyun was startled and it showed on his countenance. This little maiden was a third realm expert at a tender age of thirteen?! What a monstrous genius¡­


    He really did not know whether to laugh or cry when he saw the long sword that was almost as long as her height.


    "This little maiden seems to know what I am thinking?"


    Qiuxiang Hanyu suddenly said, "Big brother, I think you are wearing your one of your socks opposite. It is the one to your left."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Indeed she was right. He had been in a rush this morning and was dazed from consuming the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill so he had recklessly worn his socks.


    It was not until she had mentioned it that Lu Qingyun had suddenly realized that he had worn one of his socks in the opposite way.


    There was a weird expression that was on Qin Keqin as she thought anxiously, "This little maiden has extremely sharp eyes¡­"


    Qiuxiang Hanyu was smiling again, "Big Brother, where is your sword?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "We can spar with our hands. It is the same."


    Qiuxiang Hanyu laughed softly, "This won''t do at all. This is a golden opportunity for us to know the strengths of each other''s clans. After all, there may not be a next time. If we only use our fists then we can''t learn much. Therefore we need to use real swords."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Big brother, you won''t hurt me right? As long as you are careful, this duel will be a good experience for the two of us." She giggled between her words.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "I''m not going to fight against a thirteen little maiden¡­" he was thinking.


    But Qin Keqin was saying behind him, "Yun''Er, what are you waiting for? We''re all waiting."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He had promised Qin Keqin that in the public, she would always be his master while in private, she would be his beloved. And now, she was his master and he had to heed the commands of his master¡­


    But his opponent was only a little maiden!¡­


    How could he lift his sword against a little maiden?!

 82 Qiuxiang Hanyu

    "Erm, little maiden-"


    Qiuxiang Hanyu interrupted Lu Qingyun with a soft chuckle, "Big brother, do not think of me as a little maiden but an opponent. Why are you hesitating? Are you afraid of losing? I''ve heard that you''re only a lowly first realm cultivator."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "I''ve heard that you have a divine sword. Are you afraid that even with a divine sword that is in your hands, you will lose to me?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Or are you afraid of losing face in front of your master? Afraid of losing the face of your Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Are you afraid?"


    Lu Qingyun had finally unsheathed his sword from his spatial ring.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu looked pleased and smiled, "Finally you have the courage to fight me."


    But when she saw his sword, she looked a little disappointed for it was only a normal precious sword and not a divine sword that she was expecting to see.


    But Qin Keqin was startled. It was because this precious sword had the profound aura of the Divine Sword Fairy Light. Although the aura was faint but she had recognized it nevertheless. She exclaimed quietly in her heart, "He has made a copy of a copy of the Divine Sword Jade Light? How is it possible?"


    Indeed she was not wrong.


    Lu Qingyun had made a copy of the Divine Sword One. It was because he had thought that it was unfair for him to duel with a little maiden with a divine sword. Therefore as he drawn out his sword, he began to wonder if it was possible to make a copy of the Divine Sword One. To his pleasant surprise, it had actually worked!


    Qiuxiang Hanyu asked, "Where is your divine sword? You¡­you are not using it?"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "I didn''t bring it today." It was a convenient white lie. There was no way he could bring himself to use a divine sword against this little maiden lest the sword energies of his divine sword might have caused her some permanent injuries or even death.


    The precious sword that was in his hand was a half-step precious sword while Qiuxiang Hanyu was wielding a heaven-step precious sword.


    Lu Qingyun said politely as he raised his sword downward to bow, "Please give me your pointers. This is only a polite exchange and therefore we should stop when necessary."


    Qiuxiang Hanyu smiled as she raised her sword to bow politely, "Alright, big brother."


    Almost immediately the two of them began to display their sword stances.


    Lu Qingyun had displayed an old familiar stance which he knew before he had come to the Heavens Ridge Villa. This stance positioned his body side way into both a defensive and offensive position as he raised his sword forward.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu on the other hand was swinging her sword expertly like a shield around her.


    Lu Qingyun began to smile weakly when he saw her sword stance. This little maiden¡­


    As she swung her sword in circles around her, it looked as though her sword could touch the ground anytime because she was short. If her sword had accidentally touched the ground then she would have lost control of her sword.


    But that awkward moment never arrive and Qiuxiang Hanyu had suddenly lifted her sword after she had walked rapidly to his side.


    She had noted that Lu Qingyun seemed a little distracted and she had made use of this golden opportunity to launch an attack on him.


    This attack was a series of sword strokes that were light and swift!


    As Lu Qingyun was wielding his sword on his right hand and Qiuxiang Hanyu had conveniently walked to his far right, he could not swing his sword on time since he was more familiar with the sword motions from right to left and was weaker from left to right, he could only lift his sword to parry her sword attacks.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu had leapt into the mid-air and her attacks were not only swift but strong as Lu Qingyun parried one after another until he had made a counter-attacked on her fourth attack which sent her to fly backward!


    She was startled. It was because she had used all her strength in her attack but Lu Qingyun did not even moved from his standing position. Not only that, he had lifted his sword to force her to back off with his sword strength alone. She silently muttered. "Is he only a first realm cultivator?"


    She had the profound strength of a third realm expert and it was not possible for a first realm expert to force her back.


    Lu Qingyun thought, "It seems that my profound strength has grown ever since I''ve become a fourth realm expert."


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion were looking at Lu Qingyun with a stunned expression. It was because they knew how formidable Qiuxiang Hanyu''s aerial sword display was and every single one of them was unable to break her sword art.


    But this senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa who was said to be only a first realm cultivator was not able to stop her sword art but he had also made a counter-attack.


    "This is impossible¡­right?"


    "He has stopped Senior Sister Hanyu''s attacks¡­"


    Even Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were blinking their eyes. When Qiuxiang Hanyu had made her first attack, they were startled by her speed and even more startled that she was only a thirteen year old little maiden.


    Immediately they had feared for Lu Qingyun but to their surprise, Lu Qingyun had reacted with equally fast speed and their eyes could barely follow him.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu growled softly as she quickly adjusted her sword stance again. All of a sudden she had burst forward and had displayed the Blinking Sword Art of the Clear Sky Swordplay. In that single instant, it seemed as though she had vanished from view, startling everyone!


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling secretly. This Blinking Sword Art is a top level sword art that was both formidable and deadly. In the entire Clear Sky Pavilion, only Qiuxiang Hanyu was genius enough to be able to master this impossible divine sword art.


    She had made use of the hand of her youngest sister to show Qin Keqin and her entourage that the Clear Sky Pavilion was a force to be reckoned and that it had many formidable cultivators.


    Her aim was to sow fear into the hearts of the Heaven Ridge Villa and to discourage them from making a move against the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Since Qin Keqin was here now, this was a golden opportunity for her to intimidate her.


    "This is the Blinking Sword Art, the secret sword art of our Clear Sky Pavilion!¡­"


    "This Lu Qingyun is going to be a goner now¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were all gasping and were panicky. It was because it was indeed a formidable sword art and most cultivators had little defense against it.


    However Qin Keqin was still looking at the duel in a nonchalant manner. Although this speed attack was formidable but to any sixth and seventh realm expert, speed attacks could not escape their spatial perceptions.


    And if Lu Qingyun was really in trouble, she would react immediately by defending him with the Divine Sword Jade Light. This was a secret that she had not told him. Although she had given him the Divine Sword Jade Light but she could still exercise her profound aura through it because she was the original master.


    And through the soul link between Divine Sword Jade Light and herself, she could sense that Lu Qingyun was not panicky. It was as though he knew how to react to the situation. Therefore she adopted a wait and see.


    "Compare to Ye Jing''s speed attacks, this little maiden is ten times slower than her. But for her age, she is already a formidable fighter." She thought casually.


    The main reason why she had wanted Lu Qingyun to take up the challenge of the duel was because he had taken the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill last night and had yet to circulate his profound strength. The best way to fully circulate the profound power of the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill into his inner cultivation sea was to force him to fight using all his profound strength.


    To her, it did not matter to her if he lost or win as long as this main objective could be attained. She did not care for the ''face'' of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    But she was thinking, "Yun''Er seems to be taking this a little too calmly? He is not doing his best yet?"


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had raised his sword with both hands and swung his sword. Immediately there was a flash of light as the two swords met and suddenly Qiuxiang Hanyu was thrown violently backward!


    Everyone was gasping with shock, including Qiuxiang Huan.


    Did this Lu Qingyun just break the Blinking Sword Art with just a single sword stroke?


    Qin Keqin was also startled. It was because the sword stance that Lu Qingyun had just displayed was an imitation of her ''Heaven and Self as One''.


    Indeed it was.


    Lu Qingyun did not want to use his aggressive Flaming Crimson Sword on this little maiden. Therefore when he had search his mind for a way to handle her sudden speed attack, he had thought of Qin Keqin''s ''Heaven and Self as One'' stance as an inspiration.


    Without a second thought, he had immediately focused all his profound strength into a single sword stroke as he struck the sword of the invisible Qiuxiang Hanyu.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu was of course not invisible in a real sense but because she was moving so fast and bending with the light of her precious sword, it was difficult for anyone to see her.


    And moreover, she could only maintain this high state of speed for just a couple of blinking eyes.


    But during these few blinks of an eye, Lu Qingyun had quickly reacted and used his profound strength to overpower her, causing her to fly back!


    Lu Qingyun''s profound strength was greater than her since he was not only a fourth realm expert and he had also the pure profound strength of Yan''Er to aid him so it was not difficult at all.


    But in the eyes of many, it was an impossible act because this Lu Qingyun was only a lowly first realm cultivator.


    "This isn''t real¡­"


    As Qiuxiang Hanyu gasped with shock in mid-air, Lu Qingyun had quickly reacted by catching her as she landed so that she would not fall to the ground.


    "I hope that I am not being disrespectful," he said politely as he let go of her when they had landed together.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu was startled by his reflexes and was looking at him with mixed feelings, "Big brother¡­" She was very sure that he was not a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator¡­


    Qin Keqin turned to look at Qiuxiang Huan, "Your youngest sister is so impressive. This, I have to admit."


    Qiuxiang Huan was wordless for a while before she returned a faint smile, "This Senior Brother Lu is really an outstanding young man of great talent¡­"


    But secretly she was wondering; how was it possible for a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator to have defeated her genius youngest sister?


    This attempt of embarrassing the Heavens Ridge Villa had failed and instead it was the Heavens Ridge Villa that had shone.


    Qin Keqin was suddenly looking at another direction. It was because a stately lady that was accompanied by dozens of high level cultivators had suddenly appeared on the scene.


    This stately lady was saying coolly, "It is quite an impressive fight. It seems that this young man here is also a genius cultivator."


    Then she smiled as she looked at Qin Keqin, "I wonder if Sect Leader Qin will be able to give our clan Boundless Swords Array a pointer or two as well?"


    Qiuxiang Huan immediately greeted, "Pavilion Mistress."


    And almost immediately all the prot¨¦g¨¦s below were all greeting loudly, "Our humble respect to our Pavilion Mistress!"


    Indeed this stately and beautiful lady was the Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei, the mother consort of both Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Hanyu. It seemed that both her daughters had inherited the great beauty of their mother consort.


    Qin Keqin replied without any hesitation, "I''ve heard of the formidable repute of the Boundless Swords Array as well. It is said that this sword formation is able to trap even a fifth realm expert. It will be my honor to witness it myself."


    Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    "Excellent." Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei smiled in response. "We shall exchange a few pointers then."

 83 The Boundless Swords Array

    The Boundless Swords Array consisted of ten prot¨¦g¨¦s that were between the third and the fourth realm cultivators. Ideally, it should be consisted of wholly only fourth realm cultivators in order to trap a fifth realm expert.


    However the Clear Sky Pavilion could not manage to find so many fourth realm experts and there seemed to be only two fourth realm prot¨¦g¨¦s when Qin Keqin took a quick glance.


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei had of course lied to Qin Keqin that there were only 3 fourth realm immortal celestial experts in her sword array.


    And the one faking her cultivation level was of course Qiuxiang Huan who had pretended to be a fourth realm expert and she had occupied the weakest point of this sword array.


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling, "There is no way for you to break our Boundless Swords Array because I''m occupying this ''weak'' position and like you, I''m also a peak fifth realm cultivation expert."


    Lu Qingyun said to Qin Keqin, "Master, please be careful. Do you want to borrow my sword?"


    Qin Keqin replied with a faint smile, "No need. I have my flute as a weapon." Her white flute was actually the Tranquil Flute, an ancient immortal artefact that was a class above Lu Qingyun''s godly divine sword.


    Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were both looking anxiously at Qin Keqin. They too, had heard of this formidable Boundless Swords Array before. The changes to this sword array were unfathomable and could even trap a golden celestial. Moreover there was Qiuxiang Huan who was helming this sword array and they had heard that she was also an unfathomable formidable fighter.


    If her youngest sister, Qiuxiang Hanyu was already this strong, would her older sister be any weaker?


    Qiuxiang Hanyu smiled to her sister, "Big Sister, I''m sorry that I''ve lost the duel earlier. This time, you must win back the pride of the Clear Sky Pavilion for us."


    Qiuxiang Huan returned a smile, "This is only a friendly exchange. So is the duel earlier. There is no pride to be earned or lost." This was a white lie. She had to soundly defeated Qin Keqin this time round and caused the pride of the Heavens Ridge Villa to be trampled upon. Only in this way would the superior pride of the Clear Sky Pavilion be restored!


    As Qiuxiang Hanyu was talking to her sister, she had stolen a glance at Lu Qingyun. A little flush had suddenly appeared on her countenance as she recalled his strong hand around her waist¡­


    She was thinking shyly, "When I grow up, I want to be your consort. In 3 more years, I''ll be sixteen¡­"


    Lu Qingyun of course did not want what she was thinking as his attention was focused solely upon Qin Keqin. He had totally no interest in any underage maidens no matter how petite they were. Even great beauties like Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were swept to the sidelines by him.


    In the meantime Lie Xingyuan was quietly looking at Qiuxiang Hanyu. "This young mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion will grow up to be a most dangerous foe of the Heavens Ridge Villa. I must remember to ask my master for a way to break her Blinking Sword Art¡­"


    Then she quietly stole a glance at the Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei and Qiuxiang Huan. "Although the two of them look stately but they are both full of guiles. We shouldn''t have even come here at all. Qin Keqin is a seventh realm expert, hopefully she knows how to manage them or it will be hard for us to leave this place intact."


    She began to sigh quietly as she recalled the stories that she had heard about this Qiuxiang Mei¡­


    Qiuxiang Mei used to be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the previous Pavilion Master. She was very beautiful and used to be in the top 20 great beauties ranking of New Empyrean City until she was married to the ex-Pavilion Master.


    It was rumored that the ex-Pavilion Master had violated her one day and since that day onward, she had become his consort. But twelve years ago, the ex-Pavilion Master who was a sixth realm golden supremacy had suddenly passed away in an attempt to reach the seventh realm. There were several rumors that it was actually Qiuxiang Mei that had murdered him¡­


    As Qin Keqin walked to the middle of the platform to face the ten opposing cultivators, she was thinking. "Qiuxiang Huan, you have feigned to be a fourth realm expert while I''ve feigned to be a fifth realm expert. But you don''t know that your inner spiritual sea can be perceived by my spirit perception¡­"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei had suddenly called out with a soft smile, "Sect Leader Qin, wait a minute. I''ve something to say first."


    Qin Keqin turned to look curiously at her, "What is it?"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei smiled, "How about a little a wager to make things a little more interesting in front of the hundreds of my prot¨¦g¨¦s?"


    "Oh?"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei explained in an unhurried manner as she swept her eyes from Qin Keqin to the rest of her entourage. "How about this then¡­"


    She took out a red box from her spatial ring and showed it to Qin Keqin, "This is the Spirit Root of the Vermillion Shrub. Let this be the object of our wager."


    Qin Keqin was gasping and so was Lu Qingyun. This rare spirit herb was an important ingredient for the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill and was extremely precious.


    This was something that Qin Keqin wanted to obtain. The more the merrier so she immediately said, "Alright. So what is the wager and¡­mm¡­I need to give something as wager too, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled by this wager. Was this a plot by the Pavilion Mistress to try to obtain Keqin''s divine sword?


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei smiled, "Since this is a wager, naturally Sect Leader Qin ought to wager something in equal value to this spirit herb."


    With a smile, she added. "I have long admired Fairy Jade Light. I''ve heard that she is a highly reclusive seventh realm cultivator who has quite a huge achievement and in the past had even founded the Heavens Ridge Villa. Therefore I will like to ask her for some pointers to improve upon my cultivation¡­"


    She gave a beautiful smile to Qin Keqin, "Therefore if you are able to break our Boundless Swords Array, you may take this spirit herb away. But if you are unable to, I will like to meet Fairy Jade Light one day."


    Qin Keqin asked, "It is this simple?"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei smiled, "It is this simple."


    Of course this was not as simple as it looked. This was a cunning plot by the Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei to check on the background of Qin Keqin who had remained an enigma. If Qin Keqin was able to break the Boundless Swords Array by a stroke of luck, she would be able to see or gauge the depth of her martial level and could even inspect her moves for weaknesses to break in the future.


    But if Qin Keqin would lose, she would have to reveal her background to her.


    If the Clear Sky Pavilion wanted to be the leading powerhouse in New Empyrean City then she had to know if there was a real seventh realm expert that was supporting Qin Keqin.


    She had checked all the sources of Fairy Jade Light and there was actually no such person in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity. Moreover the rumors were circulated by the founding members of the Heavens Ridge Villa in the past and were not a reliable source of evidence.


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "This sounds good. Since I''ve nothing to lose, alright then."


    Lu Qingyun''s heart was suddenly pounding hard because he was afraid to see Fairy Jade Light again. He was really afraid of making a bad impression in front of her. Their first meeting at the Solitary Manor did not exactly go well and he was really afraid that he had already left behind a bad impression on her.


    Qin Keqin had returned her attention to the Boundless Swords Array and she had now walked into the middle of the sword array.


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled, "Please give us your pointers."


    Qin Keqin nodded as she returned a faint smile, "Just don''t thrash me up, will you?"


    Qiuxiang Huan laughed softly, "Naturally we won''t¡­" but she was actually thinking, "Yes, we are going to thrash you up."


    She had lifted her sword and the Boundless Sword Array had now started and the ten of them were now encircling Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin looked at the encirclement and saw that they were moving in pairs. Even it looked like they were moving in a pair but each pair was also backed by two other pairs at the same time. Also this Boundless Sword Array did not look like it was completed. It would be even more formidable if they could find ten fourth realm cultivators that had the talents to use sword energies.


    But it looked like there were only three of them who could display the necessary deadly sword energies that could trap her into place.


    Even if 10 fourth realm cultivators could be found, only roughly a third of them had the talent to display their profound strength into sword energies. It was not to say that those who could not display sword energies were less talented but because everyone had a different aptitude. Some cultivators were stronger in their pure profound strength.


    Moreover although sword energies looked extremely lethal, it was less effective against a fifth realm cultivator who was protected by their golden aura and body, more so if it was used on the sixth and seventh realm cultivators.


    At the same time, it was exhausting to display sword energies and the profound strength that could be displayed was dependable on the swords. Usually only a third of a cultivator''s profound strength could be displayed and the other two third of their profound strength would be lost in the conversion. The effectiveness of this conversion rate could be improved with better weapons but even the best divine weapons could not exceed two-third rate of the cultivator''s profound strength.


    Lu Qingyun had an anxious look in his countenance as he thought, "Keqin is a seventh realm expert. Surely she is able to handle it?"


    He was really afraid that she might get injured. No matter how high her cultivation level was, she was still fighting against ten strong opponents.


    Qin Keqin was smiling as her eyes darted to and fro as she watched the Boundless Swords Array that was no now in full swung against her.


    Against a lone opponent, this Boundless Swords Array was quite effective since no one was able to fully cover all their blind spots. The main purpose of all the sword arrays in the world was to defeat a stronger opponent with overwhelming attacks and wearing down the opponent down.


    Qin Keqin did not move from where she stood even though she knew that her opponents were now watching her back and were about to make a move to her blind spot.


    But who was Qin Keqin?


    She was a super exponent with numerous battle experiences and she had never shied away from a fight. She did not need to turn to see her opponents; her spirit sense had already locked all her opponents into place and nothing escaped her perception.


    As a matter of fact, she could break this Boundless Swords Array with a single stroke by gatecrashing into Qiuxiang Huan but she had chosen to restrain herself. After all, she was here to have some fun. Moreover if she were to break this sword array with a single strike, they may suspect that she may not be a fifth realm expert.


    Therefore she waited for her opponents to strike at her while she smiled with anticipation as she darted with her eyes.


    All of a sudden, two sword energies and dozens of attacks were made against her!


    Qiuxiang Huan did not made the first move first and instead she had waited until Qin Keqin was reacting against the others. It was because in a sword array, timing and co-ordination were extremely important. There were many feints involved and she knew that Qin Keqin would be paying her some extra attention. At the same time, she was also hiding the vulnerabilities of the Boundless Swords Array from her opponent.


    In a split second, Qin Keqin had raised her white flute and had blocked all the preliminary attacks that were aimed against her. Her reflexes were so astonishing that even Lu Qingyun was startled.


    Even Qiuxiang Hanyu who was renowned for her speed attacks was gasping with disbelief, "This big sister¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan was about to make her sneak attack when Qin Keqin had stopped more than thirty attacks with such a swung of her sword arm. This forced her to quickly step back and everyone was scurrying to switch their positions and were attacking Qin Keqin again.


    Never allow your opponent to know where your positions and quickly switch positions to confuse your opponent. This was the first rule of any sword arrays!


    Therefore everyone was quickly shifting their positions and was aligning with a new pair as they renewed their aggressive attacks on Qin Keqin.


    But again Qin Keqin made no move as she stood on the same spot as she lifted her white flute to deflect all the attacks. She did not even turn around as she deflected the attacks that were aimed on her back. It was as though she had eyes on her back.


    Qiuxiang Huan thought, "How is it possible? She is like a wall of iron¡­"


    She raised a secret hand gesture to indicate that she would be the next one to attack Qin Keqin in her blind spot.


    In two blinks of an eye, she had swung her sword and imbued it with deadly sword energies as she displayed the Sky Cut Slash, a sword stroke that could follow up with an additional sneak attack even if the opponent could deflect the attack.


    Qiuxiang Huan had analyzed that Qin Keqin could deflect all her opponents'' attacks because she had the superior profound strength. But against someone who was on the same level as her, this Sky Cut Slash would work against her.


    Therefore she had made her sword move!


    But to her utter surprise, Qin Keqin was able to deflect all the attacks in front of her while reacting in time to deflect her Sky Cut Slash with a startling strength that forced her to fly back!


    Qiuxiang Huan and the other nine exponents were all beginning to sweat heavily. They simply could not believe that with ten swords in their hands, they could not even defeat someone who had only a flute in her hand!


    Even Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei had a weird expression on her countenance as she thought, "This, can''t be real¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan made another hand gesture to her fighters. "Since you are so sure of yourself then don''t blame me for being merciless."


    This hand gesture was an indication for all her fighters to strike her at the same time. Normally it was a suicidal attack because once they had all struck at the same time, some of them may not be able to beat a hasty retreat against a stronger opponent.


    No more playing safe!


    In the next blind of an eye, all ten swords were now aimed at Qin Keqin!


    This time round, Qin Keqin had moved from her position as she flashed to the back of one of her attackers and gently pushed him into her original position.


    All the fighters were startled as they were now aiming at their own fighter. Almost immediately everyone was clumsily withdrawing their sword stances and some of them had even knocked against one another.


    Even Qiuxiang Huan had bumped into one of the fighters that were at her side!


    Lu Qingyun jaws almost dropped as he watched the giggling Qin Keqin. Her moves were totally unorthodox and she did not seem to take her opponents seriously at all.


    As Qin Keqin giggled, she made no move against the broken Boundless Swords Array. She could have easily struck a few of the fighters down. After all in the eyes of most of the onlookers, she was a fifth realm expert and there were few third realm fighters that could stop her sudden attack.


    But she did not made any move at all from her new position and instead she was waiting for her opponents to recover.


    Qiuxiang Huan looked hatefully at Qin Keqin. She wanted to forget about this sword array and challenge Qin Keqin on a one to one fight. After all, any cultivation expert would have a great mental drain after engaging against a formidable sword array. Therefore Qin Keqin was now not at best mental peak¡­


    But when she looked at Qin Keqin, she felt that the one who was mentally tired was actually herself. The failure of the Boundless Swords Array to restrain and humiliate Qin Keqin was a great blow to her own mental state¡­


    "I may not lose to her one to one. These prot¨¦g¨¦s are clumsy idiots¡­"


    And just as she was about to raise her sword again, Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei said with a soft sigh. "That is enough. Sect Leader Qin is indeed impressive. This Spirit Root of the Vermillion Shrub is now yours."


    The reflexes of this Qin Keqin was too absurd, too unbelievable. Throughout the fight, not only did Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei had failed to see the depth of her profound strength, she was also beginning to think that Qin Keqin was making sports out of them.


    She stole a glance at Lu Qingyun as well. The two of them were just too good and their reflexes were three times quicker than anyone. Although cultivation realm level played a major part in determining how good a fighter was but on the same level, the one who could react faster would be the victor.


    Even though her daughter was also the same cultivation realm level as Qin Keqin but she knew that her daughter would not be able to best Qin Keqin at any time soon, with and without any sword arrays.


    Qin Keqin said, "Mm, I''ve won?"


    All the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion were stunned by the decisive victory of Qin Keqin. Most were stunned by her peerless beauty instead as they watched in awe of her performance.


    "This goddess can really fight¡­"


    "She didn''t even fight¡­she is only parrying¡­"


    Many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion were startled that the sect leader of the Heavens Ridge Villa would be so formidable and that she was also the most peerless goddess that they had ever seen.


    Qiuxiang Huan was almost closed to tears; she had never been so humiliated in public in her life. Her many attempts at embarrassing Qin Keqin had caused herself to be humiliated instead¡­


    All of a sudden a panicky prot¨¦g¨¦ was seen running to Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei and when he was near her, he had collapsed with exhaustion on the ground while stammering panicky. "Pavilion Mistress¡­nothing crops up at the heaven gate¡­someone is attempting to storm the Sky Clear Pavilion¡­we are unable to stop her¡­"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei had turned ashen immediately, "Who is this intruder? How outrageous!"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly as she said, "Since there is an intruder here today, as your guest, I should step in to help you as well."


    The panicky prot¨¦g¨¦ stammered, "This intruder¡­says she is Fairy Jade Light¡­"


    Qin Keqin was startled and she was looking sheepish immediately, "My¡­mother consort¡­is here?! She must be¡­a fake¡­"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei returned a stunned look at Qin Keqin¡­


    Did she just hear Qin Keqin muttering something about this Fairy Jade Light as a fake?


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "Keqin''s mother consort is here?¡­"


    Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan were all looking at each other with an even more stunned expression as they gasped, "Our founder is here?!"


    They had never seen Fairy Jade Light before and now the ''founder'' of the Heavens Ridge Villa was actually here today? They did not know whether they should be excited or not¡­

 84 Fairy Jade Ligh

    An alluring veiled maiden in white was seen standing at the heaven gate of the Clear Sky Pavilion when Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei, Qin Keqin, Lu Qingyun and all the rest that were with them had arrived at the scene.


    Although everyone could only see the alluring eyes of this alluring veiled maiden, it was as though her eyes could speak and there were many expressions to it as she flashed her unhappiness and annoyances to all the onlookers.


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei took a quick look around and she was stunned to see that there were hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s that were rolling on the ground, including several of the elders of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    In such a short time, this alluring veiled maiden had broken through tens of celestial sword arrays and formations.


    "Pavilion Mistress is here!¡­"


    "We are unable to stop this intruder¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he recognized the alluring veiled maiden as he thought, "It is indeed Fairy Jade Light¡­"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei muttered with shock at the hundreds of fallen prot¨¦g¨¦s, "This is..?"


    The alluring veiled maiden had a lofty presence and when everyone had looked at her, it seemed as though the heavens and earth had stood still. It was as though she was the heavens herself.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were staring at her with their eyes wide-opened, "She is Fairy Jade Light?¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan gasped softly, "What a terrifying presence¡­"


    Without a doubt, this alluring veiled maiden was a seventh realm expert because she could even cause fear into the hearts of the fifth realm experts like Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei and Qiuxiang Huan.


    The alluring veiled maiden turned to look at Qin Keqin and said, "Where have you been? Why didn''t you look for me? Do you know that I have a hard time tracking you? Why did you turn off your transmission?"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "I''ve something today."


    Then she turned to smile at Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei, "This is my mother consort Fairy Jade Light."


    This Fairy Jade Light was actually the Great Goddess Heaveness.


    "Come quickly with me."


    With that the Great Goddess Heaveness had departed in a flash of white light, stunning everyone. It was because they had never seen anyone that could move in such a fast manner.


    "This¡­this is the strength of a seventh realm expert?!"


    From the expressions of the Great Goddess Heaveness, it was clear to Qin Keqin that she was unhappy with her. Therefore she did not dare to linger for long as she muttered, "Don''t worry, all your prot¨¦g¨¦s are all alive¡­"


    When Qin Keqin had reached the scene, she had quickly swept through the hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s for their vital signs.


    Before anyone could react to Qin Keqin''s comments, she had disappeared in a flash of black light.


    Everyone was stunned.


    It seemed to them that Qin Keqin had moved with equally astonishing speed and had disappeared in a blink of an eye.


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei was totally stunned and she was trembling. It was as though she had seen a monster.


    She had definitely met a few seventh realm experts in her life but none of them could actually move like they did. Their level of swiftness movement had reached the unfathomable and supernatural level because this was something that could not be attained just by cultivation alone. This was martial speed at its most extreme¡­


    Everyone had just one question on their minds, "How long did they train to reach this unfathomable speed?"


    Lu Qingyun was in daze after seeing their speed display. He had remembered that the first time he had met Fairy Jade Light, he did not even know what had hit him and he was taken away in a most effortless manner and the next thing that he could remember, he was thrown into a cave¡­


    Lie Xingyuan was stunned as she silently said, "There is really a Fairy Jade Light? And she is not Great Saintess Feng Minyue¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan was shaking after witnessing Qin Keqin''s speed feat, "She is too terrifying¡­"


    Lu Qingyun quickly said, "I take my leave first!" Qin Keqin must have returned to the hideout. Therefore he decided to look for her there¡­


    And he was gone in the next instant. But compared to the two earlier maidens, Lu Qingyun was like a tortoise as he ran down the heaven steps.


    Ouyang Xue said as she bowed with her eyes, "Pavilion Mistress, we got to go first as well. Thank you for your hospitality."


    And she had quickly left with Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan.


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei shook her head lightly.


    Although many of her prot¨¦g¨¦s were injured by Fairy Jade Light, there was no way she could even ask Fairy Jade Light for any compensation.


    In the Celestial Realm, seventh realm cultivators had lofty status. The difference between a sixth realm expert and a seventh realm expert was so vast that it was like an impassable barrier. These seven realm saints and saintess were to be worshiped and had absolute authority in their domains.


    At the same time, the upper echelon of saints were the great saints and on this level was another huge impassable barrier that had to be first overcome with lightning tribulation in order to transcend into a great saint.


    The nine divine realms of the Nine Celestial Fraternity were originally partitioned by the great saints and saintesses into what was known as the nine patriarch clans, each ruling over a divine realm that consisted of hundreds and thousands of celestial clans.


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei looked quietly at her daughter Qiuxiang Huan and sigh, "It is not the time for us to take over New Empyrean City¡­"


    Against the strength of a seventh realm expert, even if there was only one, any lofty ambitions had to be first put aside.


    Qiuxiang Huan suddenly said in a low voice, "Pavilion Mistress, I have a new plan¡­"


    Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei looked curiously at her daughter, "Oh?¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Near the vicinity of the Heavenly Fragrance Mountains;


    Tang Bufan was chatting with the rest of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s when a group of ten veiled female prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa re-appeared suddenly.


    He had of course recognized them as the same group as the one that had stopped their advance earlier.


    He thought with a pleased look, "There is news from my prot¨¦g¨¦ master and grandmaster so soon?" He was eager to enter the domain of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa to have a look. If this group of prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa was already so beautiful, he wondered if there were more of these beauties from where they had come from.


    At the same time, a hundred prot¨¦g¨¦s on the same side as Tang Bufan who had all fled the Solitary Manor had all gathered hastily to face the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa with eager anticipation.


    "You may all go now," a cold voice said from the maiden that was leading the group from the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    Tang Bufan: ???


    "What is going on?"


    "We can go now?"


    "What does she mean by that?"


    "What about our Prot¨¦g¨¦ Grandmaster Wen and Celestial Bai?"


    The same maiden hummed coldly, "They are no longer around. If you want to join them, we shall oblige you."


    Tang Bufan and all the others: ¡­


    Ximen Yong who was the most senior of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s and who was also a fourth realm expert stepped in to say angrily, "Are you saying that our grandmaster is now dead?"


    Everyone was looking at Ximen Yong with praises in their hearts. "Our senior prot¨¦g¨¦ brother is indeed a great hero¡­"


    "Indeed. Do you want to join him?"


    Ximen Yong smiled coldly, "I just want to make sure."


    "Hmph! If you dare to cross this line here, we will not hesitate to send you to join your masters. " With that the same maiden had turned around and said to her group in a low voice, "Let''s go."


    Ximen Yong said simply, "I bid the patriarch prot¨¦g¨¦s farewell."


    Two of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were in tears. They were not just any ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦s but they were also the consorts of Supremacy Wen.


    Ximen Yong had turned to face everyone, "From now on, I will be the new Grandmaster of the Solitary Manor and your leader."


    Then he looked lecherously at the two sobbing female prot¨¦g¨¦s, "And of course, I will be doing my old grandmaster a great service by taking care of his consorts."


    He had unsheathed his sword as he looked at Tang Bufan and the rest of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s, "So who is with me and who isn''t with me?"


    When he had said that, there were another ten prot¨¦g¨¦s who had unsheathed their swords. But these prot¨¦g¨¦s were all on the side of Ximen Yong and it included three other high level core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    Tang Bufan felt like crying. He had jumped from one frying pan to another. Ever since he had joined the Heavens Ridge Villa, his luck had been going rapidly downhill.


    When Ximen Yong saw that no one was protesting, he began to smile coldly. "Good. Then I shall not decline to be your grandmaster. But should you dare to disobey me then I shall send you to your graves immediately."

 85 Against the Heavens

    When Qin Keqin had returned to the hideout, she had a weird feeling that something was amiss.


    The Heaveness was already waiting for her.


    Beside Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng who were also in the room, there was the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing as well.


    "Lingfeng, she is finally here." The Heavenly Temptress said mesmerizingly.


    The true name of the Heaveness was Ji Lingfeng and that was her mortal name before she had ascended to the Celestial Realm.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Why are you looking for me so urgently?"


    But the Heaveness interrupted softly, "Why did you turn off your transmission?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she turned to look at Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng, "You will not believe it. I was invited to be crowned as the top beauty of New Empyrean City today. Isn''t this something to be happy about? So I''ve turned off the transmission so that I can fully focus on this event."


    All of a sudden she noticed that everyone was not smiling but was looking quietly at her.


    "Huh? What is wrong?" Qin Keqin asked.


    The Heaveness smiled coldly, "I am here to tell you your Aunt Lie Qing will be assuming your identity as the Devil Goddess. Therefore I want you to hand over all your Devil Goddess'' secrets to her from this day onward. From now onward, we will be fighting against the heavens."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    The Heavenly Temptress shrugged her shoulders as she smiled, "This is the will of the Heaveness. So you have to heed her commands."


    Qin Keqin was stunned as she muttered, "No way! No way that I''m going to do this." Then she looked at her sister saintesses, "Say something please."


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng both heaved a soft sigh, "We are with the Heaveness."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    She had just gone away for a few days and her whole place was taken by the Heaveness and even her sister saintesses had revolted against her?!


    Her eyes had turned bleary red as she stared blankly at Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng, "We have been companions and sisters for so many years now. So all of you are now betraying me?"


    Feng Minyue pursued her lips, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, it isn''t what you think it is¡­"


    Qin Keqin interrupted with a soft laugh, "It isn''t what I think it is? Then why aren''t you siding with me? Because you are afraid of two mere immortals?"


    The Heaveness said coolly, "This mere immortal here can crush you like you an ant."


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "Oh really? We will only know if we have sparred."


    The Heavenly Temptress said, "Then you have to fight me first."


    Qin Keqin looked hatefully at the Heavenly Temptress, "Go away! This is just between the Heaveness and me!"


    "Is it because you cannot outfight me and that''s why you are challenging the Heaveness instead?" the Heavenly Temptress coolly said. "You well know that her martial skills are just so and so only."


    The Heaveness weakly smiled, "Even this so and so is enough to handle a brat like her."


    "I am a brat?!" Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "I am already several centuries old now. Don''t think because you are my senior and the sister to my mother consort, you can bully me like this! Don'' t forget that I have two immortal artefacts from the Jade Emperor in my hands. If you want to be the Devil Goddess then you have to first defeat me-"


    All of a sudden the Heavenly Temptress had raised her fingers and immediately three golden globes of light had streaked across the room to aim at Qin Keqin. "The one that is going to be Devil Goddess is right here!"


    As Qin Keqin raised her white flute to deflect the golden globes, she was forced to take three steps backward and her sword arm was trembling.


    The Heavenly Temptress said coolly, "So what if you have an immortal artefact or two in your hands? Your profound strength is still so lacking."


    Qin Keqin shot everyone a hateful glance, "Fine! I''ll leave. You can be the Devil Goddess but I''m not going to help you by telling any of you my secrets!"


    With that she had quickly disappeared.


    The Heaveness sighed softly, "Do you think we are too much to her?"


    The Heavenly Temptress replied softly, "She needs to be taught a lesson or two to rein in her ill-temperament."


    Feng Minyue had stepped forward, "Your Heaveness, please pardon me for saying so. You are indeed too much."


    The Heaveness: ¡­


    Xuan Danfeng was startled, "Minyue, come back. You''re being disrespectful¡­"


    But Feng Minyue continued bravely, "Sister Saintess Yuqing is not someone who do not listen to reasons. She just needs some coercion. Maybe you''ve been an immortal for too long that you''ve forgotten what it means to be a mortal. You can''t just take away her hard earned position without giving her any reasons. Even if you are someone in a higher position than her and is her senior, you can''t make this decision for her."


    Then she lowered her glances as she said in a low voice, "She will be hurt. She is someone who is easily hurt. I''ve known her for so many years now. She is really hurt today. She may not even forgive Danfeng and me for what we have done today."


    Xuan Danfeng: ¡­


    Feng Minyue was trembling, "I want to company my Sister Saintess Yuqing till the end of time. Even if I do not get to ascend to the Immortal Realm, it is alright to me. There is nothing more comforting than being with her. Even though she often gets herself into plenty of troubles but that''s alright, so long as she enjoys herself. Did you see her expression earlier? She was really happy just now but suddenly we have hurt her."


    The Heaveness: ¡­


    The Heaveness was suddenly sighing softly, "I have really forgotten what it is to experience mortal joys and pains¡­"


    Then she raised her eyes to say sharply, "Someone is here. It is him?"


    Feng Minyue nodded, "It is Lu Qingyun. I''ll go and take a look."


    Nothing escaped the perceptions of these high level cultivation experts even though Lu Qingyun had only just reached the entrance of the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse.


    As Lu Qingyun had just stepped into the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng had appeared.


    Feng Minyue said, "Keqin has just left. She may have returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa now."


    Lu Qingyun was sweating heavily and he had exhausted all his profound strength as he had run all the way here from the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    He blinked his eyes blankly and said, "Thanks. I''ll look for her then¡­"


    With that, he had staggered to the entrance and was making another run to look for Qin Keqin.


    Feng Minyue looked gently at Xuan Danfeng, "What is love that is so compelling?"


    Xuan Danfeng was smiling bitterly, "I hope that something good may come out of this."


    But they could not say more because this was Qin Keqin''s greatest secret and there were two immortals who could hear them.


    In this entire three known realms, only the three of them really knew who Lu Qingyun really was and he was the greatest enemy of the righteous immortals!

 86 A Melancholy Hear

    When Lu Qingyun had returned to his abode, it was already quite late.


    And even Lie Xingyuan had returned to the abode.


    He was almost on the brink of total collapsed as he had been running at full speed for half a day.


    And when he saw Lie Xingyuan, he immediately asked. "Keqin, is she back?"


    Lie Xingyuan gasped when she saw him in such a wretched state, "Senior brother, are you alright?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded wearily as he gave a faint smile, "Xingyuan, don''t worry about me. Keqin, is she back yet?"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded, "She is in the practice chamber. But Sister Keqin does not look alright to me. She is a little strange."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Let me have a look¡­"


    With that he was making his way to the practice chamber.


    When he had reached the practice chamber, he could hear a sorrowful tune from the chamber practice. He immediately halted his steps and quietly approached the entrance of the practice chamber.


    He could see Qin Keqin''s back from the corner of the entrance but he did not stepped in as he was intrigued by the sorrowful tune that she was humming.


    And also because there were dripping sounds that were hitting the ground.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Keqin is crying?"


    Every drip of her tear was like a sharp needle into his heart¡­


    And the sorrowful tune that she was humming was extremely melancholy¡­


    *Do you know that when you had left me¡­*


    *You have left behind a void that is in my heart¡­*


    *At that time when you had left me forever¡­*


    *My heart has been in solitary ever since¡­*


    *Ever since that my heart had always been sorrowful¡­*


    *My melancholy heart bears the loneliness for your return¡­*


    Qin Keqin was muttering almost incoherently, "Dongfang¡­Jun¡­I¡­miss¡­you¡­"


    And she was repeating her melancholy tunes to herself.


    Lu Qingyun was stunned. It was only now that he knew that there was another man in her heart and the name of that man was Dongfang Jun.


    He was heartbroken and was trembling.


    The melancholy tune of her humming repeated in his heart and was like millions of piercing needles that bled his soul into tiny fragments.


    *Do you know that when you had left me¡­*


    *You have left behind a void that is in my heart¡­*


    (When this man had left her, she was terribly heartbroken...)


    *At that time when you had left me forever¡­*


    *My heart has been in solitary ever since¡­*


    (Her heart had been pinning for this man ever since he had left¡­..)


    *Ever since that my heart had always been sorrowful¡­*


    *My melancholy heart bears the loneliness for your return¡­*


    (She had been pinning for his return ever since...)


    These were his thoughts as he listened with great grief in his heart.


    Quietly, he turned around and ran away, as quickly as he could.


    Qin Keqin was startled by the sudden sound of the footsteps. As her mood was down, she was not paying any attention to her surroundings and hence she did not notice that Lu Qingyun had quietly come to the practice chamber.


    "Yun''Er, is that you?"


    Her eyes were red from her tears as she looked up at the entrance of the practice chamber.


    But Lu Qingyun could not hear her because he had run out to the nearby mountain vicinity. He had no idea how long he had been running.


    Eventually he had run until he had no more strength and had collapsed on the ground. He was sobbing and clawing on the ground, "Keqin, why is that I am not the man that is your heart¡­am I not deserving for you¡­"

 87 Please Forgive Me

    Just as Qin Keqin was about to step out of the practice chamber to look for Lu Qingyun, a familiar sight had greeted her.


    It was the Heaveness.


    Qin Keqin said coldly with a hateful look, "What do you want? You have taken my home and now you can''t even give me a little break?"


    The Heaveness said quietly as she reached her fingers to her, "Look at you. Your eyes are all red¡­"


    "Don''t touch me!" Qin Keqin said coldly as she took a step back.


    The Heaveness said quietly, "Are you still upset with me? I''m sorry for earlier and congrats for getting the number one great beauty crown today. I''m a little too impatient today."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    The Heaveness was actually apologizing to her?!


    The Heaveness sighed softly, "You don''t know how hurt I was when he humiliated me in the presence of all the other gods and goddesses. I want to take my vendetta against him."


    "Yuqin¡­"


    "I prefer to be known as Qin Keqin now."


    "Alright Keqin. Listen to me, will you?" The Heaveness looked softly into her eyes.


    But Qin Keqin lifted her eyes to meet her coldly, "No matter what you say, I will not listen!"


    The Heaveness smiled weakly, "You like that Lu Qingyun, am I right? What if I give you my blessings and support you in the future? I can even plead in front of your mother consort. Lie Qing will also give you her support as well. What do you think?"


    There was a softening in Qin Keqin''s eyes but still, she said nothing.


    "I can even make you a senior sister over Ye Jing. She will be your junior sister instead. Isn''t that what you always want?"


    Qin Keqin murmured softly, "Serious?"


    The Heaveness knew that she was moved and immediately nodded, "Will I lie to you?"


    Qin Keqin had a wryly smile, "All the time."


    The Heaveness: ¡­


    "When did I ever lie to you? Hmph!"


    "When I was a child, you had lied to me that if I keep thinking about a man, I will get pregnant. Do you know that I dare not even think of any men for many years?"


    The Heaveness smiled, "That is just a tease. You are a little child back then. Now you are all grown up, why should I lie to you?"


    Qin Keqin smiled bitterly before she said with a softer tone, "You will not break us up? You mean it? No matter what happens?"


    The Heaveness nodded, "Unless you are the one that no longer wants to be with him. I stand by my vows to the eternal heaven that I will not only break the two of you up but will support you with my blessings. I only want you to support me as well."


    Qin Keqin said quietly, "I''ve no wish to relinquish my position as Devil Goddess. It is because I still have many important matters to do with this title."


    There were too many people that needed her protection, too many¡­


    Therefore she did not want anyone to use the name of the Devil Goddess for something that could destroy her image forever.


    The only person that could be allowed to destroy her own image was herself and no others.


    "We are just borrowing your reputation as Devil Goddess but before we act, we will seek your approval alright? We won''t act without your permission."


    Qin Keqin looked curiously at the Heaveness as she knitted her brows.


    "Of course, you will still be the Devil Goddess and we will do many fun things together. Alright?"


    "Fun things?"


    The Heaveness nodded, "We will fight against the heavens and caused a little chaos here and there."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes with a playful smile¡­


    "Do you know that your two sister saintesses are all missing you right now? That Feng Minyue had even rebuked me openly in front of Lie Qing. She is really daring."


    Qin Keqin could not resist the urge to chuckle, "She really did that? You didn''t kill her or do anything to her after that?"


    The Heaveness smiled gently, "She is really right to rebuke me. She really cares for you. So how would I punish her for that? In fact, I''ve returned them their freedoms. They will listen to you and not me in the future."


    Qin Keqin was secretly touched in her heart. She pondered for a while before she looked shyly away, "About that earlier, is that a promise?"


    The Heaveness laughed softly, "About what? I have promised you quite a few things."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    She muttered shyly, "About your blessings¡­to the two of us¡­"


    The Heaveness chuckled, "Oh that. So you are serious about that? So you are really dating him? So my little niece has someone in her heart already? Since you are serious then I have no other choice but to give you my blessings."


    Qin Keqin muttered shyly, "Who says I like him? He is only my disciple. I still have many things to teach him in the years ahead and I don''t want anyone to take him away from me. That''s all."


    "Come with me to the hideout. I''m sure that you want to chat with your sister saintesses. They really miss you after so many days." The Heaveness smiled wryly.


    Qin Keqin hesitated thoughtfully for a while before she giggled jovially, "They will be so envious of me for winning the number one beauty in New Empyrean City and they will be wishing that they have my position."


    "So little niece, can I hug you now?" the Heaveness smiled alluringly.


    "Why not?" Qin Keqin had already thrown herself warmly into her embrace.


    The Heaveness thought, "Yuqin is really so easy to coerce. It seems that this Feng Minyue really understands her so well. For Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng to give up their lofty positions as divine rulers of their respective divine realm to accompany Yuqin, the bonding between them must really be strong."


    She heaved a soft sigh as she recalled to the happier times when she had adventured together with her sisters¡­


    "It is really such a tragic to be born into the family of the immortal cultivators. Yuqin has spent most her life in extreme loneliness¡­"

 88 Giving Up on Keqin

    When Lu Qingyun had returned to his abode, it was already late at night.


    He had thought that no one would be able to see his wretched state. But he was wrong.


    Lie Xingyuan was still up and the moment that he had returned, she was at his side hastily. "Senior brother, where did you go? What has happened to you? You look-"


    "I''m alright. I was just out looking for some inspiration for my martial improvement." He said melancholy.


    "Shall I prepare a bath for you?"


    "Xingyuan, please take a good rest. I will be alright¡­" With that he had left for his room.


    Lie Xingyuan sighed quietly, "What has happened to the two of them?"


    When Qin Keqin had returned to the abode, her eyes were red and so were senior brother now¡­


    Something had happened and it looked pretty serious.


    She tried to recall the events that led to this state.


    Firstly, Qin Keqin had left with Fairy Jade Light¡­


    Secondly, Senior Brother had followed after her¡­


    Thirdly, Qin Keqin had returned with a redden eyes as though she had been crying¡­


    Fourthly, Lu Qing had gone to look for her in the practice chamber and then he had suddenly disappeared¡­


    Fifthly, next Qin Keqin was now where to be seen¡­


    Sixthly, Senior Brother had returned with a depressing and heartbreaking look¡­


    She was soon gasping, "Don''t tell me¡­"


    Senior Brother had finally proposed to Qin Keqin that he had liked her but Qin Keqin was upset that he had broken their master-disciple protocol.


    Why did Senior Brother have to choose this day to propose to sect leader? It was because she was too beautiful today and was like a peerless goddess. Therefore Senior Brother could not suppress his sentiments for her any longer.


    That was why sect leader had returned in such a hastily manner and Senior Brother Lu Qingyun looked like he was in hot pursue of her to explain things?


    But sect leader could not listen to his explanations and therefore Senior Brother had left hastily. He must have been so heartbroken that he had left to find a place to quiet down.


    But from his earlier expression, it seemed that he had not got over his heartbreak¡­


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly, "Senior Brother, you have only sect leader in your heart but do you know that she is actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing? You and she are impossible to be together¡­"


    When Lu Qingyun had returned to his room, he had quietly leaned his back against the wall. His mind was heavy with extreme sorrow.


    "If he returns then Keqin will be very happy¡­"


    "One day Keqin may regret her decision to be with me¡­"


    "Therefore I cannot be selfish. If I really love Keqin then I must also consider her future happiness¡­"


    He was trembling hard and once again his heart began to ache uncontrollable.


    For that man who was able to make a great saintess like Keqin to shed her tears for him, he must be someone who was truly important in her heart. Therefore he could only give her up¡­


    All of a sudden Yan''Er had appeared and her face was wet, "Master¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled by the sudden appearance of Yan''Er. It was because she was not supposed to appear unless he had said so. "Yan''Er, why are you crying?"


    Yan''Er shook her head sadly, "It is not Yan''Er who is crying but Master. You''re crying in your heart. Why did you want to give up on Big Sister Keqin? If you are so unwilling to give her up then why did want to hurt yourself?"


    Lu Qingyun looked away before he replied in a sad and bitter voice, "Big Sister Keqin is a peerless goddess. She should be with the one that is most compatible to her. A lowly good-for-nothing cultivator like me is not fit to be with her¡­"


    Then he looked at Yan''Er with a sorrowful look as he recalled the words of the old man who claimed to be a fortune-teller, "And I will bring upon her a great calamity. It is better that I stay away from her instead."


    Yan''Er muttered curiously, clearly not understanding. "A great calamity?¡­"


    Lu Qingyun nodded quietly, "It is for her own good¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Qin Keqin had returned with the Heaveness to the hideout, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were already waiting for her.


    "Sister Saintess Yuqing, welcome back." Feng Minyue greeted her with a soft sigh before she added. "Please¡­forgive us. I hope that we can continue to be sisters."


    Xuan Danfeng smiled nonchalantly, "Since she is already back then everything is already alright."


    The Heaveness said quietly to Qin Keqin, "I shall leave you to your sisters." With that, she had left the room.


    Qin Keqin laughed softly as she looked at Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng, "Of course we are still sisters. Do you want to hear about what happens today?"


    Feng Minyue smiled, "That you have become the top beauty in New Empyrean City? In the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity, Sister Saintess Yuqing is already the top beauty. Being the top beauty in New Empyrean City is nothing at all."


    "Minyue, are you envious of me? Danfeng as well?"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Of course I am envious. I am the most beautiful maiden in New Empyrean City. They should nominate me instead."


    "No, you''re not." Qin Keqin protested immediately. "You look like a ghost actually¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng: ¡­


    "A beautiful ghost," Feng Minyue added with a gentle smile.


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "That isn''t all. Don''t you want to hear what exactly happens today? And do you know how many interesting people that I had met today? And my Yun''Er, he was so impressive today as well¡­"


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng took a quiet glance at each other. It seemed that Qin Keqin had returned to her usual old self.


    "I was at the Clear Sky Pavilion today. But let me tell me about this Qiuxiang Huan first¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng laughed along with her, "So it does seem that quite a few things had happened today. I''ve also many gossips to share with you as well."


    Feng Minyue nodded, "I think that even if we chat for three days and nights, it won''t be enough. Yuqing, why don''t you stay around for a few days with us?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "That is my intention too!"


    "Wait! Hold it, hold!" Xuan Danfeng immediately said hastily.


    "What''s up with you?" Qin Keqin growled softly.


    "I need to get my wines! How can we not drink in an occasion like this?" Xuan Danfeng was laughing jovially as her bewitching eyes looked at the two of them.


    "This is so typical of Danfeng." Qin Keqin muttered, "But who is paying the tabs? Surely you are not thinking of taking the wines that are meant for our customers?"


    Xuan Danfeng laughed softly and whispered, "Since the Heaveness is here, she shall be the one that will be paying the tabs."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes with a sly smile, "I''ve almost forgotten about her. In that case, I want to have the divine fruits from the Eastern Divine Realms too."


    Feng Minyue almost got the shock of her life, "Yuqing, that is a little too wasteful. We should save the divine fruits for later¡­"


    It was so typical of Fan Yuqing/ Qin Keqin to be a hundred times more wasteful than Xuan Danfeng. Together the two of them were spending all their cultivation resources as though it was like free flowing water.


    Xuan Danfeng laughed, "Minyue, don''t be so horrible. You should relax a little. We can always get more of these divine fruits later and of course, more wines too."


    Qin Keqin was nodding, "That''s right. Maybe we can even swindler the old Heaveness for some immortal fruits as compensation¡­"


    And later throughout the night, the three sister saintesses continued to chat delightfully with one another.


    In another room;


    The Heaveness of course had sharp ears as she looked at Lie Qing, "This Yuqin is too much. She dares to call me old. How outrageous and she is even thinking of swindling me."


    The Heavenly Temptress smiled as she played with her nails. "Well, I find that there is nothing wrong with that. She looks more like us than her parents."


    The Heaveness smiled weakly. Indeed. She had spent more time with her than her parents who were always not around. As a matter of fact, Fan Yuqin had never seen her parents for more than ten times in her entire lifetime and each meeting had only lasted less than an hour.


    In her heart, Fan Yuqin was like her daughter and she had actually watched her as she grew up. In fact, she was the one who had crafted the Divine Sword Jade Light to be given to her.


    She still remembered that the day Fan Yuqin had received the divine sword, she was so delighted that she said. "This divine sword is my most precious sword from the Heaveness. I''ll always treasure it and will never abuse it."


    In fact, she had never been known to use the divine sword at all even when she was in trouble.


    Fan Yuqin aka Fan Fuqing/ Qin Keqin had said back then, "But if I were to give this divine sword away in the future then that person will be the most precious person in my heart."


    That was the reason why when the Heaveness was in trouble, the first person that she had come to look for was actually this ''daughter'' of hers.


    And that was also the reason why Fan Yuqin knew of her cards so well and could even be disrespectful to her.


    The Heavenly Temptress looked quietly at her before she said, "Before I''ve my own daughter, I don''t know why you are willing to spend so much time on Yuqin instead of your own cultivation. Among all the great goddesses, your cultivation progression is quite slow. With your lofty status, do you really care about any material wealth and spirit stones? You''re doing it because of her, because in your heart, she is your daughter, am I right?"


    The Heaveness lit a faint smile and did not say anything. Instead her spirit perception was at the on-going conversations between Yuqin and her sister saintesses, as Yuqin was describing what she had experienced excitingly to her sister saintesses.


    Yuqin was happily telling them, "Guess what I''m going to tell you next? That Ye Jing is going to be re-delegated to be my junior sister. I am going to be her senior sister soon! Can you imagine the shock that will be in her face that can''t be wiped away? I can''t wait for her to call me Senior Sister Yuqing *soft chuckle* while I call her my Junior Sister Ye Jing¡­"


    The Heaveness lowered her glances to smile in her heart, "I will rather take you in as my own daughter and not my prot¨¦g¨¦¡­"

 89 Upper Fourth Realm now?!

    Lu Qingyun heaved a sorrowful soft sigh in his heart, "Keqin has not returned for the past three days¡­"


    He was smiling bitterly to himself.


    He was probably not in her heart at all. If he was then she would have told him where she was going and would not disappear as she pleased.


    Although they were now a secret couple now but he did not feel they were a real couple yet. They simply did not have any time for each other and moreover they were only a couple for just a few days.


    But now, he no longer had any wishful thoughts anymore and decided to devote all his time into his cultivation and martial training.


    As he walked to the practice chamber, he had chanced upon Lie Xingyuan.


    She was immediately asking, "Senior brother, shall I prepare lunch for you?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled gently, "No need. Xingyuan¡­"


    "Yes senior brother?" she asked and hastily added. "If senior brother has anything to ask of me, please do not hesitate to tell me."


    He gave a soft sigh, "I will be preparing myself intensively for the martial tournament. Therefore I will be in the practice chamber until I am done. If¡­"


    He began to hesitate for a while before he said with another sigh, "Please let Keqin knows when she has returned."


    "I will." Lie Xingyuan promised him.


    As he walked to the practice chamber, Lie Xingyuan was sighing secretly. For the past three days, senior brother was looking so lost and soulless.


    He must be pinning for sect leader''s whereabouts but until now, she had not returned.


    She muttered, "Sect leader must be very upset with him¡­"


    Then she was gasping secretly, "He shouldn''t have¡­done that thing on her right?" A thought had suddenly crossed her mind before it vanished as quickly as it came. "No, senior brother isn''t that sort of a man. He will not force himself on her¡­"


    She stared blankly after him.


    It was alright if senior brother did not have her in his heart.


    She muttered, "As long as I have him in my heart, it doesn''t matter if he has me in his heart. Because he is the senior brother who has helped me the most. Because he is Lu Qingyun that I''ve known¡­"


    When Lu Qingyun was in the practice chamber, he quickly began to meditate first. It was because he had been thinking a lot of things for the past couple of days and was too distracted to do anything. Therefore he had to clear his mind of all distractions and clear his mind of¡­Keqin¡­


    The hours had quickly passed and he had finally opened his eyes.


    He was ready to begin his cultivation practice.


    He had only one thing in his mind now and that was to practice hard for the upcoming core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial tournament that would be coming in the next couple of days.


    It was nigh time for him for him to do so.


    Thinking back, he still could not believe that he had advanced from a lowly first realm cultivator to an initial fourth realm immortal celestial in less than three months.


    If this was in the past, he would not believe it.


    All these because he had met her¡­


    No! He must not think of her anymore and quickly cast thoughts of her away.


    So once again, he focused his mind to his cultivation.


    "So I''m now a fourth realm cultivation expert now¡­"


    The fourth realm was the energy level of the cultivators. At this level, the profound strength of the cultivators could be manifested in many ways.


    Absurd martial power caused by the surge of profound strength.


    A strengthening of the cultivator''s profound aura that enhanced the spirit sense and profound presence.


    The ability to channel profound strength into external profound energy through weapons known as sword energy.


    Among these three abilities, the third ability was the hardest to gain because it got nothing to do cultivation level but was an indirect manifestation of the energy level. There were a great many high level cultivators in the sixth and seventh realms that could not gasped the sword intent to use sword energies and that did not hinder them at all.


    In fact for those geniuses that had grasped the sword intent in the fourth realm or above to use sword energies, it was more a curse than a blessing. It was always a temptation to pursue to highest level of the sword intents and hence, their real cultivation progression would then be slowed down or even hinder.


    Moreover the advancement of a cultivator''s sword intents often could not keep up with the pace of progression of a high level cultivator''s formidable aura that could use their profound aura to suppress the sword energies that were used against them.


    As he reached into his inner spiritual reservoir to draw his profound strength, he was suddenly startled. "Yan''Er, I am now an upper fourth realm expert now?"


    Yan''Er quickly appeared as she hovered around him lazily. She was suddenly gasping, "That is right. Master, you are an upper fourth realm expert now. You have skipped two small realms¡­"


    There was a pleasant surprise on her as she clapped happily.


    Lu Qingyun looked curiously at her, "You''re not the one who¡­erm¡­is cultivating?"


    Yan''Er smiled weakly, "I can''t. Master, do you know that your spiritual force is so dry lately that your Yan''Er cannot cultivate at all!"


    That was the truth.


    Three days ago, Lu Qingyun had totally expended all his profound strength to duel with Qiuxiang Hanyu and ''running all over the place''.


    Once a cultivator had reached the fourth realm, each of the smaller realms was like an impassable barrier that could take years, even decades and centuries to overcome to the next smaller realm. There were many geniuses of the heavens that were struck at the fourth realm if they would not be able to obtain the necessary cultivation resources.


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly. He knew what had exactly happened.


    It was due to the powerful effect of the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill. It was a most precious divine pill that was hardly obtainable by most cultivators and yet he had taken one, because of her again¡­


    It just that he did not expect the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill to work so well that it could even raise his weak fourth realm foundation to the upper echelon. This was truly a miracle.


    By his own calculations, this would not happen at all.


    He was actually expecting that the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill to only solidify his newly attained fourth realm foundation and that was good for him already.


    If Qin Keqin was here now, she would not have believed it either. It was because miraculous divine pills could only help this much and it was all dependable on the foundation of the cultivator.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin had needed a Seven Hearts Hollow Pill for a breakthrough to the intermediate fifth realm golden celestial level and it was only because she was already at the peaked initial fifth realm level.


    For Lu Qingyun to breakthrough to the intermediate fourth realm level, he had to first solidify his cultivation inner sea and that mean that he had to be a peaked initial fourth realm level first.


    But now, he had actually jumped all the way to the upper fourth realm level. If this was not a miracle then what it was?


    His calculations were indeed correct. The Seven Hearts Hollow Pill could enhance his profound strength by 30% and that was not enough for any breakthrough. But it could indeed give him a good foundation and would make his fourth realm cultivation a lot easier.


    And that was Qin Keqin''s intention as well.


    But because Lu Qingyun had the Annihilating God Seed within his inner elixir sea, the gain of his profound strength was being accelerated; the Annihilating God Seed was a better facilitator in absorbing the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill and it was now releasing the annihilating profound force into him, effectively doubling his existing profound strength.


    And because Lu Qingyun had totally expended all his profound strength to his limits 3 days ago, the gain of his profound strength was tripled and not doubled.


    In normal circumstances, it was rare for anyone to be able to use more than 70% of their profound strength without feeling terribly tired.


    Even Qin Keqin was hoping that Lu Qingyun could exercise around 30% of his profound strength when he had dueled with Qiuxiang Hanyu.


    But Lu Qingyun was eager to catch up with Qin Keqin and he had gone over his physical and mental limits without a care. Only by his sheer strength of will, he did not collapse from exertion.


    Because of this, the Annihilating God Seed was able to further absorb the Seven Hearts Hollow Pill and had greatly enhanced his profound strength by tripling it!


    Yan''Er was in a deep slumber lately as she had no mood to cultivate especially when she had seen her master was in depression lately and moreover she was waiting for the depleted spiritual reservoir to be replenished.


    She stared blankly into her master''s spiritual reservoir as she muttered, "Master, your spiritual sea is so vast now¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "But I don''t see any difference."


    Yan''Er said cutely, "That is because it isn''t full yet. It may need more time. In fact, it is only 1/3 full now."


    As Lu Qingyun exercised his profound strength, he was muttering. "Weird. Why is that I''m now feeling that there is an added strength guiding me when I am exercising my profound strength?"


    Yan''Er was looking greedily into his inner spiritual sea as she laughed jovially, "Master, it is your Annihilating God Seed. It is now manifesting into your profound strength. It is no longer a seed anymore."


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Yan''Er said delightfully, "It has now been nurtured. Not only is Yan''Er much stronger now, so is Master."


    Summoning his profound strength from his inner spiritual sea, Lu Qingyun formed a wisp of spirit flame in his hand and was startled that his golden roc flame was now twice as formidable. This was not the result of him reaching the fourth realm but something else.


    He knew that he could be able to use his golden roc flame once he had reached the energy level of the fourth realm but this flame was even more powerful than any sword energies that he had seen. In fact, this could even be on the same level as the energy level of a sixth realm expert!


    Yan''Er was looking pleased that her master was now able to drawn upon her strength and she had decided that it was now her turn to be lazy.


    Lu Qingyun seemed to share the same thoughts as her and he said to her, "Don''t be lazy Yan''Er. The world of cultivation has many strong opponents. I''ll still need your spirited help. Only when you and I are one, can we truly unleash our full strength."


    Yan''Er began copy Qin Keqin as she rolled her eyes. It was not a yes or a no reply but an amused look.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh as Yan''Er expressions were like Qin Keqin. So he said, "Don''t copy her. She won''t like it."


    Yan''Er continued to roll her eyes as she hovered around, not caring at all.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    It was as though Yan''Er was saying to him, "Big Sister Keqin isn''t around so she won''t know. And you are lying to me, master!"


    With a soft sigh, Lu Qingyun said. "Yan''Er, I like to make further progression on the Flaming Crimson Sword and I''ll like you to help me."


    Yan''Er was delighted as she clapped her hands, "Woah! Finally!"


    She was jumping for joy because she could cultivate her spirit at the same time while Lu Qingyun was practicing with the Flaming Crimson Sword. This Flaming Crimson Sword was of the fire element and aligned completely with her aura. There were immerse benefits to her growth and moreover this was a golden opportunity for her to absorb the profound energy of the annihilating force at the same time.


    "Quick! Master, what are you waiting for?"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly at her enthusiastic expressions, "I haven''t even taken out the cultivation slip out yet."

 90 Qiuxiang Huan New Scheme

    On an icy mountain peak where the ice was thick and the icy winds were strong, a lone beautiful cultivator who was dressed in thick beautiful white fur was seen braving the treacherous mountain slopes to reach the peak.


    After a few days of trying, she managed to reach the icy peak and saw a lit cave amidst the snowstorm.


    This lone beautiful cultivation was Qiuxiang Huan.


    As soon as her lovely form had stepped foot on the flat peak, a mesmerizing voice echoed from within the cave, "You shouldn''t be here at all. Go back to where you have come from."


    But Qiuxiang Huan said quietly, "Great Aunt Yin Shisi. Your niece Qiuxiang Huan pays my humble respect to you. I''ve something urgent to report to you."


    In New Empyrean City, there were only two sixth realm experts. One being Supremacy Wen of the Solitary Manor and the other was Supremacy Yin of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    "I want to have nothing to do with the Clear Sky Pavilion. You may leave."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled bitterly, "Do you know that Fairy Jade Light had come to the Clear Sky Pavilion some days ago and had injured hundreds of our prot¨¦g¨¦s? It is only because of the severity of this matter that I am forced to come to disturb your seclusion."


    There was a long pause before Yin Shisi responded, "That Saintess Yuhuan who is the founder of the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    Qiuxiang Huan replied, "Indeed. That is her."


    "Why did she come? Surely it is not because the Clear Sky Pavilion has an enmity with the Heavens Ridge Villa? But knowing your mother consort, it is probably because of something that she had done."


    All of a sudden Qiuxiang Huan had burst into tears as hot tears streamed down her lovely cheeks, "Great Aunt, you must address justice for your little niece!"


    "What had happened?"


    Qiuxiang Huan cried out sorrowfully, "Your little niece here is desecrated by the senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa. The name of this beast of a man is Lu Qingyun!"


    There was a gasping sound¡­


    But her voice soon turned cold, "I don''t want to have anything to do with your Qiuxiang family."


    Qiuxiang Huan sobbed, "Great Aunt, I know that what my mother consort did to her husband is a terrible act. But have you forgotten that you have a hand in her sufferings? As for me, I am your niece, the daughter of your brother. How can you say that I am only a Qiuxiang? I am also a lineage of the Yin family. Now that your little niece is being trampled upon by a deplorable man, can you really take this act lying down?"


    There was a soft sigh that echoed from the cave.


    "Come in first and tell me from beginning to the end¡­"


    When Qiuxiang Huan had entered the cave, there was an enchanting heavenly maiden that looked like she was eighteen and she was lying on a feather bed. However, there were wall chains on her neck, wrists and ankles.


    Qiuxiang Huan gasped and was stammering upon witnessing the scene, "Great Aunt, who did this to you?"


    Yin Shisi said in a slow and unhurried voice, "No one. I am the one that has chained myself to the walls to atone for my past misdeeds."


    This was the first time that Qiuxiang Huan had entered the cave. In the past when she was here to visit, this Great Aunt of hers would always deny her the permission to enter the cave.


    Yin Shisi was the sister to her father. In the past, she had used a heretic skill to mesmerize her mother consort and caused her to fall into a lustful relationship with her brother, the former Pavilion Master.


    But after her mother consort had poisoned her father, Yin Shisi had moved out of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Yin Shisi was well aware of what Qiuxiang Mei had done but it was too late to stop her. At the same time, she could not take vengeance for her brother because she had played a part in the tragedy.


    Yin Shisi personal reasons for not taking vengeance were also because she did not want her two nieces to lose both their parents at the same time. That was why she did not want to take any action. Given her cultivation realm as a sixth realm expert, it was not quite possible for Qiuxiang Mei to stop her.


    That was the reason why she had entered seclusion in this place.


    But why did she chain herself up?


    It was because she had once practiced a heretic skill that was called the Decadent Fingers. This heretic skill could not only keep her appearance as an eighteen year old maiden but it could also cause men and women to go berserk with lusts.


    She had rarely used the skill except for that one instance on Qiuxiang Mei and that one instance had caused her a lifetime of regrets.


    She had chained herself up because she did it to punish herself for her sins. Why did she have to help her brother back then?


    This resulted in a family tragedy that occurred years later.


    How would she know that the weak and vulnerable Qiuxiang Mei would turn up to be such a sly and ambitious lady years later?


    She knew but was helpless to it.


    Because her brother had been so blind and would not listen to her.


    When she was imparted the Depraved Fingers by her mysterious master, she had taken a vow never to abuse this skill and she had failed to uphold her vows.


    This was the second reason why she had chained herself. The chains were a reminder of her great guilt and shame.


    She darted her eyes to say gently, "Tell me from beginning to the end. And you''ve better not be lying to me."


    Qiuxiang Huan was bursting into tears again, "How will I lie about my chastity? I am the young mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion and honor is everything to me¡­Great Aunt¡­you must believe in me¡­"


    There was a softening in the eyes of Yin Shisi, "Alright, don''t cry anymore. I believe in my little niece and I will address your wrongs for you."


    Qiuxiang Huan immediately fell to her knees as she cried out, "Please help your niece to punish that beast of a man Lu Qingyun and his adulterous master¡­"


    "Tell me from the start¡­"


    "It all started when I''ve attended Sect Leader Qin Keqin top beauty crowning ceremony¡­" she sobbed. "I was trying to be friendly to Sect Leader Qin and she had invited me to enter a private chamber for small talks¡­.but who knew that she would suddenly attack me and¡­forced me to enter into a dual cultivation with her disciple Lu Qingyun¡­that beast of a man¡­he¡­he¡­"


    There was a twitch that was on Yin Shisi''s forehead and soon after, the chains that were on her wrists were shattered by her profound strength!


    Qiuxiang Huan was crying out loud and she was trembling nonstop as she buried her face with her palms.


    "Little niece, this must be hard on you¡­" There was rage in Yin Shisi''s eyes as she said coldly, "How dare this Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun made a sport of our Clear Sky Pavilion''s honor?! Little niece, your aunt will seek justice for you!"


    Qiuxiang Huan cried out even louder, "If it is only Qin Keqin, my mother consort would be able to settle this for me but there is this Fairy Jade Light who had wrecked our clan when my mother consort tried to talk reason to her. Your little niece has no other options but to come to disturb the rest of my great aunt."


    Yin Shisi replied coldly, "So what if this Saintess Yuhuan is a saint level? Even if she is a great saintess, I''ve nothing to fear from her. It is because nothing in this Nine Celestial Fraternity can escape from my Depraved Fingers, be it men or women."


    Qiuxiang Huan lit a sly smile in her heart while she pretended to cry uncontrollably. This great aunt of hers was really so na?ve.

 91 The Annihilating Force

    When Qin Keqin had returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa''s abode, there was a delightful look on her. It was because the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress had made a consensus with her not to make any move against the righteous immortals for the time being.


    At least not yet until they were ready to act.


    "Sect leader, you have returned?" Lie Xingyuan asked the minute that she had seen her.


    "Sister Xingyuan, I miss you! Remember that you have to call me your Sister Keqin when we are alone here." Qin Keqin laughed softly. "And of course¡­"


    She paused briefly before she asked, "Where is my Yun''Er?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "Senior Brother is preparing himself for the core prot¨¦g¨¦ tournament. So he is training hard in the practice chamber."


    Qin Keqin nodded as she extended her spirit sense to the practice chamber. Indeed Lu Qingyun was practicing really hard and she could see him repeating his sword strokes to perfection.


    "Then I shall not disturb him. Please let him know that I will be back after a few days to check on him. Tell him not to be lazy or else I''ll expel him from the clan." Qin Keqin laughed softly before turning around.


    "Sister Keqin, where are you going? You have¡­just come back." Lie Xingyuan asked hastily and there was panic in her eyes. She was afraid that senior brother would be disappointed if he did not see sect leader when he had exited his martial retreat.


    She was a little perplexed for it seemed that sect leader was back to her usual old self and there was not a hint of anger or sadness on her countenance. She curiously thought, "She isn''t angry with senior brother? If she isn''t angry with him then why is she leaving so quickly?"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes to ponder before she chuckled softly, "Anywhere but here."


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Qin Keqin was thinking, "Since Yun''Er is practicing so hard, I may well be a distraction to him. It is better that I allow him to focus on his practice. I do miss him but alas, I mustn''t be selfish. Since that is the case then I shall spend a few more days with my sister saintesses. I was worried that Yun''Er would miss me so I had hurried back¡­"


    With that she had left.


    Lie Xingyuan was sighing bitterly, "Sect leader really does not have senior brother in her heart¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun was astonished that this time he had no problem in mastering the fourth, fifth and sixth stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    The sixth stroke was the hardest to master because it would require his profound aura to blend in perfectly with his profound strength and weapon at the same time. This level of control would require him to be at the sixth realm.


    But with Yan''Er help in guiding his profound aura and his own natural aptitude, he was able to succeed.


    Not only that, with the Divine Sword Jade Light in his hands he was able to grasp a new sword intent and evolved the Flaming Crimson Sword into the Flaming Phoenix Sword.


    Somehow he felt as though it was the most natural thing to him to evolve the Flaming Crimson Sword. It was as though he had practiced the Flaming Phoenix Sword for millions of times in his dreams.


    The inspiration for achieving sword intents was extremely rare. Only when a sword practitioner had gained full mastery over a sword stance, there was a chance that he could even totally evolved it into a new sword stance.


    However this was something that he did.


    After practicing the Flaming Crimson Sword over and over again for more than a thousand times, he had gasped the new sword intent to evolve the Flaming Crimson Sword into the Flaming Phoenix Sword.


    And this Flaming Phoenix Sword had a total of nine levels.


    At his current cultivation level, he was only able to gasp the first three levels and the rest of the other six levels were theoretic levels that he had yet to grasp.


    At the highest apex of the Flaming Crimson Sword, the explosive might of this sword stance was really too formidable and uncontrollable.


    The more that he had practiced with it, the more that he had thought that something was amiss.


    All of a sudden he had a strange flashback and saw himself practicing a familiar sword play without a name. It was also an explosive and ridiculous powerful swordplay that could level the ground around him.


    When this flashback had ended, he had replayed the Flaming Crimson Sword from the first stroke to the sixth, over and over again. Finally after many days and after a thousand times, he had re-organized all the strokes and stances of the Flaming Crimson Sword into the Flaming Phoenix Sword.


    The sword techniques of the Flaming Phoenix Sword were not fanciful at all.


    The first level of the Flaming Phoenix Sword was similar to the fourth stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword, releasing a lethal profound sword energy. Yet this profound sword energy was not weak at all and possessed the martial power of the third stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    As for the second level of the Flaming Phoenix Sword, it was an improvement over the first level. At the same time, it had the profound energy of the fifth stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    The third level of the Flaming Phoenix Sword was again an improvement and it possessed the profound energy of the sixth stroke of the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    Needless to say, the third level of the Flaming Phoenix Sword was extremely powerful to use.


    Yan''Er was staring in awe as Lu Qingyun displayed the Flaming Phoenix Sword as she danced in the aftermath of its furious dissipated energies, "Master, your annihilating force is so impressive now."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Yan''Er, this isn''t any annihilating force. I''ve decided to call this new sword stance the Flaming Phoenix Sword."


    "But this is the annihilating force," Yan''Er insisted as she searched her memories. She did not have much of a memory but somehow she knew that this was the annihilating force.


    Then her eyes grew dazedly, "My master has finally awakened your unique desolate force."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Rubbish. I don''t yield any desolate force. I''m not a bad guy. Moreover I''m not an immortal."


    According to the lore of the Celestial Realm, the immortals were divided into two opposing factions; the Righteous Immortals that wielded the universal righteous force and the Desolate Immortals that wielded the destructive desolate force.


    Yan''Er chuckled, totally ignoring what he had just told her. "Master, yours is the awakened desolate force that is only known to yourself. It is a hundred times more powerful than any desolate force. Now Yan''Er feels so strong now."


    Lu Qingyun decided not to urge with Yan''Er because she was just a child. He closed his eyes in exhaustion. He had really spent all his spirit pills¡­


    He had pushed himself much harder this time because he had wanted to forget about Qin Keqin¡­


    "She doesn''t care for me at all. If not, she will have looked for me. It had been so many days already but she doesn''t come¡­"


    While Lu Qingyun was muttering incoherently to himself, Yan''Er was saying dreamily. "Master is the most powerful desolate lord in the Three Known Realms¡­"


    Yan''Er was original a Desolate Golden Roc and was one of the more powerful desolate creatures in the Celestial Realm. Naturally she had the innate ability to recognize the desolate force and she had recognized Lu Qingyun''s annihilating force as a superior desolate force.


    Then Yan''Er was muttering, "Big Sister Keqin innate profound energy is the creation universal force, a superior universal righteous force. Aren''t they supposed to be enemies?"


    No sooner had she muttered that, she had completely forgotten about it as it was a memory flashback from the soul of the golden roc.

 92 Supremacy Yin Shisi 1

    An enchanting and beautiful young maiden was now standing at the heaven gate of the Heavens Ridge Villa as she coldly said to the dozens of prot¨¦g¨¦s that were on sentry, "I do not want to hurt the innocents. Hurry and bring Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun to me!"


    A prot¨¦g¨¦ angrily said, "Who are you to address our sect leader by her name?!"


    As he was about to say more, a senior prot¨¦g¨¦ had stopped him as he whispered. "Did you not see her golden eyes? She is at least a cultivator of the fifth realm. Be polite to this celestial."


    Then the senior prot¨¦g¨¦ began to smile weakly, "How do we address you?"


    The young maiden who looked like eighteen flashed her dangerous golden eyes as she said coldly, "Supremacy Yin Shisi of the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    All the prot¨¦g¨¦s were shocked and were panicky. If she was really Supremacy Yin Shisi then she was a sixth realm golden supremacy and her cultivation level was even higher than their sect leader!


    Moreover the Clear Sky Pavilion was one of the four major powers in New Empyrean City at the same time!


    The same senior prot¨¦g¨¦ began to smile most bitterly, "Your Supremacy, our sect leader isn''t in. As a matter of fact, she is rarely in the clan."


    Yin Shisi responded coldly, "Oh? A sect leader that is rarely in the clan? She must really be so busy. I want to see Lu Qingyun. What about him then?"


    "Will you like to wait until our sect leader is back?" the senior prot¨¦g¨¦ made a suggestion to her.


    "No. I''m already quite polite to come alone. Do you want me to bring the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion here before you invite me into the Heavens Ridge Villa?" she responded in an extremely cold tone.


    The senior prot¨¦g¨¦ hesitated for a while before he respectfully bowed with his hands, "In that case, let us inform our elders first of your arrival. Please wait here for a little while."


    Yin Shisi nodded quietly before she said, "You''ve better be fast."


    Faraway, Qiuxiang Huan was quietly watching her. At this distance, she was safe from the perceptions of a sixth realm cultivator.


    Although she could not hear their conversations but from their body languages, she knew that the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were now informing their elders of her arrival.


    She thought with a weak smile, "As a lofty supremacy, who can stop you from barging into the Heavens Ridge Villa and you are actually waiting outside patiently? Weakling."


    She had always looked down on this unambitious great aunt of hers. Instead of using her status as golden supremacy to dominate New Empyrean City, she spent most of her time in her quiet cultivation.


    Time quickly passed and soon after a group of elders had descended upon the heaven gate.


    Among the group were Celestial Shi Guanyin and the rest of the grand elders. Leng Qiuyue was also among the group as she was with her master when a messenger had hastily told them that Supremacy Yin Shisi had arrived.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "I wonder what brings your supremacy here?" She had of course recognized who she was. In fact, other than Ouyang Xue, all the other grand elders had seen her before.


    Yin Shisi said coldly, "I am not here for some pleasantries. You can even say that I am here to cause troubles."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue were all smiling bitterly. Could it be that she was here because of the recent happenings at the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Upon her return to the Heavens Ridge Villa, Leng Qiuyue had told Celestial Shi Guanyin and the rest of the grand elders what transpired at the Clear Sky Pavilion. After all, the appearance of Fairy Jade Light was not something that she would want to hide.


    However Fairy Jade Light had not shown up at the Heavens Ridge Villa at all. They had wanted to ask Qin Keqin about her mother consort but Qin Keqin had come and goes as she pleased. Even if they wanted to ask Qin Keqin about this matter, they had to find her first.


    Every time when they had heard she had arrived and had rushed to look for her, she had already left.


    This acting sect leader of theirs was totally uninterested in the affairs of the clan¡­


    However this was not necessary a bad thing to them. Celestial Shi Guanyin and many of the grand elders were worried at first that Qin Keqin may be trying to exert her influence over the Heavens Ridge Villa. However their worries were unwarranted as they soon noticed that this sect leader of theirs was totally inattentive when it came to the affairs of the clan.


    Yin Shisi added coldly, "Take me to see Lu Qingyun. I want to see this beast of a man. For the sake of the face of the Heavens Ridge Villa, I will suggest that only the grand elders follow me."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin took a glance at Celestial Kong Guxin, Ouyang Xue, Yun Xing, Wang Ming and Mu Han. But it seemed that they were all waiting for her to make a decision.


    Shi Guanyin was smiling weakly to herself. Ever since they had all made an attack on the Solitary Manor together, the six martial halls had never been so united before. In the past, the other grand elders were often at odds with one another and would never be willing to follow the leadership of anyone. But now they seemed to have appointed her as the unofficial leader of their group.


    She heaved a soft sigh, "Alright. Follow me then."


    Although this Yin Shisi appeared to be rude but she was actually quite polite already since she had not lifted her fingers against of any the prot¨¦g¨¦s. And this request of hers was also reasonable.


    But why did she want to meet Lu Qingyun for?


    Celestial Shi Guanyin secretly took a glance at Yun Xing who nodded. If this Yin Shisi was to take any action against Lu Qingyun then they would immediately step in to stop her. They were worried that this may be a plot by Yin Shisi.


    Ouyang Xue was thinking the same too. "If she dares to hurt senior brother, I will fight with her immediately¡­"


    Soon the group had reached Lu Qingyun''s abode.


    As soon they had reached, Yin Shisi said coldly to Celestial Shi Guanyin. "It is wiser for your prot¨¦g¨¦s to be out of listening ears."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin turned to say to Leng Qiuyue, "Stay with the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s and guard outside. We will be fine."


    Leng Qiuyue took an anxious look at her master before she gave an unwilling nod. With a soft sigh, she said to the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s, "We shall station here."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled when she saw all the grand elders had gathered in the same place. She immediately greeted them, "Grand elders, Lie Xingyuan greets you."


    She was quite startled when she saw an enchanting maiden with golden eyes. She wondered, "Who is she?"


    Lu Qingyun happened to walk out from the practice chamber and was startled to see all the grand elders were in his place. He immediately greeted, "Grand elders, Lu Qingyun greets you."


    "So he is Lu Qingyun?" Yin Shisi looked curiously at him. What a fine looking young man but he was actually a wolf in sheep clothing.


    Lu Qingyun replied politely as he raised his hands to bow, "Indeed I am. How can I address this senior?"


    Yin Shisi said coldly, "Supremacy Yin. The great aunt of Qiuxiang Huan."


    Lu Qingyun was perplexed. Why was the great aunt of Qiuxiang Huan here for and she was looking for him?


    Celestial Shi Guanyin said quietly, "Xingyuan, leave us and wait outside for the time being."


    Lie Xingyuan returned a half-courtesy before she quietly left. She gave Lu Qingyun one last glance before she exited the room.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin said, "Now you can state your intentions?"


    Yin Shisi hummed coldly, "You are not stupid after all. It will be such a terrible scandal if your prot¨¦g¨¦s know what a despicable beast this Lu Qingyun is."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin said coldly, "What do you mean?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "I am a despicable beast?"


    He was thinking, "Is it because of my duel with Qiuxiang Hanyu that she thought that I was bullying a little maiden? I am indeed in the wrong¡­"


    So he immediately said, "I am indeed in the wrong."


    Yin Shisi hummed coldly, "Indeed you are in the wrong. How dare you violate Qiuxiang Huan! How would she face anyone in the future?"


    Lu Qingyun was stammering, "I violate Qiuxiang Huan?! When did I¡­"


    Even Ouyang Xue, Yun Xing, Shi Guanyin and the rest of the grand elders were shocked.


    Yin Shisi interrupted Lu Qingyun coldly, "How dare you deny it! Are you thinking of courting your own death?"


    Lu Qingyun immediately said aloud, "There must be a misunderstanding. How is it possible for me to subdue a fourth realm expert like Qiuxiang Huan?"


    Yin Shisi hummed coldly, "With just you alone is impossible. You had conspired with Qin Keqin to force my niece to dual cultivate with you. You are such a despicable man."


    Ouyang Xue interrupted with a perplexed look, "Is there a misunderstanding somewhere?"


    Yin Shisi replied coldly, "There is no misunderstanding."


    Then she pointed a finger at Lu Qingyun, "Listen, I will give you two choices now. One, take Qiuxiang Huan as your consort and I will forget about this incident. Second, take a blow from me."


    Ouyang Xue was startled. This Yin Shisi was a sixth realm golden supremacy. Taking a blow from her would mean instant death for Lu Qingyun!


    So she immediately said, "Supremacy Yin, before any charges can be trumped, there must first be evidences. Do you think that you can simply level this false charge against the honor of our Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    Yin Shisi turned to look at her coldly, "I, Yin Shisi will never wrong anyone."


    Lu Qingyun interrupted softly as he looked at her with righteous fire burning in his eyes, "Whether you believe it or not, I will never do such beastly act."


    Yin Shisi''s heart skipped a beat when she looked into his eyes as she thought, "Did I really wrong him then? No, it shouldn''t be. My little niece will never joke with her chastity. Moreover many of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion were indeed seriously injured."


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "However I know that we are wrong in injuring the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion. Therefore I am willing to take a blow from your supremacy."


    Ouyang Xue was gasping, "Don''t¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled gently at Ouyang Xue, "If this mean the end of the enmity between the two clans then I don''t mind."


    Lu Qingyun was laughing miserably in his heart. In this lifetime he would never obtain Qin Keqin''s heart. Therefore there was no point in living a long life. Maybe if he could atone for what Fairy Jade Light had done to the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion, Qin Keqin would at least remember that there was once a man called Lu Qingyun that had once appeared briefly in her life.


    Lu Qingyun said nonchalantly, "I am waiting."


    Yin Shisi replied coldly as she raised her palm, "Remember that this is your choice. I didn''t force you. Once you have met your maker, don''t you complain about me!"

 93 Supremacy Yin Shisi 2

    Lu Qingyun said, "I am still waiting."


    Yin Shisi was silently thinking, "He looks so righteous. Did I really wrong him?"


    With her profound strength, she could easily kill him with a single blow even if he was a fourth realm cultivator. Moreover she knew that this Lu Qingyun was only a lowly first realm cultivator.


    Then a thought flashed through her mind. She would use her Depraved Fingers on him instead. In this way, he would lose his honor in front of his clan and they would know that he was actually a beast of a man.


    "Since Qin Keqin and Fairy Jade Light are not around then you shall be at the receiving end of my Depraving Fingers." She thought.


    With that, she had decided.


    And she had lifted her fingers as she displayed the gestures of the Depraving Fingers.


    This Depraving Fingers of hers was a heretic mystic art that could disrupt the yin-yang balance of its victim. Against men, she could display the yang stance to absorb the yin balance. It would cause an overbalance of the men''s yang to become the great yang, causing them to be affected by lusts. For women, it would be the opposite.


    She thought coolly, "In front of your grand elders, I''m going to show them how a lustful animal that you are!"


    With a soft cry, she had lifted her fingers forward while Lu Qingyun steadied his profound aura into receiving the shock of the incoming blow.


    But to Lu Qingyun''s surprise, the incoming blow was quite soft and the impact that he had been anticipating had not come.


    Rather there was a weird expression that was on Yin Shisi.


    When she had struck him with the Depraving Fingers, not only could she feel his overwhelming yang energies but she had also failed to absorb his yin. Instead, her own yang was stolen by his overwhelming yang energies.


    She did not know that her Depraving Fingers would not work because the Lu Qingyun''s body was protected by the annihilating force and if she had used her Depraving Fingers on him then it would cause a rebound.


    Lu Qingyun looked at her curiously, "Is it counted as a blow? It is over?" This was too light.


    She had a shudder as her eyes blanked briefly as she stared at Lu Qingyun¡­


    This fine looking young man in front of her was so handsome that it was like a beautiful dream. He was not only handsome but he was like a righteous fire that had lit her soul and she had drawn to him like a moth was drawn to the burning flame.


    Immediately she had fallen into his embrace and was stripping herself. Stripping was not the word; she had literally torn her clothing in a blink of an eye and was naked.


    When Lu Qingyun saw that Yin Shisi was suddenly embracing him and was completely nude in his embrace, he was not the only one who was shocked.


    Therefore he immediately tried to push her away but her grip was strong.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin, Yun Xing and Ouyang Xue were all flabbergasted. Immediately they had all rushed forward to cover her up but Yin Shisi simply waved her hand to send them flying off with a loud crash.


    Lu Qingyun was even more startled when he had suddenly found himself to be topless and he had already struck her with several hard blows on her shoulders but against the golden body of a sixth realm expert, his puny martial blows did not amount to any force.


    "Don''t tell me that I have to cut her down with my Flaming Phoenix Sword?!" He gasped panicky to himself. But in his panic, he could not even search for his divine sword in his spatial ring as he was trying very hard to protect his trousers from getting ripped off and he was distracted by the swinging lovely sight of the two bunnies in front of him.


    The other three grand elders Celestial Kong Guxin, Wang Ming and Mu Han did not dare to make a move as they watched Yin Shishi''s enchanting figure. They were all thinking the same; this Yin Shishi really got such an enticing body. They were all hard on as they looked at her dripping wet thighs and the wondrous sight that was between her legs.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin had just recovered from her fall and she was shouting to them, "Stop looking and turned your eyes away or I will gorge your eyes!"


    With the great reluctant, the three grand elders slowly turned around but not without taking a few more look.


    Ouyang Xue and Yun Xing were already at their feet as they tried to fight Yin Shisi again. It was a lucky thing for them that Yin Shisi was not in her right state of mind and did not view them as a real threat. Therefore she did not use her full profound strength against them. Moreover she was focused on ''violating'' Lu Qingyun.


    The commotion had caused Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan to rush hastily into the abode. When they saw the scene in front of them, they were totally shocked.


    Leng Qiuyue was flushing as she quickly blocked the view at the entrance as she shouted, "All the prot¨¦g¨¦s remain in your positions. Do not enter until I''ve say so!"


    Lie Xingyuan quickly flashed next to Yin Shisi as she took out a small gourd and flashed it in front of Yin Shisi for her to sniff.


    All of a sudden Yin Shisi seemed to lose her strength and had slumbered to the ground quietly.


    Lu Qingyun was quite relieved as he awkwardly pushed Yin Shisi away but not before he took a few meaningful glances at her. He did not even know what had happened and it had happened so suddenly.


    But for Celestial Shi Guanyin, she was really startled and wondered. "Who is this Lie Xingyuan? Why did she have an object that can knock out even a golden supremacy?"


    Lie Xingyuan removed her outer garment to cover Yin Shisi as she said quietly, "I am afraid that my gourd can only suppress her for only a short while. Her condition has not improved."


    Leng Qiuyue asked softly and there was a hint of jealousy in her eyes as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "What has exactly happened? How did this happen?"


    But no one was able to give her any answers because it had happened too suddenly.


    Lie Xingyuan said after inspecting Yin Shisi, "She has been afflicted by the lustful deviation. If she did not copulate with any man in the next few hours, she may lose her life."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "But she is alright just a moment ago. How did this happen?"


    Celestial Kong Guxin said solemnly, "Supremacy Yin may be practicing an extreme Yin martial skill for a long time and may have suffered a deviation just now. I am willing to help her."


    Even Wang Ming and Mu Huan were both nodding, "We are willing to help as well." After seeing her desirable body, which men would not be tempted?


    Celestial Shi Guanyin shot them a hateful glance but said nothing. There was nothing she could do and say at this point.


    Even Yun Xing and Ouyang Xue were both looking confused. What had exactly happened?


    However Ouyang Xue said quietly as her eyes flashed a killing intent, "Since Supremacy Yin is here, we ought to protect her honor. Am I not right to say so?"


    Leng Qiuyue flashed a killing intent as well, "No maiden will like to allow their honor to be sullied. We can only give her a clean death."


    Celestial Kong Guxin smiled bitterly, "If we kill Yin Shisi here then we will create an enemy out of the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    Yun Xing said, "It is not as though we are not already enemies."


    Lu Qingyun was however looking at Lie Xingyuan as he asked, "Xingyuan, do you have a solution?" It was because he had noticed that Lie Xingyuan seemed to be hiding something and yet she seemed unwilling to say it loud.


    She replied quietly, "Maybe I do have a solution and can save her. But I need a couple of hours. In the meantime, can I be alone with her?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and replied, "Alright."


    He smiled awkwardly to the rest of the grand elders, "May the grand elders please leave us alone for a while."


    Since Lu Qingyun had already said so, the rest of the grand elders had no other choice but to nod quietly.


    As Celestial Kong Guxin left, he flashed a look at Wang Ming and Mu Han who returned the same awkward look at him. Surely Lie Xingyuan''s solution was not to let this senior brother of theirs to perform that act on her?

 94 Yin Shisi’s Master

    When everyone had left the abode, Lu Qingyun asked. "Xingyuan, so what is your solution?"


    Lie Xingyuan replied quietly, "I have a master. She may have a solution. I''m going to send her an urgent transmission. Senior brother, can I borrow a spirit stone from you? Xingyuan is a little poor to send the transmission."


    Lu Qingyun immediately took out a low grade spirit stone to be given to her. At the same time he was asking, "Xingyuan, I didn''t know that you have a master?"


    Lie Xingyuan nodded quietly, "She is my external master and she may be able to help. However she doesn''t like to meet people so may senior brother retreats to your room when she is here?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he said awkwardly, "Alright then¡­" He had no wish to stay around after what had happened.


    He had decided to take a long cool bath in the meantime. The sight of the naked Yin Shisi was really too much for his sight and body to handle¡­


    Lie Xingyuan had went to her room and was whispering via a secret transmission, "Master, I need a favor from you. I''ve met someone else with the Depraved Fingers. She has suffered a backlash and only you will be able to aid her."


    "Tell me from beginning to end." The voice was from Lie Qing the Heavenly Temptress. "But make it quick. The longer you take, the more spiritual energies that you will burn. I''m not going to cover your transmission expenses."


    "It is like this¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "Alright I will come now," was the reply.


    It did not take long for her master to arrive. In fact it was only a short one hour.


    Even Lie Xingyuan was startled by the speed of her master''s arrival.


    Her master was the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing although this was not known to Lie Xingyuan. To her, her master was just Master Lie Qing.


    Lie Xingyuan took her master to her room where Yin Shisi was lying while saying, "Master, how did she knows our secret skill?"


    This secret skill was naturally the Depraving Fingers.


    Lie Qing took a quick look and muttered, "It is her?"


    Lie Xingyuan asked curiously, "Master, you know her?"


    Lie Qing nodded as she rubbed her hands on Yin Shisi body, "You will know soon."


    The minute that Lie Qing had withdrew her hands on Yin Shisi, she had opened her eyes with a sudden shock. It was because she had remembered the vivid scene that had happened and she was in uncontrollable tears.


    But she was even more shock when she saw Lie Qing as she quickly fell to her knees. She wept loudly, "Master¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was shocked. Did she just hear correctly? That Supremacy Yin had just called her master as her master?


    Lie Qing said coldly as she flashed her golden eyes dangerously, "Have you forgotten that I had once warned you never to abuse the Depraving Fingers?"


    Yin Shisi was stammering, "I am wrong¡­please hear my explanation. This beast of a man Lu Qingyun had violated my little niece¡­that is why¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan angrily interrupted, "Senior brother will never do anything like this!"


    Lie Qing asked coldly, "How did you suffer such a backlash on yourself?"


    Yin Shisi lowered her lovely glances as she tried to recall, "I¡­I¡­used it on Lu Qingyun¡­"


    Lie Qing said, "With your cultivation strength, you will actually get a backlash? No matter how I look at it, this Lu Qingyun isn''t a feminine man or a woman for you to fail so miserably."


    Yin Shisi was speechless for she had no answers to it.


    She was sobbing, "Master, please help your disciple to address the wrongs that are done to my little niece¡­"


    But Lie Qing interrupted her softly, "I can sense his pure yang body is still intact and it is untainted. Surely when you have touched him with your Depraved Fingers, you will be able to sense it as well."


    Yin Shisi was startled. Indeed, she seemed to have sensed that his pure yang body was still intact when she had struck him with her Depraved Fingers. In fact, it was extremely pure¡­


    All of a sudden Yin Shisi was feeling ashamed. This was the second time that she had used the Depraved Fingers and this was the second time that she had abused it. This time she was even caught by her master for doing so. Not only that, she had totally humiliated herself in front of this Lu Qingyun and the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Yin Shisi lifted her fingers, "I don''t wish to live anymore!¡­"


    With that she had lifted her fingers to her forehead but Lie Qing had knocked her fingers off, "You are lucky that Xingyuan is here today. Don''t ever think of taking your own life. Your life belongs to me."


    "Xingyuan?" Yin Shisi took a curious look at Lie Xingyuan.


    Lie Qing said quietly, "Xingyuan is my core disciple and therefore she is your senior sister. You are to address her as your senior sister from this day onward."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled. To have a Supremacy addressing her as senior sister and be her junior sister was too ridiculous¡­


    "Master, I think this won''t do." Lie Xingyuan said weakly.


    Yin Shisi was muttering, "From this day onward, I shall address her as my senior sister¡­does this mean that master is willing to forgive me¡­"


    Therefore she said quickly without any pride, "Senior sister. Please give me your instructions."


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    How could she dare to give a supremacy level cultivator any instructions?


    Lie Qing said quietly, "I can overlook today''s matter. Don''t you dare to seek more trouble for the Heavens Ridge Villa or this Lu Qingyun without my permission from this day onward. Don''t forget that your senior sister is a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa now and she has just saved your life."


    Yin Shisi was crying out loud, "Master, I will faithfully follow your instructions. But can your disciple Shisi follow you from this day onward? From now on, I will only want to follow master to pursue the universal truth of the Dao!"


    Lie Qing said quietly, "Where I am going even I do not know. Your nature isn''t bad. Be thankful that I didn''t cripple your cultivation. Go in peace."


    With that, she had departed.


    But before she had left, she had used her spirit sense to probe on Lu Qingyun. Why did he have the desolate force on him? Did Yuqin know?


    Qin Keqin naturally did not know because Lu Qingyun''s desolate force had only just awakened.


    Lie Qing muttered to herself, "For the sake of Yuqin, I shall adopt a wait and see approach." She did not tell Yin Shisi that her Depraved Fingers had failed because this skill would not work against the desolate force and that Lu Qingyun was protected by the desolate force.


    Yin Shisi was trembling as she bowed with utmost respect as she sobbed, "Master, your unfilial disciple will heed your instructions."


    Lie Xingyuan was wondering, "My master¡­who is she actually? Even Yin Shisi is her disciple. I didn''t know that I have a fellow prot¨¦g¨¦ sister with the same master¡­"

 95 The Peace Negotiation

    Yin Shisi was now sitting quietly in front of Lie Xingyuan, Lu Qingyun, Celestial Shi Guanyin, Yun Xing and Ouyang Xue.


    She was listening patiently to the accounts of the Heavens Ridge Villa and was nodding. After that she gave an account that was from the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Lu Qingyun was stunned that Qiuxiang Huan could be such a good liar. "Why did she want to frame me? We have no enmities against each other¡­"


    Just as the group was about to argue in favor of the Heavens Ridge Villa, Yin Shisi said quietly. "I believe in the account of the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Lu Qingyun and everyone else were startled. They had not expected Yin Shisi to take in their claims just like this. After all, this was also their one sided account.


    Lu Qingyun really did not dare to look at her because if he did, he would remember how enticing she was. Therefore he tried his best to avert his eyes from her.


    Yin Shisi said quietly with glances that were lowered, "I have an unreasonable request to make. I will like to stay in the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­" she hesitated for a while before adding, "I am too ashamed to return to the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin and Yun Xing were startled by this sudden request.


    It was because Yin Shisi was the top cultivator in New Empyrean City. In the past, the Clear Sky Pavilion had almost dominated New Empyrean City because of the Yin brother and sister who were both sixth realm golden supremacies.


    Yin Shisi took a flustered look at Lu Qingyun before she lowered her glances again, "If it means that I have to join the Heavens Ridge Villa as a common prot¨¦g¨¦, I will be willing as well."


    Everyone was startled and was even stunned by her sudden decision.


    But only Yin Shisi knew why she was willing to do that. It was because she had quietly decided that she would follow this Lu Qingyun to observe him further and to atone for her mistakes.


    Somehow she had felt drawn to Lu Qingyun and not because she had completely embarrassed herself in front of him. So she had decided to observe him quietly. Moreover Lie Xingyuan was her senior sister and she felt that she had a duty to protect her.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin was smiling weakly, "It is not quite a good idea am I right? You are a golden supremacy so how can you be a common prot¨¦g¨¦?"


    She took a meaningful glance at Lu Qingyun and wondered, "Don''t tell me that they have copulated together and because of this, she has decided to stay here?"


    Yun Xing had the same thoughts as well and she suggested, "We can make Supremacy Yin an elder of the inner courts and arrange an abode for her. What do the rest of you think about this?"


    Ouyang Xue nodded quietly while quietly observing Lu Qingyun and Yin Shisi¡­


    Celestial Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "It sounds good. Let do it then."


    Then she turned to say to Yin Shisi, "Then it is decided. From today onward, you are an elder of the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Yin Shisi humbly said in her musical voice, "I thank you for your grace. I will love the Heavens Ridge Villa as my love and protect the Heavens Ridge Villa with my precious life, never letting the clan down. This is my vow to the eternal heaven and you are all my witnesses today."


    Lu Qingyun could not help but took a glance at her. He was thinking, "She has actually made such a reverential vow to protect the clan. But what could possible cause her to cease her hostilities like this?"


    Except for Lie Xingyuan, Lu Qingyun and the others had no idea what had happened between Lie Xingyuan and Yin Shisi.


    Lie Xingyuan had merely told them that Yin Shisi had wished to see the grand elders to hear their accounts of the events that were the cause of the reason why she was here.


    There were only Celestial Shi Guanyin, Yun Xing and Ouyang Xue who were here because they felt that it was improper for the other grand elders to show up after what had happened.


    Celestial Shi Guanyin sighed softly as she looked at Lu Qingyun and Yin Shisi, "What happens today will be a complete secret. The rest of the grand elders and my core prot¨¦g¨¦ Leng Qiuyue will not leak this matter out. This is our vow to you."


    Yin Shisi merely nodded quietly. It was as though she did not care for this.


    Instead she had looked up to give Lu Qingyun a faint smile.


    Lu Qingyun happened to look at her when she was looking at him at the same time. Immediately he was shivering with her look and was flushing so he quickly looked away.


    Ouyang Xue was grieving in her heart when she saw the exchange. "Why is that I can''t forget about him? Now that he has a beloved, isn''t it good? Moreover she is a golden supremacy. I should give them my blessing. After all senior brother had already tainted her¡­"


    Yin Shisi said quietly, "I have a matter to settle with the Clear Sky Pavilion first and will be back shortly."


    She took another look at Lu Qingyun as she thought, "To think that I''ve almost killed him¡­"


    She did not know that even if she had used her full profound strength to hit Lu Qingyun, she may not be able to kill him outright. It was because even though Lu Qingyun was only a fourth realm cultivator but he had the profound strength of a fifth realm golden celestial now. So it would take more than just a few blows to kill him.


    But in her eyes, Lu Qingyun was only a lowly first realm cultivator that could be killed instantly even if she did not use her full profound strength.


    As Celestial Shi Guanyin left, she had made a secret mental note to investigate Lie Xingyuan''s background. Until now, she was still perplexed that Lie Xingyuan was able to knock off a sixth realm cultivator with that strange gourd of hers.


    There was actually nothing wondrous about Lie Xingyuan''s gourd. It contained an antidote to the Depraving Fingers and Lie Xingyuan was a practitioner of the Depraving Fingers as well. Therefore she was able to recognize the symptoms relatively quickly and had taken out the gourd to calm Yin Shisi down.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Clear Sky Pavilion;


    Qiuxiang Huan was walking under the moonlight while thinking, "Why didn''t great aunt come out of the Heavens Ridge Villa after such a long time? She is a sixth realm expert. Even if she could not handle the situation, surely she has no problem making her escape?"


    Through her spying network in the Heavens Ridge Villa, she knew that Fairy Jade Light did not return to the Heavens Ridge Villa at all. Even Qin Keqin was not in. Therefore it was easy for Yin Shisi to cause some trouble for the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    But she had waited for a long time and yet there was no news of her great aunt. Even her network of spies could not verify any reliable news.


    All they could tell her was that Yin Shisi had wanted to meet Lu Qingyun and that her request was granted.


    She was a little anxious for her great aunt now. This great aunt of hers lacked cunning and it was easy to ambush her or to subdue her by trickery.


    "Qiuxiang Huan." All of a sudden there was a martial force behind her.


    Immediately Qiuxiang Huan had turned around to receive the tremendous blow that was aimed at her. There was a thunderous impact as she was forced to take seven steps backward.


    But to her startled shock, the assailant was Yin Shisi!


    "Great Aunt?! It is you? You''ve managed to make it back?"


    Yin Shisi said coldly, "So you are actually a fifth realm expert. No wonder you are able to receive my blow. And your primeval yin is still intact." With just a single blow, she had thoroughly examined Qiuxiang Huan''s profound force.


    Qiuxiang Huan stammered, "Great Aunt. Please hear my explanations¡­"


    Yin Shisi said coldly, "From today onward, I am no longer your great aunt and I am no longer a part of the Clear Sky Pavilion. Do not ever look for me in the future. The little niece that I know is dead in my heart."


    With that she had departed in a grey flash.


    Qiuxiang Huan was trembling. After a long time she fell onto her knees as she wept aloud, "Great Aunt Yin, I know that this is my wrong¡­but what I am doing is for the sake of our Clear Sky Pavilion¡­"


    There was an angry flash in her eyes as she said bitterly, "Lu Qingyun! I hate you!"


    But why did she hate Lu Qingyun more than Qin Keqin? Even herself, she had no answers to it.

 96 Tell me, who is Lu Qingyun?

    Qin Keqin was chatting with her sister saintesses when Lie Qing had suddenly stepped into their room, "Yuqin, I like to talk to you for a while."


    "Wait me. I''ll be back quickly," she chuckled softly to Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng.


    In the next instant she was in another room with Lie Qing. As she entered the room, Lie Qing had erected a profound force barrier around the room.


    "Why so secretive? Are you telling me a secret of the Heaveness?" Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she laughed softly.


    Lie Qing said quietly, "It is about Lu Qingyun."


    The smiles that were on Qin Keqin had suddenly frozen, "What about him?"


    Lie Qing looked at Qin Keqin with her mesmerizing eyes, "I had happened to check on him today and found out that he possesses remnant of a desolate force that is within his body."


    She purposely paused so that she could observe Qin Keqin.


    There was a flush that appeared on Qin Keqin''s countenance as she stammered, "Really? I didn''t know¡­"


    Lie Qing interrupted her, "So you have already known and you did not tell any of us. Do you know that the desolate immortals and their minions are our mortal enemies? How can you like someone who is one of them?"


    Qin Keqin immediately fell to her knees and her enthralling eyes were watery, "Please! Aunt Lie Qing! I beg of you. Please do not tell the Heaveness! I¡­I¡­this¡­"


    Lie Qing sighed softly, "I have already informed her."


    Qin Keqin was startled as she got up in the next instant, "She will kill him¡­no¡­I must hurry back to the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­"


    Lie Qing interrupted coolly as she put her fingers on Qin Keqin''s shoulder, "Is that what you think of the Heaveness in your heart? Since we have already promised you to give you our blessing, we will not withdraw our blessing. Now tell me why you are hiding this from us?"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly before she said, "Where is the Heaveness?"


    Lie Qing replied, "She is a little disappointed in you and need time to quiet down."


    Qin Keqin heaved a melancholy sigh, "I''ll go and look for her later to explain."


    Lie Qing said, "She doesn''t want to see you for the time being."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    "Why are you hiding a minion of the desolate immortals?" Lie Qing asked coldly. "You have better give a good explanation."


    Qin Keqin smiled bitterly, "I am hiding a minion of the desolate immortals? Is that important? It takes me so many centuries to finally find the remnant of his soul. Although he can''t remember who he is in the past but it is not important at all. He may never remember his past because I''ve been feeding him the starforge substances."


    There was a softening in Lie Qing''s tone as she asked, "Many centuries? He is¡­"


    Qin Keqin laughed coldly, "Yes, he is Dongfang Jun. The good-for-nothing cultivator that my custodians and everyone else had been trying to break apart¡­"


    Lie Qing was gasping secretly. She had certainly heard about it.


    When Fan Yuqin was eighteen, she had met a good-for-nothing cultivator in Tranquil City and they had fallen in love with each other. However their unison was frowned upon because this Dongfang Jun had a low cultivation level; he was only a second realm expert at that time while Fan Yuqin was already a saintess.


    Her custodians were worried that their unison would affect Fan Yuqin''s future and therefore they had secretly separated the two of them.


    Qin Keqin said bitterly, "In this lifetime, even if he is a good-for-nothing cultivator, I''ll never let go of him."


    Lie Qing said slowly, "But he is tainted with the desolate force. If he is just a good-for-nothing cultivator, we will still give you our blessings. But how do you expect us to support you?"


    Qin Keqin shot her an icy glance, "Aren''t you going to fight against the heavens? So what if he is a desolate immortal?"


    Lie Qing was startled, "He is a desolate immortal?"


    Qin Keqin looked a little sheepish. With a slip of her tongue, she had accidentally revealed that Lu Qingyun was a reincarnation of a desolate immortal and not a just any minion.


    The most powerful immortals were capable of several rounds of reincarnations. They were extremely difficult to be extinguished because of this reason. Once their reincarnations had awakened their innate desolate force, their cultivation would also advance in a heaven-defying pace.


    Lie Qing asked, "Which desolate immortal is he?"


    Qin Keqin quickly said, "He is just a normal desolate immortal. He won''t be able to remember his past since this is already his third or more reincarnations."


    This was the truth. The more reincarnation cycles that an immortal underwent, the past would fade away and even his immortal soul would fade away. Even the most powerful of the immortals would barely remember their past three lives.


    Qin Keqin said firmly, "Moreover as I have just said, I''ve been giving him the starforge substances. There are no chances that he can remember his past."


    Lie Qing said, "No one can truly remember their past life. I am more worried that he is able to remember glimpses of his past cultivation and that will propel him to the heaven-defying peak. You cannot control the desolate nature of the desolate immortals. They live for battles and this is their chaotic nature. This is the Celestial Realm and not the Immortal Realm. Once they mature to their peak, they will have few opponents that can stop them."


    Qin Keqin said firmly, "My Yun''Er has a good nature. He is not like the other desolate immortals. Even among the desolate immortals, there are the good ones and the bad ones, right? My Yun''Er is the good one and I will be keeping him in rein."


    Lie Qing cast her with an anxious look before she said coldly, "Your precious primeval yin may end up as feeder for him. Think carefully¡­"


    Qin Keqin was stoned and did not say anything.


    Her mood was now all gone. How did the desolate force that was within Lu Qingyun manage to manifest in him? She had been very careful to control his pace of cultivation. How did this happen?


    She decided not to tell the Heavenly Temptress and the Heaveness that Lu Qingyun was actually the reincarnation of the Great Rift Lord Xuan Yuan who was one of the most powerful desolate immortals. If they were to know then Lu Qingyun would surely lose his life. It was because the Great Rift Lord was the mortal enemy of her father the Great God Pangu. In fact, the Great God Pangu was the one that had sent the Great Rift Lord to his death in their final battle¡­


    But many years later, she would meet with Dongfang Jun who was the reincarnation of the Great Rift Lord. At that time, they did know about this. It was not until when Dongfang Jun had died that he was able to remember who he was. But it only lasted for short brief of time as Dongfang Jun would rather take his own life than to hurt her.


    It was a secret that not even the immortals had known. In this world, only Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng and Ye Jing knew of this matter.


    It had taken her many centuries to find Lu Qingyun and she was not going to give him up for any other reasons.


    Therefore she had faith that Lu Qingyun would never hurt her.


    But it was another matter to convince the righteous immortals, especially her father.


    Qin Keqin said melancholy, "I''m going back to the Heavens Ridge Villa to take a look. I probably won''t be back for a few days¡­"


    As she left the room, Lie Qing was trembling. For the very first time she was in a state of confusion. Could she really trust Yuqin''s words? When she was giving her dire warning to her, it was not just a warning for her but it was a warning for her own precious daughter Lie Xingyuan as well¡­


    If Lu Qingyun was a despicable desolate immortal reincarnation, he would surely make full use of the primeval force that was within Fan Yuqin and Lie Xingyuan to further his own ends.


    Not only would he ruin them to gain cultivation strength for himself, the Immortal Realm would also lose two precious daughters of the heavens¡­


    As a mother, how could she watch this from happening before her very own eyes?


    There was a drop of tear that flowed down her cheek. But she was not the only who was now weeping in her heart; the Heaveness was also weeping in her room and was too emotional to talk to Yuqin about this matter.


    With a trembling voice, she sent a short transmission to the Heaveness, "Sister, I had talked to Yuqin. Here is what she had just said¡­"

 97 Dangerous Gossips 1

    Lu Qingyun was talking a stroll outside his abode now. There was only a few days left for the core prot¨¦g¨¦ tournament and he was almost ready.


    However that was not on his mind.


    He was actually thinking of Qin Keqin and was wondering where she was.


    "Didn''t you say that you will not think of her any longer?" He rebuked himself in his heart.


    But he really could not bring himself not to think of her.


    He was only lying to himself¡­


    "Senior Brother Lu!" a voice interrupted his thoughts.


    He turned around and saw that it was Grand Elder Mu Han.


    He quickly returned a greeting, "Grand Elder Mu."


    Mu Han was smiling and he had suddenly lowered his voice, "Senior brother, let me extend my congratulation to you first¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Mu Han laughed in a low voice as he gave a pat on Lu Qingyun''s back, "Supremacy Yin really has a nice figure. Moreover she is a sixth realm cultivator. If you tell me she is not staying here because of you, I don''t believe it."


    Lu Qingyun replied weakly, "I think there must be a misunderstanding. There is nothing that happens between us."


    Mu Han laughed, "We are all men. What is there to be shy of? I say. Even that attendant of yours, Lie Xingyuan is also quite a great beauty. If you don''t pluck her, soon she will belong to the others."


    Just as Lu Qingyun was about to protest, he heard a musical voice. "Senior Brother Lu, Grand Elder Mu."


    It was Yin Shisi.


    Lu Qingyun was startled when he saw her and was stammering, "Elder Yin¡­"


    Mu Han was smiling as he greeted, "Elder Yin."


    Yin Shisi had happened to walk past and was equally startled when she saw Lu Qingyun.


    She quickly averted her eyes as she continued her way but not without taking one or two meaningful glances at Lu Qingyun¡­


    Lu Qingyun did not even dare to look at her because if he had yet to erase her heart-stopping images from his mind as he muttered, "Sinful¡­"


    Mu Han was laughing softly, "Indeed, it is so sinful."


    "Yun''Er, I have something to talk to you." Qin Keqin had suddenly appeared in front of them, startling both Mu Han and Lu Qingyun.


    "Sect¡­leader!" Mu Han was stammering. Hopefully his conversation with Lu Qingyun was not overheard by her¡­


    Qin Keqin had only just arrived and did not know of their earlier conversations. She grabbed Lu Qingyun''s hand and said, "Come¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was muttering, "Keqin, it is really you? You are finally back now¡­"


    As Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun went out of sight, Mu Han had a strange expression on his face. Did he just see Sect Leader Qin holding onto Lu Qingyun''s hand and Lu Qingyun was calling sect leader by her name directly?


    "Don''t tell me that they are together?¡­"


    Mu Han was stammering, "Why am I so unlucky to meet this sort of thing. If there are any gossips that are between them, I may well be silenced by sect leader¡­"


    As he turned around he continued to babble, "I have better keep a low profile from now on. If Sect Leader Qin is with Senior Brother Lu then what about Elder Yin? This is really complicated. Alas, I have better let Yun Xing knows about this¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    "Keqin, why are you bringing me to the practice chamber? Are you going to test my improvements?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously.


    "Qingyun¡­" Qin Keqin muttered as she looked up to him.


    "Keqin¡­" Lu Qingyun had grabbed her hands, "Where have you been for the past few days? I miss you so terribly."


    Qin Keqin smiled gently, "I miss you too."


    When Lu Qingyun had heard her saying that she missed him as well, all his past convictions to forget about Qin Keqin were suddenly gone like the wind.


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "I was back several times but you are in the practice chamber so I didn''t want to disturb you."


    All of a sudden she began to grow solemn, "Qingyun, don''t move¡­"


    She had placed her fingers on his chest and after quick check with her profound aura, she was startled and was bewildered. His desolate force had indeed manifested. This¡­this is impossible¡­I have given him the starforge substances on quite a number of occasions. Why isn''t it working?!


    "Keqin? What is wrong?" This was the first time that he had noticed that Qin Keqin seemed to be troubled.


    Qin Keqin murmured, "Mm, what could possibly go wrong?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Nothing can possible go wrong."


    Qin Keqin said quietly, "Qingyun. During my absence, who did you see? I want to know."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. How did Keqin knows of his encounter with Yin Shisi? Did the grand elders tell her already? In any case, he thought that it was wiser to own up so he said, "Yin Shisi from the Clear Sky Pavilion was here¡­"


    Qin Keqin had turned around, "Clear Sky Pavilion? I will go and look for her now¡­"


    "Wait Keqin!" Lu Qingyun was stammering, "She had been made an elder of the Heavens Ridge Villa now. She is here."


    "Oh?!" Qin Keqin was startled.


    She knitted her brows before she turned to look at Lu Qingyun, "This Yin Shisi. If my memory is right, isn''t she a sixth realm golden supremacy from the Clear Sky Pavilion? Why is she an elder of the Heavens Ridge Villa now? Why didn''t anyone tell me about it?"


    Lu Qingyun replied weakly, "Keqin, you are not in the clan. It is a sudden decision."


    Qin Keqin could not believe that such a big thing had happened during her short absence. Suddenly she was looking at him with suspicion, "It is not because of you, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly and he was stammering nervously, "How could it be because of me. It is impossible¡­"


    Qin Keqin knew from his countenances that he was lying but she did not say anything. Instead she said coolly, "Bring me to her."


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "I do not know where her abode is but Xingyuan knows."


    Qin Keqin nodded as she said, "In that case, I will bring Xingyuan along with me. Wait for me here. I will be back shortly."


    As Qin Keqin left the practice chamber, Lu Qingyun was panicky pacing around as he muttered. "Lu Qingyun, why are you panicking? You didn''t do anything wrong, right?"


    "I am in trouble¡­"


    "Keqin will be so upset with me¡­."


    "This is the end¡­"

 98 Dangerous Gossips 2

    Three beautiful maidens were looking at one another now; they were Qin Keqin, Lie Xingyuan and Yin Shisi.


    "You are the new elder Yin Shisi?" Qin Keqin asked.


    She was really curious about this Yin Shisi. It was because among the top cultivators in New Empyrean City, she had the least gossips and she was also currently the top cultivator. When she had heard that she had joined the Heavens Ridge Villa, she was startled.


    Yin Shisi lowered her glances and nodded, "I am. If Sect Leader Qin does not like my appointment, you may take it back anytime. I have no contribution or merit to speak of therefore I do not deserve this position at all."


    Qin Keqin was slightly taken aback by her reply. It was because Yin Shisi was a sixth realm expert while she was a ''fifth'' realm expert. She had expected Yin Shisi to be rude and even despise her. But that was not the case.


    "Well, that will depend if you will be able to handle this blow of mine¡­" Qin Keqin suddenly said as she flashed Yin Shisi a dangerous killing intent and she had raised her hand that was directed against her.


    Yin Shisi was startled as she immediately raised her palm to receive this sudden blow.


    There was a thunderous impact as the profound forces of these two cultivation experts clashed.


    Lie Xingyuan gasped softly as she was pushed to the side by the shockwaves that were created in the clashes.


    To Yin Shisi astonishment, she was forced to skip five steps back. She stared blankly at Qin Keqin who did not move from her position as she thought, "Is this Qin Keqin really just a fifth realm expert? Why did she suddenly attack me?"


    As for Qin Keqin, she was thinking. "Weird. She doesn''t have any traces of the desolate force in her. So she shouldn''t be the one that have caused Qingyun''s desolate force to be awakened. But her profound aura is similar to Xingyuan¡­"


    She took a curious glance at Lie Xingyuan, "Who is she?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "She is my¡­" she found it a little hard to say that Yin Shisi was her junior sister but Yin Shisi took the initiative to say, "I am a junior sister of my Senior Sister Xingyuan."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes in shock and she was growling softly, "You are a disciple of Lie Qing?"


    Yin Shisi was truly startled as she asked, "You know the name of my master?"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "I know her very well as a matter of fact." After all, Lie Qing was the one that had told her that Lu Qingyun had the desolate force.


    Lie Xingyuan took a curious look at Qin Keqin as she thought, "Did she just say that she know my master very well?"


    Yin Shisi did not know Qin Keqin''s intentions were when she had suddenly attacked her. But she did not mind at all. So she said humbly, "Sect Leader, your profound strength is above me. Yin Shisi admits my defeat."


    Qin Keqin had put her hands behind her back as she returned a faint smile, "Please do not mind me or be upset with me. I am only trying to prove something."


    Yin Shisi: ???


    Qin Keqin was actually trying to look for clues on how on earth did Lu Qingyun''s desolate force was able to awaken. She did not really care for the reasons why Yin Shisi was here and why she was an elder.


    Yin Shisi looked at Lie Xingyuan curiously. However even Lie Xingyuan had no idea what Qin Keqin was up to so she could only smile weakly in return.


    Lie Xingyuan had thought that Qin Keqin had found out that Yin Shisi was naked in Lu Qingyun''s embrace and she was now furious. She thought, "If she does not know it yet, I''ve better not tell her or senior brother will really be screwed."


    Qin Keqin flashed her eyes in several quick successions, startling both Yin Shisi and Lie Xingyuan who were both observing her. They had never seen anyone who could react with their eyes in such quick successions.


    It was because Qin Keqin was thinking very fast now and her reflexes were several times faster than most.


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin muttered, "Silly me! Why don''t I ask Yan''Er? Or maybe this is all Yan''Er doing. Mm, maybe that is the real reason for my miscalculations¡­"


    Yin Shisi asked curiously, "Yan''Er?"


    But Qin Keqin had already left with a startling flash, shocking Yin Shisi.


    Slowly she turned to look at Lie Xingyuan, "Senior sister, is this sect leader of ours really just a fifth realm expert?"


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling bitterly. She had promised her master that she would never reveal the background of Qin Keqin. Therefore she replied weakly, "Don''t forget that her mother consort is the Saintess Yuhuan."


    Yin Shisi quietly said, "I think that she is a sixth realm expert and not a fifth realm expert¡­maybe even higher¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan naturally would not admit that Qin Keqin was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    But she had decided that this was a good time to talk to her so she said quietly, "Senior, I have something to say to you¡­"


    Yin Shisi interrupted quietly, "Senior sister. Please do not call me senior. Please call me your junior sister instead."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "This won''t do. We are now in the Heavens Ridge Villa now. You are an elder while I am just a common prot¨¦g¨¦."


    Yin Shisi shook her head as she said firmly, "Senior sister, this won''t do at all. I am only too grateful that master does not expel me from her school."


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly. From her recent observations, Yin Shisi did not look like she was acting and was really quite humble.


    She sighed softly, "I really don''t know if I should bring this up or not. But you mustn''t like senior brother."


    Yin Shisi asked curiously, "Why not? Is it because senior sister you like him?"


    Lie Xingyuan had a suddenly flush on her countenance as she quickly said, "Of course not. This is not the reason."


    "Oh? Then why not? Because he likes men instead?"


    Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    "Of course not." Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly. "But he has already someone else in his heart."


    Yin Shisi smiled gently, "It isn''t a problem am I right? After all, it is not unusual for men to have two or more consorts?"


    Lie Xingyuan said weakly, "But he is only a lowly cultivator while you are a sixth realm cultivator. He is not compatible to you at all."


    All of a sudden Yin Shisi was laughing softly, "Who says I like him? I think that senior sister is the one that like him, am I right?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly in her heart. Was it so obvious that even she could see it? No matter what, she was not going to admit it, so¡­


    She hummed to clear her throat before she said solemnly, "I''m going to reveal a secret to you but you mustn''t tell anyone alright?"


    Yin Shisi nodded, "Alright."


    Lie Xingyuan checked the entrance with her eyes before she whispered, "Senior brother likes our sect leader¡­"


    Yin Shisi was startled, "Is this even allow?"


    Lie Xingyuan whispered, "Remember, this is our secret! Do not tell anyone."


    Yin Shisi took a curious look at Lie Xingyuan, "Then does the sect leader know about it?"


    Lie Xingyuan shook her head as she smiled bitterly, "I''m afraid that senior brother is going to be greatly disappointed."


    She did not know that Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin was already an item.


    Yin Shisi smiled quietly and as she looked at Lie Xingyuan with relieved eyes¡­


    Although her lustful deviation had long been purged but how could she have forgotten about Lu Qingyun?


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Grand Elder Mu Han had looked for Grand Elder Yun Xing as he said with great secrecy, "Yun Xing, you and I are considered to be old friends by now. So I got something to share with you. But you don''t tell anyone or else I''ll be in serious trouble, even life-threatening trouble."


    Yun Xing laughed softly, "You don''t trust me? Then please go away."


    Mu Han protested weakly, "It isn''t that." Then he lowered his voice to whisper, "I saw Senior Brother Lu and Sect Leader Qin holding hands today. But you mustn''t tell anyone¡­"


    "Of course I won''t! Are you serious?! Please tell me more¡­holding hands are nothing. So did they kiss?"


    "I think so¡­"


    Mu Han had secretly liked Yun Xing so he exaggerated a little just to chat with her a little longer¡­


    Yun Xing to Shi Guanyin, "You know that today Grand Elder Mu Han saw Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin together. They are actually holding hands together¡­and¡­they kiss¡­"


    Shi Guanyin to Kong Guxin, "Old freak, let me tell you something interesting that happened today¡­"


    Kong Guxin to Wang Ming, "Hahaha, something interesting happens today¡­"


    Yun Xing to Ouyang Xue, "Xue''Er, do you know what happens today? I''ve heard from Grand Elder Mu Han¡­"


    Ouyang Xue was startled, "Senior brother and sect leader are actually together¡­they are holding hands¡­and Grand Elder Mu Han had even witnessed them kissing each other¡­"


    Elsewhere in New Empyrean City, other rumors were now flying¡­


    "Have you heard about this?"


    "The reclusive Supremacy Yin of the Clear Sky Pavilion has now joined the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­"


    "Is this news reliable? That''s not possible¡­"


    "This is the truth. Supremacy Yin is now an elder of the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­"


    "I''ve heard that Supremacy Yin had specially gone to the Heavens Ridge Villa just to look for Lu Qingyun¡­"


    "Isn''t that Lu Qingyun just a first realm good-for-nothing cultivator? Why should she look for him?"


    "You may not know this but he is really handsome¡­"


    "Doesn''t this now make the Heavens Ridge Villa the most powerful celestial clan in New Empyrean City?"


    "With Yin Shisi and Qin Keqin holding fort in the Heavens Ridge Villa, who dares to bully the Heavens Ridge Villa now?"


    "I don''t believe that the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa did not take any actions against the Heavens Ridge Villa for attacking the Solitary Manor?"


    "I am going to write a petition¡­"


    "The Heavenly Fragrance Villa is now the number one powerhouse in New Empyrean City. How the delicate balance of power has now shifted¡­"

 99 First Kiss

    "Keqin, you are back?" Lu Qingyun asked nervously.


    Qin Keqin nodded, "Where is Yan''Er? I want to have a little chat with Yan''Er."


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "This is really the end for me. She will break off with me¡­"


    With a heavy sigh, he called out. "Yan''Er, come out. Your Big Sister Keqin is here."


    The minute that Yan''Er had appeared, she was hovering excitingly around Qin Keqin. "Big Sister Keqin! You are finally here. Your Yan''Er misses you so much¡­but master misses you more¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "My Yan''Er, how are you? You seem to be looking great. Let your Big Sister Keqin take a good look at you first¡­" With that she had extended her spirit sense into Yan''Er to probe her spirit entity.


    Indeed, it was just as she had suspected. Yan''Er was imbued with a dangerous level of desolate profound energies. Could it be that it was Yan''Er that had accidentally awakened the desolate force that was within Lu Qingyun?


    This was a possibility that she had not thought of since most cultivators had to wait until they were at the fifth or sixth realm level before they took in a spirit entity to empower their profound strength.


    However Lu Qingyun was a unique case and he got his spirit entity when he was only a first realm expert.


    And she was partially at fault because it was she that had given the spirit entity to him¡­


    Now it was too late to stop his awakening¡­


    "Yuqin, what have you done¡­how are you going to clean up this mess that you''ve created?" Qin Keqin was reproaching herself silently.


    Lu Qingyun was getting quite worried. It was because he was worried that Keqin may ask him about Yin Shisi and he really did not know how to explain it. He had really jumped into the yellow mud and could not clean himself up. Only that, this yellow mud was dropped from the heavens and he did not even know what was happening!


    As Qin Keqin heaved a melancholy sigh, her enticing eyes had suddenly flashed and she was smiling again. "Yun''Er, I think that I have the perfect solution to it."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "No way. I''m not going to marry Yin Shisi. Keqin, in my heart, there is only you¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly as she said meaningfully, "Please turn around. I''m going to make you stronger."


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he turned around, "Huh? Make me stronger? Meaning?"


    Qin Keqin replied with a delightful nod, "That''s right. I am going to make Yan''Er even stronger than before. If Yan''Er is stronger, it will mean that you are also stronger at the same time."


    Yan''Er hovered excitingly, "Whoa? Yan''Er will get even stronger?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "That''s right."


    Her solution was simple. All she needed to do was to suppress the desolate force that was manifesting in Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea and transferred it to Yan''Er. Since Yan''Er was a desolate spirit entity, it was a natural thing that there were remnants of the desolate force within her.


    By doing so, she would also be removing the traces of the desolate forces from Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea so that it would be undetectable. In this way, not even an immortal cultivator would be able to able to sense the desolate force that had manifested in Lu Qingyun.


    She was praising herself, "I am such a genius to think of this. It is such a lucky thing that Yan''Er is such a good vessel to do so. As a sentient spirit entity, she is the perfect host to incubate the desolate force. Since Yan''Er is also part of Yun''Er spiritual sea, there will be no weakening in his profound strength¡­"


    As she praised herself, she had already begun channeling her profound energies into Lu Qingyun''s body. Slowly but surely, she began to pull all the traces of desolate forces that she could gather into Yan''Er.


    Yan''Er was muttering, "Master''s profound energies are entering my body¡­"


    After two hours of forced transferring, Qin Keqin completed the last steps of sealing all of Lu Qingyun''s desolate force into Yan''Er.


    "This is done¡­" she muttered weakly.


    Even though she was a seventh realm expert but this act had sapped so much of her strength.


    As she closed her eyes, she fell into Lu Qingyun''s embrace.


    Lu Qingyun found himself holding onto her silky soft body and his hands were wrapped around her slender waist.


    Although Lu Qingyun had thought of himself as a gentleman but he could not resist moving his fingers slightly to caress her.


    He was thinking nervously as he gulped his saliva, "Am I now taking advantage of Keqin?"


    As he was thinking of this, his face was leaning closer to her and he was looking at her tempting lips¡­


    He had totally forgotten that Yan''Er was hovering above them and was opening her mouth as she watched them with her big eyes¡­


    Just as he was about to wonder should he kiss Keqin or not, his saliva had accidentally drooled into her mouth¡­


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he was suddenly panicky. He was even more panicky when Qin Keqin had suddenly opened her eyes to ask, "What has happened?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Keqin, you have suddenly collapsed from exhaustion¡­"


    Qin Keqin heaved a soft sigh, "Indeed. I must have used up too much of my profound strength¡­" All of a sudden she was putting her fingers on her mouth, "I am drooling?¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly¡­


    "It didn''t drool from you, am I right?"" she said with some suspicion.


    Lu Qingyun was flustered with awkwardness, "Of course not¡­how can it be¡­"


    "Because I never drool, you know."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "It dripped from on top of me and woke me up¡­" Qin Keqin stared blankly at him. "This is your disgusting saliva, am I right? How can you do this to your master? And why are you using your fingers to tickle me?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­ (I am dead¡­)


    He mustered the courage and said with a flustered look, "You are not my master. You are¡­my Keqin¡­"


    Qin Keqin giggled softly as she gave him a gentle push before she tiptoed to place her lips on his. There was some probing before she bit his lower lip¡­


    Lu Qingyun was startled but he did not push her away. In fact, he had grabbed her on her back and was holding onto her tightly¡­


    After some time, Qin Keqin had shyly pushed him away and was muttering. "Don''t misunderstood¡­I''m just returning your disgusting saliva back to you¡­"


    Lu Qingyun''s heart could not stop pacing. This was his first kiss and his first kiss with Keqin¡­


    "Mm," Qin Keqin asked shyly, "Do you think that you can remove your hands now? Do you know that you are now outraging the modesty of a great saintess?"


    But Lu Qingyun did not let go of his hands. Instead he had tightened his grip around and he had forced her to tiptoe again to kiss him again¡­


    "You¡­you¡­are a lecherous wolf¡­let go off me¡­" Qin Keqin was protesting shyly but she had made no attempt to free herself¡­


    Yan''Er was shocked as she stared blankly, "Master and Big Sister Keqin¡­"


    How could Lu Qingyun let go of her at this moment?


    In fact he had pushed her down on the ground and he was furiously kissing her now. He could sniff the fragrance of her body as he pressed onto her. Her body was so soft and silky that he was now a lustful animal that could not stop.


    "Keqin¡­"


    As he kissed her like a lustful animal, his hands were on her bosoms and he was freely exploring her softness.


    Qin Keqin was startled that Lu Qingyun was going all out and he was directly outraging her without a care in the world. She tried to push him away but all of a sudden she found out that she could not as she had expended almost all her profound strength¡­


    "Yun''Er, no¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had loosened her silk belt and had slipped his hands into the inside of her garment and he was caressing her body furiously.


    Qin Keqin was stunned. No one had ever touched her like the way he did, not even Dongfang Jun¡­


    As Lu Qingyun was pressing upon Qin Keqin, his left hand was caressing the smoothness of her exposed legs. Soon he had slipped his hand into the divider of her dress and was exploring inside¡­


    Qin Keqin was alarmed as she quickly caught hold of his left wrist before mustering all her profound strength to push him aside.


    The flusters that were on her countenance were only too prominent as she chuckled softly, "Yun''Er, you have really become quite an animal while I''m not around. I am going to punish you by ordering you to practice here until the day of the martial competition."


    Lu Qingyun was in a daze as he muttered sheepishly, "Keqin¡­" He was quite shocked that he had lost all restraint and was worried that she may be upset with him so he quickly said, "I don''t know what got over me¡­"


    But Qin Keqin had already run out of the practice chamber and her enthralling voice could be heard echoing from beyond the entrance, "You can stay here to play with yourself or with Yan''Er¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was muttering almost incoherently to himself, "So is she upset with me or not?" Then he was looking at his sticky fingers, "Keqin isn''t wearing anything underneath¡­"


    Yan''Er was hovering innocently above, "Master, this isn''t exactly running like the script that is in your dreams¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun was still blaming himself. He had no idea what had suddenly got over him that turned him into such a lustful animal all of a sudden and he was murmuring, "My cultivation level is still too low¡­"


    Qin Keqin was soon in another location as she leaned her back against a pillar. Her countenance was extremely flustered. In fact, she had never felt so flushed in her entire life. She clutched her right hand over her bosoms while her other hand was feeling the place that Lu Qingyun had touched her. "He is really too daring. He has actually touched me all over¡­including my¡­"


    She was panting softly, "What a close shave. I''ve almost lost my chastity¡­"


    She did not mind losing her chastity to him but she was afraid that his desolate strength would be uncontrollable once he had her primeval yin.


    "I should pretend to be upset with him¡­.he is getting more and more outrageous nowadays¡­he can play with himself instead¡­"

 100 Core Protégé Tournament 1

    After Lu Qingyun''s heart-stopping fortuitous encounter with Qin Keqin, he did not have any chances to be alone with her. It was because the day of the core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial tournament was soon due and the grand elders had been requesting her to attend one clan meeting after another.


    Qin Keqin was also not serious about confining him and she had sent Lie Xingyuan to tell him that he should not be practicing day in and night out in the practice chamber. Instead he should relax and take a stroll around the premises.


    It was a big hint to him that she was not upset with him.


    In fact she was back to her usual self and they were even exchanging playful glances in the days that had followed when Lie Xingyuan was not looking their way.


    Soon it was now the day of the martial tournament and there were eighteen core prot¨¦g¨¦s that would be competing against one another.


    Among them, were Lu Qingyun and Zhang Gang, the newly joined core prot¨¦g¨¦ who had joined on the same day as him.


    Leng Qiuyue was among the eighteen core prot¨¦g¨¦s and when she saw Lu Qingyun, she stole him a glance before she averted her eyes.


    Qin Keqin, the grand elders, Elder Yin and the rest of the elders had the best seating positions while thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s were crowding around the stage as they cheered for their favorite core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    This was the most anticipating day that all the prot¨¦g¨¦s were waiting for. Many of them had actually placed side bets on the possible winners.


    The highest bets were naturally on Nangong Yu of the Red Heaven Sword Hall. It was because he was an initial fourth realm expert.


    The highest odds were of course on Senior Brother Lu Qingyun. Highest odds mean that Lu Qingyun was the most likely to lose and the payout of him winning was naturally the highest. After all, only a fool did not know that he was a first realm cultivator and it was considered to be quite foolish to be placing a bet on him winning the outcome of this martial tournament.


    However there were some supporters who were with him on the experiential mission and they had placed some bets on him. It was not because they had believed that Lu Qingyun would win but they had placed the bets out of faith so that the outlook on him would not look so terribly bad. After all, Lu Qingyun had once saved their lives.


    Although Lu Qingyun had ''saved'' their lives but the survivors of the experiential mission had all thought that it was due more to luck than any real skill.


    If it were not for Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue, could Lu Qingyun even have the chance in the first place?


    Qin Keqin was smiling excitingly as she looked at the stage. Her enthralling smiles grew even more beautiful when she had spotted Lu Qingyun.


    "Xingyuan, do you think that my Yun''Er will be able to win today?"


    Leng Xingyuan said quietly, "Win or lose, in my heart senior brother is the most outstanding."


    Qin Keqin smiled but at the same time, she had stolen a quiet glance at Yin Shisi.


    Although it had appeared to Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan that she did not know about the recent events about Yin Shisi and why she had suddenly joined the clan, she was only pretending.


    How could she possibly not know by now?


    The gossips were flying all over about Yin Shisi and Lu Qingyun. Moreover there was Xuan Danfeng who was secretly feeding her with the latest gossips in New Empyrean City.


    Even if Xuan Danfeng did not give her a timely update, there was Shi Guanyin who had suddenly become her confidant and was updating her about the recent events.


    She was naturally shocked but had kept quiet over it.


    She had thought, "Since this Yin Shisi is a junior sister of my Sister Xingyuan, I shall adopt a wait and see approach. If she has any tricks like that Qiuxiang Huan, I''ll like to experience it firsthand."


    Qin Keqin was the Devil Goddess. She was not afraid of the tricks of her opponents. Rather, she thought that it would be interesting to know the tricks that were in their sleeves.


    This was something that her sister saintesses had warned her several times but this was something that she had never pay any heed.


    Although she may appear to be extremely foolish and got into many near death experiences in the past but due to her worldly experiences, it was extremely difficult to fool her eyes nowadays.


    Yin Shisi did not know that Qin Keqin had been spending the past several days to observe her quietly. In fact, Qin Keqin and Shi Guanyin were even in conspiracy with each other. Shi Guanyin had pretended to request for Qin Keqin to attend some clan meetings but in fact, there were none to speak of.


    But Qin Keqin was soon bored of spying upon Yin Shisi because she was too ''perfect'' and ''boring''. Yin Shisi was polite to everyone and she had spent almost all her time in her cultivation.


    Qin Keqin was really good in observing the body languages of her opponents and she knew instantly if that person was a secret foe. But no matter how hard she had observed Yin Shisi, it was difficult to find a flaw in her quiet demeanor.


    She had even sent a secret transmission to the Heavenly Temptress, "Aunt, this prot¨¦g¨¦ of yours¡­what are her weaknesses? I can''t seem to find any faults¡­"


    Lie Qing simply replied, "Then don''t and don''t you bully her. She has a good nature and has a good chance to be a saintess in the future."


    Qin Keqin protested weakly, "I didn''t say anything about bullying her¡­"


    But Lie Qing had already turned off the transmission.


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    The center of attraction was on the core prot¨¦g¨¦s that were at the stage but for the majority of the thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s, they were secretly looking from time to time toward the direction of Qin Keqin, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.


    Moreover Shi Guanyin, Yun Xing and Lie Xingyuan who were sitting near them were also extraordinary beautiful.


    Qin Keqin turned to ask Yin Shisi with a smile, "Elder Yin, who do you think will top the core prot¨¦g¨¦ competition? Will it be Lu Qingyun?"


    Yin Shisi pondered for a while before she answered quietly, "I really do not know."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she thought, "I''ve thought that she is going to say it will be my Yun''Er¡­"


    Shi Guanyin was laughing jovially, "I''m so sorry to disappoint everyone here but my core prot¨¦g¨¦ Nangong Yu will emerge the victor of this competition."


    Kong Guxin laughed, "Isn''t that a little too early to say that? My core prot¨¦g¨¦ Cheng Wuzi is also a fourth realm expert."


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "Senior Brother Lu will win the competition."


    Qin Keqin, Yin Shisi, Lie Xingyuan: ¡­


    Yun Xing chuckled, "He will probably be the first to be kicked out¡­"


    Shi Guanyin was laughing as she looked at Qin Keqin, "Sect leader, are you sure about it? The reward this time will sure be a shocker. Are you sure that you want to use it for this martial competition?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "Of course! Consider this my donation to the clan! It is our duty to groom the next generation."


    Shi Guanyin and the rest of the grand elders were smiling weakly when they had heard her. How could she be so casual about it? This reward was a monstrous treasure to the second tier celestial clan like the Heavens Ridge Villa and she had made the donation just like this?


    She smiled weakly and she was muttering to herself, "I wonder if sect leader has more of these¡­"


    Mu Han and Wang Ming were quiet. It was because they had little hope that their core prot¨¦g¨¦s would excel in this martial competition. As a matter of fact, they had secretly placed bets on Nangong Yu to win¡­


    Mu Han was extremely quiet because he was feeling uneasy sitting around the sect leader. He had gossiped to Yun Xing about Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun but it turned out that Yun Xing had told all the grand elders about it.


    Now he was really afraid that he may lose his life at a moment notice especially now that Fairy Jade Light may be in New Empyrean City. Maybe the acting leader would not silence him but Fairy Jade Light might do so!


    Below the stage, Elder Ouyang and several of the elders were checking on the headcount of all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    As Elder Ouyang walked past Lu Qingyun, he whispered in his old voice. "Brother Lu, I hope that that you can shine in this competition! Don''t answer me. They are all watching¡­"


    Elder Ouyang sighed softly as he walked off. To think that Lu Qingyun had almost become his son-in-law. Until now, he had no idea why Lu Qingyun had rejected his daughter who was one of the top twenty great beauties of New Empyrean City. Although Lu Qingyun was only a first realm cultivator but he was sure to shine in the future, especially with the aid of his daughter.


    Elder Ouyang raised his profound strength as he shouted mightily, "We have eighteen core prot¨¦g¨¦s here and the martial competition will start very soon after the ballot has been decided. The result of this year martial competition will determine the new ranking of our core prot¨¦g¨¦s."


    Then he looked up to the stage above, "This year we have our Acting Sect Leader Qin Keqin to preside over the core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial tournament. The top three ranked core prot¨¦g¨¦s will receive an extra allocation of the clan resources for their cultivation. And the winner will receive the Divine Profound Pill."


    Everyone was gasping excitingly.


    "The Divine Profound Pill!"


    "If only I can have one too¡­"


    "Only a core prot¨¦g¨¦ has the chance to obtain it. We can only admire secretly¡­"


    "I wonder which lucky core prot¨¦g¨¦ will be able to obtain it?"


    "Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi are the two most likely candidates¡­"


    "I think Senior Brother Lu has a good chance too," a female prot¨¦g¨¦ said.


    "Impossible!" a male prot¨¦g¨¦ gently rebuked her. "He only has a handsome face but he is actually a good-for-nothing cultivator¡­"


    "Shh¡­don''t say it so loud. Our acting leader is here today¡­"


    All the core prot¨¦g¨¦s were quite startled that the reward this time was so such a treasure and they were all secretly moved¡­


    Leng Qiuyue who had no prior interest was also moved as she moved her lips silently, "The Divine Profound Pill¡­"


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled. This Divine Profound Pill was a wondrous divine pill that could strength the meridians of the cultivator. If any master practitioners were to take it then they would be able to advance to a third realm enlighten celestial immediately.


    If it was taken by a higher realm cultivator, the benefits would also be boundless as it would solidify their spiritual strength.


    In the book of alchemy, the Divine Profound Pill was a shining small blue pill that condensed the translucence might of the purest profound energies. Countless heavenly dews of the spiritual mountains were needed for even one Divine Profound Pill to form.


    Although it was not so rare in the rich spiritual peaks of the first tier celestial clans but to the cultivators that dwelled in the second and third tier regions, this was a heaven-defying pill that the first tier celestial clans were unwilling to sell or give.


    Lu Qingyun wanted this divine pill as well but it was not to strengthen his cultivation core but because he needed this divine pill to create a rare sixth realm divine pill. It was one of the necessary ingredients from the recipe that his old master had left behind.


    This sixth realm recipe was something that his old master and he had created together. They had called it the Heaven-Defying Profound Pill because it could manifest the golden aura of a fifth realm golden celestial without a need to attain to the fifth realm level.


    It was his dream as well as his late old master dream that they could prove that this Heaven-Defying Profound Pill could actually be possible. It was the holy grail of their alchemy skills.


    Therefore this only increased his fighting will and of course he was also determined to show off in front of Keqin.


    All of a sudden Nangong Yu was heard whispering coldly to him on his back, "Senior Brother Lu, you have better prayed that your opponent isn''t me or I will surely thrash you like a dog in front of my junior sister Qiuyue."


    Nangong Yu simply disliked Lu Qingyun because he could still vividly remembered the concern that Leng Qiuyue had shown to Lu Qingyun on the day that Old Saint Wen had ''visited'' the Heavens Ridge Villa. To him, Leng Qiuyue was destined to belong to him and no one else!


    Lu Qingyun turned around to smile weakly but before he could say anything, Leng Qiuyue had coolly whispered between them, "Maybe you will be the one that will be beaten up by Senior Brother Lu like a dog."


    There was a flush of anger in Nangong Yu''s eyes as he angrily said in a low voice, "Just you wait! Who is dog, is just too early to be said!"


    He was really angry that Leng Qiuyue was actually defending an outsider and not defending him who was from the same Red Heaven Sword Hall as her.

 101 Core Protégé Tournament 2

    At this moment, Elder Ouyang was now picking the ballots for the core prot¨¦g¨¦s to compete against each other.


    The excitements were deafening and everyone was discussing enthusiastically on who would be fighting against who.


    "Whoever is going up against Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi will be the most unlucky¡­"


    "Who is the lucky one that will fight against Senior Brother Lu?"


    "Haha, Senior Brother Lu Qingyun is the weakest among the core prot¨¦g¨¦s¡­"


    "But he is also the most good looking¡­"


    "What is the use of good looks when your cultivation is low?"


    A number of female prot¨¦g¨¦s were urging with the male prot¨¦g¨¦s because they had placed their bets on Lu Qingyun to bet¡­


    "This isn''t rational at all. This isn''t a beauty contest and is a cultivation contest. You should place your bets on the stronger cultivation¡­"


    "Usually the handsome ones have more luck¡­"


    "Rubbish¡­nonsense¡­"


    Elder Ouyang took the ballot from a bronze tri-pod cauldron as he read loudly, "Cheng Wuzi versus Li Chen!"


    Li Chen was the third core prot¨¦g¨¦ of Shi Guanyin. When he had heard that he was going to fight against Cheng Wuzi who was an initial fourth realm expert, his heart sunk immediately. He had not expected his luck to be so down as to be eliminated in the first round!


    He gritted his teeth and put on a brave front as he raised his sword to contest against Cheng Wuzi.


    Celestial Kong Guxin was laughing. Cheng Wuzi was his prized senior core prot¨¦g¨¦ and he knew that he was going to win.


    "Celestial Shi, I guess that you''re going to have the honor of the first defeat. Hohoho."


    Celestial Shi Guanyin: ¡­


    The battle between Cheng Wuzi and Li Chen was over in less than thirty strokes. The disparity between them were simply too great!


    Elder Ouyang proclaimed loudly, "Cheng Wuzi of the Green Fields Martial Hall has won!"


    There were thunderous applauds from the thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    "Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi is so dashing!"


    "Who says that only the Red Heaven Sword Hall is the only martial hall that is exceled in swordplay? Look at the Green Fields Martial Hall!"


    Lu Qingyun was quietly observing Cheng Wuzi as he thought, "His Thirty-Six Revolution Sword is indeed formidable. Not only is his sword fast, each revolution of his sword has an increased martial power imbued into it. It is no wonder that Li Chen is defeated in no time. Cheng Wuzi is a fourth realm expert but it doesn''t look like he is a sword energy wielder. Therefore he must have used his martial power to empower his sword strength at his fourth realm level."


    "No," he muttered quietly. "His profound senses must be really extraordinary in order to gain sensory mastery over his surroundings, especially for such a difficult swordplay as the Thirty-Six Revolution Sword. Therefore his real strength lies in his profound aura instead¡­"


    Elder Ouyang had picked the second round of ballot as he proclaimed aloud, "The next contesters are Lu Qingyun¡­"


    Many of the female prot??g¨¦s were screaming wildly even though his competitor had not been announced, "Senior Brother Lu will be the next one to fight on stage!¡­"


    "He is going to be kicked soon¡­"


    "I wonder who will be the lucky core prot¨¦g¨¦ that is going to fight him?"


    "He can''t compare to Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi! Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi is my idol!"


    "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun is the senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa while Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi is only the senior brother of the common prot¨¦g¨¦s. Just their statuses alone speak of their disparities¡­"


    "Why is that I''ve got the feeling that all these female prot¨¦g¨¦s are all trying to get into Senior Brother Lu Qingyun''s good books and trying to be his personal attendant?"


    "He has already got Lie Xingyuan¡­she is such a great beauty¡­"


    "Why didn''t I notice her when she is just a common prot¨¦g¨¦¡­alas¡­"


    Elder Ouyang cleared his throat to shout even louder but no voice could be heard. There were simply too many prot¨¦g¨¦s today and they were all drowning his voice, especially the female prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    He mustered all his profound strength and this time his voice thundered above all, "Zhang Gang will fight against Lu Qingyun!"


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s were startled.


    "Isn''t this Zhang Gang just a second realm expert?"


    "He has joined the same time as Senior Brother Lu Qingyun¡­"


    "Two lowly cultivators fighting against each other?"


    "Still, Zhang Gang is a realm higher than Senior Brother Lu Qingyun so he will probably win¡­"


    "It seems that any of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s will be able to thrash Senior Brother Lu¡­"


    "Is this ballot rigged? What is the possibility of two of the lowest cultivators engaging with each other?!"


    "Rubbish! It is impossible for the ballots to be rigged!"


    Although many of the common prot¨¦g¨¦s had a low opinion of Lu Qingyun, they still had to address him by his ''Senior Brother'' title. It was because unlike the senior brother titles of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s, he was the most senior of all the senior prot¨¦g¨¦ brothers and sisters. They could call the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s by their names directly but not Lu Qingyun without adding the ''Senior Brother'' title.


    Even the grand elders had to address Lu Qingyun as Senior Brother because he was ranked more senior than them!


    Lie Xingyuan was muttering, "It is senior brother turn¡­"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly as she rolled her eyes sheepishly, "Yun''Er will surely be able to win."


    Grand Elder Wang Ming said with a faint smile, "Although Zhang Gang has only been with the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall for three short months but without a doubt he is really a promising young man¡­"


    Yun Xing chuckled as she interrupted jovially, "Wang Ming, are you getting a little senile nowadays? Are you forgetting that you are leading the White Spirit Hall now and not the Crystal Cloud Spirit Hall? Grand Elder Ouyang Xue is the one that should be commenting and not you."


    Wang Ming smiled weakly, "Yes, yes¡­."


    Shi Guanyin laughed as she turned to ask Ouyang Xue, "Congrats, your core prot¨¦g¨¦ will be next winner."


    Ouyang Xue said nonchalantly, "I still say that Senior Brother Lu will emerge the victor."


    All the grand elders were looking at her now with a weak smile as they all thought at the same time, "She is not supporting her own core prot¨¦g¨¦s?"


    Yin Shisi was nodding, "Yes, I believe so as well. He is really looking good today. He will be able to win no doubt¡­"


    Shi Guanyin, Mu Han, Wang Ming, Kong Guxin and Yun Xing were speechless. When did looking good ever made a difference in the duel between the cultivators?! Realm level, potential, cultivation strength and techniques were instead the most important decisive factors in the battle of the cultivators!


    Qin Keqin had no doubt that Lu Qingyun was able to win against Zhang Gang. It was because she knew that Lu Qingyun was a fourth realm expert and not a lowly good-for-nothing first realm cultivator.


    And of course, she had also rigged the ballots with Elder Ouyang¡­


    She was secretly laughing in her heart, "I will make sure that my Yun''Er gets all the easy opponents¡­"


    It was not hard to bribe Elder Ouyang at all. After all, she was now the one calling the shots in the Heavens Ridge Villa. Even if she was found out, at most she would only get a censor since no one had the moral authority to punish their own sect leader.


    If she did not play some trickery in this martial tournament then she would not be the Devil Goddess. Moreover she did not want her Divine Profound Pill to fall into other than her Yun''Er hands.


    She was thoroughly enjoying the entire process and watching everyone''s expressions.


    With her clever rigging, she had estimated that her Yun''Er had a reasonable chance to emerge as the top winner. Still, that was only her prediction. That Cheng Wuzi did look awfully like a strong opponent.


    In her hand was a crystal ball and within this crystal ball contained a powerful celestial scrying array that allowed Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng to secretly observe the fight with her.


    They had certainly known that she had rigged some of the ballots because she had freely told them.


    Feng Minyue had said, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, you should not pamper Lu Qingyun at all. After all, only a strict master teacher will be able to produce a most outstanding student."


    Even Xuan Danfeng had agreed with her, "We know that he is your one and only disciple and you have never taught anyone before. But going to the extent of rigging the ballots does not sound right at all."


    But Qin Keqin had replied, "What if he got some serious injuries from the competition? Then as his master, I would have failed in my duty to protect him."


    Lu Qingyun and Zhang Gang had both walked to the stage now with their tempered wooden swords. The tempered wooden swords that were in their hands were stronger than steel as it was made of the Heart Oak Crystallite Wood. However the sword edges were not sharpened so as not to hurt any of the contesters.


    The two of them quickly exchanged a polite hand bow before they brandished out the wooden swords that were in their hands.


    The thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s were all watching in anticipation and eager for the outcome as the thunderous claps and roars increased in activity.


    Lu Qingyun was a first realm middle tier cultivator while Zhang Gang was second realm middle tier cultivator. The difference between a first realm practitioner and a second realm master practitioner were not that wide as compared to the third realm and above realms.


    It was obvious to the common prot¨¦g¨¦s that Zhang Gang had the superior profound strength as he was a second realm cultivator. But the most decisive factor would be their mastery of their sword arts that would be deemed the most important factor in determining the outcome of their duel.


    Lu Qingyun was the direct core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Sect Leader Qin and their sect leader was a fifth realm later stage golden celestial while Wang Ming was a fourth realm immortal celestial. As for Zhang Gang''s new master Ouyang Xue, she was said to be only a third realm middle enlighten celestial.


    Shi Guanyin smiled as she turned to say to Qin Keqin, "I still think that Zhang Gang will emerge the victor. I''ve actually met him a few times in the inner court and he is quite studious. As for Senior Brother Lu Qingyun, I really have no comments¡­"


    Then with another smile, she added. "In most ordinary circumstances, I would bet on Lu Qingyun since he is the sect leader''s core disciple but alas, our sect leader is so busy that I doubt that you have the time to personally instruct him, let alone imparting him a powerful sword stroke or two. Sect leader, am I right?"


    The reason why she had dared to say so because she was now on an extremely good terms with Qin Keqin and was even her confidant now.


    But when the other grand elders heard her, they had turned a little ashen as they all thought that Shi Guanyin was a little too rude to the sect leader.


    But Qin Keqin chuckled as she began to ponder hard. Her expressions had suddenly changed to a panicky look as she gasped softly, "Right¡­oh no! Does this mean that my Yun''Er is just a white paper?"


    Without any sword and martial skills, a cultivator could not be considered to be a fighter. She turned to look panicky at Shi Guanyin, "I have completely forgotten to instruct him¡­and he didn''t ask¡­"


    Shi Guanyin laughed softly, "Sect leader, don''t you worry. Senior Brother Lu had borrowed three martial manuals from the Red Heaven Sword Library. The three martial arts are the Flaming Crimson Sword, the Phoenix Burst and the Winds Entropy Dance. All three are the superior martial arts of my Red Heaven Sword Library. With his talent, I am sure that he will be able to put it to good use."


    Qin Keqin asked, "Then why don''t you place a bet on my Yun''Er?"


    Shi Guanyin laughed, "Not when he has a master that is constantly nowhere to be seen. Superior martial arts need a master to guide or else it will only be a blind art and will be useless."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Ouyang Xue had secretly stolen a glance at Lie Xingyuan when she had heard the mention of the Winds Entropy Dance as she thought, "Don''t tell me that Senior Brother Lu had borrowed the Winds Entropy Dance for her sake?"


    It was because she had remembered seeing Lie Xingyuan displaying the Winds Entropy Dance during the experiential mission¡­


    In the meantime at the stage;


    Zhang Gang said politely, "Senior brother, please pardon me for any slights. I will be doing my best. Just to let you know. For the past three months I have been practicing my sword art for six hours daily. There are many in the clan that has considered me to be a master swordsman. Therefore you ought to be wary."


    Lu Qingyun was grateful that Zhang Gang had been so frank with him. So he politely said, "I am not weak too so please do not withhold your strength against me. I am only asking for a fair fight."


    In the past, he had thought of himself as a weak cultivator because his profound strength would always fail to condense together. Because of this reason he had thought that he was a fail cultivator and had no hope of ever reaching the second realm master practitioner level.


    But meeting Qin Keqin seemed to have changed his fate and now he felt that cultivation was now too easy. In fact now, he wondered if there was a limit to his profound strength.


    He was actually a genius with the sword arts and he could easily pick any sword art up with ease. However due to the lack of profound strength, the sword arts that he had learnt could not keep up with his body co-ordination and often result in comedy situations.


    There was actually a strong reason in it except that he did not know that there was a powerful restraint within his soul that caused his profound strength to be weak and it was placed there by the translucence might of the Great God Pangu that had killed him in his past life.


    Once he had succeeded in breaking through to the fourth realm, this powerful restraint had vanished and that was the reason why Lu Qingyun now thought that cultivation was not so hard after all.


    Zhang Gang said coolly, "Since Senior Brother Lu is my senior, I shall let you make the first move."


    Lu Qingyun said, "I think this won''t be necessary. I am probably stronger than you."


    Zhang Gang: ¡­


    Zhang Gang shouted as he raised his sword to display a beautiful sword stance and charged at Lu Qingyun, "You are only underestimating your opponent! Have you ever heard that there is always a higher peak and a stronger person?"


    But Lu Qingyun simply raised his sword and he had sent Zhang Gang to fly out of the stage, stunning all the onlookers!


    Even Lu Qingyun was quite startled. He had reacted purely out of reflexes. He thought, "Did I use too much of my profound strength?" The truth was that he had barely exercised his profound strength and it was actually Zhang Gang who was too weak.


    After all, Zhang Gang was only second realm middle tier cultivator while Lu Qingyun was a fourth realm late stage cultivator. There was simply no comparison.


    Many of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were all screaming loudly when they saw how effortless Lu Qingyun had defeated Zhang Gang.


    Some of them were screaming even more thunderously especially when they had realized the amount of payouts that they had won by betting on Lu Qingyun to survive the first round of the martial competition!


    "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun is simply too dashing!"


    "Lu Qingyun won¡­how is it possible?¡­"


    "Is the fight rigged?!"


    "A first realm cultivator defeating a second realm cultivator in such an easy manner?!"


    "This is impossible¡­"


    "Or this Zhang Gang is really too weak?"


    Qin Keqin was flushing with excitement as she lifted up her skirt as she joined in the thunderous applaud, "Did you all see that?! My Yun''Er has won! This is a perfect victory!"


    Shi Guanyin was gasping as she quickly pulled the skirt of Qin Keqin, "Sect leader¡­"


    It was because she had accidentally pulled her skirt too high and quite a number of hot blooded male prot¨¦g¨¦s were all staring and admiring her beautiful slender porcelain legs.


    Elder Ouyang was blinking his eyes blankly as he muttered with shock, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun¡­has won¡­this round¡­"


    But in the eyes of Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi, the outcome was not at all surprising. It was because everyone in the Heavens Ridge Villa had underestimated Lu Qingyun!


    Yin Shisi was smiling quietly in her heart, "If he doesn''t have a strong profound strength in him, will my Depraving Fingers have failed to work against him? Therefore he isn''t any first realm cultivator as rumored¡­"

 102 Core Protégé Tournament 3

    The first round of the martial competition was over quickly.


    Eighteen core prot¨¦g¨¦s had competed against each other and only nine core prot¨¦g¨¦s had advanced to the next round.


    Lu Qingyun was one of the nine that had advanced to the next round.


    Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi were the two only known core prot¨¦g¨¦s that were fourth realm experts and they were also the favorites to advance to the next round. They did not fail the expectations of the crowd and they had naturally advanced to the second round.


    Leng Qiuyue the icy beauty had also advanced to the second round.


    As she won her match, she lit a faint smile as she walked past to Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun who was closely watching all his opponents'' matches keenly was startled when he had suddenly noticed that she was smiling at him. He thought, "Why is she looking at me like this? But she has the right to mock me. Her sword stances are really seasoned. She will be a strong opponent¡­"


    However Leng Qiuyue was actually silently saying, ??Senior brother, did you see that? Are you impressed with me?"


    Now that the first round of the martial competition was over, Elder Ouyang announced. "Before we go to the second round, we are going to have another ballot to choose a defeated candidate from among the eliminated and the picked candidate will be allowed to go to the second round."


    "In a battle, one''s luck plays a big part too. Therefore whether you will be picked to the second round will depend entirely on the heavens!" As he said that, he took a quick glance at Lu Qingyun as he sighed softly.


    The reason why he had agreed to rig the ballot with the sect leader was because Qin Keqin had told him, "Elder Ouyang, this is the first time that my Yun''Er is entering the core prot¨¦g¨¦s martial tournament. He is the clan''s Senior Brother. I hope that you understand that if he loses, it will be such a terrible loss of face for him and for me, your sect leader¡­"


    If Lu Qingyun were to lose his first match, then this bailout ballot will be used for him to re-enter the second round.


    But since he had won¡­


    Elder Ouyang put his hands unhurriedly into the cauldron to pick a ballot to name the lucky person who would be given a second chance.


    Most of the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were not interested in any of the defeated candidates and were more interested in the upcoming second round. However, all nine of the defeated candidates were all looking at Elder Ouyang and the cauldron with great anxiety. To them, it seemed like it was an eternity¡­


    Qin Keqin was laughing jovially as she watched Elder Ouyang.


    To the others, they had no idea why she was equally excited at the ballot result. This was not as exciting as the actual competition.


    Qin Keqin turned to ask the group as she chuckled, "So, who do you think will be picked?"


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "Zhang Gang."


    There was a slight flush on Qin Keqin''s countenance and her smiles were stopped half-way.


    Elder Ouyang was heard announcing loudly, "Zhang Gang. You are picked. You are allowed to go to the second round¡­"


    Everyone was staring at Qin Keqin and Ouyang Xue as though they were saying, "How did you know?"


    They had noticed Qin Keqin''s sudden halt in her expression and were suspecting that she may have known of the result beforehand.


    Qin Keqin suddenly chuckled as she looked solemnly at Ouyang Xue, "You didn''t conspire with your father to rig the result, didn''t you? How do you know the result of the ballot before we do?"


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Everyone: ¡­


    Yun Xing looked at Ouyang Xue while thinking with a weak smile, "She is the sect leader. Even if she did rig the ballot, we can''t expose her¡­"


    Mu Han, Wang Ming, Kong Guxin and Shi Guanyin were all smiling weakly and pretending that they knew nothing.


    Lie Xingyuan was gasping as she looked at Qin Keqin, "Don''t tell me that this ballot is rigged by sect leader?!"


    Only Yin Shisi was quietly watching the stage without any distraction.


    Below the stage, Zhang Gang was overjoyed and he had jumped up. To think that he would be so lucky to be given a second chance!


    Earlier, he had to admit that he had been too careless and he was quite demoralized that he had been defeated by Lu Qingyun with just a single stroke.


    In a battle, it was not skills alone that mattered. Luck was also an important factor as well. Zhang Gang now believed that lady luck was in his company and he was suddenly spirited!


    As he jumped to join the other core prot¨¦g¨¦s that were waiting for the second round, he heard some mutterings from the common prot¨¦g¨¦s that were sitting on top of the stage.


    "Zhang Gang is only a second realm good-for-nothing cultivator. Why is that he can be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ while we can''t?"


    "He was only lucky to be picked by Grand Elder Wang Ming that day¡­"


    "He has even lost to Senior Brother Lu who is only a first realm cultivator¡­"


    "If he has any shame, he should step down immediately and surrender the chance to a more worthy defeated candidate¡­"


    Zhang Gang: ¡­


    As he walked to join the second round core prot¨¦g¨¦s, he hung his head in great awkwardness¡­


    Elder Ouyang announced, "Now for the start of the second round of the martial competition¡­"


    The common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all cheering and talking excitingly. Finally the second round of the competition will be starting soon!


    Elder Ouyang picked the ballots and read out aloud, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun versus Zhang Gang!"


    All of a sudden there was a few seconds of stunned silence from everyone as the noises suddenly died down before it resumed into a thunderous confusion¡­


    "What?! Senior Brother Lu Qingyun is up against Zhang Gang again?"


    "This fight, it isn''t rigged right?"


    "What are the odds of this happening¡­"


    "The two lowest level cultivators are fighting again¡­"


    "What is this?"


    Many of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were however overjoyed with their sheer luck. If Lu Qingyun did manage to get into the third round, they would be able to win a huge amount of payout.


    "Aiya, I should have placed more of my money on Senior Brother Lu¡­"


    "I think I am going to be in debt¡­" many of the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were bitterly complaining.


    There was a type of bet that was called the reverse betting. These common prot¨¦g¨¦s had betted against Lu Qingyun unable to advance into the second, third or even higher rounds. If Lu Qingyun did manage to enter the second round, they would lose double their bets. If he could enter the third round then they would lose a quadruple amount and so on and so forth.


    That was why there was a stunned silence from the common prot¨¦g¨¦s whether they were supporters or betting against Lu Qingyun.


    Some of the elders almost vomited blood. They were richer than the common prot¨¦g¨¦s and had betted more against Lu Qingyun¡­


    Even Zhang Gang was stunned for a while, "What? I am going to fight Senior Brother Lu again?¡­" But he was soon glad. It was because he stood a greater chance against Lu Qingyun than the others.


    Behind him, Nangong Yu was cursing angrily. "He can just go to the third round just like this? Just because he has a weaker opponent?"


    When Elder Ouyang had announced the match, he too, was feeling quite sheepish now. His back was now burning and he was feeling quite awkward. This was a big oversight on his part and he did not predict that the reaction of the crowd would be so exaggerated.


    When Qin Keqin said to him, "On the second round, I hope that my Yun''Er will be the first competitor against Zhang Gang. In this way, he will be able to have more time to rest for the third round¡­"


    He had blindly followed Sect Leader Qin''s script and now he was feeling that it was a little too obvious¡­


    Qin Keqin was smiling with great delight, "My Yun''Er is going to fight Zhang Gang again! Alright, let have some side bets. I''m betting on my Yun''Er to win. So who is going to bet against me?"


    Everyone had a stunned expression as they looked at Qin Keqin.


    Was this too obvious that the result was definitely rigged?!


    Even Yin Shisi was doubtfully looking at Qin Keqin as she softly said. "Isn''t this too much of a coincidence?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "This is just a lucky occurrence. It will only be a coincidence only if it happens again."


    All the grand elders were looking at one another and shaking their heads at the ''coincidences''¡­


    Even Lie Xingyuan was smiling bitterly in her heart, "If it really happens for the third time then it will be too shameless and will be such a weak facade¡­"


    "Elder Ouyang Xue, who do you think will win this time round?" Qin Keqin asked Ouyang Xue.


    But this time Ouyang Xue was not going to reply her. If she replied that Lu Qingyun would be the victor then Qin Keqin may shamelessly accused her of rigging the martial competitor with her father.


    She was actually thinking, "My father has actually conspired with the sect leader? My old father, I hope that that is not the case. How do you expect your daughter to face anyone in the future¡­"


    Below the stage, Lu Qingyun and Zhang Gang were awkwardly facing each other again.


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "We have met again."


    Zhang Gang was smiling bitterly, "Indeed. This time I won''t be careless. So you have better be prepared to be eliminated."


    Lu Qingyun returned an awkward smile, "Actually I am not prepared to be eliminated. I really want the Divine Profound Pill for myself."


    Zhang Gang smiled coldly, "You won''t be able to defeat Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi. They are the powerhouses of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s. So you have better worried about getting past me first."


    He added, "Since heavens have given me a chance again, I believe that it is a sign that I will be able to defeat you today. As the saying goes, you can''t fight against the heavens."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "Then I can only ask for your pointers¡­please give your instructions!"


    "Is Senior Brother Lu sighing?"


    "Maybe it is only luck that he has defeated Zhang Gang on the first round¡­"


    "It is said that Zhang Gang is the youngest prodigy in the Heavens Ridge Villa with heaven-defying talents¡­"


    "Indeed the same move cannot be used twice against a monstrous genius like Zhang Gang¡­"


    Zhang Gang did not step forward this time but taken two steps to the back as he said sharply, "The first time that I''ve lost to you is because I have underestimated you. You had lured me into making the first move first and had made use of my brief opening to defeat me. This time, I won''t place myself into a position of complacency¡­"


    But before he could finish what he was saying, Lu Qingyun had flashed his sword and knocked him aside with a swing. "You talk too much."


    Lu Qingyun had no wish to put down on his opponent. He was never someone who would put down an opponent with words. He had fought with numerous desolate beasts in the mountains and he knew that the desolate beasts would never give anyone a chance to talk. Therefore this advice to Zhang Gang had come from the bottom of his heart.


    Zhang Gang blinked his eyes. He did not even see Lu Qingyun moving and he had already knocked him on the ground?!


    He could not believe it!


    And even before he could regain his senses, Lu Qingyun''s sword was already pointing at his throat as he said. "You have lost."


    Zhang Gang was staring in disbelief. What was going on?!


    Elder Ouyang was also staring with some disbelief at the sudden end of the duel. He announced with some strangeness, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun has won this duel!"


    The thousands of common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all staring with disbelief. Zhang Gang did not even make a single move and he was defeated.


    "Why is Zhang Gang just standing there and allowing Senior Brother Lu Qingyun to make his move?!"


    As the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all watching intently above the stage, they could see Lu Qingyun making his move as they had a better perspective of the stage. But for Zhang Gang, he had allowed himself a brief moment of distraction by talking too much.


    "This¡­this is rigged?"


    "This is over even before it is started?!!"


    "Look at how impressive Senior Brother Lu is! He is going to the third round next¡­"


    "Senior Brother Qingyun is really so dashing¡­"


    "I cannot believe it¡­"


    "This¡­can''t be happening, right?"


    "But then Zhang Gang had already lost to Senior Brother Lu in the first round. So this result isn''t too surprising¡­"


    "I don''t believe, I don''t believe this result at all¡­"


    "How is it possible for a second realm expert to lose to a first realm expert?"


    Lu Qingyun''s supporters were arguing hotly with the unbelievers, "That is because he is the core disciple of our sect leader and has the superior swordplay!"


    "That stroke that Senior Brother Lu had just used must be the Winds Entropy Dance. Did you see how fast his sword strike was earlier?"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Zhang Gang said bitterly to Lu Qingyun, "I am not ready yet. How can you attack me even before I am ready?!"


    Lu Qingyun protested weakly, "I had thought that the duel had already started¡­" This was the truth. The exchange of formalities was already over when Lu Qingyun had asked for the pointers from his opponent. Anyone would have thought the same.


    Moreover Zhang Gang had made the first move by moving his steps backward. It was just that Zhang Gang was trying to use talks to destabilize the morale of his opponent. But it had actually backfired because Lu Qingyun was only focused on defeating his opponent with his sword stroke.


    Qin Keqin was smiling with even greater delight than before, "Did you all see that? My Yun''Er has won! He is able to enter the third round. I am so happy for him¡­"


    Yin Shisi was smiling too as she looked at Qin Keqin, "He¡­has really won!"


    All the grand elders were smiling weakly. They had no idea why their sect leader would be so happy over such a small victory.


    There were a sudden flash in their eyes as they turned to look secretly at Mu Han. If the rumor that was spread by Mu Han was true that their Sect Leader Qin and Senior Brother Lu were in a secret relationship, then this would explain things¡­


    As for Yin Shisi, it was too obvious to the rest that she was showing too much interest on Lu Qingyun. It was because she had an nonchalant look for the other competitors but when it had come to Lu Qingyun, she was nodding and smiling¡­


    Lie Xingyuan was secretly observing Qin Keqin. "She doesn''t look like she is upset with Senior Brother? But why are they behaving so weirdly on that night¡­in fact, the way she is looking at senior brother isn''t exactly the look that a master would give to a disciple¡­it more like a maiden looking at her love interest¡­"

 103 Core Protégé Tournament 4

    Elder Ouyang announced the next match as he read the ballot, "Nangong Yu versus¡­Cheng Wuzi!"


    "Omg! It is the clan two strongest core prot¨¦g¨¦s that will be fighting against each other!"


    "Forget about the fight that is between Senior Brother Lu and Zhang Gang¡­this is more exciting than anything else!"


    "Who do you think will be able to win?"


    "I''m betting all my everything on Nangong Yu to reach the finals¡­"


    "I''m supporting Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi!"


    "This is the second round only and they are already having a showdown. Whoever wins this fight will ultimately be the ultimate winner¡­"


    "Don''t forget that there is still the comeback ballot after the second round. Who knows¡­"


    "I think that Nangong Yu is more handsome¡­"


    "Cheng Wuzi has the maturity and looks trustworthy¡­"


    "Erm¡­this is a martial competition and not a match-making competition¡­"


    "I''ve heard that Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi is looking for a personal attendant¡­??


    "Fourth realm core prot¨¦g¨¦s are allowed two personal attendants, you know¡­"


    "I would rather be Senior Brother Qingyun''s personal attendant. He looks much friendlier¡­"


    "But he is a good-for-nothing cultivator too¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Nangong Yu was smiling as he pointed his sword at Cheng Wuzi, "In the last core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial competition, it was a draw between us. I have been waiting for this day for a long time."


    Cheng Wuzi smiled wryly, "Indeed. How long was that? Ten years ago? Time really flies fast."


    Nangong Yu replied coldly, "To cultivators like us, it is only a passing of a moment."


    Cheng Wuzi nodded, "We were still third realm experts back then. We have been through so many of these ten years cycle that I have lost count on how many times that we have dueled."


    Nangong Yu smiled coldly, "18 martial competitions. Out of the 18, we have fought 6 times. You have won three times and I have won 3 times."


    Cheng Wuzi smiled, "You seem to have a good memory."


    "It is because I have regarded you as my opponent and only you are worthy of being my opponent." Nangong Yu coolly replied.


    "I have the exact same sentiments as well," Cheng Wuzi returned a cold smile as he brandished his sword. "Please give me your pointers!"


    Nangong Yu shouted, "Please give me your pointers!"


    The brief formalities had been exchanged and they were ready to fight with each other.


    The killing intents from the two were intense and could be felt off-stage. It was well known that Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi did not have much fondness for each other.


    Nangong Yu raised his sword and the air was shimmering with his sword energies. His intention was clear. He was going to unleash his fourth realm sword energies on his opponent.


    "Sword energies!" the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all grasping with anticipation.


    "Only a fourth realm expert who has grasped the core principles of the energy level can display sword energies¡­"


    "Senior Brother Nangong Yu is indeed a monstrous genius¡­"


    "Not anyone who has reached the fourth realm cultivation level will be able to use sword energies¡­"


    "Celestial Shi Guanyin is also a good master to have instructed such a genius cultivator like Senior Brother Nangong Yu¡­"


    "It is really rare for an initial fourth realm expert to be able to use sword energies before the middle fourth realm level¡­"


    Cheng Wuzi smiled coldly when he saw the wavering force that was at the tip of Nangong Yu''s sword, "I didn''t think that you have really mastered the sword energies level and is now a sword energies practitioner¡­"


    As he praised Nangong Yu, Cheng Wuzi had manifested his profound aura through an outburst of energy."


    "What a strong profound aura!" the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were exclaiming aloud.


    "Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi has such a strong aura¡­"


    "Do you think that Nangong Yu''s sword energy would be able to bypass Cheng Wuzi''s profound aura?"


    "One party excels in offense and the other excels in defense¡­this is going to be exciting!"


    "The two strongest martial halls are about to clash against each other!"


    Celestial Kong Guxin was smiling as he said to Celestial Shi Guanyin, "Our core prot¨¦g¨¦s are about to duel with each other now. But I think that your Nangong Yu will lose."


    Shi Guanyin laughed softly, "Why do you say so? I say that my Nangong Yu will definitely be able to win. In terms of sword strength, Nangong Yu is probably the best swordsman among all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s."


    Kong Guxin laughed heartily, "That may be the case but I''m afraid that he is not going to defeat Cheng Wuzi."


    Shi Guanyin said unhappily, "We shall see about that!"


    Kong Guxin turned to look at the other grand elders and Qin Keqin, "What do you all think about it?"


    Qin Keqin said casually, "Mm¡­that Nangong Yu looks really formidable¡­"


    Kong Guxin: ¡­


    Shi Guanyin was laughing, "See, even sect leader says so!"


    Ouyang Xue said, "I think that this time Cheng Wuzi may be able to win."


    Kong Guxin laughed heartily, "I have a supporter now. Grand Elder Ouyang Xue, what makes you think so?"


    Ouyang Xue replied, "It is only a guess. I don''t know their exact mental and physical state. But from what I am seeing now, Cheng Wuzi is probably waiting for Nangong Yu to make the first move and he will try to exhaust him with his profound aura. He is betting hard that Nangong Yu will not outlast his profound strength."


    Shi Guanyin said, "Maintaining one''s profound aura isn''t as simple as it seems. It is even more taxing than using sword energies. Sometimes the best defense is offense. My Nangong Yu will surely win this round."


    She laughed before she turned to Yin Shisi to ask, "Elder Yin, so what do you think?"


    Yin Shisi causally replied, "I''ve no idea." Her eyes were not at the stage at all but at where Lu Qingyun was now resting.


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "At least sect leader is on my side. Why are the rest so quiet?"


    Yun Xing laughed, "This is between you and Kong Guxin. We don''t want to get involve."


    Mu Han and Wang Ming were both laughing heartily as they said, "That''s right."


    Yun Xing chuckled, "It is starting¡­pay more attention to the stage below¡­"


    Mu Han teased her with a wry look, "Yes, grand elder."


    Yun Xing: ¡­


    "I didn''t know that I got such an ugly prot¨¦g¨¦ in my martial hall." Yun Xing returned a teasing remark.


    Mu Han: ¡­


    Below the stage Nangong Yu had made his first move by swinging his sword as he aimed at Cheng Wuzi by imbuing his sword with his profound energies.


    There was a sudden martial force that had suddenly flown and exploded over Cheng Wuzi who had raised his sword to shield himself and to reinforce his profound aura.


    Nangong Yu''s first strike was rendered invalid by a simple move that was made by Cheng Wuzi!


    Cheng Wuzi dare not be complacent; even though he knew that his profound aura would be able to protect him from most martial forces but he dare not be careless. Sword energies were known to have more penetrating power than most martial forces as this invisible force was a condensation of one''s profound energies. Moreover Nangong Yu was on the same level as him, therefore he had to guard against all his moves.


    Nangong Yu smiled as he flashed to a side. The fact that his first strike had failed did not surprise him at all. It was because his opponent was Cheng Wuzi and that was only a warm up attack.


    As he flashed, he was channeling his profound energies again and this time his sword was enveloped with his deadly profound energies.


    Cheng Wuzi had shifted his standing position to face him when Nangong Yu had suddenly released three sword bursts that exploded its martial force over Cheng Wuzi and forcing him to take two steps back!


    "Nangong Yu has broken Cheng Wuzi''s profound aura!"


    "What is this?! What is this that Nangong Yu has just used?!"


    "That isn''t a sword energy, am I right?"


    "It is but this one is extremely complicated to master," an elder commented and explained to the astonished common prot¨¦g¨¦s near him. "Even I cannot do it. Sword energies are powered by the practitioner''s profound energies via their profound strength while most martial strokes are powered by the practitioner''s martial power via their profound strength. What he did just now was to form his sword energies and at the final release point, he had converted his sword energies into martial power again. This dual converting is not easy, not easy to accomplish!"


    Another elder nodded and commented, "Nangong Yu must have realized that he needs to damage a wider area in order to weaken Cheng Wuzi''s profound aura in the shortest amount of time. Therefore only an outburst of martial power can accomplish this task. Although this sword bursts are weaker than a single sword energy but this feat alone is extremely impressive."


    The elder that had first commented nodded, "Indeed and this sword technique has a name to it, the Sword Energy Bursts."


    When the common prot¨¦g¨¦s had heard the elders, they were all muttering. "Genius. Monstrous Genius. Surely Nangong Yu is the son of the heavens and he should be the Senior Brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa¡­"


    High up the stage, even Ouyang Xue was forced to admit. "It seems that I have underestimated Nangong Yu¡­"


    Below the stage, just as Cheng Wuzi had just renewed his profound power to restore his profound aura, Nangong Yu was suddenly within pointblank of him as he swung his sword with great mastery and with just a few sword strokes, he had forced Cheng Wuzi back with his martial power.


    Before Cheng Wuzi knew what was happening, Nangong Yu was already pointing his sword at his forehead.


    Nangong Yu smiled, "You didn''t think that I will be using range attacks all the time, do you? I am equally good with my martial power sword strokes as well, you know."


    Cheng Wuzi sighed softly, "I have lost. Your sword techniques have indeed caught me by surprise."


    Nangong Yu smiled. In the past, he would not hesitate to put down on Cheng Wuzi. But ever since they had fought together in their night attack against the Solitary Manor, he had only grudging respect for Cheng Wuzi.


    So he said, "Next time, we will fight again. You are my greatest rival and I am sure you will be doing your own improvements to best me."


    Cheng Wuzi was smiling as well, "You have won fair and square. I have a lot to catch up with you."


    Elder Ouyang announced loudly, "Nangong Yu has won!"


    The thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s were all screaming joyously. This duel was a real opening to their eyes.


    "Senior Brother Nangong Yu is simple too dashing!"


    "He is my new idol¡­"


    "I''ve thought it is Senior Brother Qingyun?"


    "That is before. Now is after."


    Lu Qingyun who was quietly watching the duel, was impressed by the martial display of both Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi. He was quietly visualizing their fights in his mind over and over again¡­


    Above the stage, Shi Guanyin was smiling. "I told you so that my Nangong Yu will be the winner of this duel."


    Kong Guxin had an ugly countenance as he sighed, "If Cheng Wuzi''s opponent is not Nangong Yu and Nangong Yu has shown his trump card on the other opponents first then Cheng Wuzi may not lose."


    Shi Guanyin laughed, "Maybe he will be lucky enough to get the lucky loser ballot for the third round."


    She turned to smile at Qin Keqin, "Sect leader, how did you guess that my Nangong Yu will be winner of this duel?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "I didn''t know. I''ve only thought that he looks formidable. I will rather that he loses so that my Yun''Er will have a chance later. Alas, why didn''t Nangong Yu loses¡­"


    Shi Guanyin: ¡­

 104 Nangong Yu vs. Leng Qiuyue

    The second round was over fairly quickly.


    The last match of the second round was Leng Qiuyue versus Long Buhai, a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Yellow Hills Martial Hall. Long Buhai was a senior prot¨¦g¨¦ to Ouyang Xue and the master of the Yellow Hills Martial Hall was Grand Elder Immortal Celestial Yun Xing.


    It took Leng Qiuyue more than fifty strokes to defeat Long Buhai who was a middle tier third realm expert.


    "Not bad. Leng Qiuyue''s swordplay isn''t as exciting as Nangong Yu but she certainly has great agility¡­"


    "Like Cheng Wuzi, Long Buhai also excels in body strengthening martial feats. It seems that the Red Heaven Sword Hall is going to be the final winner of this tournament¡­"


    "The Red Heaven Sword Hall is going to have two candidates going to the third round now¡­"


    "Senior Sister Qiuyue is so beautiful¡­"


    "Senior Sister is peaked third realm expert. Why is she taking such a long time to defeat a middle tier third realm expert?"


    "That is because Long Buhai is strong!"


    "I think it is because any man will be several notches stronger when they are fighting Leng Qiuyue as they do not want to lose their face in front of such a great beauty¡­haha¡­"


    "Don''t let her hear you or you''ll be in trouble¡­"


    Elder Ouyang announced, "We have five strong fighters for the third round. Now we are going to pick a defeated candidate from the second round with the comeback ballot."


    "I hope it will be Senior Brother Cheng Wuzi. He doesn''t deserve to be dropped off so early¡­"


    "Maybe it will be Zhang Gang again¡­"


    "I hope it is not him. He has already been lucky twice over."


    "If he gets pick again, I think the ballot is rigged¡­"


    "Surely not! All the elders and grand elders are watching at the ballots¡­"


    "Wait a minute!" It was Qin Keqin as she flashed next to Elder Ouyang.


    "It is sect leader?"


    "She is like a goddess¡­"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "Let me examine the ballots first. This is to ensure that there is fairness and that no one cheats."


    When the common prot¨¦g¨¦s heard her, they were praising her to the heavens;


    "Sect leader is so righteous¡­"


    "It is a good thing that sect leader is checking on the ballots¡­"


    "Yes, I think that Zhang Gang is a cheater. He keeps getting the comeback ballot¡­"


    "If I were the sect leader, I would be suspicious as well."


    As Qin Keqin checked the ballots, she whispered to Elder Ouyang. "This time round, it will still be Zhang Gang. However, I want Nangong Yu and to Leng Qiuyue to fight against each other¡­"


    Elder Ouyang was smiling bitterly. He was already feeling so awkward from picking Zhang Gang again and again. Now he had to pick Zhang Gang once more.


    With a soft sigh, he nodded.


    Qin Keqin smiled and said aloud, "The ballots are in good order."


    Then she said to Elder Ouyang, "I''m just checking to make sure the ballots are proper. Please do not mind my actions."


    Elder Ouyang smiled weakly, "Not at all, not at all."


    The reason why Qin Keqin had descended down the stands was to arrange a match between Nangong Yu and Leng Qiuyue. She did not want the Red Heaven Sword Hall to grab all the glory.


    She silently thought with a faint smile, "I will get you off stage, Leng Qiuyue. I can''t stand you flirting with your eyes on my Yun''Er¡­"


    When Qin Keqin had returned to her stand, Elder Ouyang picked the ballot from the cauldron and announced loudly. "The comeback candidate for the third round is¡­Zhang Gang¡­"


    All the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were startled with disbelief.


    "How is it possible? It is Zhang Gang again?!"


    "His luck is really too good¡­"


    "I am beginning to think that he was selected as a core prot¨¦g¨¦ due to his insane luck¡­"


    "His fate is really hard. Maybe he may even end up as the ultimate winner of the core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial competition¡­"


    "Why is it not Cheng Wuzi¡­"


    Elder Ouyang said as he threw Zhang Gang ballot into the cauldron, "We shall proceed to the third round now with the six remaining candidates."


    "The first match will be¡­Zhang Gang¡­versus¡­Senior Brother Lu Qingyun¡­" Elder Ouyang declared quite awkwardly.


    "I cannot believe this¡­this is Zhang Gang and Senior Brother Lu Qingyun¡­"


    "Is their match rigged? How is it possible for them to keep matching against each other three times in a row¡­"


    "This Zhang Gang''s luck is really too freakish and bordering on the devil''s luck¡­"


    Qin Keqin was laughing softly while all the grand elders were secretly looking at her as they shared a common thought, "Sect leader, this is too fake. Can you make it a little more real?"


    "Did you all hear that? My Yun''Er is going to fight Zhang Gang again. He will be the winner for sure¡­" Qin Keqin was clapping delightfully and her enticing eyes were shining with delight.


    Below the stage, Zhang Gang was overjoyed. "This is really my lucky day six times over. This time I''m going to defeat Senior Brother Lu and enter the fourth round. There is no reason for me to lose at all¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was stunned. He was going to fight Zhang Gang again?


    For this martial competition, he had been training really hard and was eager to show off his skills. But against Zhang Gang, there was no way that he was able to show off in front of Qin Keqin¡­


    As soon as Lu Qingyun had finished exchanging the duel formalities with Zhang Gang, he raised his sword and he had immediately sent Zhang Gang flying off again with a single stroke.


    This time round, Zhang Gang was thrown off the stage and it was considered to be an automatic defeat if one were to fall out of the stage.


    Zhang Gang was completely stunned. How could Senior Brother Lu Qingyun''s profound strength increase so much in such a short span of time?


    Lu Qingyun had used more of his profound strength because he was getting impatient with fighting Zhang Gang over and over again. Therefore he had wanted the duel to be done over as quickly as possible.


    "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun has won this match." Elder Ouyang announced aloud.


    "Why is the result not surprising at all?"


    "Zhang Gang has lost again¡­"


    "Is he going to make a comeback on the fourth round¡­"


    Elder Ouyang announced on the next match, "Nangong Yu¡­versus¡­Leng Qiuyue¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "Maiden Leng is going to fight her senior. She may lose¡­"


    "Senior Sister Qiuyue is going to lose¡­"


    ???That is because Nangong Yu is too strong and he is going to be the champion of this martial competition."


    Nangong Yu smiled coldly as he eyed Leng Qiuyue, "Junior sister, it is so unexpected that we will be fighting against each other."


    Leng Qiuyue replied nonchalantly, "Please do not hold back against me because I won''t do the same to you."


    Nangong Yu was smiling, "You know that we have a huge disparity in strength? I''m sure that you have already known how strong I am."


    Leng Qiuyue flashed her beautiful eyes as she lifted up her sword. In that instant, she was enveloped by a wavering strong profound aura and her sword was also charged by her martial power!


    She was dividing her profound strength into her aura and sword at the same time!


    As a matter of fact, her profound aura was even more impressive than Cheng Wuzi who had awe everyone earlier!


    Cheng Wuzi who was watching the duel muttered was staring at Leng Qiuyue, "I don''t believe¡­"


    Even Shi Guanyin was startled as she thought, "When did Qiuyue becomes this strong? Judging from her profound strength display, she may well be a fourth realm expert as well¡­"


    The common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all startled as well;


    "Leng Qiuyue''s profound aura seems to be even stronger than Cheng Wuzi¡­"


    "But still, her opponent is her own senior brother and they are from the Red Heaven Sword Hall. Therefore she won''t stand a stand¡­"


    "The core prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Red Heaven Sword Hall are really strong except for Li Chen¡­"


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "She is not serious in her earlier rounds?"


    But he was secretly impressed by Leng Qiuyue. It was because he knew how difficult it was to divide her profound strength into two while maintaining her martial power.


    He thought, "Since she is able to do that, learning the Flaming Crimson Sword isn''t an issue to her at all¡­"


    Indeed, Leng Qiuyue was not putting on her best earlier and had purposely dragged her duel. It was because she did not want the others to know that she was a fourth realm expert yet.


    But now she was facing her Senior Brother Nangong Yu and she did not want him to underestimate her. At the same time, she was telling him that there was no need to go easy on her.


    Nangong Yu narrowed his eyes and muttered, "You are a fourth realm expert now?"


    Leng Qiuyue nodded nonchalantly, "Yes, I am a fourth realm expert now."


    The common prot¨¦g¨¦s who had heard her were all startled that Leng Qiuyue was also a fourth realm expert now. There was a huge disparity between the strength of a third and a fourth realm expert. At the same time, fourth realm experts were ageless cultivators that could live extremely long life and it was the dream of every common prot¨¦g¨¦ to one day reaches this impassable peak.


    And Leng Qiuyue had overcome this impassable barrier and she was now a true celestial now.


    There were many old elders in the clan, including Elder Ouyang who were struck in the third realm enlighten celestial level and unable to advance for years. When one becomes older, they will also lose their early potentials.


    It can even be said that Leng Qiuyue had a good potential to even become a fifth realm golden celestial in the future as her potential was still quite young.


    Leng Qiuyue was muttering silently to herself, "Thank you Senior Brother¡­" This senior brother in her whisper was referring to Lu Qingyun who had given her the Triple Divine Essence Pill when she was seriously injured. Without the aid of this divine pill, she would never have the chance to successfully breakthrough to the sacred realm of the fourth cultivation level.


    One must know that even grand elders like Mu Han, Yun Xing and Wang Ming were also just fourth realm cultivators. The number of fourth realm cultivators in the Heavens Ridge Villa could be counted with the ten fingers while the number of third realm cultivators was in their dozens.


    Nangong Yu smiled, "Let me extend my heartfelt congrats to you first. However, nothing can deter me obtaining the Divine Profound Pill."


    Leng Qiuyue replied, "I am not giving way either just because you are my senior brother. Please give me your instructions."


    Nangong Yu nodded as he swung his sword with a startling speed.


    Almost immediately he had released a wave of sword energy that was three times as powerful as when he had first used on Cheng Wuzi!


    But Leng Qiuyue simply swung her sword and knocked his attacking sword energy aside, "You got to try harder than that!"


    Nangong Yu laughed, "Junior sister, don''t be hasty. I''m coming¡­" And he had really come with several powerful strokes of his sword.


    Dozens of explosive strokes that were imbued with their martial power were exchanged instantly!


    The two of them were extremely familiar with each other swordplay as they expertly slash, hack, parry, block and counter-attack within a few blinks of an eye, spellbinding all the onlookers with their sword techniques and beautiful sword arts.


    Thirty strokes¡­


    Forty strokes¡­


    Sixty strokes later¡­


    All of a sudden Nangong Yu was sweating as his profound energies got expended very quickly in the exchange as he tried to maintain his powerful sword stances.


    When profound energies were lost, it was the same as losing stamina and even more exerting than mere physical exertion. It was a combination of physical and mental exhaustion.


    As for Leng Qiuyue, her profound aura was constantly replenishing her sword martial strength while absorbing the heavy blows that were from Nangong Yu. As a matter of fact, she was still as composed as before.


    Nangong Yu thought, "How is that possible? Her profound strength exceeded mine? But she is only a newly fourth realm expert and she shouldn''t have stabilized her fourth realm cultivation in such a short time¡­"


    He did not know that Leng Qiuyue had consumed a miracle divine pill that had the effect of quickly solidifying and raising her cultivation strength.


    Seventy strokes¡­


    Nangong Yu had suddenly lost control of his martial strength and he was knocked back furiously by Leng Qiuyue!


    This momentum loss of his strength had given Leng Qiuyue the opportunity to follow up with a quick thrust and her sword was soon aimed at his body.


    Leng Qiuyue coolly said, "You have lost."


    Nangong Yu was stunned. He had actually lost to his junior sister¡­


    The common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all stunned by the result and moreover many of them had bet on Nangong Yu emerging as the top duelist.


    "Nangong Yu has lost?!"


    "Senior Sister Qiuyue has won? And she is a fourth realm expert too¡­"


    "I didn''t bet on her¡­"


    "This is¡­not possible right?"


    "Do you think that Nangong Yu has purposely lost to her¡­"


    "This must be rigged right?"


    "The core prot¨¦g¨¦s have ganged up to rig the fight¡­"


    "Haven''t you heard of this saying, nine out of ten gambles are ruses¡­"


    "Maybe he will get a comeback ballot¡­"


    "I can''t believe that Senior Brother Nangong Yu has really lost¡­this is so unreal¡­"


    Elder Ouyang was stunned too as he slowly announced, "Erm, Leng Qiuyue won¡­"


    Even Shi Guanyin was blinking her eyes in disbelief, "My Nangong Yu has lost to my Leng Qiuyue?"


    Only Ouyang Xue knew of the true reason as she had seen Lu Qingyun giving the Triple Divine Essence Pill to her.


    Qin Keqin was startled by the outcome but she was smiling delightfully, "Nangong Yu will actually lose????


    This outcome was better than she had expected. She had wanted to let Nangong Yu and Leng Qiuyue pitted against each other. No matter who had won in the end, their profound energies would be greatly expended and this would place the winner of this duel at a disadvantage later.


    "So far, my Yun''Er is still in the most tip-top condition!" She was saying to herself.

 105 The 4th Round

    The third of the core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial tournament was over quickly.


    A relatively quiet core prot¨¦g¨¦ name Kang Xian from the White Spirit Hall had emerged victorious at the end of the third round.


    Elder Ouyang declared promptly, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Kang Xian will be in the fourth round. Now for the comeback ballot¡­"


    "Hope Nangong Yu will be the lucky one¡­I''ve betted everything on him¡­"


    "If it is Zhang Gang again then I will cut my throat in anger¡­"


    "I will spurt blood if it is that Zhang Gang again¡­"


    "It is impossible to be Zhang Gang again. No one is going to be lucky four times over. He has probably used up all his lucky from the last life to the next life by now¡­"


    Elder Ouyang cleared his throat and he was looking at little sheepish as he picked the ballot of the defeated candidates that were from the third round, "Zhang Gang¡­"


    He gave a feign smile, "Alas, it is our lucky Zhang Gang again¡­"


    All the common prot¨¦g¨¦s, elders and grand elders were staring with disbelief that Zhang Gang was picked again.


    "This¡­is totally a rig! I tell you!"


    "This Zhang Gang must be a cheater¡­"


    "He must have used some sorcery¡­."


    Even Nangong Yu was raising his voice with total disbelief, "This is impossible! I have one in three chance of getting pick but why it is Zhang Gang again?! I don''t believe. I totally don''t believe this at all¡­"


    Zhang Gang was also startled, "I am four times lucky? I can go to the fourth round? This is wonderful¡­"


    Lu Qingyun jaws dropped when he had heard that Zhang Gang was picked again as he muttered, "His luck is totally unbelievable¡­"


    Elder Ouyang managed a weak smile as he tried to manage the crowd, "In a fight, skills do matter but lucky also plays a huge part. Therefore we really have to hand it over to Zhang Gang''s luck. Sometimes your opponent can make many wrong decisions due to your luck and give rise to your opportunity. Even our cultivation breakthrough has to depend on our lucky encounters and this ''chance'' depends on your lucky stars¡­"


    But the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were not listening and they were shouting angrily, "Down with Zhang Gang¡­"


    "This ballot doesn''t count¡­"


    "This is pure bullshit¡­"


    "I am beginning to think that Zhang Gang is the star of this martial tournament¡­"


    "He is a truly dark horse¡­"


    "I got a nagging feeling that Zhang Gang may end up as the ultimate victor in this competition¡­"


    "I am beginning very sorry for our Senior Brother Lu Qingyun who has to keep fighting this hard to die cockroach¡­"


    "Yes, poor Senior Brother Lu¡­"


    "Senior Brother Lu is so dashing. He has managed to reach round four with barely a sweat¡­"


    "That is because his opponent is Zhang Gang¡­"


    "I have made so much money on Senior Brother Lu Qingyun already. If he can reach the final, my winnings will be doubled again¡­"


    "I think that this time round Senior Sister Leng Qiuyue will really be the dark horse that wins this martial competition¡­"


    "The other three candidates can''t be compared to Leng Qiuyue¡­"


    "She is the only fourth realm expert out of the four and the other two candidates are extremely weak¡­"


    "I have lost all my money on Nangong Yu¡­alas¡­"


    Above the stage, all the grand elders were rendered speechless and they could even almost predict who Lu Qingyun''s next opponent would be.


    Even the most unconvinced grand elders like Kong Guxin and Wang Ming were beginning to think that this martial competition was secretly rigged by Qin Keqin¡­


    Even Ouyang Xue was totally stunned at how shameless Qin Keqin could be.


    But the most stunned was Lie Xingyuan who was staring with disbelief at Qin Keqin, "She is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, one of the two number one heroines in the Nine Celestial Fraternity who shared the same fame as the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing. How can she be so shameless? No, she is the Devil Goddess¡­"


    Even Feng Minyue had sent a secret transmission to Qin Keqin, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, aren''t you overdoing this show?"


    But Xuan Danfeng was laughing out loud, "I am thoroughly enjoying this show¡­"


    Qin Keqin moved her lips silently to reply to Feng Minyue, "Heh! Isn''t this fun? I have bet that you have never seen or met anything like this before."


    Feng Minyue replied weakly, "This is too¡­dramatic¡­" she had wanted to say it was too shameless and more like the style of Ye Jing but at the last moment, she changed the word to dramatic.


    "On the other hand," Xuan Danfeng laughed jovially. "I wonder who will be Lu Qingyun''s opponent in the next round? Surely you won''t make it so plain obvious, am I right? This isn''t your style. You are the most intelligent person in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Surely you won''t leave behind any traces, am I right?"


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile through her reflection in the crystal ball that she was holding but she was not revealing anything. It was because she did not want to spoil the fun by revealing her hands too early.


    But the Xuan Danfeng was right in her praise. It was because the Golden Mask Devil Goddess was renowned for her super intelligence and covered her tracks extremely well. Or else she would be able to reign supreme for a few years in the past.


    When it came to planning and execution, Fan Yuqing was really an expert.


    They were beginning to think that it was as though she was afraid that her plan was too flawless and that no one could know that she kept adding more complexities to it. In this case, it was as though she was purposely letting the others suspect that she had a hand in it.


    Even though they were her sister saintesses but it was extremely difficult to predict what she would do. When they were only fifth realm golden celestials, Fan Yuqing was actually a seventh realm great saintess and they did not start off as sisters. Rather, she had played them on the tips of her fingers. It was only because of Ye Jing whose intellect had matched Fan Yuqing that the four of them had become closer after they had adventured together in the mysterious Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth.


    Usually her plan was flawless and the only Achilles'' heel was usually her own personality weakness and not because of the weakness of her plans. It was because Fan Yuqing tended to look for troubles herself and needlessly provoked countless people in the past.


    That was how her first reign as Devil Goddess had ended after she was involved in a petty squabble with the Celestial Yuehua who was attracting too much attraction because of her alluring beauty and that almost got her killed for good.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Elder Ouyang was now announcing the next fighters for the fourth round.


    "Leng Qiuyue is the first one to be picked¡­" he read out the ballot aloud.


    "Haha, I''ve thought that it is going to be Zhang Gang and Senior Brother Lu again¡­"


    "Same here! What a relief¡­"


    "This is totally unexpected¡­"


    "Finally things are back to normal again¡­"


    "The martial competition isn''t rigged. Zhang Gang is just lucky, that''s all."


    "I wonder who is Senior Sister Qiuyue going to up against?"


    Elder Ouyang sheepishly picked up the next ballet as he read aloud, "Kang Xian. Leng Qiuyue versus Kang Xian."


    The delightful crowd was soon gasping with shock. It was not because there was anything wrong with Leng Qiuyue fighting Kang Xian but¡­


    "Does it mean that Zhang Gang is going to fight against Senior Brother Lu Qingyun again?!"


    "Is it for real?"


    "It is Zhang Gang and Senior Brother Lu all the way¡­"


    "Is the luck of this Zhang Gang really so good? I really can''t believe it¡­"


    "The next round won''t have a comeback ballot anymore¡­"


    "Maybe Zhang Gang will win this martial competition after all¡­"


    "What is his background?"


    "This martial competition must be rigged by Zhang Gang!"


    "I am so lucky. Heavens must be blessing me. This time round I won''t lose to Lu Qingyun¡­" Zhang Gang was silently saying. "It must be my destiny to defeat Lu Qingyun and that is why Heavens must be so kind to me¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was shaking his head. He had wanted to fight a strong opponent and not Zhang Gang over and over again. He was thinking bitterly, "Against such a weak opponent like Zhang Gang, how can I show off my sword skills to Keqin and show everyone that I am no longer a good-for-nothing cultivator?"


    "Please give me your instructions!" Leng Qiuyue and Kang Xian greeted and exchanged their formalities.


    However when the duel started, Kang Xian totally did not have a retaliation chance. He was only a middle-tier third realm expert and he had struggled to reach the fourth round. Moreover his opponents were all weaker than him.


    Against Leng Qiuyue who used to be a peaked third realm expert for a long time, her foundation was more solid than him. Moreover, she was now a fourth realm expert now. Their disparities were simply too vast.


    Within ten strokes, Leng Qiuyue had thoroughly defeated Kang Xian.


    Elder Ouyang promptly announced, "Leng Qiuyue has won!"


    "Now for the fight between Senior Brother Lu Qingyun and Zhang Gang¡­"


    Unlike the match that was between Leng Qiuyue and Kang Xian, there were few thunderous claps and instead there were more incessant mutterings.


    "Is Zhang Gang going to win Senior Brother Lu this time round?¡­"


    "There is no more comeback ballot¡­"


    "I wonder what will be the outcome this time now?"


    "I hope that Senior Brother Qingyun will be able to win¡­"


    "Why¡­"


    "Because he is so handsome and dashing¡­"


    "..."


    "Please give me your instructions!" Lu Qingyun and Zhang Gang exchanged the usual formalities before they started to brandish their swords.


    Zhang Gang said coldly, "This time you''re not to going to win. I''m after all a second realm expert¡­"


    But before he could finish, Lu Qingyun had leapt forward and sent him flying off stage with the same exact sword stroke as the earlier match that they had.


    Everyone: ¡­


    "Senior Brother Lu has won? Just like this?"


    "Isn''t this first realm cultivator a little too good?"


    "Ahhh! Senior Brother Qingyun is so dashing¡­the money that I''ve won via him is even more dashing¡­"


    "Senior Brother Qingyun, we love you¡­you are the best¡­"


    "Why are the female prot¨¦g¨¦s behaving as though he has won the finals?"


    "That is because he has reached the finals¡­win or lose, some of them are going to win a lot of money¡­"


    "And some of us are going to lose a lot of money¡­"


    "You can see some of the elders over there are tearing their hair out¡­they must have lost quite heavily¡­"


    Elder Ouyang announced weakly, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun has won the duel¡­"


    Qin Keqin was laughing jovially, "Did you all see that? My Yun''Er is going to the finals now¡­"


    Mu Han was muttering almost incoherently, "In all my years of my life, I have never seen or heard anything like this before¡­"


    Wang Ming was shaking his head, "Me either¡­"


    Yin Shisi had stood up as she said with great delight, "Senior Brother Qingyun is entering the finals now¡­"


    Shi Guanyin was looking at Qin Keqin, Yin Shisi and the others while saying weakly, "What? How come no one seems to be willing to bet on my disciple Qiuyue? She is pretty good."


    Kong Guxin replied weakly, "I am actually with you here. I don''t think Senior Brother Lu will be able to best Leng Qiuyue but¡­"


    He was secretly looking at Qin Keqin, Yin Shisi, Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Yun Xing as he thought, "It seems that the ladies do not seem to want Leng Qiuyue to win at all. So I have better kept my mouth shut. The public opinion seems heavily stacked for Lu Qingyun¡­"


    Just as Qin Keqin was laughing jovially, a prot¨¦g¨¦ had hurriedly come to the leadership stand and was breathlessly saying, "Sect leader! Grand Elders! It is really urgent! Something urgent has cropped up at the Heavens Gate¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Let''s wait until the martial competition is over, alright? Nothing can be more urgent than this."


    But the prot¨¦g¨¦ blurted out, "Our patriarch clan has sent their Heavenly Fragrance Heralds here! We are told that they are to see you now."


    The grand elders had all turned ashen, "What?! The patriarch clan is here?"


    Mu Han was muttering, "We are in deep trouble. The patriarch clan must be here to question us about the attack that is on the Solitary Manor¡­"


    Shi Guanyin waved her hand, "What are you waiting for? Quickly invite the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds in. Immediately. Right now!"


    "Yes, yes." The prot¨¦g¨¦ replied as he quickly disappeared from view.


    Yun Xing was trembling as she looked at Qin Keqin, "Sect leader, what should we do now?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "There is nothing to worry about. At most, we can simply massacre them when they are here. After all, we have the superior numbers."


    Everyone: ¡­


    Wang Ming was trembling, "I have heard that the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds are all high level cultivators and they are the core prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa¡­we will be the one that will be getting massacred instead¡­"

 106 The Final Round 1

    The martial competition was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds.


    All the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were startled. It was because this was the very first time that they had seen the clan prot¨¦g¨¦s of their Patriarchy Clan and moreover it was the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds.


    The elders had warned them to bow their heads when the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds had come and to be extremely respectful.


    The common prot¨¦g¨¦s could see that the elders were all nervous and were even afraid. It was because they did not know why the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds were here today. As the saying goes, no news is good news.


    "Are the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds here to punish us for the attack on the Solitary Manor?"


    When the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds had finally arrived, a group of seven young beautiful maidens could be seen walking gracefully toward Qin Keqin.


    But everyone knew that these ''young'' beautiful maidens may not be actually young at all. It was because they were all cultivators of the fourth realm which was the ageless state of divinity.


    The Heavenly Fragrance Heralds were said to be the elite core prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and they were in turn led by the Four Fragrance Heralds. It was said that there were only around two hundred of them and they would travel across the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm to execute the wish of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess.


    Although two hundred Heavenly Fragrance Heralds may sound little but most of the second and third tier ranks would have great difficulty in coming up with two hundred fourth realm experts. The number of fourth realm experts and above in the Heavens Ridge Villa could be counted with ten fingers!


    The leading maiden that was leading the group had golden eyes and blonde hair. Needless to say, she was at least a fifth realm expert. At the same time, there were two other maidens that also had golden eyes as well.


    When Lu Qingyun saw them, he was thinking. "They are so graceful like the Great Saintess Feng Minyue¡­"


    The leading maiden said softly, "Our respects to Sect Leader Qin. Shen Yufeng greets you." Although her voice was soft but it was imbued with her profound strength and it was heard clearly by everyone.


    Then all seven maidens lifted up their fingers to display a unique hand gesture as they all said at the same time, "Our humble respect to Fragrance Elder Qin Keqin!"


    When they had suddenly greeted Qin Keqin as the Fragrance Elder Qin Keqin, all the common prot¨¦g¨¦s, elders and grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa were stunned and had a most astonished look. Did they hear right?


    The Fragrance Elder was the elder position of the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa and they had actually greeted Qin Keqin as such?


    "The rumors are true? Our sect leader is really an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    "The goddess of our clan is actually a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa at the same time?"


    "I know that our sect leader must have a most impressive background???"


    "Her mother consort is a saintess. Maybe she is from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa as well¡­"


    "You are too ignorant. The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa cannot get married. It is their sacred laws¡­"


    "What a pity¡­"


    Many of the common prot¨¦g¨¦s and elders were now heaving a soft sigh of great relief. It was because very few of them had actually believed that their sect leader was an elder of the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa. In fact they had thought that she had probably stolen it or brought it from the black market¡­


    As a matter of fact, there were more than three hundred common prot¨¦g¨¦s that had quietly left the Heavens Ridge Villa for the other celestial clans as they feared that a calamity would soon befall them.


    Their Patriarchy Clan would certainly not tolerate anyone from marauding as their elder and there were many devious celestial clans in New Empyrean City that had secretly made a petition against Qin Keqin and the Heavens Ridge Villa. The rivalries between the various celestial clans were extremely intense and there were plenty of back wheeling.


    Moreover with the Heavens Ridge Villa emerging as the number one celestial clan in New Empyrean City, there were many powerhouses that were secretly envious or anxious. Therefore they had secretly sent their complaints to the Heavenly Fragrance Princess.


    New Empyrean City was not particularly big when compared to the other major domains but almost everyone had their own network in New Empyrean City. Therefore the common prot¨¦g¨¦s knew what would be their ''fates''.


    However there were many loyal prot¨¦g¨¦s and they would rather die and live with the Heavens Ridge Villa for this was their home. Many of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s had also formed a deep bonding with the senior common prot¨¦g¨¦s during the attack that was on Solitary Manor.


    Moreover they had all believed that their sect leader had sacrificed her chastity for their sake. Although Qin Keqin had denied it and had claimed that Old Saint Wen was afraid of her when she had shown him her leadership heavenly fragrance token, there were few believers.


    Even the other celestial clans did not believe it either and they were secretly writing a petition to inform the Heavenly Fragrance Princess and hoping that they would get a reward for doing the whistleblowing.


    "Haha, I have always believed in our sect leader. She is really an elder of our patriarchy clan¡­"


    "Does it mean that from now onward, the Heavens Ridge Villa will have a special status in New Empyrean City?¡­"


    "Those losers that have fled the clan. I hereby look down on them! Don''t let me see them ever again!"


    "Our sect leader is not only a peerless number one beauty in New Empyrean City but she is also an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa¡­"


    "Since our sect leader is an elder of our patriarch clan, does it mean that she is unmarried?"


    "I know what you are thinking. Stop dreaming. She is like the sun and we are like the roving ants on the ground¡­"


    "I got it! It was no wonder that Supremacy Wen was defeated by our sect leader. No matter how good he is, his cultivation resources are only that of a second tier celestial clan but our sect leader is different. She has the benefits of all the cultivation resources from a first tier celestial clan and moreover she is their elder¡­"


    "Our sect leader is so righteous! Did you all see that earlier? She is so afraid that the ballot is rigged and is even checking it¡­"


    "Sect Leader Qin, you are my idol¡­" Many of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were looking at her with looks of adoration¡­


    Everyone was in joyous mood now because they had all realized that the Heavens Ridge Villa that they had called home was no longer in trouble and in fact, was going to emerge as the solo powerhouse.


    Even a beautiful goddess like Supremacy Yin Shisi had also joined them as elder.


    So what were they afraid of now?


    It was now considered to be a prestige to be a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa when words of this spread throughout New Empyrean City!


    Just days ago, the common prot¨¦g¨¦s were all ashamed to tell the others in New Empyrean City that they were from the Heavens Ridge Villa. As a matter of fact, some of them were even scorned by the ex-prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa and were called stupid for sticking with the doomed clan like the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Suddenly in the eyes of the common prot¨¦g¨¦s, Qin Keqin was now towering like a goddess in everyone''s mind and everyone''s heart was jumping excitingly as they could not wait to tell their network about this news.


    And of course there were a few ugly faces as they were the spies of the other celestial clans¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she said to Shen Yufeng and her group, "Come up here to the stand with me! We are going to watch a most exciting duel that is about to take place!"


    Leng Qiuyue and Ouyang Xue were the most startled. They had thought that it was a story that was made up by their sect leader¡­


    Even Yin Shisi was startled as she stared blankly at Qin Keqin. This sect leader really had such a formidable background. And to think that she had wanted to challenge her just a few days ago. It was lucky that she was not around and instead, she had met Lu Qingyun¡­


    Shi Guanyin was staring blankly at Qin Keqin and so were Yun Xing, Kong Guxin, Wang Ming and Mu Han.


    She muttered with trembling lips, "Sect leader, you¡­are you really an elder of the Heavens Ridge Villa? Why didn''t you tell us earlier¡­"


    Qin Keqin returned a mysterious faint smile but said nothing. She had pleaded with Feng Minyue to give her this position at the very last minute. Naturally she could not tell this to anyone.


    Feng Minyue had suddenly made a secret transmission to Qin Keqin, "Don''t let them know where I am currently at. I don''t wish to see anyone."


    Shen Yufeng and her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters were now at the leadership stand.


    "Our respects to the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds¡­" all the grand elders and everyone who was near the leadership stand had all got up as they quickly greeted them.


    Shi Guanyin and Yun Xing were both secretly looking at each other. It was as though they were saying to each other; it seemed that our sect leader really knew the people in the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa really well. So this matter could not be a fake.


    Shen Yufeng said, "Please disperse with all formalities."


    She turned to Qin Keqin as she displayed a polite hand gesture and said, "Fragrance Elder Qin, I wonder if¡­"


    But Qin Keqin quickly interrupted her, "Yufeng, come over and sit with me. I didn''t see you for such a long time already! She doesn''t have the mood to see anyone. You should know that it is common for old ladies¡­"


    Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng: ¡­


    Shen Yufeng: ¡­


    Qin Keqin knew that Shen Yufeng had missed Feng Minyue and had wanted to ask her about the whereabouts of the Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess. But Feng Minyue had made it clear that she did not want to reveal her whereabouts to anyone.


    With a soft sigh, Shen Yufeng took a discreet look at her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters before they all sat down next to Qin Keqin.


    The seven of them were the core prot¨¦g¨¦s of Feng Minyue and they were indebted to her. They were all hoping to have some news of their Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess. But they knew that they could not force Qin Keqin.


    After all, they had all known who Qin Keqin was and she was really the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. Qin Keqin was just her false alias.


    They were extremely polite to her not just because they knew that she was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. It was because in the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, Fan Yuqing was their Great Benefactor who had once protected the honor of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa from the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing who had rampaged throughout the Nine Celestial Fraternity as she plundered numerous celestial clans in a crazy attempt to become a saintess.


    Fan Yuqing had also aided their Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue to become a saintess back then. Even their current Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su Shanyue had to address Fan Yuqing as Great Benefactor Fan Yuqing.


    Even if Fan Yuqing had wanted the sun and the moon from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, her request would not be rejected. Moreover this was only a mere elder position that she had only wanted for fun.


    Elder or not elder, all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s had to bow their heads in front of Great Benefactor Fan Yuqing!


    While everyone had thought that it was their honor that the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds were in their presence but for Shen Yufeng and her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters, they felt that it was their great honor to be sitting together with the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    She was not just their great benefactor but the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was a legend back then in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Until today, there were still many senior cultivators in the Nine Celestial Fraternity who had recalled her duels with fondness, especially her ''Heaven and Self as One'' sword stance against the Devil Isle Xiao Shuai who had terrorized the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    As Yufeng sat down with Qin Keqin, she saw Yin Shisi. With a wry smile, she said. "This lady cultivator here is a sixth realm cultivator?"


    Yun Shisi returned a faint smile and nodded gently.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "To think that New Empyrean City actually has a sixth realm expert here."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Two in fact. One is Elder Yin and the other one is you."


    Shen Yufeng smiled before she said respectfully to Qin Keqin, "Fragrance Elder, I have two important matters to raise with you first. These are the main reasons why we''re here."


    Qin Keqin returned a curious look at her, "Oh? What is it? What is so important that you can''t wait until the duel is over first?" Then with a wryly smile, she exclaimed delightfully. "My Yun''Er will be fighting in the final round. I can''t wait to see how he performs."

 107 The Final Round 2

    Shen Yufeng nodded as she replied, "Alright then, I will wait until the duel is over first. This matter can wait until the duel is over."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "That is right."


    Then she turned to say to Shi Guanyin, "So who do you think will be able to win this final duel?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "You know my answer¡­"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "Indeed I do."


    A few days ago, they had a private discussion together and Shi Guanyin had told Qin Keqin that she had allowed Lu Qingyun to freely take three profound arts out of the Red Heaven Sword Library.


    "He had taken out the Flaming Crimson Sword, the Winds Entropy Dance and the Phoenix Burst." She had mentioned to Qin Keqin.


    "Mm, I had heard of this Flaming Crimson Sword before. It is actually not a bad sword art. As for the Phoenix Burst, I don''t think that he is at that level yet. As for the Winds Entropy Dance, I don''t see him putting much of an effort in his movement skills. He may be quick with his body but his stamina may be lacking. Maybe I should make him run up and down the mountains for the next few days?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "I did a profound aura tracing not long ago. It seems that he had given the Winds Entropy Dance to Lie Xingyuan while he practiced the Flaming Crimson Sword. My disciple Qiuyue had once mentioned to me that she had seen him wielding the strokes of the Flaming Crimson Sword."


    "Isn''t that good? My Yun''Er will surely rise to the occasion during the core prot¨¦g¨¦ martial tournament." Qin Keqin said dreamily. "Soon, he will be able to shake off the shackles of being a good-for-nothing cultivator."


    Shi Guanyin chuckled softly, "Waa, I''m amazed that even sect leader has heard of his nick."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she laughed, "Of course¡­" Of course she knew about it. The entire New Empyrean City had all known about it as well and when it comes to gossips and rumors, there was no one better informed than Xuan Danfeng. Needless to say, Xuan Danfeng would naturally feed her all the updates.


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "However you must know that this Flaming Crimson Sword is an extremely difficult to pick up. Even for me, I need three years to be familiarized with the first stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword. As for the second stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword, most practitioners will require at least nine years or more to attain. As for me, I''ve only touched just the surface of the second stage. As for the third stage of the Flaming Crimson Sword the Lethal Burning Sword level, it is too hard for most of the practitioners to ever dream of attaining it."


    "It is so hard to master this sword art?" Qin Keqin was startled.


    Shi Guanyin nodded, "This sword art places a great demand on the practitioner''s ability to use profound aura, sword energies and martial power at the same time. There is a reason why we have six martial halls here. No one can be equally good in all three aspects and moreover no one could use all three aspects at the same time. This will require a monstrous genius to be able to do it. Moreover he is only a first realm cultivator¡­"


    Then she sighed softly, "Even my old master has only managed to barely attain to the third stage of this sword art and he took forty-nine years to do so. He had once told me that if he were to just focus on mastering the complete third stage of the Lethal Burning Sword level, he would need another forty-nine years."


    Qin Keqin was truly startled as she muttered, "So that means my Yun''Er will surely lose in this martial competition¡­but he is¡­" Only she knew that he was now a fourth realm expert but what was the point of having so much profound strength when he did not even have a single good technique to use on his opponents? Her Yun''Er would surely end up as a punching bag for his opponents¡­


    But Qin Keqin was truly the Devil Goddess. Therefore she had secretly approached Elder Ouyang to persuade him to help her to rig the martial competition.


    Her plan was really simple; she had planned to let all the possible opponents of her Yun''Er to either have the bad possible luck or to exhaust their profound strength. By the time they were to fight Lu Qingyun, they would not be in their best peak condition.


    "Mm, I need to find a weak opponent for my Yun''Er," she had secretly thought.


    That weak opponent was Zhang Gang and the rest was history.


    But she did not know that it was totally unnecessary to aid Lu Qingyun in secret. She was totally clueless how strong he was during the experiential mission, the night that he had stormed the Solitary Manor and that he had even completely mastered the Flaming Crimson Sword. At the same time, Lu Qingyun was also now a late stage fourth realm immortal celestial and he was the strongest cultivation expert among all the eighteen core prot¨¦g¨¦s now.


    She did not know that Lu Qingyun had almost spurt blood because he did not even get a single chance to show off in front of her¡­


    Qin Keqin was now lifting the clan''s scepter and shouting to Elder Ouyang, "Let the final duel begins!"


    Elder Ouyang acknowledged by announcing aloud, "The final duel. Senior Brother Lu Qingyun versus Leng Qiuyue!"


    Lu Qingyun was excited that he could finally have the chance to show off his martial prowess. Finally he could get rid of his good-for-nothing moniker today.


    He had never expected that he could reach the final in such a manner and that his opponent would actually be Leng Qiuyue.


    As he walked to the martial stage, Leng Qiuyue followed him as well.


    Lu Qingyun greeted, "Junior sister, please forgive me in advance first. I don''t want to lose and I want to obtain the Divine Profound Pill."


    He knew that Leng Qiuyue was strong and she was even a fourth realm expert now. But he estimated that he had a seventy percent chance of winning her. Moreover she had already expended half of her profound strength during the tournament and he was still in a tip top condition.


    He had to admit sadly that this fight was unfair for her but this was a duel that he had to win for many reasons.


    Leng Qiuyue returned a smile as she nodded, "Senior brother, you don''t have to worry at all. Please give me your instructions."


    Lu Qingyun nodded awkwardly. Why was Leng Qiuyue suddenly giving him a smile all of a sudden? That was not her usual self. He had remembered her as the icy beauty since day one¡­


    "She must have a secret card under her sleeves. I ought to be wary. Indeed, she is after all a more experienced fighter and will never reveal all her cards in a single duel." He thought and he was saying at the same time, "Please give me your instructions!"


    Without much ado, he had displayed a forward sword stance. There was nothing special about this sword stance but it could guard him defensively while he mustered his profound aura¡­


    But before he could even muster his profound aura to show off to the entire congregation and to show off to Qin Keqin especially, Leng Qiuyue suddenly said. "I concede. I am not senior brother''s match."


    Not only did Lu Qingyun''s jaws dropped, so did Elder Ouyang and everyone else!


    "I win?" Lu Qingyun stammered, "But we have not even begun¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue smiled, "This is no rule that prevents anyone from conceding and moreover this is an acceptable rule for opponents to concede!"


    Elder Ouyang stared blankly at Leng Qiuyue, "You¡­are sure?"


    But Leng Qiuyue had already started to walk off the stage.


    Elder Ouyang announced with great awkwardness, "Senior Brother Lu Qingyun has won¡­"


    The entire congregation of prot¨¦g¨¦s had all broken into loud incessant mutterings!


    "Senior Brother Lu has actually won the martial tournament? Just like this?"


    "Why did Senior Sister Qiuyue concedes to him? It is obvious that she is the stronger of the two!¡­"


    "Maybe because he is the senior brother and she has wanted to give him some face¡­"


    "I have heard rumors that senior brother and senior sister were alone in the wilderness for a few hours during the experiential mission¡­"


    "That is because Senior Brother Qingyun is so dashing!"


    "I have won so much money¡­"


    "I have lost so much money¡­"


    "It seems that Senior Brother only wins because he has a handsome look¡­"


    "He is not just handsome alright? He has a charismatic aura that is lacking in so many others¡­"


    "But it doesn''t change the fact that he is only a first realm cultivator¡­"


    "I don''t believe this result¡­"


    "Either do I¡­"


    "A first realm cultivator has actually won the core prot¨¦g¨¦ tournament. This is the first in the history of the Heavens Ridge Villa and will be unbreakable for a long time¡­"


    "It is impossible to break such a record actually¡­"


    As Lu Qingyun walked off the stage with Leng Qiuyue, they passed by some mutterings that could be overheard by their ears. "Icy beauty senior sister will never smile at anyone. Did you see the way she keeps smiling at senior brother throughout the martial tournament¡­"


    "I think that senior brother and senior sister are secretly seeing each other¡­"


    "For a woman to give up her honor for a man, there must something fishy between the two of them¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue was flushing slightly and her eyes were panicky. She hurried her pace and so did Lu Qingyun when they had overheard the gossips about them.


    The reason why Leng Qiuyue had conceded was because she knew how strong Lu Qingyun really was. He had killed the fourth rank Star Desolate Ape with a single stroke when he was an upper third realm expert. Moreover she had heard from Ling Chong and Ling Xiu who were from the Flying Armament Sect that he had killed fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast as well.


    These were feats that she was not able to do even if she were a fourth realm expert. When Ling Chong and Ling Xiu had secretly aided the Heavens Ridge Villa on the night attack on the Solitary Manor, she had personally witnessed how good they were. But even they had said that if Lu Qingyun was here, he would have done better than them.


    In the entire clan, only Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Lie Xingyuan knew that Lu Qingyun was an upper third realm expert during the experiential mission as he had revealed to them.


    Leng Qiuyue had told Nangong Yu, Li Chen and Shi Guanyin that Lu Qingyun was a third realm expert when she was back after the experiential mission but they did not believe her at all. It was because it was impossible for anyone to show progression from the first realm to the third realm in such a short time. If she were them, she would not have believed it either.


    Lu Qingyun almost really spurt blood as he walked away with a heavy heart. There was no joy in this victory. Not only did he fail to show off in front of Qin Keqin but he had also failed to shake off the shackle of the first realm good-for-nothing cultivator moniker¡­


    Leng Qiuyue thought, "Why isn''t senior brother looking glad at all? He should be happy for getting into the first place and obtaining the Divine Profound Pill, no?"


    Qin Keqin was saying excitingly to everyone around her, "Did you all see that? My Yun''Er has actually won. He has won! This is a perfect victory!"


    Shi Guanyin was stunned as she muttered, "Why did Qiuyue concede the duel? She would have been the winner and could have the Divine Profound Pill¡­don''t tell me she¡­"


    Yun Xing was smiling weakly, "This duel is totally unexpected¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was also startled that Leng Qiuyue had concede the match. She thought that she might not lose because she was actually the more experienced fighter.


    Yin Shisi said coolly, "This is a most impressive duel."


    Everyone except for Qin Keqin reacted in their minds after hearing her: This is a most unimpressive duel¡­


    Qin Keqin was really happy. In fact, she was happier than Lu Qingyun and it was like she was actually the victor in this martial competition. It showed in her alluring countenance and her soft laughs.


    Shen Yufeng took the opportunity to say to Qin Keqin, "Congrats to your direct core prot¨¦g¨¦ for clinching the first place."


    Qin Keqin returned a heartwarming smile, "Of course. He is the best!"


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "He must have defeated many of the top experts before the final round. I wish that I was there to witness it."


    Everyone else: ¡­


    Everyone else thought except for Yin Shisi: Lucky she was not here. The first four rounds are a joke.


    Shen Yufeng proceeded to say, "Fragrance Elder, about the two matters. Can I raise it now?"


    Qin Keqin looked at her curiously, "Yes, sure?"


    Shen Yufeng waved her hands as she took out hundreds of scrolls from her spatial ring, "The Heavenly Fragrance Princess has offered these scrolls to you as a personal gift. These are the petitions that are sent her from the various people and clans from New Empyrean City. You may wish to know who they are and wish to be on guard against them."


    The grand elders were startled as they saw the hundreds of scrolls. That was a little too many complaints. It seemed that there were many that had wanted the Heavens Ridge Villa to vanish from New Empyrean City.


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes before she chuckled, "Burn them."


    Shen Yufeng was startled, "Burn them? You don''t wish to take a look first?"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "That won''t be necessary. I''ve probably already made enemies out of the entire city. These petitions are probably just the tip of an iceberg. Moreover, I don''t have the time to deal with them one by one. Moreover I am now the Fragrance Elder now and they should be afraid now. Why add on to their fears?"


    Shen Yufeng nodded as she said, "Alright then." She was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and naturally did not have the time to deal with them. To the people in New Empyrean, she was just a fifth realm golden celestial and the acting sect leader of Heavens Ridge Villa. With the added status as Fragrance Elder now, she got nothing to fear from them anymore.


    If she really wanted to deal with them directly, it was as easy as crushing a roving ant for she was a peaked seventh realm expert with almost no equal in the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    "As for the second matter, the Heavenly Fragrance Princess will like to host the upcoming Divine Fragrance Tournament in New Empyrean City and she will like Fragrance Elder to officiate it."


    Everyone was startled. The Divine Fragrance Tournament was a most important cultivator event in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and it was held every thirty years in different regions of the Divine Fragrance Tournament to allocate cultivation resources and to select potential female prot¨¦g¨¦s from the various celestial clans to join the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Anyone who was below the fifth realm level could participate in it.


    Qin Keqin clapped her hands and answered without any hesitation, "My Yun''Er¡­I mean my Heavens Ridge Villa will surely win the Divine Fragrance Tournament!"


    Shi Guanyin and Kong Guxin were exchanging a look in secret. The Divine Fragrance Tournament had never been host in New Empyrean City before. Although New Empyrean City was a second tier celestial city but it was not the most powerful second tier powerhouse in the region. For the Divine Fragrance Tournament to be hosted in New Empyrean City, this was considered to be an extremely prestigious honor in the region.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "The Divine Fragrance Tournament will be starting in a month time. In the meantime, we will be staying here to assist Fragrance Elder in all matters."


    All the grand elders and nearby elders that had overheard her had their hearts racing excitingly. Not only would New Empyrean City host the Divine Fragrance Tournament, it was the Heavens Ridge Villa that would be hosting it and the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds were all staying here. This was such a great honor!


    Story note:


    This chapter concludes the first major story arc which introduces all the powerhouses and major characters of New Empyrean City. The next chapter will begin the second major story arc. Lu Qingyun is still the good-for-nothing cultivator in the eyes of everyone (laughs) and that is why the story titled is The Good-For-Nothing Cultivator (Sheepish Look). Hope you have plenty of laughs during the first major story arc;)

 108 A Hidden Crisis 1

    Shortly after the core prot¨¦g¨¦ tournament had just ended, Lu Qingyun was walking along the hallway with Qin Keqin as she told him to come along to meet the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds in the guest room.


    "I''m going to introduce you to some pretty maidens, aren''t you glad?" Qin Keqin teased him with a wryly smile.


    Lu Qingyun had now obtained the Divine Profound Pill but he was not feeling too pleased at all. It was because it was too easy for him and primary because he did not even have a chance to show off his skills in the martial tournament.


    In fact he had heard some whispers that if it were not for Leng Qiuyue who had conceded suddenly, he would never have won the martial competition.


    This was made worse when he had just learnt that he had the lowest odds of winning the martial competition from Leng Xingyuan and Ouyang Xue.


    Now he was still a good-for-nothing cultivator¡­


    There were strict rules in the Heavenly Ridge Villa for the use of the cultivation testing stones. A minimum period of three years had to be observed for a re-evaluation as the testing stones were quite expensive to obtain and moreover there were ten thousand prot¨¦g¨¦s in the Heavenly Ridge Villa. If everyone was to request for a retest after every small breakthrough, the Heavenly Ridge Villa would soon be bankrupted of spirit stones.


    "Yun''Er, what is wrong? You should be happy am I right? You''ve won the martial tournament. I''m so proud of you." Qin Keqin said as she gave him a gentle look.


    "Keqin, actually today I''ve wanted to show off my skills in front of you. I want to win in a blaze of glory. Then everyone will also know that I''m not a good-for-nothing cultivator and I am your proud disciple." He sighed.


    "So that is what bothering you," she said.


    Lu Qingyun nodded miserably.


    "Yun''Er, why do you want to hold renown and fame so dear in your heart? So what if you are a low level cultivator? So what if you are a high level cultivator? Your position will not change in my heart, do you know?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Keqin, I want to make you feel proud of me. If I''ve lost the matches, surely it won''t look on you."


    Qin Keqin smiled as she stopped in her tracks. She lowered her glances briefly before turning to look up to him, "Yun''Er, having honor or face isn''t important to me. Don''t you get it? You know that I am the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, don''t you?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded weakly, "You are the renowned Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, how do I not know? Then all the more I must excel and prove that I am your worthy disciple."


    Qin Keqin said gently, "First of all, you are not my disciple but my man. Secondly, do you really think that I like the fame of being the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing? If I do, why do I call myself Qin Keqin now? Qin Keqin is a nameless cultivator in a second tier clan. You have even known who Feng Minyue is, don''t you? If we have wanted fame, we can have our three minutes of fame but we do not. Do you know why?"


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously, "Why?"


    She replied with a soft sigh, "Because we are cultivators. Although we may not like to cultivate as much as most people do but we are at peace with ourselves. Why allow world desires and distractions to invade your heart? It doesn''t concern anyone but you if you are strong or weak, am I not right to say so? You should be more humble and not show off whenever you can. Because you are also cultivating your character to be a more worthy person."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he realized how wrong he had been, "Keqin, I am so wrong. I''ve thought that I may impress you if I am able to show off my skills in front of you. Alas, in the end¡­I am just a person that likes to show off and not a humble person at all. After all that you have done for me, I am only thinking of myself. I am so wrong¡­"


    Qin Keqin interrupted him softly, "You''re already very impressive in my heart, do you know that? As cultivators, we cultivate the heart and not because we want to impress the others."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and he was smiling now, "Thank you Keqin. I know what to do now. I should really cultivate my heart first instead of trying to prove to the others."


    Qin Keqin smiled endearingly, "Good. Now you are happy and so am I now!"


    "Come to think of that, it isn''t too bad being a good-for-nothing cultivator after all." Lu Qingyun smiled.


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "If I can get rid of my golden eyes, I don''t mind faking as a first realm cultivator as well. Then we will be a pair of good-for-nothing cultivators."


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "Unfortunately for my Keqin, you can''t get rid of the colors of your eyes. Therefore I am the only good-for-nothing cultivator here."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Well, so be it then. So, are you planning to consume the Divine Profound Pill?"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "I don''t think this Divine Profound Pill has too much of an effect on me at this point. I guess that it is because Keqin you have been giving plenty of powerful divine pills to beef me up. I''m thinking of keeping this Divine Profound Pill for a while."


    Qin Keqin nodded, "Yes, you should. There is actually no hurry to consume it so fast. Better wait till you are at the fifth realm."


    Lu Qingyun smiled. He was actually thinking of using it for his alchemy¡­


    Qin Keqin took out a purple pill from her pouch, "Yun''Er, take this pill and swallow it now. It is good stuff for you."


    There was a weird expression that was on Lu Qingyun. It was because with a sniff, he had recognized that this pill was wholly made of the starforge substances. He was thinking, "Keqin will not harm me but why does she wants me to take it. This isn''t the first time¡­"


    But he quietly returned a smile and put the pill into his mouth. But in secret, he did not swallow it but he did not tell her that he had known what this pill was. After all, Qin Keqin still did not know that he was a high level alchemist.


    Qin Keqin had a look of relief when she saw that he had taken the pill right in front of her eyes. She returned a quiet smile as she chuckled, "Let''s go! We shouldn''t keep the important guests of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa waiting for us. Or rather, these pretty maidens can''t wait to meet you."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Keqin, is it alright for me to meet the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds? I am just a lowly cultivator¡­"


    Qin Keqin gave him a soft kick, "You have already flirted with Feng Minyue and yet you are so shy in front of her prot¨¦g¨¦s. Be real!"


    Lu Qingyun protested bitterly, "Why did I ever flirt with Senior Feng¡­"


    "She told me!" Qin Keqin gave him a pretended icy look.


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "I don''t believe¡­"


    Elsewhere in the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, Feng Minyue had almost choked on her tea when she had overheard the conversation between Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun.


    Xuan Danfeng was laughing, "She did not turn off the transmission and did not know that we can still hear her¡­"


    Feng Minyue sighed softly, "As usual, she is so wasteful. She is burning spirit stones as though it is free by not turning off the transmission after the martial competition had ended."


    Xuan Danfeng was laughing jovially, "Minyue, so you are flirting with Lu Qingyun-"


    Feng Minyue interrupted softly, "That is simply not true at all. Don''t listen to her. Also she is just bullshitting him with her talks of cultivating the heart."


    Xuan Danfeng was laughing until her eyes had turned watery, "Yes, we all know she is lying to him. The only cultivator in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that doesn''t want to cultivate the heart is actually she. I can''t believe that she had actually told him that. If Lu Qingyun knows that she had cheated in the martial competition for him, he will surely flip upside down¡­"


    "Cultivating the heart¡­" Feng Minyue muttered, "More like cultivating her love-struck heart¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng smiled, "She just enjoys badmouthing us. What cultivating the heart, my foot!"


    Feng Minyue shook her head as she sighed softly, "To think that I was fooled by her when she was pleading so hard to me to make her a Fragrance Elder of my clan¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng interrupted with rolling laughter, "As typical of her. Her sincerity only lasts for three short minutes and after you had granted her request, she didn''t even bother to say a thank you to you. This is her cultivating of the heart¡­"


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were both laughing together.


    "Let record this now. I''m going to use this matter to tease her in the future." Xuan Danfeng suggested playfully.


    If one did not know their relationship, they would think that Qin Keqin was badmouthing them and that Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue were also badmouthing her. The truth was that Qin Keqin had helped them all too many times in the past and they were really close friends.


    For Qin Keqin to badmouth/ tease them endlessly, spoke of their weight in her heart. This was something that they actually felt proud of because she was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing!


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Elsewhere, the grand elders were all having a secret meeting.


    Kong Guxin was smiling weakly, "I really didn''t know that our sect leader is actually an elder of our patriarch clan. This is even big news."


    Yun Xing was also saying weakly, "Seems that we know very little of our this sect leader."


    Shi Guanyin nodded and said, "We all know that sect leader obviously rig the ballots. But we must not expose her, so let''s keep this a secret."


    Mu Han smiled weakly, "She is the sect leader. Even if she wants to openly cheat the system, she can also do it. No one will dare to say no to her request. I just don''t get it or am I being too stupid?"


    He turned to look at Wang Ming, "Can you figure it out?"


    Wang Ming was shaking head, "I guess that I am stupid too. She doesn''t need to cheat, right? Also, she has donated out the Divine Profound Pill for the tournament. She can simply give it to Senior Brother Lu Qingyun instead. Why does she even bother to lose her reputation by cheating in this manner?"


    Yun Xing was smiling weakly as well, "Isn''t it too obvious?"


    She turned to look at Ouyang Xue, "Xue''Er, what do you think?" The reason why she had asked Ouyang Xue was because she was exceptional bright and also because Ouyang Xue was weirdly quiet for the entire session.


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "I think that sect leader is actually playing a mind game on us. She had purposely made it so plain obvious to us that we cannot miss the obvious. It is as though she is waiting for us to ''expose'' her later."


    Yun Xing and Shi Guanyin said at the same time, "Why did she do that for?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled weakly, "I really do not know. There is certain type of people like the Golden Mask Devil Goddess that likes to observe the reaction of different people. I am guessing that she is enjoying watching what we will do to her."


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "I think our sect leader is really too free¡­"


    Yun Xing nodded, "Either our sect leader is being careless or she is a genius, I really cannot tell¡­"


    Ouyang Xue pondered for a while before she gave an answer, "Maybe she just wants us to enjoy the whole show with her?"

 109 A Hidden Crisis 2

    Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun were now in a beautiful chamber that was used to host important guests, especially influential cultivators.


    As soon as Lu Qingyun had entered the chamber, he saw three of the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds that he had seen earlier during the martial tournament.


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "This is my disciple, Lu Qingyun."


    "This is Shen Yufeng, she is a sixth realm golden supremacy. And this is Feng Xiaoxiao and this pretty maiden is Tang Xuefeng. They are both fifth realm golden celestials."


    Lu Qingyun greeted with a weak smile, "Your Supremacy, Your Golden Celestials." It seemed that he was the lowest level cultivator in this room!


    Shen Yufeng said politely, "Fragrance Elder, the matter that we are going to discuss may be a secret. Do you think that we can just discuss with you?"


    Lu Qingyun interrupted with a smile, "It is alright. I can leave-"


    But he was interrupted by Qin Keqin who said, "It is alright. He is my most trusted disciple and he even knows Feng Minyue personally as well."


    Shen Yufeng was startled as she quickly said with a worry look to Lu Qingyun, "Senior! Please forgive me for my impudence toward you."


    At the same time Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng were both greeting him at the same time, "Senior Lu!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Not at all. I''m not any senior¡­"


    Shen Yufeng insisted, "Senior, please accept our apologies¡­" As she looked into his eyes, she was secretly startled. It was because his eyes were like a swirling pool that was pulling her into it.


    She possessed the ''mystic eye'' ability. Although she could not tell a cultivator level by her mystic eyes but her mystic eye could roughly gauge a cultivator''s potential strength by looking at their eyes. Lu Qingyun''s potential strength through his eyes was extremely profound. In order to pull her soul into his eyes, his inner spiritual sea must have even exceeded hers¡­


    But he was only a fourth realm expert while she was a sixth realm expert. How could this even be possible?


    Although his inner spiritual sea was not as profound as the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing yet but he was only a fourth realm expert and had the potential to grow even more in the future.


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "Yufeng, what do you think of my this disciple? Is he good? He knows who I am."


    Shen Yufeng was startled as she quickly replied to Qin Keqin, "Very good¡­" The Great Saintess Yuqing had of course known of her mystic eyes and she had once almost lost her soul as she looked into her eyes and after saving her, she had rebuked her. "You have the mystic eye ability but there are some cultivators that you shouldn''t have used on them while your foundation is still weak."


    Shen Yufeng, Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng stole a glance at one another as they almost nodded at the same time. It was as though they were thinking, "Since he knows who the Great Saintess Yuqing is then there is no harm in disclosing this ''secret matter'' in his presence."


    "So what brings our great Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng here today?" Without waiting for Shen Yufeng to reply her, Qin Keqin had turned to say to Lu Qingyun. "Yun''Er, you must remember this beautiful maiden here. She is supposed to be the next Heavenly Fragrance Princess in the future!"


    Shen Yufeng was flushing lightly as she averted her glances, "Great Saintess Fan, you are teasing me again¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was a little startled as he thought, "It seems that Keqin really knows the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa really very well. When I first met her, I really did not know that she is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing or that Senior Feng Minyue is the Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess. They are so humble while I am trying to seek renown for myself. In the future, I should really cultivate my heart and be more humble. Keqin is right. This will do me more good¡­"


    Shen Yufeng smiled shyly as she secretly stole another look at Lu Qingyun while thinking in secret. "He is really such a dashing man. I wonder if he has anyone in his heart. He has the potential to become a great saint in the future. My mystic eye won''t lie to me¡­"


    But she quickly turned to say with great solemnly to Qin Keqin, "It is like this. We are here to investigate the happenings that are in the Red Death Valley. Something serious had happened recently. An entire village had been massacred by an unknown desolate beast and even quite a number of cultivators from the local celestial clan had been killed."


    "Oh? Surely with the strength of the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds, you can slay this monster for sure?"


    "I wonder if senior still remember Feng Xueyue?"


    "Yes, I do. One of the four Fragrance Heralds. Sixth realm cultivator. What about her?"


    Shen Yufeng sighed heavily, "She has entered the Red Death Valley to investigate and has almost lost her life. Until now she is still in a comatose state and her meridians are broken. She is a dear sister to me and¡­and I hope that to find Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng to save her life."


    Not only was Qin Keqin startled but Feng Minyue who was listening in in secret was startled.


    Feng Minyue quickly sent a secret transmission to Qin Keqin, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, please help her¡­"


    Qin Keqin said quietly as she took out three Divine Profound Pills from her spatial ring, "I will save her. For a sixth realm golden supremacy to experience such deadly injuries beyond the regeneration of her golden body, this desolate monster must be very powerful."


    Lu Qingyun was secretly startled that Qin Keqin there was three Divine Profound Pills that were in her hands.


    Qin Keqin added, "I''m sure that you have already tried to use the Divine Profound Pills on her and it did not work."


    Shen Yufeng nodded, not understanding why Qin Keqin had taken out three Divine Profound Pills for. Indeed, the Heavenly Fragrance Villa was a first tier celestial clan and occupied the richest spiritual vein in the divine realm. Getting a few of these Divine Profound Pills was not an issue at all.


    All of a sudden, there was a faint golden sigil that had appeared on Qin Keqin''s forehead as she coalesced the three Divine Profound Pills into a one tiny shining golden pill with her profound strength!


    Lu Qingyun was startled by two things. First, this was the first time that he had witnessed someone displaying the Heavenly Eye. It was said that only the strongest cultivators would be able to do so. Secondly, did Qin Keqin just create a new divine pill with the mere might of her profound strength? This was impossible! Moreover, with just a sniff, he knew that she had just created a sixth rank divine pill that was called Life Transmigration Pill!


    Sixth rank divine pills were all extremely precious due to its heaven-defying properties and most of the recipes were a secret. Even if someone had stolen the recipes, the precious celestial resources that would need to be collected would be next to impossible to collect¡­


    Qin Keqin smiled gently as she floated the Life Transmigration Pill to Shen Yufeng, "Take this to her. She will be fine."


    Shen Yufeng, Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng were all down to their knees as they said at the same time, "Our great gratitude to the Great Saintess Feng Yuqing, our Great Benefactor Feng Yuqing. We will never forget about your kindness to us all for all eternity!"


    Qin Keqin laughed softly, "This is nothing at all to me. Please get up. At most I get something back from Feng Minyue later."


    Lu Qingyun was a highly level alchemist that had the greatest alchemist skills and he was genius enough to reverse many pills just by sniffing alone. But he could never understand how on earth was it even possible for Qin Keqin to turn three fourth rank divine pills into a sixth rank divine pill!


    He simply could not believe it but he had just witnessed it with his own eyes!


    He did not know that this was the only profound art that Qin Keqin knew and that this was not due to alchemy but due to her profound strength. Her profound energies were the universal creation force and it contained life reviving energies. This was the only known method to create the Life Transmigration Pill but this was also a most exhausting method for Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin was thinking, "I''m going to sleep for a week. This is so weakening¡­"


    Feng Minyue said via the transmission, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, thank you!"


    Of course Qin Keqin could not reply to her or else everyone would know that she was in communication with Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng.


    She did not turn off the transmission because she had purposely let it transmit in secret and not because she had forgotten to turn it off. She had wanted her two sister saintesses to have a good laugh and also because Feng Minyue ought to know what was going on in her clan.


    Shen Yufeng was almost in tears as she held onto the Life Transmigration Pill tightly. "This may be the work of an evil cultivator. That was what Feng Xueyue had said before she passed out."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "The Red Death Valley, is it? Then I will go quickly and eliminate this threat."


    Shen Yufeng shook her head, "This won''t do. That is how Feng Xueyue was ambushed and attacked. She had discovered that someone has setup a powerful celestial array in the vicinity and is controlling the desolate monsters. The minute a fifth realm and above expert has entered the area, it will alert the mastermind."


    Feng Xiaoxiao said with trembling lips, "We have already sent more than ten parties into the Red Death Valley. More than half of our sisters had also perished or missing. One of the sisters who have survived says she had seen a mutated monster. The desolate monsters that are in the Red Death Valley are unlike those that we have seen and are much stronger than anything else."


    Qin Keqin was startled. "This sounds really serious."


    Shen Yufeng nodded and she was brimming with tears, "We have lost three golden celestials. This is an unspeakable horrible loss to us."


    Lu Qingyun immediately said righteously, "Why don''t I go and take a look? I am not a fifth realm expert yet and whatever dark forces are at work won''t be paying too much attention to me."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and said, "Yun''Er, that is too dangerous for you. You may get killed for any number of reasons with your puny skills."


    Lu Qingyun said firmly, "Keqin, I am a cultivator that cultivates the heart. If there is such a crisis that is happening right before my very eyes, can I still close my eyes and allow this to happen? Someone has to do it so let it be me then."


    Shen Yufeng stole a glance at him before she averted her eyes while saying silently. "He is so righteous and has a good heart¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "I need more time to think over this¡­"


    All of a sudden she was startled as she shouted, "Who is that?!"


    It was because she had discovered that they were being spied upon.


    With a flash, Qin Keqin had disappeared from the room!

 110 Lu Qingyun’s Determination

    Qin Keqin had flashed to a room and she was growling softly. It was because all six of the grand elders were there.


    All the grand elders were startled when they had been discovered by Qin Keqin and was about to flee the room when Qin Keqin had appeared in the next instant at the door. Her movement was too astonishing!


    Qin Keqin asked in a slow manner, "You are all spying on me?"


    All the grand elders were too stunned and sheepish to answer her.


    Most of the celestial clans had their spying arrays in their grounds. The Heavens Ridge Villa had several as well and one of the spying arrays was in the guest room where the grand elders could secretly eavesdrop on their guests.


    Kong Guxin had suggested, "Why don''t we listen in to their conversation? I am really curious who our sect leader really is. She is simply too mysterious."


    Yun Xing smiled weakly, "I think that isn''t a good idea, right?"


    Ouyang Xue nodded, "If we are discovered then we will be in serious trouble with both the sect leader and our Patriarch Clan."


    Mu Han said, "Actually I know the spying array in the guest chamber. I had heard that it was once laid down by our founder the Great Saintess Yuhuan. It is so sophisticated and one of a kind that even if they were seventh realm expert cultivators, they will find it extremely difficult to detect it."


    Wang Ming nodded, "I agree. Therefore there is no chance for anyone to ever detect it. Our sect leader and the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds are all below the seventh realm."


    Kong Guxin turned to Shi Guanyin, "Guanyin, what do you think?"


    Shi Guanyin laughed softly, "I say, there is no harm in taking a look. I mean, a listening ear."


    Yun Xing asked, "What if we are discovered?"


    Shi Guanyin chuckled, "It is impossible for anyone to know. Come on."


    And that was what happened earlier.


    Qin Keqin asked again, "Grand Elder Guanyin, what is going on?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "Sect leader, it is like this. We are afraid that you may come to harm so we are erm¡­checking¡­"


    Qin Keqin said coldly, "What did you all hear?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "Nothing. We had just turned on the spying array and sect leader had discovered us."


    "Oh really?" Qin Keqin asked suspiciously. She thought, "I have not yet recovered my profound strength after transferring Yun''Er desolate force into Yan''Er. My perception is so dim lately. Alas, I guess that I must quickly cultivate to my peak soon¡­"


    Then she said sternly, "No matter. Don''t let me hear a word of what you have heard."


    With that, she had left the room.


    Shi Guanyin and all the grand elders heaved a soft sign of relief as they stared blankly at one another.


    After making sure that Qin Keqin was not nearby, Mu Han was the first to speak and he was trembling. "Did you all hear that earlier? Our sect leader is actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing¡­"


    Kong Guxin was trembling and he was ashen, "She is a seventh realm upper sacred saint and a great saintess. All along¡­??


    "¡­we didn''t know that the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is in our midst¡­" Shi Guanyin continued after him.


    Yun Xing said nervously, "It''s no wonder that she is even an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. I''ve heard that she is a friend of the Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess Feng Minyue¡­"


    Wang Ming nervously said, "I hope that sect leader did not discover us."


    Ouyang Xue was too startled for words as she muttered, "She is a seventh realm expert and not¡­a fifth realm expert¡­and¡­." She silently added, "Senior Brother Qingyun knows of her identity as well. My gap with him is getting wider and wider. He is the disciple of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing¡­"


    All of a sudden Ouyang Xue was gasping aloud and everyone was startled.


    "Xue''Er, what is wrong?" Yun Xing asked her.


    Ouyang Xue looked at everyone with a weird expression, "I''ve just thought of something. Is sect leader is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, then who is the Great Saintess Yuhuan?"


    Kong Guxin muttered, "I have heard from the previous grand elders that Great Saintess Yuhuan and her daughter great resemble each other¡­"


    Wang Ming stammered as he looked nervously at everyone, "What if they are actually the same person?"


    Mu Han gasped, "If they are the same person then we may have offended our founder several times over¡­"


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "This sophisticate spying array was setup by the Great Saintess Yuhuan herself¡­"


    Everyone turned ashen. It was no wonder they were discovered so quickly¡­


    Shi Guanyin said firmly as she looked at everyone, "From now onward, no one outside this room must be allowed to know who she is. It is a secret, alright? Promise?"


    All the grand elders were nodding as they readily agreed.


    Yun Xing stared at Mu Han, "Hey you. You are always such a gossiper. Make sure that you keep your mouth shut."


    Mu Han protested weakly, "When did I become a gossiper? You know that I am not¡­"


    Yun Xing smiled bitterly, "Have you forgotten so fast that you have told us that our sect leader and senior brother are holding hands and¡­sharing kisses?"


    Mu Han smiled weakly, "Erm¡­that is another matter¡­"


    Outside the room, Qin Keqin had a stunned look when she had heard Yun Xing. How on earth did they know about Lu Qingyun and her?


    After leaving the room, she had concealed her aura and it seemed to everyone that she was gone but she had quietly waited outside the room to listen in.


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    "They even know that we are together¡­this is not a secret anymore¡­" Qin Keqin had a slight flush on her cheeks before she walked away quietly.


    When she had returned to the guest chamber, everyone was still waiting for her.


    Lu Qingyun was the first to ask her, "Keqin, is there someone listening in to us?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Nothing. I was mistaken and was checking."


    Shen Yufeng heaved a sigh of relief, "This matter is really severe so the less people that knows about it the better."


    Lu Qingyun said quietly as he looked at Qin Keqin, "I just have a discussion with Supremacy Yufeng and the others. Keqin, I have decided to go to the Red Death Valley to help investigate the strange happening."


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "Yun''Er, it is too dangerous for you to go alone."


    Lu Qingyun said, "I won''t be alone. Supremacy Yufeng and the rest will be aiding me from the outside. All I need is to activate the secret transmission and they will be able to find me."


    Qin Keqin shook her head, "You don''t understand how dangerous it will be. I think¡­"


    "Keqin," Lu Qingyun said earnestly. "It is not only to investigate this strange happening. But I hope to find some rare herbs that are only available in the Red Death Valley. This is something that I have long wanted to do in the past but I am not strong enough to venture there alone. Moreover, I really need an experiential mission like this to increase my exposure to dangers and to increase my experience. Only then will I be strong and be strong to protect you one day. Do you understand?"


    Qin Keqin was startled when she had heard him, "Yun''Er¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said gently, "Alright, Keqin? Please."


    Qin Keqin tiptoed lightly as she looked blankly at him, "Mm¡­alright¡­"


    Shen Yufeng and the others were startled as they looked at one another; they had never seen the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing displaying such a body language before and she looked like her soul was being sucked in by Lu Qingyun when he had pleaded with her.


    They were all thinking; the two of them were a couple? Also they had never heard of a disciple addressing the name of their master directly. This was considered to be a taboo and a great disrespect¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were now walking along the corridor.


    As they walked, Qin Keqin was extremely quietly.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had caught hold of her hands, "Keqin, are you unhappy with me?"


    Qin Keqin looked at him, "No Yun''Er. I just have an ominous feeling on this and I can''t do a thing."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I will be alright. Don''t worry. I am a strong cultivator now."


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "No matter how strong you are, there are numerous strong fifth, sixth and seventh cultivators all over the place. Many of them do not cultivate the heart and they are extremely vicious. It is just that you have no seen them yet and some of them are even hiding behind the fa?ade of the righteous celestial clans, waiting to bring you down at every single step."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "I will be careful. I believe that the unrighteous will never be able to triumph over the righteous. Take the Golden Mask Devil Goddess for example. Although she had reigned for a while but eventually she is forced to go into hiding. This is the strength of the righteous heart."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    She returned a sheepish look before saying, "How did you know that she is in hiding? You are not her. Maybe she is just biding her time to do more evil."


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "But it is a fact that she is in hiding now."


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "Yun''Er, what if one day you realize that I am not what I am? And that I am not as good as you think? Maybe I am even as bad as the Devil Goddess. Will you still like me?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "You are not the Devil Goddess. You are the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, a heroine of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. So there is no chance for you to be as bad as the Devil Goddess."


    Qin Keqin weakly said with a soft sigh, "You are not answering me¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said with a soft chuckle, "Of course I will love my Keqin¡­" To prove it, he had leaned close to her and had put his hand on her back to pull her close to him.


    Qin Keqin was gasping when Lu Qingyun had suddenly kissed her on her forehead as he muttered, "I really love you Keqin and I don''t want to lose you¡­"


    Qin Keqin nodded quietly before she said, "Then you''ve better come back alive. You better! In the meantime I''m going to enter a short seclusion to regain my profound strength."


    All of a sudden she was gasping aloud because Lu Qingyun had slipped his hand down her back and touching her butt. Then he had pulled her skirt up as he slipped his hand inside and was feeling her inside¡­


    Lu Qingyun was sheepish, "Keqin, I''m sorry. I¡­can''t control myself when I am with you¡­"


    Qin Keqin quickly pushed him away as she chuckled, "You like to touch me there, right? But first you got to stay alive first. When you are back alive, I will let you have your three minutes of fun."


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "Really?!"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and said softly, "You are at that exploration age now, right? And you are finding it hard to control your beastly urges? When you are back, I will let you release it."


    Lu Qingyun''s heart was throbbing hard and he was completely flustered, "Really¡­" It was like his wet dreams that had come true¡­


    All of a sudden Xuan Danfeng was whispering in secret to Qin Keqin, "Sister Yuqing, hurry and tell us¡­which part he touched? We have heard it loud and clear¡­are you turn on by the way¡­hehe¡­"


    Feng Minyue was gasping, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, you are dating with Lu Qingyun now? We didn''t know¡­and you are offering yourself to him?¡­"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin was flustered too as she had suddenly remembered that Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were both still listening into her conversation. With a secret finger gesture, she had turned off the transmission as she said bitterly to herself. "Now my honor is all gone¡­.and they knows¡­I got a feeling that today is really my most unlucky day¡­"

 111 A Heartbroken Leng Qiuyue

    Grand Elder Celestial Shi Guanyin was now in a meeting with her disciples, Nangong Yu, Leng Qiuyue and Li Chen to discuss over their failures and successes during the martial tournament.


    This was actually a norm after every competition or experiential mission and was not an unusual thing.


    Shi Guanyin asked Li Chen, "Do you know why you had failed?"


    Li Chen smiled weakly as he sighed heavily, "My opponent was Cheng Wuzi. He is a fourth realm expert while I am only a third realm expert. He is too strong for me."


    Shi Guanyin nodded and added, "So if you have met him again, how do you plan on fighting this opponent?"


    Li Chen smiled bitterly, "We have exchanged for about thirty strokes. I guess that I can still improve myself by prolonging another ten strokes or more next time. But it is difficult. I can only train even harder now so that I can catch up with him."


    Shi Guanyin nodded lightly and did not say more. She knew that Li Chen was feeling quite awkward and was disappointed in his own result as he was beaten in the very first round.


    "Nangong Yu, do you know why you had failed?" She asked next.


    Nangong Yu smiled weakly as he looked at Leng Qiuyue, "I didn''t know that junior sister is already a fourth realm expert now. I really didn''t know¡­"


    "But why had you failed?" Shi Guanyin asked.


    "She was just lucky to have fought several weak opponents while I had just finished a tough fight with Cheng Wuzi. If I have my profound strength at my peak then I won''t lose at all. There won''t be a next time."


    Shi Guanyin sighed in her heart, "This disciple of mine, he has a strong pride and this may be his future downfall. But that is a valid reason why he had lost to Qingyue."


    She turned to ask Leng Qiuyue, "You had managed to reach the final but why did you have to concede to Senior Brother Lu? You have the ability to win and the Divine Profound Pill would be yours to keep."


    Leng Qiuyue said firmly, "No, he is actually very strong. I''m not his match. Therefore I had to concede the match."


    Nangong Yu said bitterly, "But you have not even tried. How do you know? If I know that you will concede to him, why didn''t you concede to me?"


    Leng Qiuyue turned to him and said coldly, "Because you are not as good as Senior Brother Lu!"


    Nangong Yu: ¡­


    Li Chen smiled weakly, "Senior Brother Nangong Yu is actually the most highly skilled and most powerful core prot¨¦g¨¦s in the clan. As for Senior Brother Lu, he was just freaking lucky to have Zhang Gang as his opponent for all the rounds."


    Shi Guanyin said with a soft sigh, "Li Chen, Nangong Yu. You may leave first. I will like to talk to Qiuyue alone"


    Li Chen and Nangong Yu gave a quiet bow before they walked away. Nangong Yu had an ugly expression on his face as he left.


    When Shi Guanyin saw that they had left and out of her perception, she turned to Leng Qiuyue and said softly. "Qiuyue, why did you lose to Lu Qingyun on purpose?"


    Leng Qiuyue averted her glances, "I don''t wish to explain. Master, I am tired. Can I leave now?"


    Shi Guanyin said quietly, "You like him, do you?"


    Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    Shi Guanyin sighed softly, "But you mustn''t like him. Please remember this in your heart or I will drive you out of the clan!"


    Leng Qiuyue was startled, "Why mustn''t I like him? Because master you do not like him?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly but did not reveal the reason. She could not tell her that there was a rumor that Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun were dating. She was afraid that her disciple would get hurt¡­


    Leng Qiuyue said and her eyes were wet, "Master, you have always doted on me like your own daughter. Why are you so unreasonable and you even want to drive me out of the clan¡­"


    Then she said with a hurtful tone and her eyes had turned red, "Master, why didn''t you believe your Qiuyue that he is not a good-for-nothing lowly cultivator and that your Qiuyue really isn''t his match¡­"


    With a melancholy huff, she had stormed off and Shi Guanyin could see her silent tears that had dripped on the ground as she exited the hall.


    Shi Guanyin''s heart was aching from seeing the tears that were from Leng Qiuyue as she muttered, "Qiuyue¡­why can''t you understand your master¡­I just don''t want you to be hurt in the future¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    At the lofty peak of the Flying Armament Sect;


    Ling Chong was startled that he had suddenly been summoned by his patriarch father who was also the prot¨¦g¨¦ grandmaster of the Flying Armament Sect. It was because he was in a cultivation retreat and should not be disturbed unless something was really urgent or else he would have wasted his efforts and would have to restart all over again.


    When he arrived at the Armament Hall, his father Ling Bei was there alone and he was pacing up and down.


    When he saw that Ling Chong had arrived, Ling Bei began to smile warmly. "Son, I have something important to discuss with you. I am afraid that your cultivation retreat has to end prematurely for now, at least."


    Ling Chong bowed with his hands respectfully before he asked curiously, "Father, what is wrong? Did something happen?"


    Ling Bei laughed as gave him a pat on his shoulder before he said, "There are two matters. One is that the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds have just sent a message to everyone in our region that the Divine Fragrance Tournament will be held in New Empyrean City. Therefore I want you to prepare really well for this martial competition to win the top honors for our clan."


    Ling Chong gasped with surprise, "Is it true? This will be a first for New Empyrean City. But which celestial clan will have the honor of hosting the Divine Fragrance Tournament?"


    Ling Bei sighed softly, "It is the Heavens Ridge Villa. It turns out that Sect Leader Qin is really the Fragrance Elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. This is a real surprise."


    "Really?!" Ling Chong was startled. He really had not expected that Sect Leader Qin Keqin to be telling the truth after all. After all, there were also many other doubters and he was not the only one.


    He paused to ponder for a while before he said thoughtfully, "It seems that the Heavens Ridge Villa is now the number one powerhouse in New Empyrean City. Even Supremacy Yin Shisi has joined the Heavens Ridge Villa as elder now. It is a good thing that we have aided them in the past at a considerable risk to our clan. It is something that is to our advantage in the future. We got ourselves a good ally this time."


    Ling Bei said solemnly, "Son, we have been allies with the Heavens Ridge Villa many times in the past and even enemies with them. You must know that no alliances are permanent and that no enemies are forever. This is something that you ought to remember well. When you are in my position, you will be able to understand better."


    Ling Chong nodded, "Father, thank you for the reminder. I''ll remember this well. What is the second matter then?"


    Ling Bei smiled, "I have arranged a good marriage for you."


    Ling Chong was startled, "Father, this is a little too early for me. I will like to focus more on my cultivation¡­"


    Ling Bei laughed as he interrupted him, "Chong''Er, the higher realm a cultivator is, the harder it is for them to give rise to the next generation. It is better to start a family before you have attained as a fifth realm golden celestial."


    Ling Chong smiled weakly, "Actually father, I''ve already someone in my mind¡­" And that person was Lie Xingyuan, he thought.


    "I remember that in the past, you are quite infatuated with the young mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion right? As a matter of fact, I am going to betroth you to Maiden Qiuxiang Huan." Ling Bei roared with laughter.


    Ling Chong returned a faint smile, "Father, you must be joking. She is a lofty maiden and a great beauty. She won''t like me and she had told me in the past."


    Ling Bei gave him a pat as he said, "Son, circumstances have changed. She has already agreed to be engaged to you."


    "What?!" Ling Chong was startled. He began to stammer, "This¡­this is impossible¡­"


    Ling Bei said in a low voice, "It is because the Heavens Ridge Villa is becoming too powerful, that''s why. The Clear Sky Pavilion is afraid and in fact, they are the ones that have proposed it. Therefore I have also agreed to it. We must keep the power of the Heavens Ridge Villa in check or our sectarian clan will soon be delegated to a third tier celestial clan."


    Ling Chong muttered, "Really? She will really agree to marry me?" He had tried to court her in the past but was snubbed by her and was even humiliated by her.


    Ling Bei laughed, "Really. In fact, she is here now in the guest hall. Don''t you want to talk to her?"


    "She is here now?" Ling Chong was trembling lightly.


    Ling Bei gave a mysterious smile, "Son, I have a gift for you to bring to her."

 112 The Secret Alliance

    When Ling Chong had entered the guest hall, there was a stately and beautiful maiden standing elegantly there. She was none other Qiuxiang Huan.


    When she saw Ling Chong, she gave a faint smile. "Young Master Ling, how are you?"


    Whenever he saw Qiuxiang Huan, he was always in awe of her peerless looks and her stately demeanor.


    Ling Chong stammered, "Maiden Qiuxiang Huan, I''m good. You¡­is it true?"


    Qiuxiang Huan laughed softly before she nodded lightly, "I am here to cement an alliance between the Clear Sky Pavilion and the Flying Armament Sect."


    Ling Chong said after a short hesitation, "Are you really willing to¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled, "You mean am I willing to marry you? Of course I am willing. In fact, I am all too willing. Or you are the one that is not willing?"


    Ling Chong smiled weakly, "How would I be unwilling? I am most willing. After all, you are the most peerless maiden in New Empyrean City."


    Qiuxiang Huan chuckled softly, "Is that so? Then how about Qin Keqin? Isn''t she the number one beauty in New Empyrean City now?"


    Ling Chong said bitterly, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Surely, you know my heart for you."


    Qiuxiang Huan looked shyly away before she said gently, "I know that you have many other maidens in your heart as well. After all, you are the famous skirt chasing young master in New Empyrean City."


    Ling Chong: ¡­


    He began to laugh awkwardly, "If I can have you, I will surely change my old ways and devote my heart to you."


    Qiuxiang Huan nodded, "I am not so unreasonable. You may get yourself one or two consorts in the future if you so desire. After all you will be my lord in the future."


    Ling Chong put his hand behind his head as he smiled weakly, "That''s great¡­"


    But he soon returned a solemn expression, "But why are you trying to oppose the Heavens Ridge Villa? Isn''t it better for everyone to sit down peacefully together?"


    Qiuxiang Huan cursed silently, "With this mentality, he is just a useless person and will never amount to anything great in the future." But she returned a gentle smile as she said, "You know that I am kind enough to invite Qin Keqin and her prot¨¦g¨¦s back to the Clear Sky Pavilion for a visit."


    Ling Chong nodded as he said, "I was there on the day of the invite."


    Qiuxiang Huan said melancholy, "But do you know that after I have invited them to the Clear Sky Pavilion, what had actually happened?"


    Ling Chong smiled weakly, "You have tested them and they had humiliated the Clear Sky Pavilion?"


    "It appears that you''re quite well informed. However you may not know the entire story." Qiuxiang Huan said sadly. "After the Great Saintess Fairy Light had come to the Clear Sky Pavilion and severely injured hundreds of my prot¨¦g¨¦s, my Great Aunt Yin visited the Heavens Ridge Villa to seek justice for the Clear Sky Villa but do you know the real reason why she had stayed in the Heavens Ridge Villa after that and not returned to the Clear Sky Pavilion?"


    Ling Chong shook his head, "It is a mystery even to us."


    Qiuxiang Huan said bitterly, "That is because my Great Aunt Yin was tricked by Lu Qingyun and he had violated her!"


    Ling Chong was shocked, "Brother Lu will do such a beastly act?"


    Qiuxiang Huan said with trembling lips, "He is a wolf in sheep clothing. The Clear Sky Pavilion will never forgive him for this."


    Ling Chong was smiling weakly, "Indeed he is a beast."


    All of a sudden Qiuxiang Huan had a smile as she looked at him, "If you agree to help the Clear Sky Pavilion to seek vendetta on the Heavens Ridge Villa then I shall be your consort. What do you say?"


    The reason why she had looked for Ling Chong was because he was the scion of one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean City and because she thought that it was easier to manipulate him to her future wishes.


    Ling Chong pondered for a while before he said firmly, "As long as you will be my consort then I will aid the Clear Sky Pavilion against the Heavens Ridge Villa. This is my word for you."


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling, "If only I have known you at the soonest time. You are indeed a most outstanding young celestial."


    Ling Chong asked, "Then when will we get marry?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled gently, "Naturally the soonest the better."


    She was actually thinking. "Once I have gotten rid of the Heavens Ridge Villa then it shall be your turn. Do you know that in my eyes, you are to be despised because you are nothing but a tool for me to make use of."


    Ling Chong was smiling as he bowed with his hands, "Then let me pay my respect to my first consort first!"


    Qiuxiang Huan quickly stepped forward to say to him, "You are too polite¡­"


    But all of a sudden Ling Chong had thrown a spray of white powder on her face as she stepped forward which caused to feel dizzy.


    "What did you do¡­" Qiuxiang Huan was startled and her vision had suddenly become dim. She quickly exerted her profound strength to resist the dizziness.


    Ling Chong said coolly, "It is no use. The more you try to exert your profound strength, the faster this Profound Weakening Ashes will react."


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled as she gasped softly, "You have actually used the Profound Weakening Ashes on me?! Why do you want to do that? Why did you attack me¡­"


    But she could not finish this last sentence and had succumbed softly to the ground. All she could hear was Ling Chong''s last words, "Don''t be afraid. I just want some insurance, that''s all. It is because I still don''t trust you completely."


    This Profound Weakening Ashes was a gift that his patriarch father had given to him earlier.


    His father had said to him, "Use it on her and don''t trust her completely. Since she has delivered herself to us, why don''t you make the full use of this? She will never suspect that you will do something like this because you have always been a gentleman."


    Ling Chong sighed softly as he took out a profound viewing globe to record the scene. "Maiden Qiuxiang Huan, since you are going to be my consort sooner or later, please forgives me for this act."


    He bended down to loosen her belt before he pulled off her robe. Slowly he pulled down her skirt and stripped off her inner garments, exposing her naked body in full view of his lustful eyes.


    He was gasping softly as he admired her beautiful body as he lifted the profound viewing globe over her body. "She is really beautiful and her figure is so perfect."


    "I have never dreamed of this day¡­" he was muttering as he caressed her beautiful face. Slowly his eyes were wandering from her face to her body and beyond. He was suddenly aroused as she was really too tempting.


    "Since we are going to be man and wife sooner or later¡­" He began to loosen his belt and was soon disrobing before he jumped violently on her. "Qiuxiang¡­Huan¡­you are mine¡­finally¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Elsewhere far from New Empyrean City, in the middle of the night;


    Tang Bufan was anxiously looking at the makeshift camp of a hundred of his fellow prot¨¦g¨¦s. Ever since the death of Supremacy Wen and Celestial Bai, his life had been a total misery and he was forced to be a dog of Senior Brother Ximen Yong and his close brothers.


    But of course his fate was not the worse.


    All the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were forced to sleep with Ximen Yong and his close brothers every night.


    Tonight when almost everyone was too drunk or sleepy, he would make his escape¡­


    There was always a guard or two that was always keeping an eye on him but they were particularly lax tonight because Ximen Yong was in a good mood tonight as he had just captured a beautiful cultivator from the vicinity and he was now savaging her aggressively.


    Because of this reason, his brothers could now have their fun with some of the other female prot¨¦g¨¦s that Ximen Yong was always occupying. Because of this and that that Tang Bufan was pretending to be asleep, the guard tonight was particularly lax as his eyes were on the naked forms of the female prot¨¦g¨¦s that were lying around the camp.


    As Tang Bufan made his escape, he was cursing bitterly. "Ximen Yong, I will never forget about this vendetta. You have treated me like an animal and like a common slave¡­"


    Indeed his heart was extremely bitter because out of so many other prot¨¦g¨¦s that were mistreated, he was treated the worst because he was an ''outsider'' and he was trampled upon every day.


    "Where shall I go to next? The fraternity is so vast yet there is no place where I can go to¡­"


    "New Empyrean City? That is my home¡­"


    "Do I still have the face to go home¡­"


    "I have no home now¡­"


    "Qin Keqin, I will have my vendetta on you as well¡­"


    His fate had been going downhill ever since Qin Keqin had foiled his plans of violating Shi Guanyin and he was driven away from the Heavens Ridge Villa. He had thought that he had found a good refuge with the Solitary Manor, one of the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City and that even the powerful Celestial Bai had also taken him under his wings as his disciple, his destiny would turn for the better and he would be unstoppable in the future.


    But it turned out that that was short-lived¡­

 113 Forming the Recon Party 1

    Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were now in a second round of meeting with Shen Yufeng.


    This time there was only her and two other maidens that were from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    Lu Qingyun was a little startled when he saw them; it was because they were identical twins except that one had black hair and the other had silver hair.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "The one on your left (the back hair maiden) is Zhao Xingye and the one on your right (the silver hair maiden) is Zhao Riyue. They are sisters and they will be accompanying Senior Lu Qingyun on the trip. They are both fourth realm immortal celestial cultivators."


    Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue immediately greeted aloud, "Our respects to both seniors!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled and gave a hurried hand greet, "My respects to both immortal celestial maidens!"


    Qin Keqin gave them a gentle smile, "What a beautiful twins!"


    "Actually I mean Zhao Xingye and not Zhao Riyue. Zhao Riyue will be outside the perimeter with me, in fact and we will be rush into the Red Death Valley if anything is amiss." Shen Yufeng added with a wry smile.


    "Oh?" Qin Keqin said.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "Zhao Riyue has an innate sensory perception that is several times stronger than any cultivator of her cultivator level. As a matter of fact, her sensory perception is equaled to the seventh realm sacred saint level. But that is not all. No matter where her sister is, she will be able to pinpoint to her exact location."


    Then she looked at Lu Qingyun, "Although we have given you a special signal flare and a transmission stone but in times of crisis, these things may not be too reliable. For this mission, we have to rely on Zhao Riyue."


    Zhao Riyue was flushing lightly as she looked at Lu Qingyun and so was her twin sister Zhao Xingye. What a dashing man this Lu Qingyun was as they secretly communicated with their eyes to each other.


    Qin Keqin looked at Zhao Riyue and said, "What an extraordinary sensory perception she got. My goodness, what if she is a fifth, sixth or seventh realm in the future?"


    Shen Yufeng laughed softly, "However she got a weakness as well. Her physique isn''t that good and she can''t stay away from her twin sister for too long. As for Zhao Xingye, she has the most excellent physique. Although she is only a fourth realm expert now but she has already formed the golden celestial body that is only available to the fifth realm experts. When her twin sister is near her, her reflexes and stamina are also extremely extraordinary."


    Qin Keqin looked at Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue before she said, "I have never seen such a unique pair before. This is indeed a most extraordinary pair of sisters."


    She paused for a while before she smiled, "If I am not wrong, the reason why Zhao Xingye is able to have such extraordinary reflexes and stamina is because Zhao Riyue has the ability to transfer her profound energies to her when they are near to each other?"


    Shen Yufeng chuckled softly, "Senior, you are so spot on. That''s right. Zhao Riyue also has the innate ability to transfer her profound strength to Zhao Xingye when they are near. Moreover, as long as Zhao Riyue isn''t too tired, Zhao Xingye will have unlimited profound strength."


    Zhao Riyue smiled, "That is because while my sister is fighting her opponents, I am actually taking a breather and is secretly recovering the profound strength that I''ve lost."


    When Lu Qingyun heard her, he was most astonished and could not help with a soft mutter. "This is too unbelievable." When a fighter was fighting hard, they would lose their profound strength unless they had a brief respite to rest. If too much profound strength was used up too quickly, it would affect the real stamina and would affect the physical state of the fighter.


    But for Zhao Riyue, while she was lending her profound strength to her sister, she was also resting at the same time so that her heartbeat would not increase at a rate that would burn her actual stamina. As long as Zhao Xingye did not do any action that was extremely taxing to both of them, both their stamina was virtually unlimited and if their stamina was unlimited, their usage of their profound strength would also be virtually unlimited.


    Lu Qingyun thought, "In the world of cultivation, there are many geniuses and cultivators with their own unique talents. I must really cultivate harder¡­"


    Qin Keqin said quietly, "For the Heavenly Fragrance Villa to risk these two most extraordinary talents in the field, this mission must be really hard to accomplish¡­"


    Shen Yufeng replied quietly, "This is just an exploratory mission. We only know that the mysterious evil cultivator only attack those who are fifth realm and above. So they may not necessary be in danger. Also, at the same time I''ve given out the orders to all the nearby celestial clans to double up their experiential missions in the Red Death Valley. With such a great number of cultivators in the place at the same time, the mysterious evil cultivator may not choose this time to act foolishly."


    Qin Keqin had a soft sigh as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "I hope so."


    Shen Yufeng said, "Then we shall set off tomorrow."


    Lu Qingyun said, "Alright." He was actually looking forward to go to the Red Death Valley and he was not particular afraid. Moreover Shen Yufeng and all the other high level cultivators would be waiting outside the valley to aid him if something was amiss.


    His head was muttering, "Red Mist Roots, Verdant Spirit Fig¡­these are some of the herbs that I hope to find in the Red Death Valley¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    After the meeting was over, Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were walking quietly together.


    Qin Keqin sighed, "Yun''Er, after this I''m going for my cultivation retreat so I won''t be biding you farewell tomorrow. So be careful and don''t you die on me."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Keqin, don''t worry. I will be back. Didn''t Senior Yufeng say that this will only be a reconnaissance mission?"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "I''ve got a feeling it isn''t that simple."


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "We won''t be so unlucky. After all, there will be many others in the area as well. Keqin, can I hold your hand?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "We are in the public. Surely you don''t want anyone to see us, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "Right¡­"


    Qin Keqin whispered, "Look, there is someone who is here already."


    Indeed, it was Mu Han who hurriedly greeted them. "Sect Leader Qin, Senior Brother Lu! How are you? Will you like to come to my abode for a chat?"


    Qin Keqin declined politely, "We are a little busy. Moreover, I''m going for my cultivation retreat today."


    Mu Han was startled, "I thought, I thought¡­" he looked at Lu Qingyun. "I''ve thought that Senior Brother Lu is going for his experiential mission tomorrow?"


    As he said that, Shi Guanyin and Yun Xing had also dropped in all of a sudden.


    "Sect Leader Qin! Are you free to come to my abode?"


    "Just for a little chat!"


    "Sect Leader Qin, you are so pretty today¡­"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    "How come they so friendly all of a sudden?" she thought.


    Mu Han laughed as he explained to them, "Sect Leader Qin is going for her cultivation retreat later today and won''t be free."


    Yun Xing sighed softly, "What a pity¡­"


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile, "Grand Elder Shi, actually I am about to look for you."


    Shi Guanyin was smiling warmly, "If there is anything that sect leader wants me to do, I will surely do my best!"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "It is actually just a minor matter. As you know my disciple Yun''Er is going for a short experiential mission with the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds because he had emerged as the top fighter in the core prot¨¦g¨¦ tournament. However they are still short hand. I am thinking of asking your disciple Leng Qiuyue to go with him."


    Shi Guanyin smiled weakly as she hesitated briefly. "Why not I ask Nangong Yu? He is the more capable fighter. Although my Qiuyue had won over Nangong Yu but it was due more to luck than actual skill.???


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Not really. Her profound strength is stronger than Nangong Yu. I won''t be wrong on this." After all, she had the Primordial Heaven Chart to help her to read the cultivation strength of the others. She was definitely not wrong.


    Shi Guanyin was startled, "This¡­this is impossible right? She has only just attained to the fourth realm and her new cultivation foundation isn''t firm yet."


    Qin Keqin shook her head before she said, "If her cultivation foundation isn''t firm, how is it possible for her to use her profound aura and sword martial power at the same time? She is stronger than we think she is."


    Shi Guanyin was startled because she had realized that it was the truth. Somehow she had missed it because she was a fifth realm golden celestial and to her, it was the norm. She had forgotten how difficult it was for a forth realm expert to perform the same feat as her.


    Xun Ying nodded, "She is already stronger than me." Yun Xing was also a fourth realm expert but even then she had to admit that the current Leng Qiuyue had the cultivation strength to match a fifth realm expert.


    Lu Qingyun was secretly startled, "I will be in the same party as Leng Qiuyue?" It was because he was still perplexed over why Leng Qiuyue had conceded to him. He really did not understand this junior sister of his at all¡­


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Yun''Er, why don''t you stay around to have a little chat with the grand elders? I am going for my cultivation retreat now."


    Shi Guanyin, Mu Han and Yun Xing quickly bade her farewell but they were all secretly looking at one another and were thinking, "Sect leader is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. It is our honor to serve her and to see her every day¡­"


    Qin Keqin punched Lu Qingyun on his chest lightly before she left, "I will never forgive you if you have died in this silly mission. Remember this!"


    She was now alone in the forbidden ground of the Heavens Ridge Villa. She was about to enter into a short reclusion to recover her cultivation strength¡­


    Just as she was about to enter into a deep sleep, she turned on the transmission to her sisters and said. "Minyue, Danfeng. Are you there?"


    "Sister Saintess Yuqing¡­" It was the voice of Feng Minyue.


    Qin Keqin had a faint smile on her countenance as she said, "Minyue, I am about to enter a short seclusion to recover my cultivation peak. But before I do that, I need a favor from you¡­"


    "Yuqing¡­" Xuan Danfeng chuckled. "Oh dear, what has happens to you? In all my years with you, I have rarely seen you enter into seclusion. What happen to your profound strength? Did you just lose your chastity and hence this resulted in your loss of your profound strength?"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Feng Minyue said, "Don''t listen to her¡­"


    Qin Keqin said weakly, "My chastity is still intact. There is nothing between Qingyun and I. Nothing at all. Absolutely nothing."


    Xuan Danfeng laughed, "Really? We have all heard you earlier."


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she rolled her eyes, ??I know that you are still on the transmission. Therefore we are only putting on an act for the two of you. Surprise? I have you all fooled, am I right?"


    But she quickly said with a more solemn tone, "I have nearly expended all my profound strength after I had sealed off Qingyun''s desolate strength to Yan''Er. Moreover earlier, I have used the remaining of my profound strength to create the Life Transmigration Pill. Therefore I need to go into a deep cultivation sleep for a few weeks. So I need your help to help me to protect my Yun''Er. He will be on a dangerous mission tomorrow and I am a little anxious about it."


    Then she paused, "Now don''t tell the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress about this. I will make up a story to them later. I will let them think that Qingyun''s desolate strength has faded away on its own¡­"


    Feng Minyue suddenly interrupted, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, we are having tea with them at the moment¡­"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    She began to curse silently, "Why didn''t you let me know that they are around with you¡­this is so awkward to explain now¡­"


    "Of course I know that they are with you," Qin Keqin chuckled. "I am just making a bad joke. Danfeng, since you are so free nowadays¡­help me to look after Qingyun in secret¡­"


    "Hey, why should I do that? He isn''t my man¡­" Xuan Danfeng protested immediately.


    "I have left a recording of the experiential mission details. You can retrieve it after this. I got to go now¡­" Qin Keqin turned off the transmission quickly as she was feeling too awkward to say more since the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress were both around.


    Qin Keqin smiled bitterly to herself, "The Heaveness is going to be more and more disappointed in me¡­I have actually intending to lie to her¡­"


    With a soft melancholy sigh, she began to close her eyes to meditate. Her priority now was to regain her cultivation strength as quickly as possible. "Yun''Er. don''t you dare to die before me!"

 114 Forming the Recon Party 2

    Leng Qiuyue was pleasantly surprised that she had been assigned to join the secret experiential mission to the Red Death Valley.


    Shi Guanyin had said to her, "The Heavenly Fragrance Heralds need some help for a recon mission to the Red Death Valley. I am assigning you to join this mission."


    She had replied bitterly, "Master, I know that you do not want me to see Senior Brother Lu and that is why you are arranging for me to leave the clan for the time being."


    Shi Guanyin returned a weak smile, "Qiuyue, you are wrong. Your Senior Brother Lu Qingyun will be in this mission as well."


    She was startled as she thought, "Don''t tell me that my master no longer wants to stop me from seeing him?"


    Shi Guanyin pretended to say wryly, "Since you don''t wish to accept this mission¡­oh well, I just have to tell Senior Brother Lu¡­"


    "No wait, Master!" she had panicky said with a soft smile. "I¡­Your Qiuyue, is willing to accept this mission!"


    Shi Guanyin smiled, "So you are not angry with me anymore? Do you know how hard I have fought to get you into this mission?" That was a blatant lie of course and she had only said that because she knew that Leng Qiuyue was still upset with her. She had wanted to alleviate the situation a little. After all, she was particularly fond of Leng Qiuyue.


    She gasped softly, "Master, please forgive my actions earlier." Then she lit a faint smile, "And thank you!"


    Shi Guanyin muttered to herself, "Qiuyue, be extra vigilant for this mission. If I have a choice, I won''t allow you to go¡­" It was because she had overheard the Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng detailing how three golden celestials of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had lost their lives¡­


    Right now, she was in the hall with Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan.


    Lie Xingyuan was of course not part of the recon party but as she was a personal attendant of Lu Qingyun, she was allowed to accompany him until he had reached the Red Death Valley.


    "Senior Sister Qiuyue." Lie Xingyuan greeted her.


    Leng Qiuyue smiled as she greeted shyly, "Senior Brother Qingyun, Junior Sister Xingyuan."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly when he had seen her, "Junior Sister Qiuyue."


    Leng Qiuyue simply looked at him with a faint smile but said nothing.


    Lie Xingyuan was thinking, "It is well known that our icy senior sister here will never smile at anyone¡­.only when she is with senior brother, she is smiling¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said, "We are a little early. So let''s wait for the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds to arrive first."


    Leng Qiuyue nodded shyly before she said in a low voice, "Senior brother, you are so impressive during the martial tournament."


    Lu Qingyun began to smile with great awkwardness. It was because he had the most dismay performance among all the core prot¨¦g¨¦s and he had thought that he was a joke. Although he had won the tournament but it was only because Leng Qiuyue had conceded to him.


    Therefore he was extremely embarrassed to say that he had really done well.


    Even Lie Xingyuan was rolling her eyes as was saying in her heart, "I think that it is not his performance that is impressive but his looks are impressive to you¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was actually wrong when she had thought that Leng Qiuyue was attracted to Lu Qingyun''s good looks. There were no lack of handsome suitors for Leng Qiuyue but none had ever caught her eyes.


    The main reason why Leng Qiuyue and so many others were attracted to Lu Qingyun was because he seemed to be carrying a great destiny with him and it was this special destiny that had first caught her attention. Although she did not know what was Lu Qingyun''s future destiny but he seemed to be someone who was destined to be a great cultivator in the future.


    Women sometimes tend to have a sharper intuition in this sort of thing. Although it may not be all. Take for example, Qiuxiang Huan.


    It was not long before Shen Yufeng, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye had all arrived.


    As this was the first time that Leng Qiuyue had seen Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye close-up, she was startled that they were the most unusual twin that she had ever seen. One had raven color hair while the other had silver color hair.


    Lu Qingyun was quite surprised that there was only the three of them. He thought, "What about the other four? They are not coming?"


    Perhaps Lu Qingyun was too easy to read and Shen Yufeng gave him a smile before saying, "The others have their own missions as well."


    "Oh¡­" Lu Qingyun muttered. It was no wonder that Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng were not at the second briefing. Instead he was being introduced to Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue.


    Everyone quickly exchanged greeting and were quickly introduced to one another.


    When that was done, Shen Yufeng said to everyone. "As this is a recon mission, we don''t want the party to be too big lest it may attract unnecessary attention. As for me, I won''t be joining your party directly but will follow you from a distance to keep an eye."


    She paused to look at everyone slowly before saying, "Once we have reached the Red Death Valley, Zhao Xingye will lead the recon party inside while Zhao Riyue, Lie Xingyuan and I will remain outside. At all times Zhao Riyue will maintain communication with me so that we can rush to your aid at a moment notice."


    Then she looked at Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye. "The three of you have the most dangerous mission. Remember that you are only there to recon and not to fight unnecessary."


    "So, are there any questions?" she added.


    Leng Qiuyue had felt the solemn mood and she had realized that this mission was not as straightforward as it seemed to be. So she asked, "I''ve been to the Red Death Valley once. Although it is considered to be one of the more dangerous places outside New Empyrean City but as long as we don''t go too deep, there shouldn''t be any problem right?"


    Shen Yufeng replied with a soft sigh, "You are wrong. You are to recon as deeply as you are able to unless Zhao Xingye gives the order to call off the recon mission."


    Leng Qingyue and Lu Qingyun were both looking at each other with a somewhat startled look. As deeply as possible? This would only increase the risk of meeting the more powerful desolate beasts that were in the Red Death Valley!


    Between Lu Qingyun, Leng Qingyue and Lie Xingyuan, only Lu Qingyun knew why they were entering the deep territories of the desolate beasts.


    Shen Yufeng said solemnly, "The three of you must look out for one another and be on the move as much as possible."


    Leng Qiuyue asked curiously, "Since this is a recon mission, what are we looking for?"


    Shen Yufeng replied, "Nothing. Just follow Zhao Xingye''s lead. If she is alive then she will be able to take all of you out. Your mission is to protect her as much as possible."


    Leng Qiuyue had a most perplexed look on her countenance. This mission was too weird for her liking. She got a feeling that Lu Qingyun had known about the mission details because he did not have any reaction from the conversations.


    After Lie Xingyuan had heard Shen Yufeng detailing the recon mission, her heart was beginning to grow a little fearful for Lu Qingyun. She thought with a fearful heart, "This seems like a most unusual mission. What is this mission really about? If Supremacy Yufeng were to join in the recon mission then won''t this mission be much easier? After all, a sixth realm expert can get the party out of many difficult situations. And why not send this Zhao Riyue enter the Red Death Valley with them and instead she is staying put outside the Red Death Valley? Surely it is not because I need someone to take care of my safety?"


    Both Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan were not dense and they could sense that there was something amiss for this mission.


    Lu Qingyun suddenly said, "I think I can just go in with Maiden Zhao Xingye. What do you think?" He was a little afraid that this mission may endanger Leng Qiuyue¡­


    Leng Qiuyue was gasping as she protested, "No, I want to be part of the main recon party."


    Shen Yufeng replied firmly, "No, three is the minimum as well as the maximum. The third person has to be there to cover the blind spot of the second person. If there is nothing else, you may set off now."

 115 A Lost Hope

    Qiuxiang Huan was crying alone in the forest. She was disheveled and was tearful. She hated herself for delivering herself to Ling Chong; she had never expected Ling Chong to be a wolf in sheep clothing and that he would do such a beastly act on her.


    She had wanted to make use of him because she had thought that she would be able to manipulate him but in the end, it was he who was making use of her¡­


    She was trembling uncontrollably. She had cherished her golden body and had kept it a secret. But Ling Chong had stolen the profound yin of her golden celestial body and gained it as his profound strength. He had really gained so much from his experience with her.


    All of a sudden there was a movement in the forest and Qiuxiang Huan said with a startled voice, "Who is there?"


    A fine looking but pale looking man had stepped out of the forest.


    The two of them said with a startled voice at the same time, "Qiuxiang Huan! Tang Bufan!"


    Qiuxiang Huan had recognized Tang Bufan because he was a famous playboy in New Empyrean City and she had spurted his advances a few times in the past. Moreover he had also become a talking point in New Empyrean City due to his recent bad luck.


    Tang Bufan smiled bitterly. He had sneaked secretly back to New Empyrean City and the first person that he had seen was Qiuxiang Huan, a peerless maiden of stately grace that he had tried to court in the past.


    But why was she crying alone in this place?


    The stately and beautiful Qiuxiang Huan who had never lost her demeanor in public would actually be crying in this place?


    But Tang Bufan was in no mood to appreciate such a beautiful beauty. It was because he was feeling extremely inferior and he was now a beaten dog.


    Just as he was about to turn away, Qiuxiang Huan said bitterly. "Do you want to leave just like this? Don''t you want to seek vendetta on those that have caused you to be in this state?"


    Tang Bufan paused in his track before he slowly turned around with a bitter tone, "I am in such a lowly state now. Can I still have the capacity to seek vendetta on my enemies?"


    Qiuxiang Huan said quietly, "You can join the Clear Sky Pavilion, join under my wings."


    Tang Bufan trembled as he saw a glimmer of hope, "What is the condition?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled bitterly, "I want you to help me kill Ling Chong! To destroy the Flying Armament Sect utterly!"


    She had realized that she did not hate Qin Keqin or Lu Qingyun as much as Ling Chong now. He was now the man that she had wanted to utterly destroy, because he had ruined her chastity and trampled upon her pride!


    Tang Bufan was shocked. Who was Ling Chong? He was the young master of the Flying Armament Sect and the future grandmaster of the Flying Armament Sect. Even though the Clear Sky Pavilion was also one of the four powerhouses in New Empyrean City but destroying another powerhouse with its tens of thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s was clearly a most difficult thing to accomplish.


    He laughed bitterly, "Why me? I''m only a lowly third realm cultivator and surely the Clear Sky Pavilion has tens of cultivators that are stronger than me. Young Mistress Qiuxiang Huan, you think too highly of me."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled bitterly, "I''m going to be engaged to Ling Chong soon and I will soon be his consort. When that happens, I have plenty of chances to kill Ling Chong and to ruin the Flying Armament Sect."


    Tang Bufan stammered, "You want to kill your husband-to-be? But why?"


    Qiuxiang Huan laughed coldly before said icily, "I''m not afraid to let you know because I am going to let offer you something that you will not refuse¡­" With that she had loosened her belt and disrobed herself.


    Tang Bufan gulped and his throat was suddenly dry as little by little, Qiuxiang Huan had removed the rest of her clothing.


    "I am actually a fifth realm golden celestial and not a fourth realm cultivator like everyone has thought. He has stolen my primeval yin but I still have some of it leftover. Therefore I want you to fully take it for yourself¡­"


    Tang Bufan did not hesitate at all. He quickly made his way to her and began to ravage her.


    Hours passed¡­


    Qiuxiang Huan was in the nine heavens over and over again. Tang Bufan was really too good and he had played her like a puppet.


    When Tang Bufan was done and collapsed from exhaustion, Qiuxiang Huan found herself murmuring. "Bufan¡­" There was a subtle change in her eyes as she looked at him¡­

 116 The Red Death Valley 1

    The Celestial Realm was a place that was covered by endless mountain peaks and drifting clouds where mortals and celestial cultivators dwelled above the desolate mists.


    Below the desolate mists were the territories of the desolate beasts and monsters. No one really knew how vast the territories below the desolate mist really was for no one could make it alive to the deepest bottom.


    From time to time, powerful desolate denizens of the depths would emerge from beyond the desolate mists to rampage the mountains above the mist.


    For as long as anyone could remember, the celestial cultivators had been battling the desolate monsters and in order to check the advances of the desolate monsters, frequent experiential missions to the desolate mists were sent to eradicate any desolate monsters that could be found.


    Most of the desolate monsters that were found near the divider of the desolate mists were actually low ranking desolate beasts and not the high ranking monsters. Any desolate beasts that were higher than fifth rank were considered to be a ''desolate monster'' because they were simply too terrifying for most of the celestial cultivators to handle.


    And Red Death Valley was considered to be one of the places where powerful desolate monsters could frequently be seen. Therefore there were at least thirty experiential missions that were from the celestial clans in the nearby region every month.


    But the frequent appearances of the high level desolate monsters were so common that 1 in 10 of the experiential parties often did not survive. That was why it was called the Red Death Valley.


    Although Lu Qingyun and his party had hurried with great haste, it still took them a full five days through the difficult mountain trails to reach the Red Death Valley.


    As Leng Qiuyue had been there before, she served as a guide and she was really a good guide.


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he inspected the map, "The map doesn''t seem to be too accurate¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue smiled, "The map only serves as a guide to the general direction. The mountain trails may disappear and new mountain trails may appear from time to time."


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he inhaled deeply, "So we are finally at the entrance. But there are no others experiential parties at the entrance?"


    Leng Qiuyue was slightly startled. Lu Qingyun was right.


    Other than their party of five, there were no others in sight. Usually the entrance would have a few parties that were presented to take care of the wounded.


    But today, it seemed to be really so quiet?


    Zhao Riyue said, "There is really no one else. It is too quiet."


    Lu Qingyun said in a low voice, "I''ve thought that Fragrance Herald Yufeng says that there will be a doubling of experiential missions to the Red Death Valley?"


    Zhao Riyue smiled as she looked shyly at Lu Qingyun, "Maybe they need some time to prepare. It is not easy to find anyone to go to the Red Death Valley. I believe that this will be considered a fifth rank mission and above."


    Zhao Xingye nodded as she looked at Lu Qingyun, Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue and her sister Zhao Riyue. "Now it is the time that we split our party into two. My sister Zhao Riyue will stay at the entrance with Lie Xingyuan."


    Lu Qingyun suddenly said, "I''ve got a most uneasy feeling. Something seems to be amiss here." Then he looked at Lie Xingyuan, "Xingyuan, why don''t you leave this place first?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "I don''t want to. I want to wait here for senior brother. Don''t forget that Fragrance Herald Yufeng is secretly keeping an eye on us. We will be safe, so don''t worry. It may be a coincidence that we are the only party here. Maybe everyone either has left or yet to come."


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh as he said, "Alright then."


    Zhao Xingye smiled, "Xingyuan is right. They will be quite safe. Let''s worry about ourselves first."


    As she turned around to walk into the Red Death Valley, she said. "Come. We have no time to lose."


    Lu Qingyun gave Lie Xingyuan one last look as he said solemnly, ??Xingyuan, if there is any dangers, please make a hasty retreat first and don''t endanger yourself."


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "Please go now. I will really be alright. So don''t worry about me, will you?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded. With another soft sigh, he began to follow Zhao Xingye.


    Leng Qiuyue had a perplexed look on her countenance. It was because the way Lu Qingyun was talking to Lie Xingyuan, it seemed that he did not treat her as an ordinary personal attendant but someone who was close to his heart.


    She had never taken more than a second glance at her own personal attendant Rushuang. It was because she was known to change her personal attendants on a yearly basis and in her heart, she had always thought that it was their great honor to serve her.


    All of a sudden she was gasping in her heart. They were always alone in the abode and anything could have happened between them¡­


    Then she had recalled the day when Supremacy Wen had come to mess up with the Heavens Ridge Villa. It was not only her who had been displaying her affection for Lu Qingyun but Lie Xingyuan and Ouyang Xue as well¡­


    She muttered in her heart, "Senior Brother Qingyun, among the three of us¡­who do you loves the most?"


    Soon, Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye had entered the Red Death Valley by following a trail down the desolate mists.


    As they walked down the trail, Zhao Xingye suddenly said. "Senior Lu, can I ask you something?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "Please don''t call me senior. Just call me Lu Qingyun alright?"


    Zhao Xingye smiled, "Alright."


    Then she added, "Is that Lie Xingyuan really your personal attendant?"


    Lu Qingyun was surprised that she had actually asked him this question. He answered, "Mm, yes?"


    Zhao Xingye returned a faint smile, "That is because she seems stronger than any one of us here."


    Leng Qiuyue was startled as she thought, "It is impossible for Lie Xingyuan to be stronger than any of us¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "I don''t think so too."


    Zhao Xingye smiled, "Fragrance Herald Yufeng can''t be wrong. My sister can''t be wrong either. Her cultivation inner sea is really unfathomable. It is like¡­she is purposely suppressing her cultivation strength. I have heard that the personal attendants of the Heavens Ridge Villa have to be below the third realm. With her profound strength, she has to be at least a third realm or even fourth realm expert. But I think she may even have the profound strength of a fifth realm expert."


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly as he thought, "Maybe it is because I''ve been feeding her too many divine pills to her. That''s why. I''ve better not explain this."


    Zhao Xingye flashed her eyes at him, "It seems that¡­you have already known about this, I guess."


    Lu Qingyun returned a weak smile, "She isn''t hiding her strength. We have been training very hard together."


    Zhao Xingye nodded, "It is never too good to trust anyone who you do not know well that are around you so I thought of giving you a warning first. I guess that I am too sensitive instead."


    Then she looked at Leng Qiuyue and smiled, "Maiden Qiuyue, I saw your duel with Lu Qingyun that day. You have purposely conceded to him."


    Leng Qiuyue replied coldly, "Is there a problem with that? He is the superior fighter and therefore I have conceded to him."


    Zhao Xingye chuckled softly, "No, nothing at all. I have thought that the two of you look really so beautiful and dashing together, just like a couple that day."


    Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    Leng Qiuyue stammered, "Rubbish!¡­"


    Zhao Xingye smiled, "Whether it is rubbish or not, only you know best. With such an outstanding man around, it is better to profess your likes for him or else his heart will soon belong to the others."


    Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "I have no wish to surrender my heart to anyone. I am cultivating my heart wholly to become a saint in the future."


    Leng Qiuyue said with a flustered voice, "Same here. I am going to cultivate as a saintess and have no time for the matter of the heart."


    Zhao Xingye smiled, "It is my dream to become a seventh realm saintess as well."


    All of a sudden there was a weird expression on her countenance.


    It was not her only but Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue had also smell the heavy stench of blood and death.


    "Let''s go and take a look!"


    They hurried down the trail and it was not before long that they had come to a turn in the mountains.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun and everyone were startled; there were dozens of dismembered bodies all over the place as though a vicious beast had rampaged through.


    Although they had seen carnage before but the scene in front of them was beyond description!


    Zhao Xingye and Leng Qiuyue had turned extremely pale and they had turned around to vomit at the bloody scene that they had just seen¡­


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he trembled with shock, "This¡­is this really the work of a desolate monster?"

 117 The Red Death Valley 2

    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "There are no desolate monsters that will be this vicious. They were all in great pain before they had died."


    Leng Qiuyue nodded weakly, "Even though they are low level cultivators but some should be able to escape but it seems that none ever did."


    Lu Qingyun turned to said to Zhao Xingye, "Maiden Xingye, I think the information that we got may be a little off."


    Zhao Xingye nodded palely. According to their information, it was mostly only the high level cultivators that were being attacked.


    She replied weakly, "If you want to turn back now, I won''t blame you."


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "That is not what I''ve mean. We ought to exercise more caution from this point onward."


    Zhao Xingye solemnly nodded.


    Leng Qiuyue said weakly, "It seems that a massacre had taken place here and these cultivators are all from many different celestial clans. Every one of them had a horrified look on their faces¡­"


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh as he thought, ???What is going on here? It is impossible that there is none that have escaped and that they will all be in the same place. It is as though something had lured them here before massacring all of them."


    Zhao Xingye turned to Leng Qiuyue to say solemnly, "Maiden Qiuyue, this is time for me to tell you the truth. Actually we have actually sent more than ten parties inside and more than half of our sisters have perished. It may be the work of a powerful cultivator and not a desolate monster. We are here to investigate further. If you want to leave now, I won''t blame you."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled weakly, "I won''t leave. Thanks for telling me this. I have thought this mission is a little fishy actually."


    Zhao Xingye nodded as she muttered through her transmission to Zhao Riyue, "Sister, we have encountered something weird inside. We are alright. But we have found over a hundred dismembered bodies from various celestial clans. There is no sight of any dangers yet and we are fine. It is exactly what had been reported by the earlier parties."


    Zhao Riyue transmitted back, "Sister, got it. Please stay safe."


    Zhao Xingye turned off the transmission. This profound transmission was extremely expensive to use and would require a high grade spirit stones to use for a mere one minute of transmission. She could only use it for another four minutes or four more times.


    After her transmission with her sister, she threw away the expended high grade spirit stone. An expended spirit stone was no longer of any use anymore.


    She said to Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue, "I didn''t want to use this transmission at such an early stage but we should use it while we still have the opportunity."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly. It was as though she was hinting to them that when dangers did come, they may not even have the time to use the transmission to summon any aid!


    Even Leng Qiuyue was looking a little doubtful that aid may come in a timely fashion if they went too deep. It was because these cultivators were so close to the entrance and yet none of them could even escape to it.


    With a solemn look, the three of them continued on their way down the desolate mists.


    Hours passed and soon they had come to a crossroad that split into three paths.


    Leng Qiuyue said, "The one on the left will lead us deeper into the Red Death Valley while the other two paths will be reasonable safe for us¡­"


    Zhao Xingye said quietly, "We shall take the path to the left."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled weakly while Lu Qingyun merely nodded.


    Zhao Xingye said quietly as she flashing a killing intent, "If we chance upon this man or monster, please allow me to do the last killing blow. So many of my prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters have perished under this monster''s hands."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Maiden Xingye¡­"


    This beautiful maiden had a firm conviction and it was this conviction that had lent her courage.


    Lu Qingyun could tell that she was not a bloodthirsty person or else she would not have vomited at the scene earlier.


    Again, hours passed and they had soon come to a ridge and they were startled to see a fine looking man that seemed to be injured.


    When the fine looking man saw them, he muttered weakly. "Save me¡­"


    Immediately Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye had dashed across the ridge to take a closer look!


    But as Lu Qingyun was neared the man, he sensed something was not wrong and even Yan''Er was saying to him from within his inner spiritual sea. "Master, that man isn''t injured at all. He is putting on an act."


    He replied to Yan''Er with his mind, "No wonder. I sense that this man has a startling strong life-force that is within him. He can''t be really injured."


    As he said that to Yan''Er, he had also caught hold of the wrists of both maidens and said, "Hold!"


    Zhao Xingye was a little startled. It was not because Lu Qingyun had suddenly caught hold of her wrist. She had an innate defense and it was quite impossible for anyone to grab her without her knowing. But Lu Qingyun had simply caught hold of her wrist in a blink of an eye and in the next instant, he had stepped forward to ask the fine looking man. "Who are you? Why are you pretending to be injured?"


    But the ''injured man'' did not reply to his question and instead he had suddenly smirked coldly as he showed them his bloodied abdomen and hand. "This is all real blood. In what way am I not injured?"


    Indeed it was all real blood but from his expression, it did not seem that it affected him at all¡­


    "Who are you?" Zhao Xingye asked. "And why are you here? Why are you pretending to be injured?"


    The fine looking man laughed coldly, "Who am I? I am number 4. That''s who I am. As for the reason why, you can ask the reason why you are dead¡­" Without any warning, he had suddenly swung his sword with a tremendous outburst of strength toward Zhao Xingye.


    But as Zhao Xingye parried the sword attack, the fine looking man had flashed to their back with an evil smirk.


    Lu Qingyun had unsheathed a clone of his divine sword and he was pointing his sword at this weird man while Leng Qiuyue did the same as well.


    "Surely you are not thinking of fighting against three fourth realm cultivators¡­" Zhao Xingye said halfway before she was gasped with shock.


    It was because this fine looking man had suddenly grown into a desolate monster that was three times larger than his original size and his entire body was now covered with a layer of thick cluster of metal plates.


    Everyone was shocked for they had never seen anything like this before!


    How could a man turned into a monster?


    The desolate monster that called himself number four laughed wickedly, "In a short while time, I will tear all of you apart¡­"


    "Fat chance!" Zhao Xingye shouted as she lifted her sword to attack him but all her attacks seemed to be futile and weak."


    She was quickly followed by Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue but the same thing happened, all their sword attacks were bouncing off the thick armor of this desolate monster and were doing no damage!


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "What are you?! You are a desolate monster?"


    Number 4 did not reply to his question and instead he had raised his fists together and slammed it hard onto the ground, creating a line of shockwave that sent all three of them to fly backward!


    Immediately the shockwave had broken through their thin protective auras, causing all three of them to spurt blood.


    "What am I? My master calls me a Metamorph Monster, Hahaha."


    Zhao Xingye was shocked. She was a middle tier fourth realm expert and she was stronger than most fourth realm experts. But this mere shockwave was so penetrating that it broke through her profound aura and had sapped her strength with just a single hit! What kind of a monster is this?


    Even Leng Qiuyue was greatly shocked by the profound power of this shockwave. It was as though they were being attacked by a sixth realm and higher expert. If she was not a fourth realm expert already, this attack would have killed her instantly on the spot!


    Lu Qingyun was the first to recover from the shockwave attack and he had stepped forward almost immediately. Although he had coughed out blood and this was a clear sign of his internal organs sustaining damage but he had also quickly recovered from the attack by displaying his profound aura; his profound aura was warm and it quickly dissipated all the bad blood in his internal organs.


    He turned to ask Number 4 solemnly, "Did you kill all those cultivators at the entrance? There are a hundred of them."


    Number 4 laughed wickedly, "Only a hundred? I''ve killed several times more in recent months! I am surprise that you can even stand. Do you know that even a golden celestial may not be able to withstand my profound attack. I can still remember how that golden celestial is begging me to end her life while I dismember her slowly¡­"


    Zhao Xingye gasped as she struggled to stand, "You! My senior sisters are killed by you!¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was furious that this ''man'' was such a monster. Immediately he had gathered his profound power to his sword¡­


    But Number 4 was not blind and he could sense that Lu Qingyun was about to attack him. He was of course not too bothered because he knew that these were all lowly cultivators and there was not a chance that they would be able to injure him. But still, he hated the guts of this handsome man and therefore he raised his fists again so that he could crush this sore eye¡­


    There was a thunderous outburst as his fists slammed on the ground and the same furious shockwave flew furiously toward Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun knew that he had to overcome this profound power first in order to reach the monster. Therefore without hesitating, he had immediately displayed his new sword art, the Flaming Phoenix Sword that he had created from the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    One must know that the Flaming Crimson Sword was a sword art that could contest with the profound strength of a sixth realm expert. More so if the sword practitioner was a sixth realm expert or higher.


    And the Flaming Phoenix Sword was a sword art that he had evolved from the Flaming Crimson Sword.


    Immediately, his Flaming Phoenix Sword had cause the incoming shockwave to burst apart and it had exploded upon Number 4 with a startling loud impact!


    Number 4 bemoaned loudly in pain and he could not believe that a mere sword art from a mere low level cultivator could shatter his profound shockwaves.


    Just as he was about to rush forward to crush this gutsy man with his fists, Lu Qingyun had flashed forward with his sword raised high.


    Number 4 laughed, "You are only delivering yourself to me¡­"


    Just as he was about to raise his fists to punch Lu Qingyun, he found out that he was not able to move because there were ten swords that had pierced through his hands, body and legs!


    Twelve half-step divine swords had suddenly appeared in a flash and had pieced through his body!


    And the sword that was in Lu Qingyun''s hand now was the true Godly Divine Sword Fairy Light. With a piercing light through the monster''s forehead, Number 4 bemoaned aloud before he had crumbled into a pile of dust.


    Lu Qingyun was stunned. This monster had turned into a pile of dust when he was dead?


    Leng Qiuyue was gasping as she covered her mouth with her hand. Senior Brother Lu Qingyun was too startling. The martial feat that he had just displayed was equaled to a sixth realm expert!


    Even Zhao Xingye was stunned by Lu Qingyun''s martial display as she stared blankly at him¡­


    When Lu Qingyun had turned around and saw their startled look, he thought that they were equally surprised as him when they had witnessed the monster turning into a pile of rubbles.


    He began to sigh heavily, "I don''t know if he is a cultivator or a monster but I''m sure that he isn''t a real monster because monsters don''t talk. He should be the evil cultivator that we are looking for?"

 118 The Red Death Valley 3

    Zhao Xingye shook her head as she replied to Lu Qingyun, "He isn''t the evil cultivator that we are looking for."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "He isn''t?"


    Zhao Xingye nodded slowly, "He called himself Number 4. Then surely there must be a number 3, 2 and 1. Am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun was stunned. Indeed, she was right¡­


    She added slowly, "He had said that he had a master and his master calls him Number 4."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly, "I''ve almost forgotten about this."


    Zhao Xingye said quietly, "I am afraid."


    Lu Qingyun was startled that Zhao Xingye would suddenly say that she was afraid.


    Leng Qiuyue said quietly, "I am afraid too."


    Zhao Xingye heaved a soft sigh as she said with trembling lips, "What kind of a creature is he? Is he even a human? He is able to transform into a desolate monster and he calls himself a Metamorph Monster? There is nothing in the world to describe anything like that. When he dies, his body just turned to dust. This is too weird."


    As Lu Qingyun nodded, he was asking Yan''Er. "Yan''Er, do you know what is going on? What is it that we had seen earlier? What is this Metamorph Monster?"


    Yan''Er replied, "Mm? You mean that evil looking man? He is just like you, master."


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "Rubbish. How can he be just like me?"


    Yan''Er pondered for a while, "Of course he isn''t completely like master. He is far inferior to master of course."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Yan''Er chuckled, "He is imbued with the desolate force. He is a hybrid between man and desolate monster. Or rather, he doesn''t have any human consciousness at all¡­"


    Zhao Xingye said softly, "Qingyun, you''re there?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he returned his consciousness to his surrounding, "Yes¡­I was just thinking hard¡­"


    Zhao Xingye asked again, "How did you know that something is amiss with that man? And how do you know that he is faking his injuries?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "I don''t know either but somehow I can sense that he is full of vitality and isn''t injured."


    He did not know that this was an innate ability of the annihilating force that was within him that could sense the vitalities of the others because the annihilating force had the ability to consume vitalities.


    Zhao Xingye nodded as she lowered her glances, "You are truly impressive. If not for you, we won''t be standing now."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled weakly as she looked shyly at Lu Qingyun, "Senior Brother, you have once again saved my life."


    Lu Qingyun chuckled weakly, "It is really nothing at all."


    Leng Qiuyue asked curiously, "What kind of a sword art are you using? I have never seen anything like this before. Moreover did I just see that you have eleven divine swords?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This is a new sword art that I have self-created. It is called the Flaming Phoenix Sword. As for the eleven divine swords that you have seen, it is actually just one. The other ten are just copies of the original."


    Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye were both looking with a stunned expression at each other. It was not Lu Qingyun''s new sword art that had impressed them the most but the barrage display of eleven divine swords that had dumbfounded them¡­


    Zhao Xingye asked quietly, "I have another question. Your divine sword, is it a godly divine sword?"


    Leng Qiuyue was staring blankly at Lu Qingyun''s divine sword as well. It was because the imbued profound power of his divine sword was too hard not to be missed. She did not remember that Lu Qingyun''s divine sword exuded such profound power previously¡­


    Lu Qingyun did not want to lie to them so he said awkwardly, "Indeed, it is a godly divine sword. My master gives it to me."


    Zhao Xingye and Leng Qiuyue were both staring blankly at his divine sword; it was because they had never seen a godly divine sword before. Actually there were very few people in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that had seen one either. A heaven-step divine sword was already too formidable and too rare to be seen.


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "Look at me. I had actually panicked earlier and I have thrown everything that I have got."


    It was the truth.


    But even when he had panicked, in a blink of an eye, he had thrown down ten half-step divine swords. This was a feat that they had just witnessed and was astonished by his sleigh of hands.


    Just how strong was Lu Qingyun?


    Zhao Xingye said to them, "Please give me a minute while I inform my sister of what we had just encountered¡­"


    As Zhao Xingye began her transmission, Lu Qingyun asked Leng Qiuyue gently. "Junior Sister Qiuyue, are you alright?"


    Leng Qiuyue nodded shyly, "I have already purged out the invading profound energies with my profound strength. I''ll be fine. Senior brother, I am not wrong about you."


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    "What is wrong about me?" he asked with a smile weak but Leng Qiuyue did not explain and she had turned shyly around.


    Zhao Xingye had just turned around to say to them, "My sister has just informed Fragrance Herald Yufeng. She says that if Senior Qingyun and Maiden Qingyue wish to return to the entrance, it is alright."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "What about you then?"


    Zhao Xingye smiled weakly, "I will be continuing on the mission."


    Lu Qingyun said firmly, "Then I shall join you as well."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled and said, "Same here!"


    Zhao Xingye was pleasantly startled as she looked at Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue, "Are you really sure about this? We¡­may not¡­survive¡­" She did not tell them that the Heavenly Fragrance Villa was in fact sacrificing her for the greater cause and that she was willing to do so. It was because this was the only way that she could avenge for the deaths of her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters!


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "Of course. But I think we may need a plan."


    Zhao Xingye looked curiously at Lu Qingyun, "A plan?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "Surely you are not thinking of erm¡­going to find whoever is responsible in such a blind manner?"


    Zhao Xingye looked a little sheepish. Indeed that was her intention¡­


    She was supposed to be the leader of this group and was supposed to be strongest. After all, she was a strong match for even a fifth realm golden celestial especially when her sister was just nearby.


    But the leadership had miscalculated. Their opponents seemed to be far stronger than they had expected. If it was not for Lu Qingyun, they would all been killed.


    Zhao Xingye looked at Lu Qingyun with a trembling heart as she said in a low voice, "Alright. We only need to find where the celestial array is then we can hurry back to the entrance. So what is the plan?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I''ve lived in the mountains and face plenty of desolate beasts in the past. Although the desolate beasts are all ferocious but they will never mix with other than their own kind. That is to say that, desolate beasts will avoid each other, especially if there is a stronger desolate beast in the vicinity. Their ability to pick up scents is much stronger than us."


    Leng Qiuyue interrupted curiously, "You are saying that the places that are voided of desolate beasts are those places that the master of these Metamorph monsters are hiding?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "That''s right."


    Zhao Xingye smiled weakly, "But I don''t see how we can know. If my sister is here then we can but even her perception will diminish inside the desolate mist. These mists have the effect of draining our spiritual strength bit by bit."


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly shouted, "Yan''Er, come out!"


    And a little girl that was enveloped by a glow of spiritual light had suddenly in front of everyone, startling Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye!


    Zhao Xingye was so startled that she gasped out, "A sentient spirit entity!"


    "This is Yan''Er and yes, she is a sentient spirit entity. She will be able to aid us to sense the desolate beasts here." Lu Qingyun introduced.


    Yan''Er said cutely, "Yes, I can! I am Yan''Er!"


    Leng Qiuyue was thinking, "Senior brother has the aid of a sentient spirit entity. It is no wonder he has such a formidable profound aura¡­" But she quickly composed herself to ask, "But Yan''Er is part of senior brother, she can''t go anywhere far from you. How will she be able to help us?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "That is because she is also a cultivator. So we can simply rely on her spirit sense to lead us."


    Yan''Er chuckled, "That is right! I''m a fourth realm cultivator!"


    Leng Qiuyue, Zhao Xingye: ¡­


    The two of them were staring blankly at Yan''Er. They had never heard of a spirit entity that was also a cultivator. Usually spirit entities were captured by the sixth realm experts to empower their profound strength. Below the sixth realm level, it was difficult to control the spirit entity and the cultivator may even be consumed by the desolate might of the spirit entity.


    Now they were seeing a spirit entity that was not only a sentient spirit entity but was also a cultivator. Moreover Lu Qingyun was also able to wield this spirit entity at such a low level of cultivation¡­

 119 Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng

    Outside the Red Death Valley, there were two maidens that were waiting outside for the recon party that was inside. One was Lie Xingyuan and the other one was Zhao Riyue.


    Zhao Riyue gave a faint smile to the anxious Lie Xingyuan, "You are anxious? Didn''t you hear the transmission? They are alright."


    Lie Xingyuan sighed, "How can you remain so calm? Your sister is inside."


    Zhao Riyue said nothing. It was because she had already known that her sister would not be returning. Of course she was anxious and she had wished that she was the one that would die in the place of her twin sister¡­


    She took a look at Lie Xingyuan before she said quietly, "You are strong. One day, you may even become a seventh realm saintess."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as she replied weakly, "I don''t even know my own future. How do you know? If you want to flatter me then you are flattering the wrong person. I am just an ordinary prot¨¦g¨¦ in the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Zhao Riyue returned a faint smile, ??Is that so? I don''t think so. I won''t be wrong. Fragrance Herald Supremacy Yufeng can''t be wrong either."


    Just as Lie Xingyuan was about to protest further, Zhao Riyue had unsheathed her long sword and her eyes were flashing to and fro. "Maiden Xingyuan, we have a company."


    Lie Xingyuan gasped softly as she unsheathed her sword next to Zhao Riyue.


    The silver hair of Zhao Riyue fluttered along with the strong winds as she said coldly, "I know that you are there. You can''t hide from my perception."


    Her spiritual perception was equaled to a seventh realm expert even though she was only a fourth realm expert. Moreover at this range, there was practicable no chance of ambushing her at all!


    A shadowy large shape with eight spider legs and eight large claws that were larger than its legs began to emerge from the shadows of the surrounding cliffs. Although it was extremely large but its movements were completely silence!


    But what was shocking to Zhao Riyue and Lie Xingyuan was the sight of a maiden with golden eyes that were embedded in the middle of this monstrous creature.


    Zhao Riyue gasped aloud, "Celestial Feiyin¡­senior sister¡­" Indeed the maiden with half of her naked body protruding out of the monstrous creature was her Senior Sister Feiyin.


    Lie Xingyuan was staring blankly, "This, this¡­what is this¡­this isn''t¡­any desolate monster¡­"


    ''Senior Sister Feiyin'' muttered almost incoherently, "I''m Number 3. Master orders me to kill¡­all¡­and¡­brings back¡­the higher level cultivators¡­you are¡­all¡­lowly cultivators¡­"


    All of a sudden her claws had swung forward and four dark beams had flashed in their directions!


    Zhao Riyue was startled as she quickly grabbed Lie Xingyuan with an almost supernatural speed as they evaded the four dark beams that exploded in four large spheres that were around them.


    Lie Xingyuan was completely stunned by the furious explosions of the four beams that had quickly created a large pit where they were at. It was only with the timely intervention of Zhao Riyue that they had evaded the four black beams.


    Just as they had thought that they were safe, the monstrous creature had descended upon them as its eight claws were spinning like rotating swords all around them.


    Zhao Ziyue gasped softly as she was struck by one of the claws and she had to let go of Lie Xingyuan.


    Lie Xingyuan had raised her sword to parry the claw attacks but she was overpowered and the claws were impervious to her attacks!


    Just as Zhao Ziyue and Lie Xingyuan had thought that they were goner and the claws had almost upon them, a profound force had lifted and pushed them away. In their place was the sudden appearance of Shen Yufeng who had raised her white emerald sword as she parried off the two attacking claws!


    Lie Xingyuan gasped with a relief, "Supremacy Yufeng is here¡­"


    Shen Yufeng was also startled when she saw the monster, "Junior Sister Feiyin, is that you? What has happened?"


    But the only reply that the monstrous creature spoke was, "This¡­one¡­will please¡­master¡­"


    Immediately there were four claws that were swung against Shen Yufeng who had raised all her profound strength to meet the attack. There was a thunderous shockwave as sword and claws clashed against each other.


    Supremacy Shen Yufeng was indeed a formidable sixth realm expert and was able to meet the monstrous desolate strength of this monstrous creature.


    Shen Yufeng gasped, "You are¡­no longer my junior sister¡­but a monster¡­" Then she hardened her heart, "Feiyin, forgive your senior sister. I shall end your suffering¡­"


    When she had said that she had flashed past the claws to deliver a brilliant stroke of profound stroke on the body of this monstrous creature.


    But all of a sudden Shen Yufeng was shocked that her most powerful profound stroke could not even penetrate through the armor plating of this monstrous creature¡­


    In the next instant, four more claws had furiously flown toward her and one of the claws had even pierced through her body!


    Shen Yufeng coughed out blood as she quickly retreated several steps but the monstrous creature was cunning enough to follow up with more of its relentless attacks and Shen Yufeng was slashed twice again, one on her back and another one on her shoulder!


    Zhao Riyue and Lie Xingyuan had flashed forward at the same time to parry off the rest of the claw attacks but in less than three blinks of an eye, all three of them were thrown on the ground as they got overwhelmed by the strength and relentless attacks of the monstrous creature.


    In the next blink of an eye, they would all have been killed because they were all beaten to the ground and had all expended all their strength¡­


    All of a sudden there was an icy aura that seemed to penetrate the surroundings and even the approached attacks of this monstrous creature seemed to be slowed down.


    There were several brilliant white flares in the next instant, too fast for the ordinary eye to catch and all claws were sliced to the ground by the swirling of a white divine sword.


    When the claws had dropped to the ground, it was quickly turned into a pile of debris.


    A heavenly maiden in white whose countenance was also snowy white had appeared in front of them. When she had appeared, it looked like everything was in slow motion in front of her.


    Her looks were peerless and she had an enticing figure as well. But none of the three could recognize who she was.


    Shen Yufeng was startled, "Sacred Saint Realm! She is a seventh realm expert¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was also startled as she thought, "There is another seventh realm expert around? Who is she?"


    The monstrous creature was bemoaning and all of a sudden its dismembered claws were regenerating rapidly and in less than a blink of an eye, the dismembered claws had regrow and the focus of its attacks were on this heavenly maiden in white.


    This heavenly maiden in white was startled as she gasped, "This¡­is¡­impossible¡­"


    All of a sudden there was a piercing bolt of light that flashed through the body of the monstrous creature and it had come from its back. When the piercing bolt of light had landed on the ground, a divine sword could be seen.


    Shen Yufeng was gasping at the divine sword that was on the ground. It was because she had recognized this divine sword¡­


    At the same time there was a beautiful voice, "Danfeng, what are you waiting for?"


    The heavenly maiden in white quickly swung her divine sword with all her profound strength as she cut the monstrous creature into two halves. Almost instantly, the monstrous spider creature had turned into a pile of dust¡­


    A second peerless maiden could be seen walking quietly toward them.


    Lie Xingyuan was gasping, "Great Saintess Feng Minyue¡­"


    Shen Yufeng and Zhao Riyue were also gasping, "Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess!¡­"


    "Is really you¡­" Shen Yufeng was almost close to her tears as she muttered. "Prot¨¦g¨¦ mistress, do you know that your Yufeng misses you day and night¡­"


    Feng Minyue nodded quietly, "It is fine now."


    The heavenly maiden in white was heard interrupting, "Minyue, I''ve thought that you say you are not coming? Do you know that you have just stolen my limelight?"


    Feng Minyue returned an exasperated look at her, "I just saved your life, do you know?"


    The heavenly maiden in white laughed softly, "I will be fine¡­"


    Shen Yufeng asked politely, "This saintess is? How do we address our savior?"


    The heavenly maiden in white smiled as she stroked her long hair gently, "You may address me as Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng!"


    When Shen Yufeng, Zhao Riyue and Lie Xingyuan heard her name, they were completely stunned. Great Saintess was an elite rank within the hierarchy of the seventh realm saints, referring to the saints that had overcome their lightning tribulation to reach the upper tier of the sacred saint level.


    Moreover Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng was the former divine ruler of the Lofty Snow Divine Realm, a middle tier divine realm in the Nine Celestial Fraternity!


    She would actually be in this desolate place?


    Shen Yufeng was stammering, "Great Saintess Xuan¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng looked at Feng Minyue with a smile, "You still haven''t answered my question. I''ve thought that you won''t be showing up? If I know that you will be here, I will be staying put at where I am."


    Feng Minyue said gently, "This concerns my divine realm so naturally I can''t afford to close my eyes. As for you, you should come out for a walk sometimes or else like what Sister Saintess Yuqing had said, you are turning into a ghost with that pure white complexion of yours."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "So are you envious of my good looks?"


    Feng Minyue smiled coolly, "I don''t need your ghost color."


    Shen Yufeng, Lie Xingyuan and Zhao Riyue were secretly looking at one another. It seemed to them that the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, Great Saintess Feng Minyue and Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng had all retired together. It was plain obvious to them that they were only here because of the behest of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    Lie Xingyuan was thinking, "So that is how seventh realm experts fight¡­the disparity between a sixth realm and a seventh realm expert is simply too great. My disparity with Qin Keqin is too great¡­"


    Feng Minyue looked around the scene and said quietly, "This is much more serious than we have expected."


    Then she turned to Xuan Danfeng to say, "Sister Saintess Danfeng, we have some cleaning to do first. Let''s clean the surroundings of these evil influences first."


    Xuan Danfeng nodded. As they had left together, she said in a low voice. "Minyue, you seem to be a little concern for that Lu Qingyun fellow, am I right? Or else why have you come?"


    Feng Minyue shot her an icy glance, "Lu Qingyun belongs to our Sister Saintess Yuqing and no others. I hope that you keep this in your mind."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Really? Because I don''t believe that he won''t be moved by you. Maybe I shall do Yuqing a favor by testing him out????


    Feng Minyue said weakly, "I think that you are too free. Why don''t you clean out the vicinity alone instead?"


    Xuan Danfeng returned a teasing look, "Did I just touch a nerve? This is not my divine realm. Why should I care or bother?"


    Feng Minyue: ¡­

 120 Graveyard of the Desolate Beasts

    Red Death Valley, two days later;


    Lu Qingyun, Zhao Xingye and Leng Qiuyue had arrived at a place where there was a vast chasm lying in front of them.


    It was as though the ground below them had suddenly split into two.


    But that was not all.


    There were dozens of large skeleton remains of the desolate beasts all over the place and these remains were all of a different species. Judging from their towering sight, these desolate beasts were all at least of the fifth rank and above.


    It was like a graveyard of the desolate beasts¡­


    Yan''Er said, "Master, there is a strong desolate force that is emanating from inside that abyss." Then she hovered a little before she said to the recon party. "There is also a celestial array in the perimeter here that will alert whoever is there so you shouldn''t try to take any further more steps."


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he said, "Yan''Er, thank you. You may retreat to my inner cultivation sea for the time being first. I know what to do."


    "Alright." Yan''Er said before she vanished from view.


    Zhao Xingye and Leng Qiuyue stole a glance at each other. If it was not for Yan''Er, they would still have spent many more days or even weeks to reach this place and this place was not easy to find as the places below the desolate mists were really too vast.


    "So what are we going to do now?" Zhao Xingye asked Lu Qingyun.


    She was supposed to the leader of the group but yet she was asking Lu Qingyun for instructions.


    Lu Qingyun pondered for a while before he said, "We can alert Fragrance Herald Yufeng first but I don''t think it is wise to ask her to come at all. This will only endanger her. Therefore we can leave a marker here for later and leave in secret. Although we have no strong proof that this is the hideout of that evil cultivator but it may be closer to the truth than anything else. With this information, we can always come back with a large force later."


    Leng Qiuyue looked at Lu Qingyun with an impressed look, "I agree with senior brother here."


    Zhao Xingye nodded, "This sounds like a good plan to me too. Let''s do it¡­"


    All of a sudden there were groaning sounds that were creeping out of the skeleton remains of the desolate beasts and dozens of humanoids could be seen.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. These dozens of humanoids were not desolate beasts but they were cultivators or rather, they used to be one. Now they were moving like zombies and were closing in from all around them!


    Leng Qiuyue gasped, "Are they alive?"


    Zhao Xingye said with startled expression, "I''m afraid that they are no longer alive but how they could move is beyond me¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was alarmed. Although they were careful not to step into the celestial array and was even prepared to leave the vicinity but they had neglected something; there may be sentries beyond the perimeter and these zombie like cultivators were the sentries.


    These zombie-like cultivators were actually looking a little different from their previous self and all of them had metals protruding unnaturally from their bodies, providing a layer of armor around them.


    Their numbers alone were scary enough!


    Zhao Xingye had immediately slashed at one of the zombie and it took almost all of her profound strength to penetrate through the armor of the zombie. The slow moving zombie had stumbled backward but to her shock, the wounds that the zombie had just received were regenerating instantly in front of her eyes!


    Not only was she gasping with shock, so was Leng Qiuyue as she had also attacked at almost the same time.


    Lu Qingyun had just sent two zombies to fly off and he was startled to see the zombies that Zhao Xingye and Leng Qiuyue had just attacked were regenerating their wounds rapidly. But they were even more startled than him because the zombies that Lu Qingyun had just attacked had stayed dead.


    Leng Qiuyue gasped softly as she took a shocked look at him, "Senior brother, this seems that your profound strength is able to affect them more than us."


    Lu Qingyun was also feeling a little strange but he said calmly as he took a swung at the head of one of the zombie, "Maybe the Flaming Crimson Sword that I''ve practicing is their nemesis, that why. Or maybe it is because of my divine sword. Aim for their heads, they should stay dead."


    Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye did as they were told and soon over a dozen zombies stayed dead.


    However as the zombies were too numerous, they were all forced to take slow steps back and very soon they were being cornered by the hordes of zombies.


    The situation was looking grim. Although one to one, the zombie was not a major threat but they were facing a horde of them. Moreover with every swing of their swords, their profound strength was losing bit by bit and everyone was now breathing hard due to exertion; they simply could not catch up with the loss of profound strength and was losing stamina extremely fast!


    Zhao Xingye had secretly triggered the transmission but she knew that there was no way that her sister could respond with the aid in a timely fashion. She would let this transmission ran for a full three minutes and her sister would be able to home in to their precise location from where she was with her perception.


    After she was done, she whispered to the group. "Let hope that they can respond¡­"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and he was slashing furiously to keep the zombies at bay. Some of the zombies were even retreating as though they were afraid of them!


    Even though the zombies were animated dead and were fearless but they could sense the desolate force that was in Lu Qingyun''s attacks. That was why they were fearful. It was because not only could Lu Qingyun''s desolate force burn their vitalities to stop them from regenerating, his desolate force could also sap away their remaining life force with just a single hit.


    Almost all the zombies that were struck dead by Lu Qingyun was done by just a single stroke where else the maidens would require a few strokes before the head could be aimed.


    With a panic look, Lu Qingyun said in a low voice. "We need to find a way out soon. We are trapped¡­"


    Indeed they were. More than two hundreds of the zombies had surrounded them and had forced their backs to face the towering cliffs!


    Leng Qiuyue muttered softly, "If only we can fly¡­"


    "Even if you can fly, it will still be futile. I will still be able to get you to the ground!" An old man with a hunchback could be seen saying from the other side of the zombies.


    At his approach, all the zombies had stopped moving.


    And there was a monstrous humanoid monster that was stood terrifying behind him. Despite its huge size, there was no warning of any sound when it had made its approach.


    Zhao Xingye shouted with seething rage, "Who are you? Are you the one that had killed everyone here?!"


    The old man laughed coldly, "Indeed I am. So what are you going to do with me? You are all within my clutches now. To think that you can come so far in that I have thought that there must be a fifth realm expert in your party. Sad to say that, I am a little disappointed. My experiments are done now and I''ve no need for any low level cultivators now."


    As he laughed, his eyes had moved to Lu Qingyun. "This is¡­"


    Then he was smiling, "Maybe you may still make a good vessel and may be a good experiment¡­"


    Lu Qingyun interrupted him coldly, "Who and what exactly are you? Why are you killing all these cultivators and desolate beasts? You can actually live inside the desolate mists?"


    The last question was actually an important question that even Zhao Xingye and Leng Qiuyue was curious about. It was because there was little spiritual force below the desolate mists to sustain the cultivators. Even if a fifth realm golden celestial were to fall into the desolate mist, their golden bodies would find it difficult to regenerate because they would still need a source of external spiritual force once their own inner spiritual sea was used up.


    The old man smirked coldly, "You can''t sustain here but I can! This desolate mist is my source of strength! I am the last of my kind, beings of great power that you cannot imagine! Once my glorious race ruled over the immortal realm and bent the knees of the powerful god beasts. This is not something that you mere celestials can ever imagine because you don''t even know how vast the cosmos is!"


    Lu Qingyun said coolly, "Maybe your race has a glorious past but I''m sure that you are not them or else you will not be here."


    Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye were both startled by Lu Qingyun''s audacious words and they were tugging his robe to warn him to stop.


    But Lu Qingyun continued, "If you are really that strong, you won''t need so many minions."


    The old man laughed coldly as his purple eyes stared at him, "You are saying that I am not strong? Young man, you think too highly of yourself and too lowly of me. I have already subdued quite a number of golden celestials that had come to this place. One of them had even become my Number 3!"


    Then he looked at the terrifying monster that was behind him as he babbled, "This is my Number 2. The perfect Metamorph of my creation¡­oh no¡­there is still Number 1¡­but she has not yet awakened. When she does, she will be my most perfect creation. Then we shall leave this place and go up beyond the desolate mists. In no time, the entire Celestial Realm will be mine to rule. Next will be the Immortal Realm¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly to himself, "This old man is completely insane¡­" He really could not believe what he was actually hearing. Did he even know how vast the Celestial Realm is?


    The old man had suddenly stopping laughing as he said sternly, "Number 2, capture that man and shredded the women. I only want the useful tools."


    Immediately Number 2 towering body had moved forward!


    Lu Qingyun was startled. It was because he knew that this Number 2 was many times more formidable than the Number 4 that they had fought.


    Immediately he had lifted his half-step divine sword and displayed the Flaming Phoenix Sword to the third stage in a perfect unison between his profound aura and his sword stance. This was his most powerful sword art and he prayed that it would be strong enough¡­


    "Keqin, good bye¡­" He thought. "But this is the cultivator life. I hope that you will find happiness with that man that you are longing for. I know that you still have him in your heart. I have overheard you¡­"


    "Wait Number 2!" the old man had suddenly said as he stared blankly at Lu Qingyun. "This sword art, where did you learn it from?"


    Lu Qingyun said coldly, "I have created it myself." He did not expect that the old man would believe him.


    The old man had suddenly laughed coldly, "Hmph, good, good¡­good." He had said good three times before he said. "Young man, what is your name?"


    Lu Qingyun was surprised that this old man was actually asking him for his name so he answered, "Lu Qingyun."


    The old man said, "Lu Qingyun, come with me!"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "Why should I come with you? Just because you have said so?"


    The old man hummed coldly, "Do you have a choice?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled coldly, "I still have a choice of being a dead man¡­"


    But he had suddenly said, "But if you let my two friends go, I will go with you."


    Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye were both gasping as they shook their heads. They were determined to fight this evil cultivator to the death!


    The old man pondered for a while before he said, "At this point, I''m no longer afraid of the surface celestials. They may go but you must come with me!"


    Lu Qingyun replied, "Then that is a deal then."


    Leng Qiuyue shook her head and her eyes were woeful, "Senior brother, don''t¡­"


    Lu Qingyun gave her a faint smile before he whispered almost incoherently, "I won''t allow him to turn me into a monster. It is better for me to be sacrificed than sacrificing all three of us here. Help me to tell sect leader if there is a next life, I want to be her disciple again. Go now."


    With that, Lu Qingyun turned to shout loudly. "Old man, you must remember to keep your words!"


    The old man was grinning coldly as he released his profound aura. Immediately the zombies had opened a path.


    "So what are you waiting for now? Are you waiting for me to change my mind?" the old man laughed coldly.


    Leng Qiuyue took a last woeful look at Lu Qingyun before she nodded quietly. Even Zhao Xingye was trembling because she knew that Lu Qingyun was surrendering himself to give them a lease of life¡­

 121 The Metamorphs 1

    Lu Qingyun had entered into the underground chasm with the hunchback old man. He was quite startled to see that there was actually an underground palace inside the chasm.


    The old man said to him, "You may call me Master Inverse Chaos. This is my immortal title."


    The hunchback old man had walked in front while Number 2 towered silently behind him.


    He was really curious that such a monstrous denizen could actually move so quietly that he could help asking, "This is such a big creature but how come he can move so silently?"


    The hunchback old man laughed coldly, "That is because he used to be a cultivator and this is an old habit of the majority of the cultivators to use their profound aura to move silently. Aren''t you moving quite silently as well?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he took a quick peek at the towering denizen, "This monster is a former cultivator?!"


    His heart was shaking. This wicked old man was turning cultivators into monsters like this¡­


    The old man smirked coldly, "I prefer to call the name of my creations as ''Metamorphs''. They have the profound strength of the cultivators and the vitality of the desolate beasts. They are perfect and unkillable!"


    Lu Qingyun resisted the urge of telling him that he had killed his Number 4 just a few days ago. This was a reaction that he would like to see on the old man face but he somewhat resisted the urge to say it aloud.


    Still he was not about to give up without a fight and he was cracking his head to find any useful information that he could gather in order to have an opportunity to escape. Therefore he could only keep asking questions in order to find a light in the tunnel somewhere.


    "Why did you spare only me just now? What is it that you want from me? Is it because you are interested to learn from my sword art?"


    The old man paused in his tracks as he laughed coldly, "Who is interested in your puny sword art?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered weakly, "I''ve thought you are." Then why did he suddenly ask Number 2 to cease its attack when he had displayed his sword stance earlier?


    The old man hummed coldly, "Do you think that you can still hide your identity from me?"


    Lu Qingyun groaned, "What identity?"


    The old man flashed a seething rage in his eyes, "You are just like me. You are a desolate cultivator."


    Lu Qingyun took a step back with a startled look at the old man, "You mean you are a desolate immortal cultivator?!"


    The old man pointed his old finger at him, "I mean you are one as well."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Unfortunately I am not. Sorry to disappoint you." A person with more cunning would try to pretend his way through but not Lu Qingyun. He knew that he would be killed instantly should whatever assumptions that the old man had on him was gone all of a sudden. But he did not care for this.


    But the old man laughed coldly, "You can hide your desolate force from the others but not your own kind. Our kind has the ability to sense the presence of our own kind."


    "Maybe you are getting old¡­" Lu Qingyun muttered in his heart but he dared not say it aloud. There was no way that he would be a desolate immortal cultivator.


    The desolate immortals were the fallen ones and they existed only in the myths. Lu Qingyun had never thought that he was able to meet a desolate immortal in this age and time.


    The old man said, "For thousands of years, I have lived in the darkness but soon, I will be emerging from this hole and will be the ruler of the Celestial Realm. You, Lu Qingyun, will be the witness to my eternal glory. All the most beautiful female cultivators in the Celestial Realm will be our depraved slaves and the most powerful fighters in the Celestial Realm will be our hounds as we restore the glory of our race."


    "Our?" Lu Qingyun asked.


    "Yes, our. You will join hands with me as we forge a new era together. I shall be your master and you shall be my first disciple. We shall gather all the remnants of our desolate race and we shall rise against the Immortal Realm. Conquering the Celestial Realm is but our first small step."


    "What if I say no to you?" Lu Qingyun said weakly. He had no wish to join such an insane old man and moreover he was really not of his kind.


    The old man smiled coldly, "I shall show you something that will change your mind and soon, you will be begging me to call me master."


    "I will definitely not change my mind," Lu Qingyun was thinking weakly. Half of his soul had wanted to make a run for the entrance and half of his soul was now warning him to stay cool because he was definitely not a match for this old man and Number 2.


    The old man had led him to a hall and he was saying casually, "This is the alchemy hall where I have kept most of the spirit herbs."


    Lu Qingyun was immediately intrigued by this hall because he could sniff that there were several spirit herbs that were around in this place that he had wanted¡­


    But the old man did not stopped here. Instead he continued to walk deeper into the underground palace and after going through several halls, they had finally come to a large hallway with a large silver door that was ten times Lu Qingyun''s height.


    Lu Qingyun knew that they were now deep underground and was intrigued by the entire place. All the hallways were too imposing and huge. How could an old man constructed something so big on his own?


    The old man pushed the silver door opened with his profound force and they were soon in a large icy hall.


    It was extremely cold inside and Lu Qingyun was feeling odd that this chamber seemed to be quite different from the other halls that he had been to.


    "Come. You will find this to be your taste."


    The old man led him to view a beautiful casket and inside the casket, was a beautiful naked maiden with bronze hair who appeared to be sleeping.


    The old man smiled lecherous as he looked at Lu Qingyun, "So what do you think of my Number 1? Isn''t she perfect?"


    The naked sleeping maiden looked like a fallen goddess and her body exuded a sanctified aura.


    Lu Qingyun was immediately flustered as he stammered, "I am a man of culture."


    The old man croaked with laughter, "So am I. She is my most perfect creation. The body of a saintess cultivator and the body parts of the high ranking desolate god-beasts."


    Then he began to caress her gently, "She shall also bear the next generation of our race. No doubt, the next generation of my race will be the most perfect immortal race to ever grace the heavens."


    Lu Qingyun was disgusted by this Master Inverse Chaos when he saw what he was doing and interrupted coldly, "Unfortunately, I''ve failed to see what it has to do with me¡­"


    All of a sudden the old man had released his profound aura and he had sent Lu Qingyun''s sword to fly to a side!


    As Lu Qingyun was about to take steps to defend himself, the old man had released the rest of his profound aura to weight down upon him, completely suppressing him to the ground!


    This was too quick and too sudden!


    Lu Qingyun did not even have the time to react at all!


    Master Inverse Chaos smirked coldly, "I can tell that I''ve failed to impress you with my ambitions and do you really think that I am so senile as not to know what you are thinking? If you have acknowledged me as your master, I may very well keep you alive for the next few days but only for the next few days."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he struggled to get off the ground but the weight of the profound aura that was weighing upon him was that of a seventh realm cultivator. His own strength was completely outclassed!


    He knew this old man was formidable but he had never expected that he would be a master of the profound arts and could manipulate profound energies to this extend.


    "What do you want with me?" he bitterly said. This was a question that he wanted to know. Because he knew that his old man could smack him to the death at any time and he would be powerless to resist it. But at least he wanted to know what this old man had wanted to do by toying with him?


    Maser Inverse Chaos chuckled coldly, "What do I want? You are so young and full of vitality while I am just an old man that can''t even copulate with this beautiful creation of mine. Of course I want to suck all your vitality in order to restore my youth. As someone from my own kind, you should be proud of your puny existence for being a timely vessel for me. Don''t worry, I shall always remember this special favor. To think that I will actually be worried about my looks before my Number 1 wakes up. I must say that you have really come in a nick of time¡­"


    "Yan''Er now!!!" Lu Qingyun shouted as he had broken free of the suppressing aura. While the old man was babbling about his achievements, Lu Qingyun had combined his profound strength with Yan''Er to lift the suppressing aura.


    At the same time a half-step divine sword had flashed in Lu Qingyun''s hand and was sent flying toward the old man.


    Master Inverse Chaos was startled that Lu Qingyun had another divine sword. Just as he mustered his profound strength to knock aside the flying divine sword, there was another divine sword that had suddenly flown toward him!


    He was so startled by the sudden appearance of the third divine sword that he was not able to knock the third flying sword aside in a timing manner and the third flying sword had knocked him backward.


    Just as the old man was cursing, "How many divine swords do you actually have¡­" a beautiful slender hand had suddenly grabbed around his neck; it was the hand of the beautiful naked maiden that was sleeping in the casket and she had just woke up from her slumber.


    As the old man was muttering, "Number 2, help me¡­" the beautiful fingers of this naked maiden had turned into sharp talons as it sunk into his neck, draining the life out of him¡­


    Lu Qingyun was startled by the sudden change in events. As he ran to the entrance, he had also recalled all his divine swords.


    As he took a last look inside, the beautiful naked maiden had metamorphed into a titanic being that were three times her original size with elongated armored neck, talons and legs. Although she was half a size smaller than Number 2, her right talons had just run through Number 2 with a thunderous impact, proving that size did not matter to her.


    With her other elongated left talons, she had lifted and swung Number 2 like a weightless object to crash thunderous into the wall.


    And her brilliant scarlet eyes were staring murderously at Lu Qingyun, "Kill¡­Kill¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was stunned, "This Number 2 is so useless¡­"


    Number 2 was of course not that useless and the wounds that it had received were quickly regenerated. It was muttering, "Master orders me to save him¡­"


    But Number 2 never got the chance to speak further because Number 1 had suddenly jumped on him and crashed its skull with her monstrous sharp talons!


    Lu Qingyun had no stomach to watch further. He had immediately bolted from where he was watching!


    And behind him, he could feel the tracing aura of Number 1 that was homing on him!

 122 The Metamorphs 2

    Although the underground palace was vast, there were few places that Lu Qingyun could hide. It was because all the hallways and halls were constructed to a proportion that was too big. Instead, it was as though it was meant to house the monstrous desolate beasts and not for cultivators like him.


    He had quickly sped from one hallway to another but still he could sense the killing intent that was on his back.


    He had thought that the hunchback old man and Number 2 would be his most difficult foes but this Number 1 had simply demolished them within a few blinks of an eye. If he was caught up by her then he would surely be a goner because he could not imagine himself fighting that thing¡­


    In fact, Lu Qingyun had never been so afraid in his life before. Not even when he had fought the ninth rank golden roc had he known such terrifying fear. At the very least, there was still Qin Keqin at that time but this time he was completely alone.


    Just as he had just turned into a hallway, Number 1 had just popped in behind him and her sharp talons could be seen smashing into the stone walls, sending violent shockwaves across the hallway.


    Lu Qingyun had almost lost his balance in the resulting shockwaves but he continued to leap forward. Luckily he had plenty of training with his running skills in the recent weeks and he had Qin Keqin to thank for.


    He saw an entrance to a hall and immediately flashed inside.


    But he was soon stunned; there were no other exits and it was now too late to turn back around¡­


    Indeed with this short hesitation, Number 1 had also appeared at the only entrance of this large hall and her looming terrifying form could be seen clearly!


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly as he brandished his half-step divine sword one, "You and me, we have no grudges. Why are you pursuing me as though you have some vendetta with me?"


    He was actually not expecting this monster to answer him and he was only saying so in order to calm himself down.


    When he had said that, he had changed his sword one to the true divine sword. This was his last stance now and he knew that he got only a single chance to fight back.


    "Yan''Er, this is our final battle!"


    Yan''Er flew panicky around him before she transformed into his profound aura to lend him strength and her image stood solemnly behind Lu Qingyun, "Master, is this really our last battle? Yan''Er doesn''t want to die¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Yan''Er, don''t be afraid. I will be with you to the very end."


    Number 1 did not attack but instead her terrifying presence was still looming over the hall.


    For a minute, Lu Qingyun was simply staring at her. Either made the first move¡­


    Lu Qingyun thought with a bitter smile, "Why didn''t this monster attack me yet?"


    Yan''Er said with a frighten look, "Master, she likes you master¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was looking at Yan''Er, "Yan''Er, you are right¡­"


    Yan''Er was startled, "She really likes you master?"


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "It is you. Your presence stops her. I don''t know the real reason but it has to be you."


    Then he pondered, "Yan''Er is the spirit entity of a ninth rank golden roc. Naturally her desolate force can be sensed by this Number 1¡­"


    "I wonder how that old man manages to make the other Metamorphs obey him?" He was now analyzing the situation rapidly.


    He had to think fast because he did not know when Number 1 would suddenly attack.


    "Number 2 did not make an attempt to attack me or Number 1 until that old man gives the command. There must be a subtle force that can trigger the consciousness of these Metamorphs¡­but what is it?"


    Lu Qingyun suddenly said to Yan''Er, "Yan''Er, can you tell that monster to take a step backward?"


    Yan''Er smiled weakly, "Master, I don''t think this will work¡­"


    But she raised her voice to say, "Your name is Number 1, am I right? Now take a step back!"


    To Lu Qingyun and Yan''Er utter surprise, Number 1 had actually taken a step backward.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "It works¡­"


    Then he looked up at Yan''Er, "Yan''Er, tell her to change back to her human form. That will be more pleasing to the eyes."


    "Alright." Yan''Er said. "Number 1, change back to your human form."


    Number one shuddered a little before she had metamorphed into the beautiful form of a naked maiden.


    Lu Qingyun was staring blankly at her and was feeling a little guilty. Indeed, this form was more pleasing to the eyes¡­


    But he had no time to admire her naked beauty and he was quite worried how long Yan''Er influence would last. He would not bring this Number 1 to the surface realm or he would be exposing Yan''Er as well.


    Therefore he was staring at his godly divine sword¡­


    "You are already a monster now. Your existence will have no meaning now. Maybe this will be an end to your suffering¡­"


    He smiled weakly to Yan''Er, "Yan''Er, tell her not to move and not to resist me."


    "Number 1, don''t move and don''t resist my master!" Yan''Er said cutely. Half of her fear had now vanished. But because she could sense Lu Qingyun''s thoughts, she asked. "Master, are you going to kill her?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "If I don''t, we will be the ones that will be killed. You have seen her true form already, am I right? None of us will be able to handle this monster if she goes berserk."


    Yan''Er nodded and said, "Master is always right."


    As Lu Qingyun approached the naked maiden with his sword, she was looking at Lu Qingyun with a pitiful look in her eyes. He gave a soft sigh, "Forgive me¡­"


    All of a sudden his sword movement was halted as he had suddenly thought of something as he reached into his spatial ring to take out a pill. This was the starforge pill that Qin Keqin had given to him and she had thought that he had swallowed it on that day. But he had secretly coughed it when she was not looking¡­


    He was going to take a gambit now and he forced the naked maiden to swallow the starforge pill.


    "Yan''Er, tell her that from today onward, she is not a Metamorph but a celestial cultivator. She is not to ever transform into a Metamorph ever again or to take any life." He said.


    Yan''Er nodded and did as she was told while Lu Qingyun was sighing softly. He did not know whether he was making the right decision in it but in the end, he could not bear kill her in such a cold hearted manner.


    With another sigh, he said to the naked maiden. "From today onward, you are Lu Rongren. ''Rong'' for tolerate and ''Ren'' for benevolent. You are my sister from now on. My name is Lu Qingyun and I am your brother."


    ''Lu Rongren'' took a woeful look at him and nodded while Yan''Er was hovering around her rapidly, "It is done. I have said the commands in her spiritual sea."


    Lu Qingyun said to Yan''Er, "Don''t tell the others what we did here¡­"


    "Alright, master."


    "Let find my sister some clothing around here first and also¡­" Lu Qingyun paused for a while before he smiled awkwardly. "I think that Alchemy Hall earlier may have something interesting."


    It was not long before Lu Qingyun was able to find some suitable clothing for Lu Rongren.


    But since Yan''Er was a spirit entity, he was forced to cloth her himself. While he was at the task, he was muttering awkwardly. "Surely, you can cloth yourself right?"


    But the former Number 1/ Lu Rongren did not move.


    Then he had an idea and said, "Yan''Er, ask Lu Rongren to dress herself up!"


    Yan''Er replied, "Alright master. Dress yourself up Rongren¡­"


    But still Lu Rongren did not respond to Yan''Er commands.


    Yan''Er, Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun quickly said with a low voice, "Yan''Er, are you losing control? Shall we make a run?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "I think Big Sister here doesn''t know the term of dressing up. Master, you have to teach her first."


    Lu Qingyun cautiously approached her and said gently, "This is dressing up. In the future, you have to know how to dress up yourself."


    "Yes¡­master¡­" Lu Rongren said.


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly. The brainwashing commands seemed to be so inherent in her. He gently said, "I am not your master but your Brother Lu Qingyun. Always remember this!"


    "Yes¡­Brother¡­Lu Qingyun¡­" she muttered.


    "Good¡­" Lu Qingyun said as he stared at this peerless maiden who seemed to exude a sanctified aura.


    His mind was a little confused as he looked at her. Who was she previously? The hunchback old man had said that she was a saintess cultivator but she had no golden eyes to speak of. Was she really a saintess cultivator previously or were the old man exaggerating things?


    Moreover if she was a seventh realm cultivator, it was all too easy to suppress him like what the old man had done earlier. Moreover the mental will of a seventh realm cultivator was not easy to manipulate.


    These were the questions that he had no answers at the moment except that this former Number 1 was now his ''sister''.


    He heaved a soft sigh as he finished putting on the outer robe on her, "We are going to the Alchemy Hall now. Come after me.???


    As he left the hall, he had no idea that there was a subtle shift in the eyes of Lu Rongren and that it had turned a desolate purple briefly.

 123 The Desolate Sacred Maiden

    Lu Qingyun was now in the Alchemy Hall and he was searching greedily. There were many hundreds of rare spirit herbs in this hall and quite a few were spirit herbs that could only be found in the Red Death Valley. These were the ones that he had needed for his sixth rank alchemy divine pill!


    There were also many thousand year spirit herbs that took several hundred years to grow in spirit form before materializing for just a single year before vanishing into spirit forms again.


    Lu Qingyun was muttering, "That insane old man really has a treasure trove of spirit herbs. I feel so bad that I am taking them all. He must have taken several hundred years or even thousands of years to cumulative all these rare spirit herbs."


    Yan''Er yawned softly, "Master, why do you want these spirit herbs and roots for?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "To make spirit pills, Yan''Er. I''ve already exhausted all the spirit herbs that I had brought with me to the Heavens Ridge Villa. In fact with these spirit herbs, I may soon breakthrough to the fifth alchemist realm."


    Yan''Er had an uninterested look on her before she silently disappeared into Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea. "Master, I am going to cultivate. Cultivating is more interesting than looking at these spirit herbs!"


    "No, Yan''Er. These are much more interesting than cultivating¡­" Lu Qingyun was muttering but Yan''Er had decided to ignore her master and had sealed her spirit senses, refusing to listen anymore to her master''s blabbering.


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "This doesn''t make any sense. My spirit entity will actually like cultivating more than I do. Talk about cultivating from the same spirit and sharing the same interest. It seems that the ancient books have a lot of misinformation¡­"


    But his eyes were soon distracted by the jars of exotic spirit herbs that were laid in front of him as he inspected the shelves. Knowing that his spatial ring and belt had only a limited space, he could only endured his heartache as he picked only the ones that he truly needed.


    "Alas, I can make some high grade spirit pills with these spirit herbs¡­but ''soft sigh'', why am I so poor that I cannot afford a better spatial ring?"


    Suddenly he had spotted a spirit herb with a light reddish glow and he was excited. "Isn''t this the Red Mist Roots?" This was one of the main ingredient herbs that he had been seeking for the sixth rank divine pill that he was trying to create!


    "Rongren¡­bring me the torch for a closer look¡­" He had turned his hand behind to grab the torch but instead of grabbing the torch, he had grabbed something ''soft'' and ample. With an awkward look, he had realized that he had grabbed Lu Rongren''s bosom by accident.


    He heaved a soft sigh, "Luckily she is not able to react naturally¡­"


    All of a sudden Lu Rongren''s eyes had turned to a desolate purple and she had raised her palm to slap Lu Qingyun!


    As Lu Qingyun had sensed the attack, he quickly stumbled backward with great alarm and the slap had missed him narrowly. However, the same could not be said to the shelves that were behind him as it exploded into a pile of debris by the sheer martial shockwave of her palm!


    "My Red Mist Roots!" Lu Qingyun was alarmed.


    "Yan''Er, I need you! Come out!" he panicky called out for Yan''Er.


    But Yan''Er had shut all her spirit senses. Even if an earthquake was in the vicinity, she would not be able to hear him¡­


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he quickly flashed his godly divine sword, "I shouldn''t have forced Yan''Er to go into alchemy¡­when I need her the most, she is in deep meditation. Alas, why did I have to teach Yan''Er to be a cultivator in the first place¡­"


    He did not need Yan''Er to use his full strength but he needed Yan''Er to control the former Number 1/ Lu Rongren.


    But despite his panicky reactions, the former Number 1 did not make any further move but instead she was shaking as she stared with deadly killing intent at him!


    Lu Qingyun said panicky, "Don''t you remember who you are anymore? You are my sister Lu Rongren and I am your brother Lu Qingyun. We are on the same side¡­"


    The beautiful and sanctified maiden had slowly increased the strength of profound aura and there was a suffocating oppression that was in the air. Slowly she said with great coldness, "Who is your sister? Do you know who I am?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly and did not reply to her. He was looking for a weakness so that he could flee once he had the chance. But at the moment, he was being cornered to the wall by her¡­


    The beautiful and sanctified maiden said coldly, "I am the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi! How dare you defile my body?"


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "I did nothing. When I have found you, you are already like this. In fact, I have rescued you from the hands of that Master Inverse Chaos."


    When she had heard the name of the Master Inverse Chaos, she began to shudder and it was as though she had recalled something.


    She slowly muttered, "I¡­recall¡­"


    The scenes that had just happened earlier when she was awakened began to flash rapidly in her beautiful desolate purple eyes¡­


    All of a sudden she did something that was so horrifying that caused Lu Qingyun to be stupefied; she had suddenly flashed her fingers into her abdomen and had pulled out the alien tendrils that were in her body!


    Her mouth was foaming golden blood as she did so but she continued to do so as though she could not feel any pain until she pulled the last of the alien tendrils out. After she had done so, her face was really pale and she was covered with her own cold sweat.


    After Lu Qingyun had seen what she had just did, he had wanted to vomit out but he used all his will to suppress himself from doing so.


    Although he had wanted to attack her at her weakened state but he was trembling so much that he had actually did not know how to react to this scene.


    Lu Qingyun was staring at her golden blood that had spilled out of her body. Although she did not have any golden eyes but her blood was actually golden? Only a cultivator who had attained to the fifth realm golden celestial level would have golden blood in their veins. She was actually a high level cultivator after all?


    He saw that her wounds were quickly regenerating. This was also a special characteristic of the golden celestials, the ability to quickly regenerate their wounds but her wounds were regenerating at an astonishing rate, like the Metamorphs that he had seen earlier. This was a little too rapid even for a golden saint¡­


    She said weakly but coldly, "Who are you? You actually have the annihilating force that is within you?"


    Lu Qingyun had heard Yan''Er referring that he had the annihilating force on a number of occasions now. But he had no idea what it was. And now this maiden who called herself Yue Lingxi was asking him about the annihilating force.


    He could only reply weakly, "I am Lu Qingyun and I''ve no idea what this annihilating force is."


    Yue Lingxi said slowly, "On account that you have just saved my life. On account that we are of the same kind, I shall spare you today. Tell no one about my existence."


    Then she returned a faint smile, "One day, when you have finally recalled who you are, don''t forget that you may still have an ally somewhere."


    In the next blink of an eye, she had vanished in a flash of misty light as she said. "Lu¡­Qingyun¡­I''ll remember¡­you."


    Lu Qingyun heaved a sigh of relief that she was gone and he was quickly on the ground in a great panic, "Where is my Red Mist Roots?! Where is it? I hope it is not destroyed¡­"


    "And when did I save her life?"


    He did not know that he had accidentally caused the subconscious of Yue Lingxi to reawaken once again by feeding her an overdose of the starforge substances.


    The hunchback old man Master Inverse Chaos had suppressed her subconscious completely in order to recreate her to be his Number 1. However when Lu Qingyun had given her the starforge pill, it ended up suppressing her Number 1 consciousness and resurface her subconscious again.


    "There you are!" Lu Qingyun smiled with great relief when he had found the Red Mist Root intact.


    "It seems that I can''t stay here for too long. There may be other Metamorphs around and she may still change her mind about letting me go. I''ve better hurry out of here¡­"


    With that, he had sped out of the Alchemy Hall in great haste.


    As he made his way to the entrance of the underground palace, he was musing. "I had a sister just a while ago and now I had none¡­"


    When he had exited the underground palace, he did not know that Yue Lingxi was quietly watching him in the shadows with her spiritual perception¡­


    Just as she thought of following him, she was quite startled by the presence of two seventh realm experts that her spirit sense had detected that were outside. Therefore she quietly withdrew her spiritual presence and had faded into the darkness.


    Yue Lingxi was muttering in the darkness, "Your wicked eyes have seen my entire body. Do you think that I will let you go just like this? But first, I have to retrieve the Horizon of the Heavens first¡­"

 124 Yue Lingxi

    Lu Qingyun had just stepped out of the underground palace when he had run into Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye.


    "Qiuyue, Xingye. You didn''t run?" he was startled when he had seen them.


    Behind them were Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng, Zhao Riyue and Lie Xingyuan as well!


    But he was equally startled when he saw the stunning forms of Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng that were behind them.


    All the zombie cultivators had already been cleared by them and even the celestial array around the perimeter was completely destroyed.


    "Senior brother, you¡­are alright?!" Leng Qiuyue was smiling and her eyes were emotionally. "I''ve thought that I won''t be seeing you¡­anymore¡­"


    Even Zhao Xingye was startled when she saw Lu Qingyun emerging well and alive from the chasm. She averted her eyes shyly and had a faint smile, "It is so good that you¡­are¡­well¡­"


    Lu Qingyun stared at the rest, "Everyone is also here? How did they find this place so fast?"


    Lie Xingyuan gasped softly and she was also at his side, "Senior brother, you are really alright¡­" Her eyes were swollen and it was obvious that she had been crying.


    "Xingyuan, I''m alright. What is going on around here?" He asked.


    Lie Xingyuan quickly explained that while they were at the entrance of the Red Death Valley, Great Saintess Feng Minyue had told Zhao Riyue to lead them immediately to the recon party.


    She had said, "Do you want to wait until they are in real danger before they ask for help? By then, it will already be too late!"


    When Lu Qingyun heard the accounts that were given by Lie Xingyuan, he began to bow with his hands to the direction of Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng.


    Feng Minyue returned a gentle nod but she made no move to approach any further.


    Lie Xingyuan said, "Senior brother, we have heard that you are captured by an evil cultivator. How did you manage to escape?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "That evil cultivator is already dead."


    Everyone was startled, especially Leng Qiuyue and Zhao Xingye. It was because they could sense the formidable profound aura of the evil cultivator and the formidable strength of the monster called Number 2. They simply did not believe that Lu Qingyun had the strength to kill them and escaped.


    Indeed, he really did not have that level of strength yet.


    As he felt honor bounded to that Yue Lingxi maiden he would keep her existence a secret and not because he had actually promised her to do so, he said. "I was lucky. That evil cultivator who called himself Master Inverse Chaos happened to lose control of his Metamorph creations. So he ended up getting killed by his Number 2. In the ensuring chaos, I had escaped."


    When Zhao Xingye, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan had heard his account of the event, they were greatly relieved.


    Lie Xingyuan was holding onto Lu Qingyun and was inspecting him for injuries, "Senior brother, let me take a careful look at you¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue pursued her thin lips. She had wanted to do the same as Lie Xingyuan too but she did not have the courage to do so. After all, Lie Xingyuan was Lu Qingyun''s personal attendant and she had every right to do so. At this moment, she had wished that she was Lu Qingyun''s personal attendant and not a core prot¨¦g¨¦¡­


    While Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue were both looking at Lu Qingyun, Zhao Xingye had stolen a glance at her sister Zhao Riyue who was shaking her head lightly; it was as though Zhao Riyue was saying to her. "Both of them like him in their hearts. There''s no room for you sister. So give him up."


    Zhao Xingye lowered her glances in great melancholy. Although she had only been with Lu Qingyun for just a few days but he had already saved her twice during this journey. Although she knew that this was a death mission and she would not live but the reason she was still alive now was all due to him. So how then, could her heart not be touched by him?


    But her sister was right. There was really no room for her because she really did not dare to compete with the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing for his attention¡­


    Feng Minyue was now saying to Xuan Danfeng, "Danfeng, so what are you waiting for now? Go in and destroy the remnants of the evil influences."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Why don''t you accompany me inside?"


    Feng Minyue returned a stern look at her, "You did not hear from him that the evil cultivator is now dead?"


    Xuan Danfeng smiled weakly, "Goodness knows how many of these Metamorphs are inside there? Moreover, I am really afraid of the dark. Why don''t you accompany me inside? If I got ambush and die inside, won''t you be grieving for me and living a life of regrets?"


    Feng Minyue had already walked toward the direction of the chasm, "So what are you waiting for now?"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "That is my good sister."


    Feng Minyue said gently to the group, "Please wait here while we clean out the place."


    With that Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng had flashed into the underground palace.


    Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng gave Lu Qingyun a smile, "Senior Qingyun. Without your aid, we won''t be able to find this place at all. Xingye had already told me." With a soft sigh she added, "We will be finally avenging for our prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters at long last."


    Lu Qingyun said awkwardly, "Not at all. I did what I can do to contribute. I still need to be stronger than my present level in order to be of any real help." On this trip, he had truly met some horrifying opponents and had found his strength to be lacking.


    Leng Qiuyue said quietly, "We are lucky¡­to have Great Saintess Feng and Great Saintess Xuan on our side."


    When Zhao Xingye and she were making their escape from the chasm, the evil cultivator did not actually have a change of good heart. Instead, he had sent Number 5 who had been hiding in the shadows to pursue them.


    It was only with the timely arrival of Shen Yufeng, Zhao Riyue, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng that they were rescued in a nick of time.


    Leng Qiuyue was startled when she had met the two great saintesses for the first time; they were the legendary great saintesses of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Imagine her surprise when they had told her that they were here to help Lu Qingyun.


    She had no idea that Lu Qingyun was actually acquainted with these two legendary great saintesses and that they would actually be involved personally to intervene.


    That was indeed very strange.


    Great Saintess Feng Minyue was the Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess as well as the former divine ruler of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. Her status was extremely lofty and everyone in this divine realm would have to kneel before her.


    Leng Qiuyue''s heart was still throbbing even at this moment. She had actually met the two legendary great saintesses in this place. "Senior brother, who are you exactly? That two great saintesses will be on the move because of you?"


    If Lu Qingyun could hear her thoughts, he may have answered something like this. "I have accidentally joined a secret syndicate that enjoys spying on the others for gossips and these great saintesses are part of this secret syndicate."


    Lu Qingyun heaved a quiet sigh while he listened to their encounters. Their party would have been completely annihilated if it was not for the intervention of Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng. He knew that in his heart that it was the maiden of his heart, Qin Keqin that had sent her sister saintesses to aid him¡­


    "Keqin, once again, you have aided me. How can I repay this great kindness of yours to you?"


    But he was suddenly thinking with a wry smile, "Did she say that if I can make it back alive, she will let me release it?"


    Unknown to the group below, an incredible mesmerizing maiden was quietly watching them. She was the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing. She did not make any move but was watching over Lie Xingyuan.


    Lie Xingyuan was as dear to her as her own life. There were a few times that she had wanted to intervene but she had resisted the urge to do so. Her daughter had to learn the cruel realities of a cultivator in order for her to become stronger in the future.


    She muttered quietly, "Feng Minyue¡­thank you¡­I''ll remember this great favor of yours¡­"


    All of a sudden her sharp eyes had spotted a flash of misty light that had escaped from the chasm. "What is this? Another desolate immortal cultivator?"


    She had wanted to pursue this misty light but her eyes were trained on Lie Xingyuan. With a soft sigh she said, "Consider this your lucky day¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Far away from the chasm, Yue Lingxi had stumbled softly onto the grass patch. She coughed out a bout of fresh golden blood from her mouth as she closed her eyes to recuperate.


    "Lucky¡­"


    She had found the Horizon of the Heavens and was fleeing the underground palace when her spirit perception had picked up the minute profound traces of a beyond divinity cultivator.


    A beyond divinity cultivator was beyond the seventh realm level and was an immortal cultivator like herself. But a beyond divinity cultivator was stronger than most immortal cultivators and she had no wish to fight someone on that level, especially in her present condition.


    She was greatly alarmed and thought that this was her most unlucky day. But for some unknown reasons, this beyond divinity cultivator did not pursue her even though her spiritual perception was locked onto her.


    It was only when she had thought that she was safe enough that she had dared to stop. She dare not even think why the beyond divinity cultivator would not pursue her. But now she was safe¡­


    There were two great saintesses that had suddenly barged into the underground palace and their spiritual perceptions were sweeping into every corner. In her present condition, she was unable to fight them and moreover there were two of them.


    Therefore she had eluded them until she had finally found an opportunity to escape from the underground palace but just when she had thought that she was able to escape, a more powerful spiritual perception that she had failed to sense had locked onto her and that this opponent was actually a beyond divinity cultivator.


    Yue Lingxi muttered as her body sunk into the ground, "I''ve got to sleep for the time being. To think that I, the Desolate Sacred Maiden of the once proud desolate immortals will be in such a pathetic state¡­betrayed by my own race¡­defiled by my own¡­but thankfully I have retrieved the Horizon of the Heavens¡­Lu¡­Qingyun¡­"


    With that the desolate ground had completely concealed her desolate aura. Even if the beyond divinity cultivator was in this vicinity, she would not be easily detected for her desolate aura had bended in perfectly with the vicinity.

 125 Leaving the Red Death Valley

    Lu Qingyun asked Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng nervously after they had come out of the underground palace, "Did you see anything unusual inside?"


    It was because he was a little worried about Yue Lingxi. It was obvious to him that her wounds were not light at all. Although she could regenerate rapidly but the amount of profound energies that she would need to expend in order to do so must be extremely taxing. This, he had no doubt about it.


    Moreover he was sure that Yue Lingxi had no killing intent on him or else she would not have let him go just like that.


    Therefore he had hoped that this temporary sister of his would at least be able to escape.


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "We found the corpse of that Master Inverse Chaos and a monstrous creature next to him. It seemed that that they had both died from infighting like you''ve said. There is no doubt about it that this Master Inverse Chaos is the source of all the unnatural influences. But I must admit that he is quite rich, judging by the contents of his spatial ring¡­"


    Feng Minyue quickly gave her a kick as she shot her a glance before she said, "We found a few more of these Metamorphs inside and had wiped them all out."


    Lu Qingyun''s heart sunk. Could it be that Yue Lingxi had fallen?


    He had no idea why he was suddenly sympathizing with Yue Lingxi. Maybe it was her words that had stung deep into him when she said to him, "On account that we are of the same kind, I shall spare you today¡­"


    "We are of the same kind?" He was still thinking on what she had said to him.


    Xuan Danfeng had suddenly said to him in a low voice, "Are you hiding something from us?"


    Lu Qingyun was quite startled as he stammered, "Oh no¡­"


    "Really?" Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly as she lifted her heavy bosoms in front of him before her eyes flashed dangerously.


    For a moment Lu Qingyun thought that Xuan Danfeng would rip him apart to question him further but the questioning had never come. Xuan Danfeng was soon laughing casually as she walked away.


    He did not know that Xuan Danfeng was a cultivator with a great deal of worldly experiences but she had always acted in a flirtatious and casual manner, often putting everyone off guard when they were around her.


    Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Xuan Danfeng used to be the former divine ruler of the Lofty Snow Divine Realm, a vast middle tier divine realm of countless celestial clans. She was a better judgment of most people and with just a single look, she knew that Lu Qingyun was hiding something.


    But she merely said, "Really?" before she walked away.


    She did not make things difficult for Lu Qingyun at all.


    When Lu Qingyun saw her beautiful golden eyes looking at him in that instant, he knew that she had already known that he was lying and he was smiling bitterly.


    But now that she had suddenly walked away, he heaved a soft sigh of relief. That Yue Lingxi maiden was a victim as well. Since she did not want the others to know about her, he felt honor bounded to keep it a secret.


    Once they were at the entrance of the Red Death Valley, Feng Minyue said gently to the group, "Tell no one about me. My mission here is done."


    Shen Yufeng gasped, "Prot¨¦g¨¦ mistress, when can I ever see you again¡­"


    Feng Minyue smiled gently, "Yufeng, I am on a different destiny now. It is best that you can forget about me."


    Shen Yufeng, Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue had all fell upon their knees, "Prot¨¦g¨¦ mistress¡­Matriarch Heavenly Fragrance Princess¡­"


    Feng Minyue said quietly, "You are all my good disciples. Hurry and rise. Cultivate hard and may our paths cross each other one day."


    With that, she had left with Xuan Danfeng.


    Lu Qingyun began to wonder as he watched them as they departed, "Why did Great Saintess Feng Minyue and Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng leave their positions as rulers of their divine realms?¡­"


    He had slowly recalled the day when he had first met them and he was in one of the spying rooms with them. On the walls of the room were many messages that he thought was shocking to cultivators like him.


    "Cultivation is boring!!!"


    "Cultivation is not fun at all¡­"


    "Only fools will cultivate¡­"


    "Cultivation is only for fools¡­"


    "We will never cultivate again¡­"


    "There is something more fun than cultivation¡­"


    "Being a villainess is more heroic than a heroine¡­"


    "Even seventh realm sacred saints are nothing to be proud of¡­"


    He had actually stolen a look at what Feng Minyue and Qin Keqin were reading and had thought that he was in luck that he could peek into some high level cultivation slip. But it turned out that it were all some romantic stories¡­


    He simply could not believe that they were not in seclusion but had spent all their time reading all these.


    What a waste of cultivation time, he thought ruefully.


    But he was soon sighing. Was he not the same as them? He would rather spent most of his time on his alchemy than actual cultivating.


    But it would soon change because he had suddenly realized that how weak he was in front of a seventh realm expert and even a powerful desolate beast would easily have made a meal out of him.


    How could he able to protect Keqin in the future?


    He was soon sighing, "Maybe this is a bad example. Keqin doesn''t need my protection. She is a great saintess and she can protect herself. Rather, she had protected me by sending her saintess sisters to aid me. It is her wisdom that has saved me."


    But he was soon smiling secretly and his heart was pounding excitingly, "Keqin, I hope that you didn''t forget what you''ve promised me." Just thinking about the fact he could stroke her was enough to send his heart pacing up and down uncontrollably.


    "Lu Qingyun, Lu Qingyun. When did you ever become such a lecherous man?"


    "But she is your lover. Surely that''s not a sin to touch her, am I right?"


    "It is a lucky thing that Yan''Er has shut off her senses. I hope Yan''Er will continue to shut off her senses until I''ve done with Keqin¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Clear Sky Pavilion;


    Ling Chong had brought along the betrothed gifts that were meant for Qiuxiang Huan.


    He was now in the guest hall and had just paid his respects to Qiuxiang Mei, who was the Pavilion Mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Qiuxiang Mei smiled as she looked at Ling Chong, "What a fine looking young man. So when are you going to take my daughter as your consort?"


    Ling Chong turned to give a shy look at Qiuxiang Huan who was standing quietly at the side, "Naturally as soon as possible."


    Qiuxiang Mei was pleased with the answer as she gave a light nod, "Since you are here, why don''t you have a little chat with her alone before you leave?"


    Ling Chong smiled as he took a lecherous look at Qiuxiang Huan, "Maiden Huan, why don''t we have a little chat alone?"


    Qiuxiang Huan nodded quietly as she turned around to leave the guest room while Ling Chong said to his elders, "Stay here. I will be back shortly."


    Once Ling Chong was alone with Qiuxiang Huan, he said gently to her. "Maiden Huan. Ever since that day, I have been thinking of you every day."


    As he whispered to her, his hand was on her back.


    Qiuxiang Huan gasped softly as she dodged his hand, "Don''t touch me!"


    Ling Chong smiled, "Why are you so shy? Have you forgotten about our dragon and phoenix unison? We are going to be man and wife soon. Aren''t we?"


    Then he said coldly, "Or have you forgotten that I''ve taken your images with the memories fragment stone?"


    Qiuxiang Huan shuddered and her body had suddenly gone rigid.


    Ling Chong smiled as he kissed her lips before he loosened her robes, "Don''t resist or I can''t promise you if the contents of the memories fragment stone will be shown to the public."


    When Qiuxiang Huan had heard him, she had completely stopped resisting and allowed Ling Chong to strip her until there was nothing on her.


    Ling Chong gasped softly, "What an astonishing figure¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan had a complex look on her countenance, "You are nothing but a lecherous man."


    Ling Chong sighed softly, "You are wrong. Because of you, I can be the most lecherous man in the world. Because of you, I can even betray Brother Lu Qingyun. Because of you, I can even go against the Heavens Ridge Villa. Do you know why?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled coldly, "I am not interested to know why-"


    Ling Chong interrupted her halfway, "Because of you, Qiuxiang Huan! Since the day I''ve met you, I''ve always wanted to take you as my consort but you have rejected me so completely that I feel worthless in front of you. You may say that I am even despicable but I am really afraid¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan stared blankly at him as he continued, "¡­really afraid that I may lose you and become the worthless fellow again. Therefore I want some insurance first. I can promise you. After we are married, I will destroy the memories fragment stone. It is all because of you that I am doing all this!"


    "Because of¡­me?" Qiuxiang Huan was stunned.


    "Yes," Ling Chong said ruefully. "Because I hope that this isn??t really a dream and I hope that it is real. Maybe to you, it is just a political marriage but to me, you are my everything! If you want to destroy the Heavens Ridge Villa, I shall be your weapon. Just don''t leave me please¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan had suddenly stopped struggling as she stared blankly at Ling Chong while he lifted her up to take slow steps toward the bed.


    Hours later, Ling Chong had quietly left the room while Qiuxiang Huan was left muttering. "Did I make a great mistake somewhere¡­"


    There was a sudden knock on the door, "It''s me Tang Bufan¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan said in a low voice, "Bufan, not now. I''m not in the mood. You may leave first."


    Tang Bufan: ¡­

 126 Cherry Blossom Luck

    When Lu Qingyun had returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa, Qin Keqin was still in her reclusion. Therefore he could only suppress the fires that were within him and waited for her to exit her reclusion.


    That very night, he had the most wonderful dream ever, dreaming of the exotic dances of the dragons and the phoenixes. He was so glad that Yan''Er was not around to poke into his dreams.


    When he had awakened the next day, he was greeted by a sweet sniffing fragrance and had immediately opened his eyes with a startled look.


    Lie Xingyuan was also startled by him and she had a flustered look, "Senior brother, you have awakened."


    She was rolling her eyes shyly to the side while Lu Qingyun was panicky looking for the blanket to cover himself.


    Lu Qingyun stammered with great awkwardness, "I have too much of the internal fires recently. I¡­I¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan said sweetly with deep flushes on her countenance, "I didn''t see a thing. I''ve only just arrived."


    That was a white lie. She had accidentally seen everything¡­


    Lu Qingyun laughed with great awkwardness, "That is good. I have just waked up too."


    Lie Xingyuan nodded lightly as she lowered her glances shyly, "I can see that."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Right, right¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan asked shyly, "Senior brother, are you hungry? Let Xingyuan prepare a meal for you."


    Although Lu Qingyun was not feeling hungry but he was eager to get her out of the room so he said, "Yes, I am. We can take a walk outside later too."


    Lie Xingyuan turned to smile at him, "Alright. I will go and prepare the meals now." But before she walked off, she took a few meaningful glances at the blanket.


    She stopped for a while at the entrance before she said shyly, "Senior brother, you get dress up first and wait at the dining hall. I will help you to change to a new blanket later."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He sighed softly to himself after Lie Xingyuan had left, "I think I''ve just screwed myself in front of a maiden¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan were now taking a slow stroll outside.


    For quite some time, they did not say anything but walked quietly side by side.


    Lu Qingyun was too awkward to talk because he had completely embarrassed himself in front of Lie Xingyuan earlier.


    Lie Xingyuan was the first to break the silence, "Senior brother, why are you so quiet? You have nothing to talk to me?"


    "Oh no," Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. "I was just thinking what had happened in the Red Death Valley. That''s all."


    Lie Xingyuan chuckled sweetly, "If senior brother doesn''t mind sharing with me, I''m all ears."


    Lu Qingyun was quite startled when he noticed her lovely countenance. This was the first time he had taken a serious look at her and he was quite astonished she was actually so beautiful. "Am I imagining things or is Xingyuan getting more beautiful nowadays?"


    But he quickly said, "This evil cultivator had claimed that he is a desolate immortal cultivator and he was doing some horrible experiments. I have never known anyone to possess the desolate forces except for the desolate beasts and I had actually met one. He was a really dangerous opponent and an insane one."


    He paused to heave a soft sigh, "I guess that I am lucky to make it back alive from that place."


    Lie Xingyuan laughed softly, "Because senior brother is a righteous person, that''s why even the heavens are protecting you."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly before he asked solemnly, "Xingyuan, what if there are more of these desolate immortal cultivators around?"


    Lie Xingyuan flashed her lovely eyes to ponder before she returned a faint smile, "I don''t think so. That cultivator may just be an isolated cultivator. If there are so many of them, won''t the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity be in mess by now?"


    He wanted to tell Xingyuan these desolate immortal cultivators were able to conceal their desolate auras and even the colors of their eyes but he thought that it would be unwise to tell her. It seemed to him that these desolate immortal cultivators were able to mingle with the celestial cultivators and that it would be difficult to identify them.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "Senior brother, you are really impressive. I keep hearing Zhao Xingye and Senior Sister Qiuyue singing your praises as we returned from the Red Death Valley. Be careful of your cherry blossom luck, huh?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "I don''t have any cherry blossom luck at all. No one will like me-"


    All of a sudden a musical voice interrupted him, "Senior Brother Qingyun, are you alright?" An enchanting maiden had suddenly descended to where they were.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Elder Yin¡­"


    Yin Shisi smiled as she greeted, "Senior Brother Qingyun, Senior Sister!"


    Lie Xingyuan was flustered, "Just call me Xingyuan please¡­"


    Lu Qingyun looked curiously at them, "Senior Sister?"


    Yin Shisi said, "Senior Sister Xingyuan and I have the same external master. I am her junior sister."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. Yin Shisi was a sixth realm golden supremacy and she was actually addressing Xingyuan as her senior sister. This was really too unbelievable.


    While he was looking at Yin Shisi, there was a flush on his cheeks. He simply could not help having some lewd thoughts on her especially when his eyes had such a feast on that day¡­


    "Senior brother, you have actually been away for a few days. I was getting a little worried for you. I''ve heard that the Red Death Valley is a dangerous place. Did you meet any formidable desolate beasts on your trip there?" Yin Shisi asked softly with her eyes that were seemingly filled with sentimental concerns.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I didn''t actually meet with any desolate beasts¡­" All the desolate beasts were suppressed or killed by the Metamorphs, he said in his heart.


    "You didn''t meet with any desolate beasts?" Yin Shisi returned a look of surprise.


    Lie Xingyuan chuckled softly, "Senior brother meant that he did not meet with any desolate beasts that are worthy of fighting him."


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "That is right. It is actually an easy mission."


    He was not supposed to talk about this mission to anyone because it was considered to be a taboo subject and he had been sworn to secrecy prior to his return to the Heavens Ridge Villa by Supremacy Shen Yufeng.


    Yin Shisi smiled as she nodded, "I''m not wrong about you."


    All of a sudden Elder Mu Han had appeared and said, "I wonder who is here. So this is Senior Brother Lu!"


    Lu Qingyun greeted, "Elder Mu Han."


    Mu Han laughed and patted Lu Qingyun on his shoulder, "I just happen to walk pass. I really didn''t see anything, didn''t see anything at all. Please continue your chat!"


    As he walked off, he was saying. "What a lucky fellow to have two beauties with him on a walk¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun quickly said, "There is a pavilion over there. Why don''t we go over there to have a chat?"


    The pavilion was facing a lake and this time they would have ample warning and could watch out for anyone that approached them. This alleyway was really too crowded and Lu Qingyun could see that there were many other prot¨¦g¨¦s that were smiling and whispering on the sly.


    "Isn''t that Senior Brother Lu?"


    "He is with Elder Yin and that is Lie Xingyuan¡­"


    "He is really a lucky fellow¡­"


    Yin Shisi was looking a little flush as she said, "Alright. That looks like a nice spot. I am really curious to hear about your adventures in the Red Death Valley."


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly. He was going to use the next hundred paces to the pavilion to make up a story and he knew that he had to make up a story real fast.


    Just as they had approached the pavilion, Lu Qingyun noticed that there was someone else who was sitting in the dark corner of the pavilion and she was Ouyang Xue.


    Ouyang Xue gasped when she had seen him, "Senior Brother Lu. What are you doing here?"


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had recalled seeing this pavilion before. This pavilion was Ouyang Xue''s favorite spot since she was young.


    For a moment, Lu Qingyun, Ouyang Xue, Yin Shisi and Lie Xingyuan were all looking at one another in stunned silence.


    Finally Lu Qingyun said awkwardly, "We are just taking a walk and we just happen to meet Elder Yin."


    Ouyang Xue lowered her glances as she said with a soft sigh, "You¡­don''t have to explain to me."


    Then a stroke of brilliant struck Lu Qingyun as he quickly said, "Why not all of you have a chat here? I just remember that I have something important to do first."


    With that he had ran off.


    After running for some time, he heaved a soft sigh of relief. "What is going on today? Don''t tell me that I really have cherry blossom luck today¡­"


    "Senior Qingyun¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled when he was suddenly approached by Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye.


    "Maiden Riyue, Zhao Xingye¡­" he quickly greeted them.


    The moment that he had greeted them, he was chanced upon by some passing prot¨¦g¨¦s who were muttering. "Look, isn''t that Senior Brother Qingyun and the beautiful prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    "It is so good to have born with a handsome face like him¡­"


    "If I am Senior Brother Lu, I don''t mind being a low level cultivator forever¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun quickly said with some awkwardness, "I am in a hurry today. Please forgive me for my rudeness." With that he had dashed off.


    Zhao Xingye gasped softly after him, "Senior¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun was already gone.


    After some time Lu Qingyun finally found a place where there was no one.


    He smiled weakly, "Weird, the Heavens Ridge Villa is a big place. Why is that I keep knocking into someone that I know? I wonder if I will be able to meet Junior Sister Qiuyue today¡­"


    No sooner had he said that, Leng Qiuyue had suddenly appeared and was startled to see him, "Senior brother, why are you here?"


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes and smiled weakly, "I am just taking a walk."


    Leng Qiuyue nodded slowly, "It does seem like a good morning to take a walk. I am also taking a walk too. To think that I will actually meet you here. It must be fate that cause us to meet here."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "It is really such a coincidence."


    He was thinking, "What is happening today?!"


    Leng Qiuyue averted her glances with a flustered smile, "Senior brother, I wonder¡­if you have anyone in your heart already?"


    Lu Qingyun was completely stunned by her question¡­

 127 Calamity Luck

    "Senior Brother, I wonder¡­if you have anyone in your heart already?"


    This was the question that was posed by Leng Qiuyue and she was now looking shyly at him as she waited for his reply.


    There was a blanked expression in Lu Qingyun''s eyes as he did not know how he was going to answer her. He was not too dense to know that Leng Qiuyue was looking at him with an expression that was not of the norm.


    He had suddenly remembered a story of a scholar who was once hotly pursued by three hot beauties. As he could not choose who he wanted to be with in the end and was afraid that he would hurt them so he had chosen to fake his own death.


    But this story had nothing to do with her question¡­


    He could not tell anyone that he was together with the sect leader or this would be a major scandal in the clan and in New Empyrean City. But at the same time, he was afraid of hurting her.


    Leng Qiuyue averted her glances and said melancholy, "Actually I know that you have already someone in your heart."


    "You do?" Lu Qingyun was startled.


    Leng Qiuyue nodded shyly, "It has to be her. Only she does not despise you from the very start and you are with her the whole time. It is only natural that you will have developed feelings for each other. Compare to her, I am far inferior."


    Lu Qingyun was startled. Was she referring to Lie Xingyuan? Xingyuan was like a little sister to me¡­


    Leng Qiuyue looked up to him and smiled coyly, "You have saved my life three times. How do you think that I ought to repay you? It seems that in this lifetime¡­I¡­am struck with you already."


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes. Did he hear her correctly? She was actually confessing to him?!


    He had never had anyone confessing to him and moreover Leng Qiuyue was well-known as the icy beauty in the clan. She was someone that he would never expect to take such an initiative¡­


    "I¡­I¡­" Lu Qingyun was so caught up by surprise that he was stammering.


    Leng Qiuyue looked away shyly, "Senior brother, do you despise me?"


    Lu Qingyun was stammering, "Of course not¡­"


    There was a delightful look on Leng Qiuyue as she smiled shyly, "That is¡­good enough for me!" With that, she had hastily walked away while leaving Lu Qingyun to stammer almost incoherently to himself. "Junior Sister Qiuyue¡­likes me¡­"


    "I think I''ve better stay in my abode today¡­" he was murmuring to himself when he saw a familiar looking old man with pure white hair that was quietly approaching him.


    This old man, was he not that fortune-teller that he had met some time ago?


    The old man gave him an unhappy look before he said solemnly, "Did I not warn you that you may have some peach blossom luck lately?"


    Lu Qingyun seemed to have recalled that so he nodded lightly.


    "Did I not also warn you that you will be a calamity star to your beloved?" the old man added solemnly.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he replied, "I forget¡­"


    Was it because of him that Keqin was forced to enter into her cultivation seclusion?


    The old man was startled and he started to rebuke him furiously, "How dare you forget about my advice to you?! Do you want to bring upon her a great calamity then you will be satisfied?"


    Lu Qingyun had no idea why this old man had suddenly flown into a rage. In fact he had no idea that a stranger would fly into a rage just because he had forgotten to take his advice.


    The truth was, he had really forgotten about it. He had a perfect memory usually but in front of Qin Keqin, he would even forget who his old master was and even the three unbreakable rules that his old master had set for him were all gone like the winds.


    A short while ago, he had even thought of giving up on Keqin and had considered with utmost seriousness to break off with her because he knew that he was not the man of her heart. But within three minutes of seeing her once again, he had totally forgotten about it.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had a sheepish look on him as he had suddenly remembered this old man and his weak attempt to give up on Qin Keqin.


    In front of Qin Keqin, it was as though he had lost his soul and he could think of nothing else.


    "Young man! Have your lustful heart got over to your head that you have forgotten my good advice to you?!" The old man stared at him with a furious and unhappy look.


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "I¡­remember now¡­"


    "You remember?! Are you sure about it?!" the old man rebuked him.


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "How did he know about me and Keqin?" So he asked, "How do you know that I have not broken up with the maiden of my heart?"


    The old man laughed coldly, "I know that you will surely ask me this. Because I can still see the dark looming calamity star that is between your forehead that threaten to harm her destiny! Don''t forget that I am a fortune-teller!"


    Lu Qingyun said politely, "Old Sir, do you have any remedy? It is because I really don''t want to leave her."


    The old man said coldly, "You don''t want to leave her because you are lusting after her, am I right and not because you truly love her. If you truly love someone then you must give her up for the sake of her happiness!"


    "Old Sir. If you have a good remedy to share with me, please let me know!" There was a panic look in Lu Qingyun''s eyes as he asked the old man.


    The old man hummed coldly, "Why are you being so stubborn? Just leave her and everything will soon be alright! You can have all the other maidens in the world but not her!"


    Lu Qingyun growled suspiciously and said rudely, "Old man. I think you are a fake."


    The old man smiled coldly, "I am a fake? Young fellow. Do you know who I am? I''m the Three-Destiny Old Man, the foreteller of the three destinies. I know all of heavens'' secret. How dare you say that I am fake!"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "I''ve never heard of any Three-Destiny Old Man."


    The old man: ¡­


    "Hahaha, that is because I like to keep a low profile. That''s why you may have never heard of me. But why am I helping you? It is because we share some karmic fate! Why do you think that I will bother to help you?" the old man quickly added.


    Lu Qingyun saw that the air of this old man was indeed extraordinary and he quickly made an apology, "Please pardon me for overlooking you. I really didn''t mean to be offensive."


    "So you will leave her as soon as possible?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed, "I wish that I can but we have already¡­"


    He had already kissed Keqin on a number of occasions and he had even touched her. How could he let her down by leaving her?


    "What did you just say?! You have already¡­" the old man was furious. He had thought that Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin had already copulated and he was now speechless with rage.


    "Therefore, I really can''t leave her just like this." Lu Qingyun added with another soft sigh.


    The old man was really infuriated. "What have you done?!"


    Lu Qingyun was staring blankly at the old man and he asked with great earnest, "What have I done? Did I do anything wrong?"


    "It is too late now¡­" the old man was sighing regretfully.


    "Did I do anything wrong?" Lu Qingyun muttered as he continued to stare at the old man.


    The old man stared coldly at him, "Everything that you''ve done is wrong!"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "You have completely ruined her!" the old man added.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "It is not too late to make amends right? I can leave her. I just don''t want anything to happen to her."


    The old man seemed to have calmed down a little when he had heard him. He shot him a cold look before he said, "This is your last chance. Leave her or you will bring upon a calamity on her!"


    Lu Qingyun stammered nervously, "Thank you for your instructions. I will be mindful about it."


    "Don''t forget that I''m the Three-Destiny Old Man! You are just lucky to have me to point you to the correct path! Remember, this is heavens'' secrets that we are sharing now. Tell no one about this! Absolutely no one!" the old man warned him severely. "If you truly love you, prove it by leaving her!"


    As the old man left, Lu Qingyun was left to lament loudly to the heavens, "O Heavens! Is there anyone in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that is more miserable than me right now?!"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Qiuxiang Mei had summoned Tang Bufan and was solemnly questioning him, "I have heard that you and my daughter Qiuxiang Huan have been really quite intimate as of late."


    Tang Bufan replied nervously, "We are just good friends."


    Qiuxiang Mei hummed coldly, "Don''t forget that you are now just a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Clear Sky Pavilion and there are rules that you have to follow."


    Tang Bufan smiled weakly, "I do. May Pavilion Mistress be rest assures that I will follow the rules faithfully."


    Qiuxiang Mei walked quietly to the sword stand as she brandished a long sword before she said coldly, "I had heard something from a maid that you had stepped out of her room in the middle of the night."


    Tang Bufan had turned ashen immediately, "No, it is only a misunderstanding. You can ask Qiuxiang Huan¡­"


    "My daughter will naturally defend you." Qiuxiang Mei interrupted sharply.


    Then she gave him a cold smile, "Do you know that my daughter is now engaged to Young Master Ling Chong of the Flying Armament Sect?"


    Tang Bufan nodded as he returned a weak smile. How could he not know?


    "Good. Since you''ve already known about it, why are you staying so close to my daughter? I don''t want her to have any blemishes or scandals before her marriage. Do you understand?"


    Tang Bufan smiled weakly, "I¡­I understand."


    "Good." Qiuxiang Mei gave him a cold look before a wryly smile appeared on her. "As for that maid that saw you leaving my daughter''s room, I had already sent her to the grave."


    Tang Bufan was so startled that he quickly fell onto his knees. "Pavilion Mistress, I hope that you will have mercy on me. I will not dare to be so close to Qiuxiang Huan again!"


    Qiuxiang Mei smirked coldly, "This won''t do. I can see that your cultivation strength seems to have been reaping some benefits lately. Is it because you have been riding my daughter lately?"


    Tang Bufan was thinking, "She has found out about my affair with Qiuxiang Huan¡­" But still he dared not admit it.


    Qiuxiang Mei smiled, "Get up first. If I want to kill you, I won''t wait until now. If I want to kill you, I won''t silence the maid. After all, I don''t want to make my daughter sad, do I? So get up first."


    Tang Bufan slowly got up as he thought, "I am safe now?"


    Just as he had muttered out a soft sigh of relief, a flash of the sword that was in Qiuxiang Mei''s hands had slashed below him.


    Immediately the lower part of his robe was tainted with blood and Tang Bufan had turned extremely pale!


    Qiuxiang Mei smiled quietly, "I will only trust the words of a eunuch. I don''t know how you''ve managed to trick her into your bed but this will be your last time. Do you think that my swordplay is swift and painless?"


    Tang Bufan could not answer her because he had passed out all of a sudden!


    His last thoughts were, "Heavens! Is there be a more unlucky person than I am elsewhere in the Nine Celestial Fraternity right now¡­"

 128 The Playacting Saintesses

    At the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse hideout in New Empyrean City;


    Feng Minyue was muttering panicky to Xuan Danfeng, "There is an additional 300 million silvers that are unaccounted for."


    300 million silvers were a big sum of money that most of the celestial clans in New Empyrean City could only hope to see but not have, not even with ten years of clan income.


    Xuan Danfeng looked carefully at the accounts and suddenly said weakly, "Do you remember that Yuqing had used the spirit transmission during the recent Heavens Ridge Villa''s martial tournament?"


    Feng Minyue gasped softly as she shook her head with an unhappy look, "I¡­remember now¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Well, she didn''t turn it off periodically but had kept it on all the time."


    Feng Minyue moaned softly, "I don''t need you to remind me of this."


    She heaved a deep soft as her eyes looked miserably at the accounts again. One minute of the spirit transmission was a high grade spirit/soul stone that was gone and Fan Yuqing was spending the spirit stones as though it was like plain water.


    "This month we are going to be tight again. So no more fine wines for you." Feng Minyue shot an icy look at Xuan Danfeng.


    Xuan Danfeng slammed her hand on the table lightly, "Minyue, this time you ought to be fair. It is Yuqing that is being so wasteful this time! She completely lacks self-control! You can''t expect me to suffer just because it is due to Yuqing''s doing, do you? Moreover, you know that we have two more mouths to feed recently."


    "Ahem!" Feng Minyue quickly said.


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Hope that I didn''t say that too loud."


    "You already have." Lie Qing the Heavenly Temptress walked into the room as she swept her mesmerizing glances at them.


    With a faint smile, she dropped a heavy pouch on the table top and said coolly. "There are a thousand high grade spirit stones with the purest soul force inside. Take it and spend it wisely."


    With another smile she said, "The Heaveness had finished the latest stories. Be sure to get her more. After all, we are not paying you to be idle with your services."


    With that Lie Qing had walked out of the room.


    Xuan Danfeng winked at Feng Minyue as they exchanging knowing glances with each other.


    There was a sweet smile that was on Feng Minyue as she whistled a quick tune, "Now the accounts are finally fine!"


    Xuan Danfeng said a in a low voice, "Minyue, I think that you look more and more like a housewife each day."


    Feng Minyue shot her an icy look, "What do you mean?"


    Xuan Danfeng laughed softly before her eyes looked at her with mischief, "Well, you are doing more housekeeping than spying on gossips. Most of the time, it is always Yuqing and I."


    "Someone has to take care of the accounts, am I right?" Feng Minyue coolly said.


    "At this rate they are progressing, it is only a matter of time before our Sister Saintess Yuqing will be marrying off to Lu Qingyun. When that happens, what will you do?" Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly.


    "I will still follow Sister Saintess Yuqing when that day comes." Feng Minyue said with a determined look.


    "Waaaaa, that Lu Qingyun fellow is so lucky to have two city toppling beauties. He is really having some dogshit luck." Xuan Danfeng teased as she chuckled.


    "Then why don''t you join us?" Feng Minyue ignored her teased and said coolly.


    "Heh! I''m not into that!" Xuan Danfeng chuckled. "I''m sure that no one likes a drunkard like me."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lie Qing walked into the room where the Heaveness was and she was laughing softly, "Lingfeng, these two great saintesses are playacting too much. Shall we teach them a little lesson?"


    Lingfeng was naturally the Heaveness'' name.


    Ji Lingfeng shook her head with a soft sigh, "Forget it, although I''ve never seen two such money minded great saintesses in my entire life before but I must admit that Feng Minyue is really handling their finances pretty well. Danfeng is only trying to trick us into loosening our pockets. We just treat it as giving some pocket allowances to Yuqin."


    "Well, if you say so." Lie Qing smiled. "I just can''t stand the thought that they think that they are smarter than us."


    Ji Lingfeng gave a quiet nod as she picked up a cultivation slip to read.


    "You are still worried about Yuqin?" Lie Qing smiled. "Actually I think that Lu Qingyun fellow isn''t really a bad fellow. Back in the Red Death Valley, he has actually wanted to sacrifice himself to save Zhao Xingye and my daughter."


    Ji Lingfeng put down her cultivation slip and said slowly, "But we still have no idea how he had managed to escape unscathed. I find it a little too weird. Don''t you think so?"


    "Maybe he is just lucky." Lie Qing smiled.


    "I don''t think so. My calculations tell me that it is impossible for him to be still alive unless he has struck a deal with that Desolate Immortal Cultivator Inverse Chaos. Very unlikely to be alive at all. He was barely even injured at all. Don''t you find it to be too strange?"


    Ji Lingfeng added, "Moreover, the desolate immortal cultivators have their own unique ways of knowing their own kind. I''m not at all surprised that Inverse Chaos had known that Lu Qingyun is his own kind despite Yuqin best efforts in concealing his desolate aura."


    Lie Qing nodded, "You are still worried because you know who he really is. I must admit that I am a little afraid of him as well. We are all afraid that one day he may be too strong for us to handle. After all, we are not his match when he is at his peak."


    "The desolate immortals are a vengeful race. I''m afraid that he may seek vendetta on us and on Yuqin. In the end, Yuqin will be the one who will be suffering the most." Ji Lingfeng said with a quiet melancholy.


    "Let''s hope that he will be a celestial practitioner forever then." Lie Qing said quietly.


    "Hope so¡­" Ji Lingfeng''s eyes were melancholy as she had feared for the worst for Yuqin.


    "By the way Lingfeng, you will be interested to know this." Lie Qing was suddenly smiling mysteriously. "Guess what?"


    Ji Lingfeng looked at her with her alluring eyes, "What do you want to say?"


    "I saw him earlier! He is in New Empyrean City. I am betting that he is here to look for you." Lie Qing had a delightful smile. "He is still the same old self."


    "Maybe he is here to look for you instead." Ji Lingfeng said coldly.


    Lie Qing shook her head with a soft chuckle, "He is probably here to look for you."


    Ji Lingfeng was suddenly smiling with delightful allure, "Hmph! Even if I give him a hundred years, he will never be able to sense where we are. We are quite safe here."


    Then she looked at Lie Qing, "How did you manage to see him? Did he know that you are here?"


    Lie Qing laughed, "Of course not! I saw him at the Heavens Ridge Villa and he was pretending to be some old man."


    "Why did he go there for?" Ji Lingfeng asked curiously.


    Lie Qing shook her head, "I don''t know either. I dare not approach too near to him. But I saw him talking to Lu Qingyun and he appeared to be quite mad."


    Ji Lingfeng was startled, "He knows about Lu Qingyun?!"


    "Obviously yes or else he won''t be talking to him." Lie Qing analyzed her answer.


    Ji Lingfeng trembled lightly, "I think Lu Qingyun may be in danger."


    Lie Qing was startled, "Surely you don''t mean that he will¡­"


    All of a sudden Ji Lingfeng threw her cultivation slip down and said coldly, "He is obviously more concern about looking for his foes than looking for me! He can go to hell!"


    Then she took a nervous look at Lie Qing, "Keep it from Yuqin first. She need not know about this."


    Lie Qing nodded, "I agree that it is not wise to let Yuqin knows about it."

 129 The Horizon of the Heavens

    Red Death Valley;


    Yue Lingxi slowly woke up from her slumber.


    With a light tremble, she had tiptoed on the ground and her profound aura was like feathered wings that shook all the dirt and debris from her body.


    Her profound aura was a deep purple unlike the golden auras of the golden celestials and even her eyes were now a brilliant violet.


    She took a curious look at her surroundings before she chuckled softly, "So this is the Celestial Realm! To think that the Celestial Realm will be such an ideal place for the Desolate Immortals. It is¡­really such a surprise. Now I''ve finally known where all the desolate forces had gone to after the Great God Pangu had sundered the Gods Realm into the Three Known Realms. It is all hidden under the mountains of the Celestial Realm."


    The Gods Realm was once the home realm of the Desolate Immortals where they ruled over all of creations. But the Great God Pangu had defeated the Desolate Immortals and had driven them to the Desolate Realm. As for the Divine Realm, the Great God Pangu had split it into the Three Known Realms that were collectively known as the Immortal Realm, Celestial Realm and the Mortal Realm.


    She heaved a soft sigh and had a stupefied look, "To think that the Desolate Leaders of the Ancient Fortress had all wasted their lives in invading the Immortal Realm and ended up being defeated by the Pangu Immortals in the Immortal Realm. Even the Ancient Fortress was lost to the Pangu Immortals¡­"


    There was a drop of tear that tickled onto the ground as she moaned the demise of her once glorious race.


    Not only had the Pangu Immortals claimed the Ancient Fortress but even the Desolate Realm had fallen to the Pangu Immortals.


    "Is this to be the final fate of the first immortals?" she lamented quietly.


    She continued to lament for some time before she took out the Horizon of the Heavens. In order to obtain this Horizon of the Heavens, she had sacrificed half of her desolate strength to transmigrate forcefully to the Celestial Realm in order to find it.


    Along the way, she had met an old desolate immortal who had largely lost his desolate strength and she had put in a blind faith to trust him but he turned out to have a nefarious intention. Not only did he steal her Horizon of the Heavens from her hands but he had also captured her to turn her into his vile experiments.


    This Horizon of the Heavens was extremely important to her. It was because hidden within the Horizon of the Heavens, was one-tenth of the profound might of the Great Rift God Xuan Yuan.


    Although it was only one-tenth of the Great Rift God Xuan Yuan''s strength but this was enough to restore all her lost desolate strength and to propel her to a greater immortal cultivator!


    Who was the Great Rift God? At his peak, he was said to be able to contest with the Great God Pangu. Naturally he was a beyond divinity immortal and was an extreme immortal of great strength.


    When he had fallen after fighting in the failed invasion of the Immortal Realm, he had imbued the last of his profound might into an ancient artefact and this ancient artefact was the Horizon of the Heavens.


    She was now holding onto the Horizon of the Heavens with her trembling fingers. "That fool Inverse Chaos, he had such a profound treasure in his hands and yet he was unable to comprehend any of its secrets. He is indeed old and reached the end of his potential. No wonder his mind was so warped that he had taken the unorthodox path. This is the difference between us."


    The Horizon of the Heavens was a silver shard that was the size of her palm. With just a few touches of her fingers, it had changed into a silver scroll.


    With eager anticipation, she unfolded the scroll and there was a smile on her countenance. Dozens of immortal intricate formulas were instantly revealed to her. But these cultivation intricate formulas were not the ones that she was seeking.


    Within the Horizon of the Heavens, was the ultimate desolate power and that was the one that she was seeking.


    Time passed, she had finally figured out that these immortal intricate formulas were not random lines but was a hidden doorway to the Horizon of the Heavens. As the Desolate Sacred Maiden of the Citadel of Chaos Mysteries, she was not a stranger to this type of hidden cryptography.


    Eventually the Horizon of the Heavens was glowing with a reddish hue and her eager eyes were excited. "This is too easy. I am indeed a monstrous genius of my race."


    Then a cryptic message was revealed and she was stunned.


    "Only a wielder of the major annihilating force will be able to open the secrets within."


    "This is impossible¡­" Yue Lingxi was completely stupefied.


    The annihilating force was divided into three power levels; the lesser, the minor and the major.


    Any practitioner of the desolate force could practice the lesser annihilating force. It was not actually difficult and it would require some ten thousand years to do so. She was a high level practitioner of the chaos desolate force and she was confident that she may be able to accomplish this feat in a thousand year.


    However the minor annihilating force was another matter. Most of the high level desolate immortal cultivators of annihilating force were lucky enough to reach the minor annihilating force level. As a major practitioner of the chaos desolate force, if she cultivated extremely hard for the next hundred thousand years, there may be a chance that she could cultivate to this level. But that would mean that she had to sacrifice her major chaos desolate force in order to do so, becoming a minor practitioner of the minor annihilating force.


    This was a step backward for her!


    As for the major annihilating force, the Great Rift God was the only desolate immortal who had ever attained to this lofty peak and he was the first immortal.


    Yue Lingxi was a third generation desolate immortal and in her heart, she knew that even with her monstrous talent, she would never be able to surpass the geniuses of the first immortals.


    Or else, she would not have thought of sacrificing half of her chaos desolate force in order to transmigrate to the Celestial Realm to track down the Horizon of the Heavens. Moreover in order to obtain the whereabouts of the Horizon of the Heavens, her fellow desolate immortals of the Citadel of Chaos Mysteries had paid a heavy price for it and they were mostly killed by the Alluring Goddess Theresa.


    The Alluring Goddess Theresa was not a Pangu Immortal but a First Desolate Immortal of the Oracle Citadel.


    When the Great Rift God was killed, he had imbued the remnants of his immortal strength into the Horizon of the Heavens so that one day, the desolate immortals would make a comeback with his strength.


    In order to track down the Horizon of the Heavens, which was also a desolate artefact which had vanished through time and space, the Citadels of the Chaos Mysteries and the Oracle had setup a massive immortal array to divine the whereabouts of the Horizon of the Heavens.


    At the most crucial moment, the Alluring Goddess Theresa was revealed to be a traitor of the desolate immortals and the massive immortal array was destroyed by her.


    Although the massive immortal array was destroyed, she had a hint of the whereabouts of the Horizon of the Heavens.


    Making full use of the confusion and by sacrificing half of her desolate strength, she had successfully transmigrated into the Celestial Realm.


    She could not understand why even a mighty figure like the Alluring Goddess Theresa had chosen to betray the desolate immortals. The Alluring Goddess Theresa was a Great Goddess and a beyond divinity immortal whose strength was said to equal the Great Rift God.


    If she could obtain the Horizon of the Heavens, her desolate strength would grow even more powerful and there was not a chance that the Pangu Immortals would conquer the desolate immortals. In fact, she could even be the next ruler of the Six Realms of Divinity.


    But she had chosen to destroy the immortal array, betray the desolate immortals and be a dog of the Pangu Immortals!


    Yue Lingxi muttered with utter sadness, "I don''t understand. This is complete madness."


    During the Desolate Immortals-Pangu Immortals conflict, a third of the Desolate Immortals had defected to the side of the Pangu Immortals. This caused the immortal war to swing to the side of the Pangu Immortals.


    Almost overnight, the Ancient Fortress of the Desolate Immortals was overrun by the Pangu Immortals and even the Desolate Realm was not spared by the counter-attack of the Pangu Immortals.


    What turned out to be an invasion of the Immortal Realm by the Desolate Immortals was completely reversed by the Pangu Immortals.


    She actually did not have any sympathy for the dead desolate immortals though, not even for the Great Rift God. The ways of the desolate immortals were their chaotic nature and they were cold even to their own kind. And she was no exception.


    Power was everything to the desolate immortals and might was right. This was their way of life since the dawn of time.


    A few options were now laid out in front of her now.


    One; return to the Desolate Realm with the Horizon of the Heavens. Even without the profound power of the Great Rift God, the Horizon of the Heavens was still a mighty desolate artefact.


    Two; cultivate the annihilating force to the major annihilating force level. The desolate mists in the Celestial Realm would be a perfect cultivation place for her. Maybe in a million years, she may finally be able to obtain the profound power of the Great Rift God.


    Three; Look for a practitioner with the annihilating force potential and to trick him into obtaining the profound power for her.


    Her desolate eyes were soon flashing and she had a faint smile, "Lu¡­Qing¡­Yun¡­"


    It was a good thing that she still had a trace of her profound tracing on him. "We are going to meet again real soon." There was a hint of light flushes on her and she was secretly smiling to herself.

 130 Defeating the Inner Demons

    Lu Qingyun had a despondent heart after his talk with the Three-Destinies Old Man. After his return to his abode, he said to Lie Xingyuan. "I''m going to spend a few days meditating. I still find my strength to be sorely lacking."


    Lie Xingyuan was surprised by his decision but she did not stop him.


    She merely looked at him with a flustered smile, "Actually senior brother, I''ve changed the blanket and the bedding for you. I don''t mind changing it every day for you."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Xingyuan, it is not what you think it is¡­"


    "You don''t have to explain. I totally understand." Lie Xingyuan shyly giggled.


    Lu Qingyun was flustered. He could not tell her about the Three-Destinies Old Man because it would mean revealing the heavens'' secrets.


    "Actually¡­I¡­" he was stammering because he did not know how to explain it to her.


    "It is good to burn away your internal fires in the practice chamber." She shyly said before she walked hastily away.


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes as he muttered, "I am not doing anything else in the practice chamber. I am only meditating inside¡­do I look like a lecherous man to you?"


    Shaking his head, he walked into the practice chamber and had entered into a self-imposed ''cultivation retreat''.


    But instead of cultivating, he was actually thinking of what the Three-Destinies Old Man had told him.


    "I will bring upon a calamity on Keqin¡­"


    "If I truly love her then I must give her up for her own good¡­"


    "Keqin¡­"


    "Keqin¡­"


    "Is it only lust that I have felt toward Keqin?"


    "I may feel lust toward Yin Shisi but definitely not Keqin¡­"


    After struggling with his inner demons for two days, Lu Qingyun had finally opened his eyes with an enlightened look.


    "Why is that I will only bring a calamity on Keqin but not the others?"


    "That Three-Destinies Old Man must be a fraudster¡­"


    "I finally know why. He must be an old toad that is lusting after Keqin himself¡­"


    "To think that I was almost tricked by him¡­"


    "To think that I was almost manipulated by him into leaving Keqin¡­"


    "I am really not a lustful man, definitely not¡­"


    "¡­so that old man must be wrong."


    "Actually I do feel a little lust towards her¡­well it is only just a little and it can''t be considered to be lust? Am I right?"


    Over the past two days, he had finally found many excuses and many reasons why he should not be leaving Qin Keqin.


    "I shall not be defeated by this old man¡­"


    "Even if what he had said is the truth, I am going to defy the heavens¡­"


    He had finally defeated the inner demons of his heart, defeated the advice of the Three-Destinies Old Man and he had emerged as the ultimate winner.


    With a triumphant look, he had walked out of the practice chamber.


    "Senior brother, you have ended the retreated?" Lie Xingyuan smiled when she saw him entering the abode''s hall.


    "Xingyuan, I am hungry. May I have two bowl of rice?" Lu Qingyun smiled when he saw Lie Xingyuan. He was in high spirits and he had never felt as good as before.


    Lie Xingyuan was giggling, "Alright. I will also make a few extra dishes for you. I think that you need more food to replenish your lost stamina."


    "Lost stamina? What lost stamina?" Lu Qingyun had a perplexed look as he looked curiously at her.


    "Senior brother, actually try not to do it so often. It is harmful to your body. You know, you can always look for Xingyuan¡­" she let it lingered before she dashed shyly out of the hall.


    Lu Qingyun was stammering, "Xingyuan, it is really not what you think¡­"


    All of a sudden he heard Lie Xingyuan making a greeting from beyond the hall, "Grand Elder Celestial Shi! Xingyuan pays my respect to you."


    "Where is Senior Brother Qingyun? I am here specifically to look for him." Shi Guanyin was heard saying.


    "He''s in the hall now."


    "Alright then. I will look for him myself. You can carry on with your tasks."


    When Shi Guanyin had entered the hall, Lu Qingyun quickly greeted her respectfully. "Grand Elder Shi. May I wonder what brings you here?"


    He was quite respectful toward Shi Guanyin because if it was not for her, he would never have the chance to enter the Red Heaven Sword Library and found the Flaming Crimson Sword Art. He felt that he really owed her for what he had become now.


    "Grand Elder Celestial Shi is so kind to me. I don''t know how I would ever repay her for her kindness to me¡­" He was thinking when he saw her.


    This time round, she had come alone.


    "Senior brother," Shi Guanyin was smiling. "Thank you for taking care of Qiuyue during the trip to the Red Death Valley."


    "Not at all." Lu Qingyun said humbly.


    "I just have some news for you so I thought of delivering it personally to you," Shi Guanyin smiled.


    "Oh? I feel really bad that Grand Elder Shi is personally delivering the news to me." Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly.


    "Don''t worry about it. I am free anyway and I thought of seeing how you are. If senior brother is badly injured, the future of the Heavens Ridge Villa will be at risk." Shi Guanyin chuckled softly.


    "Haha, I''m not someone that is important as to affect the future of the Heavens Ridge Villa." Lu Qingyun answered awkwardly.


    "You are our senior brother, the core disciple to our acting sect leader! Moreover our acting sect leader is also the Fragrance Elder of our patriarch clan! So that makes you doubly important." Shi Guanyin winked at him.


    Of course, she was not going to tell him that the grand elders had all know by now that their acting sect leader Qin Keqin was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    Lu Qingyun was the core disciple of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. This status alone could shake the Nine Celestial Fraternity!


    "As you know, our patriarch clan the Heavenly Fragrance Villa has recently announced that our clan will be hosting the regional cultivators'' competition. Every celestial clan in the region will be allowed to field four candidates that are below the fifth realm. Therefore we have decided to field you as one of the candidates as you have the most outstanding results during the core prot¨¦g¨¦s martial tournament. What do you think?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he was immediately excited. This was a chance for him to prove himself!


    So he quickly said, "I will gladly accept this honor! May I know who will be the other three candidates that will be fielded?"


    Shi Guanyin said with pride, "Leng Qiuyue, Nangong Yu, Cheng Wuzi! They are the other three."


    Leng Qiuyue, Cheng Wuzi and Nangong Yu were all fourth realm experts. Naturally they would be selected.


    Shi Guanyin smiled before she said in a low voice, "Qiuyue has been singing your praises. I am really curious what is your cultivation realm at the moment? I''ll promise to keep it a secret."


    Lu Qingyun had no intentions of hiding his cultivation realm and was in fact eager to shake off his good-for-nothing cultivator moniker. He answered politely, "Upper fourth realm immortal celestial."


    When Shi Guanyin heard him, her eyes were wide opened with disbelief. All along she had thought that Lu Qingyun was only a first realm lowly cultivator and he was now a fourth realm expert in just a matter of months?!


    She was greatly astonished!


    "How is it possible?" she was muttering.


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "It is all thanks to my master. Without her aid, I will never have get this far."


    Shi Guanyin had suddenly remembered that Qin Keqin was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and there was a story that Fan Yuqing used to be the high priestess of the Great Goddess Heaveness. Naturally this was entirely possible if it was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing¡­


    She smiled weakly, "I should have put more faith in Qiuyue''s words. You are really an outstanding genius and the chosen son of the heavens."


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "Maybe I should ask Grand Elder Shi to let me evaluate my cultivation strength again with the telling stone. In this way, I will no longer be the good-for-nothing but handsome cultivator¡­"


    But he had suddenly had a change of his heart, "I''ve promised Keqin that I will cultivate the heart. Alas, why am I so stubborn on seeking renown? With such a mentality, my state of divinity will never be able to improve and I''ll never be a saint in the future."


    So he shook his head and said humbly, "My strength is still lacking and I''m not any chosen son of the heavens."


    Shi Guanyin nodded as she thought, "He is a humble heart and is teachable. He will have a bright future. *Sigh* If he isn''t with sect leader, I will surely give Qiuyue hand in marriage to him¡­"


    Mindful that her thoughts were drifting away, she quickly said. "The second news is a little shocking. Young Master Ling Chong of the Flying Armament Sect is getting married to Qiuxiang Huan. It is also likely that Qiuxiang Huan will be one of the competing candidates on the side of the Flying Armament Sect."


    Lu Qingyun was a little startled. "She is marrying my brother Ling Chong?"


    Shi Guanyin nodded, "This may not be good news for us actually."


    Lu Qingyun nodded lightly. Qiuxiang Huan had left quite a lasting impression on him with her stately demeanor and moreover, she was really a city toppling beauty as well.


    He was feeling a little envious for his sworn brother Ling Chong but was glad for him anyway.


    However most of his ''lasting impressions'' on Qiuxiang Huan were quite negative¡­


    When he thought of Qiuxiang Huan, he could not help but sighed softly as he sipped a drink.


    "The third news isn''t as shocking and may well be proved to be a fake news. But I should at least inform you. Your sister is here to visit you."


    Lu Qingyun laughed as he took another sip of his tea, "When did I ever have a sister¡­"


    "Well, she says that her name is Lu Rongren. Since she isn''t your sister then I will ask the prot¨¦g¨¦s to turn her away."


    Lu Qingyun almost puke his drink out of his mouth and he was suddenly coughing, "Wait!"


    He suddenly had a sheepish look on him as he found himself saying, "She is indeed my sister."


    "Huh? She is really your sister?" Shi Guanyin asked curiously, "But I thought that you just said that you don''t have a sister?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "She is my older sister. We have not seen each other for a long time. We erm¡­from different mothers."


    Shi Guanyin seemed to be satisfied with the answer and she was smiling, "Alright then. I will allow her to come inside so that you can have your family reunion."


    Lu Qingyun was not thinking straight when he had admitted that this Lu Rongren was his sister. He was suddenly thinking, "Why did I have to admit it?"


    He was suddenly blinking his eyes when he had recalled this Yue Lingxi maiden and was thinking, "How did she find me? What does she want? More importantly, how do I explain this sister to Keqin?"


    Then a scary thought crossed his mind, "What if she is here to kill me?!"


    "There is another piece of news. This one is a good news for us and for you as well." Shi Guanyin said with grinning delight.


    Lu Qingyun gathered his thoughts and asked, "Oh?"


    "Lie Xingyuan has been chosen by Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng to be her core prot¨¦g¨¦. After the regional cultivators'' competition has ended, she will be going to the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa to be a prot¨¦g¨¦."


    Shi Guanyin chuckled before adding, "This is really a pleasant surprise! To think that all the celestial clans will be fighting in the regional cultivators'' competition for a chance to be accepted into the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa but Xingyuan actually has such a chance ahead of all the other female cultivators. To tell you the truth¡­.I''m so surprised by this as well¡­Shen Yufeng says that Xingyuan has a good potential and that''s why she wants to make her a core prot¨¦g¨¦¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was not listening anymore. He was stunned. "Xingyuan is leaving me soon¡­"

 131 Battle of the Wits

    Lu Qingyun had rushed to the heaven gate entrance of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    He thought that he had better stopped this ''Sister'' of his from entering the Heavens Ridge Villa before it was too late to stop her.


    Shi Guanyin and Lie Xingyuan were a little startled by his panicky rush to the heaven gate. They had thought that he was actually too excited at the prospect of meeting his sister instead.


    When Lu Qingyun had reached the heaven gate, an extremely beautiful maiden was standing quietly in wait and quite a number of prot¨¦g¨¦s were captivated by her astonishing allure.


    But only Lu Qingyun knew best; this extremely beautiful maiden was actually dangerous!


    They did not see the way that she had transformed into a terrifying desolate monster nor did they see how emotionless she was when she ripped her body parts out. If they had known, they would be panicking like he was now.


    Yue Lingxi smiled when she saw Lu Qingyun, "My¡­brother!"


    Lu Qingyun stammered when he saw her, "Erm¡­sister¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was most astonished when she saw Yue Lingxi. She did not know that Lu Qingyun actually had such a beautiful sister. It seemed that the good looks gene actually run in their family.


    Even Shi Guanyin expressed a little surprise when she saw Yue Lingxi as she thought, "This maiden seems to give out an extraordinary mystifying air. I wonder if she is a cultivator?"


    Most celestials in the Celestial Realm were born celestials and not everyone was an active cultivator. A large majority of the celestials were actually in the first realm and second realm.


    In the eyes of the high level cultivators like Celestial Shi Guanyin, only those celestials that were at the third realm were considered to be true cultivators.


    Lu Qingyun knew that Yue Lingxi had regained her consciousness and was not Number 1 or even his sister. But why was she here now and even claiming to visit ''this brother''?


    Yue Lingxi looked at Lu Qingyun intently and knitted her thin brows. She had recognized the annihilating force that was within him when she had regained her consciousness. But she had failed to evaluate the profound strength of his annihilating force at that time.


    Therefore this time she was determined to take a detail reading of his annihilating force as she recited her mystic arts silently.


    But to her great disappointment, he had only a tiny trace of the annihilating force. It did not even register even as lesser, minor or major of the annihilating force as it was too rudimentary.


    Lu Qingyun felt a little odd that Yue Lingxi was just staring at him. Even Lie Xingyuan and Shi Guanyin were also feeling a little odd here.


    Yue Lingxi searched her memories again. It was impossible for Lu Qingyun to have such a tiny trace of desolate energy. Totally impossible!


    It was because when she had regained her consciousness, she had clearly remembered that there was a strong lingering desolate aura around him and she had identified the origin as the annihilating force. But now this strong desolate aura had simply faded away? How could it be?


    She searched deeper into her memories and into her sub-consciousness when she was Number 1.


    Number 1 had suddenly awakened because she was suddenly aroused by a burst of pure desolate energy that had suddenly exploded and this pure desolate energy had come from Lu Qingyun and not Master Inverse Chaos.


    This pure desolate energy had appeared when Lu Qingyun had mustered his profound aura and it was so strong that it had lingered on him even she had awakened from her sub-consciousness. He had to be a least a lesser annihilating force practitioner.


    So she smiled and said to him, "Brother Lu Qingyun. Long time no see. How about you show your sister how strong you are now by displaying your profound strength for me to take a closer look?"


    When he had displayed his profound strength, she would be able to tell the degree of his mastery of the annihilating force by the strength of his profound aura alone.


    Lu Qingyun was startled that she had suddenly made such a request. He did not mind displaying his profound aura for her to see even though he did not know her real purpose for asking him to do so. But he was not stupid and he knew that she must have a purpose for asking him to do so. As for what purpose it was, he could not figure it out at the moment.


    So he smiled wryly, "My dear sister, I am cultivating my heart at the moment. It is best that I do not show off in public here."


    Yue Lingxi: ¡­


    The dozens of prot¨¦g¨¦s who were on sentry duty were all muttering among themselves and they were secretly laughing at Lu Qingyun.


    "Tsk, tsk. Our senior brother is only a low level cultivator so he is naturally shy to show off in front of his sister¡­"


    "Cultivating the heart¡­what a perfect excuse to say. We should all learn from our senior brother next time¡­Hahaha¡­"


    "Didn''t know that our senior brother actually has such a lovely sister¡­"


    "Although he has won the latest core prot¨¦g¨¦s competition but it seems to be rigged and until now, we have yet to see how impressive he is¡­"


    "Do you all remember at that time when Supremacy Wen had come? I had heard that our senior brother actually collapsed when he was being challenged!"


    "But there are some rumors that our senior brother is actually quite strong. Yes or no?"


    "These are just rumors that are spread by the female prot¨¦g¨¦s who had never seen a handsome face before. Frankly speaking, I am even more handsome than him!"


    "You are more handsome than senior brother? Don''t make me puke¡­"


    Yue Lingxi responded coldly to Lu Qingyun''s remarks, "In that case, why don''t you show me in private?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Actually sister, can you leave?"


    Yue Lingxi, Lie Xingyuan, Shi Guanyin: ¡­


    Lie Xingyuan was startled. Did she just hear correctly? Her Senior Brother Lu Qingyun was asking his sister that he had just met to just leave like this?


    Yue Lingxi smiled before she titled her head near Lu Qingyun to whisper in secret, "Do you believe that with a wave of my hand, I can take away your life? So you have better be wise up and show me your profound strength. Unless of course, you want to force me to attack you?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled when he had heard her. He quickly composed his mind to think of a life saving measure. Then he had an idea so he whispered back, "I''m betting that you dare not."


    Yue Lingxi hummed coldly, "Do you want to take a bet on that?"


    Lu Qingyun whispered, "I have no doubt that you can take away my life but if I am wrong about your current strength, it should be between the sixth and the seventh realm?"


    Yue Lingxi smirked coldly, "That is good enough to take away the life of a low level cultivator like you."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Sure you can but my master won''t be pleased and you won''t be able to escape."


    "Your master? Why would I fear your master?" Yue Lingxi hummed coldly.


    "My master is a peaked seventh realm expert. Surely with your spirit sense, it is not hard to miss a cultivator on that level?" Lu Qingyun whispered.


    He knew that Qin Keqin was in reclusion at the forbidden grounds of the Heavens Ridge Villa. Left with no other choices, he had decided to scare this Yue Lingxi maiden off. After all, Qin Keqin was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and she was indeed an upper seventh realm sacred saint cultivator. So he was not exactly lying.


    Yue Lingxi shuddered a little. She had suddenly remembered sensing the presence of two great saintesses in the Red Death Valley. So it was likely that Lu Qingyun was not lying to her.


    However she was not a fool to take in his words totally. So she extended her spiritual perception to probe the vicinity for the sighting of any unusual strong profound aura.


    To her startled shock, there was indeed a peaked seventh realm cultivator in the vicinity and this peak seventh realm cultivator had unusually strong profound aura. The instant that she had probed onto this peak seventh realm cultivator, this peak seventh realm cultivator was already alerted to her presence!


    But that was not all, there was also a beyond divinity cultivator that had also sensed her spiritual probing.


    Yue Lingxi had turned ashen immediately and she was even afraid. It was as though she had just entered a lion den by accident!


    When Lu Qingyun saw her expression, he knew that his ruse had somehow worked and he was secretly relieved. But he also sighing as this reminded him of his disparity with the maiden of his heart¡­


    "Am I good enough for her?"


    Yue Lingxi shot him a woeful glance, "You¡­you! I have come to look for you with the best of intentions and yet you do not know. You do not know what it is good for you!"


    With that she had quickly flashed away, astonishing Lie Xingyuan, Shi Guanyin and the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s who did not expect her to be actually a high level cultivator.


    Lu Qingyun scratched his forehead as he muttered, "I do not know what is good for me? What does she means by that?"


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling, "Senior brother, your sister''s swiftness movement skill is really astonishing. I think she is even better than you."


    Lu Qingyun looked at her with a weak smile, "Indeed."


    Then he heaved a soft sigh, "Xingyuan, are you really¡­joining the¡­Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    Lie Xingyuan averted her glances, "So senior brother, you have already known about it. Yes, I am. I''ve wanted to tell you after the meal¡­"


    "I am really happy for you. This is a dream come true for many¡­" Lu Qingyun murmured softly and there was a trembling heartache that was within him.


    "My only regret is that I won''t be on the side of senior brother anymore¡­I will no longer be able to take care of senior brother¡­" Lie Xingyuan''s eyes were extremely melancholy and her eyes were afraid to look at Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun suddenly said, "Xingyuan, as long as I know where you are. One day I will come to look for you!"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "Why do you want to look for me? Aren''t you afraid of inviting gossips? A prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa can''t get marry. That is the clan rule."


    "That is because we are friends. We''re best friends, Xingyuan. Why can''t I visit you?" Lu Qingyun said quietly.


    Lie Xingyuan slowly lifted her head to look affectionately at him. There seemed to be many unspoken things that were on her mind but eventually she smiled, "Then you must share with me how many hearts of the maidens that you''ve broken when you come to look for me. I will be really curious to know."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Xingyuan, why do you say that?"


    Lie Xingyuan lowered her voice to a whisper, "That beautiful maiden earlier isn''t your sister right? I saw the look that she had given to her when she had left and it looked like you had just broken her poor heart."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "If I tell you that she wants to kill me, would you believe me?"


    "I think that all the heartbroken maidens in the world can''t wait to kill the man that has let them down. What do you think?" Lie Xingyuan returned a faint smile.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­

 132 Beyond Divinity Cultivator

    Yue Lingxi was fleeing as quickly as possible.


    It was because she knew that a beyond divinity cultivator was now chasing her deep into the mountains.


    She wished that she had wings now and could plunge into the desolate mists that were below the mountains.


    Her greatest mistake was that she had greatly overestimated herself and she did not expected that there would be two such high level cultivation expert in this small place.


    And right now her beautiful form was fleeing extremely fast through the mountains as she hoped to shake off her pursuer.


    "Where do you think you are going?" a voice said right behind her.


    She gasped as a powerful profound force began to ripple onto her before slamming her hard onto the mountain.


    As she slid down the mountain, she saw a youthful old man with white hair was the one that had attacked her.


    She gasped, "Who are you?!"


    "I should be the one that is asking you instead!" The youthful old man coolly said. "I''m just surprised that there will actually be a desolate immortal that is able to sneak into the lower realm. Your background must indeed be extremely astonishing. You may call me the Three-Destinies Old Man!"


    Yue Lingxi had never known the meaning of fear but in front of this youthful old man who had a little hunchback, she was suddenly afraid.


    But of course she was not going to give up without a single fight. That was not the way of the desolate immortals!


    "If you want to know my name, you can ask when you are in the void!" she had raised her fingers and several shrieking sounds of the winds could be heard gathering furiously around her.


    "The Gathering Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword!"


    Several wind blades in the shape of a demonic wolf, strong enough to rip apart any ordinary fifth realm golden celestials, were rushing at her attacker.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled at the display of her profound force that he was gasping, "The desolate might of the Chaos Mysteries! You are a desolate immortal of the Citadel of Chaos Mysteries?"


    Yue Lingxi was smiling coldly, "Now that you know how fearsome I am? It is already too late. This is our citadel''s most powerful technique¡­"


    All of a sudden her smiles had completely vanished when the Three-Destinies Old Man had raised his palm and imploded her Gathering of Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword into nothingness.


    Yue Lingxi was secretly startled. This was not possible¡­not possible at all¡­this old man did not even use any power techniques and just by using the strength of his profound force, he had completely dissipated her profound power technique.


    She quickly flickered with her fingers and a divine sword was in her hand. "Die, old man!"


    A barrage of ice shots and penetrating kinetic bolts from her divine sword flew as energy waves toward the Three-Destinies Old Man.


    Three golden globes of light flashed and hovered around the old man as the sword energies of her divine sword were all completed deflected or dissipated by the three hovering golden globes.


    Yue Lingxi gasped with disbelief as she quickly took several steps back, "The Invincible Divine Force?! You are a Pangu Immortal? You are the Western Paradise Heavenly King of the Thirty-Three Heavens?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man rubbed his nose and thought, "Since she had thought that I am him, no harm pretending to be so." So he smiled, "Indeed I am!"


    Then he asked, "So you are the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi?"


    Yue Lingxi lifted her eyes to nod proudly, "Indeed I am. If I¡­haven''t sacrificed half of my desolate strength to transmigrate to this realm, do you think that you will be standing right now in front of me?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man growled softly, "Don''t be too hasty in making this judgment yet. All Thirty-Three Heavenly Kings of the Pangu Immortals are capable of fighting the Desolate Lords of the Twelve Citadels."


    "And how many of the Thirty-Three Heavenly Kings are now left?" Yue Lingxi lit a cold smile. "Only a third of the Thirty-Three Heavenly Kings are the more capable fighters. The rest are like useless trash in the eyes of the Desolate Lords like me."


    Yue Lingxi was a Desolate Lord of the Citadel of Chaos Mysteries and she was an eighth rank positioning desolate immortal. The Great Rift Lord and the Alluring Goddess Theresa were both ninth rank positioning desolate immortals and she was just an immortal rank below them.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled, "After losing half of your desolate might, can you still considered yourself to be a Desolate Lord? I think that you are just barely at the sacred saint level here. How can you fight me? Even the weakest of the Thirty-Three Heavenly King will be able to take you down without any real effort. Don''t you think so?"


    Yue Lingxi replied coldly, "I still have many secret skills and weapons that I have not taken out yet." Although this part was the truth but in reality her legs were trembling nonstop under her skirt. After all, she was facing a beyond divinity cultivator and a beyond divinity cultivator was at least a ninth rank positioning immortal.


    Even if she was at the peak of her strength, it was extremely difficult to defeat a ninth rank positioning immortal cultivator. There was a reason why the ninth rank positioning immortals were known as the beyond divinity cultivators.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man walked calmly to her and said, "Surrender and return with me to the Immortal Realm. I can promise you that you will be treated well¡­"


    All of a sudden Yue Lingxi had taken out the Horizon of the Heavens and morphed it into a beautiful silver feathered divine sword and a beam of brilliant white light exploded upon the Three-Destinies Old Man with an earth-shaking thunderous explosion!


    Yue Lingxi did not wait to see if the old man could survive the explosion that was generated with all of her remaining profound strength. She knew that he would probably survive but he would surely take quite a big hit. After all, the Horizon of the Heavens was a saint grade desolate immortal artefact.


    It was a lucky thing that she had deciphered quite a bit of the Horizon of the Heavens before she encountered this old man. Among the powerful immortal practices that she had learnt from the Horizon of the Heavens was to use it as a divine sword.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was caught off-guarded by the suddenly display of the brilliant explosion that had shook the mountains and he was thrown down from the mountain top.


    After rolling down for a short while, he picked himself up and heaved a heavy sigh. "To think that I will actually be surprised by her. She has actually obtained the Horizon of the Heavens. It seems that there will not be any peace in the Immortal Realm soon. So she is seeking the power of the Great Rift Lord for herself¡­"


    He took a quick look around before he straightened his back, "Lucky there is no one around to see this or I will really be a laughing stock in the future¡­"


    "She is such an unpleasant maiden. Whoever takes her as his consort in the future will be in deep trouble¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Yue Lingxi was delightful that she had managed to flee from the spiritual perception of the old man. In her desperate attempt to make an escape, she was forced to reveal the hidden card in her sleeves, the Horizon of the Heavens.


    She knew that she had to move ahead with her plans now because the Pangu Immortals would soon know that she had the Horizon of the Heavens and would be hunting her down to seize this godly desolate artefact for themselves.


    "Lu Qingyun, you are such a fool!" she cursed softly. "I would be willing to share the power with you if only if you sensible enough¡­"


    She did not know that at this moment Lu Qingyun was feeling so clever of himself because he had forced her to take flight.

 133 The Sunflower Sacred Skill

    Tang Bufan and Qiuxiang Huan were walking together in the back mountains of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    Tang Bufan was looking really pale and weak. He had thought that he could be able to enjoy the nights with a desirable maiden like Qiuxiang Huan but now his dreams had been shattered.


    Qiuxiang Huan said gently to him, "Bufan, don''t worry. Once you have reached the fifth realm of cultivation, your manhood will be able to restore. So don''t think too much of it. Isn''t it better this way? Because you are a eunuch now, there is no need for us to fear any gossips when we are together."


    Tang Bufan was smiling bitterly. He was only a third realm expert now. Even with the primordial yin that he had obtained from Qiuxiang Huan, he was only a middle third realm expert. It may take him a hundred years at the soonest in order to become a fifth realm expert.


    "Bufan, don''t blame my mother consort. She has my interest in her heart, alright?" Qiuxiang Huan said quietly.


    Tang Bufan smiled weakly, ??I dare not! Huan, if I can be with you forever then I will be content."


    "Good." Qiuxiang returned him a gentle smile.


    "Bufan, actually I have asked you out to show you a secret." Qiuxiang Huan said as she took out a golden scroll that had golden inscriptions on it.


    Tang Bufan was startled, "What is it?"


    Qiuxiang Huan said as she placed the golden scroll in his hands, "This is the Sunflower Sacred Skill. Have you heard of it?"


    Tang Bufan was astonished and his eyes were flashing greedily. "Yes, I have¡­heard of it¡­"


    The Sunflower Sacred Skill was a legendary lost internal martial art that could increase the profound strength of its practitioner to seeming legendary heights. The only bad part about this martial skill was that it could only be practiced by eunuchs.


    Tang Bufan began to open the golden scroll with trembling fingers and the first line that was inside the scroll was: In order to practice the Sunflower Sacred Skill, the practitioner must first severe his manhood, severe the seven passions and the six lusts, only can he gains mastery over his opponents.


    He was suddenly smiling as he thought, "Isn''t this perfect? I happen to be a eunuch now. With this sacred skill, he would soon be a fifth realm golden celestial!


    "Huan, you are so kind to me! I absolutely love you!" Tang Bufan was now all smiles as he unfolded the scroll further to read.


    "I love you too¡­Bufan¡­"


    All of a sudden Qiuxiang Huan had pushed Tang Bufan down the steep mountains to the desolate mists below, "Bufan, you can practice the Sunflower Sacred Skill below. All the best to your future endeavors. May we never meet again. Consider this my parting gift to you."


    Tang Bufan was so stunned by the sudden push that he never got the chance to react. The only reaction that he could manage was his loud screams as he disappeared into the desolate mists.


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling again, "Bufan, our short relationship is but a terrible mistake on my part. I was so lost back then. It won''t be too good if my future groom learns about us, don''t you think so? If you truly love me then you must accept your fate. Hopefully you will be able to master the Sunflower Sacred Skill and get back your manhood soon enough."


    She chuckled, "Ops, look at me. I''ve forgotten something very important. Even if you do master the Sunflower Sacred Skill, your manhood will never be able to regain even if you can be a golden celestial. It is because¡­you''ve chosen to severe your seven passions and six lusts!"


    "What a vicious woman!"


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled and she had quickly turned around. She was a fifth realm golden celestial. How was it possible for anyone to surprise her?"


    An extremely beautiful maiden was looking at her with a cold smile. She was pale looking and her robes were a little tattered and it seemed that she had just been into a fierce fight.


    "Who are you?" Qiuxiang Huan was alarmed as she lifted her golden sword.


    The extremely beautiful maiden said unhurriedly, "Did you just push your lover down the mountain?"


    Qiuxiang Huan repeated coldly, "Just who are you? You don''t believe that I will shred you to pieces and throw you down the mountain too?"


    The extremely beautiful maiden said, "If you are able to do so, you can simply try. But I''m afraid that you will be very disappointed later because you will be the one that will be thrown down the mountain."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled coldly, "What bold words! Do you know who I am? I am Qiuxiang Huan, the young mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion and this mountain peak belongs to me. Who I want to kill is my business. As for you, you are an intruder in the forbidden ground of my clan. Therefore I have every right to take away your life¡­"


    All of a sudden the golden sword that was in her hand was taken away by the extremely beautiful maiden who proceeded to break her golden sword into two pieces, "You mean with this piece of broken sword, you want to take away life?"


    "Or do you mean¡­" the extremely beautiful maiden added with a smile. "That you are a fifth realm golden celestial and you can actually take away my life?"


    Qiuxiang Huan gasped softly, "How did you know?"


    It was her personal secret that she had purposely suppressed her cultivation level to make it appear as though she was a fourth realm expert. It was all due to a secret mystical divine pill that was only produced by the Clear Sky Pavilion and was only known to the leadership of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    The extremely beautiful maiden smiled, "That is because your cultivation level is too low and I can easily read yours."


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled. No one would ever say to a fifth realm golden celestial that their cultivation level was too low. Moreover this extremely beautiful maiden did not have any golden eyes yet she was claiming that her cultivation level was higher than her? It was too ridiculous!


    But she managed to say calmly, "So what do you want?"


    The extremely beautiful maiden flashed her eyes and it turned a desolate purple, "Qiuxiang Huan! I am the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi, Desolate Lord of the Citadel of Chaos Mysteries. I like your ruthlessness and you have a count of three to accept the offer to be my disciple!"


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled, "What¡­Desolate Lord? I don''t even know what it is. Did you come from the other celestial fraternities?"


    "One!"


    "¡­Two¡­"


    "Wait!" Qiuxiang Huan gasped, "I¡­I accept¡­"


    "Good!" Yue Lingxi smiled. "Then kowtow three times before me to pay homage to your new mistress."


    Although Qiuxiang Huan did not know who she really was but she knew that this Yue Lingxi was an extreme character. It was because she could snap her precious golden sword with her profound strength in such an effortless manner. This was something that she was not able to do even though she had the strength of a fifth realm expert.


    Therefore she began to kowtow three times as she humbly said, "My respects to mistress."


    Yue Lingxi smiled coldly, "Good. From today onward, you will be my first disciple in the Celestial Realm. From today onward, you will be a desolate cultivator of my Citadel of Chaos Mysteries and I will be imparting to you my immortal practices."


    "Immortal¡­practices?" Qiuxiang Huan blinked her eyes with a perplexed look.


    "Of course it will be an immortal practice. The celestial practices that you are cultivating are too lowly for desolate cultivators like us." Yue Lingxi said coolly.


    Qiuxiang Huan was thinking with a soft sigh, "I''ve thought that she is a respectable mistress but she turns out to be a derange mistress¡­"


    Yue Lingxi displayed a scroll and let it floated slowly in front of Qiuxiang Huan, "This is our citadel most powerful immortal art, the Gathering Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword. There are a total of nine levels to it. However, this scroll only contains the first three levels. Whether you can even gasp the first level will need to depend on your own enlightenment."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled weakly, "Mistress, you are not guiding me?"


    "It is not our way to guide. Isn''t it already clearly written in the scroll so why do you need me to guide you?" Yue Lingxi said coldly.


    Qiuxiang Huan thought miserably, "Self-learning and guiding are two different matters. You expect me to learn blindly? What if I am afflicted with the deviation fire?" But she thought that it was wise for her to keep this to herself.


    Yue Lingxi said, "Qiuxiang Huan, get me what you are currently consuming now."


    Qiuxiang Huan looked at her with a weak smile, "I wonder why mistress needs the Suppressing Mystic Profound Divine Pill for?"


    "Naturally it is to suppress my high level cultivation from my enemies. It is too noticeable."


    Qiuxiang smiled weakly and her heart was shaking with disbelief, "She is a high level cultivator? Don''t ever let me found out what your true cultivation level is¡­" But she could not resist asking with a smile, "Since mistress you''ve already known what my cultivation level is, may I know yours?"


    Yue Lingxi nodded lightly, "Eighth Immortal Positioning!"


    She was thinking, "I''ve better don''t tell my new disciple that I have lost half of my desolate strength¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan was also thinking, "I have never heard of this cultivation ranking before. She must be from the other celestial fraternities¡­she is probably from the Desolate Celestial Fraternity since this place is the nearest to our Nine Celestial Fraternity¡­"


    Other than the Nine Celestial Fraternity, there were several other celestial fraternities in the Celestial Realm like the Desolate Celestial Fraternity, Drifting Cloud Divine Sea and a dozen others.


    "And one more thing," Yue Lingxi added. "I want you to help me to keep tabs on this celestial practitioner by the name of Lu Qingyun. He is very important to me!"


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled when she had heard Lu Qingyun''s name and she was thinking, "Did she just say that he is very important to her? What is their relationship?"


    Yue Lingxi said after a short ponder, "He is currently at the Heavens Ridge Villa and is the senior brother there. He should be easy to keep tab upon. However there is this old man, he is a little hunchback. I want you to help me to keep track on him too. He is a formidable cultivator and you should be wary of him as well. He is an enemy of our Citadel of Chaos Mysteries. If possible, I want him dead."


    "What is this old man name?" Qiuxiang Huan asked.


    "The Three-Destinies Old Man." Yue Lingxi replied coolly.


    Qiuxiang Huan replied, "I will take note of it."


    "Another thing¡­" Yue Lingxi said.


    Qiuxiang Huan was cursing in her heart. This new mistress seemed to have an endless number of requests¡­


    But she faked a smile to say, "Yes mistress. I am all ears."


    "We must only have the best disciples for our Citadel of Chaos Mysteries. Along the way, I have heard that there is this Golden Mask Devil Goddess who is quite formidable. Find her and bring her to me. I want to make her my disciple. She is qualified."


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled. The Golden Mask Devil Goddess was said to be a peaked seventh realm expert and she was the dark mistress of the three dark divine realms. How could she possibly recruit such an influential figure without getting killed first? This Yue Lingxi was totally insane¡­


    "Maybe she was trying to show off to me that she was not afraid of the Devil Goddess and was trying to impress me. She must really think that I am a na?ve maiden¡­"


    "And another thing¡­" Yue Lingxi said with a smile. "Find me a quiet place for my meditation. Your mistress had just fought with an enemy of mine and I need to recuperate my strength. Get me some divine pills that can aid me to recover my profound strength. Spare no expenses for that."


    Qiuxiang Huan was thinking, "I hope the requests can end here. She is trying to drain the Clear Sky Pavilion of its resources. I think I''ve better get rid of her¡­"


    "Oh by the way, your dress is so much prettier than mine. Strip and give me yours." Yue Lingxi said nonchalantly.


    "What?!" Qiuxiang Huan was startled. Her mistress was asking her to strip so that she could have her dress?! This was getting more and more ridiculous!


    With a soft sigh Qiuxiang Huan did as she was told and had surrendered her dress to Yue Lingxi.


    "You can have my old dress. Consider this my desolate grace to you. This dress of mine has a name and is called the Sky Heaven Lithe. It is an immortal artefact of the sixth rank so it is impervious to most damages and is capable of self-regenerating. I bet that you have never seen anything like this before, am I right?" Yue Lingxi said nonchalantly.


    She was sighing in her heart, "I must be too gracious to this new disciple. But since she is my first disciple here and is willing to help me with so many tasks, I ought to be a little gracious and good to her."


    Qiuxiang Huan was actually cursing her in her heart, "Who wants your tattered dress!" But she pretended to accept it with a delightful smile. Playacting was one of her main strengths so it was not hard to fake a grateful expression.


    "And one last thing more." Yue Lingxi said.


    Qiuxiang Huan nearly spurt blood when she heard that Yue Lingxi continued to make her requests. She said bitterly in her heart, "Why did she keep saying one last thing when it is never the last¡­"


    "I have heard that there is an upcoming celestial clans'' competition, am I right? I''m going to take part." Yue Lingxi said.


    "Mistress, you are going to take part?" Qiuxiang Huan stared at her blankly. "It is only for those that are below the fifth realm level. Are you?"


    Yue Lingxi looked at her with a smile, "If you can disguise your cultivation strength with pills, so can I. We are going to win big and there will be no one to stop us."

 134 Sky Heaven Lithe

    Qiuxiang Huan was in her room as she quietly examined the Sky Heaven Lithe curiously. The Sky Heaven Lithe was a white and blue feathered dress.


    This Sky Heaven Lithe was given to her Yue Lingxi.


    At first when it was given to her, she had completely disregarded it and thought that it was just a tattered dress. But after she had worn it, she started to feel that her profound energies were now smoother and she could muster her profound strength to the peak of her martial power with half the effort.


    She was truly astonished.


    Moreover after three days, the Sky Heaven Lithe was fully as good as new. It did indeed have the ability to self-regenerate!


    What she was wearing was a saint level treasure!


    She had not believed Yue Lingxi when she had told her that the Sky Heaven Lithe was an immortal artefact. But now she was forced to believe it, because seeing is believing.


    This feathered garb was even better than divine swords because it had the ability to enhance her cultivation growth while she was wearing it. She found it difficult not to wear it every night as she went to bed.


    If she did not have the habit of changing to a new dress every day, she would have worn the Sky Heaven Lithe every single day. But to her, having some decency and face were equally important in the Clear Sky Pavilion. After all, she did not want the common prot¨¦g¨¦s to gossip that she was wearing the same dress every day.


    From that day onward, she was extremely polite to Yue Lingxi and whatever requests that she had made to her, she would readily try her best to accede to the best of her ability.


    "Mistress, since you like this dress. I can get you more."


    Yue Lingxi had a shy look before she smiled, "Alright. Thank you!"


    Suddenly Qiuxiang Huan had noticed that the dress that she had given to Yue Lingxi appeared to be slightly different now and was giving out a profound aura similarly to the Sky Heaven Lithe.


    Yue Lingxi noticed her glances and casually said, "I have used a heavenly relic to weave this lovely dress into my new battle garb. After all, I can''t afford to let my opponents tear off my clothing anytime they please, do you agree with me?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was stunned. Heavenly relics were the stuff of legends and divine swords were all made of the heavenly relics. Heavenly relics in its purest form were extremely hard to obtain and that was why divine swords were so highly sought. Often, a single divine sword was often the entire soul and life of an entire celestial clan and the celestial clans would go to battle over a single divine sword.


    And yet, her new master had so casually used it on a dress that she saw no value in.


    She was beginning to believe that her master was someone with a powerful background.


    "Is she really what she claims to be?" Qiuxiang Huan began to wonder.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Below the Desolate Mists;


    A pathetic figure was soon crawling on the ground and he was clutching dearly to a golden scroll. He was none other than Tang Bufan.


    He had somehow survived the fall by landing on a wet ground. Although he had survived the fall but his legs were broken and that was why he was now crawling on the ground.


    He cursed loudly to the heavens, "Qiuxiang Huan! How can you treat me in this manner! If I do not take revenge on you by making you my slave girl, I am not a man!"


    But he was soon grinning. It was because the Sunflower Sacred Skill was real. In no time, he would be a fifth realm expert and he would be one of the strongest cultivators in New Empyrean City. When he had become a golden celestial, he would be able to restore his family honor and even the assassin guilds would cease their head bounty on him.


    Then he would take his vendetta on all those that had slighted him. He simply could not wait for this day to come!


    Finally he had found a cave.


    To his shocked horror, there were dozens of skeletons in the cave.


    "Why are there so many dead in this cave? Did they fall from the above as well?"


    He took a quick look around and saw that this cave was large and it was actually part of a bigger cavern. But for now, he saw that he was safe.


    The dozens of skeletons did not bother him either; it was because they had died a long time ago and he was not someone who was afraid of ghosts. Moreover he was a middle third realm expert and he could still defend himself with his sword even though he was incapable of moving his legs.


    His priority now was to quickly recover his stamina through cultivation and began practice on the Sunflower Sacred Skill. Once he had mastered this invincible skill, he would climb up the mountains again to take his vengeance on Qiuxiang Huan.


    "Huan, I will parade you naked for all to see in the Clear Sky Pavilion. I want everyone to trample upon your pride¡­"


    With a gleeful thought, he had slowly unfolded the golden scroll to begin his practice.


    The next line of the Sunflower Sacred Skill read; to begin practice, the practitioner must first unblock all his energy meridians first¡­


    Tang Bufan was stunned by this line. It was because only a fourth realm energy level expert could fully unblock all their energy meridians and he was still far from it.


    With a sad expression, he lamented loudly to the heavens. "Heavens! Do you want to destroy me?!"


    All of a sudden he saw there were many characters on the wall. With a careful read, he muttered out. "The Nine Yang Rejuvenation Skill. The ultimate internal profound arts."


    He was now muttering with joy, "Heavens, you are so kind to me¡­"


    It was because the next few lines of the Nine Yang Rejuvenation Skill had a secret method of unblocking all his energy meridians and could propel him to a fourth realm expert immediately!


    Not only that, his profound strength would also be greatly empowered by the Nine Yang Rejuvenation Skill, turning him instantly into one of the strongest profound strength practitioner of the same level.


    Tang Bufan was laughing jovially now. "Huan, it is all thanks to you that my misfortune has turned up to be such a great fortune."


    He was feeling that he was the favored son of the heavens and the main hero of the story. Heavens was indeed too kind to him!


    Soon, he would be making his ultimate comeback and he would be unstoppable!


    Tang Bufan felt like he was now the ultimate winner and he would be the greatest cultivator that comes every few centuries in the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    His name would soon be recorded in the annals of the Nine Celestial Fraternity and he would stand along the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and Great Saintess Ye Jing.


    Maybe he could even forcefully take the Great Saintess Ye Jing and Fan Yuqing to be his consorts at the same time.


    Suddenly he was being very ambitious and with these two ultimate divine skills that he had just obtained, it was a very likely possibility.


    Fifth realm expert?


    That was too low an ambition for him now.


    He would be a great saint! Great Saint Tang Bufan!

 135 Keqin, don’t forget your promise!

    Qin Keqin was quieting meditating in the forbidden ground of the Heavens Ridge Villa when she sensed a strong spiritual aura sweeping to where she was.


    Startled, she opened her eyes and responded with her own spiritual probing; it was the work of a high level cultivator that was in the area.


    She was a little amused though.


    Usually when a high level cultivator swept their perception over an area, it was done in a subtle way so that they themselves would not be detected.


    But this high level cultivator was so bold as to sweep through the entire vicinity without masking her profound aura.


    Because Qin Keqin had responded with her spiritual sense, this high level cultivator now knew of her existence.


    It was because Qin Keqin was equally curious who this high level cultivator was.


    "Mm, seventh rank saintess?"


    Just as she was about to probe further, this high level cultivator had suddenly withdrawn all her profound aura and had vanished.


    "Interesting¡­" she was musing curiously.


    But she had decided to drop that aside first. There was something more important than this that she had to do first.


    "Minyue, Danfeng. Is anyone of you there?" she had taken out her transmission.


    "Sister Saintess Yuqing, you have ended your cultivation retreat? Have you recovered your strength yet?" Feng Minyue answered.


    "Almost." Qin Keqin answered. "Mm, so who else is with you now?"


    After the hard lesson learnt the last round, she was now making a check that there was no others.


    "Only me. Danfeng she is in the scrying rooms."


    Qin Keqin asked shyly as she took in a deep breath, "How is my Yun''Er? Did he drop a hair?"


    To her, Lu Qingyun was now the most important person in her heart¡­


    "He is already back in the Heavens Ridge Villa. He is perfectly fine so do not worry about it. Also, this is what we have found out¡­"


    After listening to Feng Minyue who had related the events that had happened during the Red Death Valley, Qin Keqin was startled by what had happened.


    "Alright. Thanks Minyue for taking care of my Yun''Er. I will return the favor to you soon! How about I buy you a big gift?"


    "No!" Feng Minyue said firmly. "I''ve just tidied the accounts for last month. Don''t you dare to spend so recklessly. You pick such a convenient time of the month to disappear."


    "It''s my monthly period, you know." Qin Keqin chuckled.


    "Rubbish. You''re a cultivator. Your period only comes like once every sixty years. This transmission is too expensive to maintain. Next time, we will use pigeons to send our messages." Feng Minyue had turned off the transmission.


    Qin Keqin lit a wry smile. "Nowadays Minyue can''t even manage a crude joke. It must be the stress of living with the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress. It is a good thing that I''m here. I am not going to return to the hideout¡­until I''ve a good excuse for what I did, that is¡­"


    Metamorphs?


    Desolate cultivator?


    Then she wondered if the high level cultivator earlier may be related to the events at the Red Death Valley.


    Then she smiled, "But this high level cultivator seems to be quite tactless. I should be able to handle this odd saintess¡­"


    Then she had closed her eyes again.


    Three days later;


    Qin Keqin had opened her eyes again and she had slowly rose up to walk to the entrance of her retreat chamber.


    Her cultivation retreat had ended and she had regained the peak of her cultivation strength!


    Minutes later she had already stepped out of the forbidden ground.


    To her surprise, there were all six of the grand elders that were already waiting outside the forbidden grounds for her.


    "Huh? Grand Elder Shi Guanyin, Grand Elder Ouyang Xue¡­why are you here?"


    Shi Guanyin smiled, "Of course we are all here to welcome our sect leader from exiting your cultivation retreat¡­"


    Yun Xing was smiling too, "Sect leader must have attained to a new cultivation height or has reached a new state of divinity."


    Wang Ming laughed, "That is right, that is right!"


    There was a celestial array in the forbidden ground that would alert the grand elders if Qin Keqin were to step out of the cultivation forbidden ground. So naturally all the grand elders would be notified immediately.


    This was something that Qin Keqin was aware as well but she had never expected that all the grand elders would all immediately arrive to welcome her.


    Even Ouyang Xue had a delightful look in her eyes as she said, "Welcome back sect leader¡­"


    Mu Han and Kong Guxin were all trying to speak at the same time, "We welcome sect leader back from your successful cultivation retreat¡­"


    Of course the reasons why they were all so respectful and hastily in welcome Qin Keqin was because they had all overheard that she was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    Her grace, the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was actually in the Heavens Ridge Villa!


    Wang Ming, Kong Guxin and Mu Han were looking intently at Qin Keqin. It was as though they could not get enough of this peerless goddess who was their idol.


    Qin Keqin felt a little shy with all the stares that she was receiving,, "Mm, what''s wrong? Is there something on my face?"


    Shi Guanyin chuckled, "Not at all. I think that after this retreat, our sect leader has become even prettier."


    Mu Han rubbed his hands and he was smiling, "That is so true. Sect leader is the most beautiful saintess¡­"


    All of a sudden Yun Xing had stepped on his shoe as she shook her head.


    Mu Han had a silly smile as he quickly corrected himself, "the most beautiful top beauty in New Empyrean City."


    Kong Guxin groaned softly as he looked at the other grand elders, "Flattering will get you nowhere." With a smile he quickly said pleasantly to Qin Keqin, "Sect leader is certainly the top cultivator in New Empyrean City and there is no one that is equaled to you¡­."


    "If sect leader is gracious enough to give me a tip or two on cultivation or even enlighten me, this is my great honor¡­" he added with a wry smile.


    The rest of the grand elders: ¡­


    The rest of the grand elders had never known that Kong Guxin would suddenly be so shameless. He was a fifth realm golden celestial and he had always maintained his dignity. But now he was openly asking for cultivation tips from the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing?!


    Not wanting to be left behind, Wang Ming, Mu Han, Yun Xing and even Shi Guanyin were all talking at the same time. "If sect leader will be gracious enough to give us some cultivation tips¡­"


    Only Ouyang Xue was unmoved. It was because she was the youngest of the grand elders and she had owed her current position to Qin Keqin. For that, she was already grateful enough. But if there was something that she had wanted from Qin Keqin then it would be¡­Senior Brother Lu Qingyun.


    But Qin Keqin only returned a faint smile as she said, "Maybe next time. I can''t wait to see my Yun''Er again."


    Shi Guanyin quickly grabbed the chance to say, "Senior Brother Qingyun is alright. He has returned safe and sound with Qiuyue."


    Kong Guxin laughed, "I have heard that even the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds are in praise of our Senior Brother Lu during the expedition."


    Wang Ming and Mu Han were all nodding excitingly.


    For the past several days, they had been paying several visits with the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds and trying to get as much information as possible from them on Lu Qingyun so that they could say something to Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and thought, "Let hope that they don''t tell anyone that I am the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing¡­"


    She pretended to say, "Thank you. I shall make my move first." She had of course known what had happened during the time that she was in her cultivation retreat as Feng Minyue had told her everything three days ago.


    With that she had walked swiftly away.


    "Sect leader¡­"


    "She is in such a hurry¡­"


    Mu Han muttered, "Senior Brother Lu is so lucky to be looking at this goddess everyday¡­"


    Yun Xing stared at him, "You are not supposed to gossip. Have you forgotten about it?"


    Mu Han grinned back, "Did I say anything? Or are you envious?"


    Yun Xing pinched him quietly, "Mu Han, why don''t you die right now?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled weakly as she looked at the two of them. She had suspected that Mu Han had actually liked her former prot¨¦g¨¦ master Yun Xing because the two of them would often quarrel without any reason.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun was in the practice chamber when Qin Keqin had suddenly appeared with a delightful smile.


    He was so startled with joy that he had dropped his divine sword, "Keqin, your cultivation retreat has finally ended¡­"


    For the past three days Lu Qingyun was actually in the practice chamber on his own. It was because he had thought that Yue Lingxi was an opponent that was too strong for him to handle alone and he knew that he had to improve upon his sword art in order to stand a fighting chance against her.


    With the insight of Yue Lingxi''s strength and his experiences with the Metamorph, he had further evolved his Flaming Phoenix Sword to the fourth level, the ''Soaring Heavens as One''. He had of course borrowed an additional insight with his crude understanding of Qin Keqin''s ''Heaven and Self as One'' sword art.


    The fourth level of his Flaming Phoenix Sword as the true essence of his self-created sword art and would have the penetrating power that he needed to truly defeat a fifth realm golden celestial.


    However he had felt that this may not be enough. Therefore he had looked at the Phoenix Burst sword manual that he had taken from the Red Heaven Sword Library. Previously this energy aura skill was beyond him since he had not attained to the fourth realm level yet.


    But to his utter surprise, once he started on it, the Phoenix Burst turned out to be much easier than he had thought. Therefore he quickly mastered it and even incorporated it into his fourth level of the Flaming Phoenix Sword as an extra sword technique.


    Since he was always lazy to give a fanciful naming, he had decided to call his version one as ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One'' and version two as ''Beta Soaring Heavens as One''.


    Ever since he had attained to the fourth realm level, he felt as though that cultivation was not hard at all. In fact, somewhere he could fully understand all the laws and principles with only a single read.


    He thought that it would be just a matter of time he could be a fifth realm golden celestial and he would actually breakthrough to this ultimate goal of all the celestials very soon.


    Usually a typical celestial would require 150-300 years to attain to the fifth realm level under the most optimized condition. But Lu Qingyun felt that he could now accomplish this in just under a year.


    He was about to test the new sword art that he had just created when Qin Keqin had suddenly appeared.


    For a minute, the two of them were just staring at each other blankly, too shy for any words¡­


    Finally Lu Qingyun made a slow move toward her as he forced her into a corner, "Keqin, do you remember what you''ve promised me? When I am back from the Red Death Valley, you will¡­"


    He was looking down at her tight bosoms and his eyes had wandered to look at her exposed white slender but firm thigh.


    Qin Keqin had always liked her dress to be short and there would always be a slit that opened to the side that showed her beautiful legs. She had obviously known that she had sexy legs and liked to show it off.


    "Yun''Er, your eyes¡­where do you think you are looking at?" Qin Keqin smiled shyly.


    As Lu Qingyun moved his hands toward her to hold her slender waist, Qin Keqin had suddenly moved her hands to her back of her butt. She chuckled softly, "I didn''t see you for more than two weeks and you are becoming more and more like a lecherous wolf."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. Even before his hands had moved to her back, Qin Keqin knew that his lecherous hands would soon be moving to her butt.


    He wanted to touch her there and to feel her. It was because he knew that she was not wearing anything inside¡­


    Right now, he had totally consumed by a strong internal fire as he looked lustfully at her.


    "Yun''Er, did anything happen while I''m away?" Qin Keqin asked panicky as Lu Qingyun continued to press her on the wall¡­


    "No¡­" he replied.


    He had totally forgotten about the Three-Destinies Old Man, who his old master was and everything that had recently happened. It was only Qin Keqin and her ''promise'' to him.


    "You like to touch me there, right? But first you got to stay alive first. When you are back alive, I will let you have your three minutes of fun. When you are back, I will let you release it." This was what he had vividly remembered and now he was holding her onto her promise.


    He muttered, "Keqin, do you still remember what you''ve promised me?"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly as she pretended not to remember, "What did I promise you? I promise you plenty of things¡­"


    All of a sudden he had attacked her with his hands on her bosoms and he was kissing her.


    Qin Keqin gasped softly as Lu Qingyun put his tongue into her mouth. For a minute he was ravaging her with his kisses and his hands were moving all over her body.


    Finally his hands did not attack her on her back but were moving to the side of her skirt as his fingers slipped through¡­


    Qin Keqin was moaning and gasping before she made a light push on his chest with her fingers, "Yun''Er, I am your master!"


    Lu Qingyun was grinning, "We are alone now. Therefore you are not my master now¡­Keqin¡­I want¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled as she pushed him away with both hands, "Yan''Er has a pure spirit. You are corrupting her spirit with this."


    Lu Qingyun replied with a soft laugh, "Yan''Er has closed all her senses to cultivate in her own quiet world so she is unable to see, sense or hear us. So this is a most excellent chance for us¡­"


    "You actually order Yan''Er to close all her senses? It seems that you have it all planned?" Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she interrupted gently.


    Lu Qingyun looked shyly at her, "Tonight, I want to make you my woman¡­"


    Qin Keqin gasped softly, "You are so shameless. Did you say this word to all the maidens that you have met?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I have only said it once and it is to you."


    Qin Keqin smiled shyly, "Who really knows about it? How do I know that during my absence, you and Xingyuan, Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi didn''t have anything going on? Maybe you have already bedded them. Maybe you are a playboy like that Tang Bufan."


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "In my heart, I have only you. How can I be compared to Tang Bufan? We are different."


    Then he was launching himself forward to hold her when Qin Keqin giggled softly, "Alright, I believe you but you can''t touch me yet."


    Lu Qingyun was startled and asked curiously, "Why not?"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes before she smiled, "Because if it is not because I''ve sent my sister saintesses to aid you, would you have come back alive?"


    Lu Qingyun pondered for a while before he smiled bitterly, "Well, maybe¡­"


    "Stop putting on a brave front. I''ve known all about it. You are just lucky to be back alive. So my promise to you doesn''t count this time." Qin Keqin put her hand on his chest before she smiled shyly, "Therefore we have to maintain social distancing for now."


    "Waaa," Lu Qingyun pretended to be upset as he said. "The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing will actually break her promise. Unbelievable!"


    Then he had seized her to hug her tightly, "Keqin, I love you. Surely I can hug you right? I am after all, manage to stay alive."


    "Since you have tried so hard to stay alive, alright then." Qin Keqin chuckled, "You just looking for any excuse to hug me, am I right? Why are you so desperate?"


    The minute that Qin Keqin said he could embrace her, he had immediately wrapped his hands around him and was holding her tightly.


    As Lu Qingyun hugged her, he was thinking quietly. "Keqin, I really love you. I know that I''m not the one in your heart but I do not mind. I don''t mind even if you are no longer a chaste maiden. In my heart, I''ve only you."


    Cultivators can live for a long time. During their long lives, it was not unusual for them to have developed many relationships.


    Lu Qingyun understood this and this was something that he did not mind at all.


    But he had misunderstood that Qin Keqin did not want to let him know just yet that she was not a chaste maiden. The truth was, she was still a chaste maiden.


    Qin Keqin was thinking, "When it is safe enough, I will let you take me. But not now¡­"


    All of a sudden she was flustered and she had pushed Lu Qingyun away with a soft gasp, "What are your dirty hands doing?"


    Lu Qingyun had placed his hands on her butt and had felt her while she was holding onto him.


    "Erm¡­exploring¡­"


    "Shameless¡­"


    "Yun''Er, you think that we will have children in the future?"


    "Keqin, don''t worry. I still love you even if we don''t have any in the future."


    The higher cultivation level a cultivator is, it is difficult for them to conceive. That is why there are many cultivators in the celestial realm who are married earlier or to a much lower level celestial.

 136 The Calm before the Storm 1

    A couple was now strolling along the merchant streets of New Empyrean City. The man was tall and was wearing a black curtain hat while the woman was donning a curtain veil that braided onto her hair.


    Although the passers-by could not see the woman face clearly but her figure was extremely moving. Moreover, her beautiful thigh was quite visible and quite a few of the lewd men were looking at her legs.


    This woman who also had a nice slim figure was cuddling warmly to the tall man and their arms were holding onto each other. It was really an enviable sight!


    "Yun''Er¡­"


    "Keqin¡­"


    This enviable couple was actually Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin.


    Today, Qin Keqin had decided to take Lu Qingyun to the merchant district to train him up for the upcoming martial competition.


    "Remember to take note of the prices of the wares that are in this place," Qin Keqin smiled as she reminded Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "Alright¡­" Although memorizing the prices of the wares were easy enough but with Qin Keqin''s bosoms rubbing against him, he was too distracted to focus on his mission. Instead, he was secretly rubbing against her and he was enjoying the soft experiences.


    "Lu Qingyun, Lu Qingyun¡­you are really such a lecherous man¡­" He scolded himself with a miserable look on his face. "You ought to cultivate your heart in earnest¡­"


    Unknown to them, a slightly hunchback old man with a youthful appearance was secretly following them.


    And this old man was the Three-Destinies Old Man and he cursing Lu Qingyun with a burning anger in his heart, "Lu Qingyun! Did you not promise me that you will leave her?! Why are you holding onto her now? You are nothing but a lecherous beast!"


    All of a sudden he almost spurt blood when he saw that Lu Qingyun had suddenly placed his hand on Qin Keqin''s back and he was slowly moving his hands lower and lower¡­


    Lu Qingyun had thought that there was no one who was looking his way and he was moving his trembling fingers to fondle Qin Keqin below???


    Qin Keqin gasped softly before she shot him an icy look, "Yun''Er, we are in public¡­don''t¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun did not heed her and had placed his fingers on her butt before Qin Keqin caught hold of his naughty hand with a chuckle, "Yun''Er, if you continue to do that, I am afraid that I will have to break your naughty fingers."


    "Haha," Lu Qingyun responded with a weak smile. "If my Keqin wants to break my fingers then I''m afraid that you have to take care of me until I''ve recovered."


    "Fat hope!" Qin Keqin gave him a glance before saying shyly. "Let your Xingyuan takes care of you instead. I''m not free!"


    Then she whispered shyly, "Control your naughty fingers and your lower body. Or else¡­"


    "Or else what?" Lu Qingyun chuckled.


    Qin Keqin smiled alluringly as she hinted, "Or else you will have to imagine the consequences!"


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "My hands are beyond my control when it is around you¡­"


    Qin Keqin pulled his hand with a soft laugh, "Come! Let''s take a look over there! I will help you to keep a good watch on your fingers from now on!"


    "Keqin, I have two hands you know¡­"


    "Go play with yourself with your other hand¡­"


    Lu Qingyun rolled his eyes as he chuckled, "I need your other hand¡­"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man almost spurt blood when he saw what Lu Qingyun was doing.


    "He has actually dared to touch her down below!" The Three-Destinies Old Man was staring furiously and he was now a walking time bomb that could explode anytime. "This is too outrageous! If I don''t kill him today then I am not a man!"


    As he watched, he grew angrier and angrier, nearly spurting blood on a number of occasions. It was because Lu Qingyun was now holding onto Qin Keqin and he was fondling her body.


    Spurt blood!


    Actually he had almost spurted blood and was about to explode all his profound power onto Lu Qingyun. In that instant, Lu Qingyun would surely be a dead man in the street.


    But at the last minute, the Three Destinies Old Man suppressed all his anger because Qin Keqin was still around and he did not want her to see him. With great difficulty, he swallowed his anger and continued to watch with great agony.


    Suddenly he saw that they were entering an inn.


    He was immediately panicky!


    "Are they opening a room together in that inn?! This is too reckless and outrageous!"


    Qin Keqin had told Lu Qingyun when she saw the sign of the Four Happiness Inn, "The dishes here are pretty good. Why don''t you have a try? I know that you are hungry."


    Lu Qingyun was indeed hungry so he had answered, "Alright."


    They were soon ordering many dishes but it was only Lu Qingyun who was eating.


    "Keqin, you are not eating?" he asked.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "I have not touched ordinary food for many years now. Don''t worry, I will be alright. I just have some tea."


    It was the truth.


    When a celestial is at the golden celestial level, they will no longer require any food or water. Just the spiritual energies alone will be able to sustain them.


    The only foods that Qin Keqin bothered to take nowadays were the aromatic drinks and divine fruits. As for ordinary dishes, no matter how mouth tasting it was, she had no interest.


    Lu Qingyun understood all these so he just helped himself with the dishes while they continued to chat.


    The Three Destinies Old Man heaved a soft sigh of relief when he saw that they were just having a meal and was not there to reserve a room.


    Qin Keqin was looking at Lu Qingyun and she was smiling, "Yun''Er, you look weary. Is it because you have so many things to remember?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he gave a little yawn, "I think that there are too many dishes and I have eaten too full."


    Qin Keqin nodded, "Look at you. You eat as though you are like a kid. Next time don''t eat too fast. We have all the time in the world. Why don''t we go up to have a little nap? This is an inn after all. You can have some time to digest your meals before we take another walk around. It is still too early to go back to the clan."


    "Alright." Lu Qingyun nodded.


    "Steward, a room for two please." Qin Keqin said to one of the stewards who were nearby.


    The third floor of the inn was not large and there were about thirty people on this level. But ever since Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun had stepped on this level, everyone was secretly looking at them.


    It was because when they were having a meal, they had to remove their curtain veils and the instant that they had shown their appearances, everyone was startled by the magnificent couple; Qin Keqin was too beautiful and too peerless while Lu Qingyun was too dashing and charismatic.


    Men and women were all looking at them from time to time, even the other couples that were nearby and no one seemed to mind if their other half was secretly looking at them.


    When Qin Keqin had suddenly called out for the steward to ask for a room, everyone was secretly thinking;


    "They are really bold to open a room in bold daylight."


    "This maiden is too shameless to take the initiative¡­"


    "This man is too lucky! They are going to the room now¡­"


    "What a bold and shameless couple¡­"


    "This maiden is too revealing with her attire. Her legs are showing¡­"


    All of a sudden the Three Destinies Old Man had turned red with anger when he saw that Lu Qingyun was holding onto Qin Keqin''s back as they went up another floor. Anything further up was the guest rooms already and they were opening a room!


    "Lu Qingyun, I want to kill you now!" the Three Destinies Old Man was so boiling mad that the ground beneath him had sunk a feet, startling the nearby passers-by!

 137 The Calm before the Storm 2

    The inn guest room was not large and there was a comfortable bed at the corner.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "There is only a single bed. Surely Keqin you are not going to sit all the while I am taking a nap?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "I can read something while you are napping."


    "Alright then." Lu Qingyun said as he took off his outer robe and just when he was about to jump onto the bed, Qin Keqin was also taking off her outer garment and had walked behind him.


    He was staring blankly at her lingerie and her sensual front¡­


    Qin Keqin yawned softly, "I feel sleepy all of a sudden and will like to rest as well. Yun''Er, quickly move aside. If you''re not jumping into the bed, I am going to do so!"


    Lu Qingyun began to protest weakly, "We are sharing the same bed? This¡­isn''t such a good idea, am I right? After all, we are still not officially man and wife yet¡­"


    But Qin Keqin had already jumped onto the bed and had rolled up the blanket before she chuckled softly, "So are you napping or not? Why are you pretending to be such a gentleman all of a sudden when you can''t even keep your hands off me?"


    "Erm¡­that is two different matters¡­"


    But Qin Keqin had already rolled to a side on the bed before she muttered sleepily, "Since you are such a gentleman, don''t you touch me while I am sleeping. Or else I won''t be too polite to you later."


    Lu Qingyun scratched his head for a second before he gave a soft sigh. He was already too sleepy to argue further and moreover he had eaten too full. So he quietly climbed onto the bed nervously.


    But when he was on the bed, he found out that he was unable to close his eyes. Instead, he could sniff the sweet fragrance that was lingering on Qin Keqin.


    "So that is how a maiden scent is like¡­" he was muttering to himself.


    Quietly, he opened his eyes to look at her bare shoulder and back.


    With a soft sigh, he muttered silently. "I am a gentleman. I shouldn''t have taken advantage of Keqin while she is sleeping. Moreover she needs her rest."


    So he closed his eyes to take a nap.


    But after a few minutes of napping, he had suddenly realized that he was actually not that sleepy anymore and was awakened.


    Slowly he opened his eyes to look at the bareback of Qin Keqin¡­


    He muttered silently, "I am a gentleman¡­"


    But his sheepish eyes were already looking below her lower body and were staring at her exposed legs.


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly afflicted by the lust-demon and his eyes were on fire. The longer that he had stared at her legs, his internal fires were also getting bigger at the same time.


    "This is too sinful. I have better closed my eyes¡­"


    But his eyes continued to stare at her legs and her sensual body.


    Finally, he reached out to touch her skirt with nervous fingers before he lifted the skirt slowly up.


    His eyes slowly grew wider as he muttered blankly, "I am a man of culture and I''m cultivating my heart¡­"


    He gulped his saliva as he stared at her fertile region and was immediately hard on.


    "Lu Qingyun, you are such a beast!" he scolded himself silently. "To think that you dare to call yourself a gentleman. Why are you such a lustful animal in front of the maiden of your heart? Do you want your image to completely shatter in front of her?"


    Unknown to him, Qin Keqin was only pretending to be sound asleep and her golden eyes were actually opened. She had already had more than her share of sleep while she was doing her cultivation retreat. It was only a white lie that she had told Lu Qingyun that she was sleepy.


    When they were on the same bed, she was thinking. "So it is how a couple sleeps together¡­"


    Right now, she was aware that Lu Qingyun had secretly lifted her skirt up and was staring at her most forbidden part. With her seventh realm sense, it was not hard for her not to know what he was doing even though she had not turned her head around.


    Her countenance was flushing hotly when she had suddenly realized what Lu Qingyun was doing with his eyes but she did not stop him.


    "I hope that you don''t go too far or I don''t know how I will react," she was silently saying to herself.


    Slowly Lu Qingyun had lowered down her skirt as he covered her with the blanket before he sighed with great remorse in his heart, "Keqin, I have already violated you with my eyes. Therefore from today onward you are my consort and I will surely be with you till ends of the heavens."


    Qin Keqin smiled with a sigh of relief when Lu Qingyun had suddenly covered her with the blanket. She was blaming herself why she had chosen to jump onto the same bed as him earlier.


    Actually she did not mind if he touches her but this was not the time yet. Since her birth, a powerful immortal seal had been placed by her mother consort the Great Goddess Fan Tian in her body to prevent her chastity from being violated.


    If Lu Qingyun were to violate her, her mother consort would know and if her mother consort would know then it would mean the end of their forbidden relationship.


    Outside the inn, the Three-Destinies Old Man was now on the verge of berserk.


    He was ''quietly'' watching with his spirit perception on what Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were doing in the room.


    He almost spurted blood when he ''saw'' that they were now sharing the same bed.


    But had quickly calmed down when he saw that they were not doing anything else.


    But he was soon enraged again because his profound perception could pick up the slightest of movements in the room and that Lu Qingyun was lifting Qin Keqin''s skirt while she was asleep.


    "What a lustful animal! He is worse than a desolate beast!"


    Just as he was about to storm into the room to beat Lu Qingyun to a pulp, Lu Qingyun had suddenly covered Qin Keqin with a blanket. This caused his exploding rage to calm down a little but only a little.


    It was because Lu Qingyun had violated Qin Keqin with his eyes!


    This was something that he could not endure and his eyes had turned murderous.


    Lu Qingyun did not know that he would soon be out of luck in the upcoming days as the Three Destinies Old Man would be targeting him for his lecherous ways.


    In the meantime just as Lu Qingyun was covering Qin Keqin with the blanket, Qin Keqin was suddenly chortling softly as she turned around to kiss Lu Qingyun.


    "Keqin¡­you are not asleep?"


    But Qin Keqin did not reply him and they were soon rolling all over the bed as they kissed passionately.


    Lu Qingyun''s hands were all over her and just as he was about to torn off her lingerie, Qin Keqin had suddenly tiptoed off the bed and was putting on her outer garment, "Shame on you! You''re supposed to take a nap and yet you are trying to be funny with me!"


    "But you are the one that has kissed me first." Lu Qingyun gave her a sheepish and guilty look.


    "Are you sure you didn''t do anything funny with your hands earlier?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "I did nothing at all."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "You are a fake gentleman! I don''t believe in you anymore. We are breaking up!"


    "Keqin, oh no¡­you can''t!" Lu Qingyun frantically said.


    "Why?"


    "Because you are my woman now¡­"


    "When did I become your woman?"


    "Just now¡­"


    "What did you do just now then?"


    "Erm??nothing¡­"


    "Nothing?"


    "Yes, nothing at all."


    "Really?!"


    "Not really¡­erm¡­but¡­"


    Qin Keqin had thrown a pillow at Lu Qingyun, "But what?"


    "I saw everything¡­"


    "You¡­what?!"


    "I have admitted it so you don''t break up with me anymore, alright?"


    "Mm, let me consider first¡­"


    "Keqin, so you are my woman now¡­"


    "Fat hope¡­"


    While the two of them were playacting and flirting with each other, the Three Destinies Old Man nearly had a heart attack when he saw they were kissing and rolling on the bed.


    "Lu¡­Qing¡­Yun¡­you are a beast!

 138 Lie Xingyuan’s Decision

    "So you have already decided?" Lie Qing asked Lie Xingyuan.


    While Lu Qingyun was out with Qin Keqin, Lie Xingyuan had returned to her old haunt to meet her master.


    This was something that she had to inform her master.


    There was a slow nod before Lie Xingyuan answered, "Yes, I have already decided and have agreed to cultivate under the wings of Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng. Master, will you blame Xingyuan for waiting until now to inform you?"


    Lie Qing smiled gently, "Of course not. You''ve already grown up now. You have the right to make your own decisions."


    Lie Xingyuan lowered her glances as she said quietly, "Master, I am just an orphan and you are the one that have brought me up. Xingyuan will forever be grateful to your great kindness for my upbringings. When I have become a great cultivator in the future, I will never forget master!"


    Lie Qing took a quiet look at her. Although Lie Xingyuan was only an upper third realm cultivator now but she was actually a fifth realm golden celestial. This was a fact that only she had known. It was because she had suppressed her cultivation potential with the Invincible Divine Force.


    But once Lie Xingyuan''s could breakthrough to the fourth realm, she would be rapidly advancing to the fifth realm level as this level was original her real potential. Even the seal that she had placed upon to suppress her cultivation potential could not stop Xingyuan exploding growth once her breakthrough to the fourth realm level was made.


    "Since I must leave the Heavens Ridge Villa sooner or later, I may as well make the decision to leave now." Lie Xingyuan said with a regretful heart.


    "Child. Is it because your senior brother has been mistreating you? If so, please tell me."


    Lie Xingyuan shook her head and there was a smile at the mention of Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother is like a big brother to me. He treats me very well. Almost too well."


    "Or is it because of Qin Keqin?"


    Lie Xingyuan shook her head with a smile, "No, she is very good to me as well. In fact, she has allowed me to call her Sister Keqin in private. I am really happy to have the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing¡­as my sister. After all, she has been my idol for the longest time."


    Lie Qing nodded slowly, "I remembered that you had once told me that when you''ve grown up, you will want to be a heroine like the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and the Great Saintess Ye Jing. And one day¡­you will get rid of the Devil Goddess from the Nine Celestial Fraternity."


    Lie Xingyuan was smiling as she averted her eyes, "Yes! But that was in the past. I had once thought that the Devil Goddess was the ultimate evil of the Nine Celestial Fraternity but I have never expected that she will actually be the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. I just wonder who she really is. A good person or a bad person?"


    "What do you think then?"


    "It is difficult to say but I think she is a good person." Lie Xingyuan sighed, "Master, what do you think?"


    Lie Qing smiled, "In the past several centuries, have you heard of the Devil Goddess harming any person?"


    "No¡­"


    "Maybe she is no longer who she is unlike the past?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "Do nature changes so easily? Master, how do you know who she is? It seems to me that master knows her quite well and she is even a little afraid of you."


    Then she lowered her glance, "It is alright if master does not want to tell me. Your Xingyuan will understand. Also Master, are you a high level cultivator?"


    There was a smile that was on Lie Qing before she chuckled mesmerizing, "I will answer your question one at a time. I had watched her grow up. Like you, she was a playful child when she was little."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "Master, you had watched her grow up?"


    Lie Qing''s mesmerizing black eyes began to turn a deep golden as she said, "I am indeed a high level cultivator. It is just that I have suppressed my appearance to mingle with the crowd."


    Lie Xingyuan was gasping, "My master is actually a golden celestial. All along, I don''t know¡­"


    She was orphaned since young and her master had taught her the Invincible Divine Force among other skills. However she was forbidden to use the Invincible Divine Force and her martial power was sealed off by her master so that she would not be able to execute the Invincible Divine Force.


    Her master had told her, "Once you have reached the fourth realm level, I will break your seal and allow you to use the Invincible Divine Force."


    "Xingyuan, I have something to tell you. It is time for you to know." Lie Qing quietly said.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled weakly, "Don''t tell me you want to tell me that you are actually my mother consort?"


    Lie Qing: ¡­


    "I was only joking," Lie Xingyuan returned a faint smile. "I just wish that I do have a mother consort like my master."


    Lie Qing: ¡­.


    Lie Qing smiled, "I wish that I have a daughter like you as well."


    She paused briefly before saying gently to her, "Fan Yuqing real name is Fan Yuqin. She was only around your age when she had become the Devil Goddess. She was very young back then and playful."


    Lie Xingyuan gasped. The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was so young when she had become the fearsome Devil Goddess?


    "The rumors are not wrong. She had indeed killed many people recklessly in the past because she had thought that she was the daughter of the heavens and was administrating her sense of justice. Those that she had killed were the evil cultivators. As far as I know, she had killed anyone for a long time."


    Lie Xingyuan said weakly, "But she is currently the Devil Goddess of the three dark divine realms. She is always a threat to the Nine Celestial Realm and a threat to the orthodox celestial clans."


    Lie Qing smiled, "Good and evil always have a side to tell. This is what everyone has known about her. But do you know that without her to rein in the three dark divine realms, there will be even more fighting than what it is now? Why do you think that even the former ruler of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm Feng Minyue is abetting her? You saw the former ruler of the Lofty Snow Palace Xuan Danfeng that day too right? Why do you think that both of them will be helping the Devil Goddess?"


    Lie Xingyuan muttered softly, "Xuan Danfeng also knows that she is the Devil Goddess?"


    There was a nod from Lie Qing as she added quietly, "Fan Yuqing is your idol. You know almost everything about her. She has three other close companions and they are Ye Jing, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng. How do they not know about her?"


    "Even Ye Jing knows about her real identity?" Lie Xingyuan was gasping. "I''ve thought that the Nine Celestial Goddess and the Devil Goddess are always opposing each other?"


    Lie Qing smiled, "It is all a fa?ade. They do have some petty squabbles all the time but it did not mean that they aren''t friends."


    "Master, you are not afraid that I will tell the others about who Fan Yuqing really is?" Lie Xingyuan sighed softly.


    "You won''t. Once you have promised me something, you won''t ever break your promise. This is the righteousness of your heart." Lie Qing replied gently.


    "Master, why are you telling me this?" Lie Xingyuan asked quietly. "So that I will keep it a secret? Since master had watched her grow up, I''m sure that you wish to protect her identity. Your Xingyuan is willing to swear to the heavens not to reveal her identity to anyone."


    "Actually Xingyuan, I want to tell you that she is actually your older half-sister and in this world, she is your only kin."


    Lie Xingyuan was stunned. "This is impossible¡­Fan Yuqing is my half-sister?! This cannot be. Then who is my mother consort and father?!"


    She was suddenly trembling as she stared at her master, "This isn''t a joke?"


    Lie Qing shook her head, "It isn''t. I''ve also told her about you. Therefore she is really your Sister Keqin and you are her Sister Xingyuan. I know that it is hard for you to accept it now but it is real."


    Lie Xingyuan was muttering, "My idol is actually my sister and¡­" She had wanted to say that they had both liked the same man¡­


    "Master why are you telling me this now?" she asked quietly.


    "Because I want you to give some careful thoughts about your decision to join the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. You should at least let your sister knows about it first. No matter what your decision is, you should at least treasure the time that is with her first, am I not wrong to say so?"


    There was a sudden flash that was in Lie Xingyuan''s eyes as she suddenly fell upon her knees, "Master, since you know who Fan Yuqing is and you know that we are half-sisters. Surely you also know about my background. May I plead with my master to let me know who my parents are and where are they now?"


    Lie Qing sighed softly before saying, "I can only say this. Both your parents are immortal cultivators and you may be able to see them one day."


    Lie Xingyuan was gasping and there was a sudden hope in her eyes, "I may be able to see my parents one day." There were tears in her eyes as she smiled, "This¡­is so good¡­I''ve always thought that I am an orphan¡­"


    Lie Qing quietly looked away as she muttered quietly in her heart, "Child, please forgive this mother consort of yours for not being able to acknowledge you now."

 139 The Three-Destinies Old Man

    It was a day after Lu Qingyun had returned to his abode from his outing with Qin Keqin.


    Today he was hard at practice in the practice chamber as he was preparing for the regional celestial clans'' competition. As for Qin Keqin, she was attending a meeting with the grand elders as they had a debriefing for her.


    Lu Qingyun thought, "This time round, I must do my very best so that I can bring glory to the Heavens Ridge Villa and to¡­shake off my good-for-nothing cultivator image."


    When he had told Qin Keqin that he had selected for the upcoming regional celestial clans'' competition, she simply laughed and was amused. "Maybe you should surrender in the first round. They are all powerful opponents, the best of the best."


    "How can I let my master look down on me?! I must definitely shine in this competition and let Keqin knows that I am no longer the good-for-nothing cultivator. Why is that she has no confidence in me¡­"


    He was finding this to be a little bitter to swallow.


    "Yan''Er, are you still there?"


    Yan''Er did not reply to him.


    "Is she cultivating or is she sleeping?" Lu Qingyun was groaning softly. "But then, since Yan''Er isn''t around, I can finally have my personal time with Keqin¡­"


    As he practiced with his sword, half of the time he was daydreaming about Qin Keqin and was sighing if he should have been bolder at the inn¡­


    "How can I win Keqin''s heart?"


    "I want to win her soul, mind and¡­body completely¡­"


    Just as he was thinking about Qin Keqin, a youthful old man had appeared in the practice chamber, giving him a fright.


    Lu Qingyun said aloud, "You again! How did you get in? Xingyuan let you in?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled coldly, "I can come and go as I am pleased. Let me ask you. Why didn''t you do as I''ve bade you? Have you left her?! Do you want to bring a calamity upon her then you will be happy? Or has your lust got over to your head?"


    When Lu Qingyun saw the Three-Destinies Old Man again, everything that he had once said to him had come back to him like a great hammer. He began to stammer, "I¡­I¡­"


    But all of a sudden he was growling, "What I do is my business. It doesn''t seem to be your business, am I right? Why are you so angry about it?"


    "Young man! I have tried to give you so many advises and yet you are repaying my kindness with ingratitude and doubt. Are you still a cultivator of the heart?"


    When Lu Qingyun heard him, he began to stammer. "Of course, I am a cultivator of the heart¡­"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said coldly, "This is your last warning. Leave her or else."


    "Or else what?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man began to grin sinisterly, "Or else don''t blame me for being impolite to you."


    Lu Qingyun frowned, "You may be an elder of the clan but I am the senior brother of the clan. I think that I am already too polite to you for not showing you to the door and yet you are threatening me? Do you know what the clan punishment is, for breaking into the abode of a senior?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled coldly, "You want to talk about the clan rule with me? Fine! Do you know what the clan rule for inappropriate relationship with your master is? Do you know what kind of a scandal it will be for you and her?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled. He had never told anyone except for Lie Xingyuan about Qin Keqin and him. Moreover, he did not tell anyone that he was in a relationship with his master. Their relationship was supposed to be a secret relationship. He really could not imagine what would happen if the grand elders had known about it. There was a chance that they may even cripple his cultivation and drove him out of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Was this the calamity that the Three-Destinies Old Man was warning him about?


    And he had actually known about it and was giving him an opportunity to turn over a new leaf?


    He began to stammer softly, "Old senior, how do you know?"


    "How do I know? You are asking the Three-Destinies Old Man who is a diviner, how do I know?" The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled coldly. "Do you want the whole world to know that you have dishonored your master? Do you want me to tell the grand elders? Not only will your master loses her position as sect leader but you will be severely punished. Don''t tell me you did not know how unpopular your standing position within the clan is?"


    Lu Qingyun said in a low voice, "Old senior, please pardon me for being rude to you earlier. If you will help me to keep it a secret, I''ll promise to return you a personal favor in the future. How about that?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man laughed, "Do think that a righteous person like me will be so easily bribed? I have already given you plenty of warnings but you have continued to be consumed by the lusts in your heart. Do you think that you can drive me away with mere words or are you thinking that you can silence me so easily?"


    "Is he trying to blackmail me?" Lu Qingyun was quietly thinking. "I don''t care about my own reputation but I can''t allow Keqin''s reputation to be sullied by me¡­sigh¡­"


    So he said solemnly, "What do you want?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man saw that his threat seemed to be working so he smiled, "What do I want? Simple. Promise to leave her."


    Lu Qingyun was quiet for a while and he was forced to think. Until today he had never thought that this old man would come to confront him and had even known his relationship with Qin Keqin. He had suddenly realized how wrong he had been and that his relationship with Qin Keqin would soon come to a miserable end.


    With a soft sigh he said, "Old man, who you are exactly? And why are you breaking us apart?"


    "I am a nice old man." The Three-Destinies Old Man was smiling.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He said slowly, "I''m a forth realm expert and not a low level cultivator¡­"


    "So you are thinking of silencing me?" The Three-Destinies Old Man interrupted with a soft laugh.


    Lu Qingyun clenched his fists tightly before he said solemnly, "I only want to tell you that I am not a lowly good-for-nothing cultivator that won''t back off without a fight to be with the one that I love. I don''t mind what the others will think of me but I cannot allow her reputation to be destroyed."


    Then with a woeful sigh, he said. "If you can threaten me today, you can threaten her in the future as well. I have no wish to kill anyone but for her sake¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had flashed out his half-step divine sword ten with a wave of his hand, "We can only settle this with a duel. If I am able to defeat you then you must promise me never to reveal this matter to anyone. But if I lose, I will be a dead man. I will use my honor to protect her honor."


    "A fight?" The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled delightfully. "You must know that I''ve never shied away from a fight."


    With a gleeful smile, he had taken out a long black sword. "Young man, don''t say that I didn''t warn you first. I''m really a formidable old man!"


    Lu Qingyun nodded with a woeful smile, "I can tell. Because I didn''t notice you when you have entered the practice chamber. Your cultivation level isn''t weak."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled coldly, "At least you''re not so dense after all. If I am able to defeat you then you will leave her and never to look for her ever again!"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Do you think that I will want to live without her? Do you think that I will really leave her?"


    "Good. Then I won''t be merciful with my sword strokes." The Three-Destinies Old Man had immediately displayed his animus aura and his cultivation strength appeared to be on the same level as Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun too, had displayed his profound aura as he lifted his sword as he said slowly. "So the calamity that would befall Keqin is a lie? You are only trying to make me leave her, am I right?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man chuckled, "That is right. I will make sure that you will never, ever see her again or use your filthy hands to touch her ever again!"


    "That will depend if you are able to force me to do so!" Lu Qingyun said quietly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man hummed coldly, "I have not really met anyone who is my match for a long time. Since you are but a junior, I will allow you to make the first move."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I hope you do not regret it."


    This old man looked really formidable. Although he did not know who this old man really was but he was not going to be careless.


    He had just created a new fourth level sword stance from the Flaming Phoenix Sword, the ''Soaring Heavens as One'' and he knew that he had no other choice but to use it today!


    Within a blink of an eye, Lu Qingyun had immersed himself with his profound aura as his profound aura began to burn with a wavering of rainbow hues around him.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was quite startled and he muttered, "You are so young and yet you have already attained the Heaven, Earth and Human, three as One Unison."


    In the realm of martial arts, when a practitioner could merge with the Heaven, Earth and Human as One Unison, it also meant that his Spirit the Heaven, Earth the Soul and Human the Body had broken off the restrains of the human limits and he was now a super exponent.


    Usually a non-cultivator could only use only one-tenth of their body''s potential while a cultivator could use a third of their body''s potential. But for a person that could unite the Heaven, Earth and Human as One Unison, he was only limited in his body''s potential.


    "Good! You are indeed my worthy opponent!" the Three-Destinies Old Man said nonchalantly. "Then I won''t have to hold back anymore."


    "Be careful!" Lu Qingyun shouted. "Alpha Soaring Heavens as One."


    Immediately he had flashed his sword with a brilliant red flare at the Three-Destinies Old Man. This stroke was extremely brilliant, swift and contained all of his martial power that he could muster.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man raised his black sword to parry the incoming brilliant red flare and there was a brilliant and explosive shockwave that forced the two fighters to take several steps back.


    Lu Qingyun was gasping for his air as he had temporary exhausted all his entire profound energies while the Three-Destinies Old Man was still standing coolly when the shockwaves had died down.


    "Not bad. Is that all you got?" The Three-Destinies Old Man hummed coldly.


    Lu Qingyun stared at him with shock. He could not believe what he was seeing. Although he had not really tested his new sword stance yet but the martial power that he had just released was enough to kill any sixth rank desolate beast outright.


    "Now is my turn." The Three-Destinies Old Man said as he raised his sword.


    All of a sudden Lie Xingyuan had rushed panicky into the chamber practice after she had heard an explosive sound and saw an old man who was trying to flash his sword toward Lu Qingyun.


    Lie Xingyuan had immediately attacked the old man with her palm, "Who are you?!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled when Lie Xingyuan had suddenly rushed into the practice chamber. Her aura was so faint that he did not detect her approach.


    He quickly raised his left palm out of natural reflex and had struck her shoulder with a thunderous impact.


    Immediately Lie Xingyuan had spurt blood and she was sent flying against the wall. Immediately she was knocked unconsciousness.


    "Xingyuan!" Lu Qingyun was horrified and his eyes had immediately murderous.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was staring blankly at his left palm and he was muttering, "The profound aura of¡­the Invincible Divine Force¡­impossible¡­"


    Lu Qingyun forced himself to circulate all his remaining profound energies as he raised his sword, "How dare you hurt Xingyuan! You are a beast, a monster!"


    His profound aura began to flare brilliantly as he swung his sword at the Three-Destinies Old Man. This was his ''Beta Soaring Heavens as One'', an additional level of power with the power technique of the Phoenix Burst incorporated into it.


    Again the Three-Destinies Old Man had parried his sword stance but this time the explosive shockwaves did not explode in the way of Lu Qingyun but had exploded around the Three-Destinies Old Man.


    This caused the Three-Destinies Old Man to be thrown against the wall with a thunderous impact.


    Lu Qingyun did not wait to see if he had won or not and he was immediately at the side of Lie Xingyuan, "Xingyuan! Are you alright?" He panicky began to examine her body for internal injuries and was checking her pulses.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was actually unharmed by the explosive shockwaves. An ordinary fourth realm expert would have died in that instant but not him.


    He was actually stammering, "Is she¡­alright?"


    Lu Qingyun shot him an icy look, "If she is harmed in any way, I will surely perish together with you!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was sighing softly as he took out a pill, "Here, let her take this divine pill. This is a wondrous pill. I can promise you that it will surely heal her of her wounds."


    Lu Qingyun hummed coldly, "Who knows if your stuff is actually poison? Save it for yourself!"


    "Let me take a look at her¡­." The Three-Destinies Old Man was saying weakly.


    Lu Qingyun flashed his sword in front of him, "I am afraid that you have to get past my sword first!"


    Just as the Three-Destinies Old Man had wanted to say more, Qin Keqin had appeared at the entrance of the practice chamber and she was trembling.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled when he saw her and he was muttering, "Yuqin, I¡­let me explain¡­"


    Qin Keqin said with trembling lips, "Do you know what you have done? Leave the divine pill behind and get out of here. I don''t want to see you!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was also trembling and he was muttering, "What have I done¡­" With that he had vanished to the entrance.


    Lu Qingyun did not know why the Three-Destinies Old Man would suddenly be so afraid of Qin Keqin. But he had no mood to ask why.


    His only concern now was to revive Lie Xingyuan!


    He swore silently that he would kill this Three-Destinies Old Man if anything was to happen to Lie Xingyuan!


    "Yun''Er, let me take a look at Sister Xingyuan¡­" Qin Keqin said woefully.


    Qin Keqin had rushed back to the abode because she was linked with Lu Qingyun''s divine sword and that her divine sense could feel the titanic clashes that had just happened.

 140 We Are Sisters

    When Lie Xingyuan opened her eyes, Qin Keqin was gently holding onto her hands and she was muttering, "Xingyuan, you''re going to be alright. Be strong¡­"


    Immediately Lie Xingyuan had understood what had happened. Qin Keqin was transferring her precious profound energies into her, helping to revive and clearing her energy meridians.


    She muttered weakly, "Sister Keqin, why are you here?"


    Then she gave a startled cry, "Is senior brother¡­alright?"


    Qin Keqin smiled gently, "Don''t worry. He is fine."


    Lie Xingyuan began to smile weakly, "That is good¡­I wonder who that old man is¡­"


    Then she was gasping, "Sister Keqin, I am awakened now. You can stop now. Don''t waste your profound energies on me¡­"


    "Not at all," Qin Keqin smiled.


    Lie Xingyuan averted her eyes, "Actually it is so good to have a kin¡­"


    Qin Keqin looked quietly at her for a while before she smiled, "So you knew?"


    "My master had told me¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled as she held Lie Xingyuan''s hands tightly, "Yes, you are my really my sister and I am also your real sister. I had only known recently too. Sorry, I didn''t tell you."


    Lie Xingyuan said weakly, "Do you know that the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is my idol? My idol is actually my sister. I am so glad."


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "We have another sister."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "We have?"


    Qin Keqin nodded as she heaved deeply as she looked up, "Her name is Yi Si. She is a great saintess before me. She is our oldest sister and she had now ascended to the Immortal Realm as an immortal cultivator. I didn''t see her for centuries and I''ve always wondered how she is doing. One day, we will meet her and she will be happy that she got a little sister."


    "Great Saintess¡­it seems that Xingyuan here is the most useless here¡­" Lie Xingyuan muttered softly.


    "Don''t say that. You will definitely become a great saintess in the future. This is your destiny, just like it is my destiny to become a great saintess." Qin Keqin smiled.


    "My destiny?" Lie Xingyuan asked.


    "That is right."


    "Sister Keqin, may I know who my parents are?" Lie Xingyuan suddenly asked.


    Qin Keqin smiled. She knew that Lie Qing the Heavenly Temptress had not told her yet or else she would not ask this question. So she replied, "One day you will know."


    Lie Xingyuan looked deeply disappointed with the answer.


    "Maybe you have already seen them but it is just that you did not know," Qin Keqin slowly said.


    Lie Xingyuan looked at her, afraid to ask further.


    "I can only tell you this. Our parents are immortal cultivators in the Immortal Realm. In the Immortal Realm, it is a rare occurrence for births to happen and almost unheard of. Even if that happens, the child will not be an automatic immortal cultivator because there are no divine calamities to temper the cultivators in the Immortal Realm."


    Then Qin Keqin smiled gently, "Therefore we are sent to the Celestial Realm to temper our spirits and cultivation in order to prepare for our eventual ascension to the Immortal Realm. You and I are destined to become immortal cultivators."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled when she had heard her, "Is that¡­true?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Of course that is the truth. Why should I lie to you?"


    Lie Xingyuan lowered her eyes before she said quietly, "Because you are also the Devil Goddess¡­"


    "Or maybe I''m the daughter of the evil immortal cultivators?" Qin Keqin chuckled softly.


    Lie Xingyuan coughed weakly before she smiled, "Or maybe I am the same as well. After all, we are two sisters."


    "Or three sisters if we include our Sister Yi Si here." Qin Keqin returned a jovial laugh.


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "Our father must be a great immortal cultivator I think."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes, not saying anything. She merely said, "Maybe."


    "Sister, I have something to tell you¡­" Lie Xingyuan said weakly.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Why don''t you rest first? We have all the time in the world when you''ve recovered."


    "No, sis." Lie Xingyuan pursed her lips. "I will be leaving here soon to be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. I hope that you understand."


    Qin Keqin nodded slowly, "I had already heard from Shen Yufeng. She had told me of her intentions."


    "Does he knows?" Qin Keqin asked her. ''He'' referred to Lu Qingyun.


    Lie Xingyuan nodded slowly before she said weakly, "Will you blame Xingyuan for making this decision?"


    Qin Keqin smiled gently, "Of course not. Please a good rest first. I will be back soon."


    Lie Xingyuan nodded weakly before she closed her eyes.


    Qin Keqin trembled a little as she thought, "Xingyuan obviously likes Lu Qingyun but she has chosen to leave him¡­"


    When she had exited Lie Xingyuan''s room, Lu Qingyun was pacing up and down in the hall.


    When Lu Qingyun saw Qin Keqin, he immediately asked. "Is Xingyuan going to be alright?"


    Qin Keqin returned a faint smile, "She will be alright. Don''t worry."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "I really don''t know who that old man is. He calls himself the Three Destinies Old Man. I have never met anyone as formidable as him. I will surely seek him out¡­"


    "No, you stay your hand." Qin Keqin interrupted him gently. "Let me do it."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This won''t do. That old man seems to have a feud with me." He did not want her to know that the old man had known about their relationship and he was worried that she may lose her reputation.


    Qin Keqin shook her head, "You won''t be able to find him but I can. Moreover I know who he is."


    "You know him?" Lu Qingyun was startled.


    Then he thought, "That old man seems to fear Keqin somehow. I wonder why?"


    Qin Keqin smiled gently, "Don''t worry. I won''t come to harm. Why don''t you take a good rest first? You didn''t sleep for an entire night now."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly before he said, "Alright then¡­"


    As Qin Keqin watched him left the hall, she thought. "I''ve better not let him know that Xingyuan is my real sister or he will feel bad about treating Xingyuan as a personal maid. Moreover Xingyuan enjoys being his personal attendant."


    After making sure that Lu Qingyun was sound asleep, Qin Keqin had quietly walked outside the abode.


    She took a quick look around with her divine sense before she said quietly, "I know that you are hiding around. Why don''t you come out now?"


    From the shadows, an old man had suddenly appeared. He was the Three Destinies Old Man but at this moment, he had changed to a youthful man with heavy muscles and was no longer a hunchback. "Yuqin¡­"

 141 Concessions

    "Yuqin¡­" the Three Destinies Old Man called out to Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "Hmph! So you are the so called Three Destinies Old Man? Look what have you done!"


    The Three Destinies Old Man sighed heavily, "I really didn''t know that she is my daughter as well¡­"


    Qin Keqin looked at him coldly, "And you have almost killed your daughter, my good father!"


    The Three Destinies Old Man smiled bitterly, "Lie Qing didn''t tell me and I can''t find her for some time."


    Qin Keqin said, "I don''t think you are here to look for her, am I right? And why are here? And why are you trying to break off the two of us?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man said weakly, "Yuqin, listen to me. That Lu Qingyun is not a good man. He is just a lecherous man. He even took you to open a room¡­"


    Qin Keqin gasped as she interrupted him, "You''ve been following us?!"


    "That is only by an accident. I just happen to walk past¡­."


    "My good father, you don''t even know how to tell a lie!" Qin Keqin''s eyes were flashing with anger.


    The Three Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "Yuqin, is this the way you talk to your father? Where are your manners?"


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "Weird. I think I saw this father of mine for less than ten times in my entire life. Can he still be considered to be my father? Moreover he had almost just killed his own daughter."


    The Three Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    "That is a mistake. I didn''t mean to do it. Is she really the Lie Qing''s daughter?" He asked.


    Qin Keqin nodded as she said firmly, "You are not wrong. She is indeed my Aunt Consort''s daughter."


    The Three Destinies Old Man had a delightful expression on him, "Why didn''t Lie Qing tells me or look for me?"


    Qin Keqin frowned slightly, "Because you are too busy."


    The Three Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "Where is your Aunt Consort now? She is nearby, am I right?"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes before she smiled coldly, "She had left me to take care of Xingyuan and had left for the Immortal Realm to look for you. Why don''t you look for her up there?"


    She was actually thinking, "If I can get rid of my father for the time being, this will be ideal."


    The Three Destinies Old Man muttered weakly, "I still have something down here so I won''t be going back so soon. By the way, have you seen the Heaveness?"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and replied, "No, isn''t she with you?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man laughed weakly, "We had a little quarrel and she had descended to the Celestial Realm. I had thought that she may look for you so¡­"


    "So that is why you have been loitering around me?" Qin Keqin interrupted unhappily. "How long have you been around?


    "I have only just reached this place." The Three Destinies Old Man laughed weakly.


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she watched him intently before she cursed softly in her heart, "Liar!"


    It was because judging by the timeline that she had sealed Lu Qingyun''s desolate aura, it had already been some time now. An immortal cultivator could easily have sense his desolate aura but after she had sealed Lu Qingyun''s desolate aura to merge with Yan''Er, it was quite impossible for anyone to sense his lingering desolate aura unless they had exchanged blows.


    "If you are looking for me then why did you look for Lu Qingyun?" she asked.


    Upon hearing the name of Lu Qingyun, there was a change in the Three Destinies Old Man''s expression. "That rascal! Yuqin, you have to leave him immediately. Do you know that he is actually a desolate cultivator? I won''t be mistaken about this. You did not see the sword art that he had just used. It is exactly the same as my most hatred foe! Luckily he is still weak and I''ve survived."


    Qin Keqin replied coldly, "But you didn''t die, am I right? Who can kill you nowadays?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man said sternly, "Leave him! He is my mortal foe and he is surely up to no good! I won''t be wrong about him. Moreover I have been observing him for some time already. He is definitely not up to no good."


    Qin Keqin smiled coldly, "So you have already been observing him for some time and yet you just said that you have only just arrived. You are really such a good father to me. We didn''t see each other for so many centuries and the first thing that you ask of me when we have met is for me to leave him? What if I say no to you?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man said unhappily, "Yuqin, this is for your future happiness! Do not sink deeper into this endless void. I can always arrange for a better groom for you if you need a companion. He will be a better man than him for sure."


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "Just because he has the desolate force within him and that is why you are against us?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man said coldly, "Yes, because he has the desolate force."


    Qin Keqin chuckled coldly, "I''ve heard that some of your new consorts are actually desolate cultivators themselves."


    The Three Destinies Old Man began to smile weakly, "They are different. I''ve them firmly under my control. Moreover they are our allies and have betrayed the Desolate Immortals. They are now the Zen Immortals of the Immortal Realm."


    "This is a double standard. As long as they have their desolate force, they will be always be Desolate Immortals. This is a fact that you can''t change. Why are you so insistent on separating us?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man replied coldly, "It is because he is different. He is my arch foe and the great foe of the Immortal Realm. Do you know how many immortals had died because of him? Even if I were to agree to your unison, how do I explain it to the other immortals that had lost their friends because of him?"


    Qin Keqin averted her eyes, "So you have known who he is. I''ve thought of hiding him from you and the rest."


    The Three Destinies Old Man said, "I know who he is at first look. How would I not know? We''ve been fighting for so many times throughout the years. If it is not for your sake, I will have already sent him to meet his maker."


    "Lord Father¡­"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin had fallen to her knees, "I have never begged you for anything and you have never given your attention to me. Even if you were to cripple my cultivation, I will still want to be with him."


    The Three Destinies Old Man bitterly said, "This is a forbidden relationship. You can be with anyone except for him. You won''t have the blessings of the immortals if you insist on doing it your way!"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "I don''t need the blessings of the immortals. I need your blessing, father! Not the Lord Father of the immortals but you alone as my father."


    The Three Destinies Old Man turned away as he looked up to the heavens, "I need some time to think about it. In the meantime, watch your conduct with him. If your mother consort knows about this, she won''t be pleased at all that her only daughter has fallen to this level."


    With a soft sigh, he added. "If you have seen the Heaveness, tell her that I am willing to forgive her as long as she is willing to return to the Immortal Realm."


    Then he turned around to say gently, "There is another Desolate Immortal that is loose around here. Be careful of her. She is the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi, a mighty Desolate Lord of one of the Twelve Citadels. At the moment, she is still weaker than you but it won''t be long before she regains her strength. She has quite a number of powerful artefacts with her so please do not recklessly engage her in a fight because you will never know what she will do."


    "The Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi?" Qin Keqin looked up. Was that the strange profound aura that she had sensed a few days earlier?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man nodded, "All the Desolate Lords of the Twelve Desolate Citadels are extreme characters and not to be underestimated. As for this Desolate Sacred Maiden, she is a brilliant escape artist. There were many times that we had her cornered but each time, she still managed to make her escape. To think that she had managed to escape from right under my nose just a few days ago."


    He sighed, "Therefore you ought to be wary of her. I am afraid that she is here to look for Lu Qingyun and she may know who he is. Regardless if she knows who he is or not, you mustn''t let the two of them meet because she will surely corrupt his soul."


    With that he had turned away.


    "Father," Qin Keqin was gasping softly. "You are leaving already? You are not looking for the Heaveness anymore?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man smiled bitterly, "I am. I will be using the remaining of my time to look for her. I have been in this realm long enough and my time here is almost up. Since you are adamant about not leaving him, what can I do? Even my other daughter is¡­"


    He sighed heavily. For the past few weeks, he had been observing Lie Xingyuan and Lu Qingyun and he could tell that Lie Xingyuan was particular attentive to Lu Qingyun.


    "I will try to come back soon. In the meantime stay safe. Be wary of Lu Qingyun and Yue Lingxi. Don''t be so na?ve to believe their words. You simply can''t trust the Desolate Lords unless you can prove to them that you are stronger than them. If not they will be constantly plotting to bring you down."


    Qin Keqin nodded slowly. Most of the Immortals could not actually descend to the Celestial Realm on their own. Even if they could, it was only for a short duration and they had to pay a terrible price for doing so. Only a few exceptional immortals like the Heaveness and the Great Goddess Fantian could move freely to the Celestial Realm.


    As for the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing, she had borrowed the Seal of the Celestial Realm from the Great Goddess Isa to stay in the Celestial Realm. This Seal of the Celestial Realm was a unique immortal artefact that could allow her to remain indefinitely in the Celestial Realm.


    But even if the immortals could descend to the Celestial Realm, the special laws in the Celestial Realm would reduce their cultivation strength by at least 50%, making them no better than a seventh realm great saint unless they were extremely powerful in the first place.


    Qin Keqin said softly as the Three Destinies Old Man walked away and her eyes were watery, "Father, it is so good to see you again. Even if it is so brief, I am truly happy¡­"


    The Three Destinies Old Man smiled without turning back, "I am truly happy to see you as well. Good bye."


    "Father, wait!" Qin Keqin suddenly said, "Actually I have seen the Heaveness some time ago. However, I do not know her current whereabouts. She said that she had divorced you and she may consider forgiving you if you are willing to apologize to her."


    The Three Destinies Old Man had suddenly turned around with a bitter smile, "That is rubbish. I''m the one that had divorced her! If she is willing to apologize to me then I can consider giving her my forgiveness. Or else, humph!"


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and she was amused. Whoever divorced each other first was not important. To her, her father and the Heaveness were both having a lovers'' quarrel and they both treasured their faces. So either of them would want to back down first.


    But that was still not the most important part. She was suddenly smiling. Her father had left without pulling Lu Qingyun and her apart. This was extremely important to her. So while her father was still considering, this was a golden opportunity to make Lu Qingyun even more outstanding!


    It seemed that her father may look fierce on the outside but he had actually softened after she had kneeled in front of her. "He is indeed my good father¡­"


    She did not know that the Three Destinies Old Man was actually thinking, "They had already jumped into bed together. Maybe he had also taken advantage of my other daughter. I need some time to cool down first¡­"


    Then he heaved a soft sigh of relief, "As long as Yuqin is willing to forgive me for accidentally hitting my other daughter, I am willing to make some small concessions first¡­"


    "Alas, since Lingfeng isn''t around here, I''ve better look elsewhere for her. I am running out of time now¡­"

 142 The Heavenly Wine 1

    In the streets of New Empyrean City;


    An old man was cursing softly to himself, "This child of mine, she thinks that her old man is senile. Does she really think that she can fool me with her playacting? She is still a million years far from it!"


    He had pretended that he had run out of time and had left in order to put her off guard. Moreover, he had also tricked her into revealing more about the whereabouts of the Heaveness.


    "Women are easily tricked. Do you think that only they can play the soft card? I know a trick or two too!"


    This old man was the Three-Destinies Old Man, or rather this was his fake alias. For now, he was going to use this alias.


    "So the Heaveness must be nearby. But she is an expert in concealing her profound aura. The only way to find her is to follow Yuqin. Sooner or later they will have to meet somehow and that will be when I can find Lingfeng again."


    He was very sure that the Heaveness was not in the Heavens Ridge Villa for he had scanned every corner of the premises. Although New Empyrean City was not large but there were dozens of celestials clans and areas to look for. Even for him, this was an extremely daunting task for him to look for someone who could conceal herself well.


    "Am I really not a good father?" he heaved a soft sigh.


    Then he spotted a bookstore and decided to take a look inside.


    As he entered, he saw a thin old man and a veiled maiden in white in the bookstore.


    The thin old man who appeared to be the shop attendant or owner began to smile at him, "This is your first time here? I don''t remember seeing you here before."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled, "That''s right. Erm, do you have any books on how to be a good father?"


    The thin old man smiled, "It is at the tenth row, all the way to the end."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "Do you mind if you can take it for me? Cos I can''t read."


    The thin old man: ¡­


    "You can''t read and you are in a bookstore?" the thin old man was speechless before he roared with laughter.


    The veiled maiden in white was suddely laughing and she was holding her belly, "An illiterate person that comes to a bookstore looking for books to read. This¡­must be the most hilarious thing that I''ve seen."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man growled softly and he was obviously unhappy that two strangers were laughing at him. "Do you know who I am?"


    "An illiterate old man, what else?" The veiled maiden in white chuckled jovially.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man stared at the veiled maiden in white and he was suddenly flustered. Although she was wearing a veil but his eyes were too sharp and he could see through her veil and saw that she was quite actually an attractive peerless beauty.


    She was also very white as though she had never been under the sun. Moreover, her bosoms were quite full and revealing. He could easily see through her thin silk dress and the outline of her wonderful figure.


    But he was also startled to see that she had golden eyes as he thought, "She is a golden celestial?"


    "Hey old man! What are you staring at?" the veiled maiden in white was suddenly annoyed as she put her hands over her bosoms. "Dirty old man!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    He quickly replied, "I have seen more than my shares of beautiful women. Will I look at you?"


    "Then what are your eyes looking at now? I''m sure your shares of beautiful women are all in your wets dreams or exotic books! Those books that you are looking for are at the far corner. You can go there and browse all you want. You don''t need to know how to read!" The veiled maiden in white rolled her eyes and she was smiling behind her veil, unaware that the Three-Destinies Old Man was able to see all of her expressions.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned, "I am a man of culture so I will not argue with you."


    The veiled maiden in white ignored him and said to the thin old man, "Help me to pack all these romance stories. Don''t forget to reserve a copy of all the romance stories for me when you got new ones."


    The thin old man smiled, "Sure, sure." Then he asked, "Today, Maiden Feng isn''t here?"


    At the mention of Maiden Feng, the veiled maiden in white began to sigh softly. "She has tasked me to come here today¡­"


    The veiled maiden in white was actually Xuan Danfeng.


    Feng Minyue had said to her earlier, "You are becoming more and more like a ghost. Why don''t you go to the bookstore today?"


    Xuan Danfeng had chuckled, "Minyue, don''t force me."


    "If you don''t go today, I will cut your allowances."


    Xuan Danfeng: ¡­


    That was why Xuan Danfeng was in the bookstore today.


    "These romance stories are a poison to your health and cultivation." The Three-Destinies Old Man gave a wryly smile. "I don''t understand why even cultivators are so obsessed over it."


    Xuan Danfeng frowned lightly, "How do you know that I am a cultivator?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled, "That is because I am also a cultivator."


    "You are a cultivator? Don''t make me laugh." Xuan Danfeng was smiling. "If every low level cultivator claims to be a cultivator then the whole street is full of cultivators!"


    Most celestials only considered a third realm practitioner as a true cultivator. And yet this old man was claiming that he was a cultivator and moreover he was an illiterate cultivator.


    Xuan Danfeng put her hand on the wall and she was laughing so jovially that she was bending over.


    Both the Three-Destinies Old Man and the thin old man were both staring at her exposed cleavage and her bouncing bosoms.


    The thin old man had a tiny drool as he stared blankly at the sight.


    "An illiterate cultivator?" Xuan Danfeng was rolling her eyes as she laughed jovially, "This must be the funniest thing that I''ve ever heard of. I must tell my sisters about it. They will be rolling on the ground in laughter."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man could not take his eyes off her as he thought, "She has the most sinful body ever and her appearance alone can mesmerize most men. It is a lucky thing that I am a high level cultivator or else I will surely be tempted by her."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man took out a wine bottle from his jade belt. Looking at her was so sinful that he felt like taking a drink now.


    But no sooner had he uncorked the wine bottle, Xuan Danfeng was gasping as she suddenly flashed in front of him, "This¡­aromatic wine¡­I have never sniff anything like this before. What is the name of this wine?"


    "This¡­" The Three-Destinies Old Man hesitated for a while as his eyes were looking down her full curved cleavages as he thought, "So big yet she has such slim figure¡­"


    "Don''t be so petty and tell me the name? How about I buy it from you? 10 silvers?" Xuan Danfeng was looking at the wine bottle with tempting eyes.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man thought, "She seems to be interested in my wine? What a strange maiden."


    He returned a smile and said, "This wine is a heavenly wine. It is not something that you can get from the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Do you think a mere 10 silvers are sufficient?"


    "I offer 100 silvers. What about it? You can eat all you want for a year with 100 silvers." Xuan Danfeng offered.


    "Even with 100 silvers, I will not part with my wine." The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned. He was not lying when he said that this wine was not something that could be obtained from the Nine Celestial Fraternity. As a matter of fact, this wine was created from the divine fruits of the Immortal Realm. In the Celestial Realm, it was actually priceless.


    Xuan Danfeng was getting a little desperate and she shouted softly, "One low grade spirit stone! Are you happy with my offer?"


    She was actually thinking, "This wine has a strong profound energy in it. I have never tasted or sniff anything like this. This old man must have stolen it from somewhere¡­" She did not believe that this hunchback old man could possess something so precious and he was actually carrying it around him in such a careless manner. Usually precious wines were carefully wrapped in thick precious wood to protect it.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man shook his hand, "It is not for sale."


    "Not for sale?" Xuan Danfeng looked extremely disappointed. She quietly said, "Alright old man, I apologize for my earlier antics and I shouldn''t have laughed at you. Don''t be angry anymore, alright? Give me your offer and I see if I can match it. Alright?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man saw that she looked extremely sincere and had even apologized to him. Behind her veils, her beautiful eyes were almost in tears as she looked at the wine bottle.


    With a soft sigh, the Three-Destinies Old Man said. "It is not for sale. But if you accompany me for a drink, I will share with you my wine."


    Xuan Danfeng rolled her golden eyes with delight as she immediately said, "That is a deal then!"


    She was thinking, "If this old man is trying to get me drunk, he is in for a big shock. I am one of the best drinkers in the Nine Celestial Fraternity¡­hehehe¡­"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man took a last look at her sinful body before he pulled his eyes away, "Then come with me."


    Xuan Danfeng turned to say to the thin old man in great panic, "Quick! What are you looking at? Pack my books quickly for me¡­I don''t want to lose sight of that old man!"


    The thin old man smiled weakly as he thought, "I was looking at your fantastic figure. I wonder what you look like behind your veil¡­"

 143 The Heavenly Wine 2

    The Three-Destinies Old Man and Xuan Danfeng were now in a private room in a nearby tavern.


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Do you have the money or not to reserve this room? Do you want me to pay the tabs?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled, "No need. I have already paid the tabs."


    "Oh?" Xuan Danfeng looked at him with some suspicious. This old man did not appear to be as poor as he appeared to be.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man had put down the wine bottle and said, "This is a big bottle and we can get drunk easily. Even though your cultivation is high, you ought to take only a small sip. This is not any ordinary wine that you have tasted in the past."


    "Haha, you have truly underestimated me!" Xuan Danfeng laughed as she untangled her veil, revealing her golden eyes. "Are you surprise that I am a golden celestial? My cultivation strength is much higher than you. If you can take drink from it, so can I."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man secretly marveled at her astonishing peerless beauty that was comparable to the worth of a city. "This small city will have such an astonishing beauty. It is really hard to believe."


    At the same time he returned a wryly smile, "Actually I''ve already known that you are a golden celestial."


    Xuan Danfeng was thinking, "This old man is totally shameless! I have only just taken off my curtain veil and he is pretending that he had long seen through my cultivation. I am not just an ordinary golden celestial. I am a golden saint and a great saintess! Hmph, shameless old man. If it isn''t for your tempting wine, I won''t be sitting down with you now."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man poured the heavenly aromatic wine into two small cups before he said, "If you are a fifth realm cultivation expert then you can only take a cup. Two if you are a sixth realm cultivation expert. Three if you are a seventh realm cultivation expert. Never say I didn''t remind you later."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled as she hurriedly took the cup from the table, "I am so sorry to disappoint you but I am certainly able to take more than three cups!"


    She quickly drowned the first cup and was suddenly startled. This was the most fantastic heavenly wine that she had ever taken. Moreover she would feel a pulsing profound energy that was circulating warmly in her body.


    She was so startled that she was gasping, "This heavenly wine, where do you get it? How do I get more of this wine?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man laughed jovially, "I''m afraid that this is heaven''s secret and I won''t tell you¡­"


    All of a sudden Xuan Danfeng had grabbed the second cup and had drowned it in praises, "Good wine!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled as he quickly grabbed the wine bottle, "Are you drunk already? Do you know that you need to be a sixth realm cultivation expert to take the second cup?"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled mischievously, "Do I look as if I am drunk to you? You think that I am only a fifth realm expert? Hehehe¡­"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man stared at her for a while before he said slowly, "You still look sober. Before I come to New Empyrean City, I had heard that there are only two sixth realm experts in this place. Supremacy Wen Hongguang and Supremacy Yin Shisi. And you are definitely not Yin Shisi because I had seen her before."


    "Oh, you really know a lot for an old man." Xuan Danfeng was laughing as she teased him, "Pour me another cup please!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned lightly as he took a sip from the wine bottle, "I think that is enough. You will surely be drunk. I tell you honestly. If you take too much of this heavenly wine, you will surely die because your spiritual sea won''t be able to contain the profound energy of this heavenly wine. Therefore it is enough already."


    Xuan Danfeng was gasping softly and her eyes were looking at the wine bottle as the old man took one sip after another sip. This old man was such a liar. He did not even have any golden eyes and yet he was drinking sip after sip. This act almost drove her crazy.


    "Petty old man! You just did not want to share with me!" Xuan Danfeng began to rush forward to grab the wine bottle and in that instant she had exchanged a blow with the old man.


    There was an explosive thunderclap as their palms met and they were both forced to take three steps back.


    "Seventh realm expert! You are a saintess?!" The Three-Destinies Old Man gasped.


    Xuan Danfeng was startled. She had felt a tremendous profound strength that had come from the old man and she was immediately jolted. The old man had only gently exchanged a blow with her and he could force her to back off.


    "You are not a low level cultivator?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man hummed, "When did I ever say that I am a low level cultivator?"


    "Hehehe, you are a peaked fourth realm expert then?" Xuan Danfeng probed.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled, "It is not important right? We are only here to appreciate the good wines."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Yes, you are right. What is your name?"


    "You can call me by my celestial title. The Three-Destinies Old Man is my celestial title. What about yours?"


    Xuan Danfeng laughed, "You can call me Xuan Xiaofeng." She had decided not to tell him her real name since the old man was also not telling her either. Moreover the name of Xuan Danfeng was really too well known.


    "Let me take one more sip, will you?" Xuan Danfeng was smiling with pleading eyes.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed softly, "Since you are a seventh realm expert, I can pour you another cup but that will be your last cup."


    "Good, good! Come on quick!"


    "Women are so weird. Their hearts are deeper than the deepest ocean." The Three-Destinies Old Man muttered as he poured a cup for her.


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "As though you have seen the oceans before? More likely you have only seen a pond!"


    Unlike the mortal realm, there were no oceans in the Celestial Realm that could be seen as all the entire Celestial Realm was covered with mountains and thick desolate mists below.


    Xuan Danfeng quickly drowned the third cup. This heavenly wine was so addicting and heavenly. She was bursting with profound energies and it seemed to her that she would be able to have a breakthrough in her Lofty Peak Divine Skill to the ninth heaven stage.


    The internal martial arts of the Lofty Snow Palace were the Lofty Peak Divine Skill and the Icy Calmness Heart Intricacy. The Lofty Peak Divine Skill was a most difficult internal art skill of the Lofty Snow Palace and it could only be practiced in the extreme coldness of the mountains.


    Xuan Danfeng had only practiced the Lofty Peak Divine Skill to the eighth heaven stage and she was already considered to be an unfathomable genius. As for the ninth heaven of the Lofty Peak Divine Peak, it was a mythical level that profound strength alone could not attain.


    But right now, she had felt that the internal heat of her profound strength was actually sufficient strong enough for the breakthrough of the ninth heaven of the Lofty Divine Peak!


    This old man really had a most mysterious heavenly wine.


    As the old man was drinking the rest of the wine bottle up, Xuan Danfeng had suddenly rushed forward to seize the wine bottle.


    "Oh no, you can''t. You already have your three cups¡­"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man had quickly gulped the wine bottle as Xuan Danfeng sensual body began to press upon him as they struggled to drink from the wine bottle.


    It was really a messy scene as they fought with each other to drink from the wine bottle.


    Time passed and Xian Danfeng slowly opened her eyes.


    She had a spinning headache and she had been knocked off from drinking too much.


    All of a sudden she gasped softly and she had taken a step backward.


    The ''old man'' earlier had become a fine looking young man with heavy built muscles and he was sound asleep with his head resting on the table.


    He too, had been knocked off from drinking too much.


    "What a great looking man. Why did he have to pretend to be a dirty old man?" Xuan Danfeng smiled as she rolled her eyes to ponder.


    Quietly she began to caress his face and was secretly feeling his pulse before she gasped with a stunned look. "He is a seventh realm expert too? Maybe even a great saint! His profound strength seems to be really unfathomable¡­maybe even stronger than me¡­how is it possible?"


    She was secretly giggling as she took more than a few meaningful glances at him before secretly putting her handkerchief into his robe.


    "I wonder who he is¡­"


    After taking a few sniffs at him and placing a profound signature to track him, she danced to her seat and pretended to fall asleep.


    After some time, the ''Three-Destinies Old Man'' had suddenly waked up with a startled shock as he quickly looked around him.


    When he saw that Xuan Xiaofeng was still drunk and was resting her head on the table, he heaved a soft sigh of relief.


    "Lucky. I have almost blown my cover."


    Then he was suddenly gulping when he saw that she had placed her heavy bosoms on the table, "Sinful¡­I am a man of cultivation¡­"


    He could not help to take a few look at this peerless beauty before he exited the room.


    Xuan Danfeng knew that he was gone because her divine sense had sensed his leaving. She was suddenly giggling, "He is actually quite a gentleman and did not try to take advantage of me¡­"


    "I wonder if he has more of these good wines?"


    "He is actually a seventh realm expert? He must have used a special divine pill to suppress his state of divinity to look like an ordinary cultivator. This is not unheard of."


    "Hehehe, what an interesting fellow¡­"


    "But first, let me breakthrough my Lofty Peak Divine Skill to the ninth heavens first before I look for him¡­"


    When Xuan Danfeng had returned to the hideout, she was singing softly.


    Feng Minyue had a surprise look on her countenance as she asked, "I''ve never known you will be so happy after going out. What happens today?"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Nothing really except that I was browsing in the bookstore when I met with something interesting. There is this person who tried to get my attention by pretending to be an illiterate cultivator. Can you imagine an illiterate cultivator in a bookstore? This is so funny."


    "An illiterate cultivator? Can he be more stupider than this?" Feng Minyue frowned lightly.


    "Haha yes. By the way, I''ll be in the practice chamber for a few days." Xuan Danfeng laughed merrily. "He is actually not bad looking¡­"


    Feng Minyue muttered with a perplexed look, "Weird, you will actually be stepping into the practice chamber? That is the last place that I will see you there."


    She quickly called out after her, "Danfeng, don''t forget to deliver the books to the Heaveness!"

 144 The Climb to Success

    Tang Bufan was now climbing up the steep cliffs.


    He had waited for a few days for his legs to be better before he attempted the climb.


    In the past few days he had quickly mastered the basics of the Nine Yang Rejuvenation Skill. To his delight, not only did his legs make a rapid recovery but he felt that his constitution had also improved.


    As a matter of fact, this allowed him to endure the hunger and thirst as he focused on practicing the Nine Yang Rejuvenation Skill and the Sunflower Sacred Skill at the same time.


    At first when he had attempted the climb up the steep mountain cliffs, he was a little nervous but he soon found out that his worries were unproven because not only he had great strength in his arms now but he had felt extremely light.


    It was due to the practice of the two divine martial skills. He could not wait to get out of this place and to master the two divine skills before he took his vendetta on Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Mei.


    He was thinking with a cold smirk, "I am the son of the heavens. Only this sort of lucky occurrences will happen to someone with great destiny. A hero has to go through several tribulations of extreme hardship in order to ascend as a true dragon. I am truly the blessed son of the heavens."


    "Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Mei. Just you watch. I, Tang Bufan will make sure that you will be my slaves and dogs¡­"


    All of a sudden a heavy golden tablet had fallen from the sky and had smashed against his head, causing him to fall into the desolate mists again¡­


    Because the golden tablet was heavy and had dropped from a great height, it had struck Tang Bufan hard with a loud bang and had thrown him off the cliff.


    He had totally no idea what had exactly happened and he had lost his consciousness immediately.


    Above the steep cliff, above the desolate mists;


    Qiuxiang Huan was the one that had thrown down the golden tablet.


    "Bufan, although our union is brief but I won''t forget about you. I had made this golden tablet for you. May your soul rest in peace and may you reincarnate into a good family soon. Good bye¡­Bufan¡­"


    She did not know that the golden tablet that she threw down had smashed the head of Tang Bufan, sending him to plunge down the steep cliff again.


    With a final soft sigh, she muttered. "Rest¡­in¡­peace¡­"


    With that she had left the scene.


    A while later, she was in another part of New Empyrean City.


    It was a broken down hut by the mountains.


    Inside the hut was beautiful maiden but she looked tired and even dirty. It appeared that she was crying earlier.


    When she saw Qiuxiang Huan, she began to say bitterly. "Qiuxiang Huan! Have you come to see my wretched state? Are you happy now?"


    Qiuxiang Huan muttered, "Shangguan Furong¡­"


    Shangguan Furong used to be one of the top twenty beauties of New Empyrean City. Her undoing was due to Qiuxiang Huan''s schemes, causing her to be caught between two men.


    She was also a third realm expert and the young mistress of the Celestial Medicinal Hall. But after her scandal had been discovered, she was driven out of her clan. This caused her to wander around, homeless. Overnight, she had lost all her friends and status.


    Qiuxiang Huan said gently, "You are wrong. I am here to invite you to join the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    Shangguan Furong smiled bitterly, "So that you can further humiliate me? So that I can be your personal attendant? So that I can be at your wiles? No thanks!"


    "No. You shall be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Clear Sky Pavilion and accord the status of an elite prot¨¦g¨¦. Not only that, you will be my dear sister." Qiuxiang Huan said slowly.


    "Are you joking with me? Why should you be so nice to me? Have you forgotten our old rivalries?" Shangguan Furong laughed bitterly. "Go away! I don''t need your pity."


    Qiuxiang Huan sighed softly as she took out a bottle, "In this bottle is a Divine Profound Pill that can help you to breakthrough to the fourth realm level. You will no longer age and will be forever beautiful. Do you think that I am not sincere enough?"


    Shangguan Furong was gasping, "Are you sure? Why?!"


    "Because I was young and na?ve back then. I need allies and I need your help. Join me please. Together, we can do great things together. You may even regain your former glory." Qiuxiang said gently, her gentle voice and eyes contained no malice.


    Shangguan Furong had always known Qiuxiang Huan to be an extremely sly maiden and she had never trust her. But in this instance, it was a matter of eternal youth or remained in this pathetic state.


    After thinking for a while, she averted her glances and said. "Are you sincere about what you have said?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled as she bended down to hold her hand, "Sister Furong, I promise that you will always be my dear sister and I will share my glory with you."


    Shangguan Furong turned to look at her, "The celestial clans'' competition is forthcoming. You want me to join you in the competition?"


    Qiuxiang Huan nodded slowly before she said, "Indeed."


    Shangguan Furong smiled weakly, ???Surely the Sky Clear Pavilion has no lack of fourth realm experts. Why do you even need me in the first place?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled, "I have a new master recently. This prot¨¦g¨¦ mistress of mine only wants the most beautiful cultivators to fight alongside her. Although my clan has numerous fourth realm experts but they are all men."


    Shangguan Furong was startled, "Who is this new master of yours? What a strange person."


    Qiuxiang Huan returned a smile, "You will be able to see her real soon. After all this Divine Profound Pill is from her. I can only tell you that she is a powerful cultivator, more powerful than my great aunt Yin Shisi."


    Shangguan Furong stared blankly at her as she muttered, "More powerful than Yin Shisi? We have such a powerful figure in New Empyrean City?"


    "She isn''t from around here," Qiuxiang Huan smiled. "Come sister, we will look for her now."


    Shangguan Fu turned to look at herself in the mirror, "I may need a little preparation."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled, "I will prepare everything for you in the Clear Sky Pavilion. Do you like a rose bath or a lotus bath? Or both?"


    Shangguan Fu''s eyes immediately lit up as she replied shyly, "Both."


    Qiuxiang Huan nodded warmly as she extended her hand to her, "Let''s go then!"


    Shangguan Fu took her hand as she said shyly, "Sister Huan, please forgive your Sister Furong in the past!"


    "What is in the past, is the past. Let''s not talk about the past too much."


    Qiuxiang Huan naturally would not tell her that she was the one that had caused her to be in this state. She had looked for Shangguan Furong because she felt guilty all of a sudden as she was similarly caught in the same situation as her. Therefore she wanted to make amend to her.


    Since her new mistress had wanted her to look for a fourth realm expert to join their team setup, she had thought of Shangguan Furong.


    All of a sudden she was thinking, "It seems to be a better feeling doing nicer things than scheming against the others???"

 145 A Change of Plan 1

    Clear Sky Pavilion;


    Qiuxiang Mei had said to Qiuxiang Huan, "I see that you have a new cultivation teacher and you also wish to delay your engagement to Ling Chong?"


    Qiuxiang Huan nodded quietly.


    Qiuxiang Mei stared sternly at her before saying, "What is the background of this Yue Lingxi? Huan, you are such a disappointment to me. I didn''t expect you to be so trusting nowadays. You are not your old self anymore. You have even brought Shangguan Furong back to the Clear Sky Pavilion as a core prot¨¦g¨¦ and you even want her to register as a candidate for the upcoming celestial clans'' competition?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled weakly, "People do change over time. Circumstances will change people¡­"


    Qiuxiang Mei interrupted, "I want results and not excuses. If I did not remember wrongly, she is only a third realm expert. Do you want the Clear Sky Pavilion to be a laughing stock in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm for sending a third realm expert? We have no lack of fourth realm experts here. I can easily pick one from among the established masters and elders here."


    "Mother Consort, please hear me out¡­"


    "Pavilion Mistress. You shall address me by my title from now on. Until you''ve proven your capability again, I don''t have a daughter like you!" Qiuxiang Mei said coldly.


    Qiuxiang Huan stared blankly and she was hurt deep inside her heart. She had done so many things for her mother consort and yet she was never happy with her, often demanding more tasks from her to accomplish.


    Until today, she dared not tell her mother consort that she had lost her chastity to Young Master Ling Chong and that he had a handle against her.


    However this time she raised her voice to say, "Pavilion Mistress, my mistress thinks that it is important that I will postpone the engagement because it is better to focus our strength here. With the alliance of the two clans, we have a better odd of winning the celestial clans'' competition, rather than putting all our eggs in a single basket."


    Qiuxiang Huan coldly said, "This is mere talks only. Ask her to meet me and I shall judge her myself."


    And that was how Yue Lingxi had coolly walked into the Eternal Sky Hall of the Clear Sky Pavilion and she was now looking at Qiuxiang Mei face to face.


    Behind her were Qiuxiang Huan and Shangguan Furong.


    "This is my mistress and Celestial Teacher Yue Lingxi." Qiuxiang Huan quietly introduced.


    Qiuxiang Mei hummed coldly, "You are my daughter, the daughter of the Pavilion Mistress and yet you are calling someone else your mistress? I don''t mind you having a Celestial Teacher but look at her, she doesn''t even appear to have reached the fifth realm level and you are calling someone who has the lower cultivation level as your Celestial Teacher? Huan, you are getting more and more useless nowadays!"


    Shangguan Furong was startled that Qiuxiang Mei had given Qiuxiang Huan a public scolding in front of them and also the dozens of cultivators that were in the hall.


    She had always thought that Qiuxiang Huan was living a lofty spoilt life and was always bullying the others. But in her own clan, she was constantly under pressure from her mother consort. In fact, she had heard that the Pavilion Mistress Qiuxiang Mei was not happy that she was joining as a core prot¨¦g¨¦ as well.


    Qiuxiang Mei had turned to say coldly to Yue Lingxi, "You are Yue Lingxi? Not bad looking. Unfortunately your cultivation level is a little too weak to teach my daughter. Why don''t I make you a core prot¨¦g¨¦ instead? When you have proven yourself in the upcoming celestial clans'' competition, I will then consider appointing you as an elder."


    She added icily, "But first, shouldn''t you have greeted this Pavilion Mistress first? Did I hear see any courtesy greeting from you?"


    Yue Lingxi smirked coldly, "I do not bow or greet any lesser cultivators. Why don''t you bow to the ground at my foot instead?"


    "Insolent fool!" Qiuxiang Mei and several of the elders were all shouting at the same time.


    Qiuxiang Mei''s golden eyes were flashing with rage as she raised her palm to deliver a powerful strike at Yue Lingxi.


    But to her stunned gasp, Yue Lingxi had raised her fingers within a blink of an eye and had sent her to fly all the way back to her throne seat!


    "Pavilion Mistress!¡­" Several of the elders and masters were all shouting at the same time.


    At the same time, ten cultivators in black had all appeared in the Eternal Sky Hall. They were the secret personal guards of the Pavilion Mistress and were always lurking in the shadows to protect the safety of Pavilion Mistress.


    Barely had Qiuxiang Mei recovered from the shock of the profound strength of Yue Lingxi and when Qiuxiang Mei looked up again, all ten of her personal guards were all lying on the ground with broken bodies; they were all struck down by Yue Lingxi with a single blow from her bare hands in a blink of an eye.


    Yue Lingxi smirked coldly, "Do not touch me or test my patience."


    Qiuxiang Mei was suddenly smiling as she said politely, "Mistress Yue, I didn''t know that you are actually a great cultivation expert. Please pardon me for my impudence earlier. From now on, you are the elder of the elders in the Clear Sky Pavilion. As for your candidates for the upcoming competition, you may choose anyone that pleases you. What do you say?"


    "If there is nothing else, don''t disturb me until it is really important." Yue Lingxi said before she turned around to walk away.


    When Qiuxiang Mei saw that Yue Lingxi, Qiuxiang Huan and Shangguan Furong had left the hall, she secretly heaved a soft sigh of relief and thought, "This Yue Lingxi is really too formidable. With her around, it is really difficult for us not to win this upcoming competition. But who is she?"


    Several of the elders had rushed to her side and were panicky saying, "Pavilion Mistress, are you alright?"


    "Why are you so polite to that Yue Lingxi? Just give us the order and we will take her down!"


    "That is right!"


    Qiuxiang Mei smiled coldly as she looked at her fallen guards that were on the ground, "I am afraid that we are only lucky that she did not take us all down earlier¡­"


    Her ten personal guards were trained to specially take down a fifth realm golden celestial down with ease. However not only had this Yue Lingxi brought them all down in a blink of an eye and she had even received a light injury as well.


    Even now, her palm was trembling and her internal energies were still erratic.


    However she was smiling, "Qiuxiang Huan, you didn''t disappoint me after all¡­"

 146 A Change of Plan 2

    Late at night somewhere in the deep mountains of New Empyrean City;


    Two people were secretly meeting. They were Qiuxiang Huan and Ling Chong.


    Ling Chong asked quietly, "Huan, why did you want to postpone our engagement? You are backing off?"


    Qiuxiang Huan lowered her glances and replied, "We will proceed with our engagements after the upcoming competition and not before that."


    "Oh? Isn''t it better that we can combine our clans'' strength and shine in this upcoming competition? And we will be fighting on the same time." Ling Chong bitterly said.


    Qiuxiang Huan shook her head before she said, "Although it is a good idea but we are only inviting gossips and the gossips are now circulating that I am only using the Flying Armament Sect to further my own ambitions. Although that is true¡­"


    "Not, that is not true." Ling Chong suddenly interrupted.


    Qiuxiang smiled gently as she turned her back away, "No, that is the true. If not, I will not have fallen into your hands and got blackmailed by you. This is all due to my lofty ambitions."


    Ling Chong had grabbed her hand and said firmly, "I am glad that you have fallen into my hands. Do you know that I have already fallen in love ever since we had first met? I promise you I will destroy the imaginary stone after our engagement alright?"


    "I trust that you will do that." Qiuxiang Huan said. "But we still have to postpone our engagement until after the competition. The competition is only in a matter of days. Can''t you wait a little longer?"


    Ling Chong suddenly said, "Is it because of that Tang Bufan?"


    There was a sudden shudder from Qiuxiang Huan before she said, "No, it is not him. So you have your information network in my clan as well."


    Ling Chong smiled weakly, "Huan, I don''t mind. As long as your heart is with me."


    Qiuxiang Huan was trembling as she looked at him. Did he know about her relationship with Tang Bufan already?


    Slowly she said, "There is no more Tang Bufan. I have already done away with him."


    Ling Chong heaved a soft sigh of relief, "That is good. That is good. He had suddenly disappeared for a few days so I have thought that¡­"


    "That he is preparing a route for me to elope with him? Is that what you are thinking?" Qiuxiang Huan said quietly.


    Ling Chong nodded quietly.


    "You think too highly of him and think too lowly of him." With that Qiuxiang Huan had turned to walk away.


    Ling Chong shouted, "Huan, I shall wait for you till the competition is over¡­"


    There were tears in Qiuxiang Huan''s eyes as she walked away. She knew that Ling Chong had already known about her and Tang Bufan. It was a secret that she had wanted to keep to herself. In her heart, she thought that Ling Chong would now despise her.


    If he did not then why did he not hold her hands earlier?


    Ling Chong did not despise her at all. He had only wanted to marry her and to take her as his consort. He wanted her heart.


    As she left, Ling Chong was quietly sighing. "Ling Chong, you are so stupid. Why did you let loose of your tongue? You don''t have to let her know that you have already known¡­"


    He clenched his fists and smashed it against the tree bark, "You are stupid! If it is not you who had taken advantage of her, she wouldn''t have done something like this too!"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Somewhere below the desolate mists;


    Tang Bufan had just opened his eyes as he muttered, "I am not dead yet?"


    "I am indeed the son of the heavens. This fall didn''t even kill me. Haha."


    All of a sudden he felt a weird source of strength in his body and was startled. Not only did he feel strong but his hunger was also gone. It was as though he could cultivate in the desolate mists.


    "What is this new source of strength?"


    He had thought that he must have broken all his bones in his body when he had fallen but all of a sudden he found out that he could even walk again.


    "My body had completely recovered? This is a true miracle?!" He was suddenly laughing aloud.


    "It is said that even the Great God Yi Ping had to undergo 99 major tribulations of life and death in order to become the Great God Pangu. It seems that I am really the destined son of the heavens." Tang Bufan was laughing.


    He checked his cultivation and was startled that he was now a peak fourth realm expert now and that his cultivation had suddenly jumped more than one realm!


    "Not only did I not die but my cultivation has also improved! I can''t believe it¡­" Tang Bufan was laughing loud now.


    All of a sudden he spotted the golden tablet with his name and was frowning. "This must be thrown down by Qiuxiang Huan. If I don''t torture you for what you have done with me then I am not Tang Bufan. You won''t believe that I am not dead but I have also grown more powerful. Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Mei, Lu Qingyun, Qin Keqin¡­I''m going to have my fun with you once I am out of this place¡­"


    All of a sudden a most astonishing and beautiful maiden had levitated from the sky above, startling him.


    "Who are you?" He was suddenly stammering and was a little afraid.


    It was because even though cultivators were able to levitate but it was only for a while as their profound aura could not sustain them in mid-air for too long and it was only as short as a breath. More powerful cultivators were able to sustain more than three breaths but not longer than five breath.


    But this astonishing beautiful maiden was just hanging in mid-air just like this. If she falls then how would she be able to get back on top again?


    And yet she was levitating above him like a heavenly maiden that had descended from the heavens.


    This astonishing maiden said coolly, "You must be that Tang Bufan."


    Tang Bufan nodded and said, "Indeed I am. Who are you?"


    He was suddenly smiling in his heart. This maiden was even more beautiful than Qiuxiang Huan. He was beginning to plan his grand designs on her already and was thinking how nice it would be if he could get her into his bed. After all, he had quite lonely for the past several days and he missed the warm flesh of Qiuxiang Huan.


    "I am the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi."


    Tang Bufan had never heard of her before but he replied, "I am heard of your great name. Are you a seventh realm expert?"


    Yue Lingxi smiled but did not say anything.


    "You are here to help me?"


    This time Yue Lingxi replied, "I''ve sensed a disturbance of desolate energies in this area and know that one of my kind has awakened."


    "One of your kind?"


    "Indeed. My kind has an immortal soul. When they died, there is a chance that they may reincarnation their soul as they are all high level cultivators of the heavens. And you are one of them."


    "I am one of them?" Tang Bufan was suddenly smiling broadly. He knew that he was the indeed the blessed son of the heavens and now even a beautiful heavenly maiden was saying the same to him as well.


    So he said shamelessly, "That is good to hear. Can you get me out of here? I am willing to use my body to repay you."


    Yue Lingxi smiled, "Alright¡­"


    All of a sudden she had raised her finger and had sent a sword to run through his body, stunning Tang Bufan who was stammering. "Why did you¡­did you not say that¡­we are the same kind¡­"


    Tang Bufan simply could not believe that he was going to die just like this. Not after he had narrowly missed death so many times¡­


    "Qiuxiang Huan is my disciple. Since she had pushed you down then you deserve to die permanently. Secondly, you are now a eunuch and your desolate strength is impaired. Therefore you are of no use to me. Thirdly¡­"


    She smiled as she levitated upward, "I don''t like you the least bit at all. So you''ve better stay dead."

 147 Yan’Er is Back!

    Lu Qingyun was deep in his thoughts in the practice chamber.


    Just exactly who this Three-Destinies Old Man was and why was he so insistent on separating Qin Keqin and him?


    He looked a little lost and his confidence was shattered. He was planning to use his new sword techniques during the upcoming competition and he was sure of the strength of his new sword techniques.


    But against the Three-Destinies Old Man, his new sword techniques were completely useless. This caused his confidence to plummet immediately.


    "Yan''Er, where are you? I need you¡­" he was muttering.


    A brilliant flaming aura had suddenly burst out and Yan''Er was yawning sleepily, "Yes master, you are looking for me?"


    For the very first time, he was actually excited to see Yan''Er. So he said, "You don''t have to cultivate for so long. So many things have happened while you are away."


    Then he turned to look at Yan''Er suspiciously, "You can hear me?"


    Yan''Er rolled her eyes with a soft giggle, "Yan''Er just wakes up. Mm, I mean I was cultivating when I had suddenly heard master calling for me."


    "I thought you say you won''t be able to hear anything while you were cultivating?"


    "Although Yan''Er is able to close all my senses but there are two situations when Master will still be able to disturb me." Yan''Er chuckled.


    Lu Qingyun nearly fainted from the spot before he asked, "What are the two situations?"


    Yan''Er laughed, "The first one is naturally when master is in danger."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "And what is the other?"


    "The second one is when master is in distress and urgently needs me."


    Lu Qingyun frowned lightly, "I''ve been in distress for some time already but why didn''t you wake up?"


    Yan''Er rolled her eyes with a cutely smile, "Master isn''t in real distress previously. Half the time, you are hoping that Yan''Er isn''t here to disturb you with Big Sister Keqin. But today, you are particularly distress so I am able to hear you."


    "Erm¡­" Lu Qingyun had a sheepish look before he said, "That isn''t entirely true but never mind that. I''m glad that you are back now."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun began to grow solemn as he asked, "Yan''Er, recently I have fought with an old man. He is a little too formidable for me to handle. I don''t understand why my sword techniques are not working against him."


    Yan''Er nodded as she began to read his mental images. "This old man does look a little formidable. Huhuhu, he even tried to hurt Big Sister Xingyuan. Luckily, Big Sister Keqin was there to stop him."


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh, "Indeed."


    "I had also created two new sword techniques while you are away. This one is the Alpha Soaring Heavens as One and the other is the Beta Soaring Heavens as One."


    Yan''Er clapped her hands, "Master is so strong now!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "But did you see the fight that I had with that old man?"


    He replayed the fight in his mind again for Yan''Er to view.


    Yan''Er nodded, "He is even more formidable than master!"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "That is not the point. The point is I had lost terribly." He was sighing heavily. "In a few short days'' time, it will be the celestial clans'' competition. I am a little worried now that this old man may be among the competitors. I had checked with the grand elders and none of them had ever seen this old man before. Therefore I think he is an intruder. Alas. I should be more wary of him. He had almost killed Xingyuan. This is something that I can never forgive myself."


    "Yan''Er¡­" he added. "I got something to ask you for days."


    Yan''Er: ???


    "Do you remember when we are storming the Solitary Manor and we are up against two golden celestials?"


    Yan''Er nodded as her eyes rolled up as she tried to recall it. Actually she did not have to because Lu Qingyun was now replaying the image in his mind for her to see.


    "I was displaying the Supreme Burning Sword. It is a far inferior sword art than my newly created Flaming Phoenix Sword. But do you remember that when I had formed the sword energies into a firebird with the Supreme Burning Sword, the firebird seemed to have a life on its own and it could even penetrate through the defenses of the two golden celestials?"


    Lu Qingyun immediately displayed the Supreme Burning Sword as he formed the firebird aura again. "But no matter how many times I''ve tried, I am unable to replicate that day result. But I remember asking you to lend me your strength. Yan''Er, can you tell me what did you do that day?"


    Yan''Er chuckled softly, "Oh that? That is Yan''Er Golden Roc Flame and the Annihilating Fire from the annihilating force."


    "Golden Roc Flame?" Lu Qingyun''s eyes had suddenly lit up.


    "Yan''Er can not only empower master''s profound strength but I can also become a golden roc flame in place of master''s sword energies. That night I was a little scare when I saw the two golden celestials so Yan''Er had unleashed my golden roc flame. Master, you are angry with Yan''Er?"


    Lu Qingyun had mostly thought that the golden roc flame had to wait until he was a sixth realm expert before he could actually use it and accordingly to the cultivation books, spirit entities were able to empower the cultivators'' profound aura with their own special manifestations. But he had never read that a spirit entity could actually take over his sword energies and greatly enhanced it into its own manifestations.


    His firebird sword energies had suddenly become a golden roc sword energies.


    Now this made sense to him!


    Yan''Er was a ninth rank golden roc spirit entity. Therefore when her aura manifested into a golden roc, the Supreme Burning Sword was no longer the original.


    "And what is this Annihilating Fire and the Annihilating Force?" he asked further.


    Yan''Er chuckled, "So master you are finally willing to believe Yan''Er has your Annihilating Force?"


    Lu Qingyun quietly nodded, at least for the time being. He was curious about this Annihilating Fire.


    "This Annihilating Fire is what made Yan''Er strong!" Yan''Er chuckled.


    "Erm and what else?"


    Yan''Er pondered for a while before she said, "It makes Yan''Er¡­super strong?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed. Yan''Er was just a spirit entity. There were a lot of things that was normal to cultivators but was difficult for her to describe into a proper sense of retelling.


    So he said weakly, "I''ve thought that our spirits are linked together? How come I cannot use Yan''Er strength?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Because Big Sister Keqin had transferred all your annihilating force into your Yan''Er!"


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was frowning lightly.


    He had suddenly remembered now;


    Chapter 99:


    ***


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly as she said meaningfully, "Please turn around. I''m going to make you stronger."


    Lu Qingyun muttered as he turned around, "Huh? Make me stronger? Meaning?"


    Qin Keqin replied with a delightful nod, "That''s right. I am going to make Yan''Er even stronger than before. If Yan''Er is stronger, it will mean that you are also stronger at the same time."


    Yan''Er hovered excitingly, "Whoa? Yan''Er will get even stronger?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "That''s right."


    ***


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly in deep thoughts. That day, Qin Keqin had spent two hours to ''make'' Yan''Er stronger and she had even exhausted a great deal of her profound strength in doing so but she had never told him why she was doing so.


    Come to think of that, it was actually quite fishy¡­


    Why should Qin Keqin bothered to waste half of her profound strength to make Yan''Er stronger?


    There was a sudden heartache within him as he stumbled backward, "Is it because I really got the evil desolate force that is within me and she is trying to conceal it from the others¡­"


    Lu Qingyun slowly looked at Yan''Er with a heavy sigh, "Yan''Er, I am not a desolate cultivator. Do you think I am one?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Of course master is. Master is the strongest desolate cultivator in the world!"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He began to shake his head and was sighing deeply.


    Accordingly to the celestial records, there may be some cultivators that would be born with the evil desolate force. These cultivators would eventually become evil and uncontrollable, losing their minds to the evil desolate force eventually. Therefore all the orthodox and unorthodox celestial clans had the justification to kill any practitioners of the evil desolate forces.


    Moreover there was a myth about a war between the Desolate Immortals and the Pangu Immortals. Therefore all the celestials were taught to hate the Desolate Immortals as an enemy of the Three Known Realms.


    The Desolate Immortals represented desolate, destruction and death in the Three Known Realms. Therefore any cultivators that sought the desolate force were totally evil and were a threat to the common good of all the celestials.


    Lu Qingyun was trembling, "I didn''t seek the desolate force. Why must this accursed desolate force be in me?"


    "Am I destined to be an evil cultivator in the future? That old man is right. I will surely bring upon a calamity to the maiden of my heart¡­"


    "It is no wonder why that Maiden Yue Lingxi calls me her kind¡­"


    "I don''t know if Keqin really knows about it. But she may despise me if I tell her. I guess that I should stay away from her lest I will hurt her one day. Yes, it is better that we should break up. That old man is right after all¡­"


    All of a sudden there was a sudden shout from Qin Keqin from outside the practice chamber, "Yun''Er, where are you? Quick, this is the last day we can go out before the competition¡­I''ll be busy for several days after this¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had rose up, completely forgotten what he had just reminded himself as he shouted back. "Keqin, I am coming¡­"


    Yan''Er: ¡­


    She muttered, "Men are so complex¡­"

 148 Prelude to the Clans’ Tournament 1

    Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were now walking along the street.


    The streets were unusually crowded. That was because in recent days, hundreds of celestial clans from the region had all come to New Empyrean City for the upcoming celestial clans'' competition.


    There were cultivators in their sect''s attires everywhere and they were mostly moving in their groups.


    The buzz of the city was all about the upcoming competition and almost everyone was talking about it, from the young to the old.


    "Who do you think will win?"


    "Will our city win?"


    "New Empyrean City has never won before¡­"


    "The Divine Fragrance Tournament is an important event that is held every thirty years. The female cultivators will have a chance to join the Heavenly Fragrance Villa as a core prot¨¦g¨¦ and at the same time, wondrous cultivation resources will be given out to the competitors at every stage¡­"


    "There are eight major regions in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and each major region is furthered partitioned into eight counties. New Empyrean City belongs to one of the counties in the northern region¡­"


    "Every region has at least a 1-2 celestial clans that can be considered close to a first tier celestial clan and the number of second tier celestial clans numbered at least a hundred. Our New Empyrean City is represented by the four major powerhouses, the Solitary Manor, the Flying Armament Sect and the Heavens Ridge Villa. At the same time, more than two dozen third tier celestial clans from New Empyrean City will also be participating¡­"


    "The Heavy Moon Sect is the past winner of the Divine Fragrance Tournament. They are probably the most powerful celestial clan in our region¡­"


    "We also have the Alluring Blossoms Palace as a top contester. One of their prot¨¦g¨¦s was picked as a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa in the last tournament¡­"


    "There are still the Spirit Sword Manor and the Divine Nine Sect among the top contesters¡­"


    "There are so many cultivators here and many strong opponents. Alas, I should be practicing my skills now instead of roaming the streets." Lu Qingyun was suddenly lamenting.


    "Yun''Er, you are wrong on that." Qin Keqin chuckled.


    "Oh? I am wrong?"


    "That''s right. Right now, we aren''t just roaming the streets but we are actually picking up useful information about our opponents on the street. Look at these cultivators over there. Do you know their sects'' secret techniques and profound arts?" Qin Keqin rolled her eyes with a sheepish smile.


    "Keqin, you are right. I didn''t think of that." Lu Qingyun gasped as he started to eavesdrop on the sects'' gossips.


    There were plenty of such gossips because everyone was talking about this skill or that.


    "The Flying Dragon Claw¡­"


    "The Dancing Legion Sword¡­"


    "The Soul Stealing Fingers¡­"


    "How about the profound arts of the Heavens Ridge Villa? They are currently the top sect in New Empyrean City now."


    "Haha, the Heavens Ridge Villa has no particular strong profound skills. They are a pile of loose sands with no real unique skills¡­"


    Lu Qingyun almost coughed aloud when he had heard that.


    After some time he said sheepishly to Qin Keqin, "I think that we are not a popular choice in this Divine Fragrance Tournament."


    Qin Keqin nodded with a smile, "Indeed. So Yun''Er, just do your best and give up when you are unable to defeat your opponent. It isn''t a life and death battle so don''t push yourself so hard."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I will¡­" But he was actually thinking of doing his very best and was eager to show Qin Keqin that he was actually a strong cultivator now.


    "Keqin, I will want to be a strong cultivator in the future. I want to be strong enough to protect you. I feel so useless when that old man had hurt Xingyuan and she is still in bed now." He said woefully.


    Qin Keqin nodded lightly when she saw his solemn and woeful expression.


    "I am really afraid that the old man will return." He added. "I am at a loss what to do if he shows up again."


    "Don''t worry. That old man won''t come again. At least not for a while." Qin Keqin smiled.


    Lu Qingyun looked at her curiously, "You have met him already?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Indeed and I promise you that you won''t see him for some time."


    "Erm, what did you say to him so that he won''t come anymore?" He asked curiously.


    "Oh? I just beat him up. That''s all." Qin Keqin chuckled.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. "That old man is quite formidable¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "But I''m even more formidable. Do you not agree? He is probably lying somewhere and crying in a corner."


    Lu Qingyun slowly nodded. She was a peaked seventh realm expert naturally the Three-Destinies Old Man may not be her match.


    She looked at him with a shy look, "So other than becoming strong enough to protect me in the future, do you have any other ambitions?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed heartily, "Yes, I do have one. Don''t laugh at me if I tell you, alright?"


    Qin Keqin laughed as she rolled her eyes, "Alright. I''ll promise you."


    "I have a lofty dream of ridding the Nine Celestial Fraternity of the Golden Mask Devil Goddess. As long as she is in control of the three divine realms, the Nine Celestial Fraternity will never be at peace¡­"


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin hummed coldly as she walked away hastily.


    "Keqin, wait for me! Did I say anything wrong?"


    Lu Qingyun quickly caught hold of her wrist as he said tenderly, "Keqin, I''ll promise you I won''t recklessly lose my life, alright? This is just a lofty ambition and I have not yet reached that stage of challenging the all-powerful Devil Goddess yet."


    Qin Keqin frowned lightly, "You have better forgot about this lofty ambition of yours. Many heroes had tried and failed. Did the Devil Goddess kill your family or something?"


    "No¡­" Lu Qingyun weakly said. "This is for the righteousness of the Nine Celestial Fraternity."


    Qin Keqin smiled coldly, "I don''t want to talk with you anymore!"


    "Keqin? What''s wrong?" Lu Qingyun had a perplexed look on his face.


    "Alright, I will give up on this lofty ambition?"


    "Good."


    "So you are not upset with me?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Was I upset earlier?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Soon they had come to a vendor that was selling paintings.


    A thin middle-age man was immediately greeting them, "Will you like some paintings? I have the portraits of all the twenty of the city''s top beauties. Will you like to take a look?"


    Lu Qingyun frowned, "No thanks¡­"


    But Qin Keqin was smiling behind her curtain veil, "Mm, please show it to me. I have heard that the Sect Leader Qin Keqin of the Heavens Ridge Villa is the top beauty in New Empyrean City. I wonder how she looks like?"


    The thin middle-age man was laughing as he took out a scroll, "Look at her portrait! Isn''t she a wondrous beauty? Maiden, I can tell that you are also a beautiful maiden as well. If you hang her portrait on the wall, soon you will become as beautiful as her too!"


    Lu Qingyun took a look at the portrait before he growled, "Are you sure this maiden is Qin Keqin? This portrait doesn''t look like her at all. In fact, it is not even one-tenth of her beauty."


    The thin middle-age man calmly smiled, "Of course the real Qin Keqin is much more beautiful. No one can capture her beauty at all."


    Qin Keqin was laughing softly as she said, "Then I want this painting to hang in my hideout. My sisters will be so envious of me when they see this painting every day."


    The thin middle-age man was delighted as he praised her, "Maiden, you really have a good foresight. This portrait happens to be the last and is a hot buy. You are really fortunate to buy the last one."


    Lu Qingyun frowned softly, "Don''t listen to him. He probably has many ''last one''."


    The thin middle-age man frowned lightly, "It is really the last one."


    Qin Keqin quietly stepped on Lu Qingyun''s foot before she said, "We will have that, don''t worry. Do you have any other paintings????


    The thin middle-age man knew that he had her hooked. Today he was going to earn a huge pile of money and he was not going to let this big spender off.


    So he quickly took out more scrolls and cautiously opened up the scrolls with care.


    "This is the Great Saintess Xuan Danfeng. She is even prettier than Qin Keqin¡­"


    "This is the Great Saintess Feng Minyue. She is the prettiest¡­"


    Qin Keqin growled softly, "Where is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqin?"


    "She isn''t as pretty as these two saintesses. Moreover these two saintesses are the divine rulers of a divine realm. Great Saintess Fan Yuqin isn''t as renowned as them. Moreover, do you not agree that our former divine ruler is actually the prettiest? Hang her on your wall and you will also receive her protection."


    "Oh yes. I have a really rare painting of the Devil Goddess. This is actually her true appearance and you will be surprised¡­"


    The thin middle-age man had proceeded to take out a painting of an old hag with stooped back. "This is the Devil Goddess¡­"


    "No one has ever seen the appearance of the Devil Goddess, how do you know she looks like this?" Qin Keqin interrupted unhappily.


    "If she isn''t ugly, why is she wearing a mask?" The thin middle-age man smiled.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "So that is how she looks like. I will buy it then."


    He was suddenly thinking of buying this painting to strengthen his mental resolve to get rid of the Devil Goddess. If he would be known as the hero who would defeat the Devil Goddess then no one would be able to pin-point him as an evil desolate cultivator in the future¡­


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    "I have another one. She is the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing, the most beautiful maiden in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity¡­"


    Qin Keqin could not bear to listen any longer as she stormed off angrily, "Yun''Er, we are leaving!"


    "But¡­but¡­I have not brought the painting yet¡­I really want to buy the painting of the Devil Goddess¡­" Lu Qingyun stammered after her.


    "If you buy anything from him again, I will immediately break off with you!"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    "Keqin, what happens?"


    "We''re going back to the sect now."


    "Wait for me¡­"


    The thin middle-aged man was stunned. Did he say something wrong?


    On the same street, an old man was secretly heaving a soft sigh. He was the Three-Destinies Old Man. This time he was not following Qin Keqin on purpose and he was actually walking in the street when his divine sense had alerted him of her approach.


    Therefore he had quickly hid himself from her view and from her divine sense.


    It was all too easy for him.


    He was sighing softly to himself.


    After he had taken flight from the tavern, he had suddenly found a scented handkerchief in his robe and was startled.


    Judging from the scent and faint aura, he knew that it must have belonged to that Maiden Xuan Xiaofeng. However he was unsure how the handkerchief could have gone inside his robe.


    "I must be too drunk and had grabbed her handkerchief by mistake."


    ???Since this isn''t mine, I should throw it away." As he said that the handkerchief was back in his robe again.


    "Maybe I should find an opportunity to return it to her¡­"


    "Hmm, she is a seventh realm expert. Interesting. I wonder who she is? I don''t think the name that she gives me is her real name¡­what an interesting maiden¡­"

 149 Prelude to the Clans’ Tournament 2

    Lu Qingyun was walking hastily after Qin Keqin, "Keqin, what''s wrong? Why are you so angry with me?"


    "Hmph, nothing! Do I look like I am angry with you?" She hummed coldly.


    "Then let me hold your hands¡­"


    "Don''t touch me¡­"


    Qin Keqin was not really unhappy with Lu Qingyun. She was a little upset with the vendor for putting everyone else prettier than her. This was the most infuriating and humiliating thing to her. In the end, she was not able to show off her portrait in front of Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng.


    And the portrait of the Devil Goddess was really too ugly!


    She was even thinking angrily, "Maybe it is time for me to show the Nine Celestial Fraternity what the Devil Goddess really look like! How dare he draw me into an old hag¡­"


    "Keqin¡­" Lu Qingyun tried to grasp her hand again but she shook it off him again.


    "Hey, you! How dare you outrage the modesty of a maiden in the streets?" A handsome cultivator with a square feature had suddenly yelled at Lu Qingyun after he had seen him chasing and trying to hold Qin Keqin''s hand.


    And behind him were eight other cultivators from his own celestial clan.


    Qin Keqin stopped in her tracks as she peeked at him through her curtain veil while Lu Qingyun muttered, "We are acquaintances and moreover she is my woman."


    "Who¡­is your woman?" There was a mixture of coldness and laughter in her voice. At first she had wanted to rebuke him coldly but she ended up a little amused when Lu Qingyun had claimed that she was his woman in public.


    In the end, her anger vaporized and she felt a little sweet that he was publicly calling her his woman and she was flushing behind her veil.


    The handsome cultivator laughed, "Isn''t that the old trick of every young master that is chasing after a skirt? You look like a fine looking young man and had a decent look. If you are so desperate for a woman, why don''t you go to the brothel? Why don''t you shoo off now?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed as he said bitterly, "Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Why are you such a busybody?"


    The handsome cultivator laughed, "Do you know who I am? I''m the young master of the Heavy Moon Sect, Young Master Yu Tianjian!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled. While on the streets earlier, he had heard that the Heavy Moon Sect was the favorite to win the upcoming competition and they had even won the previous Divine Fragrance Tournament.


    Yu Tianjian smiled as he saw the startled look that was on Lu Qingyun. "And who are you?"


    "Lu Qingyun¡­" He muttered.


    "You are that Senior Brother Lu Qingyun from the Heavens Ridge Villa?" Yu Tianjian asked.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Indeed I am." He did not know that he would be known outside New Empyrean City. "This was not such a bad feeling after all", he thought sheepishly. "At least I am beginning to have some renown."


    "So you are that good-for-nothing first realm cultivator from the Heavens Ridge Villa?" Yu Tianjian and his group were all laughing jovially.


    "Most useless senior brother ever¡­"


    "Good-for-nothing cultivator¡­"


    "I''ve heard that he is also entering the Divine Fragrance Tournament¡­"


    "What a laughing stock¡­"


    "Why doesn''t he jump down the cliff instead?"


    "I have heard that he is also a lecherous fellow. Now it seems that the rumors are true after all."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Yu Tianjian added coldly, "So you say that she is your woman then what is her name?"


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly dumbfounded. He knew that he could not tell anyone who Qin Keqin was in public. It was because it would be a total scandal if others would to know about it.


    Therefore he began to hesitate, "Erm¡­"


    "So you don''t know right?" Yu Tianjian smirked. "Now scram before I become nasty."


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin said, "I am Lie Xingyuan. Yun''Er, let''s go." With that she had grabbed Lu Qingyun''s hand.


    "You are Lie Xingyuan?" A petite voice could be heard chuckling as a group of female cultivators had also arrived at the scene.


    The petite voice was from a petite looking maiden with a righteous air. This group of female cultivators was a mesmerizing group and they were all beautiful.


    Yu Tianjian frowned lightly, "The Alluring Blossoms Palace is also here¡­"


    "I''m Immortal Celestial Gongsun Ya." The petite maiden introduced herself.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. She was a fourth realm expert as well; Immortal Celestial was the celestial title of a fourth realm cultivator.


    Gongsun Ya asked Lu Qingyun, "Are the cultivators from the Heavy Moon Sect bullying you?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Not really. It is just a misunderstanding."


    Yu Tianjian frowned as he stared at Gongsun Ya, "I am Immortal Celestial Yu Tianjian."


    Gongsun Ya ignored him while she continued to look at Lu Qingyun with a smile, "You are Lu Qingyun? I''ve heard that Lie Xingyuan is your personal attendant?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "That''s right."


    He was thinking, "How come everyone knows about me? But it is mostly negative¡­"


    He did not know that all the celestial clans had done their homework on the Heavens Ridge Villa. After all, the Heavens Ridge Villa was the host of this Divine Fragrance Tournament. Naturally all the other celestial clans would be collecting and paying attention to all the information about the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Since Lu Qingyun was also a candidate, collecting his information was a top priority for all the participating celestial clans. Needless to say, everyone knew him better than he knew himself.


    Yu Tianjian turned to appraise the veil maiden that was beside Lu Qingyun. Although he could not see her appearance from behind her veil but she was extremely moving, especially her uncovered legs.


    "So she is Lie Xingyuan?" He thought. There was a rumor that Lie Xingyuan was Lu Qingyun''s woman. So it seemed to be true after all.


    Yu Tianjian suddenly laughed aloud, "I see that it is all a misunderstanding."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly as he raised his hand to bow, "Since you know that it is a misunderstanding, I shall take my leave now."


    Qin Keqin grabbed Lu Qingyun''s arm as they hurriedly left the scene.


    Yu Tianjian hummed coldly after Lu Qingyun, "I can''t believe that the Heavens Ridge Villa will actually send a good-for-nothing first realm cultivator as a candidate. This is a waste of good opportunities for the other prot¨¦g¨¦s and is a total joke in front of everyone."


    Gongsun Ya smiled, "Although he is a good-for-nothing cultivator but he is actually quite dashing."


    Yu Tianjian frowned, "Chasing skirts in the middle of the street? He is nothing but a good-for-nothing lecherous cultivator. He will be the first competitor to fall out of the tournament. I really don''t know what the Heavens Ridge Villa is thinking when they put him as a competitor."


    Then he was laughing, "Maybe they don''t even have a proper cultivator to send forward anymore."


    Another cultivator that was behind him was shouting, "I''ve heard that this Lu Qingyun had recently won his clan''s competition and the result of that competition is actually quite fishy!"


    When he had said that, all the cultivators in Yu Tianjian''s group were all laughing heartily.


    Gongsun Ya hummed coldly as she turned around with her group, "Let''s go. There is nothing interesting here."


    Yu Tianjian growled lightly as he muttered to his group, "These bitches from the Alluring Blossoms Palace are pretty arrogant and they seem to be looking down upon us."


    "It is obvious that they are trying to fish for trouble when that Gongsun Ya saw us." A cultivator said.


    "Young Master, we ought to be wary of them."


    Yu Tianjian nodded, "We have some strong competitors from the Spirit Sword Manor and the Divine Nine Sect as well."


    "I have heard that Qiuxiang Huan from the Clear Sky Pavilion is also a formidable cultivator. We ought to be wary of her as well."


    "There is nothing to worry from the Clear Sky Pavilion," Yu Tianjian smiled. "There is only one Qiuxiang Huan to be worried about so she won''t be a threat to us."


    Then he added with a smile, "That Lu Qingyun is really a good-for-nothing cultivator. Given that the tournament is held in his home turf, he should be hard in practice right now but instead he is chasing skirts in the street. To think that I was quite worried that his master might have taught him some formidable arts."


    "Young master, you mean that Qin Keqin?"


    Yu Tianjian nodded, "But I was overthinking. So what if his master is an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa? With such a disciple like him, he won''t amount to anything great."


    On the other side of the street, a beautiful maiden was grasping her bosoms and her heart was trembling. She was Leng Qiuyue and she had recognized Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin from afar.


    She had the uncanny ability to recognize people by the way they walked even if she could not see their faces.


    She was gasping quietly, "Senior brother and sect leader are an item¡­"


    This icy beauty was suddenly in tears behind her curtain veil.


    Ever since that day after she had confessed to Lu Qingyun, she had wondered how he had felt about her. There were a few times when she was free to visit him but she had always come at an unlikely timing; he was either out or was in the practice chamber.


    She was trembling nonstop and her tears were dripping to the ground. She had no idea how long she was crying and quite a number of people were even asking her if she was alright.


    "Senior Brother¡­Qingyun¡­" her heart was weeping and calling his name continuously.

 150 Divine Fragrance Tournament 1

    This was the day of the Divine Fragrance Tournament. Thousands of cultivators from hundreds of celestial clans had gathered in the sky platform of the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    The number of cultivators was staggering, almost a hundred thousand cultivators were packed around the sky platform which lay between two mountains.


    Hundreds of celestial leaders were now paying homage to Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng and Fragrance Elder Qin Keqin.


    This was the very first time that most of the celestial cultivators from outside the Heavens Ridge Villa were able to see what Qin Keqin had really looked like and they were all stunned.


    She was dressed in a white and golden splendid robe and was like a peerless goddess as she made her appearance.


    Even Lu Qingyun could not believe how beautiful Qin Keqin was today as he looked at her from afar.


    "She is Qin Keqin¡­"


    "She is indeed worthy of her renown as the number one beauty of New Empyrean City¡­"


    "Maybe she is even worthy of the number one beauty in the entire region as well as the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm¡­"


    "She is too astonishing¡­"


    "I''ve heard that Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng is a sixth realm expert while Qin Keqin is only a fifth realm expert. How come Qin Keqin is an elder?"


    Although Shen Yufeng was also extremely beautiful and she was actually supposed to be the real host with the superior cultivation but almost everyone was looking at Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin, Shen Yufeng and the other Heavenly Fragrance Heralds were seated at the highest stage of the mountain side while the cultivators from the Heavens Ridge Villa were seated slightly lower than them. The more powerful and better known celestial clans were seated nearer to the host while the least known celestial clans and the autonomous cultivators were seated at the furthest end of the ringing mountains.


    At this moment Qin Keqin was secretly whispering to Feng Minyue via the transmission array, "Do you think that my Yun''Er will be the top favorite to win?"


    "And did you train him for it?" Feng Minyue replied coolly. Knowing her, she knew that she had not.


    "Mm¡­" Qin Keqin was thinking hard before she smiled sheepishly, "Where is Danfeng? Why is she so quiet?"


    Feng Minyue replied, "She says that she is going to attend the Divine Fragrance Tournament to have a better view."


    "She will be here?" Qin Keqin was startled as she immediately started to look around for Xuan Danfeng but there were really too many people and too many miles for her divine sense to cover the entire vicinity.


    "Why will she be here? She hates the sun and heat."


    "I have no idea either." Feng Minyue said. "She seems a little weird as of late. I even heard her singing to herself for no reason."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Just ignore her. She is always a little weird. If she continues to stay in the hideout, I''ll think that she is as abnormal as a ghost. Now that she is normal, we should close one eye to it."


    At the platform below, Lu Qingyun could see thousands of other competitors. In his team were Leng Qiuyue, Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi.


    Lu Qingyun saw that Leng Qiuyue''s eyes were red so he inquired, "Junior sister, are you alright?"


    Leng Qiuyue averted her eyes and said in a low voice, "I¡­am alright. Senior brother, do not worry for me."


    Lu Qingyun said awkwardly, "That is good¡­" He had been trying to avoid Leng Qiuyue for the past several days after her confession for him. It was because he did not know what to say to her without hurting her feelings.


    His eyes were soon roaming elsewhere and he was immediately startled when he saw the delegation that was from the Clear Sky Pavilion. He had of course recognized Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Hanyu but it was the sight of Yue Lingxi that had startled him.


    Although she was wearing a face veil but he had recognized her anyway. And right now Yue Lingxi seemed to be staring intently at him from where she was standing.


    He thought bitterly, "I am sure that Yue Lingxi is a much higher level cultivator than the tournament is allowing. Isn''t she cheating?"


    Yue Lingxi saw Lu Qingyun and she was smiling, "So my brother, your sister here is going to make you reveal your desolate strength. You have better not disappoint me too much later."


    Qiuxiang Hanyu was pointing at him and she was shouting to her team, "It is that Big Brother that comes that day."


    Lu Qingyun quickly looked away and saw the delegation from the Flying Armament Sect. He had recognized Ling Chong and Ling Xiu.


    Ling Xiu was shyly looking in his direction and was smiling.


    And of course he had also recognized Young Master Yu Tianjian from the Heavy Moon Sect and Maiden Nangong Ya from the Alluring Blossoms Palace.


    He was actually quite excited to see the sight of so many of the strong cultivators that had gathered. Just as his spirits were soaring high, he had suddenly heard some whisperings.


    "Isn''t that Lu Qingyun, the good-for-nothing cultivator?"


    "He is said to be the lowest cultivation level in this tournament¡­"


    ???He is surely going to disgrace his sect¡­"


    "No one will dare to send a cultivator that is below the third realm level here and he is the only one¡­"


    "What a joke to send someone like him¡­"


    "Most of the stronger celestial clans have a full team of fourth realm experts and yet the Heavens Ridge Villa has sent someone who is only a first realm cultivator?"


    "Do you think that this tournament is rigged in favor of the Heavens Ridge Villa? If that Lu Qingyun fellow comes up top then it must surely be rigged."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He had suddenly thought of digging a hole to hide.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    On the speculator stand on the far side of the mountains, a moving maiden with an enticing figure had suddenly appeared in the midst of the speculator stand that consisted mostly of autonomous cultivators or really small hermit celestial clans.


    Although they could not see her face behind her curtain veil, but she was really snowy white and everyone was curious enough to be staring intently at her enticing grace.


    They were a little surprise that such a moving and enticing maiden would actually be at this part of the speculator stand and not at the major celestial clans'' speculator stands where the more beautiful cultivators could be seen.


    At this end of the mountain side, most of them could not even see the peerless beauty of Qin Keqin and Shen Yufeng. This was really a poor man''s seat until this enticing veiled maiden in white had suddenly appeared.


    Moreover, judging from the lightness of her footsteps, she was definitely a high level cultivator.


    Most of the cultivators here were actually below the third realm level and only a handful was third and fourth realm experts. There was none who was above the fourth realm expert.


    Almost all the male cultivators here were now looking curiously where she was going to be sitting and once she had found a seat, she would remove her curtain veil and they would get a better look at her.


    This enticing veiled maiden in white had suddenly chuckled as she raised her voice, "Hey dirty old man!"


    All the young to old men around her began to look at her with great earnest as they thought, "Is she calling me?"


    It did not matter if the cultivators were young, middle or old. They were all dirty old men in their hearts and hence there were a great expectation that she may be calling out to them.


    But to the great disappointment of the young and old men, the veiled maiden in white began to sit down next to an hunchback old man who was the only one that did not turn his head around and he was looking intently at the mountains on the other side where Qin Keqin was.


    Just as Xuan Danfeng was about to raise her hand to touch him, the Three-Destinies Old Man began to growl softly. "Weird, how do you know that I am here?"


    Xuan Danfeng giggled softly as she removed her curtain veil, "What a coincidence! We seem to be knocking into each other."


    That was a lie. She had actually tracked him on purpose with her profound signature that she had purposely left on him. She knew that he was here.


    When she had removed her curtain veil, quite a number of cultivators were disappointed that she was wearing a face veil. But this time, they could see her exquisite features and they were not disappointed; she was indeed very beautiful and had a mesmerizing attraction that pulled all the eyes to her.


    But they were all startled when they saw her golden eyes. This veiled maiden in white was actually a golden celestial!


    A golden celestial was someone who had golden eyes and was at least a cultivator of the fifth realm level!


    She should not be in this part of the speculator stand. These were the thoughts of everyone who were secretly looking at her.


    The eyes of Xuan Danfeng moved enticing as she chuckled, "Why? You are not happy to see me?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned, "There are so many open spaces around. Why don''t you go elsewhere? You are only distracting me."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "I have lost my handkerchief that day. Did you happen to see it?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was flustered all of a sudden and he quietly took out a handkerchief, "You mean this? It is yours?"


    Xuan Danfeng smiled as she thought, "He still has it¡­"


    But she quickly smiled, "You may have it in return for your wine that day."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned lightly, "I don''t need a maiden''s handkerchief. Take it back¡­"


    All of a sudden Xuan Danfeng had tucked the handkerchief back to his robe and was searching his body, "I''m sure that you got more good wines in your spatial storage. Come on, don''t be stingy and share with me."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled as he immediately tried to push her sensual body away. But the problem was that her sensual body was everywhere and he had no idea how to push her away.


    So he quickly said panicky, "Wait, wait! I will share with you, alright? Just take your hands and erm¡­body off me."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Thank you!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed softly as he took out two wine bottles, "They are identical so don''t you snatch it from me later."


    Xuan Danfeng laughed softly as she quickly took the wine bottle and uncorked it. With a sniff, she exclaimed delightfully, "What a good wine! What is the name of this wine?"


    "Unforgettable Passionate Wine." The Three-Destinies Old Man said casually and returned his focus to scan the competitors at the sky platform and the cultivators that were seated alongside the mountains.


    Xuan Danfeng was secretly flushing as she muttered in her heart, "The Unforgettable Passionate Wine? Is this a hint?"


    She quickly asked further, "How come you have so many of these good wines around? Do you open a wine tavern?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said without looking at her, "I just enjoy my wines, that''s all. Therefore I have brought many different wines on this trip. Surely you don''t want to drink the same wine all the time, do you?"


    Xuan Danfeng was chuckling jovially, "Of course not! Come on and take all the wines all out. I''ll promise you that I will just take a sniff and won''t do anything funny like tasting it. What do you say?"


    "Next time," The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned lightly as he flashed her with an annoyed look. "Are you here to see the tournament or to chitchat¡­"


    He was about to ask her to go away when he saw her bared cleavage in front of him and he was suddenly flustered. His rebuke was suddenly interrupted and he was thinking, "What a sinful body. I am a man of culture, a man of cultivation¡­"


    "What are you trying to say? You say it halfway." Xuan Danfeng asked curiously.


    "Nothing¡­" The Three-Destinies Old Man gulped as he continued to stare at her bosoms.


    Around them, all the male cultivators were all burning with deep envious that a hunchback old man actually got the attention of this goddess.


    "Darn, there is no justice in this world¡­"


    "That ugly old fellow actually has a golden celestial to accompany him¡­"


    "We are actually lucky to be around this goddess¡­"


    "I wish that I am that hunchback old fellow¡­"

 151 Divine Fragrance Tournament 2

    Shen Yufeng whispered to Qin Keqin, "All the leaders of the top four celestial clans in the region are here today. They are the Heavy Moon Sect''s Yue Bairen, Alluring Blossoms Palace''s Murong Shanshan, Spirit Sword Manor''s Gao Yishu and the Divine Nine Sect''s Jiu You."


    Qin Keqin nodded as she secretly glanced at where they were and saw that all these leaders were all golden celestials and in their company were several more golden celestials.


    Golden celestials were the elite cultivators of the Celestial Realm and they were half-step immortals with great lofty status. Any cultivator that could cultivate to the fifth realm was a golden celestial.


    In the world of the golden celestials, they were furthered differentiate into three cultivation realms, the fifth realm golden celestial level, the sixth realm golden supremacy level and the seventh realm sacred saint level.


    The seventh realm sacred saint level was furthered differentiated by the saint and great saint level. In order to become a great saint, the cultivator must first overcome the life and death lightning tribulation in a breakthrough from the middle tier sacred saint level to the upper tier sacred saint level.


    There were three types of lightning tribulations to overcome; the three-stage silver lightning tribulation, the six-stage golden lightning tribulation and the nine-stage purple lightning tribulation. Only when they could survive the lightning tribulation, they could advance to the upper tier sacred saint level and be a great saint. With that, their life span would also greatly increase based on the type of lightning tribulation that was faced.


    When an upper sacred saint cultivator reached the peak sacred saint level, it was time for them to attempt a life and death ascension to the Immortal Realm and if they could ascend, they would be an immortal cultivator.


    There were many seventh realm experts in the Nine Celestial Fraternity but no more than three dozen great saint and saintesses. And these great saint and saintesses were the peak echelon of the golden celestials.


    In the presence of the great saint and saintesses, even a seventh realm expert who had not attained the upper sacred saint level would have to admit their inferiority and accorded their utmost humblest respect.


    Qin Keqin aka Fan Yuqing, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were three of the great saintesses of the Nine Celestial Fraternity and they were among the most powerful cultivators in the Celestial Realm.


    But as long as the golden celestial had not attained the upper sacred saint level, all the other golden celestials from the fifth, sixth and seventh realm could be best by profound arts and martial strength. It was not to say that a fifth realm expert could beat a seventh realm expert as the disparity in profound strength still existed between them but everyone would like to think that it was only a matter of time before they could reach the seventh realm level.


    At least that was the thoughts of the cultivators from the elite celestial clans with formidable celestial resources at their fingertips.


    At this moment, the four celestial leaders of the regional powerhouses of the Heavy Moon Sect, the Alluring Blossoms Palace, the Spirit Sword Manor and the Divine Nine Sect were all looking with somewhat disdain at Qin Keqin.


    It was because Qin Keqin was only a ''lowly'' fifth realm golden celestial cultivator from a lesser known celestial clan. What right did she have to become an elder of the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa? With her cultivation level, she could even be considered to be the lowest ranking elder in the Heavenly Fragrance Villa as well.


    There was a rumor that she was given the position of elder simply because her mother consort was a great saintess who had some links with the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa and not because she was truly capable of become an elder.


    That was why these powerful leaders of the regional powerhouses had a disdain look on Qin Keqin. In their hearts, they were mocking her and her disciple Lu Qingyun who was a first realm cultivator.


    Qin Keqin had of course seen their disdainful looks but she did not mind at all. After all, she was not a real fifth realm expert and was just playing along with them.


    Shen Yufeng had rose from her seat and her martial voice was echoing throughout the ringing mountains to the tens of thousands cultivators that were presented.


    "Fellow cultivators, Fragrance Herald Yufeng greet you for coming to the Divine Fragrance Tournament. At this moment, the other regions of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm are also having the same tournament."


    She smiled as she looked below the sky platform, "And we have thousands of the brightest cultivators from our divine realm that will be competing against one another in this tournament. Handsome rewards await the outstanding cultivators and your names will resound throughout the divine realm."


    All the cultivators from the sides of the mountains to the competitors at the sky platform were all listening attentively. They knew what the handsome rewards were and that were the rare cultivation resources and a chance to be admitted as a female prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa for the female cultivators.


    Therefore everyone was ready to do their very best to obtain the best possible outcome.


    Among the competitors, there were also several hundred cultivators who had no clan backing. They were the autonomous cultivators and they were even more hungry to grab the rare cultivation resources than the cultivators who had the backing of their celestial clans.


    "This year Divine Fragrance Tournament will be a little special. The top 100 competitors will be picked for a special expedition to the Moon Demon Forest. As for this, I will explain it later."


    All of a sudden all the celestial cultivators were startled and they were suddenly muttering loudly in great confusion.


    The Moon Demon Forest was a domain that was north of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and it was nearly as big as the Holy Ascension Divine Realm which was the biggest divine realm in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. It was a place that was heavily populated with many powerful devious beasts. Moreover, it was also the domain that divided the Nine Celestial Fraternity and the Desolate Celestial Fraternity.


    From time to time, powerful devious beasts more powerful than the desolate beasts would invade the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm from the north. It was an area where many ruinous clan experiential missions had happened.


    When it came to the Moon Demon Forest, there was a feeling of dread in the hearts of all the celestial cultivators. It was a place where even golden celestials could easily perish.


    "The Moon Demon Forest?!"


    "The top 100 competitors will be sent there? Isn''t it better not to get into the top 100 this time round¡­"


    "I''ve got a feeling that something serious has happened there¡­"


    "I''ve got a bad feeling as well¡­"


    "The desolate beasts are beasts with extremely strong life force and are difficult to kill but the devious beasts are considered to be more dangerous because they were more agile and have sharp talons that can rip through armors and profound auras like paper¡­"


    "These reptilian devious beasts are extremely dangerous¡­"


    "What do you think are happening in the Moon Demon Forest?"


    "No matter what it is, I think it is not a good thing for us. The only celestial clan that will benefit from the trip there will be Heavenly Fragrance Villa¡­"


    "Do you think that they are making use of our prot¨¦g¨¦s to pave a path for them?"


    Even Qin Keqin was startled as she turned to look at Shen Yufeng. This was not part of the script! But she had quickly calmed down as she thought, "Never mind. My Yun''Er will never be in the top 100 anyway¡­"


    Shen Yufeng was smiling as she ignored the commotions, "So I hope that the competitors will do your best for this tournament. For the glory of your celestial clans and for the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm."


    She then snapped her fingers and a golden bell had appeared in her hand. When she had rung the golden bell, the sky platform below was covered with a golden light.


    Her golden eyes quickly scanned the competitors below for any cheaters. This golden bell would alert her to any cultivators that were above the fourth realm level.


    After a while, she had withdrawn the golden bell, satisfied that there were no cheaters.


    Below the sky platform, Qiuxiang Huan heaved a soft sigh of relief. She was a fifth realm golden celestial that had suppressed her cultivation level and strength with the Suppressing Mystic Profound Divine Pill.


    She was not the only one who was cheating. Her mistress Yue Lingxi was the worst offender.


    Yue Lingxi smiled and whispered to her, "This golden bell is indeed formidable. However, I have my immortal arts to conceal our profound auras from that artefact. Therefore, you don''t have to worry."


    Qiuxiang Huan nodded slowly.


    Above the platform, Shen Yufeng had a satisfied look as she nodded to her prot¨¦g¨¦s and the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa. Usually there were always a few cheaters but this time round, surprisingly there were none.


    Shen Yufeng triggered a celestial array and there was a large blue portal that had suddenly in the middle of the platform. This portal was actually a circular portal and it looked like a flat portal from where the competitors were standing.


    She said coolly, her martial voice echoed. "May all the competing cultivators please step into the portal and wait inside."


    Many of the thousands of competing cultivators were shaking their heads. It was because after they had heard that the top 100 of them would be sent to the Moon Demon Forest for a special expedition, they were a little afraid.


    Even Nangong Yu and Cheng Wuzi were both shaking their heads as they walked toward the portal.


    But Lu Qingyun was secretly delighted. He had heard that the Moon Demon Forest had many rare spirit plants and this was a perfect chance for him to search the Moon Demon Forest for it.


    Right now, he was looking at the large blue portal that had opened.


    Before the tournament had started, he had asked the Sisters Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye for some information about the tournament expectations.


    They had told him that once the tournament had started, a powerful celestial array would be activated. In this celestial array, the only weapon that they could use was an array sword and nothing else.


    Therefore he would not be able to use his divine sword to gain an advantage over his opponents.


    They had also told him, "Although each celestial clan is able to field four candidates but this tournament is actually an individual tournament. Even your own team is your own competitor. As for the tournament, it is always part trial and part tournament. Even we have no idea what you will be expecting to see. The only person that knows will be Fragrance Herald Shen but she will never tell you the details."


    Back to the present, his eyes were now beaming brightly at the sight of this blue portal. This would be his chance of showing off in front of Qin Keqin and let everyone knows that he was not a good-for-nothing cultivator!


    "Senior brother¡­" Leng Qiuyue had suddenly called out to him.


    Lu Qingyun was startled by her call and he had turned around to look curiously at her, "Junior sister, yes?"


    Leng Qiuyue''s eyes were melancholy as she walked quietly to him.


    She said in a low voice, "Senior brother¡­"


    She had seen him with Qin Keqin and knew that they were together. If anyone would to find out about it, it would be a major scandal in the sect and in New Empyrean City. Moreover, there were already some rumors that were flying around that Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun had an unclean relationship.


    In order to protect Senior Brother Lu Qingyun''s reputation and to squash the rumors, she had to do something about it.


    All of a sudden she had tiptoed to kiss Lu Qingyun on his cheek, stunning Lu Qingyun, Nangong Yu, Cheng Wuzi and many others.


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "Junior sister¡­Qiuyue¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue pulled him to the portal as she lowered her glances, "Please don''t ask. Nothing has happened between us¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Leng Qiuyue said nonchalantly, "Come senior brother, let''s us enter the portal first."


    She however, had a good reason for kissing him in full view of everyone.


    In this way, he would be able to be with Qin Keqin while she would bore the blunt of the rumors. When the tournament was over, she would explain to Qin Keqin. Even if Qin Keqin would expel her from the sect or to punish her, she would be willing to accept any forms of punishments. It was because she had really love Lu Qingyun from the bottom of her heart¡­


    Qin Keqin was gasping and she had nearly dropped her scrying crystal ball when she saw the scene while Shi Guanyin, Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi were equally stunned.


    Qin Keqin was trembling lightly and there were confusion in her golden eyes.


    Shi Guanyin was muttering almost incoherently, "Qiuyue, what are you doing?"


    Ouyang Xue was sighing with melancholy in her heart, "Unlike her, I can only keep it in the bottom of my heart¡­"


    Yin Shisi was smiling as she thought, "She is braver than me. I am beginning to like this Leng Qiuyue¡­"


    Half of the cultivators who were on the mountain sides as speculators were also startled that a couple was displaying their affections so openly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was cursing loudly, "That fellow is such a lecherous man!"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "This is their business and why are you so bother by it? I think it is good to see a couple like that, don''t you think so? You act like he is two-timing your daughter."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned, "I just don''t like him. He has the face of a lecherous man."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled as she looked shyly at him, "So, how many consorts do you have? I saw you looking for a book on how to be a good father that day."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said coldly, "Why are you such a busybody? Why should I tell you?"


    Xuan Danfeng laughed softly, "Maybe I will be able to help you? You just have to share with me more of your wines and I will be willing to help you."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was amused, "My daughter is someone out of control. You won''t be able to handle her. Moreover, she doesn''t like to make friends and she probably has your ass kicked even before you got a chance to speak. So you have better forget about helping me."


    "Wahh, so fierce. I will like to see. There is no one in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that can kick my ass." Xuan Danfeng chuckled.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man secretly glanced over to her butt as he muttered, "Yup¡­better don''t kick it¡­"


    "What are you saying?" Xuan Danfeng asked curiously, not understanding.


    "Nothing. Better handle it with care."


    Xuan Danfeng: ???

 152 The First Trial 1

    When Lu Qingyun had entered through the portal, he found himself in a vast platform that was surrounded by mountains. This was quite similar to the layout of the sky platform except that all the speculators had disappeared from view.


    There were thousands of cultivators as well and more than half of them were looking a little lost; this was their very first time partaking in a divine realm competition after all.


    Lu Qingyun quickly spotted Leng Qiuyue and saw that they were all wearing identical robes. His body had also felt lighter and he was busting with profound strength.


    They had quickly found Nangong Yu but he had walked away angrily from them.


    Cheng Wuzi looked at Leng Qiuyue before he said to Lu Qingyun, "Let him be¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly. Somehow he got the feeling that he was indirectly responsible for Nangong Yu cold treatment.


    The thousands of cultivators were now muttering among themselves and every one of them were all wearing the same robe.


    "Where are we?"


    "We are inside the trial portal now¡­"


    "I wonder what the trial will be?"


    "There is only a sword in my spatial belt and nothing else¡­"


    "Hehehe, you will soon know." An experienced cultivator who had taken part in the trial 30 years said.


    Most of the cultivators were actually new and they had never seen anything like this before.


    When the last of the cultivators had appeared among them, the beautiful and delicate face that were from Shen Yufeng had suddenly appeared in the sky above. It was just her face and her face was bigger than a third of the sky.


    She was smiling, "Welcome to the first trial. In this trial, you are all astral projections of your real physical bodies and that is why you will feel lighter than your real self. Also, you will all be given a sword to defend yourself. In this trial, you will feel pain when you are injured but you will not die. When you do ''die'', your astral projection will be destroyed and you will return to your physical body. Only when the entire trial has ended will your real body be able to wake up and leave this place."


    Yue Lingxi was growling lightly to Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu and Shangguan Furong. "This is rubbish. Fighting with real swords is much more interesting, don''t you think so? Only real blood can temper the warrior''s blood."


    Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu, Shangguan Furong: ¡­


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "Behold!"


    All of a sudden a mountain with a flat top had risen in the horizon and thousands of desolate beasts that ranged from third to the sixth rank had suddenly appeared from one end of the ringing mountains to the other.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. He had never seen so many desolate beasts in his life before.


    "Your first trial will be a simple one," the beautiful voice of Shen Yufeng echoed. "Evade the desolate beasts to climb up to the top of that mountain and your first trial will also end. You have five minutes to plan your strategies."


    The thousands of cultivators were all panicky and they were all quickly estimating the quickest route to the flatten mountain that was in the horizon.


    Their opponents were not just the desolate beasts but the thousands of cultivators that would be blocking their way as well.


    Leng Qiuyue whispered to Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother, my swiftness movement is quite good. Why don''t you follow my lead?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he nodded. Although he was a good runner by now but he knew that his swiftness movement was actually below average. He had not expected that the first trial would be a trial that was based on running.


    Cheng Wuzi said solemnly, "If we are too slow, we will be slaughtered by the desolate beasts. Not only that, that mountain over there is also extremely steep. We have to balance our stamina and strength between running for the mountain and climbing the mountain."


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he said, "The first part of the trial is to eliminate the weaker competitors and the luckless one."


    As he said that, he noticed that many of the cultivators were all moving toward the edge of the platform where an invisible barrier was.


    Leng Qiuyue turned to them and said, "Hurry. We must not lag behind."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and the three of them hurried forward.


    It was common sense that the cultivators that were at the back would be exposed to the first waves of the desolate beasts while those in front had the advantage of using all the other cultivators as a stepping stone.


    Shen Yufeng had given them 5 minutes to plan their strategies but there were simply no strategies at all except for rushing forward as much as possible.


    All the cultivators were pushing and packing into one another like flock of sheep!


    "Hey, stop pushing!"


    "I''m a maiden. Why dare you touch me¡­"


    "We are in a trial now. Survivor of the fittest is the most important rule. Who cares if you are a maiden or not¡­"


    "I think I saw a seventh rank desolate beast at the back of these desolate beasts¡­"


    "I think I saw a ninth rank desolate beast¡­"


    "Omg, there are a couple of high level desolate beasts behind¡­"


    "I don''t want to die in the first trial. It will be too disgraceful¡­"


    Lu Qingyun used his body to shield Leng Qiuyue from the other cultivators since he was taller than her by a head. He said in a low voice to Leng Qiuyue, "These cultured cultivators are now behaving like barbarians¡­"


    All of a sudden his eyes wandered to the back and he saw that Yue Lingxi was taking slow steps to the invisible barrier where they were all at. It did not seem as though she was worried that the desolate beasts may catch up with her.


    Lu Qingyun and his team had appeared in the middle of the platform so he was actually not too far behind or ahead.


    He was thinking, "Judging by the order of the cultivators here, it seems that the cultivators that had first entered the portal have a clear advantage. So the trial actually begins even before we have entered through the portal."


    Shen Yufeng''s face disappeared from the sky as her voice echoed, "The five minutes are up. The first trial shall start now¡­"


    No sooner had she said that, the invisible barrier had dissipated from the platform and the thousands of cultivators were all running crazily for the flatten mountain that was in the horizon!


    Lu Qingyun quietly said to Leng Qiuyue, "Let''s make a run for it."


    Leng Qiuyue flushed shyly as she nodded.


    Cheng Wuzi had already made the run for the flatten mountain. It was because he knew that every second counts and he did not want to fall out from the first trial.


    Although he had run ahead of Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue, they did not fault him.


    As Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue moved together, they could hear the slaughtering cries of the cultivators that were behind them as the desolate beasts fell upon them.


    Although they knew it was not real but it was realistic enough to make their hearts ache for the unlucky cultivators that had fallen to their ''deaths''.


    Even though everyone had almost the same starting point, Lu Qingyun could see that the cultivators were quickly scattered in their run toward the flatten mountain ahead. It was because the mountain terrains were not easy to transverse and it was not flat to begin with. It was all too easy to see which cultivators had the superior lightless and swiftness movement skill.


    Lu Qingyun had taken note of Yue Lingxi and her team. Although they were lagging behind them but after a while, Yue Lingxi and Qiuxiang Huan had quickly shaken off the rest of the cultivators and they were ahead of him.


    Leng Qiuyue had also taken note of Qiuxiang Huan but she continued on her own pace as she sprint ahead of Lu Qingyun in order to find the best route for him. There were quite a few times that she had doubled back to tell him, "This way is a dead end. Do not follow the cultivators that are ahead of us."


    Lu Qingyun was grateful to her for expending her stamina for his sake.


    After a while, he was feeling anxious for her as they were still a long way before they could reach the flatten mountain.


    After an hour, they had run into a valley with tens of other cultivators who were all searching for a way through the difficult mountain trails. Although the flatten mountain was obviously ahead of them but they were no closer to it!


    "Darn! Don''t tell me we are lost?!"


    "Just follow the cultivators ahead of us!"


    "Our lightless skill is not enough to get us on top to have a better look¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue was almost brimming with tears as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "Sorry senior brother, I¡­it is all my fault for getting us here and now we are trapped¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Don''t worry. We will find a way out."


    All of a sudden he said as he saw a track, "There are some tracks here. It seems that others have found a path here."


    Leng Qiuyue was startled, "Senior brother, you are right. Let try this path."


    No sooner had they embarked on this path, a cultivator shouted behind them. "Look! They seem to have found a trail. Let''s follow them¡­"


    All of a sudden there were yells and shouts in the valley as dozens of desolate beasts had suddenly appeared and were rampaging through the tens of cultivators.


    "Follow them!"


    "Fight and move at the same time¡­"


    A peaked fourth realm cultivator was laughing, "These are just third and fourth rank desolate beasts. Why are you so afraid of them? It is only a dozen."


    When he said that, he had coolly raised his sword to display his celestial clan''s profound sword art, coolly killing a fourth realm desolate beast.


    "Hmph! Useless desolate beast." He smirked coldly.


    Another fourth rank desolate beast had appeared next to him in the next instant.


    "Hmph! Another one? The more the merrier then!" He quickly raised his sword to attack the new desolate beast and his sword was quickly inside the thick hide of the desolate beast.


    All of a sudden he was panicky, "I can''t pull my sword out¡­"


    The desolate beast proceeded to slice his sword arm and within a few blink of an eye, more and more desolate beasts had jumped onto him and had ripped him apart.


    A cultivator who saw the scene was shaking his head, "Although he is a high level cultivator but he is simply too arrogant to pick a fight with these desolate beasts. This is not a one to one battle and is a battle of attrition."


    Another cultivator was smiling as he flashed ahead of the rest, "Thanks to him for buying me the valuable time to make my retreat¡­"


    "Seniors, please go ahead of me. I will sacrifice my life to buy time for you¡­"


    "Junior sister, please forgive me¡­" A senior brother of her same celestial clan had suddenly pushed his prot¨¦g¨¦ sister down to delay the advancing desolate beasts. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain¡­"


    Tens of cultivators were quickly slaughtered. Among them were many fourth realm experts. Most of the fourth realm experts were a match for a single fourth rank desolate beast; they could fight one with ease but not two with ease. Then there were three, four, five and more desolate fourth realm desolate beasts.


    Suddenly a powerful fifth rank desolate beast had appeared in the valley and against a powerful fifth rank desolate beast, the defenses of the remaining cultivators were quickly broken.


    The tens of cultivators had sacrificed their lives for the other tens of cultivators to flee. Some had done so willingly and some were forced.


    None survived.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Above the sky platform, a hundred thousand cultivators were all watching the appalling scene inside the trial keenly.


    Many were shaking their heads as their entire teams were wiped out from taking the wrong paths or were too slow to move through the mountains.


    Others were cursing the cultivators from the other teams for blocking or leading them into a dead end.


    The thousands of cultivators from the Heavens Ridge Villa were naturally watching Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue, Cheng Wuzi and Nangong Yu.


    "Senior Brother Nangong Yu has the highest chance of reaching the second trial. So far, he is quite way ahead."


    At this moment, they saw that Cheng Wuzi who was ahead of Leng Qiuyue and Lu Qingyun had sped up the wrong track and straight into a slaughtering heist of desolate beasts. As he quietly tried to sneak away, a cultivator from the Solitary Manor had cut down a tree and blocked his escape route. In the next instant, Cheng Wuzi was ripped apart by the desolate beasts.


    "That cultivator from the Solitary Manor is too much¡­"


    "Poor Cheng Wuzi¡­he has lucked out just like that¡­"


    Kong Guxin had an ugly expression when he saw that his core prot¨¦g¨¦ was removed from the trial in such a lame manner. He was muttering, "I don''t believe. I don''t believe¡­"


    Shi Guanyin was also sighing, "We lost one potential chance to win now."


    Qin Keqin was quietly looking at where Lu Qingyun was and she was clenching her fists.


    Shen Yufeng turned to her with a smile, "Your disciple''s luck seems to be a little bad. He seems to have taken a more difficult route."


    Qin Keqin said unhappily, "These stupid cultivators. Why didn''t they form a massive sword arrays to get rid of the desolate beasts. It is only a few dozens."


    Shen Yufeng smiled weakly. "They are all from different celestial clans." But she had kept this thought to herself.


    "If I were inside, I can solo these desolate beasts and help my Yun''Er." Qin Keqin cursed softly.


    "That is cheating¡­" Shen Yufeng smiled weakly.


    Qin Keqin was looking at Shen Yufeng with a wry smile all of a sudden, "Yufeng, I think this trial looks quite fun. Can I join them?"


    Shen Yufeng: ¡­

 153 The First Trial 2

    Lu Qingyun saw that they were now halfway to the towering flatten mountain as it rose in front of them.


    Along the way, a fifth rank desolate beast with eight paws and the head of a lion had suddenly jumped from the mountain ridge to confront him and Leng Qiuyue, startling the two of them.


    "The Eight-Legged Duke Lion!" Leng Qiuyue gasped with horror.


    The Eight-Legged Duke Lion was a formidable fifth rank desolate beast. More powerful variant of this desolate beast actually existed. The Eight-Legged King Lion was a sixth rank desolate beast while the Eight-Legged Emperor Lion was a seventh rank desolate beast.


    Leng Qiuyue raised her sword as she said hurriedly to Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother, make a break through the trail over there. I will¡­delay this fifth rank desolate beast for you!"


    Lu Qingyun knew how powerful a fifth rank desolate beast was. At the Misty Desolate Valley, even Ling Chong, Ling Xiu and her group could barely fight against the Hundred Eyes Beast. At that time, he had Lie Xingyuan, Ling Chong, Ling Xiu and many others to divert attention from the Hundred Eyes Beast so that he could ready his most powerful sword art against it.


    This time, there was only Leng Qiuyue.


    Lu Qingyue tapped Leng Qiuyue''s shoulder quietly as he said in a low voice, "Qiuyue¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue was startled. He was calling her Qiuyue instead of junior sister¡­


    "Leave it to me. Make a run for it first."


    "Senior brother, no!" Leng Qiuyue said to him with a firm stare.


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "Qiuyue, your senior brother is really unworthy of you. I will end up hurting you. Don''t you understand?"


    "Does it matter if my love for you will be unrequited? I don''t need my love for you to be requited." Leng Qiuyue was smiling. "Senior brother, you have saved my life three times over. I can only repay you in my next life!"


    Lu Qingyun looked at Leng Qiuyue quietly before the two of them nodded at the same time. "Then we shall fight this fifth rank desolate beast at the same time."


    He laughed weakly, "Qiuyue, today senior brother is going to show you my most powerful sword art that I had created. My Flaming Phoenix Sword."


    With a wave of his other hand, he had summoned a wisp of the golden roc flame as he smiled. "If I am not wrong, this attack of mine will be able to butcher that beast, if I manage to hit it at his vulnerable points of course."


    Leng Qiuyue was giggling, "Senior brother, you are so humorous. What do you mean by if you are able to hit it?"


    Lu Qingyun was also smiling, "All my sword practices are up against a non-moving target. This one is erm¡­a moving target and is a desolate beast. How do you aim the body of this Eight-Legged Duke Lion when its head is so monstrous?"


    The head of the Eight-Legged Duke Lion was impervious to most weapons and was indeed monstrous. They would have a difficult time sneaking past the past to strike at its body. Moreover, its body was protected by a layer of thick hide that was almost impervious to weapons.


    The swords that were in their hands were definitely not any precious swords or divine swords. Therefore it was unlikely to do any lasting damage.


    The ground was soon shaking as the Eight-Legged Duke Lion had pounced within thirty paces of their vision.


    Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue had no time to think now as they quickly raised their swords. It was a fight or die battle.


    As Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and the Eight-Legged Duke Lion rushed at one another, all of a sudden there was a flash of light as a beautiful maiden had suddenly attacked the Eight-Legged Duke Lion by its side as she shouted, "Heavens Sword Slash, Returning Slash, Lofty Winds'' Dance."


    In that instant, she had combined a powerful martial slashing stroke the Heaven Sword Slash at the side of the Eight-Legged Duke Lion, turned her body around in a returning slash as she slashed against its four powerful paws while evading at the same time and when the Eight-Legged Duke Lion turned its fangs on her, she had leapt away with her Lofty Winds?? Dance lightless skill.


    While in mid-air, she had raised her sword and a sword spirit was manifested from her profound aura as her sword and spirit aura became one, "Rippling Three Heavens Spirit Sword!"


    As her sword energies struck the Eight-Legged Duke Lion, the shockwaves rippled with the thunderous impact and Lu Qingyun reacted quickly by swinging his sword in front of Leng Qiuyue, instantly parrying and imploding the three shockwaves that were directed at them.


    The Eight-Legged Duke Lion was rolling on the ground; it was not dead and was only temporary stunned by the shockwaves.


    Leng Qiuyue gasped, "She is from the Spirit Sword Manor. The Heavens Spirit Sword is the unique sword art of their celestial clan."


    The stranger maiden had turned to look at Lu Qingyun curiously, "You can see my rippling shockwaves?"


    Lu Qingyun said awkwardly, "I have merely sense its approach. I was lucky. Thank you for coming to our aid."


    The stranger maiden smiled, "I didn''t want to come to your aid. But I saw that the two of you are more interested in chatting than fighting this desolate beast therefore I cannot resist stepping in to aid you."


    Leng Qiuyue was flushing as she averted her eyes, "We are only planning our tactics. That''s all."


    "That''s all?" The stranger maiden chuckled, "I saw you kissing him earlier. Because I have recognized the two of you and that is why I am curious enough to step in to aid you."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled awkwardly. Not knowing how to respond to her, she could only said shyly, "Thank you for the aid."


    Lu Qingyun had an awkward smile as he thought, "If Qiuyue did not kiss me earlier then we may end up as feeder for this desolate beast?"


    The stranger maiden giggled, "I will suggest that you focus on the trial ahead instead of ''chitchatting'' too much. Next time, I won''t be there to help you. We may even end up fighting against each other. I''m Qian Jingjing. What are your names?"


    "Lu Qingyun and this is my junior sister Leng Qiuyue. We are from the Heavens Ridge Villa." Lu Qingyun replied immediately.


    Qian Jingjing was frowning softly, "You are that good-for-nothing lowest level cultivator Lu Qingyun?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Indeed I am. Do you have to add that ''lowest'' level cultivator?"


    "Mmm, that is what everyone is saying." Qian Jingjing giggled softly.


    She swept her eyes at the Eight-Legged Duke Lion before saying, "It seems that this desolate beast will soon recover its strength. Let''s get out of here first."


    Lu Qingyun bowed with his hands, "Thank you again for coming to our aid. We shall not forget this favor."


    Leng Qiuyue said, "Farewell!"


    As soon as they had finished biding her farewell, they had turned hastily away.


    But all of a sudden they had noticed that this Maiden Qian Jingjing was quietly following them.


    Lu Qingyun turned around with a weak smile, "Erm, why are you following us? Didn''t we just say our farewell?"


    Qian Jingjing said sheepishly, "Do you own this this road? No right? I''m just happening to walk this way."


    Leng Qiuyue frowned lightly, "You didn''t happen to be lost, am I right?"


    Qian Jingjing laughed, "I got separated from my team. Erm, do you mind if I can follow the two of you for a while?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly to himself, "She is really lost¡­"


    All of a sudden they could hear screams behind them where they had just left.


    "Why is there a fifth rank desolate beast here?!"


    "Who the heartless fellow that lure it here¡­"


    "How did the two of them who are in front of us evade this fifth rank desolate beast¡­"


    "The two of them must have known that we are following them and have set a trap for us¡­"


    "Don''t panic! We are many¡­"


    "Senior Brother!"


    "Junior Brother!"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Above the sky platform, Qin Keqin heaved a soft sigh of relief as she saw that Lu Qingyun had survived the encounter with the Eight-Legged Duke Lion.


    But her ears were flushing because her sharp hearings could hear many negative remarks about her Yun''Er.


    "This good-for-nothing cultivator is really freaking lucky to have met a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Spirit Sword Manor to aid him¡­"


    "What is that maiden name? Qian Jingjing? She is said to be a peaked fourth realm cultivator and she is said to have mastered the Heavens Spirit Sword to the Rippling Five Stage."


    "The Heavens Spirit Sword has a total of Nine Stages. It is a most formidable sword art¡­"


    Qin Keqin quietly whispered to Feng Minyue, "Remind me to teach my Yun''Er some real skills after this tournament. I am feeling a little awkward. I''m going to make him undergo a demonic training to make him a better fighter."


    There was a soft chuckle from Feng Minyue, "You are the one that says you will be letting him focus on pure cultivation and you keep saying that learning how to fight is bad for him."


    "That is before. Now is after." Qin Keqin hummed softly.


    Cultivations and Fighting Arts were two different things. But in the Celestial Realm, the two were often tangle together as the same. A high level cultivator may not necessary mean that they could really fight. Some celestial clans had better fighters than the others due to their unique fighting arts and secret techniques.


    The main reason why Qin Keqin did not want to teach Lu Qingyun any powerful fighting arts was because she was afraid that he may be too good in it and remembered who he really was. That was the reason she had only focused on strengthening his realm cultivation.


    "Did you see what happens earlier?" Qin Keqin asked Feng Minyue.


    "Nope. I was reading. Something crop up?" Feng Minyue replied coolly.


    Qin Keqin frowned softly, "You ought to pay a little attention."


    "He is your Yun''Er and not mine. Why should I pay any attention to him?"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Luckily the attention on Lu Qingyun did not last for too long as there were simply too many cultivators for the eyes to follow one by one.


    Moreover, Lu Qingyun was not the only one that was shaming his own celestial clan. At the very least, he was still alive compare to the many others.


    Half of the competing cultivators had perished by the second hour.


    Many of the celestials above the sky platform were shaking their heads as their candidates fell one by one.


    Shen Yufeng was smiling, "I can''t believe this. It seems that more than one third of the competing cultivators are actually lost in the mountains. There are so many that are actually making their way in the reverse direction. This is so unbelievable. And they are the brightest sons and daughters of the heavens. What a joke."


    When Qin Keqin had heard her, she returned a sheepish look. It was because she had no sense of direction even though she was a seventh realm great saintess.


    On the other side of the ringing mountains, the Three-Destined Old Man had almost fainted from anger.


    It was because while he was looking at the trial that had taken place, Xuan Danfeng had secretly taken his wine bottle and had finished it.


    "Didn''t I say that this bottle is yours and this bottle is mine?" He stared coldly at Xuan Danfeng.


    Xuan Danfeng returned a sheepish look, "I saw that you are more interested in looking at the trial than drinking so I''ve decided to help myself."


    She stammered, "Are you upset? Surely not, am I right?"


    The Three-Destined Old Man grumbled silently, "I''ve never seen anyone like her before¡­"


    He took out another wine bottle from his spatial belt and no sooner had he done so, Xuan Danfeng was asking him. "What wine is this? Care to share it with me?"


    The Three-Destined Old Man said unhappily, "Are you here to watch the tournament or are you here to drink? Why don''t you go away from me? I need to focus."


    "It is only images and I can''t hear anything. It is so boring¡­" Xuan Danfeng chuckled.


    "Then why don''t you leave since you think that the tournament is boring?" The Three-Destined Old Man replied coldly.


    Xuan Danfeng raised her head with a hurtful look, "You¡­want me to leave?"


    "That''s right." The Three-Destined Old Man said firmly and with great coldness.


    "Fine¡­" Xuan Danfeng smashed the wine bottle that was in her hand before she stormed off.


    The Three-Destined Old Man was suddenly muttering to himself, "Am I being too thoughtless to her? Did I hurt her feeling? Actually she didn''t do anything except for taking my wines. Actually I am usually not such a stingy person¡­"


    "Look at that. That hunchback old man must have been toying with her¡­"


    "That is why she had stormed off like this¡­"


    "I can''t believe that an ugly old man that is uglier than me is capable of hurting such a beautiful maiden. The world must be crazy¡­"


    "That stupid hunchback old man has no real appreciation of beauties¡­"


    "Either he is stupid or a eunuch¡­"


    The Three-Destined Old Man was suddenly flustered all of a sudden. It was because he had not realized that everyone around him had been secretly looking his way ever since that Maiden ''Xuan Xiaofeng'' had been here.

 154 The First Trial 3

    Three hours since the trial had started and already more than half of the competing cultivators were decimated.


    The moods among the celestials who were watching the scene were quite somber. Even the four major powerhouses of the region, the Heavy Moon Sect, the Alluring Blossoms Palace, the Spirit Sword Manor and the Divine Nine Sect had all lost a couple of their candidates. They had never expected that the first trial would be so tough!


    This was way much tougher than 30 years ago!


    The Grandmaster of the Spirit Sword Manor Gao Yishu had a dark look. It was because they had already lost two of their brightest candidates and another candidate Qian Jingjing was wandering hopelessly in the mountains until she had managed to meet with Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue.


    The powerful sword arts of their celestial clan were supposed to be used on their opponents and not these desolate beasts!


    But the one with the darkest look was Divine Mistress Jiu You from the Divine Nine Sect. All her female prot¨¦g¨¦s were lost in the mountains and got slaughtered by the desolate beasts. Her celestial clan was actually the first of the four major powerhouses to fall. She simply could not believe her eyes!


    She shot a look at the smiling Shen Yufeng as she muttered, "This trial is too biased. The men are usually better in navigation and all my candidates are women."


    Shen Yufeng continued to smile as she replied, "But the women are usually better in sensing dangers with their superior sixth sense, don''t you think so? Perhaps your prot¨¦g¨¦s ought to be more alert."


    Divine Mistress Jiu You hummed and looked away. Her celestial clan was now the laughing stock of this tournament and she had no wish to get into an argument with Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng.


    Shen Yufeng turned to smile at Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng, who were both looking intently at the trial below with their bright golden eyes. "Do you think that I have set the trial to be a little too difficult?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao chuckled softly, "Is it difficult? I don''t think too."


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "I think it is too easy."


    The leaders of the powerful celestial clans that had overheard them could only lower their heads in shame or to pretend that the trial was actually quite alright.


    Grandmaster Yu Bairen from the Heavy Moon Sect had only lost one candidate and as long as it was not his son Yu Tianjian, he could still manage a weak smile. He was a little unhappy though. It was because several weaker celestial clans had actually ganged up to block the way of his fielded team and hence had caused his celestial clan to lose one of its candidates.


    To the powerful celestial clans, fighting the weaker celestial clans one to one was not a difficult thing. It was because the more powerful celestial clans had the more superior fighting arts and hence they could still beat someone who had a much higher cultivation level than them. Furthermore, the candidates that they had fielded were their brightest core prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    However, although the weaker celestial clans lack in martial prowess, they had no lack of intelligence and cunning. In fact, due to the harsh environment of their celestial clans, their level of intelligence could even be describe as better than the average celestial powerhouses.


    Many of them had quickly decided that their best chance of winning the tournament was to get rid of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the celestial powerhouses as quickly as possible before they could face them later in the other levels of the trial.


    "This way. It is perfectly safe! Everyone is moving this way so this must be the correct trail!" This was the common bait that the common celestial clans had used against the celestial powerhouses.


    And quite a number of the prot¨¦g¨¦s from the celestial powerhouses had actually fallen into the many baits and traps that were used by the common celestial clans. It was inconceivable to the proud sons and daughters of the celestial powerhouses that guile would be used against them and they had thought that the primary goal was to reach the flatten mountain top.


    But it was apparently not so.


    The dozens of celestial powerhouses of the region were now utterly shamed by the hundreds of common celestial clans.


    Every time a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the celestial powerhouses had fallen, there would be loud thunderous claps and cheers from the side of the common celestial clans.


    At this moment the eyes of all the celestials were looking at a party of four that was the first to arrive at the foot of the flatten mountain.


    And this party was the Clear Sky Pavilion, one of the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City. Their team was perfectly intact and they moved as one.


    They were not the first to speed for the flatten mountain in the horizon. Instead they had moved at a constant unhurried pace and seemed to be able to pick all the correct trails without coming to a dead end. They had no wasted time and were equally successful in eluding all the desolate monsters.


    "The Clear Sky Pavilion from New Empyrean City is actually the first to reach the foot of the flatten mountain¡­"


    "How is it possible?"


    "They are a team of wholly female cultivators. The same as the Divine Nine Sect that got wiped out. What a heaven and earth team¡­"


    "I''ve thought that the Divine Nine Sect is ranked much higher than the Clear Sky Pavilion? It is a regional powerhouse after all¡­"


    Divine Mistress Jiu You of the Divine Nine Sect was looking extremely sheepish at the mention of her celestial clan¡­


    "Who are these cultivators from the Clear Sky Pavilion? One of them is actually a little maiden? They are all astonishing beauties¡­"


    "That little maiden is Qiuxiang Hanyu, the little mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion. The other two are Qiuxiang Huan and Shangguan Furong. As for that veiled maiden, according to the registration records, she is Yue Lingling, an elder of the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    Yue Lingling was actually Yue Lingxi. She had used an alias to register for the tournament.


    On the mountain stage, Qiuxiang Mei and the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Clear Sky Pavilion were all pleasantly surprised that their chosen candidates were the first to arrive at the flatten mountain.


    Qiuxiang Mei was thinking, "This Yue Lingxi is really good. But why is she using an alias for this tournament? Is she hiding something? Her background must be quite extraordinary."


    Grandmaster Ling Bei of the Flying Armament Sect was secretly looking at Qiuxiang Mei as he thought, "It seems that I have underestimate Qiuxiang Huan and the Clear Sky Pavilion. They are still a strong celestial clan after losing Yin Shisi¡­"


    Inside the trial;


    Yue Lingxi said to her team after using her divine sense, "This flatten mountain has more than one trail to the top. Follow me."


    Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu and Shangguan Furong nodded as they quickly followed Yue Lingxi. They had thought that they had to climb the steep cliff of this flatten mountain to reach the top and they were all shyly thinking that it may be an unsightly thing for them.


    Tens of minutes later, other groups of cultivators had also reached the foot of the flatten mountain. Immediately one after another they were all climbing on the steep cliff to reach the top. Among them, was Nangong Yu.


    As the tens of cultivators began to climb upward along the steep cliff, a few of them lost their grips and had stumbled down, meeting their poor ends.


    Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Qian Jingjing were the next wave of cultivators that had arrived.


    "Thanks for sending me so far! We are even now!" Qian Jingjing chuckled softly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he raised his hands to bide her off, "Farewell then."


    "Thank you once more for the aid that you''ve shown to us earlier," Leng Qiuyue thanked her.


    Qian Jingjing rolled her eyes before she laughed, "So what now then?"


    Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    "You are not leaving?" Lu Qingyun frowned lightly.


    Qian Jingjing smiled shyly, "We¡­erm¡­are friends now right? So why don''t we stay as a team first until we have reached the top? I have lost sight of my team¡­"


    Then she added with a soft chuckle, "I can tell you that you are a smart person and will surely think of an extraordinary way to reach the top, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Actually I am thinking that since we still got the time, why don''t we find a trail in the mountains to reach the top. It is a little crude to climb up the steep cliff just like this. What if we have fallen from the top? It will surely be a nasty sight."


    As soon as he had said that, a cultivator was heard screaming as he lost his grip and had crashed to the bottom of the steel cliff with a loud bang.


    Qian Jingjing quickly nodded several times as she gasped at the unlucky fallen cultivator, "Indeed, indeed. You are so smart to have suggested this."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly. He had only suggested this because he was a good climber.


    As their group left the scene to scout around the flatten mountains, more cultivators had arrived at the scene and they numbered several hundreds more.


    They too, were appalled by the height of the steep cliff and were further appalled by the number of cultivators that were falling in front of them.


    "Do we have to climb this steep cliff?"


    "Of course we have to. This is a trial to test our endurance and strength. Or else this won''t be trial. Do you think that a trial is prepared in a manner to test our laziness?"


    "Yes, yes. What you''ve said make perfect sense."


    "Also, although the cliff looks identical from all sides but you can only see the minute difference when you are closer. This trial is not only a test of our endurance and strength but also a test of our great intelligence to find the best possible way to climb up."


    "What a perfect analysis!"


    "So let''s us all start to climb the cliff now."


    "The cultivators that are in front of us are already showing us a good example. Let''s follow their leads."


    "Surely they must have scouted ahead of us and this is the only way left."


    "We have better hurry in case the desolate beasts at the back catch up with us."


    "Yes, better hurry."


    "Climbing the cliff is definitely safer than roaming at the bottom of the cliff when the desolate beasts arrive."


    After a short discussion, the hundreds of cultivators were all rushing to find the best spot to climb the steep.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Xuan Danfeng was looking desponded as she walked down the mountains. She had never been so hurt in this manner before. She was a former divine ruler, a mighty figurehead. She could not believe that the Three-Destinies Old Man had actually asked her to leave in such a cold-hearted manner.


    After all, she had come all the way to look for him and thought that he would be happy to see her but in the end he was not interested to talk to her in the least bit.


    "Xiaofeng¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng was suddenly startled. It was because she had suddenly heard him calling after her. But her divine sense did not pick up anyone in close range. "I must be dreaming¡­" she muttered.


    "Xiaofang¡­" the Three-Destinies Old Man had suddenly flashed next to her, startling her.


    It was really him. She was not dreaming?


    But she replied coldly, "So what do you want? Didn''t you ask me to leave already?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed deeply before he took out a wine bottle, "This is for you. Don''t be angry anymore, alright? I am sorry for speaking in such a harsh tone to you."


    "Hmph! Do you think that a mere wine bottle is going to appease me?" Xuan Danfeng hummed coldly but her eyes were already staring at the wine bottle¡­


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said quietly, "I have two enemies. One hidden and one in view. Therefore I cannot be distracted."


    Xuan Danfeng asked curiously, "Who are they? Can you tell me? I can maybe help you to settle them? Don''t forget that I am a seventh realm expert after all."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man shook his head, "My enemies are more formidable than you think. It is better that you do not know who they are."


    "Who knows if you are really looking at your enemies or the pretty maidens?" Xuan Danfeng hummed coldly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned, "Naturally my enemies."


    All of a sudden Xuan Danfeng had grabbed his wine bottle and said with a wry smile, "Do you think a single wine bottle is enough?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "I can give you another bottle of wine. Whether you are willing to accept it or not, I am going back to watch the trials."


    With that he had already turned his back on her.


    "Wait. I didn''t say that I won''t accept your apologies. So one more bottle of wine and also that you have to carry me back to the stage." Xuan Danfeng said shyly and her eyes were full of anticipations.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled, "Carry you?"


    Xuan Danfeng nodded shyly, "I need some face saving measures after I had left just like that earlier. Can you?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man heaved a soft sigh before he nodded slowly.


    Xuan Danfeng was delighted as she flew into his arms, "So what are you waiting for?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    With a soft sigh, the Three-Destinies Old Man had lifted her sensual body up with his strong arms and his eyes were staring at her sensual exposed cleavage. He muttered silently, "Sinful. This is too sinful. I am a man of culture¡­"


    As the Three-Destinies Old Man carried her, Xuan Danfeng had put her fingers on his firm chest as she sniffed his scent. "He has a most wondrous profound aura. Is he¡­an immortal cultivator? He has the same scent as Yuqing¡­"


    At the same time, the Three-Destinies Old Man was thinking, "She is really so soft¡­"


    "Why are you following me?" He could not resist asking her.


    "Naturally it is because you have good wines. Do you think that it is because of your good looks?" Xuan Danfeng chuckled as she looked intently at him.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man nodded proudly, "Of course not. Only a blind person will like an ugly old man like me."


    "Hehehe, is that so?" Xuan Danfeng muttered softly.

 155 The First Trial 4

    When the Three-Destinies Old Man was back to the stage where he was originally at, hundreds of envious eyes were looking at him as he carried Xuan Danfeng through them.


    Xuan Danfeng had her slender arms around his neck and she was smiling with a delightful look.


    "Why are you looking at me like this? I am just an ugly old man." He said before putting her down gently.


    "I know," she continued to look at him with a smile.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was smiling weakly. Was she for real? Everyone had come for the tournament but she seemed to be uninterested and seemed to be coming for him. He did not really trust her because he had seen plenty of ruses in his life. He was determined not to fall for her tricks¡­


    His eyes had quickly returned to the tournament and saw that there was a group of cultivators that had reached the top of the flatten mountain. He was just in time to witness the first group that had completed the first trial.


    This first group that had reached the top was Yue Lingxi, Shangguan Furong, Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Hanyu. They had indeed found a way up to the top of the flatten mountain.


    The second group to arrive at the top of the flatten mountain was Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Qian Jingjing.


    Yue Lingxi smiled when she saw Lu Qingyun, "Hmph, you have reached the top too. Not bad."


    Lu Qingyun took a step back as though he was afraid of her. Indeed he was. "We are lucky, that''s all."


    Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Hanyu were surprised that Yue Lingxi and Lu Qingyun were acquainted with each other.


    Leng Qiuyue was equally surprised.


    Lu Qingyun turned to Leng Qiuyue and Qian Jingjing before he said in a low voice, "This maiden is extremely dangerous. I suggest that we stay as far as possible from them."


    Leng Qiuyue had a surprise look. The veiled maiden looked quite beautiful even with her veil showing only her eyes and she had not expected Lu Qingyun to suddenly turn around to warn them about her.


    Lu Qingyun emphasized, "She is¡­very, very dangerous. Avoid her at all costs."


    Leng Qiuyue and Qian Jingjing looked at each other with a half-amused look.


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly, "If you are so afraid of her, I will help you to thrash her. I wonder what the next trial will be though. If it is a competition trial then I will seek her out to end her qualifications. How about it?"


    Lu Qingyun frowned softly, "You will be instant kill by her."


    Qian Jingjing shot him an unhappy look, "You are looking down on me? Do you know that I am the highest potential cultivator in the Spirit Sword Manor and a peaked fourth realm immortal celestial? If I can get instant kill by her, what about you?"


    Lu Qingyun replied coolly, "I may still be able to hold her off with one or two of my ingenious sword strokes."


    Qian Jingjing nearly spurted blood when she had heard him and even Leng Qiuyue could not resist a smile.


    Everyone in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm, including the other regions knew that the Heavens Spirit Sword of the Spirit Sword Manor was a most powerful profound sword art. The Rippling Nine Stage of the Heavens Spirit Sword was almost invincible. In the past, this divine realm was actually ruled by the Spirit Sword Manor and was known as the Spirit Sword Divine Realm.


    The present grandmaster of the Spirit Sword Manor had only attained the Heavens Spirit Sword to the Rippling Seven Stage and that was already enough to place him on the top of the majority of the second tier celestial clans. There was a rumor that if he could attain the Rippling Eighth Stage, even Shen Yufeng and the present Heavenly Fragrance Princess may not even be his match.


    Qian Jingjing shot Lu Qingyun an unhappy look, "You¡­you¡­if you haven''t been a help to me, I would have challenge you now to a duel!"


    Lu Qingyun was quite startled that she was suddenly angry with him. He was only trying to give his honest opinion so he asked bitterly, "Maiden Qian, I am just trying to give you a warning. Instead of being grateful to me, why are you upset with me for?"


    "Because you are just a first realm good-for-nothing cultivator!" Qian Jingjing blurted out.


    Lu Qingyun gasped and he was looking sheepish immediately. It was because he had totally forgotten that in the eyes of the others, he was only a first realm cultivator and not a peaked fourth realm cultivator.


    "Yes, yes¡­I am sorry." He weakly responded.


    "Hmph!" Qian Jingjing hummed coldly and she was smiling again. "Alright, I forgive you then¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue was secretly observing their exchanges. It was extremely difficult for a maiden to be really upset with Lu Qingyun because he had a calming presence that was around him and it made him an irresistible pull for many.


    Lu Qingyun was shouting to the heavens in his heart, "Heavens! Please let the next trial to be a competition between the cultivators. Why did you toy me all the time and refuse to let me to show off my real skill levels!"


    "Cultivate the heart¡­" Qin Keqin''s mesmerizing voice was suddenly floating in his mind.


    "Yes, yes." Lu Qingyun said weakly to himself when he had recalled Qin Keqin''s reminder. But deep in his heart, he was still determined to show off and to shake off his good-for-nothing cultivator image.


    On the speculator stage, Qin Keqin was laughing delightfully. "My Yun''Er has overcome the first trial. He is so smart to have found a trail to the top. Why are there so many fools that are climbing the steep cliff?"


    Shen Yufeng chuckled, "Because they are fools."


    The heads of many of the celestials who had overheard them lowered their heads in shame¡­


    Feng Xiaoxiao had turned to Tang Xuefeng, Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye and the other Heavenly Fragrance Heralds as she chuckled, "It seems to me that the female cultivators are smarter than the male cultivators. Only Lu Qingyun is using his brains for the trial, don''t you think so?"


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "It seems to be the case. The men are usually capable of only using their brawls. Maybe we can even find one or two potential female prot¨¦g¨¦s to recruit from this tournament. This batch certainly looks quite promising."


    Feng Xiaoxiao nodded, "That Yue Lingling, Qiuxiang Huan and Qian Jingjing have potential."


    Tang Xuefeng replied coolly, "That Qian Jingjing may have some potential but she has a poor sense of direction. Moreover¡­"


    She took a look at Grandmaster Gao Yishu of the Spirit Sword Manor before she said in a low voice, "The Spirit Sword Manor will never allow the core prot¨¦g¨¦s of their Heavens Spirit Sword to be leak out. Moreover, there is an enmity between us. Therefore, taking their prot¨¦g¨¦s is a no, no for us."


    Qin Keqin had suddenly turned to them with a sheepish smile, "Actually having a poor sense of direction is not something bad you know. As long as the map is well-drawn, sense of direction isn''t an issue at all."


    Feng Xiaoxiao, Tang Xuefeng: ???


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    An hour later, the first cultivator had climbed to the top of the flatten mountain with some great difficulty. His muscles and body were aching terribly but he was also glad. It was because he was the first person to get to the top of the flatten mountain.


    He was none other than Yu Tianjian, the Young Master of the Heavy Moon Sect.


    For this achievement alone, his renown would resound throughout the celestial clans for being the first cultivator to have passed the first trial!


    But he was soon shocked to see that there were seven others who had arrived behind him.


    How was it possible? He had not seen them climbing on the cliff?!


    The steep cliff would require one to two hours to climb and he was considered to be a fast climber. How did they arrive faster than him?!


    He was even more stunned to see Lu Qingyun. This good-for-nothing cultivator was actually one step ahead of him? He had almost spurt blood when he saw him.


    "This is¡­impossible¡­how did he get ahead of me?"


    But there was nothing he could do except to wait at a corner first.


    Tens of minutes later, more and more cultivators had arrived at the top of the flatten mountain. They too, were surprised to see Lu Qingyun and the many others that were at the top. They had been climbing after Yu Tianjian and thought that he was the first.


    "The good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun is also here?"


    "How did he get in front of us?"


    "Did he cheat?"


    "And there are others¡­"


    "But we didn''t see them in front of us¡­"


    "It is impossible that they are ahead of us¡­"


    As time passed, there were now hundreds of cultivators that had successfully scaled the steel cliff and they were more exhausted than the first few waves of cultivators that had arrived earlier. It was because they were the weaker group or else they would have already got ahead in the first place.


    Dozens of cultivators were seen lying flat on the ground, thanking the heavens that they did not fall from the steep cliff and they were breathless from exhaustion.


    Among them was Nangong Yu.


    He could not believe that Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue were actually ahead of him even though he had a head start over them!


    After a while, hundreds of eyes were suddenly upon a small group of cultivators that had walked casually to the top of the flatten mountain. This group of female cultivators consisted of just three and were all from the Alluring Blossoms Palace.


    Lu Qingyun could see that leading this small group was Gongsun Ya.


    When the hundreds of cultivators saw them walking up from the other side, they were all stunned and were thinking, "Don''t tell me that there is another way up here?"


    "I feel so stupid¡­"


    "I waste so much of my physical strength to climb up the steep cliff¡­"


    "I only climb the steep cliff because everyone is doing the same¡­"


    "I didn''t think that there may be a trail up the flatter mountain¡­"


    "I''ve thought that the others know better¡­"


    "It is the blind leading the blind¡­"


    Below the flatten mountain, the desolate beasts already had the flatten mountain surrounded and anyone that was unfortunate to be left behind was quickly slaughtered.


    Many of the cultivators that were still climbing the steep cliff were starting to fall off the steep cliff as the desolate beasts were ramming and shaking the steep cliff, making the climb even harder.


    Many of the cultivators at the top were shaking their heads as they saw many of the cultivators below were quickly slaughtered by the powerful desolate beasts.


    Some of the desolate beasts were also great climbers and they could leap very high. Any cultivators that were below the mid-point of the steep cliff were all quickly picked and slaughtered as well.


    The scene below was terrible to behold.


    Luckily, the cultivators were not really killed off as this was only the trial illusion but it taught the cultivators of the harsh realities of the world.


    Another one hour had passed before Shen Yufeng''s face appeared in the sky above, "Not bad. Out of twelve thousands, slightly more than four thousands have actually survived till the end of the first trial. This is a much better result than I''ve expected."


    Everyone was startled. A full two third of the cultivators had perished in the first trial and many of them were from the celestial powerhouses.


    The cultivators from the celestial powerhouses were now looking suspiciously at the cultivators from the lesser celestial clans and the autonomous cultivators. It was because many of their numbers had fallen due to guile on the way to the top; from blocking their way, tricking them into dead ends and throwing stones on the steep cliff of the flatten mountain to make them fell to their deaths.


    Today was a great humiliation and a slap on the faces on the usual arrogant sons and daughters of the heavens!


    Shen Yufeng was smiling. It was because she had wanted to teach them an important lesson. Never underestimate your opponents even though you may be from a greater celestial clan. The guile and intelligence of the desperate were not to be underestimated.


    "The second trial will start in ten minutes." Her voice echoed to all the competitors.


    "Ten minutes? That''s too soon¡­"


    "I''ve just climbed to the top. I need an hour of rest¡­"


    "This is too insane¡­"


    "Can we have more rest time?"


    But Shen Yufeng had already changed the scene and the top of the flatten mountain was rising even higher until they could see the misty clouds.


    All of a sudden there were two bright portals, one blue and one green.


    She chuckled, "One portal lead to life and the other one will lead to your death. Consider and choose well. You have only ten minutes to think."


    With that her image had disappeared from the sky.


    All of a sudden the edges of the flatten mountain was slowly shaking violently and was disintegrating!


    Everyone was shocked!


    "This is too ridiculous!!!"


    "She says we have ten minutes but the trial has already started!"


    "When she says ten minutes, she actually means we have ten minutes before the entire mountain disappears¡­"


    "What sort of a stupid trial is this? One life and one death?! This is based on pure luck!"


    "Did our region have the hardest level of the trials¡­"


    Some of the female cultivators had broken down in tears. They had come this way with much difficulty and now they had to choose between one lucky option and one unlucky option. They were cultivators and fighters. If they had died in battle, they had no complaints but this was too cruel for them to choose!


    Even Yue Lingxi had raised her eyebrows in surprise as she muttered, "This¡­is a little ridiculous!"


    Qiuxiang Huan looked at her before asking, "Mistress, what shall we do? We have less than ten minutes to decide."


    On the far side, Leng Qiuyue was asking Lu Qingyun. "Senior brother, what shall we do?"


    Even Qian Jingjing was asking him. "So what should we do?"


    Lu Qingyun looked at her with a weak smile, "Erm, Maiden Qian. Are we in the same team? You should go and look for your team to discuss your next step."


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly as she gave him a flustered look, "I think all my team had all perished and I think¡­"


    She giggled for a while before adding, "And I think that you are quite a lucky fellow. So I want to know which portals you will be choosing."


    Lu Qingyun frowned lightly, "Actually I feel that I am quite an unlucky fellow."


    He was not lying. Seeing Yue Lingxi again made him felt like the most unlucky fellow.

 156 The Second Trial 1

    Above the sky platform, the viewing celestial cultivators were all in an uproar.


    "This trial is too ridiculous!"


    "They have to pick between life and death? Is this even a trial at all?"


    "This is purely based on luck!"


    "This trial is biased to the third tier celestial clans!"


    "What do you mean it is biased to the third tier celestial clans? It seems that the second tier celestial clans are afraid of losing."


    "What did you say?"


    "Hehe. For the very first time, I am seeing more cultivators from the third tier celestial clans than from the second tier celestial clan."


    "The Divine Nine Sect has all been wiped out and the Spirit Sword Manor is left with one Qian Jingjing¡­"


    "The Heavy Moon Sect and the Alluring Blossoms Palace are still going strong with three competing candidates each¡­"


    "The Heavens Ridge Villa still has three while the Clear Sky Pavilion has four¡­"


    "I can''t believe that first realm good-for-nothing Lu Qingyun manages to complete the first trial¡­"


    "He is only lucky, that is all."


    "There are two portals. One green and one blue. Which one will you choose?"


    "Green is for healing and may represent life¡­"


    "Green can also be poison¡­"


    "I say it is the blue. The Heavenly Fragrance Villa has blue in their clan emblem. So the blue portal may be the right one¡­"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was muttering, "What an interesting trial."


    "What is so interesting about it? It is just a simple life and death trial." Xuan Danfeng laughed softly.


    "No." The Three-Destinies Old Man said solemnly. "It is more than that. This trial also tests the cultivator''s courage."


    "Oh?"


    "In a battle against a superior opponent, it will take a lot of courage and under the constant threat of death to overcome the inner heart demon. This trial is a test of their inner hearts." The Three-Destinies Old Man explained as he reached out for his wine and he was suddenly grabbing air.


    "Where is my wine?" He gave Xuan Danfeng a cold look.


    "Didn''t you say that you will share with me?" Xuan Danfeng gave him a pitiful look.


    "Alas¡­I forget." The Three-Destinies Old Man heaved a deep sigh.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Inside the trial, there were confusions among the cultivators.


    "Which portals do we pick?"


    "Does anyone has any idea?"


    "This is a most difficult choice¡­"


    "Too ridiculous¡­"


    "We can only leave our fates to the heavens¡­"


    "¡­.. ... ..."


    Lu Qingyun quietly said to Leng Qiuyue, "Junior Sister Qiuyue, we will need to choose two different portals. This will allow us the best chance to survive the second trial."


    While Leng Qiuyue was nodding, Qian Jingjing asked. "What about me?"


    Lu Qingyun returned a weak smile, "Up to you."


    Qian Jingjing chuckled, "Then I shall follow you because I think you are a lucky fellow."


    "Don''t blame me if you are disqualified." Lu Qingyun warned her weakly.


    "Hehe, I am not that petty." Qian Jingjing smiled. "So which portal will you choose?"


    Lu Qingyun whispered as he gave a discreet look in the direction of Yue Lingxi, "Did you see veil maiden earlier? We are going to wait for her to step into the portal first."


    "You want to follow her?" Qian Jingjing asked curiously.


    "No. Where she goes, I will take the other portal." Lu Qingyun said.


    "Oh?" Qian Jingjing and Leng Qiuyue said at the same time with a surprise look.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling as he looked in the direction of Yue Lingxi. Either way, he would not be seeing Yue Lingxi.


    All of a sudden Yue Lingxi had turned around to look at him, giving him a startled and her eyes seemed to be mocking him.


    Although the look was brief, Lu Qingyun could feel that his soul was snatched away by her eyes. He knew that she was a desolate cultivator but he could not understand how she could have suppressed her cultivation level to the fourth realm and below in order to enter the trial.


    Yue Lingxi and her group had suddenly all walked toward the green portal and they had all walked into it with no hesitation at all.


    Leng Qiuyue was startled as she saw their decision, "They did not split their team into two?"


    Even Qian Jingjing was surprised, "Huh? Isn''t it too risky? Or they''ve already known which portal to take?"


    Lu Qingyun quickly scanned around his surroundings to look for hints but there were nothing except for the drifting clouds and the edges of the mountain were quickly disintegrating.


    He thought with suspicion, "This Yue Lingxi may have already seen the through the illusions of the trial. If we follow her, it may be a lot safer but there is also a risk that we may all lose our lives in this trial."


    So he said, "Qiuyue, you take the green portal. I will take the blue portal."


    Leng Qiuyue nodded quietly, "Senior brother, please take care."


    Qian Jingjing giggled to Lu Qingyun, "Then I shall follow you."


    Lu Qingyun replied weakly, "Up to you. But I may well be choosing the death portal."


    "And I shall not blame you if that is the case, right? I''ve promised you. Let''s hurry before the entire mountain collapse!" Qian Jingjing laughed.


    She was right. By now five minutes had passed and half of the mountains had already collapsed.


    With a nod, Lu Qingyun had walked toward the blue portal while Leng Qiuyue had walked toward the green portal.


    Leng Qiuyue took a last look at Lu Qingyun as she prayed in her heart, "Senior brother, let''s hope that your choice is the life portal. I don''t mind sacrificing for your sake."


    As Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue and Qian Jingjing made their choices, Nangong Yu was secretly observing Lu Qingyun. He had not made his move yet because this was a most difficult choice for him to make. As a matter of fact, he was not the only one as half of the cultivators were still facing their inner demons and had not decided yet due to fear.


    The reason why he was quietly observing Lu Qingyun was because he had a sudden idea. Since Lu Qingyun had always been quite lucky, why not follow the choice that he had made? Maybe that would be the life portal.


    When he saw that Lu Qingyun was making his way to the blue portal, he began to follow quietly behind him and he made sure that he was not seen by Lu Qingyun or Leng Qiuyue. Luckily there were still thousands of cultivators that had not made their choices yet.


    Lu Qingyun took in a deep breath as he stood at the blue portal. "Is this the life portal or the death portal?"


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing had pushed him into the blue portal as she grabbed him by his arm, "Let''s go in!¡­"


    "Wait¡­I have not said my last prayers yet¡­" Lu Qingyun stammered panicky. But it was already too late as the two of them entered into the blue portal together.


    "You can thank the heavens later if this is the life portal." Qian Jingjing laughed softly.


    As soon he entered into the blue portal, the blue had turned quickly into darkness and he was now floating in a vast emptiness of the darkness.


    Needless to say, Lu Qingyun knew instantly that the blue portal was actually the portal of death!


    He began to smile weakly, "And so my trial ends here¡­"


    On the other side of the green portal, Leng Qiuyue had stepped into another mountain platform where the other cultivators who had stepped earlier into the green portal were.


    She had recognized Yue Lingxi, Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu and Shangguan Furong among them. As she quietly walked to a corner, she was trembling. "So senior brother has taken the wrong portal¡­" She had totally lost her motivation for the trial and was depressed that Lu Qingyun had not made it.


    Qiuxiang Huan had turned to say to Yue Lingxi, "It seems that Lu Qingyun has taken the wrong portal and we won''t be seeing him till the end of the trial."


    Yue Lingxi was groaning softly, "Why didn''t he follow us? I thought that he is a smart fellow."


    Qiuxiang Hanyu smiled, "Maybe that hint earlier isn''t too obvious to big brother?"


    "But¡­" Qiuxiang Hanyu muttered, "How did Elder Yue knows that this will be the life portal?"


    Yue Lingxi smiled as she said in a low voice, "I have secretly placed my profound signatures on the earlier groups that had entered the portals. My profound signatures were extinguished as soon as it touched the blue portal. Therefore I know that it is the death portal.


    Qiuxiang Hanyu, Qiuxiang Huan and Shangguan Furong were all startled. Although it sounded simple enough but it was nearly impossible to have such sensitivity with the profound aura. The cultivator had to be at least a seventh realm expert to even begin with. Moreover she had done so without anyone detecting what she was doing. None of them had even seen her releasing her profound aura earlier and she had done so in such a clean and discreet manner that they found it a little unbelievable.


    The ten minutes had quickly passed and by now everyone had made their choices.


    As the green portal disappeared, a black portal had suddenly appeared in its place.


    Shen Yufeng''s voice could be heard echoing, "Good. Two thousands of you have successfully made the right option. You have all passed the second trial. However the second trial has not truly ended for some of the cultivators that have picked the death portal. So you shall all take a break first and wait for the second trial to be ended first."


    Everyone was startled. The second trial had not fully ended? Did it mean that there were some hopes for those that had picked the blue portal?


    Leng Qiuyue was suddenly lifted from her depression and her eyes were eagerly looking at the black portal. If Lu Qingyun were to survive the second trial then he would have to emerge from this black portal that had taken the place of the green portal.


    She was not the only ones that were suddenly staring at the black portal and were hopeful.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Qin Keqin was startled, "My Yun''Er has picked the wrong portal? Where is he? How come I cannot see him or the others? The celestial array is only showing the location of the ones that have picked the green portal."


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "They are in another space. That''s why you cannot see them. It is almost impossible for the celestial array to show all two thousands of the cultivators that had picked the wrong portal. But they will be given a second chance."


    Qin Keqin heaved a soft sigh of relief, "That is good¡­I''ve thought that it is really a death portal."


    "It is." Shen Yufeng smiled wryly. "Usually less than one-tenth will survive the outcome of the second chance."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­

 157 The Second Trial 2

    Leng Qiuyue was staring at the black portal with a dejected look when a quiet voice said gently to her, "He will be alright."


    She was startled when she saw that it was Ling Xiu.


    "My brother is also inside. I hope that he will be able to make it out that black portal." She had taken the green portal while her brother Ling Chong had taken the blue portal.


    Leng Qiuyue nodded quietly before she said, "I''ve heard that your Flying Armament Sect has made an alliance with the Clear Sky Pavilion?"


    Ling Xiu nodded before she returned a smile, "My brother is taking Qiuxiang Huan as his first consort after the end of this tournament. You are welcome to attend his wedding."


    Leng Qiuyue whispered, "But you don''t look so happy?"


    Ling Xiu smiled weakly, "How do you know that I am not happy for my brother? Naturally I am."


    "Because I just know." Leng Qiuyue said firmly. "Or else you will be talking to Qiuxiang Huan now and not to me."


    Ling Xiu: ¡­


    Ling Xiu averted her glances and said quietly, "Brother Qingyun will be alright. I have faith in him."


    Leng Qiuyue was suddenly quiet. It was because she had suddenly realized that Ling Xiu may have the same affection for Lu Qingyun as her.


    She forced herself to smile, "Yes, senior brother will be fine."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The darkness around Lu Qingyun had suddenly vaporized and he was suddenly surrounded by tall walls all around him. From beyond the wall, there was a black light that was rising to the skies.


    His first thought was, "I am in a maze? I am not dead? Did I pick the correct portal instead?"


    He could hear other voices from beyond the walls.


    "I am not dead?"


    "Where am I?"


    "What is this place?"


    "Did I overcome the trial?"


    Shen Yufeng''s voice could be heard echoing, "We have some two thousands of you who have picked the blue portal. Unfortunately for you, the choice that you had made is a bad one and it is the portal of death. However, you still have a chance to redeem yourself."


    "You are all in a maze and have the same starting point as the others. Did you see the black light that is beyond the walls? You have one hour to get to the black portal to complete the second portal. This is your second chance. The countdown starts now."


    With that, her echoing voice had slowly disappeared.


    The mazes were muttering with exciting voices from the cultivators who could not see one another. At first they were greatly demoralized but now they were excited that they would be given a second chance.


    "If it is just a maze, it should be easy right?"


    "I have perfect sense of direction. This should be easy for me¡­"


    "I have a poor sense of direction¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was already running in the maze when he had heard that the countdown had started. He knew that this was not a simple maze and there were hidden dangers all around him.


    Yan''Er was shouting to him from within his inner cultivation sea, "Master, there are desolate monsters hidden in every corner. Fifth rank desolate beasts."


    He was startled. Fifth rank desolate beasts were formidable enough to bring down most of the fourth realm cultivators. Moreover, half of the cultivators that were taking part in the trials were actually at the third realm level. There would almost be no fighting chance should a third realm cultivator happen to meet a fifth rank desolate beast.


    And most of the fourth realm cultivators would not be able to survive a one to one fight with a fifth rank desolate beast. Even Lu Qingyun had little confidence in that as well since he was not familiar with most of the special attacks of the higher ranking desolate beasts.


    And so he had decided to cheat.


    "Yan''Er. My divine sense is lacking. Are you able to tell me if there are desolate beasts in the corner?"


    "That is easy, Master." Yan''Er chuckled.


    "That is my good Yan''Er!" Lu Qingyun was immediately delighted.


    "Avoid the left!"


    Lu Qingyun had immediately flashed to the right.


    All around him, there were screams and the slashing sounds of the swords.


    Tens of minutes had passed before Lu Qingyun had suddenly realized that he had been running in circles. He was too successful in evading the desolate monsters and had suddenly realized that some of the desolate monsters were guarding some of the most crucial points in the maze.


    He quickly headed to a part of the maze where he thought that it may lead him further to the black portal that lay in the middle of the maze.


    Along the way, he saw the bodies of several of the cultivators.


    Less than five minutes later, he had heard a soft scream and a beautiful maiden was seen slamming onto the wall.


    Lu Qingyun had immediately recognized that she was Qian Jingjing and that an Earth Elemental Golem was now cornering her.


    Qian Jingjing coughed out a bout of blood before she unleashed her Rippling Five Heavens Spirit Sword as five shockwaves exploded on the Earth Elemental Golem but it did not manage to even scratch it the least bit. It was because the Earth Elemental Golem had the most formidable defenses and was immune to the energies of her profound technique. It may have worked against another fifth rank desolate beast like the Eight-Legged Duke Lion but not against this monster.


    Just as the Earth Elemental Golem was about to use its massive fist to land a hit on Qian Jingjing, Lu Qingyun had intercepted its massive fist with his sword.


    In a split second, Lu Qingyun had grabbed Qian Jingjing and had pushed her to his back.


    Qian Jingjing was startled that it was actually Lu Qingyun who had come in a nick of time to rescue her and was even startled that he could block off the massive fist of the Earth Elemental Golem. How was it possible?


    All of a sudden, she had noticed that there was an animus that was glowing from Lu Qingyun. She was greatly shocked because profound aura could only be displayed by a cultivator that had reached the fourth realm cultivation level. Moreover his profound aura looked really solid and was even more formidable than she could muster.


    Was he not a first realm cultivator?


    Why was he suddenly a fourth ream cultivator now?


    He was actually on the same cultivation realm as her?


    Her sharp eyes suddenly saw that he had a spirit entity on his left hand and she was gasping. There was a rumor that he had a golden roc flame but she had not believed it. It was because it was considered to be unusable and too instable to capture one until the cultivator could reach the sixth cultivation realm.


    "Alpha Soaring Heavens as One." Lu Qingyun had immediately merged his spirit entity into his profound aura and combined it into his unique sword art as he flashed his sword on the Earth Elemental Golem.


    The Earth Elemental Golem was instant kill by his sword art and had immediately crumbled to dust.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh. This Earth Elemental Golem may have formidable defenses but it was too slow moving and hence easier for him to execute his sword art.


    Qian Jingjing was startled as she stared in disbelief at him. It was because he had just instant kill an Earth Elemental Golem. This means that his martial power was also at an extreme level¡­


    "Maiden Qian, are you alright?" Lu Qingyun asked. He was a little afraid that she may suddenly jump on him to scold him for causing her to pick the wrong portal.


    But instead Qian Jingjing was smiling sweetly at him, "Brother Qingyun, just call me Jingjing in the future. I shall call you Brother Qingyun, alright?"


    "Erm, alright¡­" Lu Qingyun was perplexed why she was suddenly so friendly toward him. But he did not have the time to think further as he was preoccupied with completing the trial. "Let us move quickly."


    Qian Jingjing smiled as she stole a glance at him, "Alright!"


    As Lu Qingyun began to run hastily in the maze, he was thinking. "Finally I have the chance to display my new sword art in the tournament. Not only will Keqin be surprised but the others will also be quite startled that I am now able to defeat a fifth rank Earth Elemental Golem. In the future, no one will dare to say that I am a good-for-nothing cultivator anymore."


    However, he did not know that he was in another space where the outside speculators were not able to see what was going on inside.


    "Jingjing, wait!" Lu Qingyun had suddenly caught her wrist. "This way please. That way is not safe."


    Qian Jingjing gasped softly when Lu Qingyun had suddenly caught her wrist and she was trembling lightly. She muttered shyly, "Alright. Why do you know that way is not safe?"


    "My Instinct tells me." Lu Qingyun explained quite awkwardly.


    "Then why are you in the death portal now?" Qian Jingjing giggled.


    "Erm¡­I did tell you not to follow me, right?"


    "You''re such a weird fellow. Why did you choose the death portal when you know that the other portal is the life portal?"


    "I''ll tell you when I''ve thought of the reason." Lu Qingyun replied weakly.


    Qian Jingjing giggled, "You are so interesting. Luckily I have met you."


    "Erm, you don''t blame me for leading you here?" Lu Qingyun asked.


    "Why should I? That is my very own decision. After all, you''ve already warned me in advance."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "I''ve thought that you will surely blame me for that."


    "Do I look like the sort of petty maidens that you have met in the past?" Qian Jingjing pretended to be annoyed.


    "Erm, no." Lu Qingyun replied.


    "Say, are you really a fourth realm expert?"


    "Yes, I am."


    "Which tier are you on now?"


    "Upper tier." Lu Qingyun answered.


    "The same as me then." Qian Jingjing was most astonished and she was secretly smiling as she thought. "We are quite compatible in our cultivation level¡­"


    Elsewhere in the maze, Nangong Yu was cursing out aloud. "Lu¡­Qingyun¡­I hate¡­you¡­why did¡­I have to follow¡­you¡­"


    In the next instant, a gigantic desolate wolf had ripped him apart.

 158 The Second Trial 3

    As Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing ran deeper into the maze, they saw more and more of the other cultivators that were running into the same maze corridor as them.


    All of them quickly formed into a much larger group as it was too dangerous to solo the dangers of the maze. A few of the cultivators were even heavily wounded.


    Among the cultivators that they saw was Yu Tianjian and Gongsun Ya.


    They were equally surprised to see that Lu Qingyun had actually made it so far into the maze.


    Although all the cultivators had viewed one another as potential competitors, they were not stupid and quickly exchanged notes; they were all racing against time to exit this maze. It was because nearly thirty minutes had passed since the countdown had startled.


    "This way is where I''ve come from."


    "This way is a dead end."


    "We have not tried this path yet. Let''s go."


    Altogether there were thirty of them.


    Soon they had come to a path that split into two. Both the paths were new and the black light was shining brilliantly from beyond the imposing walls of the maze. They were so near to the black portal now.


    The group of cultivators were immediate excited.


    They were now faced with two choices; the path to the right and the path to the left.


    Qian Jingjing asked Lu Qingyun in a half jest, "Shall we take the path to the left or right?"


    Yan''Er was saying to Lu Qingyun, "Master, the path to the right has two sixth rank desolate beasts. It is an ambush."


    Lu Qingyun was startled by Yan''Er advice as he quickly replied to Qian Jingjing, "We ought to take the path to the left."


    He turned to say aloud to the rest of the cultivators, "The path to the right is extremely dangerous. Follow me to take the path to the left."


    Yu Tianjian smirked coldly, "Why should we trust the words of a good-for-nothing cultivator? At this crucial junction, are you trying to be a hero? If you have guessed correctly then you will be a hero. If you have guessed wrongly then we will all be your stepping stone."


    Another cultivator nodded and said coldly, "Precisely. We should take the path to the right instead."


    Lu Qingyun immediately said with a weak smile, "I have no ill-intentions. The path to the right is indeed dangerously."


    Yu Tianjian hummed coldly, "We have some of the best talents here. If we stick together then nothing will happen to us. It doesn''t matter if the choice is wrong. If it is just desolate monsters, we can simply demolish it with the strength of our group. If it is just a dead end, we can always backtrack later."


    Qian Jingjing was unhappy that they were criticizing Lu Qingyun so she said aloud, "Brother Qingyun, I believe in you. We shall take the path to the left. Who is with us?"


    There was a dead silence and a lack of response from the rest of the cultivators.


    Qian Jingjing grabbed Lu Qingyun''s arm, "Let''s ignore them. We shall go our way then."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as the two of them walked toward the path to the left. As he left he was still saying, "Fellow cultivators, you must believe me¡­"


    But Qian Jingjing had interrupted him with an unhappy countenance, "If they want to die, let them die. They are just looking down on you."


    Yu Tianjian smiled coldly, "Everyone, follow me to the path on the right."


    "Wait!" It was Gongsun Ya.


    She looked at the other seventy-seven cultivators before she smiled coldly, "I''ve decided to take a gambit with them."


    With that she had hurried to the path on the left.


    It was because she had a dislike for Yu Tianjian who was taking the lead and was giving orders to everyone. This was probably the most irrational decision that she had ever done in her entire life.


    Yu Tianjian scoffed coldly, "It seemed that there are some foolish cultivators in our midst."


    With that Yu Tianjian and the rest of the twenty-six cultivators had hurried to the path on the right.


    Gongsun Ya had quickly caught up with Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing.


    Qian Jingjing looked at her coldly, "Why did you choose to come this way with us? I''ve thought that you are taking the path to the right? Why did you make a reversal now and decide to come with us?"


    Gongsun Ya smiled as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "I just decide that maybe his advice is worth taking note of. Or am I disturbing the two lovebirds here?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "We are not an item." Lu Qingyun said firmly.


    Qian Jingjing looked suddenly looking at Lu Qingyun to protest but she was suddenly looking shyly away. It was true that they were not an item¡­


    Gongsun Ya smiled, "Really? How come I keep seeing the two of you together? I can''t remember that the Spirit Sword Manor and the Heavens Ridge Villa are connected in anyway."


    Qian Jingjing had a flustered look as she said coldly, "You are such a busybody. We just happen to get along well with each other. That is all."


    Gongsun Ya was about to argue back when Lu Qingyun quickly said gravely to them, "This way quickly and be quiet!"


    He quickly led them to another path and barely had had they concealed themselves, the gigantic shadow of a sixth rank desolate beast could be seen moving silently along the wall.


    After a while, the desolate beast had quietly disappeared.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh as he grinned. "Now it is safe to move on. Come."


    Gongsun Ya was startled. How was he able to tell that a formidable desolate beast was lurking quietly around the corner?


    Qian Jingjing gave her a playful look, "Brother Qingyun will get us out of this maze in no time. All we need to do is to follow him."


    Gongsun Ya: ¡­


    Minutes later, a black portal could be seen within a circle of walls.


    Lu Qingyun was delighted to find the black portal as he said excitingly, "We have finally found the way out."


    Qian Jingjing looked at Gongsun Ya with a wry smile, "See! You''ve made the right choice in following us."


    Gongsun Ya smiled weakly, "I think it is just luck."


    The three of them quickly entered into the black portal and they emerged on a platform where there were thousands of other cultivators.


    "Look! There are three cultivators that have completed the second trial!"


    "I wonder who they are?"


    "Isn''t that Gongsun Ya and Qian Jingjing. Who is that man?"


    "He is the good-for-nothing cultivator. You mean you didn''t know?"


    "Brother Qingyun!"


    "Senior brother!"


    It was Fairy Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue and they had quickly surrounded Lu Qingyun.


    "You are safe and sound."


    There was a burning envious look in Qian Jingjing when she saw Fairy Ling Xiu. She asked unhappily. "Who is this beautiful maiden here? Brother Qingyun, you know her?"


    "Brother Qingyun?" Leng Qiuyue and Fairy Ling Xiu were both startled. When did this Qian Jingjing become so close to Lu Qingyun?


    Fairy Ling Xiu ignored her and asked Lu Qingyun, "Did you see my brother inside?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Brother Ling Chong is inside?" But he quickly shook his head, "I didn''t see him at all."


    "Senior sister! We are so happy to see you¡­" It was the two prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Alluring Blossoms Palace."


    Gongsun Ya smiled, "I have thought that I am a goner. So who else has emerged from this black portal?"


    "Senior sister, your group is the first."


    "Oh?" Gongsun Ya was surprised and she had noticed that there were thousands of eyes that were looking their way.


    Lu Qingyun was also aware of the thousands of eyes that were looking their way, including that of Yue Lingxi.


    So he said, "Let us go to one side first."


    Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue were both nodding.


    Gongsun Ya had suddenly appeared in their midst as she smiled at Lu Qingyun, "Thank you for bringing me out of the maze."


    "It is nothing really." Lu Qingyun smiled weakly.


    Gongsun Ya smiled before she turned to say to her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters, "Let us go to one side first. I shall share with you my experiences inside."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Qin Keqin was delighted when she saw that Lu Qingyun had emerged from the black portal. This means that he had completed the second trial and could be qualified for the third upcoming trial.


    However as soon as she saw that Lu Qingyun was being surrounded by so many beautiful maidens, there was a dark look on her countenance.


    She muttered almost incoherently, "Are you here for the trial or are you flirting with the other maidens. What are they saying to one another¡­"


    Shen Yufeng was smiling when she saw the look that was on Qin Keqin. It was a rare expression that she had not seen before. It was obvious to her that the Great Saintess Yuqing was unhappy with the attention that Lu Qingyun was getting.


    She quietly took a glance at Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue and noticed that they too had a dark expression on their countenances.


    When her eyes fell upon Yin Shisi, it was the same as Zhao Xingye, Zhao Riyue and Qin Keqin.

 159 The Second Trial 4

    Lu Qingyun began to introduce the maidens to one another.


    "This is Qian Jingjing. She''s from the Spirit Sword Manor."


    "This is Fairy Ling Xiu. She''s from the Flying Armament Sect. She is also my sworn sister."


    He did not know introduce Leng Qiuyue since both Qian Jingjing was acquainted with her.


    Ling Xiu looked at Qian Jingjing with a smile, "Brother Qingyun is my sworn brother. Therefore it is only proper that I should call him Brother Qingyun."


    She was hinting to Qian Jingjing and Leng Qiuyue that only she had the right to call him her brother.


    Qian Jingjing hummed coldly as she looked at Fairy Ling Xiu, "Just another pretty face."


    Ling Xiu flashed a dangerous look at her as she smiled coolly, "I''ve heard that the Spirit Sword Manor is one of the four powerhouses in our region. It seems that it is true after all. After all, you are the only survivor and it is all thanks to my Brother Qingyun."


    It was pure sarcasm.


    Qian Jingjing looked at Lu Qingyun as she pulled his sleeve, "Brother Qingyun, I was the one that aid you right? During the first trial, I am the one that saved you and Maiden Qiuyue."


    Lu Qingyun nodded awkwardly, "Yes, yes¡­"


    Qian Jingjing giggled as she looked at Ling Xiu, "Did you hear that? Hehehe."


    Liu Xiu said sarcastically, "You should be trying to aid your team instead."


    Qian Jingjing frowned softly, "Brother Qingyun is my new team now."


    Lu Qingyun, Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun immediately said, "This doesn''t sound right¡­I am from the Heavens Ridge Villa. Only Qiuyue is my team."


    Qian Jingjing looked at Lu Qingyun with an affirmative look, "Now we are now."


    When Lu Qingyun had suddenly appeared to save her in a nick of time, she was actually quite touched. Against the Earth Elemental Golem, she had actually used her most powerful profound technique, the Rippling Five Heavens Spirit Sword to no avail. At her most desperate hour, Lu Qingyun was like a shining white knight that had suddenly appeared.


    She pointed her finger at Ling Xiu, "Brother Qingyun. On the other hand, you ought to be wary of her. I have heard that her Flying Armament Sect is now allied with the Clear Sky Pavilion against your Heavens Ridge Villa. Haven''t you heard?"


    Lu Qingyun put his hand on her fingers before he said gently, "I have heard but she is still my sworn sister."


    Ling Xiu murmured, "Brother Qingyun¡­"


    Qian Jingjing hummed softly, "You are too trusting. One day, it will be your downfall!"


    Leng Qiuyue smiled, "Yes Brother Qingyun is too trusting. Why is he trusting you then?"


    Qian Jingjing was rendered speechless, "Cos I''m different from the others!"


    Leng Qiuyue said coldly, "Weird. All the villains are saying that they are different. Who really knows?"


    While they were talking, the black portal began to shimmer again. This was an indication that there were cultivators that were now traversing the black portal to their location.


    All the attentions of the cultivators in the platform were now looking at the next wave of the lucky cultivators that had made it through the black portal.


    Yu Tianjian and two other cultivators were the next group to emerge from the black portal. Unlike Lu Qingyun, Gongsun Ya and Qian Jingjing, they looked haggard and were covered with wounds.


    They had indeed run into some difficulties and had encountered two sixth rank desolate beasts. They were originally a group of twenty-seven cultivators but all that remained were just the three of them.


    As Yu Tianjian staggered on the platform, he caught sight of Lu Qingyun who was looking his way and was stunned. How did this good-for-nothing cultivator reached the black portal ahead of him?!


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly when he saw Yu Tianjian.


    Qian Jingjing said, "It seems that there won''t be more survivors from this trial."


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "There will be more cultivators later. Actually we may have experienced the most difficult portions and are actually paving the way for the cultivators that are behind us."


    "Oh?" Qian Jingjing said with a doubtful look.


    Lu Qingyun explained, "The most difficult part of that maze is the starting and the end. It is only after I have completed the maze that I have finally realized what is going on. If you move at a reasonable pace, not too fast or too slow, you may be able to complete this trial without much difficulty."


    And tens of minutes later, sure enough just as Lu Qingyun had said; tens of cultivators began to emerge from the black portal.


    Qian Jingjing exclaimed with an admired look, "Brother Qingyun, you are indeed so smart." The admiration that she had for Lu Qingyun kept increasing and Lu Qingyun was like her idol now.


    After several hundreds of cultivators had emerged from the black portal, the black portal had suddenly disappeared. It was because the one hour that was given was up.


    Once again, the beautiful features of Shen Yufeng had appeared in the sky as her voice echoed. "Not bad. There are four hundreds cultivators that manage to reach the black portal in a timely fashion. Altogether we have slightly more than two thousands and four hundreds cultivators for the third trial now."


    Almost all the remaining cultivators were now unnerved by Shen Yufeng''s alluring voice. Although she had the most beautiful voice but they were really afraid of what she would say next for the third trial. Although the majority of the remaining cultivators had an easier time for the second trial but it was not easy for them to make the decision for the second trial. Many had split their teams into two and had lost the other half of their teams.


    Lu Qingyun was now standing with Leng Qiuyue, Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu as he awaited the details of the third trial.


    There was a sadden look that was on Ling Xiu. It was because she knew that her brother Ling Chong had failed to reach the black portal and was now disqualified. Her brother was stronger than her and it was only due to luck that she had remained in the trial. Her other two team mates were eliminated during the first trial. Therefore she was now the only candidate of the Flying Armament Sect.


    Qian Jingjing was also the only candidate that had remained from the Spirit Sword Manor.


    And now these two maidens were quietly looking at Lu Qingyun for leadership.


    Leng Qiuyue had a look of annoyance on her countenance. It was because these two maidens were acting as though they were the same team as her senior brother. Moreover they were calling him Brother Qingyun in such an intimate way.


    Shen Yufeng''s voice was echoing through the platform, "I''m sure that all of you are eagerly waiting for the third trial to start. I trust that some of you have rested more than enough and are aching to flex some of your muscles. Therefore I have decided to make the next trial a little more fun and a little harder¡­"


    The cultivators: ¡­


    "This is too ridiculous!"


    "What does she mean by a little harder and a little more fun¡­"


    "She is so scary¡­"


    "No wonder she isn''t wedded to anyone¡­"


    "I got a bad feeling over this¡­"


    "I feel like committing suicide on the spot¡­"


    It was not as though Shen Yufeng could actually hear them but she was laughing jovially before she said teasingly to the cultivators, "This will be a most entertaining trial¡­"


    "Most entertaining trial?¡­" Many of the cultivators were a little startled when they had heard her.


    All of a sudden the platform that they were at was sinking rapidly into the ground until they were now surrounded by tall walls of earth all around them.


    Everyone was trying to hold their balance as the ground was shaking violently as it sunk into the earth.


    "What is going on?"


    "We are sinking into the earth?!"


    Lu Qingyun thrust his sword into the ground to hold himself steady as the platform was sinking way too rapidly.


    30m¡­


    40m¡­


    50m¡­


    The platform continued to sink¡­


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was startled as the bodies of the three maidens were all cuddling around him for support. They were all grabbing his arms, back and hands.


    Lu Qingyun had a flustered look as their soft bodies were all pressing against him. He thought weakly, "Can''t they use their sword like me as a support¡­"


    100m¡­


    Finally the platform had stopped sinking.


    There were many cultivators that were on the ground as they had lost their balances when the platform was sinking too fast.


    Slowly, one by one the fallen cultivators had picked themselves up as everyone was looking miserably at their new surroundings.


    Because the platform had sunk quite deep into the earth, the scene in front of everyone was now quite dark except for the bright light that was at the very top.


    Lu Qingyun muttered to the maidens, "I wonder what this trial is going to be¡­"


    There was no reply from anyone of them.


    It was because all the maidens had suddenly realized that they were now all in Lu Qingyun''s embrace and he was holding onto them tightly so that they would not fall to the ground. They were all flushing hotly and were exchanging awkward looks with one another.


    Although the ground had stopped shaking now, none of the maidens wanted to be the first to break the silence and were all quietly enjoying in the bliss of his embrace.


    Lu Qingyun naturally did not know what they were thinking as he waited in great anticipation for the third trial to begin. After all, he was here to show off his cultivation progression and to show everyone that he was not a good-for-nothing cultivator.


    "Relax. The trial has not started yet." The echoing voices of Shen Yufeng could be heard.


    One cultivator said aloud, "I don''t believe. Every time she had said that, the trial had already started¡­"


    "Let''s be prepared for the worst first¡­"


    Shen Yufeng''s echoing voices said, "A hundred portals will open in all directions that will take you to an underground city where desolate beasts will roam the streets. The rules are really simple. Making a killing blow will give you 2 contribution points. Anyone that is able to get 3 contribution points can approach the trial completion portal that is in the middle of the underground city to go to the fourth trial."


    Many of the cultivators could not resist muttering their thoughts aloud.


    "So we only have to kill two desolate beasts right?"


    "It sounds easy enough."


    "Did she mention the desolate beast ranking?"


    "I''ve thought that it will be hard but it turns out to be really easy."


    "In this trial, you are allowed to kill another cultivator and you will get 1 contribution point." Shen Yufeng suddenly said with a grin. "You have two hours to complete the trial. The countdown starts now."


    When she had said that, a hundred yellow portals had opened in all directions.


    "Did she say that we are allowed to kill the cultivators?!"


    All of a sudden everyone was looking nervously at one another. Although there were a hundred portals but there were more than two thousands of them.


    The cultivators that still had their teams intact were now grinning. This meant that they would gang up to attack a lone cultivator to gain 1 contribution point.


    Several of the cultivators were now shaking their heads, "I know that there must be a catch somewhere¡­"


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled that they would be allowed to kill one another for contribution point.


    After a quick thought, he raised his voice to say loudly. "Everyone listen to me. If we form an armistice with one another and focused on helping one another to slay the desolate beasts, we can all reach the fourth trial together¡­"


    Yu Tianjian hummed coldly, "Look, who is talking? It is actually a coward who is giving a brainless suggestion. If we help one another to gain the contribution points, there are bounded to be some who will quietly leave the group once they have gained 3 contribution points. So what will happen then? Also, there will be many that will not give their very best to fight the desolate beasts if the contribution point does not go to them."


    Another cultivator hummed, "He is Lu Qingyun the good-for-nothing cultivator. Hehe. Is he too scared to fight us?"


    Immediately after he said that, hundreds of cultivators were all laughing at Lu Qingyun for his suggestion.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling awkwardly to himself, "I was just trying to help everyone¡­"


    Qian Jingjing held Lu Qingyun''s hand with an affectionate smile, "Brother Qingyun, I like your plan. Why don''t we group up to get contribution points from the desolate monsters?"


    Ling Xi said with a firm look at him, "Brother Qingyun, I like your suggestion too."


    Leng Qiuyue was nodding, "If the others do not like your suggestion, that is their business. We do it our way."


    Lu Qingyun nodded slowly, "Alright then. We will pick a random portal and group together then."


    All of a sudden Yue Lingxi had quietly approached them and she was laughing softly, "I will be hunting for you in the underground city. So be careful. If you are wise, you can turn around to kill these three maidens and you will get your 3 contribution points. Or maybe you will be backstabbed by them instead."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I appreciate your warning."


    Yue Lingxi hummed coldly before she walked away. As she walked away, she was silently thinking. "I hope that you can be wary of the people around you."


    Lu Qingyun did not know that Yue Lingxi had actually approached him to warn him of the three maidens and to be on his guard.


    "Brother Qingyun, so which portal should we take?" Ling Xiu asked.


    Leng Qiuyue and Qian Jingjing were both looking at him with anticipations.


    Lu Qingyun rubbed his chin as he looked intently at the one hundred portals that were around them. While they were talking, more than half of the cultivators had already dashed for the portals.


    It was because the first one to enter the portals would have the advantage of terrain and they would be able to avoid the other cultivators. They could even setup an ambush for the cultivators that were passing through the portal as well.


    Lu Qingyun gritted his jaws before he replied quietly, "We shall wait a little longer first."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Qin Keqin almost flipped when she saw Lu Qingyun was holding onto the three maidens when the platform was sinking fast into the ground.


    She turned to Shen Yufeng and said coldly, "Can you create a divine lightning to strike my Yun''Er dead?"


    Shen Yufeng returned a weak smile, "That is not part of the rules¡­"


    On the other side of the stage, the Three-Destinies Old Man was raging against Lu Qingyun, "This Lu Qingyun is such a lecherous fellow! Did you see that he is hugging three maidens at the same time?! This is too shameless. Did he not know that we can all see him?"


    Xuan Danfeng nodded, "Yes, so what is wrong?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man stared at her, "What is wrong? He is totally shameless, I tell you!"


    Xuan Danfeng looked at him curiously, "It is not your business, am I right? Why are you so worked up for?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man started to stammer, "Erm¡­well¡­I am just upset for the unfortunate maiden that is in love with him, that''s all."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Don''t worry. That unfortunate maiden will not let him off so lightly when she sees it. She is probably here, am I right?" She naturally knew that Qin Keqin was here.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was suddenly grinning and his mood had improved. He was thinking, "She is right. Yuqin must have seen what he is doing and she is probably quite upset now."


    "You know," he was suddenly saying to Xuan Danfeng. "That Lu Qingyun should up his game and hug more maidens. The more the merrier."


    Xuan Danfeng looked at him curiously, "I thought that you are flipping tables just a while ago. Why are you so jovial now?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was laughing jovially, "Because something jovial has just happened."

 160 The Third Trial 1

    Lu Qingyun quietly waited to see where Yue Lingxi was going before he made a mental note to avoid where she was going.


    Leng Qiuyue whispered, "Senior brother, you seem to be really afraid of that maiden earlier. I wonder why."


    She was not the only one who noticed that Lu Qingyun was watching her warily. Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu had also noticed that his hand was on his sword when she was near.


    Ling Xiu said, "I''ve heard that she is Yue Lingling, Qiuxiang Huan''s new Celestial Teacher. She is also an elder of the Clear Sky Pavilion."


    Qian Jingjing smiled, "What is so frightening about her? She is only at most a fourth realm cultivator. We are all almost the same cultivation level, am I right? Moreover none of us here can use any of our secret weapons. Brother Qingyun, am I right to say so? You don''t have to be afraid of her. I can help you to deal with her."


    Leng Qiuyue looked at her with a wryly smile, "For once, I have to agree with you."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly before he said in a low voice, "Do you not think that it is a little strange that she is Qiuxiang Huan''s Celestial Teacher? Qiuxiang Huan herself is an upper fourth realm expert. If she wants the guidance of a Celestial Teacher, she will surely look for someone who has the higher realm than her. Don''t you think so?"


    Leng Qiuyue, Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were suddenly startled by Lu Qingyun''s reply. It was because they did not really think too far ahead. But when Lu Qingyun had said so, suddenly it had started to make sense to them.


    He lowered his head to whisper, "This Yue Lingling is actually a high level cultivator and I''m sure that she is cheating or else she will not be qualified to enter this tournament."


    Qian Jingjing gasped, "She is a cheater!"


    Even Ling Xiu was covering her mouth as she gasped, "How are we going to beat her if we chance into her?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "That is why we have to avoid her or we will surely perish under her sword."


    Qian Jingjing suggested with a hopeful look on Lu Qingyun, "Maybe we can ambush her? I don''t believe that the four of us can''t handle her?"


    "It is better than we try to avoid her as much as possible or we will be digging our own graves." Lu Qingyun replied her.


    "Hehe. It is only a suggestion." Qian Jingjing said sheepishly.


    Lu Qingyun took a step forward before he called out to them, "Come. We should hurry now."


    Almost two thousands cultivators had entered through the portals by now and there were some four hundred cultivators that were still undecided.


    Unknown to everyone, Lu Qingyun had the ability to remember exactly how many cultivators had entered through each of the portal due to his alchemy training which required him to differentiate the herbs into their age with uncanny precision.


    Therefore the portal that he was going to pick was the one that had the least number of cultivators and also the one with the weaker cultivators.


    Although he was unable to tell their cultivation realms with such a look but his eyes were extremely sharp; he was able to judge how skillful they were by the way they were handling their swords. A skillful opponent was actually much more dangerous than a higher realm cultivator.


    Except for Yue Lingxi, most of the higher realm cultivators were actually on par with him. Therefore he was not particularly worried about them having a higher superior realm level than him. He was more concerned if they were actually more skillful than what he could handle.


    Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing began to follow him into a yellow portal.


    They soon emerged from the other side and saw that they seemed to be in an open space building with several opening all around them.


    A cultivator was startled when he saw them emerging from the portal but he soon calmed down with a wryly smile as he said to them, "If you think that you have four of you here and have an advantage over me then you are wrong."


    He proceeded to point at the red circle that was around the portal, "While I am inside this red circle, I am perfectly safe. You won''t be able to muster your profound strength to hurt me."


    Lu Qingyun and the rest knew that he was not lying because they could not muster any strength while in the red circle.


    This red circle covered almost the entire floor of the building so it was impossible for a cultivator that had attained the sword energy level to strike them down with sword energies from the outside as long as they stay close to the yellow portal.


    That was the reason why this cultivator was still staying near the portal and was unafraid of them.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh of relief. He was glad that there was something like this. It was because he was a little afraid that they may be ambushed by the other cultivators as soon as they had stepped out of the portal.


    The cultivator smiled as he saw that that the maidens that were in Lu Qingyun''s group were all so beautiful. He could resist introducing himself, "I am Jia Youpeng, core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Black Sword Divine Sect. You must be Lu Qingyun."


    Lu Qingyun returned a polite greeting, "Indeed I am. "


    Jia Youpeng knew Lu Qingyun was even before this chance meeting. There were few cultivators that did not know who he was. He was the talking point among the cultivators and moreover he was also among the cultivators that were mocking him earlier for his suggestion.


    The aim of his introduction was just to get the maidens to introduce themselves and to leave upon them a good impression of himself.


    But to his surprise, all the other three maidens did not bother to introduce themselves and they were all looking with great loftiness at him.


    "Don''t tell me that they are all this womanizing Lu Qingyun''s women?" Jia Youpeng thought. After all, he had seen them all in Lu Qingyun''s embrace earlier.


    Jia Youpeng gave them a polite hand bow as he said, "I shall make my move first¡­" He was too awkward to stay much longer.


    With that, he had dashed for one of the openings in the building.


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly as he looked at the three maidens, "I think that he is a friendly person. Why didn''t you introduce yourself?"


    Leng Qiuyue protested softly, "Senior brother, you know me. I don''t like to talk to strangers."


    Ling Xiu replied gently, "I am too shy to reply."


    "Is he talking to me?" Qian Jingjing hummed coldly.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "It is better to have one more friend than one more enemy. Alas, Never mind. Let''s go." Lu Qingyun said weakly.


    "Senior brother, it is better to be more wary of the intentions of strangers than to trust them. You will never know how vicious their venomous hearts are." Leng Qiuyue said quietly.


    Ling Xiu, Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    Qian Jingjing tugged Lu Qingyun''s sleeves and said, "You can''t trust your junior sisters nowadays as well. There are many stories of junior sisters betraying their senior brothers. Trust me, I have seen too many of such dramas."


    Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    Ling Xiu looked shyly at Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, your Sister Ling Xiu is your sworn sister. I''ll never betray you."


    Lu Qingyun said weakly as he looked at them, "Let take that entrance over there. It seems safe enough."


    All the maidens nodded and began to follow him.


    As soon as Lu Qingyun stepped out of the building, he saw that they were indeed in an underground city. There were street lights but the place was mostly covered in darkness.


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing had leapt to the second storey of a building as she suddenly displayed the Rippling Three Heavens Spirit Sword, sending three sword energies shockwaves into the building.


    There was loud screams from inside the building.


    When Qian Jingjing had landed on the ground, there were two faint blue rings around her right wrist.


    She was immediately delighted, "I guess that I have got two contribution points?"


    Lu Qingyun and the others were startled as they all said at the same time, "There is an ambush?"


    Qian Jingjing chuckled, "Serve them right for trying to ambush me. I don''t think that they are fourth realm experts since they can''t even evade my sword technique and they can''t even conceal their killing intents."


    Then she looked at Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, so I just need to kill one more cultivator to complete the trial?"


    Lu Qingyun frowned lightly, "Unless they attack us, we should not try to kill the other cultivators for contribution points. Let us just focus on finding the desolate beasts instead."


    Qian Jingjing looked a little sheepish, "Alright."


    Ling Xiu was a startled when she saw Qian Jingjing''s secret sword art. Among the group, her sword art was perhaps the strongest. The ease at which she could penetrate through the hiding places of the ambushers spoke volumes of her formidable sword art.


    Leng Qiuyue had naturally seen her sword art before but seeing it again gave her an uneasy feeling. It was because she knew that her own sword arts could not compare to the sword arts of the Spirit Sword Manor. Although they were a ''team'' but they were actually all competitors in the tournament. It was only a temporary alliance.


    The group quietly moved along the shadows of the streets until they had suddenly spotted a large boar-like second rank desolate beast on the street.


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes as he muttered with a look of surprise, "A second rank desolate beast? Is it too easy for two contribution points?!"


    All the other maidens were also startled that there would actually be a weak second rank desolate beast for the third trial.


    Was there a catch somewhere?


    Right now, they did not believe that Shen Yufeng would actually make things so easy for the trial cultivators!


    Even Lu Qingyun could not believe it as well.


    So they continued to observe the desolate beast for a short while before Lu Qingyun said, "It is safe. Qiuyue, why don''t you make a killing blow at that desolate beast?"


    Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing both looked away, saying nothing.


    "Alright senior brother, since you have said so." Leng Qiuyue answered.


    Leng Qiuyue immediately proceeded to swing her sword at the desolate beast. The desolate beast was completely taken by surprise by Leng Qiuyue who had flashed like a flying sparrow and was instant kill.


    She turned around with a smile as she lifted her wrist which got two blue faint rings, "Look senior brother, I have two contribution points now."


    Lu Qingyun was in awe of her lightless movement skill. He smiled, "It seems that I must really work on my lightless movement skill."


    Even Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing had to admit silently that Leng Qiuyue lightless movement skill was indeed better than them.


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "Weird. This trial seems a little easy?"


    Leng Qiuyue nodded, "Senior brother, I have the same feeling too and it is an uneasy feeling."


    They continued to prowl the underground city quietly. There were sounds of sporadic fighting that had broken all around them and it was getting more and more frequent.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was startled by a revelation and he had quickly turned to his group to say, "Oh no! We have been tricked!"


    Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were all looking curiously at Lu Qingyun. It was because they had no idea why he had said so.


    Lu Qingyun explained with a dark look, "The desolate beasts are just a red herring to distract us. If I am not wrong, the desolate beasts are actually few in numbers. We are just lucky to find one. Have you wonder why the desolate beast that we have encountered is only a low level desolate beast? It is because it is to place us off guarded."


    Then he sighed deeply, "My original suggestion to the cultivators will never work because there are never enough of these desolate beasts in the first place. The real trial is to trick us into fighting against one another within a time limit."


    "How much time do we have now?" He asked casually.


    "Slightly more than one hour." Ling Xiu replied. She had been keeping track of the time.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "We have wasted plenty of time trying to move cautiously. In the end, we have only succeeded in wasting more time. Time is actually the key essence here."


    Ling Xiu nodded before she said quietly, "If all the cultivators remain holed up then no one will be able to get any contribution points too."


    Lu Qingyun had turned ashen immediately. "That is true."


    Qian Jingjing said weakly, "I am afraid that is not all. We still haven''t found the portal to the fourth trial yet. Even if we have three contribution points, we still have to find the portal. The only clue we got is that the portal is in the middle of the underground city. But look at this place. It is so dark and I can''t even tell which part of the underground city that we are at now."


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes as he looked at Qian Jingjing, "For someone that doesn''t have a sense of direction, you may have just pointed out something that we have not thought of yet."


    Qian Jingjing was delighted, "I am glad to be helpful! It pays to have a poor sense of direction sometimes!"


    Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue almost flipped at her self-praises.


    Lu Qingyun said all of a sudden, "I have a plan¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    On the viewing stage;


    Shen Yufeng was laughing, "It seems that some of the cultivators are starting to figure out the real trial."


    Qin Keqin was muttering unhappily, "These maidens are too shameless by following my Yun''Er. Why did he have to let Leng Qiuyue to have two contribution points ahead of him? Yun''Er, wake up to your senses, these maidens are only making use of you."


    Shen Yufeng took a half-amused look at Qin Keqin because she was just talking to herself. But because they were sitting so near to each other, she could be heard quite clearly.


    Even the other Heavenly Fragrance Heralds could hear her mutterings and they were all smiling weakly. It was too obvious to them that the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was jealous.


    Qin Keqin had purposed raised her voice to say, "This Qian Jingjing. Isn''t she from the Spirit Sword Manor? Why is she following my disciple? I wonder why she is so shameless?"


    Grandmaster Gao Yishu of the Spirit Sword Manor had of course heard her. After all, Qin Keqin had purposely said it loud enough for him to hear.


    Since Divine Mistress Jiu You of the Divine Nine Sect had already lost all her candidates, she was secretly glad that Grandmaster Gao Yishu was placed in an awkward situation. Therefore she decided to flame the fire by saying, "At least my own prot¨¦g¨¦s have failed in the trial without any outside help. But someone''s prot¨¦g¨¦ has been clearing the trial by riding on the others. What a joke. Totally shameless."


    Even Gao Yishu could not help cursing in his heart, "Qian Jingjing is throwing our clan''s face away!"


    In the meantime many of the celestial powerhouses were shocked by the scene in the underground city. It was because many of their most talented cultivators were being killed one by one.


    And the group that was killing the most number of cultivators was the Clear Sky Pavilion, stunning many of the celestials that were watching.


    Everyone had thought that the Clear Sky Pavilion only had two fourth realm cultivators as representative and that the other two were only third realm experts. But it turned out that they were all fourth realm experts as evidenced by their profound animus that were surrounding them.


    Even an old cultivator who was a peaked fourth realm expert from the Flying Dragon Sect was killed by Yue Lingling with just a sword stroke.


    The Flying Dragon Sect was actually quite shameless to send an old cultivator to the tournament instead of giving the opportunity to a potential younger cultivator. However this was not against the rule. It was just that the Flying Dragon Sect did not want to lose and even a powerhouse like the Flying Dragon Sect would be hard pressed to find four young fourth realm cultivators to attend the tournament.


    So when the Clear Sky Pavilion suddenly had four young looking cultivators who were all at the fourth realm level, it came at a surprise to the celestial clans that had looked down on the Clear Sky Pavilion as a second rate celestial clan.


    "That Yue Lingling. She has already struck down three peaked fourth realm experts. This is too unbelievable¡­"


    "How old is this Qiuxiang Hanyu?"


    "I''ve heard that she is only thirteen¡­"


    "Thirteen and she is already a fourth realm cultivator?! Is it even possible?"


    "Isn''t that Shangguan Furong? She used to be from the Celestial Medical Hall until she was driven out by her father. She is actually a fourth realm expert?"


    Grandmaster Shangguan Hantong was startled to see that the daughter that he had driven out was now a fourth realm expert. He himself was only a fourth realm cultivator. He was now grooming his only son who was a third realm cultivator into a fourth realm cultivator. But this journey was going to be an extremely long and difficult road.


    He was astonished to see that Shangguan Furong was now a fourth realm cultivator. If he had known that she was a fourth realm cultivator, he would never have driven her out. Right now, all the candidates from the Celestial Medical Hall were all eliminated and none of them were a fourth realm cultivator.


    Earlier when he had seen Shangguan Furong with the Clear Sky Pavilion, he had only scorn for her. But now he was secretly hoping to get her back to the Celestial Medical Hall. It was because third realm experts were too common whereas fourth realm experts were treasures!


    The Three-Destinies-Old Man had suddenly rose up as he said excitingly, "Yue Lingling¡­Yue Lingxi¡­alas, I wonder if they are the same person? I can''t see her face¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng kicked him and said unhappily, "So you are really here to look at a maiden."


    The Three-Destinies-Old Man growled softly, "What are you talking about? I am here to find my enemy and to save the Nine Celestial Fraternity."


    Xuan Danfeng hummed coldly, "Right. You mean you are here to save the Nine Celestial Fraternity from a pretty maiden."


    The Three-Destinies-Old Man muttered, "I think you are drunk. I am serious."


    "Weird. I am serious as well." Xuan Danfeng stared coldly at him.


    The Three-Destinies-Old Man: ¡­

 161 The Third Trial 2

    Lu Qingyun had decided on a ''plan''.


    And this plan was that the group would allow him to dash alone in the streets of the underground city.


    There were a few cultivators that were hiding in the buildings above the streets and they had recognized him as the good-for-nothing first realm cultivator.


    They were instantly overjoyed to see that an easy prey had foolishly appeared right in front of them. This easy prey was worth a full contribution point and time was running out for most of them.


    Lu Qingyun had immediately turned into a dark alley.


    One by one and even two by two, the cultivators began to follow Lu Qingyun hastily as they were afraid of losing sight of him.


    As soon as the cultivators had stepped into dark alley, one by one and two by two, they were quickly butchered by Leng Qiuyue, Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu.


    Leng Qiuyue smiled endearingly, "Senior brother, your turn to make the killing blow."


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply, "Forgive me¡­"


    The unfortunate cultivator stammered out, "Wait! Let me join your group¡­I can be of some use¡­we can hunt the desolate beasts together¡­"


    *Slash*


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Good bye."


    In no time, they all had three contribution points each. All in all, six cultivators had fallen into their hands in this manner. All of them were third realm cultivators and were no match for Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing who were all fourth realm cultivators.


    "We have cleared eight streets but there is still no sight of the portal." Lu Qingyun said.


    Then he turned to ask Ling Xiu, "How much time do we have now?"


    "Exactly 30 minutes." Ling Xiu said quietly as her watery eyes looked anxiously at him.


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "We have taken some time to lure and ambush the cultivators. Now we need to find the portal that will lead us to the fourth trial."


    Qian Jingjing asked, "But how do we know which direction to go? We are lucky that our vicinity does not have any high level cultivators or powerful teams. But if we are to go to the other areas of the underground city, we will be in unfamiliar territory and it will be easy to corner us. Surely we can''t fight our way through so many cultivators?"


    Lu Qingyun pondered for a while before he said quietly, "Actually there may be a way."


    "Huh?" Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue said at the same time.


    "Everyone knows that we have only thirty minutes left now. Therefore time is running out for most of the cultivators. No matter who they are and whether they have completed the contribution points, all of them will be desperate to find the fourth trial portal." Lu Qingyun pointed out.


    "Especially during the last fifteen minutes." He added.


    Qian Jingjing smiled weakly, "Brother Qingyun, your Sister Jingjing is a little dumb. So what is the plan?"


    "Just follow me." Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly.


    Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu, Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    When Lu Qingyun had said that, he was also asking Yan''Er in his inner cultivation sea. "Yan''Er, I need your help."


    Yan''Er asked, "Yes Master?"


    "I need you to track someone."


    "Who?"


    "Yue Lingxi. Can you do it?" Since Yue Lingxi was a desolate cultivator, her desolate aura could be picked up by Yan''Er. This was what Lu Qingyun was thinking right now.


    Yan''Er closed her eyes, "I can try."


    A minute later, Yan''Er replied sheepishly. "I can''t sense her desolate aura. She is too far away."


    Lu Qingyun pondered again before he said, "I''m going to lead my group on a dangerous run. I need you to guide me to her whereabouts or directions when you can pick her desolate aura."


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Alright. Yan''Er will do my best."


    Lu Qingyun added with a firm tone, "No sleeping or napping."


    Yan''Er rolled her eyes as she chuckled.


    Lately he had found out that Yan''Er had been napping instead of cultivating because Yan''Er had a sleepy expression whenever he was talking to her as of late.


    Yan''Er asked, "Master, you like this big sister?"


    Lu Qingyun frowned, "I am actually trying to elude her. If we chance into her then we are goner. But on the other hand, she may be closer to the portal than we are. So knowing her general direction may be a helpful hint as well."


    "Yan''Er, can you sense the fourth trial portal?"


    "I think so. The energies level of a portal is pretty hard not to miss once we are close. But I can''t sense it now so it is probably not near." Yan''Er replied after a while.


    "Great. We''re going to need your help to find the portal then." Lu Qingyun said with a soft sigh. They just had only thirty minutes left.


    As Lu Qingyun and his group ran hastily down the streets to search for the portal, they had encountered many cultivators. Since they had already got their three contribution points, they did not bother with them as long as they were not being attacked.


    At the same time, most of the cultivators were also avoiding their group because they were a bigger group and moreover most of them were actually afraid of Qian Jingjing. It was because Qian Jingjing was well known to them as a peaked fourth realm expert and the sword art of the Spirit Sword Manor was not a sword technique that they could mess up with.


    Many of the cultivators had done their homework before the tournament started and they were mindful about confronting the cultivators that were from the four regional powerhouses.


    There were a few fourth realm cultivators that had wanted to take Lu Qingyun''s life but when they saw Qian Jingjing, they could only shake their heads quietly and quit the scene.


    Lu Qingyun had thought these cultivators had quit the scene because they had the superior numbers and not because of Qian Jingjing. He had actually failed to do his homework properly on the four regional powerhouses. Or rather, he had been in deep depression prior to the start of the tournament after he had been defeated by the Three-Destinies Old Men.


    Yan''Er had suddenly said, "That terrifying big sister is ahead of us. Also Yan''Er can sense the portal as well. But that big sister seems to be waiting at the portal."


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly turned pale.


    Did it mean that Yue Lingxi was waiting at the portal to kill him?


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Above the stage, many of the celestials were watching nervously.


    It was because the number of cultivators that had fallen as the minutes flew by were simply too horrifying.


    Thirty minutes ago, just five hundred cultivators had fallen.


    But as the countdown was left with only thirty minutes, more than a thousand and five hundred cultivators had fallen.


    In the end, no one really bothered about the contribution points anymore. Everyone was fighting against one another in a desperate bid to find the portal. Almost all the survivors had more than three contribution points.


    "That Yue Lingling is too formidable. She has already killed more than ten cultivators¡­"


    "Her group is too ruthless. They had killed more than thirty cultivators already. This is too exceeding¡­"


    "That Lu Qingyun is really too despicable. He had lured so many cultivators into an ambush."


    "I never know that the Spirit Sword Manor will resort so low as to ambush the others. So this is how the Spirit Sword Manor is able to become one of the regional powerhouses. What a joke!"


    "The Clear Sky Pavilion has found the portal. Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu and Shangguan Furong have all entered the fourth trial portal¡­"


    "Weird. Why didn''t Yue Lingling enters the portal? She seems to be waiting for someone?!"


    "Lu Qingyun and his group are now approaching where Yue Lingling is now."


    "Finally that good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun is out of luck. He is going to get massacre by her."


    "Yue Lingling is alone now¡­"


    "It is going to be a four versus one fight¡­"


    Qin Keqin was gasping, "Yun''Er, run!"


    She turned around and said panicky to Shen Yufeng, "Quick. Use your divine lightning to strike that Yue Lingling down!"


    Shen Yufeng: ¡­

 162 The Third Trial 3

    The color of the fourth trial portal was a dark blue. It emitted almost no light and was concealed in the middle of four streets.


    A veiled maiden was quietly waiting in front of the portal. Next to her were the bodies of seven of the fallen cultivators that had tried to reach for the portal to the next trial.


    Her right wrist was glowing with multiple faint blue rings, an indication of the number of contribution points that she had obtained.


    She was Yue Lingxi and she was waiting for Lu Qingyun.


    Just as Lu Qingyun could sense her with the help of Yan''Er, she could sense the approach of Lu Qingyun.


    She was indeed right.


    The next cultivator that had arrived at the scene was Lu Qingyun and his small group.


    Or rather, there were dozens of eyes that were quietly looking at them from all sides of the four streets. These cultivators were all waiting for the very last minute to dash into the portal. After all, it was impossible for Yue Lingling to stop all of them at the same time from reaching the portal.


    But none of them had wanted to be the first to take the initiative. It was because none of them wanted to be like the seven cultivators that had fallen around the portal. Along the way, they had witnessed how Yue Lingling and her group had slaughtered the rest of the cultivators so they were a little afraid of her.


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply when he had seen Yue Lingxi.


    Leng Qiuyue said softly to his ears, "Senior brother, there are four of us here. Surely we can handle her with ease?"


    Qian Jingjing smiled with a determined look, "I have faith in my sword art."


    Ling Xiu had also brandished her long sword, "Brother Qingyun, I am with you here."


    But the three maidens were immediately startled when they had noticed the number of blue rings around Yue Lingling''s wrist.


    Qian Jingjing got a further shock when she had recognized two of the cultivators that were on the ground, "Du Deng and Du Jia!"


    When she had mentioned their names, even Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue were startled. It was because Du Deng and Du Jia were both upper fourth realm cultivators. Moreover they were renowned for their twin swordplay the Equivocal Blades. There were few cultivators of the same realm that were able to fight them if they team up.


    Even Qian Jingjing had no confidence of fighting against the two of them at the same time.


    But now they were now lying on the ground.


    The maidens were all gasping softly. Lu Qingyun really did not bluff them about the skill level of this Yue Lingling.


    Lu Qingyun said quietly as he stared at Yue Lingling, "You are waiting for me?"


    Yue Lingling replied casually, "Did you forget that we still have an unfinished business back at the Heavens Ridge Villa, my brother."


    Leng Qiuyue started to look at Lu Qingyun as she muttered, "Back at the Heavens Ridge Villa? Why is she calling you her brother? I had heard that there was one time your sister had come to visit you. It is her?"


    Even Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were looking at him with a weird expression.


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly before he said, "Erm¡­this is a long story. I tell you later."


    He quickly stepped forward to say courageously, "Are you going to give way to us or not? Or do you want to fight all four of us at the same time?"


    Yue Lingling seemed to smile behind her veil, "You sound a little forced. Why don''t I give you an option to enter the portal?"


    Lu Qingyun immediately answered, "What is it?" Any option given was better than fighting this monster of a desolate cultivator.


    "I can give you two extra options." Yue Lingling was smiling.


    "The first option is for the maidens in your group to remove their robes. If they are willing to do so, I will allow your group to enter the portal."


    "This is outrageous! You may as well strip them naked." Lu Qingyun said angrily. "What is the second option?"


    The three maidens behind Lu Qingyun were all flustered when they had heard what the first option was.


    "As for the second option, if you can make me move from my spot with a single stroke then I will let the four of you pass through this portal." Yue Lingling smiled coldly.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "It is this simple? You won''t backtrack or anything?"


    Yue Lingling hummed coldly, "Do you think you have a choice now?"


    She laughed before adding, "I believe that you have only 15 minutes left to consider."


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply before he said, "Alright. So be it. I hope that you will keep your part of the bargain then."


    Immediately he had flashed his sword in front of him in an attack stance.


    Qian Jingjing whispered to him, "Brother Qingyun, why don''t you let me take over you? I don''t believe that my Rippling Five Heavens Spirit Sword won''t be able to force her to move."


    Yue Lingling interrupted coldly, "Young maiden, you are not qualified to spar with me."


    Lu Qingyun smiled at Qian Jingjing, "Let me try, alright?"


    With a soft sigh, Qian Jingjing had stepped back.


    Lu Qingyun was thinking hard now.


    He was now a fourth realm cultivator now and had attained the energy level cultivation. His greatest strength now was his profound animus aura that could empower him further. More so because he had the aid of Yan''Er who was a spirit entity.


    However he felt that this was not enough. Even his strongest sword art the Alpha and Beta Soaring Heavens as One may not be enough to move Yue Lingling.


    All of a sudden he had a thought. In the practice chamber, he had once experimented with an incomplete sword art which he called the Dark Blazing Phoenix. This was supposed to be the fifth stage of the Flaming Phoenix Sword, the result of his depressing defeat from the Three-Destinies Old Man.


    He had theorized that his profound aura may have given away too much of his profound strength away and hence it was easier for the Three-Destinies Old Man to block his sword art. Therefore he needed a sword art that could compress all his profound strength into his sword.


    There was a problem though. This was still at a theory stage and he had not worked it out yet.


    He was sighing, "If only I have another month or so, I may have completed this sword art. Alas, I am so stupid and slow¡­"


    If the others would hear him, they may flip over and spurt blood. It was because not everyone was genius enough to create a new sword art. Those who were able to create a new sword art usually invested years of their experiences from many sources of sword arts to create a superior sword art.


    Moreover the sword art that Lu Qingyun was theorizing had nothing to do with his experiences or previous sword arts. It was something totally new and it was something that his mind had thought that it was possible.


    Now this was even more difficult to create. Even a seventh realm expert may not be able to create such a profound sword art from nothing.


    Lu Qingyun sighed, "I have no other choice now but to use this new untested sword art now."


    "Yan''Er, I need you to temper my sword with your golden roc flame and¡­. Annihilating Fire." He said to her from within his inner cultivation sea as he raised his sword.


    "Alright Master!" Yan''Er chuckled with delight, eager to show off her strength.


    Yue Lingling noted with interest and anticipation when she saw that Lu Qingyun''s sword was charged with sword energies. "Sword energies eh?" She thought.


    Lu Qingyun flipped his sword and as he prepared himself for a charge at Yue Lingling.


    All of a sudden Yue Lingling''s raised her thin eyebrows and narrowed her eyes. It was because the sword that was in Lu Qingyun''s hand had suddenly turned black like a black hole!


    Yue Lingling was startled as she gasped, "This is the really the annihilating force!"


    At this moment Lu Qingyun was still focusing all his profound energies into his sword and had long reached the energy limit of what his sword was capable of withstanding. But still he continued to focus all his profound energies into his sword.


    Yan''Er asked, "Master, is that enough?"


    Lu Qingyun said to her, "Yan''Er, continue to pour your energies into the sword to compress all the energies."


    "Yan''Er will do as Master says." She began to chuckle delightfully and poured her energies to merge with Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun could see that he was turning the sword blacker and blacker but at the same time he could feel a sense of overwhelming power in his sword. He thought, "Indeed with Yan''Er aid, my profound strength is much stronger."


    What Lu Qingyun was doing had also caught the attention of the speculators that were all watching him and Yue Lingling. But all they could see was that his sword had turned a pitch black. It was something that they had never seen before.


    Qin Keqin muttered, "What are they saying? And why is my Yun''Er sword turning into a dark sword?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man rose up and he had a startled look. "This is the no doubt his annihilating force!"


    Xuan Danfeng was startled when he had suddenly rose up and she looked curiously at him, "What is wrong?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man inhaled deeply, "Nothing¡­"


    "Really nothing at all?" Xuan Danfeng asked before she looked at the imagery scene below. "What so special about turning a sword black? I don''t even see any sign of any sword energies around the sword."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "He is condensing all his profound power into his sword. You can''t see any energy emanations because it is absorbing all the energies in his surroundings. All you see will just be an ordinary black sword. But in actuality, it is super-charged with an insane amount of sword energies."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Liar. You sure know how to tell a story. Listen, I won''t be fool by you. Have you forgotten that I am a seventh realm cultivator?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man murmured, "Whether you believe me or not is up to you¡­"


    All of a sudden he saw that Lu Qingyun had started to swing his sword so he said hastily to Xuan Danfeng, "We talk in a while time¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had indeed readied his sword and had swung with all his profound strength at Yue Lingling.


    Yue Lingling smiled as she lifted her sword to parry his attack.


    There was a thunderous implosion as both swords met and the two of them were moved to take seven steps backward!


    Yue Lingling had moved seven steps backward and not just one step!


    Lu Qingyun was immediately caught by Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing at the same time as they panicky asked him. "Brother Qingyun¡­Senior brother¡­are you alright?"


    As Yue Lingling gasping breathlessly to herself, "This amount of profound strength¡­he is indeed a major annihilating force practitioner and is the perfect vessel for me to use to unravel the secrets of the Horizon of the Heavens!"


    Her objective had been met and she knew his true strength now.


    With a wry smile, she had stepped into the portal and had quit the scene.


    Lu Qingyun coughed weakly but he was delighted. "Quick, let''s enter the portal quickly!"


    All around them, dozens of cultivators were all secretly overjoyed to see that Yue Lingling was no longer around and they were all rushing forward to the portal.


    Leng Qiuyue said gently, "Senior brother, let me help you to get into the portal. You don''t look so good."


    Ling Xiu had also grabbed his other arm, "Brother Qingyun, let me help you too."


    Qian Jingjing pushed her way between the two maidens and hastily said, "Can''t you tell that Brother Qingyun has been hurt during the confrontation. Can''t the two of you handle him with more care?" It was a lame excuse that invited cold stares from both Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue as they questioned her at the same time, "In what way are we not showing him with more care?"


    "You¡­the two of you¡­are handling him too roughly and is not gentle at all!" Qian Jingjing stammered out.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh as he said to them, "We should hurry and stepped into the portal first. After that we can chat at our leisure pace."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    On the stage above, the celestials who had been watching the short spar between Lu Qingyun and Yue Lingling could not make a sense out of it.


    They could only see the two of them had been knocked back seven steps and that Yue Lingling had suddenly turned around to enter the portal.


    And she was quickly followed by Lu Qingyun and his group into the portal


    As the displayed imagery below had no sound, none of the celestials were able to hear anything saved for their actions.


    "What is going on down there?"


    "How is it possible for Lu Qingyun to have beaten off Yue Lingling?"


    "His sword has turned black and he is able to push her back?"


    "Is Lu Qingyun trying to cheat his way through?"


    "I''ve heard that he is a cheater¡­"


    "I have heard of that too."


    "I''ve heard that he has a divine sword. Maybe the power of his divine sword isn''t restricted in the celestial array and that is why he is able to use his divine sword?"


    "His divine sword is a black divine sword?"


    "Probably yes¡­"


    "He is actually using a divine sword? That is cheating!"


    Even Shen Yufeng was turning to Qin Keqin, "What is that black sword? Is he cheating?"


    Qin Keqin naturally knew that Lu Qingyun''s desolate strength had awakened. Although she had no idea why Lu Qingyun''s sword had turned black but she was able to guess roughly what was going on. Her conclusion was, Lu Qingyun must have somewhat beaten off Yue Lingling with his desolate force and she was somewhat frightened into entering the portal.


    After all, there were few cultivators that could withstand the strength of a desolate cultivator.


    But while everyone was wondering how Lu Qingyun was able to beat off Yue Lingling, Qin Keqin was secretly cursing Leng Qiuyue, Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu. "They are so shameless! Why are they holding my Yun''Er in such an intimate manner? They are like ravenous wolves that are devouring my Yun''Er, leaving behind no bones. I must do something about this once this tournament is over or they will think that this Devil Goddess is someone that they can trample upon¡­"

 163 The Fourth Trial 1

    Lu Qingyun and his group found themselves in another platform that was suspended in mid-air. They were not the second group to arrive. Yue Lingling was not the group that had arrived first either.


    Ahead of their groups were a hundred other cultivators. Among them was Yu Tianjian of the Heavy Moon Sect. He looked extremely haggard and he was on the brink of exhaustion.


    Gongsun Ya was also ahead of them but her mood was somber. It was because she was now the solo survivor of her team and that her two prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters had perished in order to escort her through the portal.


    Unlike most of the cultivators, Lu Qingyun was actually feeling quite light hearted. It was because he had managed to show off on two different occasions and he was thinking that by now, everyone should know that he was not a good-for-nothing cultivator.


    He did not know how horribly wrong he was.


    There were many who had thought that he was in cahoots with Yue Lingling to show off. If he was not, why did Yue Lingling not finish him off?


    As for his astonishing display of his sword art during the second trial, he did not know that the speculators were not able to see him.


    Leng Qiuyue tugged Lu Qingyun''s sleeves as she asked him, "Senior brother, who is she? Is she really your sister?"


    Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing had all gathered closely around him to hear his explanation as well.


    "Erm¡­" Lu Qingyun took a quick glance at where Yue Lingxi aka Yue Lingling was before he whispered, afraid that she may hear him. "She is not."


    "She isn''t your sister?" Qian Jingjing said aloud.


    "Not so loud¡­" Lu Qingyun said panicky but it was already too late and Yue Lingling had stolen a glance in his direction as she hummed, "So my brother suddenly refuses to acknowledge his sister now."


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply before he said awkwardly, "She is actually my sister Lu Rongren."


    "Finally you''ve admitted it." Yue Lingling smiled coldly in his direction.


    When she had said that, even Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu and Shangguan Furong were all startled as they thought. "She is Lu Qingyun''s sister?!"


    "Yes, that right. She is my sister and that''s her name." Lu Qingyun tried to say it convincingly although he was looking quite sheepishly when he had said that.


    Ling Xiu, Qian Jingjing and Leng Qiuyue were all looking intently at Lu Qingyun, unsure if they should believe him.


    However their conversations were overheard by the other cultivators who were now muttering with one another.


    "No wonder he is able to get into the portal. They are siblings!"


    "This is cheating!"


    "I''ve heard that this Lu Qingyun cheats all the time¡­"


    "Cheater¡­"


    "It''s no wonder why that Yue Lingling is so lenient toward him¡­"


    "I have some insider information here. I''ve heard that Lu Qingyun and Qiuxiang Huan''s great aunt have some ''relationship'' going on between them¡­"


    "Can it be that the Clear Sky Pavilion and the Heavens Ridge Villa are actually allies?"


    "If that is the case, we are fooled by them right from the very start¡­"


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    15 minutes later, waves and waves of cultivators had entered through the portal and the countdown had ended.


    Once again, the beaming face of Shen Yufeng had appeared in the sky above. She looked absolutely delighted as she announced. "Good. This time, we have slightly more than four hundred survivors."


    Many of the cultivators had a grim mood. The number of cultivators had dwindled from slightly more than two thousands four hundred cultivators to a mere four hundred cultivators.


    Needless to say, these survivors were the strongest, most intelligence or the luckiest among the trial competitors in order to make it so far.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "However, we still have too many of you here. So let''s see who will be the ones that can pass the fourth trial."


    The cultivators: ¡­


    "We are going to make the next trial a little more interesting¡­" Shen Yufeng was smiling.


    Several cultivators were muttering, "I know that she will surely say that¡­"


    "If it is not interesting then it won''t be challenging to all the sons and daughters of the heavens. I will get a headache later if you complain against me for making the trials too easy for you."


    A cultivator muttered almost incoherently, "I swear I won''t complain if you make it easy for us¡­"


    "Same here¡­"


    "Me too¡­"


    "Please don''t torture us anymore¡­"


    All of a sudden the sun was three times bigger and the suspended platform had transformed into a sandy desert. In just a few blinks of an eye, the environment had transformed into an endless sea of desert!


    Half of the cultivators had turned ashen as they looked around their new environment panicky.


    "What is this trial?"


    "We''re in¡­a desert?"


    "The sun is so scorching hot¡­"


    "I am already baked¡­"


    Shen Yufeng was smiling, "I am sure that all of you are able to guess what the setting of the fourth trial."


    Even Lu Qingyun was muttering, "Isn''t the setting a hot desert? Isn''t it so obvious? I have suddenly realized that Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng is really so humorous."


    Qian Jingjing said with cold sarcasm, "Brother Qingyun, you are a little slow to find it out. I know that from the first trial that she is indeed very humorous."


    Leng Qiuyue muttered miserably, "A little too humorous for my liking."


    Ling Xiu inhaled softly, "I have a bad feeling over this."


    Qian Jingjing added for her, "You mean you don''t like this hot desert."


    Ling Xiu smiled sheepishly.


    As the three maidens made their remarks, they were edging increasing closer to Lu Qingyun as though that they were all depending on him to pass the upcoming trial.


    Lu Qingyun had helped them to clear the third trial. Without him, they felt that they would actually met with their end during the third trial.


    Qian Jingjing was secretly smiling as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "I''m so lucky to have met him during the first trial and he is so handsome¡­"


    "This trial is going to be slightly more interesting than the three earlier trials." Shen Yufeng lit up a beautiful smile before she continued. "In this vast desert, there grows a spirit herb that is called the Golden Twig. You have three hours to find a complete Golden Twig. But let me warn you first. This type of Golden Twig only grows in isolation. It is advisable for you to search alone or else your team will become your competitor."


    With a soft smile before she disappeared, she added. "The countdown starts now. Good luck!"


    Many of the cultivators were already leaving in droves when they had heard that the countdown had started.


    Leng Qiuyue took a forlorn look at Lu Qingyun as she asked, "Senior brother, do we have to go our separate ways? I don''t want to. If we can find the first Golden Twig, I will surely give it to you. You''ve already helped me to get this far ahead. I am already contented."


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were also looking with pleading eyes at Lu Qingyun as they were reluctant to part ways with him.


    Qian Jingjing said quietly, "Brother Qingyun, this desert looks so vast. I really have no idea where to go. I will give you the Golden Twig if I find one. Can I just follow you?"


    "I will give you the Golden Twig too if I can find it." Ling Xiu said quietly as she looked nervously at Lu Qingyun, afraid that he may ask her to leave the group.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly before he said, "Follow me. I may have a way to find the Golden Twig."


    All three of the maidens were delighted as they danced and giggled around him.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    On the stage above the trial imagery, Xuan Danfeng had turned to the Three-Destinies Old Man with a soft chuckle. "This trial looks so interesting. I wish that I can walk in the sandy desert now. All these sands look like gold dusts."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned as he looked at her, "You look like a ghost. Will someone with your fair look actually like to take a walk into the hot baking sun?"


    Xuan Danfeng stared at him unhappily, "What did you say again? Who is a ghost?"


    When she puffed unhappily, her bosoms were jumping and the Three-Destinies Old Man found his eyes looking down at the inside of her exposed cleavage. "Erm, a beautiful ghost¡­"


    "How do you know that I don''t like the sun? It is just that the sun doesn''t have an effect on me!" Xuan Danfeng pointed out with an innocent reply.


    "Right. Right¡­" But the Three-Destinies Old Man was thinking. "The heck I believe in you¡­"


    "So do you believe me now?" Xuan Danfeng asked.


    "I believe you." The Three-Destinies Old Man answered weakly.


    "So you ought to take out another bottle of wine as an offer of apology to me?"


    "Alright, alright¡­I think before you prefer to drink in a tavern than taking a walk into the hot desert¡­"


    "What did you just say?"


    "Nothing¡­"


    "Nothing?!"


    "Yes, nothing."


    "..."


    Qin Keqin was muttering, "Why are the Spirit Sword Manor and the Flying Armament Sect so shameless? The trial has already started and their prot¨¦g¨¦s are still lingering around my Yun''Er."


    She turned to ask Shen Yufeng, "Is this considered to be cheating? They are still together?"


    Shen Yufeng turned weakly to Qin Keqin to whisper, "I have already changed the fourth trial for you. If they stick together then their chances of succeeding together won''t be high."


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly before she whispered back, "I''m sure these silly maidens will surely try to offer the first Golden Twig to my Yun''Er. Say, is this Golden Twig easy to find?"


    Shen Yufeng pondered before she said, "There are only a few dozens. It will be extremely difficult to find."


    Qin Keqin had turned ashen all of a sudden, "What if my Yun''Er can''t find a single Golden Twig? Won''t he be disqualified?"


    Shen Yufeng smiled playfully, "Well, I''ve never thought so far ahead. I''m only responsible to change the trial to your liking but I am not responsible for helping them to pass the trial."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Behind them, Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng were secretly smiling as they tried very hard not to laugh. It was because Shen Yufeng was purposely trying to spice things a little difficult for the trial competitors. Even if the Great Saintess Yuqing was the one that was asking her to bend the rules for her sake, Shen Yufeng would never try to make it any easier for anyone.


    As Shen Yufeng''s close companions and sisters, they knew her only too well!

 164 The Fourth Trial 2

    Lu Qingyun smiled warmly to the three maidens, "Follow me. We are still a team."


    Then he took a look at Qian Jingjing, "Maiden Qian, are you alright?"


    Qian Jingjing smiled awkwardly, "I¡­I''m alright. Why do you ask?"


    Lu Qingyun had noticed that her movements seemed to have slowed down considerably especially after the third trial had ended. He had suddenly remembered that she had been injured by the Stone Elemental Golem during the second trial.


    He muttered, "If there is any danger, you can take a step back first since you are unwell. You may need some time to recover from your injuries from the second trial and should not keep displaying your sword art."


    Qian Jingjing nodded lightly. It was true that she was not at her peak. The injuries that she had sustained were quite severe during the second trial but she had forced herself to pretend that nothing had happened. It was because she was a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Spirit Sword Manor and she was taught never to show any weakness to anyone.


    But Lu Qingyun had taken note of her condition.


    She was secretly touched by his gesture. Meeting Lu Qingyun in this trial was the best thing that had happened to her. This was the first time that she had taken part in the Divine Fragrance Tournament. Her senior brother had also taken part in the Divine Fragrance Tournament and he was a peaked fourth realm expert. But unfortunately he was quickly eliminated during the first trial and so were her other two team mates.


    She was actually wandering aimlessly in the mountains until she had chanced upon Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue. She did not really know who they were but had recognized them because Leng Qiuyue had kissed Lu Qingyun before the trial had started. So she mustered the courage to approach them by coming to their aid.


    She was now looking dazedly at Lu Qingyun and her heart was throbbing fast. What was this weird feeling that she had now?


    Was Leng Qiuyue and Lu Qingyun an item? But it did not look like they were.


    "Maiden Qian?" Lu Qingyun asked. "Are you really alright?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded with a smile, "I''m alright. I was just thinking about something. Let us hurry!"


    Lu Qingyun nodded and they were walking rapidly into the desert.


    As they moved hastily through the sand dunes, Lu Qingyun asked them. "Do you know anything about this Golden Twig?"


    All three maidens replied at almost the same time and they were all shaking their heads, "No¡­what does it look like¡­never heard of it before¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Erm¡­" Lu Qingyun inhaled softly before he explained. "This Golden Twig only grows in the hot sandy desert. Since this is only a trial, there is probably no other spirit plants except for the Golden Twig so it will be harder to miss. This Golden Twig has golden leaves and its stem has long poisonous spikes. So be careful not to touch its spikes."


    As he was a high level alchemist with a good knowledge of herbalism, he knew what the Golden Twig looked like. In fact, he had even handled it before.


    He added, "Because this Golden Twig is quite small, it can be easily hidden in the sands. Therefore as we move, we must use our divine sense to scan our surroundings. Luckily, this Golden Twig emanates a traceable faint aura and will be easy for us to track. However there is a problem."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled, "Senior brother, what is it?"


    Lu Qingyun drew in a new breath before he said. "The desert is too vast and it is mentally draining to use our divine sense all the time. Before we can find the Golden Twig, we may either die of the heat exertion here or drained of our mental strength. Therefore I will suggest that we will take turn to use our divine sense in a rotation of five minutes. What do all of you say about this?"


    All the three maidens nodded. This sounded like a good idea.


    Ling Xiu smiled, "Brother Qingyun, why don''t you decide for us who shall use our divine sense first?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded with a smile, "Yes, you are our leader now."


    Lu Qingyun hesitated briefly before he said slowly, "I shall take the lead first then. Afterward, it shall be Qiuyue, Sister Ling Xiu and Maiden Qian. While one of us is using the divine sense, the rest of us shall use our eyes to check for any suspicious spots."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled, "That is a good idea."


    Ling Xiu said shyly, "Let do it then."


    With this plan, Lu Qingyun led them through the hot desert and he focused his divine sense into the vicinity as he performed a careful sweep.


    20 minutes later, there was still no sight of any Golden Twig and it was time again for Lu Qingyun to use his divine sense.


    He had suddenly noticed that Leng Qiuyue and Ling Xiu were all dragging their feet while Qian Jingjing was slowly down considerably.


    Although this was just their astral bodies and they would not feel thirsty or get dehydration but it would affect their mental performances. And when the mental performances were affected, their astral bodies would also be affected.


    At this moment the blazing sun was snapping all their ''mental'' strength as the minutes flew by, just as in a real desert.


    He quickly made backtrack and grabbed Qian Jingjing by her arm, "Let me help you. The sands here are too loose."


    He had said that to comfort Qian Jingjing as he knew that she was faltering due to her injuries and did not want to make her feel that she was hindering them.


    Qian Jingjing smiled at him weakly, "Thank you Brother Qingyun. I can walk myself."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had paused in his tracks as he scanned his surroundings, "I have picked up something."


    He had suddenly headed toward a sand dune and was digging through the sands. After a while, he used his sword to pick up a golden plant that had long spikes all over his body.


    "This is the Golden Twig?!" The maidens were all excited as they quickly crowded around him.


    Lu Qingyun grinned, "That is right."


    Ling Xiu gasped with delight, "We have found the first one. This is good. So that is how it looks like."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and turned to Leng Qiuyue, "Qiuyue, take the first one."


    "This won''t do at all." Leng Qiuyue protested immediately. "I''ve promised senior brother to let you have the first one."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "It is alright. Don''t worry."


    But Leng Qiuyue shook her head and had walked away.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he looked at Ling Xiu, "Sister Ling Xiu, why don''t you take it first."


    Ling Xiu smiled as she said gently, "No, thanks." She too, had walked away to join Leng Qiuyue.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he looked at Qian Jingjing, "Maiden Qian¡­"


    But before he could even state his intention, Qian Jingjing had walked away to join Ling Xiu and Leng Qiuyue.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly to himself as he kept the Golden Twig into his spatial belt before he walked to join the maidens.


    The three maidens were all smiling at Lu Qingyun; it seemed that they had unanimously decided that Lu Qingyun should keep the first Golden Twig and they were not going to take it.


    As he joined them, he muttered. "We are quite lucky to find the first one."


    Leng Qiuyue smiled, "That is because senior brother is so lucky."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Haha. Is that so? Guess I am just lucky to sense one."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun said, "Please give me a minute. I''ve just thought of something."


    Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were looking curiously at one another. It was as though they were all asking. "What is it that Lu Qingyun is thinking?"


    Lu Qingyun was actually talking to Yan''Er in his inner cultivation sea now, "Yan''Er, I''ve just got this Golden Twig. Are you able to use your divine sense to find more of this Golden Twig?"


    Yan''Er looked curiously at the Golden Twig before she chuckled, "Master, they are everywhere. You sure you need Yan''Er help?"


    Lu Qingyun was immediately delight, "Really Yan''Er?"


    Yan''Er nodded, "Yes, I can sense them for sure."


    Lu Qingyun clapped his hands, "It is because Yan''Er you are a spirit entity. Your senses are actually much better sharper than me. Moreover you are a fourth realm cultivator too."


    "That is not all!" Yan''Er said proudly. "I will never get tired too!"


    When Lu Qingyun heard her, he began to frown lightly. "That is because you are using my spiritual energies. When I am tired, you will be tired."


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Why Master is so weak."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "I talk to you later. Yan''Er, please guide me to find these Golden Twigs."


    Lu Qingyun said to the three maidens, "Follow me. I shall use my divine sense from now onward."


    Leng Qiuyue asked panicky, "Senior brother, won''t it be too tiring for you?"


    Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were also looking at him with deep concern as they nodded lightly. Leng Qiuyue had spoken what was in their minds.


    Lu Qingyun was a little perplexed as he said, "Actually I am not tired at all. In fact, the blazing sun doesn''t seem to be affecting me that much."


    He was actually telling the truth.


    The three maidens looked at him curiously. It did seem to them that Lu Qingyun was still looking as fresh as ever and he was actually still in a tip-top condition.


    This was something that they did not understand.


    Actually Lu Qingyun did not understand as well but since the trial had started, he was actually used very little of his stamina. Even the profound strength that he had expended had quickly recovered.


    He was unaware that ever since his Annihilating God Seed had awakened, his inner cultivation sea had greatly expanded. It had expanded so rapidly that his inner cultivation sea was three times greater than most cultivators of his same realm.


    Moreover he had also attained to the energy level and his invisible profound aura was constantly shielding him from the blazing sun and the fury heat of the desert.


    Although Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were all fourth realm experts but their profound auras were not as strong as Lu Qingyun. Although their profound auras could shelter them from the blistering heat, their stamina was still being drained away bit by bit.


    But for Lu Qingyun, because his profound strength was so exceeding, he was constantly replenishing his stamina than losing it. In short, the rate of his profound strength regeneration exceeded the rate of loss that was caused by the environment.


    Even if he was to use his divine sense to search for the Golden Twig, his stamina would never run out. This was something that he did not know yet and his worries were actually unfounded.


    Yan''Er had suddenly said, "Master, a thousand paces ahead is another Golden Twig. Do you want to pick it?"


    Lu Qingyun was delighted as he replied, "Of course!"


    Leng Qiuyue, Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were looking at him curiously. "Who are you talking to?"


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly realized that he had actually talked too delightfully to Yan''Er and he quickly said. "Nothing. Just follow me. I think that I may have found another Golden Twig."


    All three of the maidens were startled that there was another Golden Twig nearby. They quickly scanned with their divine sense but to no avail.


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "It is actually not near. We still need to travel a little more distance. There is a huge sand dune that is blocking us."


    The three maidens all felt like crying when they saw the huge sand dune that was in front of them. If their boots were not struck in the loose sand, with their lightless skill, it was actually quite easy for them to get over to the other side of the sand dune. Unfortunately, there were loose sands everywhere and they had to exert three times more stamina if they were to use their lightless skill in the hot blazing sun.


    Therefore in order to conserve their profound strength, they were forced to walk up this gigantic sand dune.


    However they did not complain as they had full faith in Lu Qingyun. If he says that there is Golden Twig ahead then it must be true.


    A full 30 minutes had passed and they had crossed the gigantic sand dune plus two smaller sands.


    Lu Qingyun had actually run in front of them and to their astonishment, he had dug up a Golden Twig.


    With a delighted look, he shouted. "Qiuyue, this one is for you. Please do not decline this time!"


    When he had said that, he was suddenly startled by a gigantic golden worm that had appeared from the sandy dunes.


    This gigantic golden worm was the sixth rank desolate monster the Golden Desert Silkworm!


    Immediately the three maidens had turned ashen as they quickly unsheathed their swords!


    Lu Qingyun was now in the attack perimeter of this Golden Desert Silkworm. Due to the difficult sandy terrain, it was not possible for him to flee.


    He too, had turned ashen because right in front of him was a formidable sixth rank desolate monster!


    A sixth rank desolate monster was totally in another different league than a fifth desolate monster, similar to the differences between a fourth realm immortal celestial and a fifth realm golden celestial!


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Above the platform, Qin Keqin was staring coldly at Shen Yufeng, "Why are there so many desolate monsters in this trial?"


    From the imagery scene below, many of the cultivators were being slaughtered by the Golden Desert Silkworms that ranged from the fourth rank to the sixth rank.


    Shen Yufeng shrugged her shoulders as she chuckled, "If this is just a simple find and gather trial then it will be too uninteresting. Don''t you think so?"


    Qin Keqin was speechless as her eyes were looking panicky at the scene below. Her Yun''Er was now being cornered by a sixth rank Golden Desert Silkworm!


    She was not the only celestial that was tense.


    Thousands of other cultivators were shaking their heads and bemoaning miserably that their candidates were being swallowed by the sand dunes, died of the heat exertion, killed by the other cultivators, robbed of their Golden Twigs or wiped out by the Golden Desert Silkworms.


    A golden celestial nearby was muttering, "Even if I take part in this trial personally, I will never be able to pass¡­"


    "Look! The cultivators from the Clear Sky Pavilion¡­finally one of them has fallen!"


    "Haha, finally¡­"


    "I have thought that they are invincible¡­.finally¡­"


    Qiuxiang Hanyu was the one that had fallen because she was unable to keep up with her group. The blazing sun and baking hot desert had drained all of her stamina and she had expended all of her profound strength. She was still too young and her inner cultivation sea was not as vast as the other members of her team.

 165 The Fourth Trial 3

    The gigantic Golden Desert Silkworm was now towering over Lu Qingyun.


    Yan''Er was crying panicky to Lu Qingyun, "Master! Yan''Er is so sorry. I didn''t know this monster is hiding in the sand!"


    The unique ability of the Golden Desert Silkworm was its ability to conceal its desolate profound aura in the sands by bending itself completely with the terrain. Although Yan''Er could sense most desolate energies but she was up against a superior sixth rank desolate monster that had the ability to conceal its aura.


    The gigantic Golden Desert Silkworm had suddenly attacked with its mouth four piercers and it was trying to use its formidable desolate aura to suppress Lu Qingyun at where he was to immobilize him.


    Lu Qingyun was startled that he was not able to move. Or rather, his action speed seemed to have slow down considerably. Just as he was mustering all his profound strength to try to break free of the profound aura of the Golden Desert Silkworm, it had already made its attack on him.


    There was a flash of white as Leng Qiuyue had flashed in front of Lu Qingyun and had used her sword to parry the piercers of the Golden Desert Silkworm. Her defense was not perfect as two of the piercers had pierced through her body.


    Leng Qiuyue spurted out blood as she used her remaining profound strength to push Lu Qingyun out of the pit, causing Lu Qingyun to fly to where Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were.


    "Qiuyue!" Lu Qingyun shouted panicky as he realized that Leng Qiuyue had sacrificed herself for his sake.


    Leng Qiuyue smiled weakly and said tearfully, "Senior brother, I guess that your Junior Sister Qiuyue will not have the good fortune of getting to the fifth trial now. But I do not regret it¡­because¡­your life¡­is more important to me¡­"


    She was not able to complete what she had wanted to say in her mind as the Golden Desert Silkworm had swallowed her up before disappearing into the sand pit.


    Lu Qingyun cried out loud as he slammed his fists on the loose sands, "Qiuyue! It is all my fault. If it is not because of me, you will not die¡­"


    He looked at the Golden Twig that was in his hand as he lamented loudly, "This is actually meant for you¡­I am so careless¡­why did you have to sacrifice yourself for my sake¡­"


    "Your senior brother is so useless. I can''t even protect you¡­"


    "Erm¡­" Qian Jingjing bent over to comfort him. "Brother Qingyun, you don''t have to be so sad, alright? This is only a simulation. You will be able to see her later after the trials are over."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes and was looking at her, "I''ve forgotten that this is only a simulation¡­"


    Qian Jingjing, Ling Xiu: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly at them as he passed the Golden Twig to Qian Jingjing, "Here, take this. We need to find one more for Sister Ling Xiu."


    He inhaled a deep breath as he continued to stare at the sand pit that was below him. The simulation was so real and he had nearly lost his mind when Leng Qiuyue had suddenly ''died'' in front of him.


    Until now, he could not forget the tearful expression that was on Leng Qiuyue as she bade him an emotional farewell. It was so real like that he had actually forgotten that he was in a simulation. He could feel the throbbing of his heart and it was as though an arrow had just pierced through his heart.


    He knew that he was in a simulation but at that emotion moment, he had so immersed into it that he had totally forgotten about it and had thought that Leng Qiuyue had really died in front of him.


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were quietly looking at each other. They were both having the same thought, "Brother Qingyun has an emotional attachment to Leng Qiuyue and that is why he is so affected by her demise. What if I am the one that has died? Will he feels the same emotional attachment as me then?"


    Above the trial imagery, Shen Yufeng was scanning with her divine sense on the multiple scenes that were taking place simultaneously below. When she saw the nimbleness of Leng Qiuyue and the extraordinary speed that she had displayed, she began to nod lightly and was smiling.


    With a pleased look, she had turned to glance at Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng who were both returning a subtle pleased look to her at the same time.


    Next to Shen Yufeng, Qin Keqin was heaving a soft sigh of relief that Lu Qingyun was not hurt in any way. Although the Golden Desert Silkworm was formidable but it rarely continued to pursue its preys once it had taken a victim. Moreover Lu Qingyun was not in the sand pit and it was too lazy to climb up of the loose sands.


    Qin Keqin lowered her glances as she whispered, "Minyue, did you see that?"


    "See what?" Feng Minyue asked.


    "Nothing¡­"


    "I''ve happened to take a peek. That Leng Qiuyue is really a sentimental maiden. So you have got a strong competitor and you are actually worried now, am I right?" Feng Minyue said nonchalantly.


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "Maybe."


    "Don''t worry." Feng Minyue yawned softly, "He only has you in his heart. This, I am quite sure."


    Qin Keqin said quietly, "Did you see how sad he was when Leng Qiuyue had ''died''?"


    Feng Minyue smiled, "I saw. But so what?"


    There was a melancholy look in Qin Keqin''s eyes as she averted her eyes from Feng Minyue. After a while, she muttered to herself. "You won''t understand."


    There were incessant mutterings among the celestials as everyone was gossiping on the outcome of the trial and the happenings that they had just witnessed.


    "That Lu Qingyun is really freaking lucky. If it is not for Leng Qiuyue, he would have been dead¡­"


    "I just can''t believe that a first realm cultivator like him can actually make it so far into the trials. This is really unbelievable¡­"


    "So the Heavens Ridge Villa only has one Lu Qingyun that is left? This is too pitiful¡­"


    "Yu Tianjian had just attacked another cultivator and had taken away his Golden Twig¡­"


    "He is smart. Instead of wasting his strength to search for the Golden Twigs, he was secretly following that deceased cultivator¡­"


    "Gongsun Ya has just found a Golden Twig¡­"


    "She is quite lucky to jump out of the sand pit just in time before the Golden Desert Silkworm has made an attack on her¡­"


    "The Golden Desert Silkworm is only a fourth rank monster. If it is a much higher rank Golden Desert Silkworm, she won''t be so lucky."


    "It seems that all three of the celestial powerhouses have only one candidate left each. They are Yu Tianjian, Gongsun Ya and Qian Jingjing."


    "The Divine Nine Palace is a joke. They have actually lost all their candidates during the first trial¡­"


    "How did the Clear Sky Pavilion manages to find three Golden Twigs in such a short amount of time?!"


    "Did that Yue Lingling just finish off a fifth rank Golden Desert Silkworm?! Her sword art is too insane¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Two hours had passed for the trial;


    Lu Qingyun had now found another Golden Twig and he was saying to Ling Xiu, "Sister Ling Xiu, this is for you."


    Ling Xiu took the Golden Twig with utmost care as her bright eyes looked at Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, without your aid I will never be able to find it myself. I really don''t know how I should repay you for your kindness. I keep troubling you. Ling Xiu feels that it is so unfair to you. You must be feeling very tired now."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "You are half the sister to me. So naturally I should take care of you. Moreover, this is actually nothing to me. Look at me, do I look tired? I am still as fresh as ever."


    Ling Xiu nodded shyly as she averted her eyes, "Thank you for your kind words. I will never forget the kindness that you''ve displayed in the trials for me."


    When Qian Jingjing saw that Ling Xiu was pouring her heart out, she was really afraid that Lu Qingyun would be touched by Fairy Ling Xiu and may think that she was ungrateful so she quickly said with a flustered look, "Brother Qingyun, your Sister Jingjing will never forget your kindness too. I will repay your kindness one day."


    She was giggling suddenly, causing Lu Qingyun to look curiously at her. Qian Jingjing averted her eyes and said shyly, "Nothing." It was because she had almost said she was willing to repay his kindness by being together with him. When she had thought of this, she had suddenly giggled because she was already thinking of the blissful family that they would be having.


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Lu Qingyun scratched his head in his mind before he said, "We still have 1 more hour before the trial completion time. So we have better find a place to take shelter from the sun and also from the other cultivators."


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were nodding immediately. They were too weary of the hot blazing sun that was sapping their stamina, causing whatever profound strength that they had to falter.


    Lu Qingyun quickly found a tall sand dune which could offer them a shade. Within this sand dune was two smaller sand dune and it looked like a perfect place to take shelter from the blazing sun.


    As the maidens quickly fled into the shadows of the smaller sand dunes, he was stomping his feet around.


    Ling Xiu asked curiously, "Brother Qingyun, what are you doing?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I am just checking the ground for loose sands."


    It was more than that. He was actually checking the ground to see if it was firm. If it was loose, there may be Golden Desert Silkworms that were lurking underneath. After his first lesson with the Golden Desert Silkworm, he was more cautious now.


    After checking that it was safe, he began to walk to the maidens.


    As he walked to them, he called to Yan''Er in his inner cultivation sea. "Yan''Er, I need your help to be on your best vigilance against any intruders that may be approaching us."


    As he approached the maidens, Ling Xiu said quietly. "Brother Qingyun, why don''t you and Maiden Qian have some rest first? I will help to stand guard over the two of you."


    She knew that Lu Qingyun must have expended plenty of his profound strength by constantly using his divine sense while Qian Jingjing had not recovered from her earlier internal injuries.


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "No need Sister Ling Xiu. You are weary as well. Please take a rest."


    Ling Xiu smiled weakly but her voice was firm, "Please let your useless sister does something for the two of you. We are a team after all. You will need all the rest that you can use till the next trial starts."


    Qian Jingjing looked at her quietly with a faint smile. She was actually quite touched by her kind gesture.


    But Lu Qingyun returned a smile as he laughed softly, "I am really not tired at all. I am a man after all. I will go over there to stand watch." With that he had walked to the other sand dune to keep a watchful guard. With Yan''Er probing the vicinity with her divine sense and with him keeping a visual lookout, he felt more secure for the safety of the two maidens.


    Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing were quietly watching Lu Qingyun as he stood quietly on the perimeter of the two sand dunes.


    After some time, Qian Jingjing could not resist a whisper to Ling Xiu. "How long did you know him?"


    Ling Xiu smiled, "For a few months only. This is actually the third time that we have met."


    "Oh?" Qian Jingjing was really curious. "He doesn''t look like the good-for-nothing cultivator as rumored."


    Ling Xiu nodded before she smiled with a fond expression, "He isn''t. The first time that I had met him was in the Misty Desolate Valley. At that time, my party had encountered a fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast and we are in danger of being killed. But he had suddenly appeared and had vanquished it with a single sword stroke. That is how strong he is."


    Qian Jingjing was startled as she gasped softly, "Really?! That is a fifth rank desolate beast. How is it possible?!"


    Ling Xiu smiled as she turned to look at Lu Qingyun intently, "Really. He had not only saved my life back then but also the lives of my brother and dozens of my clan prot¨¦g¨¦s as well."


    Since then she could not forget about him. Even though they were in two different celestials clans and were almost impossible to meet again but she simply could not forget about him.


    Qian Jingjing lowered her glances too, "He had also save me from a fifth rank Earth Elemental Golem during the second trial. He is really strong¡­"


    She was smiling in silliness at herself, "Does it mean that it is actually unnecessary to aid him with the fifth rank Eight-Legged Duke Lion after all¡­"


    Suddenly Qian Jingjing had a shy look as she asked Ling Xiu, "Do you think that Maiden Leng Qiuyue actually likes Brother Qingyun?"


    Ling Xiu smiled weakly. She knew that Qian Jingjing was actually also asking if she likes Lu Qingyun. So she asked instead, "You like Brother Qingyun?"


    Qian Jingjing had a flushed look as she quickly averted her eyes shyly, "I¡­I¡­don''t know!"


    Ling Xiu shyly lowered her eyes as she said after her, "I don''t know either but I am sure Maiden Leng likes him. She had actually sacrificed herself to save Brother Qingyun earlier."


    Qian Jingjing nodded, "This, I''ve to agree with you."


    This time Ling Xiu took the courage to ask, "Do you think that Brother Qingyun will¡­like us?"


    Qian Jingjing giggled shyly, "I¡­don''t know."


    Ling Xiu said quietly, "My father has five consorts. My brother Ling Chong is actually my half-brother."


    Qian Jingjing nodded with a smile, "My father has two consorts. It is common for the celestials to have many consorts because the higher the cultivation realm of the cultivator is, the harder it is for them to have children. So it is pretty normal for the celestials to have many consorts. Imagine all the heritance with no children to take over."


    "But there are also many celestials that have only one consort." Ling Xiu said quietly.


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly, "Surely Brother Qingyun isn''t someone who is so dense, am I right?"


    Ling Xiu looked away before she said quietly, "The way he looks at his master and Maiden Lie Xingyuan is quite different than when he is looking at us."


    "Huh? Maiden Lie Xingyuan? Who is she?" Qian Jingjing''s heart was throbbing fast as she asked panicky.


    "She is his maidservant and personal attendant." Ling Xiu smiled. "Have you not heard the rule of the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    Qian Jingjing inhaled deeply before she nodded slowly, "The personal attendant and the core prot¨¦g¨¦ can have personal relationships with no questions asked. You mean that they are¡­"


    Ling Xiu shook her head, "I don''t know. Just chitchatting."


    Qian Jingjing laughed softly, "I''m the one of the four great beauties in my area and you are one of the top beauties in New Empyrean City. Why do we have to worry about a mere personal attendant? Her status is below us for sure."


    Ling Xiu smiled, "She is also an astonishing beauty too."


    Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    As they chatted, the one hour was quickly up and there was a sudden bright light that enveloped them in a shimmering yellow glow.


    All the cultivators that had a Golden Twig in their hands were enveloped with the shimmering yellow glow and they saw that they were all back at the floating platform now.


    It took Lu Qingyun and the rest some time to adapt to their new surroundings.


    "Where are we?"


    "We are back here again?"


    "We have cleared the fourth trial now¡­"


    Shen Yufeng had appeared above the floating platform as she smiled gently, "Good. We have hundred and fifty of you that had passed the fourth trial. Almost three hundred cultivators have been eliminated from the fourth trial. But this is still way too many. It seems that the trials are actually too easy for the majority of you."


    Many of the cultivators were muttering almost incoherently¡­


    "Therefore the fifth and the last trial will be the most interesting¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was muttering as he smiled weakly at Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu, "She is really humorous¡­"


    Many of the cultivators that had survived the fourth trial were now at the brink of exhaustion. The hot blazing desert had drained most of their profound strength. Profound strength was equivalent to stamina for the cultivators. Without profound strength, they could not even muster their martial power to defend themselves and they needed all their available profound strength to overcome the upcoming trials.


    The only two cultivators that were not affected were Lu Qingyun and Yue Lingling, who were still looking fresh.


    Along the way, Lu Qingyun had thought that he had proven himself and that from now onward, no one would call him a good-for-nothing cultivator anymore.


    But he did not know that the opposite had happened.


    As a matter of fact, the speculators were now spreading ugly gossips about him;


    "Look at that Lu Qingyun. He is still looking as fresh as ever¡­"


    "That is because he is a cheater¡­"


    "Along the way, he is being assisted by Leng Qiuyue, Qian Jingjing and Fairy Ling Xiu¡­"


    "If it is not because of the three maidens, will he be able to overcome the trials?"


    "He doesn''t even have any contribution to his team¡­"


    "Even Leng Qiuyue had to give up her life for him to overcome the trial¡­"


    "I hereby declare that I am looking down on that Lu Qingyun!"

 166 The Final Trial 1

    On the floating platform, all the trial cultivators were now looking at the astonishing beautiful features of the Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng who was the leader of the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds. Although she was beautiful and was smiling warmly but most of the cultivators had an ugly look on their countenances.


    Even Lu Qingyun was muttering almost incoherently, "Even though she had the face of an angel but she is like the devil. If her heart is as innocent as her smiles then it will be such a good thing."


    If Shen Yufeng could hear him, she would surely give him two tight slaps for the compliments and even kicked him down the floating platform.


    But Lu Qingyun was not the only one that was muttering behind her back.


    The first four trials had drove most of the trial cultivators to the brink of breaking down and they could not imagine what the fifth trial would be.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "Maybe I should announce something that will be a morale booster for all of you first. Those who are able to pass the fifth trial shall receive a Divine Profound Pill as an additional reward."


    All of a sudden all the cultivators were startled and were now looking at Shen Yufeng excitingly.


    Even Yue Lingling had looked up to the sky and there was a glimmer in her eyes.


    Lu Qingyun was also startled. He already had a Divine Profound Pill, the result of his winning reward from the Heavens Ridge Villa''s core prot¨¦g¨¦s tournament. However he was saving it for his secret sixth rank alchemy recipe. If he could obtain one more Divine Profound Pill, there may be a chance that he may be able to breakthrough to the fifth realm golden celestial level.


    He was not the only one that was thinking about the same thing.


    Most of the cultivators that had made through the trials to this point were fourth realm cultivators. Without any lucky occurrences or cultivation resources, their potentials may be doomed at the fourth cultivation realm.


    If fourth realm cultivators were already very rare, the fifth ream cultivators were even rarer. For every 10 fourth realm cultivators, there may be only just one cultivator that could overcome this heaven-defying barrier to become a half-immortal.


    It was the wildest dream of all the cultivators to attain the holy grail of the celestial cultivators to become a golden celestial. A golden celestial was truly a half-immortal. They no longer had any need for food and water, had insane regeneration abilities that could regenerate even the organs, had extremely long lives and even their cultivation strength was much superior to any cultivators that were below the fourth realm.


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "If I can be a golden celestial then I can be with Keqin forever¡­"


    Even Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were moved.


    Qian Jingjing was a peaked fourth realm cultivator and had long attained the upper fourth realm level. She badly needed a breakthrough in order to overcome this impasse. Although the Spirit Sword Manor did have a few Divine Profound Pills but it was mostly reserved for Grandmaster Gao Yishu''s relations.


    Even though she was a core prot¨¦g¨¦ but she had no relations with Grandmaster Gao Yishu. Her senior brother Gao Peng had actually entered the tournament with her but he was quickly eliminated during the first trial. Gao Peng had expressed his interest in her on a few occasions but Qian Jingjing simply did not like him because he only sees her as a trophy to be conquered.


    As for Ling Xiu, she knew that the resources of the Flying Armament Sect were limited. She wanted to obtain this Divine Profound Pill not for herself but for her brother Ling Chong who had been eliminated earlier. It was because her brother was her only close family and without the Divine Profound Pill, he would not be compatible with Qiuxiang Huan.


    Qiuxiang Huan was already a fifth realm golden celestial and had hidden her cultivation realm. She was her mother consort''s secret card against her political enemies. The celestial resources of the Clear Sky Pavilion were actually quite deep. Not long ago, the Clear Sky Pavilion even had two sixth realm golden supremacies.


    However, both Qiuxiang Huan and her mother consort Qiuxiang Mei were still unable to advance to the sixth realm level. In order to do so, they had to consume even more celestial resources such as the Divine Profound Pill.


    Therefore Qiuxiang Huan''s eyes began to beam brightly.


    Even Shangguan Furong was secretly moved.


    Yue Lingling''s interest was aroused as well. Although she had divine pills that could aid cultivators to become a fourth realm experts quickly but that was the limit of her divine pills. Moreover she did not have many to begin with.


    She was more concerned with obtaining a powerful divine pill that could at least recover some of her desolate strength. She had an uneasy feeling that the Three-Destinies Old Man that she had fought a while ago was in this vicinity and was watching her.


    Her performance during the trials was simply too outstanding and it was too hard to be missed. She actually did not want to be so outstanding but her opponents were simply too weak!


    Yu Tianjian, Gongsun Ya and many of the fourth realm cultivators were all moved!


    Half of the cultivators presented were actually third realm experts. They were naturally moved because with this Divine Profound Pill, there was a bigger chance that they would be able to reach the fourth realm level.


    To them, the fourth realm level was like a huge mountain to overcome and they were eager to attain to this level as quickly as possible before they become old or their potentials were wasted. The fourth realm level was the energy level and cultivators that were at this level would be able to control their profound auras and strength more effectively.


    But to many of the third realm cultivators, the fourth realm level also means that they would no longer age and that was the most tempting factor. As long as they could no longer age, they could maintain the vitality of their youth and strength.


    But this fourth realm level was not easy to attain at all because the cultivator had to cultivate their energy meridians first and it was not easy at all. Only one out of every one hundred third realm cultivators could advance into the fourth realm level. That was how difficult it was.


    Although third realm cultivators were the true cultivators but the truth was, third realm cultivators were actually quite common but not as common as the first and second realm cultivators which were a thousand times more common.


    While everyone was in high spirits due to Shen Yufeng''s announcement, Lu Qingyun''s countenance had suddenly become dark.


    It was not lost on Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu who had been secretly looking at him from time to time.


    Ling Xiu whispered gently, "What is wrong Brother Qingyun?"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly, "Even though the Heavenly Fragrance Villa is a first tier celestial clan but will they really give out so many Divine Profound Pills to the other celestial clans? Either the fifth trial is going to be extremely hard or Fragrance Herald Shen is actually quite generous at heart."


    When he had said that, even Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing had turned ashen all of a sudden.


    Shen Yufeng had waited a while for her announcement to be sink in before she smiled again, "Now for the fifth and final trial. It is going to be the most easiest and most interesting trial that you will ever partake. This, I can surely promise you that."


    She was smiling so beautifully that most of the cultivators could only feel fear and their goose pimples had suddenly appeared.


    Lu Qingyun could not help shaking his head as he muttered weakly, "She is really so humorous¡­"


    At the same time he was wondering what Qin Keqin would have thought of his excellent performances. Even if he did not pass the fifth trial, he really did not mind at all. It was because he had already gone further than the majority of his competitors.


    He wondered if Qin Keqin would be in praises of him and would reward him by being intimate with him.


    "She must be so proud of me right now¡­"


    Little did he know that it would be the exact opposite.

 167 The Final Trial 2

    Shen Yufeng was smiling and her beautiful voice echoed to all the cultivators, whether it was the celestials that were on stage or the celestials that were taking part in the trials, "The fifth trial is easy enough."


    With a wave of her hand, a giant tripod had appeared in the middle of the floating platform.


    "All you need to do is to reach into the giant tripod to take a stone."


    Lu Qingyun and many of the cultivators were perplexed.


    "The trial is just to take a stone?"


    "It is so simple?"


    "Erm, will our hands be safe?"


    "You mean that it is actually boiling oil that is in the tripod?"


    "Or the jaws of a horrifying creature¡­"


    "...."


    "This trial is simply too hard!"


    Shen Yufeng chuckled, "So who will want to be the first?"


    All the cultivators were looking at one another with a dark look. No one wanted to be the first guinea pig.


    "Maybe we should let the fourth realm cultivators go ahead first¡­"


    "We can let the first realm cultivator goes first¡­"


    "There is only one first realm cultivator here and he is Lu Qingyun¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had actually stepped forward as he said, "Let me try first."


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were both gasping, "Brother Qingyun¡­"


    "It''s alright." He smiled. "It is just a matter of sooner or later. So I may as well go first."


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were both forced to nod anxiously for him and they had taken slow steps behind him.


    Qian Jingjing mustered the courage to say, "Then let me be the second!"


    Ling Xiu was startled by her courage and she found herself saying, "In that case, I will be the third then."


    Yu Tianjian was quietly watching Lu Qingyun as he thought, "He is so stupid to try to be the first. As the saying goes, a hero always dies young."


    Gongsun Ya was shaking her head slightly as she sighed, "Too young, too simple."


    Qiuxiang Huan said quietly to Yue Lingxi and Shangguan Furong, "It seems that we have overestimated their group."


    Shangguan Furong said in her soft voice, "But they have actually made it to the fifth trial. That isn''t too bad. It seems that they had lost Leng Qiuyue in the fourth trial."


    By now Lu Qingyun had walked quietly to the giant tripod and had taken a peek inside; it was pitch black inside and he could not see anything. It was as though the interior of the tripod was enveloped by a mysterious black profound aura.


    With a soft sigh he had reached his right hand into the tripod nervously, half afraid that his hand may be corroded or imploded somehow.


    He seemed to have touched a pile of stones at the bottom and the rock was actually quite cool to the touch. Without a second thought, he had quickly grabbed a rock and took it out of the tripod.


    It was until he had taken it out of the tripod that he saw that he had a black rock in his hand.


    "A black rock?" Lu Qingyun was perplexed. Shen Yufeng did not lie. There were indeed rocks inside the tripod.


    All the other cultivators were edging toward Lu Qingyun, afraid that they may miss out on an important detail of the trial that may cost them their lives. Therefore they had to pay particular attention.


    If they could overcome this trial then they would be able to get the Divine Profound Pill!


    Seeing that nothing had happened to Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing heaved a soft sign of relief as she reached her hand nervously into the tripod.


    She was more timid and quickly withdrew her hand once she got a rock.


    Under the sunlight, she was astonished that the rock that she got was also a black rock.


    "Another black rock?" A cultivator muttered.


    "Is there any significant to anything?" Another cultivator asked quietly.


    Ling Xiu was the third cultivator to go forward to the tripod. She had also taken out a black rock from the tripod.


    Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu were all looking quietly at one another, unsure what this black rock actually mean.


    Yue Lingling smiled as she said, "I will go next."


    And she was followed closely behind by Qiuxiang Huan and Shangguan Furong.


    Yue Lingling put her hand into the tripod and fetched out a red rock.


    Everyone was astonished, "So beside the black rock, there is also a red rock?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was the next cultivator to put her hand into the tripod. She too, had received a red rock.


    The onlookers were muttering, "Is there a pattern? Can you see any pattern?"


    "I think the next rock will also be a red rock since the first three rocks are black¡­"


    Shangguan Furong was next in line and she had taken out a black rock.


    "I thought it might be a red rock but it is a black rock¡­"


    "I don''t see any pattern now¡­"


    "Who wants to try next?"


    One by one, all the cultivators had taken a rock and it seemed that there were only a red and black rocks.


    The black rocks were the majority and the red rocks were the minority.


    Yu Tianjian had picked a black rock and so did Gongsun Ya.


    There were still some fifty cultivators that had not picked the rocks yet.


    Everyone was now muttering with one another, trying to figure out the details of the fifth trial.


    Lu Qingyun smiled quietly as he looked at Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu, "So it seems that those with the black rocks will be disqualified while the minority with the red rocks will be able to complete the fifth trial."


    He was not unhappy at all. In fact, he was pleased that he had already made it so far.


    Qian Jingjing whispered with a wary look, "I am afraid that it is not that simple."


    "Huh?" Ling Xiu and Lu Qingyun were both looking at her.


    "If you are that Shen Yufeng, what will you do?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I will surely try to surprise the cultivators."


    Qian Jingjing smiled weakly, "That''s right. For example, I will let the holders of the red rocks and the black rocks to fight with each other."


    Lu Qingyun and Ling Xiu were both startled. This was indeed a possibility that they had never thought of¡­


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "You are right. We have not come to the elimination round yet."


    Ling Xiu whispered, "Brother Qingyun, lucky we are all having the black rocks. I can''t imagine that we will be fighting against each other."


    Qian Jingjing added quietly, "If I am not wrong then we have to kill the holders of the opposite colored rock in order to gain the contribution points to pass the fifth trial."


    Ling Xiu nodded slowly, "Although the black rocks are the majority but we are up against Qiuxiang Huan and Yue Lingling. It is a good thing that Yu Tianjian and Gongsun Ya are also black rock holders. So we are on the same side."


    Lu Qingyun was pondering quietly and he was suddenly frowning, "I don''t think that it is so simple."


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu started to look at Lu Qingyun curiously.


    Lu Qingyun said solemnly, "If I were her, I will make everyone fight against each other. If you kill someone with the same colored rock, you will gain 1 contribution point while you will get 3 contribution points for killing another with a different colored rock. In this way, everyone will be guarding against each other."


    Ling Xiu nodded before she lowered her glances shyly, "But I will never attack Brother Qingyun."


    Qian Jingjing smiled as she looked intently at Lu Qingyun, "Same here. Brother Qingyun, you will not attack me too, right?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Of course I won''t. Don''t worry."


    "But why are you still looking so worried?" Qian Jingjing asked.


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "I am still thinking about the trial. Maybe you know, she will ask us to collect three red rocks and three black rocks each. Since there aren''t many red rocks to go around, the fight for the red rocks will be terrible."


    Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing smiled weakly at each other. During this tournament, they had been played upon by Shen Yufeng and they could only think of the worst now.


    They were not the only ones; almost all the cultivators were now sharing how the fifth trial should end and the accounts were getting more and more exaggerated!


    If Shen Yufeng could hear them, she would think that they were really more creative than her.


    As soon as the last of the cultivators had taken the rocks, Shen Yufeng beautiful voice was echoing. "We have 156 of you here now. All of you have a black rock and a red rock in your hands now. I am sure that all of you are now jumping with anticipations how these rocks will be able to help you to complete the fifth trial, right?"


    "So are you excited?"


    Jumping with anticipations? My foot. Many of the cultivators were thinking at the same time. Excited? The cultivators did not know whether they should cry or laugh because her next announcement would either break or make them.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "She is really very humorous¡­"


    Qian Jingjing nodded, "Indeed very humorous¡­"


    Ling Xiu sighed softly, "Too humorous¡­"


    Lu Qingyun added softly, "She is the Goddess of Humor¡­"


    "Those who have the red rocks are disqualified while those who have the black rocks have now passed the fifth trial."


    "What?!!" All the cultivators were too startled. They had not expected this trial to be so simple?!


    Even Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes, "I¡­I have passed the fifth trial? Just like this?"


    Ling Xiu and Qian Jingjing could not believe their ears either!


    Surely there must be a catch somewhere?


    Many of the cultivators were all muttering and some were even in an uproar.


    Yue Lingling was stunned as she said aloud, "What kind of a ridiculous trial is this?!"


    All the cultivators that had the red rocks in their hands were now protesting loudly.


    All of a sudden multiple flashes of bright white lightning had thundered and had struck down at all the cultivators with the red rocks, stunning all the other cultivators!


    In a single instant, all the cultivators with the red rocks had exploded into flesh and blood, shocking everyone with the bloody scene¡­


    "Did they just all meet with a nasty ends?"


    "Shen Yufeng is really too ruthless¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    On the stage, Shen Yufeng was laughing jovially while all the other onlookers had a stunned expression on their faces as they watched the horrifying scene below.


    But none of them had dared to mutter a word against Shen Yufeng because they did not dare to offend her. After all, she was said to be the next divine ruler of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. Judging by her twisted trials, they were now freaking scared of offending her.


    Qin Keqin was now looking at her with a light growl, "Did you just blow them to pieces?"


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "Yes I did. I am just wondering what it is like to blow someone up with the Divine Lightning. You do not like it?"


    Qin Keqin frowned softly, "That is not the point. Since you can blow up that Yue Lingling, so why didn''t you blow up that Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu as well?"


    Shen Yufeng: ¡­


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "Come let me play with the celestial array. Where is it? Let me sent two more divine lightning to get them."


    Shen Yufeng: ¡­

 168 The Final Trial 3

    "There are one hundred of you here that have passed the final trial. Well done!" The image of Shen Yufeng chuckled in the sky above. "You shall all receive the Divine Profound Pill as your additional reward."


    Lu Qingyun and most of the survivors were shocked. Did they hear her correctly? The Heavenly Fragrance Villa was actually giving out a hundred Divine Profound Pills. It was too good to be true!


    Shen Yufeng chuckled, "Naturally as the ones that have passed the final trial, I shall see you in the Moon Demon Forest in a month''s time. Naturally when you have arrived, I will be giving you the Divine Profound Pill. At the same time, you will be joining the other seven hundred young geniuses of our divine realm there."


    The cultivators were startled. They had almost forgotten about the Moon Demon Forest that was mentioned by her earlier. Shen Yufeng did mention before that the top 100 competitors would be picked for a special expedition to the Moon Demon Forest.


    "Crap, I have almost forgotten about it¡­"


    "The Moon Demon Forest isn''t a joke. We may really lose our lives there¡­"


    "So are we the lucky ones or the unlucky ones?"


    "Shen Yufeng is too cunning!"


    "I can''t believe that we are really going to the Moon Demon Forest¡­"


    "Did she say that we will be joining seven hundred other cultivators there?"


    "This sort of expedition has never happened before¡­"


    "Maybe something has happened recently¡­"


    "This is too weird¡­"


    "What? We won''t be getting the Divine Profound Pill immediately? She didn''t mention that earlier¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling to himself. This was a perfect chance for him to pick some rare spirit plants in the Moon Demon Forest.


    Qian Jingjing saw that Lu Qingyun did not look worry at all. Rather, he seemed quite happy. So she asked, "Brother Qingyun, you are not worried at all?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Erm, there will be more than eight hundred of us there. Even if there are monsters, they will flee from us."


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly, "Brother Qingyun, you are so cute. If it is a sixth rank and above devious monster, the ones that will be running will be us."


    Ling Xiu nodded quietly. In the Misty Desolate Valley, they had encountered a sixth rank Desolate King Drake and were forced to flee. It was only with the timely arrival of Qin Keqin that they were saved from their possible demises.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "If it isn''t a Golden Desert Silkworm and if my feet aren''t struck in the sands, I can still beat off a sixth realm devious beast. But it is hard to say for a seventh rank devious monster¡­"


    When Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu heard him, they were both smiling bitterly. Even a fifth realm golden celestial expert may not be able to beat off a sixth rank monster. It did not matter if it was a desolate or a devious monster. They were at the same level of difficulty.


    But Ling Xiu was smiling, "I feel safe with Brother Qingyun around."


    Qian Jingjing was secretly startled and she was secretly pleased. Did it mean that this would not be their last parting? She would see him again in a month''s time.


    So she quickly said, "Brother Qingyun, you won''t forget about me right? If it is possible, can I follow you when we are at the Moon Demon Forest?"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Sure. Why not?"


    Qian Jingjing and Ling Xiu exchanged a quick look and they were secretly pleased. Earlier, they had tested each other on their thoughts about Lu Qingyun and whether if they minded Lu Qingyun to have multiple consorts. They technically had an unwritten secret agreement between the two of them.


    Qian Jingjing was thinking as she sighed secretly, "I have only one last chance to impress him. After that, we may never meet again¡­"


    This was really heartbreaking to her because she had never met anyone as worthy and fine looking as Lu Qingyun.


    Shen Yufeng suddenly said to them, "Alright. Wait here for a while. I have a surprise for all of you later."


    Surprise?!


    For them all?!


    Many of the cultivators were shivering nonstop now.


    "Erm, I''ve thought that we have already passed the trial?"


    "I really got an uneasy feeling over this."


    "I know that it is not that easy and there must be a trick somewhere¡­"


    Even Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes as he muttered, "You mean we can''t exit the trial yet?"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    On the stage above, many of the celestials were now talking incessantly on the outcome of the fifth trial.


    "Haha. My prot¨¦g¨¦ is among the 100 survivors¡­"


    "Say. Isn''t that Lu Qingyun really too freaking lucky? He didn''t really do anything much and he has actually cleared all the trials?"


    "I heard that Shen Yufeng is staying at the Heavens Ridge Villa. Do you think that they have some under the table dealings?"


    "That Lu Qingyun is actually quite dashing and maybe Shen Yufeng is too lonely. Maybe they¡­"


    "The performance of the Clear Sky Pavilion has been so outstanding but they are so unlucky at the fifth trial¡­"


    "I cannot accept the result of the fifth trial! That is too random!"


    "That Qian Jingjing is too shameless. She keeps hooking up to that Lu Qingyun¡­"


    "It seems that the performance of the Divine Nine Palace is so dismay this time¡­"


    The thousands of prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavens Ridge Villa did not break into cheers for Lu Qingyun. In fact their reactions were somewhat muted. It was because it seemed to them that their Senior Brother Lu Qingyun did not have any outstanding performance at all. Moreover they were beginning to think that he had been cheating his way through the trials.


    While everyone was discussing on the outcome of the trials, Shen Yufeng and Qin Keqin had quietly left their seats¡­

 169 This is a Trap!

    Yue Lingxi had found herself in an isolated dark spatial space and she was furious. It seemed that she had returned to her physical body now. She was trembling lightly and realized that more than half of her profound strength had been expended after her ''simulated death'' during the fifth trial.


    She was frowning unhappily, "This is really the most annoying death that I ever have and at which I have no defense. I swear I will never enter this type of simulation trial ever again." She paused to add, "Unless of course if there is no such thing as this divine lightning cheats. And of course if there is no Shen Yufeng¡­"


    "You are calling for me?"


    An extremely beautiful maiden with an equally beautiful uniform flaxen long hair that touched her waist had appeared out of the thin air.


    Shen Yufeng had appeared inside this dark spatial space.


    Another extremely beautiful maiden had also appeared next to Shen Yufeng in another blink of an eye.


    Shen Yufeng was like a beautiful sculptured peerless beauty that could cause everyone to pause to look at her while this newly arrived beautiful maiden was like a beautiful heavenly maiden that was enticing yet had an unearthly presence.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "This Yue Lingling must be so honored to have the both of us here to greet you. This isn''t your real name, am I right?"


    Yue Lingxi smiled coldly at the two newly arrivals.


    While she had not met them before but they were known to her; prior to coming to the Heavens Ridge Villa, she had been debriefed on them by Qiuxiang Huan.


    Shen Yufeng was one of the four Fragrance Heralds of the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa. This position was like a grand senior in a celestial clan. Her official celestial title was the Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng and she had another less well known celestial name as ''Golden Celestial Maiden Yufeng''. Her celestial name was attributed to her beautiful blonde hair and her peerless beauty.


    At the same time, she was rumored to be the next successor to the Heavenly Fragrance Princess. Her cultivation level was also known by many and was rumored to be a sixth realm golden supremacy.


    As for Qin Keqin, she was the acting sect leader to the Heavenly Ridge Villa and an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Her cultivation level was said to be at the upper fifth realm golden celestial level.


    Yue Lingxi smiled as she greeted them, "I am so honored to have Supremacy Shen and Celestial Qin here to welcome me. Is it because of my outstanding performance during the trial that you deem that I have the potential to be a prot¨¦g¨¦ of our divine realm patriarch clan?"


    Shen Yufeng lit up a curved smile, "You are wrong. Our divine realm will never welcome a cheater like you. Just who are you and what is your purpose?"


    Yue Lingxi smiled, "Oh? I am a cheater? How is it possible to cheat under your eyes and everyone watchful eyes? This is not possible, am I right?"


    Shen Yufeng was smiling, "You are really good in your playacting. You can even fool my Profound Listening Golden Bell but you cannot fool me."


    Yue Lingxi chuckled softly, "I am so lost. May I be enlightened? When did I cheat and how do I cheat?"


    Shen Yufeng was smiling even more beautiful than before. She had a secret that not many people were aware of and this was her secret hidden card; she actually had the innate ability to gauge the spiritual sea of the other cultivators. That was how she was able to tell that Lie Xingyuan had a startling potential and that was the reason why she had wanted to make Lie Xingyuan her personal core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    But this was her secret hidden card and she was not going to let anyone knows.


    She did not know that Yue Lingling had cheated during the first trial. It was only during the middle of the trials that she found Yue Lingling to be too outstanding that she began to observe her with a suspicious look. But as the celestial array was portraying the imagery of the competing cultivators, she had no way to know Yue Lingling''s cultivation level.


    Therefore she had secretly added an additional celestial array in the giant tripod during the fifth trial. This additional array was linked back to her and she was able to probe Yue Lingling and everyone else cultivation strength.


    The main reason why Yue Lingling and Qiuxiang Huan had picked the red stones were because Shen Yufeng had purposely given the red stones to them after she had discovered that they were cheating. Those with red stones end up getting struck by the celestial array''s divine lightning which in turn caused their profound strength to be impaired just like a real injury.


    Shen Yufeng said, "Qiuxiang Huan is a fifth realm golden celestial while you are much higher. Higher than even I. You are a seventh realm expert?"


    The smiles that were on Yue Lingxi had disappeared completely because she had suddenly realized that her game was up. So she said coolly, "Yes, I am not using my real name. My real name is Yue Lingxi. But so what? Do you think the two of you can stop me?"


    Then she turned to smile at Qin Keqin, "If I am not wrong, you are that seventh realm expert that I have detected in the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Qin Keqin had a surprised look as she appraised Yue Lingxi. It was because her old man had warned her of a desolate immortal cultivator previously and that her name was Yue Lingxi.


    She thought, "This Yue Lingxi is actually a Desolate Lord? She is actually the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi? Where is my old man when I need him the most¡­"


    Qin Keqin walked in front of Shen Yufeng as she smiled, "You sure look cocky but do you know that we have purposely lured you into this trap? Right now, how much of your profound strength can you muster? I''m sure that the divine lightning must have really hurts your profound strength."


    As she was talking to Yue Lingxi, Qin Keqin had secretly put her left hand behind her back and she had waved a secret hand sign to Shen Yufeng to indicate to her not to interfere in the upcoming fight.


    Shen Yufeng secretly sighed. It was because she knew how dangerous this Yue Lingxi was.


    Yue Lingxi smiled coolly. "I am warning you first. Seventh realm experts or not, you are like ants in my eyes. I am the Desolate Sacred Maiden Yue Lingxi, Desolate Lord of the Chaos Mysteries."


    She paused to grin, "Since you are unlucky enough to find me then consider it my grace to send you to the void."


    Qin Keqin said nonchalantly, "Your opponent is just me alone. If you are able to defeat me, I will let you go."


    "Oh? If I am able to defeat you then I can go? If I can defeat you, do I need your permission to leave?" Yue Lingxi mocked.


    All of a sudden Yue Lingxi had attacked Qin Keqin.


    In a blink of an eye, the two of them had exchanged more than ten strokes with their hands. Their hand to hand movements were extraordinary swift and their profound attacks were creating shockwaves all around them.


    In just a short while, more than three hundred strokes were exchanged.


    Yue Lingxi was startled that Qin Keqin was able to match her speed blow by blow, fist by fist and stroke by stroke. She thought, "Is she really a seventh realm expert?"


    She had not started to get serious and was just testing Qin Keqin ability to react to her attacks.


    All of a sudden Yue Lingxi had raised her palm to send a profound shockwave that sped to become a wind ripping wave against Qin Keqin. This attack was a seventh realm profound attack that could implode heavily on the target and exploded in a devastating shockwave.


    But Qin Keqin raised her fingers as she displayed a profound rotation that instantly deflected the energy profound attack aside, causing it to explode thunderous out of her harm''s way.


    Yue Lingxi gasped softly, "The Divine Emerald Skill?"


    Qin Keqin hummed coldly, "That is right. You know my skill?"


    Yue Lingxi frowned as she quickly leapt backward, "Naturally I know. I even know that the Divine Emerald Skill is a nemesis of all projectile attacks. But of course it will have to depend on the strength of its practitioner. Maybe you only know just the surface of the Divine Emerald Skill."


    Her profound aura had suddenly exploded around her and her eyes had turned a desolate purple gold. With just a short preparation time, she had already mustered her profound energies and had gathered it into a massive amount of energies onto her two palms as she shouted, "This is my most powerful technique the Gathering Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword! I like to see if your Divine Emerald Skill is able to deflect my energy technique. Even if you are a seventh realm expert, you will be ripped apart!"


    Several wind blades in the shape of a demonic wolf exploded loudly from within her two palms and formed into a long invisible force toward Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin raised both her palms as a beautiful wave of profound energies form a beautiful faint circular glow in front of her.


    As the profound barrier and demonic wolf clashed, their surroundings exploded furiously into multiple shockwaves, lasting several blinks of an eye.


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin took a step forward and completely swung the remnant energies of the demonic wolf aside, completely neutralizing it.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Is that what you got?"


    Yue Lingxi was startled, "This is the Absolute Defense of the Divine Emerald Skill. Only the Great Goddess Fan Tian is able to display to this profound level. Who are you?"


    The Great Goddess Fan Tian was said to be the only immortal goddess that had attained to the tenth immortal position realm. The other being the Great God Pangu. Even the Great God Xuan Yuan could only attain to the peaked ninth immortal position and he was already an unfathomable existence.


    As for this Absolute Defense Skill of the Divine Emerald Skill, it was the highest level of the Divine Emerald Profound Skill and was the unique skill of the Great Goddess Fan Tian. Although there were quite a few of the Divine Emerald Skill practitioners but only the Great Goddess Fan Tian could attain to this mystical level.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Make a guess."


    Yue Lingxi had suddenly realized that she was up against an opponent that was unusually strong and yet this opponent was only a mere celestial.


    "You realize that I am not serious yet, do you?" Yue Lingxi smiled coldly as she displayed a silver scroll. This scroll was the Horizon of the Heavens and was also an immortal weapon.


    Although most divine weapons were swords, the truly powerful divine weapons were actually not swords. It was because most divine swords were forged from the heavenly relics and it was the most efficient way to demonstrate the raw profound powers of the divine weapons.


    For many heaven-step artefact treasures, saint grade artefact treasures and immortal grade artefact treasures, it could take any forms because it had more profound powers other than raw power. But no matter what form the artefact took, it was always a lethal divine weapon!


    Right now, Yue Lingxi had no other choice but to take out the Horizon of the Heavens, exposing her hidden card as her opponent had a skill that was her nemesis. Her logic was really simple. After that, she would kill the two of them to keep her card hidden.


    Qin Keqin gasped as her divine sense could sense that the silver scroll that was in Yue Lingxi''s hand was a truly formidable immortal artefact.


    Without hesitation, she had taken out her white flute the Tranquil Flute.


    Yue Lingxi was startled at the sight of the white flute as she gasped. "This¡­this is a desolate immortal artefact. How did you get it?"


    She was suddenly trembling as she said hatefully, "This is the Tranquil Mysteries Flute, a heritage desolate artefact of our Chao Mysteries Citadel. It is thought to be lost a long time ago. How did you get it?"


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "Oh? I don''t know it is yours but it is mine now."


    Yue Lingxi cast upon Qin Keqin a burning hatred as her profound aura displayed a faint purple. She was going to display her profound power to her maximum now.


    As for Qin Keqin, she knew that she had provoked Yue Lingxi and she did not dare to be careless. She too, had displayed her profound aura to the zenith as a rich golden aura began to envelop around her and this golden aura was slowly giving shape to the image of a golden lotus that was spreading its blossoms.


    Shen Yufeng was startled. She had never seen the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing this serious before and she knew that the two of them were now burning their reservoir of spiritual sea in preparation for their next round of fight.


    The next round will not be just a clash of their powerful profound energies but it would be a contest of power between their immortal artefacts.


    It was a lucky thing that they were now in a spatial space as the fight between these two seventh realm experts could well destroy the entire vicinity.


    Shen Yufeng thought, "I don''t even get to see a single heaven-step divine sword. Above the heaven-step weapons are the saint weapons. Above the saint weapons are the immortal artefacts. Exactly who is this Yue Lingxi? How did she possess such a powerful artefact."


    She took a quick glance at Qin Keqin, "And exactly what is the background of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqin? This white flute is actually an immortal artefact. All along I''ve thought that it is just a superior grade flute¡­"


    Unless the cultivator chose to reveal the profound aura of their divine weapons by imbuing their profound strength into it, there was no way a divine artefact could be differentiate from a normal item. It was because most cultivators would choose to secretly conceal the profound auras of their divine weapons with a seal so that it would not be easily sensed by anyone.

 170 Battle of the Titans 1

    Yue Lingxi was truly startled when she saw Qin Keqin was being enveloped by a golden burst of profound aura that was shaped like a golden lotus.


    Time and time again, Qin Keqin had surprised her.


    She was a desolate immortal and was familiar with most types of profound forces. Profound forces had varying degrees of strength depending on the cultivation methods but it could be grouped into several main types. The Desolate Immortals practiced the Desolate Force which they deemed the most powerful profound forces in the Six Universe Realms.


    The Pangu Immortals practiced the Universal Force which they also deemed the most powerful profound forces.


    And that was the main reason why the Desolate Immortals and the Pangu Immortals were always opposing each other. These two groups of Immortals actually shared the same root for the Great God Pangu was originally a Desolate Immortal.


    In the forgotten river of history, there were three most outstanding geniuses of the Desolate Race that had actually evolved their Profound Desolate Force to another level. They were the Great God Pangu with his Great Universal Force, the Great Rift Lord Xuan Yuan with his Great Annihilating Force and the World Ruler Fu Xi with his Great Desolate Force.


    The three of them were the first of their race to attain to the mystical Ninth Immortal Positioning, becoming the most powerful of all the desolate immortals.


    They were so powerful that all the desolate immortals had to humble themselves in front of them. Although there were quite a few of the desolate immortals that had managed to attain to the Nine Immortal Positioning in the years to come but the three were never surpassed. No one had ever evolved their desolate profound force to their level. It was as though destiny had picked them to be the first of the immortals.


    The three of them seemed destined to be bitter rivals and soon the desolate immortals were split into three main factions after these three Great Gods.


    The Great God Pangu''s faction was the least popular and the weakest camp. It was because the Great Universal Force that he had evolved was a tranquil force that was different from the destructive desolate forces. Eventually all the opposing powerful desolate immortals had ganged up against the Great God Pangu and had vanquished him from the Material Realm.


    But the Great God Pangu soon made a comeback with the aid of the Oracle Goddess Fan Tian of the Oracle Clan. Or rather, the Oracle Goddess Fan Tian had betrayed the Oracle Citadel in her bid to assist the Great God Pangu, giving to him the Fantian Sovereign Sword and the greatest secret of the Desolate Immortal Race, the Stellar Sanctuary from the Great Beyond.


    With the Fantian Sovereign Sword which was the most powerful immortal sword in the Material Realm and the secrets of the Stellar Sanctuary, the Great God Pangu had furthered evolved his Great Universal Force into the Universal Creation Force which become the most powerful profound force in the entire Material Realm.


    This was not simply just the most powerful profound force but it was also an advancement of divinity that allowed him to reach the forbidden Tenth Immortal Positioning that no immortals had ever reached before. This was the realm of beyond and the secret key to the Great Beyond Realm, one of the Six Universe Realms.


    Therefore the Great God Pangu used the great profound force of the beyond to banish most of the desolate immortals to the Desolate Realm, split the Material Realm which was the homeland of the Desolate Immortals into the current Three Known Realms that were to be known later as the Mundane Lower Realm, Celestial Middle Realm and the Immortal Upper Realm.


    The Mundane Lower Realm was supposed to be place where mortal cultivators cultivated the profound force in order to ascend as Golden Celestials to the Celestial Middle Realm and the Celestial Middle Realm was supposed to the place where Golden Celestials cultivated to be true immortals.


    As for the Immortal Realm, it was the dwelling place of the original desolate immortals and the Pangu Immortals.


    As a safeguard to prevent future immortals from cultivating the desolate force, the Great God Pangu had secretly removed all the desolate force from the Immortal Realm. Because of the absence of the desolate profound force, the Pangu Immortals could only cultivate the Universal Force.


    The first generation of the Pangu Immortals was extremely powerful and there were 33 of them, each possessing remnants of the Great Universal Force of the Great God Pangu. They were followed by the second generation of the Pangu and Fantian Immortals which were split into the Zen Immortals and the Arhat Immortals respectively.


    The profound strength to banish the Desolate Immortals from the Material Realm, the sundering of the Martial Realm into the Three Known Realms and the life-giving seeds to nurture 33 Heavenly Immortals to protect the Immortal Realm from future threats of the Desolate Immortals had a heavy price to be pay. It completely drained the Great God Pangu of his life-energies and he had passed away.


    This piece of immortal history was not known to the celestials but it was being kept alive by the Desolate Immortals who had a burning desire to return to their homeland. Although the powers of beyond were powerful but it could only keep the Ancient Fortress of the Desolate Immortals from returning to the Immortal Realm for only ten thousand years.


    Without the Great God Pangu and the absence of the Great Goddess Fantian, the Desolate Immortals felt that they could easily sweep into the Immortal Realm. After all, the Great Rift Lord Xuan Yuan and the World Ruler Fu Xi were peaked Ninth Positioning Immortals and were nearly impossible to defeat.


    At the same time the 33 Heavenly Immortals of the Immortal Realm had failed to cultivate and were involved in an immortal war to oust the Jade Emperor of the Immortal Realm, the first immortal ruler of the immortal realm and for a long time the immortal realm was chaotic.


    The Great Goddess Fan Tian who was in seclusion in the Great Beyond Realm was forced to intervene and to use her profound life force to suppress the 33 Heavenly Immortals. Because these 33 Heavenly Immortals all possessed the Great Universal Force, it cost the Great Goddess Fan Tian her life.


    Before the Great Goddess Fan Tian passed on, she scouted the entire Immortal Realm for the purest soul force and made it into the image of the immortals. This pure soul force was to be her future successor and she had called her the Heaveness, the future divine ruler of the Three Known Realms. With that she had cast the Heaveness into the lower realm. The lower realm was a place where the soul could be tempered by the many divine tribulations and the Heaveness had to first overcome her divine tribulations to find her destiny.


    The Great Goddess Fantian had an immortal soul and knew that her soul would be reincarnated. But she had no hope that her soul would be united with her immortal body because it was nearly impossible for the reincarnated souls to have their past memories. Moreover, what was the possibility of a reincarnated soul to re-cultivate into an immortal from a mortal? One in a 100 billion?


    That was why she had picked the Heaveness as her successor.


    Unknown to the Great Goddess Fantian, her reincarnated soul had to endure three painful reincarnated cycles, missing the reincarnated Great God Pangu each time.


    It was only when she was Shui Yixian and the Great God Pangu was Yi Ping that they finally had a chance to meet once more. Together, they cultivate together from mortals to golden celestials and from golden celestials to immortals before they realized that they had actually met in their three previous past lives which had however ended in tragic for them.


    As for the Immortal Realm, one of the most powerful Great Goddess Celestial Alice had succeeded the Jade Emperor to become the next Immortal Ruler of the Immortal Realm but not before a prolong war with the Arhat Immortals.


    The Great Goddess Celestial Alice had defeated most of her Zen Immortal and Arhat Immortal rivals and she would continue to rule the Immortal Realm until the Joyful Goddess Lele became the third Immortal Ruler.


    And who was Fan Yuqin?


    Fan Yuqin was the daughter of Yi Ping and Shui Yixian or rather she was the goddess daughter of the Great God Pangu and the Great Goddess Fantian.


    Her birth was a true miracle in the Three Known Realms because both her parents were Tenth Positioning Immortals, an immortal positioning that none could reach because it required 99 extreme tragic divine tribulations that may span several reincarnations. The higher the cultivation level of the cultivator, the more impossible it was for the cultivators to have any children.


    Unlike most immortals that only had the Universal Force, Fan Yuqin had inherited the Universal Creation Force from her two parents.


    The profound force of the Pangu immortal cultivators could be classified into the Universal Force, Great Universal Force and the Universal Creation Force.


    Therefore it was not wrong to say that her profound force was two notches purer than most of the immortals.


    Compared to most of the golden celestials in the Celestial Realm who cultivated the celestial profound force, Fan Yuqin''s profound force was three notches purer than them.


    Therefore it was not wrong to say that Fan Yuqin''s profound strength had an extremely deep foundation; she could even transform divine pills into a higher grade with her Universal Creation Force and tempered divine weapons into a higher grade if she chooses to do so.


    Her existence was a freak of nature and unlikely to have another.


    She was born in the Celestial Realm because the Mundane Realm was sealed by her parents and there was now no way for anyone to cultivate from the Mundane Lower Realm to the Celestial Middle Realm now.


    Because of the sealing of the Mundane Realm, the Celestial Middle Realm was now the cultivation ground of both mortals and celestial cultivators. And because of this reason, the celestial practice had been revised since the times of Yi Ping and Shui Yixian to allow for a more flexible cultivation progression.


    At the same time, the children of the immortals were sent to the Celestial Middle Realm for them to cultivate and to receive the tempering of the divine lightning. Without the tempering of the divine lightning, the cultivators'' profound force could never advance into the Universal Force for them to cultivate as Immortals.


    That was why Fan Yuqin was in the Celestial Middle Realm. To her, the Nine Celestial Fraternity was her homeland. She was also a monstrous genius and quickly advanced to the seventh realm saintess at only 18 of age.


    One year that had passed in the Immortal Realm was actually ten years in the Celestial Realm. One year in the Celestial Realm was actually ten years in the Mundane Realm.


    In a blink of an eye for the Immortals, Fan Yuqin had quickly grown up and she knew that she was unique. Therefore she did many wild things in her youth and had almost killed herself along the way. As a matter of fact, she had even become a super villainess the Golden Mask Devil Goddess and was thought to be killed by her enemies.


    After that, she had learnt to control her wild nature and had quietly spent her time in sharing gossips instead of conflicts, changing her name to Fan Yuqing along the way.


    But all these were not why Yue Lingxi was startled when she saw the golden lotus.


    It was because Yue Lingxi had realized that Qin Keqin had absorbed a powerful celestial core array into her profound force and was rendered speechless.


    Any celestial or immortal array in order for it to form into a profound core array required hundreds and even thousands of years, an accumulation of countless number of cultivators'' profound energies to maintain and to refine.


    From the look of Qin keqin''s artefact core array, it seemed that she had completed refined it into her own profound aura and the suppression effect was so pronounced that Yue Lingxi was forced to raise her profound desolate aura to her zenith in order to withstand against it.


    This array core that Qin Keqin had refined was actually the Celestial Annihilation Array, an extremely well known celestial array that could kill golden celestials.


    This was actually a most ridiculous thing that had happened!


    Yue Lingxi had been trying to absorb the Horizon of the Heavens and she would need thousands of years to refine it and it was only a partial refine. Without the Major Annihilating Force, she could not even make any advancement into it.


    Qin Keqin said coolly, "You must know that I am not easy to beat either."


    Yue Lingxi asked again, this time her voice seemed to have faltered a little. "Who are you again? Your cultivation realm seems to¡­exceed the seventh realm."


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "I really wish I can step into the immortal positioning realm! But I am just a mere celestial practitioner. Before I ascend, I hope to experience the married life first!"


    Yue Lingxi: ¡­


    "You know. I may even be a more badass than you." Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and she was smiling. "I am actually a super villainess¡­"

 171 Battle of the Titans 2

    Yue Lingxi smiled coldly, "You know what. I''ve actually know the weakness of your Absolute Defense Skill. Although it is formidable but it is largely dependable on the practitioner''s profound strength. You may be able to deflect my unique technique earlier but once I''ve combined it with my Horizon of the Heavens, you will be helpless."


    She curled a smile as she added, "And the main weakness of your Absolute Defense Skill is that it is not usable with any weapons. So are you going to use your flute or your bare hands against me?"


    Qin Keqin smiled, "Make a guess." But inside her, she was cursing. "She really knows my secret skill inside out."


    Yue Lingxi said coolly, "However, I will give you an option. Surrender to me the Tranquil Mysteries Flute and I will let you off. This, I will give you the promise in the name of the Great Beyond."


    Qin Keqin swung her flute and replied, "I refuse you." With that her white flute was suddenly echoing with an enchanting tune and faint rainbow hues were seen enveloping around it.


    Yue Lingxi was secretly startled. "She has divine harmonized with the Tranquil Mysteries Flute?! Is it possible?"


    All Divine weapons had a spirit entity which was called the soul of the divine weapon. When a practitioner reached oneness with the divine sword, they were be able to divine harmonize with their divine swords and the effectiveness profound power of the divine weapon would be unleashed to its full potential.


    However, this was not easy to accomplish and required a long time to do so. Many took forever. Many celestial clans had a divine sword for generations and it was common for the owner of the divine sword to fail to divine harmonize with it.


    This Tranquil Masteries Flute was a sacred heritage artefact of the Chaos Mysteries Citadel and other than the Desolate Lords of the Chaos Mysteries Citadel, it was almost impossible to get the Tranquil Mysteries Flute to acknowledge anyone else to be its true owner. In order to divine harmonize it, this only mean that Qin Keqin was now the true owner of the Tranquil Mysteries Flute and it was impossible to seize it.


    Qin Keqin had surprised her once again.


    Yue Lingxi hummed coldly, "I don''t believe that such a freak such as you will actually exist. No matter, today will be the day of your demise. I am a desolate immortal while you are just a mere seventh realm expert. Even though your profound force may be purer than most but my true cultivation level and realm is actually still above you. You are foolish to engage me."


    With that she had raised the Horizon of the Heavens as she whispered the secret desolate language of power, "Gathering Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword."


    As she whispered, her desolate aura began to funnel her desolate energies into a phantom that was shaped like a demonic wolf that was leaping upon her target."


    Qin Keqin did not dare to be careless. She had to use her most powerful technique now.


    Immediately she had raised her flute high up as she manifold the profound power of her golden lotus divine aura to defend against the incoming phantom demonic wolf.


    "Heavens as One?" Yue Lingxi chuckled. "Even if you can merge your mind, soul and weapon as one heaven but against my Horizon of the Heavens and my ultrapowerful power technique, it is completely futile."


    Qin Keqin shouted, "Heavens as One!"


    Indeed just as Yue Lingxi had predicted, she was indeed using her Heavens as One.


    But all of a sudden Qin Keqin''s other hand was glowing golden as she added, "Mystic Stratosphere!" A beam of white had formed from her profound energies and merged with her Heavens as One to reform into a column of white light.


    "Go!" Qin Keqin had used all her remaining strength to swing her upright flute into the rushing energies of the phantom demonic wolf.


    The eyes of Yue Lingxi''s were wide-opened, "Isn''t this the Goddess Celestial Alice''s secret unique technique? How did she learn it?!"


    As the two profound energies collided, the space around them exploded thunderous.


    Shen Yufeng was forced to take more than twenty steps back by the colliding shockwave. All she could see was a beam of white light had survived the collision and had completely dissipated the phantom demonic wolf. This beam of white light continued on its course before hitting Yue Lingxi violently, sending her to fly off and landing flat on the ground.


    Yue Lingxi muttered weakly, "How did¡­she¡­learn the Mystic Stratosphere¡­"


    The Mystic Stratosphere was the ultimate unique profound art of the Great Goddess Alice aka the Goddess Celestial Alice. She was the second divine emperor of the Immortal Realm after the Jade Emperor.


    Qin Keqin panted breathlessly as she saw that her sword energies had won over her opponent''s energy technique. If her opponent had divine harmonized with her divine weapon then she may not be able to overcome her.


    In this battle, she had used up all her hidden cards, forcing her to use up all her most powerful secret skills and also more than half of her profound strength. If she still cannot overcome Yue Lingxi then she really did not know what to do anymore.


    Unlike Yue Lingxi who was completely fluent in her unique energy skill and could use it many times more, she was at a disadvantage. Only by overcoming Yue Lingxi''s unique energy skill and delivering a fatal strike back at her, would she be able to exhaust Yue Lingxi''s profound strength.


    Yue Lingxi was struggling to stand but her body was trembling so hard that she could muster no strength. If she was not a desolate immortal with the perfect golden body then she would have been ripped completely apart by the Mystic Stratosphere.


    At the same time, Qin Keqin''s Mystic Stratosphere was not as powerful as the one used by the Great Goddess Alice.


    Yue Lingxi could only say bitterly, "How did you learn so many profound skills of the immortals¡­"


    Qin Keqin replied coolly as she inhaled deeply to stabilize her profound energies, "I''m not going to tell you."


    When she was growing up, she had many Celestial Teachers such as the Heaveness, the Heavenly Temptress and the Goddess Celestial Alice. She was eight year old when she was given the choice of learning the Goddess Celestial Alice''s Mystic Stratosphere or the Heavenly Temptress'' Invincible Divine Force.


    She had actually wanted to pick both but was told that she could only pick one as the attributes of the profound techniques were different. The Invincible Divine Force was a balance attribute profound force and was largely defensive while the Mystic Stratosphere was a negative attribute profound force.


    After many days of indecisiveness, she had finally picked the Mystic Stratosphere profound force to cultivate as her own profound strength.


    Because of the shared negative attribute of the Divine Emerald Skill and the Mystic Stratosphere, her mother consort had also taught her to cultivate the Divine Emerald Skill which was her unique skill.


    Qin Keqin muttered softly, "This ends now for you. You shouldn''t be in the Celestial Realm. This is my home. Be gone."


    She had raised her white flute and imbued it with all her martial power. With Yue Lingxi on the ground now, her next strike would not miss.


    As she dashed forward to land a fatal strike against Yue Lingxi, there was a disturbance in the time and space between them.


    Qin Keqin was startled as she immediately took a step back as an intruder had suddenly gatecrashed into this sealed space.


    "Who is this intruder?"


    Even Shen Yufeng was startled that an external force was gatecrashing into the sealed space.


    There was a dark distortion and immediately a handsome and tall man had suddenly stepped forward. His appearance startled Qin Keqin, Shen Yufeng and Yue Lingxi.


    It was because he was Lu Qingyun!


    Lu Qingyun''s eyes were closed and he seemed to be in a trance. But behind him was a faint golden flame.


    Qin Keqin was startled as she gasped, "Little Yan''Er, why are you here? And why are you controlling my Yun''Er body?"


    Indeed it was Yan''Er as she manifested herself through the faint golden flame aura. "Yan''Er does not know what is happening¡­when Yan''Er opens my eyes, I am already here¡­"


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had raised his left hand toward Yue Lingxi as he muttered quietly, "This is mine." With that the Horizon of the Heavens had suddenly left the shocked Yue Lingxi''s hand and flew into Lu Qingyun''s hand!


    Even Qin Keqin was astonished as she immediately flashed forward to try to seize the Horizon of the Heavens. This Horizon of the Heavens must never be in the hands of the desolate cultivators. This would leave the fate of the Three Known Realm hanging in despair.


    Lu Qingyun''s other hand had immediately raised a profound wall of annihilating fire as Qin Keqin flashed into it.


    Qin Keqin could feel her profound aura was being wasted away as she quickly stepped away from the wall of energy fire with a startled look, "Yun''Er, is this really you?"


    She had turned ashen because the wall of annihilating fire was the Great Annihilating Force.


    Even Yue Lingxi was shocked because she could suddenly hear the singing hum of the Horizon of the Heavens as it divine harmonized with Lu Qingyun.


    "This!!! How is it possible? He has stolen my Horizon of the Heavens and has immediately become its owner?! And this wall of pure desolate energies is the major annihilation force¡­"


    Yue Lingxi could only call it the major annihilation force because she could not believe that Lu Qingyun could possess the great annihilation force and thought that it was because he was a major annihilation force practitioner.


    The Horizon of the Heavens glowed and hummed briefly before it disappeared into the profound aura of Lu Qingyun.


    This shocked Qin Keqin and Yue Lingxi because the Horizon of the Heavens had not disappeared into any spatial storage space but it was melting into Lu Qingyun''s spiritual sea and becoming one with him!


    Yan''Er looked sheepish and she cried out, "Big Sister Keqin, this isn''t Yan''Er doing. I don''t know what it is happening¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled bitterly. She knew what was happening. It was the sub-consciousness of Lu Qingyun that was moving his body. Earlier when they had clashed together in the celestial array, the profound energies of the Horizon of the Heavens must have awakened the sub-consciousness of Lu Qingyun somehow and it was attracted to the Horizon of the Heavens.


    Yue Lingxi may not know that Lu Qingyun was actually the Great Lord Xuan Yuan''s reincarnation but she had actually known. Moreover she had also known that the Horizon of the Heavens had a tenth of the divine power of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan.


    Qin Keqin was wondering if she was the one that had screwed this up. It was because she had redirected all the desolate forces within Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea into Yan''Er. By doing so, she may have unwittingly strengthened Lu Qingyun''s sub-consciousness.


    Lu Qingyun had turned to look at Qin Keqin and his right hand was now raised.


    Yan''Er shouted, "Big Sister, Master is attacking you. Run!"


    Qin Keqin smiled bitterly as she remained immobilized. It was because the wall of annihilating fire had exhausted her remaining profound strength. Now she really regretted not learning the Invincible Divine Force or else she would be immune to the annihilating fire.


    She said melancholy, "Yun''Er, this is your Keqin. Do you really want to hurt me? I am not your enemy."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was trembling and he had halted his hand.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Keqin¡­Keqin don''t leave me¡­I miss you¡­"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "I won''t leave you silly. I am always with you."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Keqin, I want to kiss you¡­.I should have removed your clothes when we are in bed together at the inn¡­"


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    She immediately said aloud so that Shen Yufeng and Yue Lingxi could hear, "This part is not real. He is just being delirium."


    All of a sudden there was a large bang as Yue Lingxi had suddenly ripped through the seal space with her remaining desolate strength and had made her escape.


    Qin Keqin was panicky, "She has escaped¡­"


    Shen Yufeng had regained her composure and she said quietly to Qin Keqin, "I think that Lu Qingyun is still in a trance. Let me end the trial and he will wake up."


    Qin Keqin nodded weakly as she took another glance at Lu Qingyun. "Did I accidentally create a monster for the Immortal Realm? I have better not let anyone knows."


    She took a quiet look at Yan''Er who was still hovering panicky around Lu Qingyun as she panicky said, "Master, wake up please! Do you know that you have almost hurt Big Sister Keqin¡­"


    "Yan''Er¡­" Qin Keqin muttered.


    Every year, she would make a lonely trip to the vicinity New Empyrean City in a hope to find the new reincarnation of Dongfang Jun. She did not care for the Great Lord Xuan Yuan because she had never met him before. It was only Dongfang Jun that she loves.


    One day while traveling to New Empyrean City, a most unusual thing had happened and it was the suddenly appearance of a powerful ninth rank desolate golden roc. For such a monster to appear above the desolate mists, it would always mean a total disaster for the populace that was in the vicinity. And that was why she had acted.


    But now, she had suddenly realized why the ninth rank golden roc had suddenly appeared. All ninth rank desolate, devious and divine beasts have something in common and it was an innate desire to cultivate into a true immortal beast.


    That ninth rank golden roc was at the peak of its cultivation and it was attracted to the surface by an unknown calling. And the person that was the golden roc had sensed was Lu Qingyun.


    Qin Keqin muttered, "So it isn''t a coincidence that Yan''Er wakes up as a sentient spirit in Yun''Er spiritual sea. It is because the golden roc itself desires it¡­"


    She added with a resolve in her heart, "I guess that I have to feed him more of the starforge substances. Hopefully Yun''Er does not get too much of an overdose from it. I''ve been giving a little too much to him lately."


    With a soft sigh, she had turned to smiled weak at Shen Yufeng, "Please help me to keep this matter a complete secret. Don''t let anyone knows, including Feng Minyue."


    Shen Yufeng nodded and said nervously, "I will."


    Feng Minyue was shaking her head lightly in the hideout. It was because she had certainly heard Qin Keqin. The transmission was never turned off. "Don''t let me know, you say?"

 172 The End of the Tournament 1

    The Three-Destinies Old Man was watching the imagery below intently and he was equally curious about the ''surprise'' that Shen Yufeng had mentioned to the competitors.


    Xuan Danfeng said unhappily, "Look at you. You are an old man already and you are still so excited about a tournament that is meant for the young cultivators? Why don''t you look at me instead?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man frowned lightly as he turned to look at her, "Precisely because I am old that I am not interested in young beauties like you."


    Xuan Danfeng: ¡­


    "You know. Do you think that I do not know that you have been staring at me?" She suddenly chuckled.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was stammering all of a sudden, "Of course not! You keep talking to me. Of course I have to return a look or two to you or you may think that I am being rude."


    "Oh really?" Xuan Danfeng laughed softly.


    While they were talking, there was an invisible distortion below the sky platform; it was Yue Lingxi and she had concealed herself with her profound aura as she quickly flashed out of sight.


    Normally a seventh realm expert like Xuan Danfeng would notice the tiny distortion and the Three-Destinies Old Man was also no exception. However, as they were currently chatting, they had failed to notice the tiny distortion in the trial celestial array.


    There were two more tiny distortions as Shen Yufeng and Qin Keqin returned quietly to their seats.


    Shen Yufeng asked, "Great Benefactor, are you alright?"


    Qin Keqin smiled weakly, "This is just a little injury. Don''t let my Yun''Er knows."


    Shen Yufeng sighed softly. Qin Keqin profound strength was of the negative attribute while the annihilating fire was of the positive attribute. These two attributes had always opposed each other. Earlier when Qin Keqin was in her weakened state, her body had been afflicted by the annihilating fire and her profound veins were injured.


    To think that the one that had injured the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing was actually Lu Qingyun¡­


    Qin Keqin forced herself to look casual while repeating softly to Shen Yufeng, "Don''t let him know that he has injured me. It is not him¡­"


    With another soft sigh, Shen Yufeng nodded.


    She quickly regained her composure as she looked at the anticipating crowd before she put on an alluring smile as her voice echoed. "I did promise you all a surprise, am I right?"


    She raised her hand as she dispelled the celestial array and the survivors had returned to the sky platform below.


    At the same time, more than ten thousands of the ''dead cultivators'' were also back at the sky platform. The ''dead cultivators'' were in a state of daze as they found themselves back at the sky platform once again. Their curious gazes were soon upon the one hundred cultivators that had survived the trials.


    "We are back at the sky platform now¡­"


    "So it means that the trials have ended¡­"


    "So who are the top celestials that have completed the trials?"


    "They are over there¡­"


    Nangong Yu nearly fainted from shock when he saw that Lu Qingyun was among the one hundred cultivators that had completed the trial. He nearly spurted blood on the spot!


    Leng Qiuyue was secretly delighted when she saw that Lu Qingyun had completed the trials. "I know that he will surely be able to complete the trial."


    Ling Chong was quite stunned to see that his sister Ling Xiu was among the one hundred cultivators¡­


    Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Hanyu had a complex look on their faces. Shangguan Furong was among the one hundred cultivators that had survived the trials but where was Yue Lingxi?


    Lu Qingyun had a weird look on him right now. It was because the instant that the trials had ended and he was back to his physical body, he could feel a burning sensation on him but weirdly enough, he also had a smoothing in his soul. Since he was little, he had always felt an affinity to the burning glow of the fire and that was why he was passionate in alchemy.


    "Are you alright?" Ling Xiu asked him curiously when she had suddenly noticed that Lu Qingyun seemed to be thinking about something and his attention was not on the thousands of cultivators that were looking at them.


    Even Qian Jingjing had a curious look on her, "Brother Qingyun, are you well?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I am well. I''m just thinking about something. By the way, thank you for all the help. I am really grateful to all of you."


    Qian Jingjing shyly lowered her eyes, "I should be the one that ought to say thank you. Without you, I probably won''t be able to pass the full tournament trials."


    Ling Xiu nodded, "Same here. Brother Qingyun, your Sister Ling Xiu will never forget what you have done for me."


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "This is really nothing to put in your hearts. We are all helping one another. Without the two of you¡­" Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "And Qiuyue, I will never be able to pass the trials as well."


    Qian Jingjing pursed her lips, "So this is parting time now¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "We will still be seeing one another in a month''s time at the Moon Demon Forest."


    "I have almost forgotten about that!" Qian Jingjing was suddenly spirited again as she laughed softly. "I hope that we may still have a chance to be in the same party."


    Ling Xiu interrupted shyly, "I hope so too."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Let''s hope so. We have a nice synergy with one another."


    His eyes were looking up the stage where Qin Keqin was as he thought, "Keqin, did you see my performance earlier? I am no longer the good-for-nothing cultivator now."


    At this moment, Shen Yufeng''s beautiful voice could be heard laughing in the ears of everyone. "I''ve actually wanted to offer myself to the trial heroes but the Heavenly Fragrance Villa has a strict rule about relationships. Therefore the surprise won''t be about me, am I right?"


    Everyone: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun was muttering as he sighed softly, "She is indeed so humorous."


    "Therefore the surprise will be about you and not me." Shen Yufeng laughed.


    Everyone was leaning closely with their ears, afraid to miss out what this surprise was about.


    "One of you here will be taken in to be my core prot¨¦g¨¦ for your outstanding performance. This is a pleasant surprise for the lucky person and you should all be glad for that person as well."


    All of a sudden the thousands of cultivators at the tournament had a dark look and they were secretly cursing her.


    There were thousands of them and Shen Yufeng was choosing only one core prot¨¦g¨¦. This was a joke on them!


    The most likely candidate would be among the one hundred cultivators that had survived.


    The men naturally had the most disappointed look because the Heavenly Fragrance Villa would never take in a male prot¨¦g¨¦. Men were forbidden to enter into the inner palaces of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    Many of the female cultivators were all looking at one another.


    Was it Gongsun Ya, Fairy Ling Xiu, Shangguan Furong or Qian Jingjing? The four of them looked the most promising but many were also hopeful.


    Shen Yufeng smiled as she announced, "Leng Qiuyue of the Heavens Ridge Villa, I pick you to be my core prot¨¦g¨¦. Will you accept me as your master and celestial teacher from now onward?"


    During the trial, Shen Yufeng had observed that Leng Qiuyue''s natural reaction was really quick and that her cultivation foundation was really startling. That was why she had the intention to groom her into her core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    Everyone was startled, including Leng Qiuyue.


    The thousands of cultivators from the mountain stages and at the sky platform were all looking at Leng Qiuyue. Everyone was now muttering and was talking at the same time.


    Even the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all startled by this sudden announcement.


    Ouyang Xue had a look of disbelief on her as her one time rival had the honor of joining the Heavenly Fragrance Villa as a core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    Qin Keqin was blinking her eyes as she looked at Shen Yufeng, "Are you sure about it?"


    The reason why most of the celestials had startled was because Leng Qiuyue was not part of the hundred cultivators that had survived and she had in fact failed during the middle of the trial.


    Therefore when her name was suddenly called, Leng Qiuyue had a stunned look. She looked up to Shen Yufeng and to the direction of Shi Guanyin her master.


    Shi Guanyin nodded lightly and was smiling to her.


    Leng Qiuyue turned to look in the direction of Lu Qingyun and had hesitated. It was because if she choosed to be a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, this means that she would have to leave the Heavens Ridge Villa and she would not be seeing Lu Qingyun again.


    Leng Qiuyue was saying bitterly to herself, "Isn''t this my dream to join the Patriarch Clan one day? Now that I have the chance, why am I hesitating?"


    "Senior brother''s cultivation is advancing faster than I. If I stay in the Heavens Ridge Villa, he will surely shake me far behind and I will have no hope of ever catching up with him. I do want to be a golden celestial and if I stay in the Heavens Ridge Villa, I don''t know if it is possible."


    With a firm voice and raising her hands to bow at the same time, "Your prot¨¦g¨¦ Qiuyue greets my Master Shen."


    Lu Qingyun had a blank look on him as he muttered to himself, "Qiuyue is leaving and so is Xingyuan¡­"


    Over the past few months, he had actually regarded them as his friends from the bottom of his heart. There was a sense of loss when he had thought that they were actually leaving for good and he could not describe this feeling of loss. This was the second time that he had felt in this manner. The first time was when his old master had passed away.


    Shen Yufeng chuckled softly, "Good!"


    With another chuckle, she added. "Naturally that is not the only surprise that I have for all the victorious competitors. The real surprise will be at the Moon Demon Forest. However as the place is dangerous, please say your proper farewell first before you come. Don''t say I''ve never warn you."


    All one hundred of the victorious cultivators, including Lu Qingyun did not know whether to laugh or cry when they had heard her humorous remark.


    Some of them were thinking, "Is she serious?"


    "She sounds serious¡­"


    "I have got a very bad feeling about this¡­"


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "The real trial is at the Moon Demon Forest. So you have better prepared well. If you don''t want the Divine Profound Pill, you can choose not to come. There won''t be another such a good opportunity to obtain the Divine Profound Pill next time."


    Qin Keqin was looking at her quietly as she pondered, "This is too fishy. There must be something that is going on there. I must ask her later¡­"


    All of a sudden Shen Yufeng''s profound aura had turned extremely cold as she swept her gaze over to the sky platform below. She said with a soft yet cold and audible echo that could be heard by everyone, "Qiuxiang Huan, I will like to have a little word with you."


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled and she had immediately turned ashen¡­


    Ling Chong was also startled as he quickly walked to her, "Huan, what is going on?"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled weakly, "Don''t ask please."

 173 The End of the Tournament 2

    The Three-Destinies Old Man was now speeding through the mountain vicinities to search for ''Yue Lingling''. It was because he had suddenly realized there was no sight of her anywhere when the tournament had ended.


    "How did she manage to sneak away? She is really an escape artist¡­"


    "Alas, I must be distracted by that Xuan Xiaofeng. She keeps talking nonstop¡­"


    "Is she in cahoots with Yue Lingling?!"


    He was suddenly frowning. They were too cunning!


    He had suddenly realized that he had fallen into their honey trap and that Xuan Xiaofeng was there to distract him. It was impossible for a mysterious seventh realm expert to appear in this place. Why did he not think of that?


    Now it was already too late.


    "Xuan Xiaofeng, if I see you again I will surely¡­"


    "What? You are missing me already?" It was the beautiful chuckle of Xuan Danfeng as she had made her way to him. "For an old man, you sure can really run fast."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was perplexed. She had actually dared to appear in front of him?!


    If he did not torture her or to force her to tell him the whereabouts of Yue Lingxi, he was not the Great God Yi Ping!


    So he said coldly, "You have actually dared to show your face in front of me."


    Xuan Danfeng smiled as she asked curiously, "Is there something wrong with my face? You have sped off so hastily so I have a hard time trying to catch up with you. You know, my lightless movement skill isn''t weak but yours are much more superior to me. How is it even possible?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    She was still faking in front of him?!


    So he said rudely, "I am looking for that earlier Yue Lingling. If it is not for you, she will not have escaped. If I don''t teach you a lesson then you will think that I am a fool."


    Xuan Danfeng: ???


    "What do you mean?" Xuan Danfeng asked curiously. "So you like that Maiden Yue Lingling and you are blaming me now for losing sight of her?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said weakly, "Who says I like that Maiden Yue Lingling? You are spurting rubbish."


    "Then why is your face so red?"


    "Have you forgotten that we have been drinking? You really think that I am a young man that will actually flush?" The Three-Destinies Old Man growled.


    "It is no wonder why you are so focused on watching the tournament. It is because you are interested in her." Xuan Danfeng said with an annoyed look.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said bitterly, "She may be an enemy of mine. I need to see her face."


    "You are just cooking an excuse to go after her, am I right?" Xuan Danfeng said coldly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    Yue Lingxi had the Horizon of the Heavens. This desolate immortal artefact must not fall into the wrong hands or it would be a calamity for the Celestial Realm and even the Immortal Realm. Therefore he had to find the Horizon of the Heavens.


    To him, Yue Lingxi was a lower priority threat then the Horizon of the Heavens now.


    "I think that you are in cahoots with her, right? Or you won''t appear so conveniently." The Three-Destinies Old Man said coldly as he stared at Xuan Danfeng.


    Xuan Danfeng was startled, "What are you talking about? You have been babbling about things that I don''t understand. If you don''t like me, you don''t have to say so many nasty things to me. I get it now. You don''t like me. Do you know that I was so worried when you had suddenly stormed off earlier just like that?"


    With a soft huff, Xuan Danfeng had stormed off.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was startled as he stammered, "Not that¡­I was talking about my enemy and not you¡­wait¡­"


    "Xiaofeng, please wait¡­hear me out first¡­"


    But Xuan Danfeng was already miles already in a few blinks of an eye and she had vanished into the mountains.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man began to look left and right. Left was to continue to search for Yue Lingling while right was to look for Xuan Xiaofeng.


    In the end, he found himself taking a step to the right¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    In the audience hall of the Heavens Ridge Villa, a group of cultivators were having a closed-door meeting.


    Shen Yufeng was now looking coldly at Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Mei while Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun were also in the hall.


    Behind Shen Yufeng were Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng.


    Shen Yufeng said coldly, "Qiuxiang Mei, Qiuxiang Huan. How dare you cheat in the trial tournament!"


    She lifted her finger at Qiuxiang Huan, "You are actually a golden celestial and yet you are pretending to be otherwise."


    Qiuxiang Huan had turned pale immediately as she hastily bowed to her knees as she stammered, "I am wrong. Please let my mother consort off. I will take full responsibility for it."


    Shen Yufeng hummed coldly, "Take full responsibility? Can you? In order to win, you have even conspired with a desolate cultivator? Don''t tell me that you really do not know who that Yue Lingxi is?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was stammering, "She is a desolate cultivator?! I¡­really do not know. How is it possible?" She really did not know. Desolate cultivators were too rare in-between in the Nine Celestial Fraternity and mostly existed in the stuff of legends.


    "The punishment for conspiring with a desolate cultivator is the extermination of your entire clan." Shen Yufeng said coldly.


    When she had said that, even Qiuxiang Mei had fallen to her knees and Qiuxiang Huan had almost fainted on the spot.


    Qiuxiang Huan took a pleading look at Shen Yufeng before she pointed a finger at Lu Qingyun, "Then what about him? Yue Lingxi is his sister."


    Lu Qingyun had almost forgotten about it and he was looking sheepish.


    Shen Yufeng took a secret look at Lu Qingyun as she thought, "Actually Lu Qingyun is also a desolate cultivator but I''ve promised the Great Saintess Fan to keep it a secret¡­"


    So she said coldly, "That is another matter. As for him, I will deal with him later. But for you and your Qiuxiang Clan, your punishment is death."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled weakly, "I guess that this is what I have deserved¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly stepped forward to say, "I believe in her. That Yue Lingxi is really too cunning. We should give Qiuxiang Huan a second chance. Moreover¡­"


    He smiled weakly, "It is true that I have concealed the fact that I had met her in the Red Death Valley." He sighed softly. "If it is not for me, Qiuxiang Huan will not have met her."


    Before coming here, he had told Shen Yufeng and Qin Keqin what had actually happened inside. At that time he did not tell them was because he did not know how to explain such a most bizarre thing that had happened to him.


    Qiuxiang Huan looked quietly at Lu Qingyun and was secretly startled that Lu Qingyun had actually stepped in to plead for her.


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and said to Lu Qingyun, "Did you not hear that Fragrance Herald Shen is going to deal with you later? And you still have the mood to plead for the others?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Then all the more I should plead for her. If the plead is successful then I know that I can also plead later."


    Then with a smile he looked at Qin Keqin, "I hope that master will be able to plead for me later."


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "Fat hope. I will first expel you and let you die alone."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He actually knew that Qin Keqin was only joking with him so he was not worried. With the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing pleading on his behalf, he would be alright. Moreover Shen Yufeng did not seem to be angry with him when he had made his confession about Yue Lingxi.


    All of a sudden a mesmerizing maiden had suddenly walked into the hall and she was Yin Shisi.


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled, "Great Aunt Yin¡­"


    Qiuxiang Mei looked quietly away¡­


    As Yin Shisi walked to Shen Yufeng and Qiuxiang Huan, she had suddenly kneed down in front of Shen Yufeng. "I am here to plead for my niece Qiuxiang Huan and sister-in-law Qiuxiang Mei."


    Both Qiuxiang Huan and Qiuxiang Mei were startled. They had never expected that Yin Shisi would actually be pleading for them today.


    Shen Yufeng looked quietly at Yin Shisi. She had been here in the Heavens Ridge Villa for a month now and they had secretly become friends. She had found out that Yin Shisi was not interested in playacting or the affairs of the celestials. Moreover she also had an easy and friendly temperament.


    Shen Yufeng said quietly, "Shisi, please rise."


    Then she said to Qiuxiang Huan, "On account of Supremacy Yin Shisi and Lu Qingyun, I will close an eye to this. But you must tell me everything and surrender whatever items that Yue Lingxi had given to you. I want the whole truth and if you hide anything, I will be vengeful. If you are truthful to me then I will be merciful to you. Is that understood?"


    Qiuxiang Huan bowed with her head to the ground and said quietly, "I will be truthful¡­"


    Yin Shisi said quietly to her, "Do you know that your future groom Ling Chong is now kneeling outside now for your sake?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled, "He¡­doesn''t need to do that¡­I am the one that have let him down¡­"


    Then she bowed her head on the ground to Yin Shisi, "Great Aunt Yin, thank you for pleading for me today. I know that I can''t have your forgiveness¡­"


    "You are wrong." Yin Shisi said quietly. "You are still my Huan''Er. It is good that you know the error of your ways."


    "Great Aunt Yin¡­" Qiuxiang Huan was trembling and she was tearful. "I¡­am such a badass in the past¡­"


    "No, it isn''t your fault." Yin Shisi took a quiet look at Qiuxiang Mei. "You have a bad mother who only teaches you how to scheme. Your potential shouldn''t be wasted in schemes but to cultivate yourself to a higher realm. But I don''t blame her. It is all my fault. I should not help my brother. If it is not for me, will your mother consort turn up to be such a bad mother to my Huan''Er?"


    Qiuxiang Mei was also trembling and she had broken down in tears, "Yes, I¡­am¡­really not a good mother¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    In the meantime, the Three Destinies Old Man had managed to catch up with Xuan Danfeng and he saw that she was leaning quietly against a tree; her eyes were red and it seemed that she had just cried.


    He quietly appeared before her, "Xiaofeng¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng was startled by his sudden appearance, "Why are you here?"


    She quickly turned her face away, "I must be looking very ugly right now. Don''t look at me now."


    The Three Destinies Old Man sighed softly, "No, you are a very beautiful maiden. Earlier, I am really sorry. I was really hunting for my enemy and I shouldn''t have said such harsh words to you. Will you forgive me?"


    Xuan Danfeng hummed softly, "You have already hurt me twice today. I don''t want to talk to you anymore or you will think that I am so cheap."


    "Hmm, what about if I add in this heavenly wine to share with you? The name of this divine wine is the Happy Spirits Divine Wine and you can''t find it anywhere else." The Three Destinies Old Man said quietly as he uncorked a blue crystal bottle. The aroma that was from the Happy Spirits Divine Wine was really intoxicating.


    Xuan Danfeng took an interested look at the blue crystal bottle and her lips were curling into a smile but she was muttering, "Do you think that I can be bribed with a mere bottle of wine?"


    "Well if you don''t want it then I shall take my leave and I shall drink alone." And the Three Destinies Old Man had really turned around.


    "Wait!" Xuan Danfeng panicky said. "Since you are so sincere, I¡­will accept your apologies."


    "But I want you to put that wine into my hands first. I want to sniff it first to see if it is worthy to forgive you." She quickly added with a fluster look.


    The Three Destinies Old Man laughed softly as he shook his head, "I''ve never met such an interesting maiden like you before. Here, take this."


    Xuan Danfeng grabbed the wine shyly and said, "I must warn you first. If this wine isn''t a good wine, you can forget about my forgiveness."


    The Three Destinies Old Man muttered, "It is surely a good wine or I won''t bring it along with me. I am just afraid that you may call it a bad wine just to blackmail me for more wines. Then I am really at a loss."


    "Fat chance. I will only give you one chance. If it is a bad wine then it is good bye!" Xuan Danfeng laughed cheekily.

 174 Moon Demon Forest’s Secrets

    Qiuxiang Huan had indeed given a true accounting of the events leading to her first meeting of Yue Lingxi and how they had cheated by suppressing their cultivation level with a secret mystic pill of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    She had even surrendered the Sky Heaven Lithe battle garb to Shen Yufeng.


    When she had done with her accounting, Feng Xiaoxiao nodded lightly to Shen Yufeng.


    Unknown to the others, Feng Xiaoxiao was a practitioner of the Listening Heart Intricate Skill and she was capable of listening to the heart beat of the others. When she had nodded to Shen Yufeng, it was an indication that Qiuxiang Huan was indeed telling the truth.


    Shen Yufeng merely said, "It is only because of Supremacy Yin and Lu Qingyun that I am letting you off today. Do you know what you are supposed to do from now on?"


    Qiuxiang Huan was startled that she was spared as she looked at Lu Qingyun and Yin Shisi before she said quietly, "I will make amends to my two benefactors here."


    "Good, you may go now." Shen Yufeng said.


    Qiuxiang Mei also added quietly as she gave a humble bow, "I will also make amends too¡­"


    "Shisi¡­" Qiuxiang Mei muttered, "I hope that you can forgive me."


    Yin Shisi smiled, "We are family so there is nothing to forgive. Let''s go."


    When Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Mei and Yin Shisi had left, Shen Yufeng said to Qin Keqin. "Great Benefactor, why don''t you keep this Sky Heaven Lithe battle garb? I believe that it fits you and it will be terrible if this falls into the wrong hands."


    Qin Keqin nodded as she took the Sky heaven Lithe. "Thank you. This armor is really exquisite. I''m going to love it."


    With a weak smile, she quietly said to Shen Yufeng. "Now you can tell me what is going on in the Moon Demon Forest?"


    Shen Yufeng took a quick look at Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Xuefeng before she said quietly, "This is supposed to be a secret and we are not supposed to tell anyone. But because Great Benefactor is one of us, I guess that we can tell you."


    Lu Qingyun quickly said, "In that case, I will take my leave first."


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "Senior Qingyun is also one of us too. You can stay."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "I am not any senior¡­"


    "Alright then," Shen Yufeng said gravely. With a soft sigh she said quietly. "Several months ago, we chanced upon an ancient ruin deep inside the Moon Demon Forest. This ancient ruin was so old that it pre-dated the history of the ancient celestials."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "How do you know how old it is?"


    "There is a protective celestial array inside this ancient ruin and it defies our current cultivation knowledge. Rather than say that it is a protective celestial array that prevents it, it is more like a celestial array that seems to design to keep the golden celestials out."


    Shen Yufeng stole a glance at Tang Xuefeng as she continued, "This celestial array has a double layer of defense. The first layer is a formidable array that we have never seen the like of it before and it took eight of our most formidable golden celestials to crack it. Or rather, Xuefeng is the genius one that managed to crack it. I will say that in the entire Nine Celestial Realm and even the Celestial Realm, there is no one that can crack celestial arrays like her."


    Tang Xuefeng had a thin flush as she smiled, "I have the assistance of my other sisters. It is a team effort rather than wholly my own."


    "Xuefeng you are too modest." Shen Yufeng looked at her with a proud smile.


    Even Qin Keqin had to admit that Tang Xuefeng was a genius in reading celestial arrays. Even though she could not see the movements of the celestial energies in the celestial array like the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing but she could easily predict how the celestial array works and even warn the rest ahead.


    This was a fact that Qin Keqin had known when she was in the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Tang Xuefeng was truly a genius of the geniuses. There were no celestial arrays and sword formations that she could not forget about taking a look and she would readily offer a solution to dismantle it.


    This group of cultivators from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, Shen Yufeng, Tang Xuefeng, Feng Xiaoxiao were the most brilliant geniuses of the heavenly Fragrance Villa. It was rumored that Shen Yufeng would be the next Heavenly Fragrance Princess and that Tang Xuefeng and Feng Xiaoxiao would also be promoted to the positions of the Right and Left Herald Guardians respectively in the future as well. The Right Herald Guardian and the Left Herald Guardian were second to only the Heavenly Fragrance Princess.


    Even Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were also the young genius prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. They had the most unusual abilities that made them stronger than anyone of their level.


    Qin Keqin did not know the names of the two prot¨¦g¨¦s that were with Shen Yufeng but she knew that they had to be exceptional capable in order to accompany Shen Yufeng on this trip. The other two prot¨¦g¨¦s look extremely young and they kept mostly to themselves.


    She thought, "So Xingyuan and Qiuyue are both going to be a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of Shen Yufeng. They will surely be in good hands. With so many geniuses to guide the two of them, their advancements will surely be faster than my Yun''Er. Maybe I should put him under the demonic training of Minyue and Danfeng? They definitely have more experiences guiding a disciple than I."


    Her brief thoughts were quickly interrupted by Shen Yufeng who added, "But that is only the first layer of defense. The first layer of defense requires the profound strength several golden celestials to create an opening. However the second layer of defense is a little mysterious. No matter how hard we have tried, we are still unable to succeed in breaking into it. It is like it is purposely designed to prevent golden celestials from entering."


    "How should I put it?" Shen Yufeng said softly, "The stronger our profound strength is the harder for us to take a step into the celestial array. Several of our golden celestials are even injured by the celestial array. The higher their realms are, the more severe are their injuries."


    Qin Keqin was startled as she took a look at Lu Qingyun who was also listening with interest.


    "Xuefeng therefore concluded that we need someone who is of a lower realm to enter the celestial array. Indeed she is right. In fact, anyone who is a golden celestial is unable to enter into the ancient ruins."


    Shen Yufeng sighed softly, "This is indeed the most baffling. These two conditions virtually contradict each other. Moreover the one that had created this celestial array must really be a powerful cultivator. We can conclude it by the strength of the celestial array. Even after so many years had passed, the celestial array remains as strong as ever."


    Tang Xuefeng nodded as she said, "Actually I have just recently deciphered the name of this celestial formation. It is called the Pangu Suppressing Arrays."


    She inhaled slowly before adding, "It took me some time to find it out from some ancient records that this Pangu Suppressing Arrays is rumored to have been created by the Ancient Great God Pangu."


    Shen Yufeng said, "We think that this ancient ruin may have the remnants of the heavenly relics and even sacred heavenly relics to make into divine swords. That is why we are willing to pay a heavy price to enter into this ancient ruin."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes before she asked, "But I don''t understand why you need several hundreds of cultivators to enter the ancient ruin with you? Isn''t it like sharing the finding? I will rather have all the loot to myself."


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "That is the most cunning part about this celestial array. The second portion of the celestial array will require the profound strength of many cultivators to fill in order to neutralize it. Although we do want to have all the treasures to ourselves but we simply do not have so many strong cultivators."


    Feng Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Please allow me to interrupt. We will need at least four hundred fourth realm cultivators in order to neutralize the profound power of the celestial array."


    Lu Qingyun was startled. It would only mean that this Pangu Suppressing Arrays is actually an extremely massive celestial array.


    Qin Keqin shrugged her shoulders as she murmured incoherently to herself, "Is there a need to go through all these troubles. Just ask the Great God Pangu himself to neutralize his own Pangu Suppressing Arrays. I am sure my old man will have a way."


    Shen Yufeng looked at Qin Keqin curiously, "Great Benefactor, you are saying something?"


    Even Feng Xiaoxiao, Tang Xuefeng and Lu Qingyun were all looking at her curiously.


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "Nothing. I''m just talking to myself."


    Shen Yufeng quickly said, "I understand that this expedition may be too dangerous for Senior Qingyun. Therefore he can give it a miss but I will still give him the Divine Profound Pill. After all, we may have more than enough cultivators to enter the ancient ruin."


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he said firmly, "Actually I do want to go to the Demon Moon Forest. It is a perfect opportunity for me to prove myself even more. Even though I''ve performed well in the Divine Fragrance Tournament, I shouldn''t have rested on my laurels."


    Qin Keqin, Shen Yufeng, Tang Xuefeng and Feng Xiaoxiao were all looking at one another and they seemed to be thinking of the same thing. When did he perform so well? He was overcoming the trials with the help of Qian Jingjing, Leng Qiuyue and Ling Xiu.


    Lu Qingyun was laughing softly as he stole a glance at Qin Keqin while thinking, "Keqin must be so proud of me now that I am no longer a good-for-nothing cultivator."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Elsewhere outside New Empyrean City, in the deep recess of the great mountains;


    A frail and beautiful maiden had crumbled weakly in a cave.


    She was Yue Lingxi and her injuries were not light.


    Her opponents had used the trial to sap away half of her profound strength before fighting her. If it was not for that, she may not lose to Qin Keqin.


    She was a little perplexed now. Who was this Qin Keqin?


    How did she know the divine skills of her most hated enemies?


    The Absolute Defense Divine Skill of the Great Goddess Fantian was her secret unique divine skill and it was impossible for anyone to know. Moreover there was also the Mystic Stratosphere Skill of the Great Goddess Alice which was only known to her.


    Yue Lingxi was trembling and her heart was aching.


    It was because she had sought the Horizon of the Heavens after a long time and had finally found it. But she was first betrayed by Master Inverse Chaos and then she had it stolen by Lu Qingyun.


    She simply could not believe that Lu Qingyun could take the Horizon of the Heavens from her profound grip and had even divine harmonized with the Horizon of the Heavens.


    "Who are you and what exactly are you¡­Lu Qingyun¡­"


    She was shocked beyond words when she saw that the annihilating fire that was formed from Lu Qingyun''s profound strength could even injured Qin Keqin. How was a fourth realm expert able to injure a seventh realm great saintess?


    At that time she did not stop to think over the situation but had seized the opportunity to flee. She had always had a strong sense of danger sense and knew that if she did not flee first, she may even lose her life.


    She was definitely unable to fight Lu Qingyun with her divine harmonized Horizon of the Heavens in his hand¡­


    "To think that I have really underestimated him. I swear to the Great Beyond that I will pursue him to the ends of the heavens for his treachery against me¡­"


    Slowly she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

 175 Qiuxiang Huan’s Wedding

    The Flying Armament Sect;


    Today was the grand wedding of Young Master Ling Chong of the Flying Armament Sect and Qiuxiang Huan the Young Mistress of the Clear Sky Pavilion.


    This was not an engagement ceremony as originally planned but had become a grand wedding between two of the most prominent young celestials in New Empyrean City.


    The numbers of celestial dignities were in the thousands and today the Flying Armament Sect was bustling.


    All the grand elders of the Heavens Ridge Villa were all presented, including Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Leng Qiuyue.


    When Qiuxiang Huan had made her appearance, almost all the celestials were startled that she was actually a golden celestial and that her golden eyes were beaming beautifully.


    Many were gasping, "Qiuxiang Huan is actually a golden celestial?"


    "When did she attain as a fifth realm expert?"


    "This is most astonishing¡­"


    "Young Master Ling Chong is only a fourth realm cultivator while his consort is a fifth realm cultivator¡­"


    "I envy Ling Chong¡­"


    "I look down on him¡­"


    "Qiuxiang Huan is so beautiful¡­"


    "Alas. One of the top beauties and most elegant maiden is going to get marry today¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan was smiling beautiful and she was accompanied by Ling Chong, Ling Xiu, Shangguan Furong and Qiuxiang Hanyu.


    When they saw Lu Qingyun, they moved hastily to greet him.


    Lu Qingyun was with Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue when they saw Qiuxiang Huan walking hastily to them.


    As Lie Xingyuan had not fully recovered from her injuries, Lu Qingyun had accompanied her and did not mingle with the other celestials. For some unknown reason, Lu Qingyun thought that the other celestials were looking at him with a disdainful look even though he thought that he had shook off his good-for-nothing cultivator image.


    As for Leng Qiuyue, she had always been a lone figure and did not like to mix with anyone. Therefore she was sticking with Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan.


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled warmly as she saw Lu Qingyun, Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue before she greeted, "Brother Qingyun, Maiden Qiuyue. How are you?"


    "Brother Qingyun?" Lu Qingyun muttered.


    "Since you are the brother of my man, naturally you are also my brother now." Qiuxiang Huan smiled. "From now onward, we are one family now."


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "Yes, yes¡­"


    Ling Chong greeted Lu Qingyun excitingly, "Brother Qingyun!"


    Ling Xiu smiled shyly, "Brother Qingyun¡­"


    "Big Brother Qingyun!" Qiuxiang Hanyu chuckled delightfully.


    Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue quickly greeted everyone before Lu Qingyun hastily said, "My master won''t be able to attend the wedding today as she has something on with Fragrance Herald Shen. However, she has a gift for the two of you and she specially asks me to hand it over personally."


    Ling Chong laughed, "I wonder what it is?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I actually have no idea at all."


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled as she looked adorably at Ling Chong, "Why don''t we open it up and we''ll know?"


    After the Divine Fragrance tournament had ended, Qiuxiang Huan had confessed to Ling Chong everything what had expected recently and told him that she did not deserve him. However Ling Chong had blamed it upon himself instead.


    In the end, they had found a soul mate in each other and had changed the engagement to a wedding ceremony instead.


    In their eyes, they had only each other now.


    As Qiuxiang Huan opened the box, she was gasping softly.


    Even Ling Chong was dumbfounded. It was because contained inside the small box were two Divine Profound Pills!


    Even Shangguan Furong, Yin Shisi, Qiuxiang Hanyu, Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue were all equally astonished.


    Qiuxiang Huan quickly closed the box and was gasping, "This is too precious. Sect Leader Qin is too generous¡­"


    Ling Chong was trembling and he could not believe his eyes. He had been wondering for the past few days how he was going to catch up in his cultivation with Qiuxiang Huan now that he knew that she was a golden celestial.


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "My master has always been generous. She says you will be pleased with it." From the fresh sniff of these Divine Profound Pills, Lu Qingyun knew that Qin Keqin must have secretly made these pills herself.


    He secretly sighed, "She has probably failed a dozen of the Divine Profound Pills before succeeding on these two¡­"


    Qiuxiang Huan smiled as she looked at Leng Qiuyue and Lu Qingyun, "So when are the two of you going to follow our footsteps?"


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly startled by her question and he was stammering, "Erm, that isn''t going to happen¡­"


    Even Leng Qiuyue was flushing as she said quickly, "I''m going to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa soon. We won''t meet again¡­"


    But she was interrupted by Qiuxiang Huan with a cheeky smile, "After you have become a golden celestial, you can always quit the Heavenly Fragrance Villa to look for Brother Qingyun."


    Leng Qiuyue was secretly flushing. This was actually her secret plan and no one was supposed to know that she had this intention. It would be a terrible thing if this was leak out and the Heavenly Fragrance Villa would have second thoughts about wasting their celestial resources on her.


    Shangguan Furong laughed softly, "You will really let him go? After you have kissed him in front of everyone that day?"


    Leng Qiuyue: ¡­


    Even Yin Shisi was saying coolly, "If I were you, I will not let him go."


    Leng Qiuyue, Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun quickly cut in with an awkward laugh, "Haha. It isn''t what you think that day is. To be honest, I am actually a good-for-nothing playboy. It is better that the decent maidens keep their distance from me."


    Yin Shisi laughed, "Isn''t it better this way? To be honest, I like honest playboy than a dishonest playboy."


    Lu Qingyun almost fainted on the spot when he had heard her.


    Even Lie Xingyuan was startled by the boldness of her ''junior sister''. She quickly said, "Let''s don''t tease them anymore. We should tease the groom and the bride today instead."


    Ling Chong and Qiuxiang Huan were laughing jovially as they averted their eyes.


    Everyone was secretly looking at their group curiously.


    It was rumored that they were all bitter rivals at one time but now they were all laughing and chatting together?


    And what exactly happened to Qiuxiang Huan after Shen Yufeng had called her for a personal talk?


    And now Qiuxiang Huan was now a golden celestial?


    It was too perplexing to many of the guests!


    Fairy Ling Xiu looked up to Lu Qingyun as she said quietly, "Brother Qingyun, I''m so sorry. I am afraid that I can''t go to the Moon Demon Forest with you." And her eyes had turned red when she had said that.


    Lu Qingyun nodded. It was not unexpected. After all, she was the young mistress of the Flying Armament Sect and not just an ordinary core prot¨¦g¨¦.


    Ling Chong explained, "My sister had actually pleaded with my father to let her go but my father strongly refused to. I hope that Brother Qingyun will not fault my sister for upholding her promise."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Of course I won''t. In fact, I feel better that Sister Ling Xiu is in safe hands."


    He turned to look at Ling Xiu, "This expedition trip to the Moon Demon Forest may be dangerous. So I really hope that you can stay put here. In fact today, I am trying to persuade you not to go."


    Ling Xiu lowered her melancholy glances, "Then I hope that Brother Qingyun you will return safe and sound, alright? I will wait for you. If you don''t return then I will be your widow forever."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Ling Chong, Qiuxiang Huan, Qiuxiang Hanyu, Shangguan Furong, Yin Shisi, Leng Qiuyue, Leng Qiuyue and Leng Xingyuan were all shocked that Ling Xiu would actually make a pledge to remain a widow for Lu Qingyun''s sake.


    Fairy Ling Xi actually liked Lu Qingyun too? These were the thoughts that had flashed in their mind.


    Lu Qingyun did not know what to say to her so he said whatever had come to his mind, "I will surely be back. So do not worry. Even if I don''t, there will always be a better man than me."


    "There are no others that are better than you." Ling Xiu looked at him shy before she excused herself hastily.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    At the Heavens Ridge Villa, Qin Keqin was conversing in secret via the transmission array with Feng Minyue.


    "Did you say that Xuan Danfeng has been missing for a few days now? She has been kidnapped or what?" Qin Keqin asked curiously.


    Feng Minyue shook her head, "She is alright. She is in the city. I saw her with an old man and they were chatting happily."


    Qin Keqin frowned softly, "I didn''t know that she has this type of fetish. Just ignore her. When she is done playing, she will come back."


    Feng Minyue said quietly, "I''m a little worried about her. She is behaving quite strangely lately."


    "She is always strange." Qin Keqin chuckled. "Is there anything else?"


    Feng Minyue said, "This one is more serious and it comes from the Southern Valiant Arms Sect. They are on a verge of uniting the Northern Valiant Arms Sect. Once the unification is completed, the Valiant Arms Divine Realm may turn its attention upon us."


    Qin Keqin nodded slowly, "This new Grandmaster of the Southern Valiant Arms Sect seems extremely ambitious. It is not a secret that he aims to unite the nine patriarch clans into an alliance to fight against the three divine realms."


    "His name is Saint Gao Tianshou. It is rumored that he has a lucky occurrence in the Endless Abyssal Sea and he had attained the sacred saint level as a result. Since then, he had been gathering the fighters of the Nine Celestial Fraternity into his banner. And now, it seems that he is about to unite the Valiant Arms Divine Realm once more into a complete realm." Feng Minyue said.


    "He is really a charismatic leader¡­" Qin Keqin said quietly.


    "Shall we make preparations to go back?" Feng Minyue asked.


    Qin Keqin hesitated for a while before she said quietly, "Let me think about it for a while first."

 176 Xuan Danfeng/ Heaveness 1

    In a tavern somewhere in New Empyrean City;


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was now holding onto Xuan Danfeng who was now in his embrace and they were now lying in bed together.


    Xuan Danfeng looked at the noble looking youthful looking man that was in front of her as she smiled, "You are really not an old man. I''m not wrong about you. Just who are you exactly?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed softly, "I''m sorry. I can''t tell you just yet."


    "Are you bored? Why did you disguise yourself as an old man for? Are you too free? And this transformation profound art isn''t something that anyone has the celestial resources to do so." Xuan Danfeng said as her eyes appraised his subtle reactions.


    "I have my own difficulties." The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed softly as he recalled the events that had taken place in the past few days.


    Everything moved too hastily and was hazy for him.


    They had spent several days of their time drinking and were just chatting about trivial things. Half the time was about the Divine Fragrance Tournament and another half of the time of the Divine Fragrance Tournament was about how a good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun was.


    Xuan Danfeng had no idea why the Three-Destinies Old Man seemed to hold a prejudice against Lu Qingyun and she did not dare to tell him that she was actually acquainted with him.


    Eventually they had drink too much and got carried away. That was the reason why they were now holding onto each other. However they did not particular do anything because the Three-Destinies Old Man had stopped at the last minute when he saw her chastity mark on her forearm.


    "You are still a chaste maiden?!" He was startled.


    "What? You think that I am a loose maiden instead just because I''m hooking up to you?" Xuan Danfeng chuckled.


    "No¡­" Although he had given his reply but the Three-Destinies Old Man did not believe his eyes.


    And that was why they were now holding onto each other and not doing anything.


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Come with me to my hideout. Let me know you my sisters."


    "Your sisters?" The Three-Destinies Old Man asked curiously.


    "Yes. They are my family. Don''t you want to know more about myself? Are you shy?" Xuan Danfeng gave him a teasing look.


    "Alright then but I will be going in my old man form." The Three-Destinies Old Man said after hesitating briefly.


    "Good! All my sisters are also saintesses. Heehee."


    Three-Destinies Old Man frowned lightly, "There aren''t so many saintesses in New Empyrean City. In fact, I don''t think there is any seventh realm cultivator except for you and another."


    "Another? There is another seventh realm expert in New Empyrean City?" Xuan Danfeng asked curiously.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man had quickly realized that he had leaked too much and quickly corrected himself, "The another person is me naturally."


    "Oh heehee!"


    "Is Xiaofeng your real name?" He asked curiously.


    "If you don''t tell me your real name, why should I tell you my real name?" She hummed unhappily.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Xuan Danfeng smiled to the Three Destinies Old Man as they approached the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, "This is my hideout and where my sisters are."


    The Three Destinies Old Man took a look at the place and said, "This place looks expensive. You didn''t ask me here just so you can have someone to pay the expensive tab for you, right? Let me say in advance first, I have no money."


    Xuan Danfeng giggled, "Of course not. I will never do such things." But behind her back, she had secretly crossed her fingers. She added further with a lovely smile, "I am a good person."


    The Three Destinies Old Man took another look at her before he said, "Alright. I believe you."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled before she said, "You know. My two sisters are weirdoes. Just ignore them and stick closely with me if you see or hear anything funny from them, alright? Especially when you are such an ugly old man now."


    The Three Destinies Old Man muttered, "I may be an old man but I am not ugly¡­"


    "There are another two weirdoes here. Normally they won''t talk to any strangers or show up. If you see them, don''t look at them directly. They may have beautiful appearances but they have the heart of a demoness. So be wary of them."


    The Three Destinies Old Man secretly thought, "No wonder you are a weirdo as well since all your friends are also weirdoes."


    But of course this, he had said it only in his mind and he was careful not to let her know.


    "Alright. From this point onward, we must be careful with what we are going to say and be respectful. They have sharp ears and there are formidable defensive celestial arrays around here." Xuan Danfeng warned him.


    The Three Destinies Old Man had suddenly turned ashen and he was trembling. It was because he had suddenly noticed that there was an invisible profound force that was rippling around this place. Most cultivators would never be able to detect it but he was not an ordinary cultivator.


    All of a sudden he was curious about this place and said, "This place may be interesting after all."


    Xuan Danfeng walked him into the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse.


    Strangely enough, the stewards seemed to treat them as invisibles and continued on their way.


    The Three Destinies Old Man were secretly startled that many of the stewards seemed to be high level cultivators that were between the third and fourth realm level. "Why are there so many high level cultivators serving as humble stewards in this place. What is this place and who is Xuan Xiaofeng?"


    As he followed Xuan Danfeng to the fourth level, there were many more of the high level cultivators and they were all fourth realm cultivators.


    By now, the Three Destinies Old Man was completely astonished. It was because the martial might of this small place could easily be comparable to any of the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City!


    Soon, they were entered through a beautiful entrance with many colorful scented curtains and an astonishing beautiful maiden was seen reading a book.


    This astonishing beautiful maiden had an annoyed look on her as she stared coldly at Xuan Danfeng and the Three-Destinies Old Man, "You are not supposed to bring anyone to this place. Have you forgotten about our rule?"


    Xuan Danfeng immediately chuckled, "If she can bring him here, why can''t I?"


    "He is different. He is one of us." The astonishing beautiful maiden said coldly. "Just who is he?"


    The Three Destinies Old Man had quickly appraised this astonishing beautiful maiden faint profound aura and was astonished that she was in the seventh realm sacred saint level.


    Xuan Danfeng laughed softly, "She is my Sister Saintess Feng and he is the Three-Destinies Old Man."


    Feng Minyue said coldly, "You only know his celestial alias and you dare to bring him here? I can''t believe it."


    Xuan Danfeng laughed.


    Although it seemed that Feng Minyue was rebuking Xuan Danfeng but Xuan Danfeng did not mind. This was typical of Feng Minyue and moreover Xuan Danfeng actually had a higher status in the Nine Celestial Realm than Feng Minyue.


    Feng Minyue had curiously put down her book as she appraised the Three-Destinies Old Man. For Xuan Danfeng to bring a man here, this old man must be a most unusual person. So she asked, "How did you know him?"


    Xuan Danfeng laughed delightfully, "You won''t believe it but he has a lot of heavenly wines on him. Unfortunately for you, I''ve already finished most of it."


    Feng Minyue frowned lightly, "You didn''t happen to lose your chastity or whatever in your drinking session, am I right?"


    "Of course not!" Xuan Danfeng quickly said but she was actually thinking. "Well, almost¡­"


    She quickly asked, "Did anything interesting gossips happened while I''m not around?"


    Feng Minyue said casually, "There are now two good-for-nothing cultivators in New Empyrean City. One is Lu Qingyun who rides his way to the trial tournament completion with the help of three maidens. The other one is Ling Chong who marries up to a golden celestial Qiuxiang Huan. The two of them are indeed brothers."


    "Isn''t that great?" Xuan Danfeng laughed softly, "Two good-for-nothing brothers."


    All of a sudden the Three-Destinies Old Man sighed softly before he said solemnly, "So the Heaveness is indeed here. Lie Qing is also here¡­"


    Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng had suddenly turned ashen. It was because no one was supposed to know that the Great Goddess Heaveness was here.


    The minute that the Three-Destinies Old Man had entered this place, he already knew that the Heaveness was in this place. Although she could conceal her profound aura with celestial arrays, making divine sense impossible to search for her but all concealing celestial arrays had a weakness; against a high level cultivator that was inside the concealing array, the celestial array would no longer serve its original purpose.


    It was impossible for the Three-Destinies Old Man to use his divine sense to find the Heaveness and he had to rely on foot to walk into every place in New Empyrean City in order to unravel her concealing celestial array.


    But once he did walk into the place where the Heaveness was, it was impossible for him not to know that she was here. Likewise, the minute that he had entered the place, the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress had already known that he was here.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed heavily as he looked at Xuan Danfeng, "I know who you are now. You are Xuan Danfeng and she is Feng Minyue¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng was startled, "How did you know?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said quietly, "I have heard that my daughter has four good friends. They are Xuan Danfeng, Feng Minyue, Ye Jing and Mu Huiyin. Her two best friends are Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng."


    Xuan Danfeng took a step back in disbelief as she stammered, "You¡­are¡­her father?!"


    Even Feng Minyue had dropped her book and she was trembling.


    An alluring voice echoed to the room, "Why did you come here for? Go away!" It was the voice of the Heaveness.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man had suddenly sped away to the source of the voice, "Lingfeng, please hear me out¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng was trembling. It was because her short romance had been shattered. She was now confused and lost.


    But she quickly composed herself to say, "I¡­I am going up."


    Feng Minyue called out after her, "Danfeng no please¡­"


    But it was already too late. Xuan Danfeng had already disappeared from the room.

 177 Xuan Danfeng/ Heaveness 2

    The Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress were both in the same room when the Three-Destinies Old Man had entered. By now he had reverted to his original self and a tall muscular young looking man had emerged into the room.


    And behind him were Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue.


    Feng Minyue was shocked when she saw that this hunchback old man was actually such a charismatic man that gave off such a tingling righteous presence.


    The Heaveness scoffed lightly as she said with her back facing the Three-Destinies Old Man, "So what brings the great and mighty Great God Pangu to this unknown part of the Celestial Realm?"


    The Great God Pangu!?


    When Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue had heard that the Heaveness had just addressed the Three Destinies Old Man as the mystical immortal known as the Great God Pangu, they almost fainted on the spot!


    The Great God Pangu was the greatest of all the Immortals and there were many stories and exaggerations about him. They just could not believe that this person right now was his exact embodiment. In their minds, the Great God Pangu was ancient and they thought that he may look exactly like an old man.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man rubbed his nose with a weak smile before he said quietly, "Lingfeng, actually I''m here to look for you."


    At the same time, he was smiling when he saw Lie Qing. "Qing''Er, you are also here. I''m missing you already. I am also looking for you. It seems that Yuqin has already met the two of you. She didn''t tell me."


    Lie Qing smiled mesmerizingly, "We ask her not to tell you."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was not angry and he was grinning, "I''m wondering if your martial skills have any improvement? Why don''t we have a little spar?"


    The Heaveness was said with trembling voice, "Yi Ping! You are here to flirt with your new consort Danfeng or are you here to spar with Lie Qing? Either way, I don''t wish to see you. Why don''t you leave now? You are disturbing my peace."


    She added coldly, "Hmph! What Three-Destinies Old Man. If you want to flirt, don''t come into my presence. Go and find your good-for-nothing Celestial Teacher the Universal Old Man!"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    "Lingfeng, are you still upset with me? Come back with me, alright?" he said awkwardly. "I am really here to look for you."


    "Have you forgotten that I''ve divorced you already? Didn''t you also say that if I go away, you will never welcome me back again?" the Heaveness reminded him coldly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled awkwardly, "I was wrong to scold you in front of so many others. I was not thinking straight¡­"


    He sighed softly, "You have scolded me in front of all the others. I don''t know how to react back then so I was a little upset too. You know me. I quite frank with my words."


    Lie Qing chuckled softly, "Too frank sometimes."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man looked at the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing awkwardly, "Qing''Er, why are you standing there for? Why didn''t you help me to persuade her? Help me to talk to her please."


    Lie Qing laughed mesmerizingly as she folded her arms, "No way! I''m enjoying myself. This is your business and her business. I don''t wish to interfere at all."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man: ¡­


    The Three-Destinies Old Man sighed softly and he was also trembling, "Lingfeng, I didn''t come as the Great God Pangu. This title is a great burden to me and the Great God Pangu isn''t really me. I am your Yi Ping. When I become the successor to the Great God Pangu, I''ve to take up the responsibility of defending the Immortal Realm. Sometimes I am really so tired and I feel so lost sometimes."


    With another sigh he said, "I''ve thought that we are just having our usual quarrel that day. I am really too harsh. Come back with me, alright?"


    The Heaveness remained quiet. She did not dare to him because all her inner thoughts could be written on her countenance and she was too easy to be read by him. Actually she had wanted him to come and search for her. After all, the talk about messing the Nine Celestial Fraternity was just to get his notice. At the last minute, she had aborted this plan for hers because she was hurting her niece Fan Yuqin.


    Lie Qing was quietly looking at the Heaveness. She did not want to interfere because she knew that the two of them were just looking for some face saving measures to be together again.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man heaved a heavy sigh, "I really don''t know why you are preaching the romantic notions of the romantic books that are from the Celestial Realm to the Immortal Realm. It sounds so wrong you know. Especially when you are erm¡­one of my many consorts¡­and you are trying to profit spirit stones from the other immortals¡­"


    "Go away now!" The Heaveness said coldly as she interrupted him.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man said awkwardly, "How about this then? You can continue to sell your romantic stories and you can keep the profits. This is already my biggest leeway to you. Alright?"


    The Heaveness hummed coldly without saying anything.


    "Lingfeng¡­" the Three-Destinies Old Man was now trembling. "I really don''t want to lose you. I''ve lost you too many times in the past. I am your Yi Ping. I have forgotten that you are once my mortal Grand Celestial Teacher and it is you who had taught me my celestial practice. Without you, I can never even ascend to the Celestial Realm¡­"


    His voice was now coarse as he said even more slowly and he was trembling uncontrollably, "I have forgotten that you have once told me that you want to be able to sing sentimental songs and what it is meant to love someone. You have always wanted to be a mortal¡­all these¡­I''ve forgotten¡­I''ve really forgotten¡­I am sorry¡­really so sorry¡­"


    The Heaveness was trembling uncontrollably as well and she was weeping softly.


    "I really miss the times when we are in the mortal realm. Before you are the Heaveness and when I am just the foolish Yi Ping. Do you remember how we have first met? You have almost killed me when you force me to run with you¡­and¡­back then I had sworn never to party with you ever again¡­but in the end, I can''t help looking for you."


    The Heaveness chuckled softly when she had remembered that incident. Back then, she had met a stranger that had asked her for directions to find a master to teach him some powerful martial skills. But he did not know that she was actually a directionless person and had followed her to run up and down ten hills. Even the way they had met was quite hilarious and there were so many misunderstandings.


    "Lingfeng, forgive me alright?" The Three-Destinies Old Man asked again after hearing her soft chuckle.


    "I''ll give you one chance¡­" the Heaveness quietly said. "So I get to keep all my books and spirit stones?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man grinned and rubbed his nose, "Surely."


    The Heaveness thought, "So I''ll be leaving again soon¡­" She was starting to miss the New Empyrean City. Being here was like a mortal again. Every day she would secretly sneak out and watched everyone intently. It was as though she was really afraid that she would never be mortal again and would forget about her memories when she was a mortal.


    "Alright then." She merely said.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man was absolutely delighted as he quickly turned to Lie Qing to say, "Qing''Er, long time no see. Why don''t we have a little spar immediately? I am dying to fight you¡­"


    Lie Qing muttered weakly, "Ping''Er, you are a little frank. Lingfeng is still waiting for you to comfort her and you are already thinking of your fight with me."


    The Heaveness had suddenly turned around to give the Three-Destinies Old Man a little kick, "Why don''t you die in the Desolate Realm since you love to fight so much? Why don''t you fight me?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man muttered awkwardly, "You know me. In my chronicles here, almost all 250 chapters must have a fight in it or else I won''t be known as the Warrior-God Yi Ping¡­"


    "Yes and why didn''t you die yet?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man laughed, "Because if I do, someone here will be very sad. Don''t you think so?"


    The Heaveness chuckled softly, "In your dreams. I will never be sad for a sentimental man like you." Then she rolleyes to Xuan Danfeng who was watching them silently, "Before we go, I think you should settle her first. Am I right?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man turned to Xuan Danfeng and said quietly, "Maiden Danfeng, I''m sure that you have known who I am by now. I am the Great God Yi Ping. I have another title and that is the Great God Pangu. I am the successor to the name of the Great God Pangu. The original Great God Pangu had long passed away and I am his reincarnation."


    He paused briefly, "Thank you for taking care of my daughter Yuqin while she is here. Soon I''m going to a place where you can''t go."


    Xuan Danfeng was trembling. She was speechless that he was actually the Great God Yi Ping and the mystical hero of the Celestial Realm. She had been Fan Yuqing''s sister for so many years and yet she did not even know that her father was actually a Great God. It was no wonder that Fan Yuqing was always acting so recklessly and she had many formidable divine skills.


    He took out a transmission jade stone, "When it is time for your ascension to the Immortal Realm, let me know. I will come to aid you."


    Xuan Danfeng said quietly, "Will you forget about me?" This was something that she wanted to know very badly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man grinned, "I won''t."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Before you go, may I have all your remaining wines?"


    The Three-Destinies Old Man laughed, "Of course I will give you all. But there are some special wines that may be too strong for you. I will need to write a special note first. These wines are not from the Celestial Realm and should be taken with great."


    Lie Qing laughed softly, "Why don''t we give her a title? The Goddess of Wines Danfeng?"


    Xuan Danfeng replied, "I love to."


    The Heaveness said quietly as she raised her fingers divine rapidly, "Before I go, I need to speak with Yuqin. In the years ahead, she may not have everything smooth sailing for her."


    The Three-Destinies Old Man nodded, "I am afraid that she may have to face the Desolate Lord Yue Lingxi and the Horizon of the Heavens herself. Alas and that good-for-nothing rascal Lu Qingyun is forever taking advantage of her¡­"


    "This, you don''t have to worry first. Before that, I have a score to settle with you." Lie Qing said and there was displeasure on her countenance.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man smiled weakly, "Qing''Er, this isn''t a time to joke around¡­"


    "Do you consider injuring your own daughter as a joke? In case you do not know, I have a soul link with her and I know what you have done." Lie Qing said coolly.


    The Three-Destinies Old Man''s eyes had immediately turned sheepish, "This¡­erm¡­I can explain¡­"

 178 The Heavenly Daughters

    Qin Keqin and Lie Xingyuan were quite startled when they were ''summoned'' to the hideout by the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress.


    Qin Keqin actually did not want to go to the hideout but Feng Minyue had told her that it was compulsory plus she had to bring Lie Xingyuan along with her.


    As Lu Qingyun was in the practice chamber, she had left a note for him saying that she was taking Lie Xingyuan along with her too.


    "Sister Xingyuan, today we are going to my hideout." Qin Keqin looked a little sheepish when she had said that.


    "Hideout?" Lie Xingyuan asked. "What is that place?"


    "You will know when you reach." Qin Keqin said quietly.


    Lie Xingyuan had never been to the hideout before so therefore she was quite surprised when Qin Keqin had brought her to the Heavenly Tea Lotus.


    She had clearly remembered that this was the place that she had first met Qin Keqin.


    "This place is really expensive. Xingyuan cannot afford it." Lie Xingyuan muttered softly.


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "But your sister is rich. So don''t worry about it."


    Along the way, Qin Keqin was wondering why the Heaveness and the Heavenly Temptress had wanted her to bring Xingyuan along with her. It was not she did not want her sister to find out about her hideout but this was her personal secret¡­


    Like Lu Qingyun and the Three-Destinies Old Man before her, Lie Xingyuan was startled to see so many cultivators at the upper floor of the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse. Moreover Qin Keqin seemed to be extremely familiar with the place and no one even stopped to question them as they made their way around floor after floor to the top.


    Finally they had reached a room where the Heaveness, the Heavenly Temptress, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were. In the middle of the room was a youthful man.


    "Master?!" Lie Xingyuan was startled when she saw the Heavenly Temptress.


    "Father?!" Qin Keqin was silently startled. "He has found the Heaveness? Did they make up with each other or what?"


    The Heaveness smiled alluringly when she saw them, "Yuqing, Xingyuan. Hurry and greet your father."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and she was laughing softly, "Old man, how are you? I see that you have finally succeeded in hooking up to the Heaveness."


    Yi Ping: ¡­


    He sighed softly, "Can you be more indirect¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "I am an orphan¡­I''ve no father¡­"


    The Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing returned a mesmerizing smile as she suddenly flashed next to Xingyuan as she said gently, "He is really your real father. As for me, I''m sorry that I didn''t tell you earlier. I am your birth mother."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled as she stared at Lie Qing and the man that was in front of her.


    Even Feng Xingyuan and Xuan Danfeng were startled that Lie Xingyuan was actually the Heavenly Temptress'' daughter¡­


    Lie Qing said quietly, "Will you forgive your mother for not telling you earlier?"


    Lie Xingyuan stared at Lie Qing and she was trembling.


    Ever since she was little, she had been raised up by her master and was told that she was an orphan. Because of that, she had always thought that she was alone in the world. She had always thought that her master was her only kin until she had met Qin Keqin.


    "Huh?!" Lie Xingyuan quickly hugged Lie Qing as she burst into tears. "Mother? You are really my mother consort?! I''ve thought that I was alone. I am so glad¡­"


    "I didn''t tell you because one day I will surely leave you. I didn''t want you to be sad so that you can move on. Also, I want to train you to experience the hardship of the celestial fraternity. But now, it is time for me to leave." Lie Qing said quietly.


    Lie Xingyuan was panicky as she asked with trembling lips and her tears were flowing, "Don''t leave please¡­"


    Lie Qing smiled as she kissed her on her forehead, "It is now time to tell you who we are. I''m the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing, Great Goddess Heavenly Temptress¡­"


    The Heaveness interrupted with a soft laugh, "Lie Qing is one of the few immortals that can thrash the Great God Yi Ping¡­"


    Yi Ping interrupted, "If I am serious, I may not lose yesterday¡­"


    The Heaveness turned to him with a soft laughter, "When are you not serious when you''re fighting?"


    Yi Ping frowned lightly, "It''s just that it isn''t a life and death battle so there is no need for me to go all out."


    Lie Xingyuan was staring at the youthful man, "Father? Great God Yi Ping? The legendary Immortal Warrior-God from the celestial history?"


    Lie Qing nodded, "Yes it is him. He is your father."


    Yi Ping smiled as he looked at Lie Xingyuan, "I am so happy to have a daughter like you. You are much better than my other daughter."


    Qin Keqin: ¡­


    Feng Mingyue and Xuan Danfeng had turned to one side and they were silently laughing when they saw Qin Keqin''s expressions.


    Lie Xingyuan shyly looked at Qin Keqin, "Sister, he is really our father? Our father is the Great God Pangu?"


    Qin Keqin laughed, "Yes this old man is indeed our father. But I have never met him more than ten times before this. Lately, he seems to be everywhere."


    Yi Ping: ¡­


    Lie Xingyuan nodded as she looked at the extremely alluring maiden in front of her, "Sister, you can tell Xingyuan who is your mother consort?"


    The Heaveness laughed softly, "Look at me. I''ve forgotten to introduce myself. I''m the Great Goddess Heaveness but she isn''t my daughter. You are all my little nieces."


    Lie Xingyuan nearly fainted as she stared with trembling lips, "You¡­are¡­the¡­Heaveness¡­the mystical¡­ancient celestial of our race¡­"


    The Great Goddess Heaveness was the Goddess of the Celestials and was reverenced throughout the Nine Celestial Fraternity. It was said that she was the successor to the Great Goddess Fantian and that she had only one disciple and that was the Nine Goddess Ye Jing.


    Qin Keqin looked quietly at the Heaveness. The Heaveness was like her second mother to her. She was not dense to know that she was leaving soon and was extremely sad. Although she did not want to see her lately because of Lu Qingyun but in her heart, she had missed her a lot.


    But she suppressed the melancholy emotion of her heart and replied quietly to Lie Xingyuan, "My mother consort is the Great Goddess Fantian."


    Lie Xingyuan was even more startled. The Great Goddess Fantian was the Goddess of the Goddesses in the Immortal Realm and she had an incredible lofty status as the Goddess Mother of all the Immortals.


    Xuan Danfeng was stammering as she looked at Feng Minyue. She really did not know that Fan Yuqing''s mother consort was the Great Goddess Fantian.


    Feng Minyue was not surprised as she had already known.


    "This is like a dream¡­" Lie Xingyuan muttered.


    Lie Qing smiled, "This isn''t a dream as she silently patted her on her back.


    All of a sudden Lie Xingyuan could feel that her profound strength seemed to have increased and that there was a faint golden aura around her.


    She was startled and from the mirrors that were in the room, she saw that her eyes had turned golden.


    "I¡­I am fifth realm golden celestial now?!" Lie Xingyuan was completely astonished.


    Lie Qing smiled, "Indeed you are. You are already a golden celestial for quite some time. It is just that I have completely suppressed your cultivation realm. You are the daughter of two great immortals. Your talents are not to be underestimated."


    She sighed softly, "But now I am leaving soon. I should undo my seal on you. In the future, you will have your own destiny."


    Qin Keqin sighed softly, "So you are all leaving soon¡­"


    Lie Qing smiled as she gently touched her.


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin could feel that the invading annihilating fire had completely vanished from her body and was secretly startled.


    She had spent the past few days in misery, trying to purge the annihilating fire out. If she did not do so, she would be afflicted with serious ailment injuries in the future.


    She had thought that her old man may be the only person that could help her but she must never let him know what had happened. She had completely forgotten that Lie Qing may be able to help her.


    And Lie Qing had secretly helped her without alarming her father.


    For that, she was extremely grateful.


    Lie Qing winked at her, "You ought to say thank you to the Heaveness. She has been keeping a close tab on you."


    The Heaveness immediately averted her eyes from Qin Keqin.


    Qin Keqin said silently as she looked at the Heaveness, "I am going to miss you so much¡­"


    She quickly said with a soft chuckle, "So we are having our small family reunion now?"


    Yi Ping grinned as he rubbed his nose, "You may say that. However, the Heaveness wants to talk to you actually."


    The Heaveness nodded as she said, "That is right."


    She walked quietly to Qin Keqin and smiled, "This ring is for you. You are going to need it. This is the royalties from your books."


    Qin Keqin took the ring and stared blankly into it. There were a million gold coins and ten thousand high grade spirit stones inside.


    "It isn''t much but you are going to need this war chest pretty soon." The Heaveness said quietly.


    Then she smiled quickly, "But don''t you spend so recklessly and use up this war chest so quickly. Feng Minyue has already told me that you are fond of spending money like water."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "That isn''t true at all. I am actually quite good in earning money¡­"


    Yi Ping said quietly, "Yuqin, Xingyuan. We are leaving tonight."


    Lie Xingyuan was startled, "So soon¡­"


    Lie Qing said, "We may not see each other for a long time. Please take care of yourself."


    Qin Keqin did not say anything because she was used to this by now. Every time her parents and mother consorts had departed, it would be years.


    She quietly hold onto Lie Xingyuan''s hand as she said, "From today onward, we are on our own. We are sisters and the heavenly daughters of the heavens. Be strong."


    The Heaveness smiled. This was what she had used to tell Fan Yuqin when she was little. "Yuqin, now you have a little sister to take care of now. But the destinies for the two of you are different. You have your own unique destiny to take and¡­good luck to you and Lu Qingyun."

 179 Day of the Handkerchiefs

    Lu Qingyun was quietly sighing in the practice chamber. Two things were bothering his heart.


    One was that somehow he did not seem to get the respect that he deserved and he had continued to hear people calling him the good-for-nothing cultivator.


    "This isn''t possible. I did so well during the trial tournament. Don''t tell me that when I am performing my feats, there were some others that did so well that everyone is looking at them and not in my direction?"


    Two was the most miserable for him.


    It was because today was the day that Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue would be saying good bye and they would be leaving for the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    He was actually glad for them because the Heavenly Fragrance Villa was the top celestial clan in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.


    "Why did I feel sad that Qiuyue will be leaving too?" He was sighing softly.


    "And Xingyuan, where did she go with Keqin? They didn''t come back last night¡­"


    All of a sudden a sweet voice had called out for him, "Senior Brother Qingyun, are you there?"


    He was startled because it was the voice of Yin Shisi.


    "Why is she here?" He thought. "Oh yes, she is the ''junior sister'' to Xingyuan. She must be here to say goodbye to her.


    He quickly came out of the practice chamber and saw the beautiful smiling Yin Shisi.


    "Senior brother." She quickly greeted him.


    "Elder Yin, you are here to look for Xingyuan?" He asked.


    She nodded and her eyes were looking at the note that Lu Qingyun had left on the table after carelessly reading it.


    "It seems that she has gone out with sect leader and isn''t back? I didn''t see her at all when I am here."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "She will be back soon. Today is the day that she departs from here."


    Yin Shisi nodded, "I am going to miss her. My master says she will be going away as well. Soon, it will be only be me and you. "


    When she said me and you, her beautiful mesmerizing eyes were looking at Lu Qingyun with great intention.


    Lu Qingyun felt his soul was being carried away by her when she was looking at him in this manner. Somehow for Lu Qingyun, his first impression of her was always the one that was naked in his embrace.


    He quickly cast away his sinful thoughts and said, "Shall I make some tea for you while we wait for Xingyuan?"


    Yin Shisi nodded before she gave a smile, "Senior brother, I have something for you." With a shy look, she had taken out a scented box.


    Lu Qingyun was curious as he opened the box. Inside the box was a beautiful handkerchief. "This is for me?"


    He took a quick look at the handkerchief and saw that there was a couple with children playing in the background.


    Yin Shisi shyly nodded, "I have sewed it myself. It had taken me many nights to do so. I have nothing to give you for your win for the trial tournament so this is for me to you."


    Lu Qingyun was touched as he quickly said, "Thank you. I will surely take good care of it."


    "Erm Elder Yin¡­" he muttered. "Did I do well for the trial tournament?"


    Yin Shisi averted her eyes before she said shyly, "You did very well. I am so proud of you."


    "Oh really?" Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly. He thought, "I really did well. Is everyone so blind to my stellar performance or what? Maybe their eyes are not good. That must be the only reason. Alas, the imagery must be quite blurring below and the majority of the low level cultivators simply did not have the eyesight to see clearly."


    "So it is not because I didn''t do well. It is because they are too far away to see what I am doing. Haha. Now the mystery that is bothering me for days have finally been solved."


    A quiet voice from outside the courtyard interrupted his thoughts, "Senior brother, are you there?" It was Leng Qiuyue.


    "Qiuyue?" Lu Qingyun was startled. "I am here."


    He quickly kept the scented box that Yin Shisi had given to him and just as he did so, Leng Qiuyue had entered the hall.


    "Qiuyue, Xingyuan isn''t back yet." He said.


    Leng Qiuyue took a shy look at Yin Shisi before she smiled to Lu Qingyun, "I''m not here to look for Xingyuan. I am here to look for you."


    When Lu Qingyun had called her Qiuyue, she was secretly pleased. It was because he had unknowingly changed his address of her from junior sister to her personal name. She felt that they were now one step closer now. This change had taken place during the trial tournament when they were in the same party and were simply just friends instead of prot¨¦g¨¦ brother and sister.


    "Today I will be leaving with Xingyuan so I have come specially to bid you farewell. I don''t know when we will meet again or if we ever have a chance to meet again. This is a gift from me." She shyly took out a beautiful craft box and gave it to Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun said weakly as he took the box, "I should be the one that supposed to send you a gift but I didn''t¡­"


    "It is alright." Leng Qiuyue smiled. "Take a look at what''s inside."


    She did not care if Yin Shisi was presented or not. It was because she was no longer a prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavens Ridge Villa and today was her last day here.


    Lu Qingyun opened the beautiful crafted box and saw that it was a white handkerchief with two mandarins in it.


    "I''ve spent the last couple of days to sew it." She shyly said.


    "Qiuyue, thank you¡­" Lu Qingyun was quite startled when he saw the two mandarins. It was a symbol for a couple. He had thought that he had rejected her not long ago during her confession? It was not because Leng Qiuyue was not a lovely maiden. In fact, she was very beautiful in many ways but he had only Qin Keqin in his heart¡­


    Yin Shisi had also saw the two mandarins and knew what Leng Qiuyue was thinking. By now, everyone in the Heavens Ridge Villa was spreading rumors about her and Lu Qingyun. Some of the rumors were actually quite vile like how Lu Qingyun had seduced Leng Qiuyue and had made use of her to pass the trial tournament.


    But she believed in her own personal judgment that Lu Qingyun was an outstanding person. It was because he did not take advantage of her when she was down on her luck.


    "Senior brother, I am back." It was the lovely voice of Lie Xingyuan and there was also the soft chuckle that was from Qin Keqin as they entered the outer courtyard.


    Lu Qingyun quickly kept the beautiful crafted box as he said aloud, "I am here. Elder Yin and Qiuyue is also here."


    When Lie Xingyuan and Qin Keqin had entered the hall, they were holding hands and were chatting nonstop.


    Qin Keqin chuckled when she saw them at first sight, "So everyone is already here to see my sister off?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled, "Senior brother¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was stunned when he saw her. It was because she now had golden eyes and her presence was heavenly.


    Yin Shisi and Leng Qiuyue were also startled to see that Lie Xingyuan was now a golden celestial.


    "Xingyuan, you are a golden celestial now? What realm are you now?" Lu Qingyun said with stammering voice. He really could not believe his eyes.


    Lie Xingyuan nodded shyly, "Upper fifth realm golden celestial level."


    Lu Qingyun nearly fainted as he muttered, "I am only at the upper fourth realm expert. Our cultivation level is now heavens and the earth now."


    Lie Xingyuan averted her eyes, "Senior brother will surely overtake me one day. This, I am very sure."


    Lu Qingyun was actually glad for her. He quickly asked. "How did you become a golden celestial overnight. Please do share with me. Is there a shortcut?"


    Lie Xingyuan chuckled softly as she stole a glance at Qin Keqin, "It is actually a long story but senior brother, please don''t be lazy and cultivate on your own. You know what I mean. There is no shortcut in cultivation."


    "Is that so?" Lu Qingyun returned a sheepish laugh. "I am just being curious, that''s all."


    But he was secretly thinking, "Lately Yan''Er has been so lazy¡­"


    Lie Xingyuan took out a handkerchief and said shyly, "I sew this last night for you. I hope that it is not too disgraceful to show it to senior brother."


    Qin Keqin laughed as she took out another handkerchief, "And this is sewed by me."


    Lu Qingyun took the two handkerchiefs and saw that the one that Lie Xingyuan had sewed was actually quite exquisite and it had two persons in it. One was a man and other was a woman. They were seen walking along the river and their eyes were looking up at the rolling clouds.


    As for the handkerchief that Qin Keqin had sewed looked a little off. However the one that Keqin had sewed had many lovely red raindrops and two flying cranes.


    He smiled and said to Qin Keqin, "Master, your handkerchief is quite unique. I have never seen such beautiful red raindrops before. It fits the scene of the two flying cranes."


    Qin Keqin frowned lightly as her eyes rolled to a side, "Actually, the red raindrops will disappoint once you have washed it. It is actually my blood. I have accidentally pricked my fingers quite a few times."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Leng Xingyuan laughed softly, "We are chatting throughout the night and I was the one that kept distracting my sis¡­my sect leader."


    She turned solemn to say, "Senior brother, please take care of yourself. Next time, I won''t be around to help you to change your blanket and bedding. Try not to do it so often. It is harmful to your health. You shouldn''t be in the practice chamber too often. It is good if you can take a walk sometimes."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He wanted to tell Xingyuan that he was not doing that kind of thing in the practice chamber but then he decided to keep quiet. It was because the other maidens were now giggling at him when they had heard Lie Xingyuan.


    Qin Keqin chuckled softly, "Well, he is a hot-blooded young man after all."


    But all of a sudden Qin Keqin had turned solemn as she looked at him, "Yun''Er, I need to talk to you for a little while. It is because I am leaving here tonight and I won''t see you for quite some time."


    Lu Qingyun was stunned. It was as though the whole world had suddenly collapsed onto him.


    "Keqin, what is going on here?" He had totally forgotten to address her as master in the presence of the others and had called out her personal name.

 180 Keqin, Good Bye

    Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were now alone in a room and they were looking at each other awkwardly.


    "Keqin, you are really going tonight? Why are you leaving? Why didn''t you tell me? Is it because you are upset with me? I can explain¡­there is really nothing between Qingyue and I¡­" Lu Qingyun muttered weakly.


    "It isn''t that. I am not upset with you. I really have an important thing to settle elsewhere." Qin Keqin quietly said.


    "What can be so important that you have to leave? Isn''t this place your home? You can always move your hideout here. Is it because you didn''t want me to go to the Moon Demon Forest? Alright, I yield to you. I won''t go there anymore so long as you''re willing to stay, alright?" Lu Qingyun said with pleading eyes.


    He really did not want to lose her at all.


    Qin Keqin smiled, "I know your heart. Yun''Er, I''m really not angry with you, alright? Be calm. It isn''t because I am unhappy either. I''m so happy to see you here but I don''t belong to this place. The hideout is a temporary dwelling place for me. I have other hideouts elsewhere."


    Lu Qingyun heaved a heavy sigh, "Can I go with you then?"


    Qin Keqin shook her head gently, "Where I go will be extremely dangerous for you to follow."


    "The Moon Demon Forest is one of the most treacherous places in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Can it be more dangerous than that?" Lu Qingyun sighed heavily.


    Qin Keqin knew that she had to think of a quick excuse fast. It was because she was going back to the Dark Divine Realms to beef up its defenses against the Valiant Arms Divine Realm that was now leading a crusade against the dark heretic celestials. After all, she was the Devil Goddess and divine ruler of the three dark divine realms.


    But she did not want to tell him that she was a super villainess. In fact, as the divine ruler of the three dark realms, there were people that knew what the Devil Goddess had looked like. She had frequently rotated her identity with Feng Minyue as she shared a similar likeness to her.


    "Have you heard of Saint Gao Tianshou?"


    Lu Qingyun replied excitingly, "I have. Almost everyone has heard of his great name. I can say that he is the current number one hero in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. He has just recently ended the divide in the Valiant Arms Divine Realm and has become its divine ruler. Not only that, he is now a great saint. Have you heard that he had recently even attracted the six-stage golden lightning to become a great saint? Six-stage golden lightning is such a rare occurrence. Most great saints are only able to attract the three-stage silver lightning. As for the nine-stage purple lightning, it is quite impossible to see¡­"


    Qin Keqin interrupted weakly, "You sound like he is your idol."


    "He really is!" Lu Qingyun said with his eyes beaming. "All the heroes of the Nine Celestial Fraternity are now flocking to his call to get rid of the looming threat of the three dark divine realms. I have heard that three other divine realms have also formed an alliance with him and have nominated him as the alliance leader. We are now witnessing the start of a new celestial era¡­"


    "Maybe he is just a self-righteous hero." Qin Keqin said sheepishly. "Or maybe this is the start of a new dark era."


    Lu Qingyun laughed. "How is it possible? The nine patriarch divine realms are never united. Even the most powerful of the nine divine realms, the Holy Ascension Divine Realm has been so powerless against the three dark divine realms. I think the Nine Celestial Realm needs a strong celestial leader."


    Qin Keqin smiled, "The dark celestials have their own cultures and way of life. We shouldn''t dictate them."


    Lu Qingyun shook his head gently, "Keqin, I must disagree. Some of their ways are despicable and vile. Surely you know about it?"


    Qin Keqin returned a light nod and her eyes were melancholy. In the past, she had wanted to be a super heroine and had butchered hundreds of dark celestials. As the daughter of the heavens, she thought that it was her destiny to unite the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity and the Three Dark Divine Fraternity into a new fraternity.


    In the end, she did not get any respect or recognition from everyone and she was the enemy of all the celestials. Instead of a super heroine, the Golden Mask Devil Goddess was the super villainess that had terrorized everyone.


    It was because she had no background and the celestials had refused to accept someone that had come out of the blue. At the same time, she could not tell anyone her background either.


    The price for having her three minutes of fun was that she was almost killed by the righteous celestials.


    "Keqin, why are you so quiet? Don''t tell me that you are going to join with Saint Gao Tianshou to fight against the dark celestials?"


    Qin Keqin nodded light, "That''s right. I don''t know how long this will take."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stammered, "Once I am done with the expedition to the Moon Demon Forest, I will look for you alright?"


    Qin Keqin smiled as she took out a transmission stone, "Alright. But this transmission stone only works within a ten mile radius. If we are near to each other, you can use this to communicate with me."


    "I won''t have to use it." Lu Qingyun smiled. "The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is so renowned throughout the Nine Celestial Fraternity that I can surely find you within a thousand miles."


    Then he sighed softly, "I''ve thought that Keqin you are really upset with me. But you are after all the Great Saintess Yuqing. You have a duty to defend and advance the future of the Nine Celestial Fraternity. I wish that I can join you now. It must be so wonderful to see what Saint Gao Tianshou looks like. We should call him Great Saint Gao Tianshou by now. He is really a great dragon among dragons and a titan among men."


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes and said silently, "Do you know that your idol is going to attack me?"


    She forced out a smile to ask, "Do you think that Gao Tianshou can win the Devil Goddess???


    "Of course he can. Good will always triumphs over evil." Lu Qingyun smiled.


    "What if the Devil Goddess isn''t evil? And what if she is willing to turn over a new leaf?"


    "Hmm, she has to be evil. She has been evil for so many centuries already. I don''t think she will be able to turn over a new leaf. What about the people that she had killed in the past?" Lu Qingyun smiled.


    Qin Keqin returned a weak smile, "Is that so. So that is what everyone thinks of the Devil Goddess¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was sighing heavily, "Today almost everyone I know is leaving. Keqin, you will be leaving alone or with anyone else?"


    "My two sister saintesses will be leaving with me. We are always together. But do not let anyone knows that we are assisting Saint Gao Tianshou, alright?" Qin Keqin said before she quickly added. "We don''t want to alarm the Devil Goddess that we are there. There are many spies of the dark celestial clans around. Promise me please."


    "I''ll promise." Lu Qingyun said firmly. "When can I see you again?"


    "Hopefully by next year." Qin Keqin said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun sighed, "It will be a long wait for me¡­"


    Qin Keqin chuckled, "So don''t you die in the Moon Demon Forest. I still want to see you next year."


    "With so many cultivators, I don''t think I will be in any danger."


    "You are wrong. This ancient ruin may be more dangerous than you think it is. I ask someone but he had no memories of it. I guess my old man is getting more and more senile nowadays." Qin Keqin sighed softly.


    "Your old man? Who is he?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously.


    Qin Keqin laughed softly. "Just an ordinary wise man."


    "Oh." Lu Qingyun said.


    Qin Keqin rolled her eyes. Her old man was her father. But her father was not the original Great God Pangu but was his reincarnation. Therefore it was not surprising that he had no memories of the ancient ruin. Before he had departed, he had bade her to look for Yue Lingxi and the Horizon of the Heavens, warning her that the Horizon of the Heavens must never fall into the wrong hands or into Lu Qingyun''s hands.


    She thought, "Am I such a bad daughter that I''ve even hoodwinked my old man and my mother consorts?"


    Before she had returned to the hideout, the Heavenly Temptress Lie Qing had quietly whispered to her. "The Heaveness is not someone who can be easily fooled. Although her fighting skills are just so and so but her intellect is the best among all the great goddesses. She just did not want to expose you. But this is your choice and we wish you the best of luck. And don''t die because of one man. Some of us will be extremely sad, including the Heaveness and the Great Goddess Fantian. Don''t break the heart of the Great Goddess Fantian again."


    She quickly put aside her thoughts and smiled to Lu Qingyun. "I have another good thing for you." In her fingers was a purple pill. "Take it quickly. This is something good that will increase your cultivation strength."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly and he was rolling his eyes. It was because with a single sniff he knew that this purple pill was the Starforge Substances and from the size of this purple pill, it was twice as much as the last pill that was given to him.


    This was definitely a big overdose¡­


    But why did Qin Keqin wants him to take the Starforge Substances. Surely she knew that it would be harmful to his memories if he had taken too much, right?


    Qin Keqin winked at him, "Go on, don''t be shy."


    Lu Qingyun decided to put on an act like the last time. So he smiled and put the purple into his mouth. He was definitely not going to swallow it, not ever¡­


    All of a sudden Qin Keqin had tiptoed to kiss him passionately on his mouth. He was so startled that he had actually swallowed the purple pill¡­


    But he was once again startled to see that there were silence tears that were flowing down on her cheeks as she kissed him.


    "Yun''Er, I am your woman. I won''t leave you. You don''t leave me too¡­"


    For a while, Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin were just in each other tightened embrace as they enjoyed their last moments together.


    "I won''t leave you, Keqin¡­one day, I will be a hero that you will be proud of¡­" Lu Qingyun muttered quietly.


    Qin Keqin muttered almost incoherently, "Just be yourself and¡­forget the past¡­"


    "Keqin, did you say something?"


    "I am just wondering why your hands are so honest today?"


    "Erm, I''ve forgotten to be dishonest¡­"


    "What are your hands doing now? I decide to take back my praise for you, hmph!"


    "Haha¡­"


    "Where is Yan''Er? I need to talk to her as well. After all, I won''t see her after tonight."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly as he called out aloud to his inner spiritual sea, "Where is my cute little Yan''Er? Come and say good bye to your Big Sister Keqin¡­"


    Little Yan''Er was sobbing when she had appeared, startling Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun did not know that Yan''Er could sense the throbbing heartbreaking ache that was in Qin Keqin''s heart. It was because Yan''Er was also bonded closely to Qin Keqin as she was the one that had retrieved the golden roc''s core for Lu Qingyun.


    "Big Sister Keqin, Yan''Er don''t want you to go¡­"


    Whenever Qin Keqin was around, Yan''Er was super motivated to do better. When she was not around, she had always felt a little empty and had become lazy.


    Qin Keqin smiled to Yan''Er, "My cute little Yan''Er, be strong. Your master will need you to take care of him in the future. Please remember our little secret."


    Yan''Er nodded many times, "I will. If Yan''Er remembers our little secret, will I see Big Sister Keqin soon?"


    "You will." Qin Keqin lit a faint smile.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "What secret?"


    Qin Keqin merely smiled. "If you know then it won''t be our little secret."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Qin Keqin averted her eyes before she sighed softly. The Horizon of the Heavens was now inside Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea. There was nothing she could do about it now. She had made Yan''Er promise her not to tell Lu Qingyun that he had injured her and that she must never tell Lu Qingyun anything about the Horizon of the Heavens.


    At the same time she had said to Yan''Er back then, "Don''t let him become a golden celestial until he has reached the inside of the ancient ruin."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    After Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue had left with the entourage of Fragrance Herald Yufeng , it was now time for Qin Keqin to leave the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    The news that Qin Keqin was leaving had completely caught all the grand elders by surprise.


    Although she had long stated that she would not be staying for long, they did not think that it would be so soon. After all, they knew that she was in a relationship with Lu Qingyun.


    Shi Guanyin was the saddest among the six grand elders. It was because today was not only the day that her favorite core prot¨¦g¨¦ had left but also that of her secret confidant.


    The other five grand elders, Ouyang Xue, Yun Xing, Mu Han, Wang Ming and Kong Guxin were also equally sad.


    It was because the arrival of Qin Keqin had not only changed the Heavens Ridge Villa but had also changed New Empyrean City. Never before had the four powerhouses of New Empyrean City had so little rivalries compared to the past. As a matter of fact, the once disunited and weakest of the four powerhouses the Heavens Ridge Villa was now the number one celestial clan in New Empyrean City.


    After Qiuxiang Huan''s wedding, all four of the powerhouses had actually sat down together and had even nominated the Heavens Ridge Villa to lead them, had Qin Keqin to lead them but she had politely declined it.


    Mu Han sighed softly, "Our acting sect leader has left, things will be so quiet now¡­"


    "You mean no gossips for you to spread?" Yun Xing teased quietly.


    Mu Han frowned lightly, "You know that I will never spread any gossips."


    "Like real¡­" Yun Xing stared coldly at him.


    Ouyang Xue smiled, "Master, why don''t you and Grand Elder Mu Han be together?"


    Yun Xing was suddenly flustered as she quickly said, "Xue''Er, you are now a grand elder. Do not call me your master now and also, who will like him?!"


    Mu Han stammered, "What is wrong with me? I have more strengths than weaknesses¡­"


    Kong Guxin sighed heavily as he saw Lu Qingyun and Qin Keqin disappearing beyond the heaven gate of the Heavens Ridge Villa before he whispered softly to the rest of the grand elders, "It will be so quiet now."


    Wang Ming nodded with a heavy sigh, "To think that we have the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is our midst all this while and yet we do not know for such a long time. This is really so stupid of us."


    Shi Guanyin nodded quietly, "I wonder if we will ever see her again. Even this farewell seems so short. I wonder where she will be going."


    Mu Han heaved a heavy sigh, "If I were Lu Qingyun, I will surely go after her and never let her go¡­"


    Yun Xing stared at him, "Are you even half as dashing as him? Dream on!"


    Mu Han: ¡­

 181 Yin Shisi/ Ouyang Xue

    Just two weeks after Qin Keqin had left the Heavens Ridge Villa, it was now time for Lu Qingyun to depart from the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    He did not actually spent time on his martial or cultivation practice during the past two weeks and instead he was trying to purge out the Starforge Substances that he had accidentally swallowed.


    For the past two weeks, he had been busy trying to concoct various pills to weaken or to negate the effects of the Starforge Substances.


    Although he did not know why Qin Keqin was so insistent on giving him the Starforge Substances from time to time, he did not actually blame her.


    He thought, "Can it be that Keqin has mistaken the Starforge Substances for something else? Her alchemy skills are just so and so. Even a great saintess can sometimes make a mistake¡­"


    For two weeks, he could take the many ''antidotes'' that he had concocted and to circulate with his profound energies so as to purge out the negative effects of the pills that he had taken. All pills had a side effect and moreover, he was using the effects of the pills to counter each other.


    It was a good thing that he had already reached the energy level of the fourth realm cultivation level and could use his profound energies to weaken the effects of the pills that he had taken.


    He noticed something weird though. His profound strength seemed to be much stronger than it had been during the trial competition. How was it possible?


    He did not seem to do anything. Or could it be that Keqin''s pill was actually special?


    It was said that after a difficult tribulation, a person''s cultivation strength would actually improve by itself naturally. After all, the trials that Fragrance Herald Yufeng had set was really too difficult for many.


    He did not think that he would actually succeed in clearing the trials¡­


    Today he would be reporting to the main Heaven Ridge hall as this was the day that he would depart from the Heavens Ridge Villa. He wondered what kind of an arrangement that the elders would be making for him?


    He was light spirited when he had arrived at the Heaven Ridge Hall and was startled to see Elder Yin Shisi and Grand Elder Ouyang Xue.


    Other than the two of them, there were no others.


    He stammered when he saw Yin Shisi, "Elder Yin¡­why are you here¡­"


    Yin Shisi smiled as her lovely voice answered him, "You do not welcome me?"


    "Not that¡­" He said awkwardly.


    That day after he had received so many handkerchiefs, he was a little curious. How come everyone seemed to be giving him the same gift? It was not as though he needed so many nor did he had any strong preferences for collecting handkerchiefs.


    So he did a quick research and found out that if a maiden likes a man, she would give him a scented handkerchief. It was only then did he realize that Yin Shisi may have liked him. But to her, he had only felt lust and it was not love.


    This caused him to be in a fine fix as he had just accepted so many handkerchiefs. What would his Keqin think if she knows about it?


    He quickly tried to change to another topic, "Where are the elders? I mean the elder that I''m supposed to meet today and erm¡­my escorts."


    He had been informed that there would be an entourage of ten that would be escorting him to safety to the perimeter of the Moon Demon Forest and that was the meeting place where he was supposed to go.


    Ouyang Xue smiled, "You have finally arrived. There are no others and only the two of us."


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously as he returned a weak smile, "I will be going there alone?"


    Yin Shisi gave him a beautiful smile before she said, "With the two of us with you, is there any need for the others?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "The two of you will be going with me?"


    "You think that we are not enough for your protection?" Yin Shisi chuckled softly.


    "Of course not. With you around, is more than enough." Lu Qingyun quickly said. Yin Shisi was a sixth realm golden supremacy. Naturally it was more than enough.


    Ouyang Xue said gently as she gave him a melancholy look, "So you think that I am not needed anymore?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he quickly said, "Of course not. I mean with Yin Shisi around to protect the two of us, it is more than enough."


    Ouyang Xue sighed softly, "I am here to protect you and not because I need Elder Yin to protect me. Do you understand me?"


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly as he nodded, "Of course I understand." But he was thinking, "Actually what am I saying?" He was so nervous in front of Ouyang Xue that he was just saying anything to pacify her.


    Ouyang Xue and he had gone a long way since they had met. And they had almost engaged to each other. He knew that Ouyang Xue was avoiding him on purpose and he was actually trying to do the same.


    That was why he was quite startled that this time round Ouyang Xue was actually going with him to the Moon Demon Forest.


    He muttered, "It is so good to have a friend to talk with on this trip¡­"


    Ouyang Xue chuckled softly as she interrupted him, "Who knows if this may be your last trip back alive so I may as well accompany this friend of mine for his very last trip."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He laughed weakly, "You can''t be serious¡­"


    Ouyang Xue returned a faint smile as she stole a glance at Yin Shisi. Actually she was serious¡­


    The Moon Demon Forest was a dangerous place for the cultivators. Although Ouyang Xue was very young, she had an intelligence and maturity that even many of the older cultivators could not match. She knew that this expedition for Lu Qingyun was extremely dangerous or else why would Fragrance Herald Yufeng created such a difficult trial for everyone?


    The way she had analyzed the situation was that in order to qualify for this upcoming expedition, the cultivators must have the endurance, wits and luck in order to succeed.


    Some of the older and wiser cultivators like the grandmaster of the Flying Armament also had a bad foreboding and were already preventing their precious core prot¨¦g¨¦s not to go to the Moon Demon Forest.


    Yin Shisi said quietly to Lu Qingyun, "There is still time for you to change your mind. It is not too late. In the meantime, we will accompany you."


    Lu Qingyun was startled that the two maidens were suddenly looking at him with such solemn expression.


    But he replied quietly and firmly, "If I am always living under the shelter and protection of the others, I will not get stronger. It may even be detrimental to my future advancement. The more smooth sailing is my cultivation, the greater the danger it is to me when I am about to overcome my life and death cultivation limitations."


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were forced to nod. It was because without difficult trials, his danger sense and critical reactions would never be homed. When it was time for him to face his life and death divine calamity alone, it would be extremely difficult for him to survive through it.


    Lu Qingyun was wise to know all these and even Qin Keqin was forced to agree with him.


    "I will survive the expedition to the Moon Demon Forest. Trust me on this.??? He said firmly.

 182 Yin Shisi’s Story

    At first Lu Qingyun felt a little weird to be traveling with just two because maidens. It was because he was used to be in a bigger group. He was no stranger to travel alone though. But after a few days, he soon was used to their company.


    Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi also took some time to get used to Lu Qingyun almost eccentric habit of stopping in every corner of the mountain trails as he searched for herbs to pluck.


    Picking herbs from the mountains was a habit that Lu Qingyun was accustomed to.


    "Do you have to waste so much time to pick these cheap herbs?" Yin Shisi asked curiously.


    "Although these herbs are cheap but the vendors are selling it at 10 times the usual price in the cities. Some of the herbs that I had picked are even worth a hefty 10 silvers!"


    "10 silvers¡­" Yin Shisi muttered.


    Lu Qingyun said solemnly, "Maybe to you is not a lot but that is Xingyuan''s five month salary."


    He sighed softly when he had thought of Xingyuan. Even though she did not show too much of herself, he knew that she was quite stingy with money. Especially when she had borrowed a low grade spirit stone from him, her countenance had a look of agony. In the end, he told her that she did not need to pay him since she was only helping him.


    She had replied, "But that is a low grade spirit stone¡­"


    He emphasized to her that she did not need to feel so bad about spending it since he did not mind at all and was grateful for her help.


    This incident happened when he had met Yin Shisi for the very first time.


    It was kind of weird that he was now traveling with Yin Shisi now.


    One day, Yin Shisi suddenly said to him as they were traveling. "Senior brother, I wonder how strong you are now?"


    "Hmm, upper forth realm level?" Lu Qingyun replied curiously.


    Yin Shisi smiled, "Not that. I wonder how strong is your profound strength? Care to exchange a blow with me?"


    Ouyang Xue muttered softly, "He is only a fourth realm expert while you are a sixth realm expert. Take care not to send him flying down the mountains."


    At the same time she was staring at Lu Qingyun with shock. She had thought that he was only a third realm expert when they had last gone on the same experiential expedition together to the Misty Desolate Valley together.


    "How did he advance so quickly? From the first to the third and now to the upper fourth realm level? I have only just broken through to the fourth realm level with much difficulty and it will still be a long time before I can advance to the middle fourth realm level." She secretly thought.


    Yin Shisi turned to Ouyang Xue with a faint smile, "I will naturally be lenient."


    Lu Qingyun said, "Actually I am curious as well. I feel that my profound strength has actually improved tremendously lately. It will be good if Elder Yin is able to give me some quick instructions."


    "Then it is settled then." Yin Shisi smiled.


    "I''m going to attack you with fifty percent of my martial power. So you have to shore up your profound strength with everything that you''ve got, alright?"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Alright."


    And he had immediately mustered up his entire profound strength and there was an invisible profound aura that was enveloping him now. "I am ready now."


    "Good." Yin Shisi teased with a playful look on Lu Qingyun. "Be prepared for a jolt."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. It was because when she had looked at him with her playful eyes, he had already got a jolt. He did not even need to wait until she had displayed her blow.


    Yin Shisi carefully moved her curtain hat to her back before she raised her five fingers forward, "I''m going to use only fifty percent of my martial power with this blow. Just brace against it and be prepared to fly off. Heh."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he thought, "Then I''ve better use 120% of my profound strength¡­"


    He raised his palm out to receive her incoming blow while thinking, "Will my hand break¡­she is a golden supremacy¡­"


    "I''m coming now." Yin Shisi gave a soft shout as she mustered her profound strength as she flew toward Lu Qingyun to meet his palm with her martial power.


    There was a loud explosive thunderclap as both palms met and Ouyang Xue was covering her mouth with her hands as she did not dare to watch.


    But to the surprise of everyone, Lu Qingyun was still standing on the same spot and Yin Shisi''s palm blow did not seem to have any effect on him.


    "This¡­" Yin Shisi was startled.


    Even Lu Qingyun was quite astonished that he did not fly off and that he could only feel a tremble on his palm. "I am still standing?"


    Yin Shisi was blinking her eyes. She had really expected Lu Qingyun to at least fly off seven to ten steps. It was because even if a golden supremacy would to display half their martial power, there was no way for a fourth realm expert to have the sufficient profound strength to withstand their martial power.


    Ouyang Xue opened her eyes, "Did Elder Yin really uses 50% of her martial power or less than that? Senior brother is still standing¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was also having some doubts whether Yin Shisi really did use 50% of her martial power. And so he said with a bitter smile, "Thank you for being lenient."


    Yin Shisi averted her eyes before she smiled awkwardly, "I really did use 50% of my martial power. Why don''t you take 70% of my martial power in the next round?"


    Lu Qingyun, Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    "You are serious?" Lu Qingyun managed a weak smile.


    "Of course I am¡­" Yin Shisi said with a sheepish look. She was secretly thinking whether she had just ruined her own golden supremacy reputation.


    "Alright then." Lu Qingyun said as he looked at her with great awkwardness.


    "Then here I come again." Yin Shisi raised her musical voice as she once again mustered her profound strength.


    Lu Qingyun once again readied himself as he shouted, "I''m ready!"


    Once again, Yin Shisi swung her palm blow against Lu Qingyun. There was a bigger explosive thunderclap as both palms met but this time round Lu Qingyun had slid two steps backward as his profound strength could not resist Yin Shisi''s martial power.


    Yin Shisi was smiling weakly, "You are so strong already." This was a frank appraisal as Lu Qingyun could even resist 70% of her martial power. This was kind of impossible to believe.


    Even Ouyang Xue knew that Yin Shisi really did not give any leeway as the earlier explosive thunderclap had shifted the debris in a shockwave around him.


    The two maidens were wondering how Lu Qingyun got his profound strength even though he was only a fourth realm expert.


    The same had gone for Lu Qingyun as he looked at his trembling palm. "Did I just resist the tremendous attack of a golden supremacy?"


    Yin Shisi smiled before she asked him curiously, "How did you get your profound strength? It is a little unnatural."


    Even if a person''s profound strength was stronger than the average or if they were practicing some powerful internal divine arts to boost their internal arts, there was a limit on what a fourth realm expert could do.


    Lu Qingyun was perplexed as well. Lately he had felt that his profound strength had strengthened considerably. Was it due to his vast inner cultivation sea that was three times as vast as the typical fourth realm experts that was caused by the annihilating god seed that Yan''Er had mentioned to him or was it for some other reason?


    He had suddenly remembered that Keqin had fed him the Starforge Pill. He thought. "Don''t tell me it is the effect of that pill? And I''ve been trying to purge it out¡­"


    "Senior brother?" Yin Shisi asked curiously after seeing that he was in a daze.


    Lu Qingyun quickly regained his composure with a weak laugh, "I''m alright. I am just wondering the same too."


    "Are you really alright? Did I injure you?" She asked with a concern look.


    "Other than my hand that is still shaking and that my body had just received a jolt that shook my soul, I''m really alright." Lu Qingyun laughed it off.


    "I see¡­" Yin Shisi continued to look at him with concern while Ouyang Xue had flashed next to him to feel his pulses before she heaved a soft sigh of relief. "He is really alright. His internal energies are still flowing unbroken."


    Yin Shisi was really afraid that she may hurt him and was relieved to hear that. She chuckled with a soft sigh of relief. "Good, good. It seems that senior brother may soon become a golden celestial. He seems to have the profound strength of a golden celestial now."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Really?!"


    Yin Shisi smiled, "When your profound strength reaches a certain heaven-defying limit, you will be able to become a golden celestial soon."


    Ouyang Xue was startled as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother is going to become a golden celestial soon? Isn''t that a little fast? His rate of cultivation may not be able to catch up with his cultivation level. Can his inner cultivation sea be able to handle it?"


    Yin Shisi pondered for a little while before she answered. "When I have exchanged two earlier blows with him, I can sense that his cultivation foundation is quite stable and seems to resist my martial force quite well."


    Lu Qingyun listened with interest as they discussed his cultivation foundation. He was wondering why his profound strength seemed to have strengthened considerably lately. He did not know that this was due to the effects of the Horizon of the Heavens that was inside his inner cultivation sea.


    As he was now the master of the Horizon of the Heavens, the Horizon of the Heavens was now giving him the reserved strength of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan. Because he was the original Great Lord Xuan Yuan himself, he was now absorbing 100% of the Horizon of the Heavens without any efforts. If it was Yue Lingxi, even if she could obtain the true power of the Horizon of the Heavens, she could only absorb it partially and after a lot of cultivation efforts.


    But for Lu Qingyun, even if he were to sleep and did not do anything, the Horizon of the Heavens would still be imparting its power to him, strengthening his profound strength continuously.


    Lu Qingyun had a curious question for Yin Shisi, "I have a curious question. I have heard that overcoming the life and death cultivation level of the golden celestial isn''t easy. When it is time for me to overcome my first life and death cultivation level, I wonder if I may have any tips?"


    This life and death cultivation level was a barrier to most of the fourth realm experts that sought to become a golden celestial. If they could not overcome this barrier, they would die instantly. As for those that could overcome this barrier, they would become golden celestials.


    A golden celestial was the pinnacle existence in the Celestial Realm. They would have regeneration abilities and no longer required any food to sustain themselves. All they needed was the spiritual force that was around them and they could even regenerate lost organs over time.


    Yin Shisi smiled, "It is actually different from person to person. When it comes, it is best that you reserve as much of your inner spiritual sea as much as possible as you will need it. But for you, I really do not know. Usually a celestial practitioner will have three months of knowing and they will enter into seclusion to prepare for that day. So during this crucial period, it is best that you do not use up your inner spiritual sea unnecessary."


    Then she added with a concern look, "Your profound strength seems peak already. You may be a peaked fourth realm cultivator already and you should not partake in any exhausting activities that may use up your profound strength."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly. He was actually now a peaked fourth realm expert and he knew that his inner cultivation sea was now brimming to the full. He was hoping that Yan''Er could cultivate to the golden celestial level for him but it seemed that he had to take the risk himself. It was no longer that Yan''Er had been sleeping more than cultivating. It was because she was an entity spirit and could not cultivate past the fourth realm level unless her master had first cultivate past this point first.


    Now he had finally realized why Yan''Er seemed to be slowing down on her cultivation after they had reached the upper fourth realm level.


    "Elder Yin, can you share with me your experiences?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously. "You must be so impressive in order to become a golden celestial and you are even a golden supremacy now."


    Yin Shisi smiled, "Actually I don''t have much to share. Originally I was just like you and did not have any opportunity to become a golden celestial. It was because all the best cultivation resources were given to my brother for him to advance."


    Lu Qingyun and Ouyang Xue were both nodding. It was typical for the celestial clans to use their best celestial resources for a successor or their very best prot¨¦g¨¦ that could advance their interest.


    "One day I had met my master¡­" Yin Shisi smiled with fond memories when she had said it. "She was the one that had imparted to me her divine skills and had even prepared me to overcome my first life and death barrier to become a golden celestial. My master had really helped me a lot. Without her, I can''t even be a golden celestial and even a golden supremacy. You can say that I owe a lot to her¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was now curious about Yin Shisi''s master. He only knew that Yin Shisi''s master was also the master of Lie Xingyuan and that Yin Shisi was even calling Lie Xingyuan her ''senior sister'' whenever they were around.


    Come to think of that, he was now curious about Lie Xingyuan and her master background¡­

 183 The Endless Abyssal Sea 1

    Yin Shisi had said to Lu Qingyun after their spar, "You are now stronger than a fifth realm golden celestial. It may be due to the divine skill that you have been practicing."


    At which Lu Qingyun could only reply weakly, "Other than the sword art that I have invented and the golden roc spiritual entity that I have, I didn''t practice any divine skills that can make me on par with a fifth realm golden celestial."


    Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were now on the road for a week now as they moved quickly through the mountains to the north where the Moon Demon Forest was. In a few more days they would have reached their destination and that was where the Patriarch Heavenly Fragrance Villa was setting up the point for the celestial cultivators to rendezvous.


    While Lu Qingyun was away to pick spirit herbs in the vicinity, Yin Shisi had turned to Ouyang Xue with a faint smile. "Look at him. He is like a child. He seems to think that every mountain has a unique herb on it and he is off to make a quick search again. At this rate that we are traveling, I don''t think we can even reach the Moon Demon Forest in a timely manner."


    Ouyang Xue nodded with a smile, "Isn''t that good? He isn''t pretending to be otherwise and this is his true personality. Actually if he runs out of herbs, I can authorize my martial hall to give him some herbs before we had set off. If there is anything that my hall doesn''t lack, it is cheap herbs."


    Yin Shisi chuckled softly, "That is such a shame isn''t it? Now it is too late for us to turn back."


    All of a sudden she turned solemn, "I''ve heard of a rumor that you and senior brother have almost been betrothed to each other. Is that true?"


    Ouyang Xue quickly averted her eyes as she said softly, "I wish that it is true but it isn''t. My old father had wanted to betrothed me to him." She was frank toward Yin Shisi as she felt that she was someone that she could trust. Moreover other than Lie Xingyuan, she did not seem to have any other friends in the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    But she quickly added with a smile, "But I was willing as well but things did not work out."


    Yin Shisi was really curious as she asked, "How come? What happens?"


    "He has already someone in his mind." Ouyang Xue said matter of fact.


    "Who is she? I''m really curious to know." Yin Shisi smiled faintly.


    "You are curious to know or is it because you like him?" Ouyang Xue pointed out without a hint of expression.


    Yin Shisi nodded lightly and there was a slight flush on her cheeks. "He is really a fine man. Who does he likes? Is it Leng Qiuyue or Lie Xingyuan?"


    "I''m afraid that I can''t tell you." Ouyang Xue smiled.


    "It is alright. That is not important." Yin Shisi said quietly. "I can wait for him to be ready."


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    "Does she know that that the maiden that senior brother likes, is actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing?" She heaved a silent sigh. "Even if you can wait for him to change his mind, there are still Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue who are closer to his heart than us."


    Yin Shisi took a few glances at her before she said, "I can tell that you still like him. Have you ever tried to make known your feelings for him?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled, "Some things are better left unsaid. I just hope that he may return safe and sound on this trip."


    "Same here." Yin Shisi nodded. "I feel that this expedition isn''t as simple as it looks."


    She paused for a while before saying, "Do we think that we can be friends? I have no other friends in the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    Ouyang Xue was surprised to hear her request. After all, Yin Shisi was a sixth realm cultivator expert while she was only a fourth realm cultivator expert. But she quickly responded, "It is my honor to have a friend like you."


    Yin Shisi smiled warmly, "Same here. We can wait for him together. Don''t you think so?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled weakly. She simply did not have any hope of that happening.


    "Why did you like him? Because of that incident?" She asked.


    "Because I think he is cute." Yin Shisi smiled as she returned a look at Ouyang Xue.


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    "What about you?" Yin Shisi asked her.


    Ouyang Xue smiled weakly, "It is now impossible between the two of us. I don''t have any illusions now."


    At this moment, Lu Qingyun had returned and he was shouting excitingly as he waved toward them. "I''ve found something over here. Come take a look!"


    Curious, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue took a glance at each other before they hurried to his side.


    "What is it?" Ouyang Xue asked curiously.


    "I saw a strange sight below the desolate mists." Lu Qingyun said excitingly.


    Yin Shisi gasped softly, "Is it a high ranking desolate beast?"


    "No, it looked like a portal." Lu Qingyun grinned. "I think I may have found something."


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were looking at each other with a startled expression.


    Lu Qingyun had already turned his back on them as he said excitingly, "You will know when you''ve seen it."


    After a short while, they were soon behind the lofty mountain that they were at and Lu Qingyun had taken them to a ledge.


    A misty mirror was seen below the desolate mists. This misty mirror was exactly like a mirror and they could see their own reflections!


    Lu Qingyun said excitingly, "I was gathering spirit herbs by the edge and accidentally saw this. I wonder what it is. Is it a portal?"


    Yin Shisi gasped softly, "It is the portal to the Endless Abyssal Sea. I think we may have found the entrance to the Endless Abyssal Sea."


    Lu Qingyun and Ouyang Xue were both startled as they looked excitingly at each other.


    It was said that the Nine Celestial Realm had two Celestial Mysteries, the Endless Abyssal Sea and the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth. These two places existed along with the Nine Celestial Realm and were places where the celestials could obtain lucky occurrence to advance their cultivation realms and state of divinities.


    Lu Qingyun said excitingly, "I have heard that Saint Gao Tianshou had found one such entrance to the Endless Abyssal Sea and after that he had emerged stronger and become a saint due to a lucky occurrence inside the Endless Abyssal Sea. Shall we take a look?"


    Ouyang Xue muttered, "We are supposed to go to the Moon Demon Forest in a week time. There isn''t much time left¡­"


    Lu Qingyun grinned, "But there is still a week time¡­"


    Ouyang Xue muttered, "I have heard that some celestials can wander inside for days, weeks and even years."


    Yin Shisi was also tempted, "I don''t know if we can encounter the Endless Abyssal Sea again if we missed it this time. We may not even see it again in our lifetime again."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "Between the Moon Demon Forest and the Endless Abyssal Sea, we must choose now."


    Ouyang Xue looked at him, "I will let senior brother chooses. Whatever your decision is, I will follow you."


    Yin Shisi also looked at Lu Qingyun, "I will also let senior brother chooses."


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he had a sheepish look on him. "It is unfair for you to follow me. It may be dangerous and you will never know how long it may take. The others may not know what have happened to us if we all go together."


    Although he did not say his choices yet but the two maidens knew that Lu Qingyun had already made up his mind to go into the Endless Abyssal Sea.


    Ouyang Xue said firmly, "I am your escort and will follow you whenever you go. Don''t expect me to be your messenger!"


    Yin Shisi nodded, "This is a golden opportunity for us to explore the Endless Abyssal Sea. This is a legendary place for the celestials. Even if we were to die in there, it is worth it."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly. That was exactly what he was thinking. This was really a once in a life lucky occurrence and even if they were to die inside, it were their fates and were worth dying for.


    With a soft sigh, he said. "I will go inside the Endless Abyssal Sea¡­"


    Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi interrupted at the same time, "Then we will go with you."


    Lu Qingyun was looking up the heavens and muttering silently, "Keqin, I don''t know if we will meet again."


    "How do we enter this portal? The surrounding cliffs look so steep." Lu Qingyun had suddenly asked a most crucial question.


    "We will jump in." Yin Shisi said as she grabbed both their hands as she displayed her profound aura and her profound aura was spreading like a pair of faint golden wings. "Don''t forget that I''m a golden supremacy and I can levitate for a little while."

 184 The Endless Abyssal Sea 2

    When they had passed through the mirror that was below, they did not fall rapidly but instead a strange force was pulling them slowly into the mirror.


    In just a few blinks of an eye, they had quickly passed through the mirror and they found themselves next to a beautiful crystal lake. This beautiful crystal lake was tens of miles wide and beyond it were tens of mountains with waterfalls.


    There were even dozens of floating islands in the misty skies above and many of these islands had waterfalls dripping down below.


    It was a beautiful and wondrous sight.


    "We are now inside the Endless Abyssal Sea?" Lu Qingyun was startled as he quickly looked around. "This doesn''t seem like a horrible place that is described in the stories."


    Even Yin Shisi was startled as she quickly scanned her surroundings with her divine sense for any signs of danger.


    "This place is definitely not the Celestial Realm. There are so few mountains and there are waters everywhere. Is it no wonder that this place is called the Endless Abyssal Sea?" Ouyang Xue said as she looked around.


    Lu Qingyun said, "Maybe I shall take a look around first. There may be some rare spirit herbs around¡­"


    But all of a sudden he was interrupted by Yan''Er who had appeared in front of him as she chuckled, "Master, we are home?"


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were both startled by Yan''Er as they quickly took a step back when they saw the cute little girl that was hovering above the ground.


    "She is a spirit entity?!" Yin Shisi was gasping.


    "Senior brother, this little girl is really your spirit entity? She is a sentient spirit entity?" Ouyang Xue was astonished.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he sighed softly, "This cute little girl here is Yan''Er. Yes she is my golden roc spirit entity."


    Then he turned to Yan''Er with an annoyed look, "Yan''Er, you''re not supposed to show up unless I have called out for you. Have you forgotten what your master has said to you?"


    "But master, Yan''Er didn''t disobey you. This is Yan''Er home! We are back home! Yan''Er is just visiting my home. Is there anything wrong?"


    Lu Qingyun frowned lightly, "What home are you talking about? We are now inside the Endless Abyssal Sea."


    Yin Shisi said quietly, "The Endless Abyssal Sea is one of the Two Greater Mysteries in the Celestial Realm. No one knows about its origin. It has been in the Celestial Realm for as long as anyone can remember. The reason why it is so mysterious is because the entrance of the Endless Abyssal Sea is not fixed in any single location but shift rapidly. I have heard that the entrance will only be opened for just an hour."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "That mean earlier we may have missed it when I had returned to look for you and no one will believe me."


    Yin Shisi nodded, "That is how fast the portal can disappear and there doesn''t seem to be any fix pattern to its appearance. That is why the Endless Abyssal Sea can only be chanced but not found by any means."


    Lu Qingyun nodded excitingly, "We are indeed fortunate to find the entrance."


    Yin Shisi returned a faint smile, "Whether we are fortunate or not still remains to be seen. This place is actually full of dangers."


    Then she took a look at Yan''Er before saying, "Didn''t you hear what your spirit entity has to say? She calls this place her home. It is rumored that the Endless Abyssal Sea is the source of all desolate forces in the Celestial Realm. From the look of it, it seems to be true. It is no wonder that she calls this place her home."


    Yan''Er interrupted her with a cute look, "I''m Little Yan''Er, not a spirit entity."


    Yin Shisi smiled weakly, "Hello Little Yan''Er." This spirit entity could actually argue back to her. She was truly astonished. She had seen one or two sentient spirit entities in her lifetime but they were all absolutely obedient to their masters and could not speak unless their masters willed it.


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly. Now that his secret had been out so he guessed that he did not need to hide it anymore. Therefore he said weakly, "Let me introduce everyone first¡­"


    Yan''Er laughed cutely as she pointed her little finger at Yin Shisi, "I know who these two big sisters are. This big sister is Big Sister Shisi. I saw her in master''s dreams many times as master and she are naked together. She was crying in master''s dream and master seems excited."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Yin Shisi: ¡­


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    "As for this big sister, she is Big Sister Xue. Not so much. But just a few days after master and she had met."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Yin Shisi: ¡­


    Yin Shisi took the opportunity to ask quietly, "Then which big sister is the one that your master likes to be naked with in his dreams?"


    "It is Big Sister Keqin!" Yan''Er clapped her hands delightfully.


    Yin Shisi lowered her glances as she thought, "So it is sect leader. I should have known that he likes her. I should have guessed it earlier¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Yan''Er, this is all rubbish! I will¡­never do that!" Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly.


    Then with a flustered look he said to Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue who were both flushing as well, "Don''t believe what she says. Yan''Er is just being playful. It is not real at all."


    Ouyang Xue smiled as she looked intently at Lu Qingyun as she thought, "So he did have me in his thoughts in the earlier days. That is enough."


    She quickly said with a flustered voice, "Senior brother, we understand. Don''t worry too much." She had dreamed of being with him all too often as well¡­


    Even Yin Shisi was nodding as she added with a shy look. "Dreams are not real. It is good to release your frustration sometimes." She too had dreams of being with Lu Qingyun as well¡­


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He felt like this time he was being fixed by Yan''Er but at the same time he was unable to get upset with her because he knew that Yan''Er was just saying what she knows and it was impossible to treat her like a normal person. She was a spirit entity after all. Her thought processes were entirely different from a real person. He could only sigh secretly to himself.


    At the same time he was a little worried that he may be looked down by the two maidens for having that kind of a dream on them and that he even had lecherous thoughts on his Master Qin Keqin.


    He said awkwardly, "I think I take a look over that side first."


    It was a perfect excuse for everyone to cool down first after what Yan''Er had just said.


    But to his surprise, Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi both said at almost the same time with a flushed look. "Senior brother, I will go with you."


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "Alright then. I guess it is safer if we are in each other company."


    Now that Yan''Er was known to everyone, he said to Yan''Er. "Yan''Er, use your divine sense to warn us of any dangers. Our divine sense may not be as sharp as you."


    Yin Shisi smiled as she took a look at Yan''Er, "She is a cute little girl. I wish that I have a cute little spirit entity like her."


    Lu Qingyun was silently cursing, "She is not cute at all."


    Ouyang Xue smiled, "Cute little Yan''Er, what do you like to do most?"


    "Yan''Er likes cultivation the most!"


    Ouyang Xue was most astonished. "You like to cultivate? Why? You can cultivate?"


    "Hmm¡­" Yan''Er put her fingers on her lips. "Because my master wants me to cultivate. So Yan''Er likes to cultivate. Master says if Yan''Er cultivates then he will like Yan''Er more and he can spend more time on his alchemy."


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Yin Shisi: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "Haha. Don''t mind her¡­"


    Yin Shisi was gasping as she stared at Lu Qingyun, "Don''t tell me that the reason why your cultivation realm has advanced so rapidly is all because of Yan''Er?"


    Lu Qingyun had a sheepish look before he nodded, "That is partially true."


    Even Ouyang Xue was staring with disbelief at Lu Qingyun.


    They knew that his spirit entity was a ninth rank golden roc. If the golden roc spirit entity was able to cultivate then it may be more rapid than anyone. But was it even possible in the first place? No one had ever heard of a spirit entity that was able to cultivate.


    Lu Qingyun was groaning in secret. "They must be looking down at me now. I am just the good-for-nothing cultivator again. I guess that I have guessed screwed up my reputation now¡­"


    That was what he had thought but the truth was, the two maidens had always regarded Lu Qingyun highly. They were just being astonished and were not looking down at him in any way.


    Yin Shisi was the more experienced than Lu Qingyun and Ouyang Xue. She knew their true age and they were very young. Their age was at a stage where their hearts were opened to the worldly affairs of the hearts and it was difficult to stop them from thinking about it.


    Like Qin Keqin, she could laugh it off because their states of divinities were different.


    As for Ouyang Xue, she was secretly glad that she was not the only one that was thinking the same¡­


    But to Lu Qingyun, he was thinking. "I think I''ve screwed myself in front of them now. It is all thanks to Yan''Er."


    So he quickly tried to distract things from himself by asking Yan''Er, "My cute little Yan''Er, you say that this is your home? But why aren''t I sensing more of the desolate force that is in this place? Rather, I can still draw upon the spiritual force that is in this place?"


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were both wondering the same as well so they were now looking at Yan''Er for an explanation.


    "You can''t sense the desolate force?" Yan''Er asked curiously. "It is everywhere and it is much stronger than the desolate mists! I feel so strong in this place!"


    Lu Qingyun was perplexed as he muttered, "I feel that this place has a much stronger spiritual force than desolate force. It isn''t the opposite."


    "Same here." Yin Shisi said while Ouyang Xue was nodding in agreement with them.


    "But Yan''Er really did not lie. The desolate force here is much stronger than anywhere else." Yan''Er said firmly.


    Lu Qingyun knew that Yan''Er would not lie to him. After a quick ponder he clapped his fist on his palm and said, "I get it now. Actually there will be one situation where everyone is right. We are not wrong and Yan''Er is not wrong either."


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue looked at him curiously.


    "It is the same as concocting pills. Only if it is perfectly balance then it will bring out the properties of every herb ingredient. If it isn''t handled properly, some of the herb ingredients may be overwhelmed or even destroyed. Therefore this place actually has the perfect balance of both the desolate force and the spiritual force." Lu Qingyun suddenly announced proudly.


    When he had said that, even Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue thought that he was indeed right. This was something that they did not think of.


    Ouyang Xue said, "So that is why we thought that the spiritual force here is stronger while Yan''Er thinks that the desolate force is stronger."


    "It is because we depend on the spiritual force for our cultivation while Yan''Er is more attuned to the desolate force." Adds Yin Shisi. "So that''s why."


    Ouyang Xue took a look of admiration at Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother, you are indeed a smart man."


    Lu Qingyun chuckled, "Haha, not really. I just have an inspiration thought, that''s all."


    "So what should we do now?" Ouyang Xue asked.


    "Hmm, there doesn''t seem to be any danger yet. We should do some exploring first." Lu Qingyun said.


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue nodded at the same time.


    "We shall follow you." Yin Shisi winked at him.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Elder Yin is a golden supremacy. We should be the one that is following your lead."


    Yin Shisi smiled, "But you are the senior brother of our celestial clan and you are ranked higher than us. We should follow you."


    Ouyang Xue was also smiling, "That is true."


    Lu Qingyun muttered weakly, "Well don''t blame me if I lead you to somewhere dangerous."


    "Then it is just our bad luck and not because of your bad leadership." Yin Shisi giggled softly. "Why are you so cute?"


    "I am¡­cute?" Lu Qingyun stammered with a curious look on Yin Shisi. "Why so?"


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were both laughing as they laughed at the same time. "Nothing! Really!"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Yan''Er: ???

 185 The Endless Abyssal Sea 3

    As Yan''Er hovered around her master, she sensed that the Horizon of the Heavens was now quietly absorbing the desolate energies from the surroundings and that it was quietly evolving its strength. The Horizon of the Heavens was a sentient divine artefact and had fully divine harmonized with Lu Qingyun. When its strength grows, so will Lu Qingyun.


    "Should I tell master about this?"


    "Oh no, I''ve promised Big Sister Keqin not to tell master about the Horizon of the Heavens or anything that is related to it." Yan''Er had suddenly remembered her promise to Qin Keqin.


    After making up her firm mind to keep this matter a secret, she began to hover after Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.


    Yin Shisi began to share with them on what she knew about the origins of the Endless Abyssal Sea.


    Lu Qingyun and Ouyang Xue were listening attentively as they were curious to know everything about this place and this may prove crucial to their survival.


    "I think that our Little Yan''Er here has just confirmed the rumors that this place is indeed the origin of the desolate force or else she will not have called this place her home." Yin Shisi said matter of fact.


    "That is right!" Yan''Er could not help chirping in. "This is my home!"


    Lu Qingyun frowned lightly at the interruption, "Your home is now inside my inner spiritual sea now."


    "That is my second home, master." Yan''Er chuckled.


    "Whatever." Lu Qingyun muttered.


    Yin Shisi scanned the surroundings with her superior divine sense as she said, "It is really difficult to imagine that this place was the source of all desolate energies. From what I can sense here, it is more like the life force energies of all the Celestial Realm is accumulated here."


    Lu Qingyun said with a hesitate look at his surroundings were surrounded by a great lake and many waterfalls, "This place is so beautiful. It is difficult to imagine that it is the source of all the desolate energies."


    "But this place seems a little odd." Yin Shisi smiled bitterly.


    "Why did you say that?" Ouyang Xue asked curiously.


    Lu Qingyun was also looking at her and was silently asking the same question as Ouyang Xue.


    "It is supposed to be a dangerous place, a place for lucky occurrence to happen or a final resting place for the unlucky cultivators. Yet this place seems so serene. It is a little too fishy." Yin Shisi said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "That is so true. It is a little too peaceful around here. So peaceful till I didn''t think that there are any dangers around here."


    Ouyang Xue said, "I have a question. How do we get out of this place?"


    Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi: ¡­


    "I didn''t think of it." Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly and he was looking at Yin Shisi.


    Yin Shisi said with a flustered look, "Don''t look at me like this. I don''t know too."


    Then the three of them had a sheepish look on their countenances.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "That mean that we are struck here forever?"


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    "How do those people that have exited the Endless Abyssal Sea leave this place? They didn''t give any accounts?" Lu Qingyun smiled weakly.


    "There are only a few that have talked about it but it is quickly dismissed as a tall tale." Yin Shisi said after a short ponder. "Since the Endless Abyssal Sea is so rarely encountered, it is of no interest to anyone."


    "It is of no interest to anyone except for those that are struck inside." Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. "Tell me about some of the tall tales."


    "I only remember an account of an old cultivator that had once entered the Endless Abyssal Sea. His story was quite a fantastic adventure and I doubt that you will want to hear about it. But in the end, he managed to exit the Endless Abyssal Sea when he was caught in a storm and the next thing he knew, he was already back in the Nine Celestial Fraternity." Yin Shisi said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This does sound a little hard to believe. Surely there must be a portal that can exit this place somewhere. Don''t worry, one day we will find it."


    Ouyang Xue asked quietly, "What if we never find it?"


    "Then we can only blame our bad luck and be in this place forever." Lu Qingyun sighed softly.


    Yin Shisi smiled shyly, "Maybe we can start a new life here even. This isn''t such a bad idea after all."


    Ouyang Xue shyly averted her eyes when Yin Shisi had made the suggestion while Lu Qingyun was smiling awkwardly, "It is still too early to say. Maybe the portals that leads to the outside are actually everywhere. We only need to do explore the vicinity a little more thoroughly."


    "Yan''Er, do you know the way out? Isn''t this your home?" Lu Qingyun tried a last desperate effort.


    "Way out?" Yan''Er looked a little perplexed.


    From her expression, it was obvious that she did not know and Lu Qingyun did not ask further.


    All of a sudden the bank of the lake was foaming and erupting, startling them; they could see that the waters of the great lake was now rippling and bubbles were foaming above it.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "What is going on?"


    Barely had he said that, a gigantic translucent feminine form had risen from the crystal clear lake. She was ten times their height and was monstrous. Her entire body was almost a see through translucent color.


    Lu Qingyun quickly flashed his divine sword while Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue also had their swords ready to face this new threat.


    But all of a sudden Yan''Er had flown up to the gigantic feminine form and she was shouting excitingly, "Mother!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled. "Did Yan''Er just call this monster her mother?" The image of the golden roc and this feminine monster did not seem to mix together¡­


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were equally surprised but they did not put down their guards.


    Lu Qingyun was shouting panicky, "Yan''Er, come back quickly! It is dangerous!"


    But Yan''Er continued to fly up to the face of the feminine form as she called out excitingly, "Mother! Mother!"


    The monstrous feminine form had her waist up the lake by now and her voice emitted to everyone. "Child, you have managed to attain nirvana now. Continue to evolve well." She did not actually speak but her voice was emitted in the minds of Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.


    Yan''Er nodded excitingly, "Mother, Yan''Er I will. I have a name now and that is Yan''Er!"


    "Yan''Er, my child. You have grown well." The monstrous feminine emitted.


    "It is all thanks to my master that I am growing up good! I am now a cultivator as well." Yan''Er proudly said.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Erm, they know each other?"


    The monstrous feminine form had turned to Lu Qingyun and his group as she emitted, "Welcome cultivators to the Endless Abyssal Sea. You must have many unanswered questions. First of all, I am the guardian spirit of this place and this is my sanctum. You may call me the Endless Abyssal Sea."


    Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were all stunned. She had actually called herself the Endless Abyssal Sea. This could only mean one thing. She was the embodiment of the entire Endless Abyssal Sea itself!


    "You are the first to visit my inner sanctum and disturb my rest. Usually this place is off limits to outsiders. It is only because of Yan''Er that you are here in this place." The monstrous feminine form added. "You may put down your weapons first. You won''t be able to defeat me."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly as he lowered down his sword, "I wasn''t thinking of fighting you anyway."


    "Master, you are actually thinking of fighting Mother with your new sword art." Yan''Er pointed out.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Yan''Er, whose side are you on?" Lu Qingyun muttered awkwardly.


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue had also lowered their swords as they stared at the guardian spirit of the Endless Abyssal Sea.


    The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea said wordlessly in their minds, "You may cultivate in this place in peace. This place has the wondrous effect of purifying your profound strength and will be beneficial to your cultivation progression. You will not have another chance like this again. After that, I will send you out."


    Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were all looking at one another with a wondrous look. This was indeed a most lucky occurrence that they had and they had the opportunity to cultivate within the most inner sanctum of the Endless Abyssal Sea!


    The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea seemed to know their thoughts and she continued, "All the past mistakes in your cultivation can be reverse here. All the impure profound energies that have cumulated can now be purified. Your profound energies will be cleansed to its purest state and your cultivation progression will be smoother in the future."


    Lu Qingyun was extremely delighted to hear that. It was because he had made several mistakes in his cultivation practice in the past. This was a perfect chance for him to solidify his cultivation foundation again.


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were also thinking the same as they looked excitingly at each other.


    The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea pointed to a nearby mountain with a splendid waterfall, "You may cultivate in that place until you are ready to go back. I shall await here. In this place, you have no need for food or water. You can cultivate as long as you want to."


    Then she turned to Yan''Er to say, "It is also your lucky occurrence that you have returned to the origin of your birth. Let your mother renews your strength for you. You will be the finest among my many children."


    Yan''Er was delighted, "Thank you mother!"


    Lu Qingyun was quietly looking at Yan''Er as he thought silently, "Yan''Er has a mother. This is such a good feeling. I am an orphan¡­"


    But he was soon scratching his nose, "Wait a minute. Yan''Er is a golden roc but her mother isn''t. This doesn''t make any sense at all. Yan''Er, she isn''t your mother. You must have made a mistake somewhere¡­"


    He was about to tell her that when he looked up at the monstrous figure of the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea and heaved a heavy sigh. "I don''t want to die yet. Sorry, Yan''Er. You got to acknowledge this mother of yours for now until I am strong enough to be able to fight her."


    It was only later that he knew that the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea was the life-giver of all the desolate beasts and the spiritual herbs of the Celestial Realm. For Yan''Er to call the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea as her ''mother'' was more of a symbolic acknowledgement of her life-giver creator than true mother.

 186 The Endless Abyssal Sea 4

    Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue had started to cultivate in the nearby waterfall mountain that was next to the crystal clear great lake.


    When Lu Qingyun had closed his eyes to cultivate, he did not know how long time had passed as his body began to absorb the rich spiritual force that was in the vicinity.


    Before he had started to cultivate, he had thought that it would only be a short while. But as soon as he had started, he soon fell into a deep slumber.


    When he had finally opened his eyes again, he was startled to see that Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were both looking at him curiously.


    "Senior brother, you are awakened?" The two maidens said to him excitingly as soon as they saw him opened his eyes.


    Even Yan''Er was hovering excitingly above him as she shouted softly, "Master!"


    He was even more startled to see that Ouyang Xue now had golden eyes and nearly fainted from astonishment.


    "Grand Elder Xue, you are now a golden celestial?" He stammered.


    Ouyang Xue smiled as she lowered her eyes, "Didn''t you used to call me Ouyang Xue in the past? I am not that old and we are not in the celestial clan anymore."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Alright then¡­"


    Yin Shisi laughed jovially, "And I am a golden saintess now. I have reached the seventh realm sacred saint level now."


    Lu Qingyun was jolted as he stammered, "You have overcome your life and death tribulation and is now a saintess?!"


    Everyone had advanced at least a realm¡­


    Since he was the last to open his eyes then his cultivation realm must also have advanced. He was already a peaked fourth realm expert when he had begun to cultivate in this place. Therefore it was not surprising if he was now a golden celestial. But he could not remember how he had passed his life and death tribulation.


    He laughed weakly, "So I am a golden celestial now? I can feel the pureness of my profound strength now. How long have I been cultivating?"


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue took a look at one another before Yin Shisi said quietly, "Senior brother, you have been cultivating for nearly a year now, far longer than any of us. We are a little worried and yet we dare not disturb you."


    "One year?!" Lu Qingyun nearly fainted from shock. "Then we must have missed the events that are in the Moon Demon Forest."


    Then he thought, "What if Keqin has returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa in the mean time to look for me? She must have thought that I''ve lost my life somewhere?"


    Yin Shisi smiled, "We have spoken with the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea again while you are still in deep meditation, she had told us that time flows a little different here. One year here is actually a day outside."


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes, "There is really such a thing? So it is only one day that had passed so far?"


    Then he looked up to smile at Yan''Er, "Your master is now a golden celestial now. Aren''t you glad my cute little Yan''Er?"


    Yan''Er took a sheepish look at Lu Qingyun before she chuckled, "Master, we are still at the upper fourth realm level."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "My cultivation realm did not have any improvement?" Lu Qingyun was startled and he was a little bewildered.


    He took a quick glance at Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue who were all nodding weakly. There was no doubt that he was still a fourth realm level from the expressions that they had given him.


    It was no wonder that he did not feel that he had experienced any life and death tribulation because it did not happen at all.


    Even Ouyang Xue had overtaken him to become a golden celestial.


    What else could he say but muttered weakly, "I am glad that everyone had overcome your life and death tribulation. I am glad for everyone. It must not be easy at all."


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "Senior brother, don''t be sad alright? Soon it will be your turn. I believe in you."


    Yin Shisi nodded, "No doubt with your experiences here, you will soon become a fifth realm golden celestial. All you need is a lucky occurrence and it will come soon."


    Lu Qingyun smiled at them warmly, "Actually, I am really alright. Don''t worry about me. I must have made too many cultivation mistakes in the past and that is why my realm cultivation did not advance. But I can feel that my profound strength is purer than ever before and I am also stronger than I am in the past."


    Yin Shisi gave him a glad look, "I''m glad that senior brother thinks this way."


    Ouyang Xue lowered her eyes, "If it is not for senior brother who had found this place, Xue''Er will never be able to reach the fifth realm level." Ever since she had met Lu Qingyun, her fate seemed to have changed as well.


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "I guess that it is now time for us to leave this place. Let''s go and look for the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea."


    The other two maidens nodded and their eyes were delighted.


    While they were talking, Yan''Er was looking quite sheepishly. It was because her Master Lu Qingyun was supposed to face his first ever life and death tribulation. This place was the perfect cultivation spot for the cultivators and even though Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea was three times as vast as the typical fourth realm cultivators due to the annihilating god seed and it may need some time to fill it to the brim.


    However in the past year alone, his inner spiritual sea was now full to the brim and it was all too easy for him to trigger his next realm advancement.


    But Yan''Er had promised Qin Keqin to suppress his cultivation advancement until he had reached the ancient ruin of the Moon Demon Forest or until she had given her permission to do so. Although Yan''Er did not know how long her master had to cultivate or whether they would reach the Moon Demon Forest in a nick of time, Qin Keqin''s words to her was like a powerful law that was in her heart.


    By right, Yan''Er strength alone could not stopped Lu Qingyun''s from advancing his cultivation realm but after she had the cultivation spiritual strength of the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea, she was able to suppress his cultivation advancement.


    The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea had told Yan''Er, "This is not enough. He is too strong to be restrained by anyone. He is indeed a special one. If you want to suppress his realm advancement temporary, you have to first become a fifth realm golden spirit entity first. Only then can you suppress him. But this may be dangerous for you. After all, this is a life and death tribulation that every would be fifth realm cultivators have to face. Are you willing to do so?"


    Although Yan''Er was often lazy and playful but she had a heart of steel and she replied firmly, "I''m willing!"


    And Yan''Er had secretly taken the life and death tribulation for Lu Qingyun. She was also fortunate that she had the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea to guide her through the life and death tribulation.


    Yan''Er life and death tribulation was a scary monstrous entity that appeared from above her soul sea, threatening to devour her. Because Yan''Er was not a golden roc anymore, she had appeared as a little girl who was only a small dot in her soul sea. In order to overcome her life and death tribulation, she had to use her cultivation strength to overcome her divine calamity that was in the form of a scary monstrous entity.


    But this place was also the realm of the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea. The instant the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea had sensed Yan''Er divine calamity, a rift was opened in the soul sea of Yan''Er and the spiritual form of the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea had crushed the malicious monstrous entity.


    Yan''Er eyes began to glow golden after her divine calamity and quickly reverted to normal after she had used her strength as a seal to suppress Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea.


    When her seal was released, Lu Qingyun would become a fifth realm golden celestial anytime.


    The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea had asked Yan''Er, "Why did you want to seal your master and your own cultivation advancement? Will it do any good to you?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "I don''t know. Big Sister Keqin asks me to do it so Yan''Er is doing it."


    The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea had reached into Yan''Er to read her soul sea of her memories of Qin Keqin and was startled, "This maiden is the true daughter of the heavens¡­"

 187 The Headhunters Encounter

    Lu Qingyun and his group had now left the Endless Abyssal Sea via a portal that was opened for them by the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea.


    There were no formality exchanges between them except for a quick greeting and thank you.


    "Good bye Mother¡­" Yan''Er said delightfully.


    Unlike the celestials that tended to viewed farewells with heartfelt emotions, Yan''Er was equally delightfully when it was time for her to say her farewell to her ''mother''. It was as though she was simply just going out for a short while and would be coming back soon.


    Lu Qingyun had simply stated to the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea that they were now ready to leave the Endless Abyssal Sea and the portal was formed in front of them.


    "Leave in peace and tell no one of your experiences here." The Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea simply said without any emotions.


    When they had left, the Guardian Spirit Endless Abyssal Sea simply said to herself before she sunk into the great lake. "Lu Qingyun¡­I remember your desolate force from long ago¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Lu Qingyun, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were on the road for five days, they were now approaching the vicinity of the Moon Demon Forest and was far north by now.


    As they made a turning on the mountain trail, they were startled to hear the sounds of sword clashes and the bemoaning sounds of the desolate beasts.


    Yin Shisi was the first to react, "I''ll go and take a look."


    Lu Qingyun quickly called after her, "I will come too."


    "We shall all go together then." Ouyang Xue had sped together with them and she had flashed her sword.


    As they sped through the forested mountain trails, the fighting sounds intensified and they could hear the screaming sounds of several cultivators.


    They soon come to a forest clearing and were startled to see that there were three monstrous fifth rank reptilian devious monsters that were fighting against dozens of cultivators. From the situation below them, things were not looking good for the cultivators.


    These three reptilian devious monsters were all as tall as three men and were walking upright. They had a name as well and were known as the Headhunter for their fondness to snap off the heads of those that they had slewed. These Headhunters devious monsters were extremely vicious and formidable. Even though there were dozens of cultivators but there were no cultivators that were higher than the fifth realm level that could really fight a Headhunter and moreover there were three.


    Against a lone Headhunter, perhaps the dozens of cultivators could still have a slim hope.


    There were a few exceptional cultivators that were holding the advance of the three Headhunters; a maiden with a steel whip and a man with a white spear were slowing the advances of the Headhunters. But for the look of it, they were on the brink of exhaustion.


    "Gongsun Ya?" Lu Qingyun had recognized her as one of the trial competitors from the Alluring Blossoms Palace.


    Yin Shisi was the first to speed down the mountain trail into the valley below as she interrupted the attack of a Headhunter. She was promptly followed by Ouyang Xue and Lu Qingyun, startling the dozens of cultivators who suddenly saw a ray of hope.


    Gongsun Ya gasped softly as she recognized Lu Qingyun who had pushed her out of the way of the brutal claws of the Headhunter that she was fighting. "The good-for-nothing Lu Qingyun¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had flashed his half-step divine sword as he parried the on-slaughter rush of the Headhunter. He was quite startled that he was able to send the Headhunter to take a step backward and he immediately threw his Sword Two, Sword Three and Sword Four in a continuous sequence as piercing projectiles; his attacks were all too successful as all his flying divine swords pierced through the thick armor of the Headhunter, sending it into a behemoth outrage.


    This momentum halt in the Headhunter was all Lu Qingyun needed as he quickly displayed his ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One.'' Now this new sword art of his was even more formidable than the one that he had displayed when he had killed the fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast back in the Misty Desolate Valley.


    The Headhunter did not even have a second chance to resist Lu Qingyun as it immediately crumbled onto the ground, shocking Gongsun Ya and many of the cultivators that were struggling to even fight a single Headhunter.


    As for Ouyang Xue, she was a fifth realm golden celestial now and that made her on par with the Headhunter. But because of the pureness of her profound strength, her sword strokes were so packed with her lethal martial power that it took her only less than twenty strokes to completely cut down the Headhunter that she was facing.


    By the time Ouyang Xue had settled the Headhunter, Yin Shisi had already long dispatched the first Headhunter.


    In just a few rounds of melee, all three Headhunters were quickly dispatched and this caused all the onlookers to be dumbfounded by the newly arrived cultivation experts.


    Gongsun Ya and many of the relieved cultivators quickly greeted Yin Shi and Ouyang Xue, "We thank the honorable golden celestials for coming to our aid. How do we address our saviors?"


    In the Nine Celestial Fraternity, golden celestials have a lofty status and hence, all the cultivators were respectful to Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi.


    "Celestial Grand Elder Ouyang Xue of the Heavens Ridge Villa." Ouyang Xue said quietly.


    "Saintess Elder Yin Shisi of the Heavens Ridge Villa." Yin Shisi added.


    When Yin Shisi had spoken her celestial title, all the cultivators were startled and they were immediately humbled. It was because there were only a few seventh realm experts in the entire Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.


    Gongsun Ya was stunned. She had heard of Yin Shisi and had thought that she was only a sixth realm expert and now she was a saintess?


    She quickly said, "Gongsun Ya of the Alluring Blossoms Palace greets the honorable golden celestials."


    The man with the white spear greeted, "Huo Mushou of the White Jade City pays my homage to the golden celestials."


    "Tie Kai of the Tailwinds Sect¡­"


    "Nan Xianyue of the Celestial Jade Sect¡­"


    "Xie Jinxuan of the White Cherry Palace¡­"


    In front of the two golden celestials, the core prot¨¦g¨¦s dropped their Immortal Celestial and Enlighten Celestial titles. Their celestial titles were a way to distinguish themselves from the other lower ranking cultivators and were not the recognized celestial titles in the eyes of the golden celestials.


    The only official celestial titles were Celestial (fifth realm), Supremacy (sixth realm) and Saint (seventh ream).


    One by one, the core prot¨¦g¨¦s of the various celestial clans reported their names and the celestial clan of origin.


    When everyone had finished their introduction, Lu Qingyun greeted them back. "Lu Qingyun, senior brother of the Heavens Ridge Villa."


    It turned out that this group of fifty cultivators was actually consisted of seven celestial clans that were going to the Moon Demon Forest.


    Some of them were actually moving together on their destination and some of them had actually encountered one another when the Headhunters had attacked.


    As there were hundreds of celestial clans that were moving to the Moon Demon Forest to rendezvous with the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, it was all too easy for these celestial clans to encounter each other and they were lucky that they had the strength of numbers to fend off the three Headhunters that had emerged from the desolate mists below.


    The same could not be said for the thirty cultivators that had perished earlier.


    Gongsun Ya was astonished by the swordplay that was displayed by Lu Qingyun. She could not believe her astonished eyes as she turned her attention on him now.


    But Lu Qingyun was standing coolly at the side and there was no expression on his countenance.


    She was not the only one.


    Huo Mushou was one of the final trial competitors in New Empyrean City and he had recognized Lu Qingyun as the good-for-nothing cultivator that had rode his way to the trials completion. But when he saw the astonishing speed which Lu Qingyun had displayed his sword, he knew that Lu Qingyun''s swordplay was superior to any cultivator that he had known.


    He had really underestimated this Lu Qingyun¡­


    Many of the cultivators were all ashamed by their earlier appraisals of Lu Qingyun and the Heavens Ridge Villa. As a matter of fact, many of them were gossiping about the events that had unfolded in New Empyrean City and the other trial places as they traveled together. One of the hottest topics was the good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun and the Heavens Ridge Villa that was the undeserved weak host of the regional Divine Fragrance Tournament.


    Half of the cultivators presented were from the other regions and did not know Lu Qingyun but they had certainly heard of him from the others.


    "Is he really the good-for-nothing Lu Qingyun?"


    "They are really from the weak Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    "A seventh realm saintess is among their group¡­"


    "Even the Heavenly Fragrance Princess has only just reached the lofty seventh realm level¡­"


    While many of the cultivators were muttering or thinking among themselves, Yin Shisi merely said. "Since we are all going to the Moon Demon Forest, we can all travel together. After all, the dangers of the vicinity of the Moon Demon Forest are well-known."


    Many of the cultivators were relieved that there were two golden celestials that would be in their company.


    Although their celestial clans had no lack of golden celestials but there were none on this trip. It was because this was not the Heavenly Fragrance Tournament where the golden celestials could meet and have exchanges with one another but an experiential expedition into the dangerous Moon Demon Forest.


    Therefore most of the celestial clans had only sent a token escort party to accompany their core prot¨¦g¨¦s. There were even many of the celestial clans that had prevented their core prot¨¦g¨¦s from going to the Moon Demon Forest as they were afraid they may lose their precious pool of talents.


    Gongsun Ya was ashamed of herself. It was because she had always looked down on the Heavens Ridge Villa and had thought that her Alluring Blossoms Palace should have the honor of hosting the regional Heavenly Fragrance Tournament instead of the Heavens Ridge Villa. After all, her celestial clan was one of the four major powerhouses in its region.


    She walked to Lu Qingyun and said quietly, "Earlier, thank you. If it is not for you, I would have already been dead."


    Lu Qingyun returned an awkward smile, "We are all fellow celestial practitioners of the way and are all fellow cultivators. There is really no need to say thanks. Who knows if I may need your help in the future too?"


    Gongsun Ya smiled gently, "You are a good man."


    Lu Qingyun: ???

 188 8th Rank Giga Mountain Gian

    When Lu Qingyun and the big group of cultivators had come to a mountain crossroad, one of the more experienced cultivators said. "We should go to the left. The right trail will lead to the Willow Winds Manor."


    Some of the cultivators had begun to talk about the Willow Winds Manor and it was quite audible.


    From their conversations, Lu Qingyun had gathered that the Willow Winds Manor was the nearest celestial clan to the Moon Demon Forest and often borne the most brutal attacks of the invading desolate and devious monsters.


    Because the spiritual force in this vicinity was extremely poor, most of the cultivators from the Willow Winds Manor were not strong and rather, it was the ideal place for a great number of high ranking monsters that lurked below the desolate mists.


    All of a sudden they could hear a booming tremor that came from the direction of the right side mountain trail.


    Yin Shisi quickly said to the group, "Wait here. I will go and take a quick look."


    "I will go with you too." Lu Qingyun said as he sped after her and he was followed by Ouyang Xue.


    The rest of the cultivators did not go after them as they literally could not disobey the command of a saintess.


    Gongsun Ya had wanted to dash after Lu Qingyun but she had hesitated and saw that her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters were all looking curiously at her after she had taken a step in their direction.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Behind two lofty mountains with blue cliffs, an extremely beautiful maiden was battling a mountain giant with protruding spikes on its body. This mountain giant was an eighth rank Giga Mountain Giant, an extremely formidable desolate monster. Every fist that it had smash on the ground or the mountains was enough to send a tremendous shockwave throughout the vicinity.


    When Yin Shisi saw the sight of the Giga Mountain Giant, she was greatly startled. It was because even a seventh realm expert would have difficulty dealing with such a formidable desolate monster.


    Even Lu Qingyun and Ouyang Xue were greatly startled. It was because their level may be good enough to fight on par with a sixth rank desolate beast but this was a dangerous eighth rank desolate monster.


    Yin Shisi was afraid that the maiden may be in danger so she shouted across the mountains, "Maiden, flee quickly. We will try to cover your retreat."


    But the extremely beautiful maiden simply smiled as she moved between the legs and fists of the Giga Mountain Giant like a phantom. No matter how hard the Giga Mountain Giant had tried to hit her but it could not. Even the tremendous shockwave attacks that it had created to unbalance her did not have any effect on her; she simply swung her sword and the shockwaves were neutralized into nothingness around her.


    The extremely beautiful maiden had finally lured the Giga Mountain Giant to the edge of the mountain before she flashed her sword in a brilliant flash of a dozen lights as she sent the Giga Mountain Giant to stumble down the desolate mists. "Don''t let me see you again or next time I won''t be so merciful."


    Yin Shisi was startled by the profound strength that was displayed by this extremely beautiful maiden as she gasped, "She is a seventh realm saintess. Only a seventh realm expert can have such mighty profound strength to move the mountains."


    Lu Qingyun was also stunned by the casual display of this extremely beautiful maiden. Throughout her battle, she did not seem to have exerted any effort in eluding the eighth rank desolate monster and had also shown no fear. It was not until the very last moment that she had unleashed her full profound strength and had sent the monster down into the desolate mist.


    Ouyang Xue muttered, "Who is she?"


    The extremely beautiful maiden had certainly heard her even though Ouyang Xue''s voice was quite soft. She had immediately flashed up the steep cliffs of the mountains and in just five blinks of an eye, this extremely beautiful maiden was now standing on the nearest ledge of the mountain that was facing them.


    What an astonishing lightless swiftness skill that she possessed.


    Lu Qingyun had almost dropped his sword in amazement when he saw her impossible lightless feat. Did she just flash up the mountains seemingly without any efforts?


    Even Yin Shisi was perplexed. This feat was something that was impossible to most seventh realm experts and yet they had to believe it because seeing was believing.


    "Who am I? Shouldn''t I be the one that is asking you?" The extremely beautiful maiden giggled softly as she aligned her sword to her back.


    Yin Shisi could clearly see that she was wielding a divine sword and that her background must be most extraordinary. In front of this extraordinary maiden, even her saintess title looked most ordinary.


    But she replied coolly, "I am Saintess Yin Shisi. We are from the Heavens Ridge Villa. The other two are Celestial Ouyang Xue and our Senior Brother Lu Qingyun. How do we address this golden celestial?"


    The extremely beautiful maiden took a look at Lu Qingyun before she gasped softly, "So he is the good-for-nothing cultivator that everyone is talking about?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He thought, "Does she need to be so blunt about it?"


    But all of a sudden the smiles on the extremely beautiful maiden had slowly vanished as she looked intently at Lu Qingyun, "The Divine Sword Jade Light. How do you get this sword?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled that this extremely beautiful maiden had recognized his divine sword and he replied quietly, "Erm¡­you know the name of my divine sword? My master is the one that has given me the sword."


    Suddenly, the extremely beautiful maiden was staring at Lu Qingyun for quite some time, startling Yun Shisi, Ouyang Xue and Lu Qingyun.


    They were silently thinking if this extremely beautiful maiden was actually an enemy cultivator and they did not dare to put down their guards. At the same time, they were thinking if they were able to defeat her given the extraordinary skills that she had just displayed.


    Finally the extremely beautiful maiden giggled softly before she turned her back on them and she seemed to be trembling lightly, "I see that Fan Yuqing has finally found him. I am so glad for her as well. Well, good bye."


    Lu Qingyun could not resist asking, "I wonder if golden celestial will be able to tell us your name? After all, we have told you who we are." It was because she obviously knew who his master was.


    The alluring voice of the extremely beautiful maiden echoed as she disappeared from view, "Ye Jing."


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue and Lu Qingyun were all startled as they all said at the same time, "The Nine Celestial Goddess the Great Saintess Ye Jing?!"


    The Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing was a legendary great heroine of the Nine Celestial Fraternity and she was rarely seen nowadays. To think that she would appear in this desolate place was really such a surprise to the three of them.


    Lu Qingyun muttered excitingly, "I really cannot believe that I have finally met the Nine Celestial Goddess in this desolate place. She is really as good as the stories say."


    Yin Shisi looked at Lu Qingyun, "She mentions that your divine sword is from the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Well it is a long story. The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing had first given my master this divine sword. Haha¡­"


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Yin Shisi smiled as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "You mean the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing had given this divine sword to Fairy Jade Light before giving it to your master? After all, our matriarch name is the Fairy Jade Light. I didn''t fail my knowledge of the Heavens Ridge Villa, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun stammered as he laughed weakly, "That is what I am trying to say. Haha¡­"


    Yin Shisi rolled her eyes: ¡­


    She said, "I have some suspicion that our sect leader Qin Keqin isn''t what she appears to be. After all, I''ve noticed that Fragrance Herald Yufeng seems to be extremely polite to her even though she is just an ordinary elder. Judging from her lofty character, it is quite difficult for anyone to earn her respect unless that person is someone that deserves her respect."


    During Shen Yufeng stay in the Heavens Ridge Villa, Yin Shisi had become a friend of her and had come to know her quite well.


    Moreover, during the Heavenly Fragrance Tournament, she had been quietly observing the exchanges that were between Qin Keqin and Shen Yufeng. There were plenty of times that Qin Keqin seemed to have broken protocols by stepping out of line with her casual remarks but she was never punished by Shen Yufeng. There were even instances that Qin Keqin seemed to be telling Shen Yufeng what to do and this caused her to rethink who Qin Keqin really was.


    Yin Shisi turned to look at Lu Qingyun, "Your master is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Yin Shisi had also looked at Ouyang Xue, "You do not seem to be surprised. So you have already known who our sect leader really is."


    Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun was staring at Ouyang Xue, "You have known as well?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled weakly. "I''ve promised not to tell anyone."


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh, "I guess that since the two of you have already known about it, there is no point hiding it from any of you. My master is indeed the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing."


    Even though Yin Shisi had already guessed who Qin Keqin really was but she could not help gasping softly, "She is really the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing."

 189 Reaching the Moon Demon Fores

    A few days later, Lu Qingyun and his group had finally reached the vicinity of the Moon Demon Forest.


    When they had arrived, thousands of cultivators from the hundreds of celestial clans had already set up camp in the place.


    It did look like the majority of the core prot¨¦g¨¦s and their escorts had already arrived and the entire vicinity was bustling with activities.


    A female prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa said as soon she saw the approach of their group, "Go to the white tent over there to register your names. A dwelling place will then be provided for you afterward."


    Lu Qingyun was looking around when all of a sudden there was a pretty shout for him, "Brother Qingyun, you are finally here?"


    He was startled by the voice and saw that it was Qian Jingjing who was giggling delightfully, "Brother Qingyun, we didn''t see each other for a month now. So how have you been?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "It has only been one month. I am fine though. How have you been?"


    "I''m fine too but I''m missing you very much." Qian Jingjing averted her eyes shyly and there was a slight flush on her.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    Gongsun Ya: ¡­


    Gongsun Ya interrupted with a displeasure tone, "I wonder who this shameless maiden is, so it is the core prot¨¦g¨¦ from the Spirit Sword Manor."


    Qian Jingjing frowned lightly when she had recognized Gongsun Ya. But instead of talking back to her, she simply grabbed Lu Qingyun by his arm and said gently, "Brother Qingyun, let me take you to the white tent."


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue: ¡­


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing had noticed that Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue seemed to be following them. She asked politely, "I wonder how I may address these two golden celestials?"


    In front of two golden celestials, she did not dare to be too impolite.


    Lu Qingyun quickly introduced, "Erm¡­this one is my Elder Yin Shisi and this is Grand Elder Ouyang Xue."


    Qian Jingjing was truly startled. She had thought that these two golden celestials were from the Alluring Blossoms Palace and instead they were from the Heavens Ridge Villa. No wonder they were following the two of them.


    Ouyang Xue said coldly to her, "You should let go of his arm. He can walk by himself."


    Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    She smiled weakly before she saw that Gongsun Ya was following as well so she said, "So who is the shameless one here? Why are you following us?"


    Gongsun Ya hummed coldly, "What a laudable joke. Do you own this piece of road here? Can''t you see that we are all here for the very first time and we are all going to report our arrival first? Or are you blind?"


    Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    Once again she had put her arm around Lu Qingyun as she said, "Come, Brother Qingyun. We shall ignore her."


    Ouyang Xue said, "Hey, your arm¡­"


    But Yin Shisi had caught hold of her hand and gently shook her head. It was as though she was saying, let her be.


    In a while time, Lu Qingyun and the other seven core prot¨¦g¨¦s in his group had all entered the white tent and the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had promptly recorded his arrival and had given him a tablet for his dwelling place.


    The questions asked were really simple.


    "Your name and celestial clan of origin."


    "What is the size of your escort party?"


    "Any golden celestials? What are their celestial titles?"


    When he had answered that there was a Saintess Yin Shisi, all the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were startled as they looked quietly in his direction.


    A saintess was in the camp with them? This was a most astonishing thing!


    When Lu Qingyun had left the white tent, he had immediately bumped into the twin sisters, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye. When they saw Lu Qingyun, they simply greeted him softly. "Senior!" And they had quickly hastened their steps.


    It was not because they did not want to see Lu Qingyun or to talk to him but there were too many eyes and ears of their fellow prot¨¦g¨¦s around. That was why they had shyly greeted Lu Qingyun before they quickly went on their way.


    Lu Qingyun was glad that there were some familiar faces that he knew in this place. He began to wonder if Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue may be around?


    But he soon shook his head. It was because they were new prot¨¦g¨¦s and it was unlikely that they would be given any new missions.


    Qian Jingjing who was waiting for Lu Qingyun outside the white tent had witnessed the twin sisters talking to him and she had immediately jumped next to him, "You know them?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded weakly before he said, "Maiden Qian, we are going to check our tents now. Why don''t we chat later?"


    Qian Jingjing giggled softly, "Then I shall follow you first. There are so many tents around. It will be quite troublesome for me to find you afterward, don''t you think so?"


    Lu Qingyun stole a glance at Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi but they were all purposely looking the other way.


    So he replied to Qian Jingjing, "Alright then."


    Qian Jingjing asked him, "Brother Qingyun, did you meet with any dangers when you come? Or any interesting events? Hurry and share with me!"


    As Qian Jingjing and Lu Qingyun walked away, Ouyang Xue muttered almost incoherently. "She is really too shameless. I didn''t know that the Spirit Sword Manor has such a shameless core prot¨¦g¨¦."


    Yin Shisi smiled, "On the other hand, I think that she is perfectly smart to know what she wants. I wish that I can as shameless as her."


    Ouyang Xue was stumbled for words, "..."


    She smiled weakly before saying quietly, "I have already given up on him. If that Maiden Qian Jingjing is smart enough, she ought to give up on him."


    Yin Shisi said quietly, "You are hinting me something?"


    Ouyang Xue said, "Senior brother has only one person in his heart and you should know who she is by now."


    "Maybe it is only a one-sided thing that is from him." Yin Shisi said after a short hesitation. "The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing has a state of divinity that most celestials cannot hope to comprehend. She may not even appreciate him or have a place for him in her heart. But for me, I am willing to lower myself for his sake."


    Ouyang Xue smiled faintly, "How do you know that she will not lower herself as well?"


    "Because she is the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. She has to carry the burden of her renown. She simply can''t be with any lowly cultivator. That will be a great loss of her face." Yin Shisi said matter of fact.


    Ouyang Xue was smiling weakly at the strong conviction that Yin Shisi had. She had wanted to say something but she had thought it was wiser not to tell anyone. After all, she was not supposed to discuss about the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and moreover it was disrespectful to discuss about her sect leader behind the back.


    She had thought, "How come sometimes I feel that Qin Keqin can be capable of disregarding her loss of face and doing some shameful acts on the sly?" She had questioned her old father about the events that had happened during the Core Prot¨¦g¨¦ Tournament and was stunned that Qin Keqin had cheated with her old man so that the match would be in favor of Lu Qingyun.

 190 Qian Jingjing

    It was night. There were only Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing as they sat at the ledge of the cliff that was overlooking their camp.


    Lu Qingyun was looking at her curiously before he asked, "You say that you have something important to tell me? You can tell me now?"


    Qian Jingjing was sighing softly before she asked, "Fairy Ling Xiu didn''t come with you?"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "I am the only one from New Empyrean City that is here. Even Shangguan Furong from the Clear Sky Pavilion won''t be coming. Is there anything wrong?"


    Qian Jingjing shook her head but she was soon nodding her head, "Actually I have come alone on this trip."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stared at her, "You have come alone? Do you know how dangerous it is for you to come alone here?"


    Qian Jingjing averted her melancholy eyes, "I am fine already. I had hitched a ride with some of the friendlier celestial clans. They had protected me on the way here."


    "Why did you come alone?" Lu Qingyun was really curious as he looked intently at her.


    "Because I know that Brother Qingyun will here. I can''t sleep or eat knowing what you have to face in this experiential expedition." Qian Jingjing said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "To be frank with you," Qian Jingjing said quietly. "I didn''t have the permission of my Spirit Sword Manor to come here. I have come alone."


    Lu Qingyun was greatly startled, "Jingjing, you¡­"


    "I was warned by my prot¨¦g¨¦ masters and prot¨¦g¨¦ grandmaster that if I insist on coming here, they will cripple my cultivation and expel me from the sect." Qian Jingjing said sorrowfully and her eyes had turned red.


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing had sunk her head into his chest and was sobbing, "I really don''t know what to do from now on. I am now homeless¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was at a loss what to say to her and he could only pat her back gently while saying, "Maiden Jingjing, please don''t cry anymore. Things will be better¡­"


    He waited for a while for her tears to dry before asking, "Jingjing, so what are your plans now in the future?"


    Qian Jingjing gave him a pleading look before she said quietly, "I really have no idea at all. Brother Qingyun, can I follow you from now on?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he was suddenly stammering, "This¡­I don''t think that is a good idea¡­"


    Qian Jingjing turned away from him, "Brother Qingyun, are you looking down on me now¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said firmly, "It is not that. I don''t want to get the Heavens Ridge Villa into trouble with the Spirit Sword Manor. As you know, you are a core prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Spirit Sword Manor and your celestial clan will never allow their secret sword techniques to fall into the hands of the other celestial clans. I have heard of many stories about the Spirit Sword Manor."


    "What shall I do then?" Qian Jingjing murmured with great sadness.


    Lu Qingyun suddenly said excitingly, "Jingjing, have you heard of Saint Gao Tianshou?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded quietly. "He is the number one hero in the Nine Celestial Fraternity now."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "He is now recruiting the celestial fighters to join him in the fight against the Devil Goddess. I am thinking of joining his banner to fight the Devil Goddess after this experiential expedition. If Jingjing does not mind, you can join me?"


    Qian Jingjing gasped, "I can really join Brother Qingyun? I will be glad to."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "In this way, I won''t get the Heavens Ridge Villa into trouble with the Spirit Sword Manor. We will use an alias when we join Saint Gao Tianshou."


    Qian Jingjing returned a nod before she asked curiously, "Why did Brother Qingyun wants to join Saint Tianshou? I''ve heard that he is fighting against the three dark divine realms. We may even lose our lives in the battle against the dark celestials. Brother Qingyun, are you sure about this?"


    "For many centuries now, we are all living in the shadows of the Devil Goddess and the three dark divine realms. The combined size of the three dark divine realms is bigger than any of the nine patriarch divine realms. Saint Tianshou is our only hope of overcoming this stalemate. I hope to lend my puny strength to his efforts. If we succeed then we will be witnessing the dawn of a new celestial era."


    "Also, if we have the strength to change the current state of affairs, why don''t we at least contribute to the greater good?"


    He did not want to tell her that he had also hoped to find Qin Keqin among the ranks of the celestials that were supporting Saint Gao Tianshou.


    "I am glad that Brother Qingyun has such a noble aspiration. I will go with you." Qian Jingjing said shyly.


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "But first, we got to survive through this experiential expedition first."


    Then he said solemnly, "Jingjing, actually this expedition may be quite dangerous. Do you want to wait for me in the camp until I''ve returned?"


    "No!" Qian Jingjing said firmly. "I will want to go with you. I am also a cultivator. If I stay away from any possible dangers, it won''t be useful to my future cultivation progression."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly; it was because that was exactly what he had told Qin Keqin.


    "Alright then." He said as he returned a nod at the same time. "We will take the experiential expedition together."


    Once again Qian Jingjing had leant her head on his chest and she was muttering almost incoherently.


    "Jingjing?"


    But Qian Jingjing seemed to have dozed off as she muttered, "Brother Qingyun¡­do you know that¡­Jingjing had been waiting day and night¡­at the entrance of the camp¡­for you¡­I''m so afraid that I will miss seeing you¡­I didn''t dare to sleep till I''ve found you¡­"


    "Jingjing, wake up?" Lu Qingyun was stunned. "She has fallen asleep?"


    Then he was muttering, "She had actually waited for me day in and night at the entrance of the camp¡­"


    He sighed heavily, "Jingjing, don''t sleep here. Let me take you to my tent to have your proper sleep."


    With that he had lifted her up and walked to his tent. As he walked he could feel her soft body against him and he was muttering, "Well, I don''t know where her tent is so I can only bring her to my tent for the time being¡­"


    Even though it was the late of the night, there were still many cultivators around since the high level cultivators require little sleep.


    When they saw that Lu Qingyun was carrying Qian Jingjing and was walking to his tent, many of the cultivators were secretly whispering;


    "Look at that¡­"


    "Isn''t that the good-for-nothing Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing from the Spirit Sword Manor?"


    "He is actually carrying her to his tent¡­"


    "Did he drug her or what?"


    "What a beast¡­"


    "Shall we stop him from doing his beastly act?"


    "His master is an elder of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and his two escorts are both golden celestials. Are you trying to court your own death?"


    "Despicable¡­"


    "To think that such a thing is happening in the camp and he is so bold to do such a thing¡­"


    "He is not only a good-for-nothing cultivator but a good-for-nothing womanizer¡­"


    This was also witnessed by Gongsun Ya who had left in an angry huff.


    When Lu Qingyun had reached his tent, he put Qian Jingjing gently on the bed.


    With a soft yawn, he rolled a mat on the ground and he was soon asleep.


    Hours later;


    When Qian Jingjing had opened her eyes, she was startled to see that she was on a stranger bed and she was gasping softly. After a quick inspection, she heaved a soft sigh of relief that nothing had happened to her.


    It was then she noticed that Lu Qingyun was sleeping on the ground.


    With a soft giggle, she was suddenly flushing as she covered her face with her hands but she was actually peeking through her fingers. "We are actually sleeping in the same tent together. We are now one step closer now¡­"


    That very night, she began to dream that she was in a bridal dress and the groom was Lu Qingyun. After they had their wedding ceremony, they had their dragon and phoenix dance¡­

 191 Prelude to the Moon Demon Fores

    A few days later, the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had called for the qualified trial competitors to assemble together on a nearby mountain platform that was near the camp.


    Hundreds of cultivators had now gathered on the mountain platform.


    Among them were Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing who had walked together up the mountain platform.


    Lu Qingyun felt a little weird that there were so many cultivators that seemed to be looking in his way and they were suddenly muttering.


    "It is him¡­"


    "It seems that he has already got her into his hands¡­"


    "He has actually used such an underhand mean to get her¡­"


    "Do you think that he is trying to obtain the Heavens Spirit Sword of the Spirit Sword Manor?"


    "Are you sure? I''ve heard that they were in the same party previously while they were taking the trials in New Empyrean City¡­"


    "They are a couple now?"


    "I heard that previously there is a Leng Qiuyue¡­"


    Lu Qingyun thought that they were just discussing about the events that would soon be taking place and he had never thought that they would actually be discussing about him.


    Among the cultivators presented, Lu Qingyun had also recognized many of the familiar faces that were at New Empyrean City previously like Gongsun Ya and Yu Tianjian.


    Before long, a large group of prot¨¦g¨¦s numbering nearly a hundred from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had arrived.


    Lu Qingyun had recognized Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye in the group and also Fragrance Herald Celestial Feng Xiaoxiao who was leading them.


    Feng Xiaoxiao was still as alluring as ever and her golden eyes had quickly swept through the soul seas of the cultivators in the platform. She was a practitioner of the Listening Heart Intricate and with this quick scan with her divine sense, she had quickly gauged the emotional state of the cultivators that were presented.


    There was no sighting of Shen Yufeng or Tang Xuefeng though. It seemed that they were not in this camp.


    Lu Qingyun looked a little disappointed. If Shen Yufeng was here, at least there was a chance that Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue may be here as well.


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled as she looked at the large assembly of cultivators that numbered some five hundred cultivators before she said coolly, "Good, you have all come. Those who have come are indeed courageous. As your reward, you shall all be given the Divine Profound Pill."


    Immediately all the cultivators in the assembly were looking at one another excitingly. After all, most of them were here for the Divine Profound Pill at their own personal risk. There were even many that had perished even before they had reached the Moon Demon Forest.


    One by one, the cultivators were given the Divine Profound Pill and many of them were afraid that Feng Xiaoxiao may change her mind so they quickly swallowed their pills hastily.


    But for Lu Qingyun, he had pretended to take it but he had secretly kept it. He knew that at this point, the Divine Profound Pill was of no use to him as his inner cultivation sea was already pure enough and that he would get his breakthrough anytime now.


    As for Qian Jingjing, she had eagerly swallowed the Divine Profound Pill. She was already a peaked fourth realm cultivator. She knew that this Divine Profound Pill would be able to cleanse and strengthen her inner cultivation sea. With some luck, she may be able to breakthrough to the fifth realm golden celestial level sooner than she had expected.


    Qian Jingjing whispered to Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, we are so compatible. Don''t you think so?"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    What did this Divine Profound Pill have to do with them being compatible?


    Qian Jingjing was actually thinking that because they were both at the peaked fourth realm level, therefore they both had a chance to become a golden celestial in the future after taking the Divine Profound Pill and that was why they were being so compatible.


    But Lu Qingyun did not know her heart and he was baffled.


    At this point he had not fully realized the graveness of what Qian Jingjing had done to be with him. She had not only disobeyed the wishes of her prot¨¦g¨¦ grandmaster but she had also quietly left the Spirit Sword Manor. This was enough to brand her as a traitor to her own celestial clan.


    Therefore she had only Lu Qingyun as her support from now on.


    After all the Divine Profound Pills had been duly given, Feng Xiaoxiao smiled to all the cultivators. "Tomorrow at the first break of dawn, we will set off into the Moon Demon Forest. You have until today to see your farewells."


    With that, she had dismissed the cultivators.


    Qian Jingjing immediately said to Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, shall we take a look around the camp first? I have heard that today there is a pill competition between some of the cultivators."


    "Pills competition?" Lu Qingyun''s interest was immediately aroused. "This does sound interesting. Let''s go and have a look."


    Soon they had returned to the camp and there were hundreds of cultivators that had already gathered around a group of elderly cultivators.


    These elderly cultivators all had a large cauldron in front of them and they were debating nonstop, much to the amusement of the other onlookers.


    Qian Jingjing frowned lightly, "I really don''t understand why these old men are dabbling in alchemy rather than cultivation. If they are willing to spend more time on their own cultivation, they wouldn''t be this old."


    But Lu Qingyun laughed softly as he walked eagerly to the debating old men and mingled with the onlookers.


    It did not take him long enough to know that these eight old men were all competing with one another to concoct an instant rejuvenation pill known as the Golden Rejuvenation Pill. This Golden Rejuvenation Pill was extremely difficult to concoct but was extremely useful to raise the martial strength of the cultivator and it could be used for healing at the same time.


    These eight old men were all arguing with one another and it seemed that they were competing to which one among them would be able to concoct the most number of Golden Rejuvenation Pills.


    "The Golden Rejuvenation Pill has only a 10% chance of success. Your batch of pills may yield nothing at all."


    "Arrogant old fellow, you are the one that will yield nothing!"


    "I will have at least one pill or two, haha¡­"


    "We are all fourth rank alchemist here. Today, whoever has the most successful batch will walk away with the crown of being the best alchemist in this Moon Demon Forest meet."


    "Hehehe, the pride of my celestial clan also rest in this battle today¡­"


    With a sniff, Lu Qingyun could tell that all eight old alchemists had used their own unique concoctions to improve their own chances for the Golden Rejuvenation Pill.


    The first old man to the left was laughing and he was shouting loudly to the rest now, "Your cauldrons are too slow, too slow! My Golden Rejuvenation Pills are now ready. Behold¡­"


    Lu Qingyun suddenly said, "Old senior, I''m afraid that your cauldron will yield nothing. Although your cauldron fire is intense but the Wolfberry Spirit Roots that you are using is a little impure. I am afraid that you may have wasted your own efforts. If you can lower the intensity of your fire, there may still be a slim chance of saving one pill."


    The first old man to the left was furious, "Young man! How dare you mouth such rubbish! You must be in cahoots with them! I am going to open my cauldron just to prove you and these old fellows wrong!" But he was also quite startled that this young man knew that he was using the Wolfberry Spirit Roots.


    All the onlookers were now laughing at Lu Qingyun and even Qian Jingjing was tugging his sleeves.


    "What does he know?"


    "Alchemy is totally different from cultivation. This requires decades of profound studies and there are a million spiritual herbs in the Nine Celestial Fraternity¡­"


    "I say that he is just trying to show off in front of the beautiful maiden that is with him¡­"


    "Isn''t he that good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun?"


    "I''ve heard that he is actually quite good, according to the group that is with him¡­"


    "You already said that it is his group. You should know his reputation by now. He is capable of bribing everyone around him to say good things about him¡­"


    "There is no smoke without fire. He is a good-for-nothing cultivator for a reason. No one will frame him for that¡­"


    The first old man to the left had opened his cauldron now and was quite disappointed that his pills were all charcoal black and there was not even a Golden Rejuvenation Pill that was in sight.


    He could only lament miserably, "My luck this time isn''t good enough. Usually I will have some success¡­"


    The other seven old men were all laughing jovially at him.


    The nearest old man that was next to him laughed before saying, "Now it is my turn¡­"


    This time Lu Qingyun said, "Old Senior, you have used to Icy Silk Worm in your cauldron to neutralize the intense heat from your cauldron? Although this method is ingenious but the Icy Silk Worm that you are using is too potent. Therefore you should allow your cauldron to continue to heat up further¡­"


    "How did he know that I have used an Icy Silk Worm inside?" the second old man was thinking. But because he had already declared that he was going to open his cauldron and he could not back off. Therefore he opened his cauldron and was dismayed to see a pile of black charcoal pills.


    "My turn next." The third old man said with a hesitation as he looked at Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun said, "Old Senior, you have used a Thousand Year White Peony and the Wildfire Honey as additional reagents. You should have one successful Golden Rejuvenation Pill. As a matter of fact, this will be a high grade Golden Rejuvenation Pill. However the Thousand Year White Peony is too rare and too expensive. It will be hard to replicate this success."


    The third old man was startled as he thought, "How did he know?"


    He did not know that Lu Qingyun had already sniffed all the spirit herbs that were being used. Whether the cauldrons yielded any successful Golden Rejuvenation Pill, this was also known to Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun continued, "I will suggest that you let your cauldron burn to a blue flame for an hour. You may be able to obtain another Golden Rejuvenation Pill. However that Golden Rejuvenation Pill won''t be a high grade one as the Wildfire Honey that you have used isn''t a good substitute. If it is the Blazing Bones Honey then the effect will be doubly effective."


    But unlike the first two old men, the third old man muttered. "Yes, yes. I will do as you have said."


    It was because this third old man had already gone through the same process a few times in the past and he was confident that he would be able to produce one high grade Golden Rejuvenation Pill. Therefore he was not in a hurry to open his cauldron and was more eager to test whether what Lu Qingyun had said was the truth.


    Lu Qingyun pointed to the cauldron of the fourth old man, fifth old man and to the eighth old man and one by one, he pointed out the secret reagents that they had used with the Golden Figs Spirit Root, the only known spirit herb that could produce the Golden Rejuvenation Pill.


    But this time, the other old men were all nodding and they were all following the advice that he had given. One by one, their cauldrons yielded at least a Golden Rejuvenation Pill!


    Now these eight old men were known as the Eight Alchemist Kings of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and even though they were seen arguing with one another but they had actually known one another for a long time. They were in fact, having their usual friendly competition and had used this meet to have a chance to compete with one another.


    So when the first two old men had their secret recipes exposed by Lu Qingyun, the other six old men were actually quite astonished.


    By now the third old man had opened his cauldron and he had taken out two Golden Rejuvenation Pills. One of the Golden Rejuvenation Pills was a high grade Golden Rejuvenation Pill and it was exactly what Lu Qingyun had said.


    "It really works!" The third old man shouted with great delight and he was roaring with laughter. "I guess I am the winner in this meet today! Even though some of you have two Golden Rejuvenation Pills but I have one high grade Golden Rejuvenation Pill."


    The other seven old men were all laughing jovially, "Indeed, indeed."


    The first two old men had hurriedly said to Lu Qingyun, "Please pardon our rudeness earlier. May we know your name and the name of your honorable master?"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Junior name is Lu Qingyun. As for my master, he has forbid me from revealing his name. Therefore I really cannot reveal his name."


    The third old man hastily asked, "He must be a high ranking alchemist. May we know his alchemist rank and yours?"


    Lu Qingyun replied softly, "My master is a fifth rank alchemist."


    When the eight old men had heard that his master was a fifth rank alchemist, they were greatly astonished. Although they were fourth rank alchemists but it was difficult for them to advance to the fifth rank alchemist level. In the fraternity of the alchemists, sixth rank alchemist level was the highest level.


    Anyone that could reach the fourth rank alchemist level already had a lofty status as a high level alchemist and they would be respected everywhere.


    Lu Qingyun added, "As for my alchemist ranking, it is not worth mentioning. My focus is now on my cultivation instead."


    He was actually a peaked fourth rank alchemist and he was now almost a fifth rank alchemist now. He did not want to tell anyone that he was concocting a secret sixth rank alchemist pill and if he was successful, he would be a sixth rank alchemist.


    However, even if he was a sixth rank alchemist, he did not want to let anyone knows about it as he was just fulfilling his old master''s last wishes.


    He had only three aspirations in this life.


    One, to concoct a sixth rank pill.


    Two, to be with Qin Keqin.


    Three, to get rid of the Devil Goddess.


    Qian Jingjing and many of the onlookers were all stunned as they looked at Lu Qingyun when they saw that even the eight old alchemist kings were all so respectful toward him.


    "Is he really the good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun?"


    "Maybe his cultivation really cannot make it but he is certainly good with his knowledge of alchemy¡­"


    For quite some time, Qian Jingjing was looking with idiocy at Lu Qingyun while he was talking with the eight old men¡­

 192 The Moon Demon Forest 1

    At the first break of dawn, hundreds of selected cultivators numbering some five hundred that included Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing, Yu Tianjian and Gongsun Ya had assembled outside the camp.


    With them were a hundred prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa that was led by Feng Xiaoxiao.


    Watching the assembly was thousands of other cultivators that had escorted the five hundred selected cultivators to this camp. They were not allowed to follow the expedition group and were told to wait in the camp until the experiential expedition had ended.


    Watching the assembly were Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue who were watching with some reluctance that Lu Qingyun was leaving their sight.


    Ouyang Xue muttered, "I pray that he will be safe."


    Yin Shisi nodded quietly, "I hope so too."


    The two of them were now each other''s confidant after spending a year together in solitary.


    Yin Shisi added with an anxious smile, "I really hope so. I think that things are not as simple as it looks here."


    "Really?" Feng Xiaoxiao voice could be heard as she approached them, startling the two of them.


    "Why are you standing in such a faraway corner? Are you afraid to bid farewell to Senior Lu?" She chuckled softly.


    Yin Shisi smiled, "It is good to see you again, Celestial Feng."


    Feng Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Look at you. You have been in the camp for a few days now and you didn''t even bother to visit me? Or is it because you are a saintess now and you are looking down on a mere fifth realm golden celestial like me?"


    Yin Shisi was startled as she hastily said, "Not at all. I''m just afraid that you may be a little busy and I didn''t want to bother you."


    Feng Xiaoxiao laughed, "It is only a tease. But I wonder how did you breakthrough to the seventh realm saintess level so quickly."


    Yin Shisi smiled weakly, "I am just lucky."


    Feng Xiaoxiao looked at Ouyang Xue curiously, "And Grand Elder Ouyang Xue is also a fifth realm golden celestial now. This is too astonishing to believe that the two of you have a breakthrough at the same time."


    Ouyang Xue said quietly, "I was lucky as well."


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Since the two of you are worried for your senior brother, why don''t you travel with me instead?"


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were both startled.


    "Can we?" Yin Shisi asked.


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled with a light nod, "Of course. If you are in my company then it is a different matter."


    Then she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Actually I may need the help of a saintess. For the past few days, there is a high level cultivator in the vicinity that seems to be keeping a secret tab on our movements. However this high level cultivator is too elusive and I''m afraid that person may be up to no good."


    Then she chuckled with a wink, "So do you want to tag along with me?"


    Yin Shisi''s previous anxious eyes were now glowing, "I''m willing!"


    Ouyang Xue gasped, "I wonder if I may come as well?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao laughed softly, "Sure you can. I may need the aid of an additional fifth realm golden celestial as well."


    Ouyang Xue was gasping softly, "Celestial Feng, I thank you¡­


    Feng Xiaoxiao interrupted with a casual smile, "There is no need to thank me. Who knows if you will curse me for that later?"


    Ouyang Xue hastily replied, "I will not."


    "It is only a tease. However, I just have a small request. Unless it is necessary, try not to approach Senior Lu. Let him mingle with the rest of the expedition cultivators. This is to save him from unnecessary gossips." Feng Xiaoxiao said quietly.


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue replied hastily as they extended their hands into a hand bow, "We will and we thank Celestial Feng for your kind grace in allowing us to travel with you."


    Feng Xiaoxiao chuckled softly, "Don''t forget that we are also acquaintances back in the Heavens Ridge Villa. Let''s not go into this thanks or no thanks stuff. Care to explain how you breakthrough?"


    Yin Shisi took a glance at Ouyang Xue before she said quietly, "We have entered the Endless Abyssal Sea and have some lucky occurrences. However, please pardon us for unable to share with you the details. We''ve made an oath not to reveal what we have seen inside."


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled, "That is alright. At least I know what is going on. Alas! I wish that I have the good fortune to go there someday."


    She knew that they were not lying. It was because she practiced the Listening Heart Intricate Skill and would instantly know if a person was insincere or lying.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The Moon Demon Forest was the most dangerous place to the north of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and it was twice as vast as the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.


    It was situated below the northern mountains of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and lay within the desolate mists.


    It was a treacherous place where golden supremacies entered to hunt for their spirit entities and often become the hunted.


    And now right, Feng Xiaoxiao was leading everyone down the mountains and into the interiors of the Moon Demon Forest.


    There was an air of nervousness and anxiety among the expedition force but for Lu Qingyun he was actually quite light spirited and his wandering eyes were often looking at the overgrowths for the sight of any rare spirit herbs.


    He was determined to sneak out of camp at night so that he could gather some spirit herbs.


    Qian Jingjing was following Lu Qingyun quite tightly and often put her hands around his arm when he was not noticing.


    It seemed to her that Lu Qingyun''s attentions were always on the lookout at the floras that were around them. She could guess that he was on the lookout for rare spirit herbs.


    She thought, "He was so impressive yesterday when he was debating with the Eight Alchemist Kings. He must be a high level alchemist himself."


    She had tried to ask him on his alchemist ranking but Lu Qingyun simply returned a faint smile and said nothing.


    It was not because Lu Qingyun did not trust her but because he did not want to shock her that he was actually a fourth rank alchemist himself.


    Actually Lu Qingyun could also be considered to be an unofficial fifth rank alchemist. Because of the untimely death of his old master, he had not taken the stringent alchemist test to be a fifth rank alchemist. The examiner was naturally his own master of course. Although his old master had said that he was already a fifth rank alchemist in his own right but Lu Qingyun felt that he did not deserve it and moreover, he did not want to graduate from his old master''s tutelage.


    Qian Jingjing asked him as they marched in the Moon Demon Forest, "Brother Qingyun, you do not seem to be too worried? Why is that so?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed quietly, "Actually I am but it is too early to be worried about."


    "Oh? You mean the worst is yet to come?" She growled lightly.


    "Aren''t we safe at the moment?" Lu Qingyun asked her.


    "Yes, we are¡­"


    "So what the point of thinking of any dangers?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded before she whispered, "Brother Qingyun, how come Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue seem to be avoiding you? They didn''t even have the courtesy to tell you that they are coming."


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "I can guess why. I saw Celestial Feng Xiaoxiao talking to them earlier. The invitation must be a last minute affair. Don''t worry. They are actually concerned about me."


    He stopped his track briefly and he was secretly sighing. "A little too good toward me. I don''t deserve them at all¡­"


    While the entire expedition party was moving into the Moon Demon Forest, a beautiful maiden with an unnatural allure was quietly watching them. She was none other than Yue Lingxi.


    "Lu Qingyun, do you think you can steal my Horizons of the Heavens from right under my nose?" She muttered.


    With a wry smile, she had taken out a small blow pipe and was playing it around her fingers. "The fun is going to begin real soon for you."

 193 The Moon Demon Forest 2

    Nightfall had arrived.


    This was the very first night into the Moon Demon Forest and it was peaceful.


    The expedition force did encounter some low ranking devious beasts but they had quickly fled in the face of the expedition force of six hundred cultivators.


    Feng Xiaoxiao said to the group, "We shall set up camp here. In another three days we will be able to rendezvous with Celestial Tang Xuefeng and her group."


    This was the very first time that Celestial Feng Xiaoxiao had revealed to the expedition force that there were others that were in wait for them.


    Lu Qingyun gasped softly. Tang Xuefeng was known to him. After all like Celestial Feng Xiaoxiao, Celestial Tang Xuefeng was at the Heavens Ridge Villa only quite recently.


    But it made sense that she would be presented at the ancient ruin ahead of them. After all, Fragrance Herald Yufeng did praise her as a rare genius with the celestial arrays.


    Lu Qingyun smiled at the thought of seeing Celestial Xuefeng again.


    Qian Jingjing frowned lightly, "Brother Qingyun, you seem excited to see this Tang Xuefeng?"


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "She is only¡­a friend. I don''t really know her well. You''re overthinking things."


    Feng Xiaoxiao announced next, "I will need forty volunteers to patrol in pair around the camp. Who will like to volunteer to be our night wardens?"


    Lu Qingyun immediately said as he raised his hand, "I will volunteer."


    Qian Jingjing gasped as she quickly raised her hand as well, "I''ll volunteer too."


    Feng Xiaoxiao turned to smile at Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing, "Good. Anyone else?"


    "Good, we have another two volunteers there."


    As soon as Feng Xiaoxiao''s attention was turned away, Qian Jingjing whispered to Lu Qingyun. "Brother Qingyun, you are not afraid? I am a little scare to wander alone in the Moon Demon Forest in the dark."


    Lu Qingyun laughed lightly, "Then why are you volunteering?"


    "Because with Brother Qingyun around, Jingjing is not afraid."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Actually¡­" Lu Qingyun began to lower his voice to a whisper. "If you are afraid, you can stay in camp. I can patrol alone."


    Qian Jingjing stared at him. "This is cheating, right?"


    Lu Qingyun rolled his eyes before he laughed weakly, "Sort of¡­" He was actually thinking of picking the spirit herbs alone at night and it may be a little dangerous for Qian Jingjing if he wandered too far. He did not want to risk her safety.


    Soon, there were twenty volunteers for the patrol and Feng Xiaoxiao tasked a prot¨¦g¨¦ to explain their duties later at night.


    She had quietly turned to her small group which consisted of Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue before asking in a low voice to Zhao Riyue. "So what is the status?"


    Zhao Riyue had the best divine sense in the group and it was she who had notified Feng Xiaoxiao about the elusive intruder. She replied softly, "This high level cultivator is still following us. This time round I am able to know that she is a female cultivator. I heard her coughing. It seems that she has some internal injuries."


    Feng Xiaoxiao frowned lightly, "If it isn''t for Zhao Riyue, we would not know that someone is following us. Is she a cultivator from the other divine realms?"


    Zhao Riyue was suddenly gasping, "Seventh realm expert! She has suddenly released her profound strength¡­"


    Feng Xiaoxiao was startled and so were Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue and Zhao Xingye.


    "She seems to be blowing a pipe¡­"


    Feng Xiaoxiao had turned ashen. A seventh realm expert was a threat that she could not ignore. "Do you think you can pinpoint her location?"


    Zhao Riyue shook her head gently with a heavy sigh, "I''ve lost her aura already. She seems¡­to be aware of me as well. I was too careless."


    She added. "I can sense her malevolent air earlier. She may strike tonight."


    Yin Shisi was thoroughly impressed by Zhao Riyue. Although she was a seventh realm saintess now but her extra sensory perception was far from Zhao Riyue''s divine sense. It was no wondered that Shen Yufeng had said that Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were both special prodigies.


    Feng Xiaoxiao turned to Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue as she said gravely, "I may need your help tonight."


    Yin Shisi nodded lightly and Ouyang Xue had returned a nod as well.


    Feng Xiaoxiao turned to Zhao Xingye to say, "Xingye, inform all our prot¨¦g¨¦s to be on high alert tonight. No one is to sleep. If they want to nap, ask them to nap now."


    Zhao Xingye replied, "I will inform our prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters now."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The Divine Moon Realm, one of the three dark divine realms;


    At this moment, a hundred dark celestial lords from the three dark divine realms had assembled at the Divine Moon Citadel.


    This was the first time in several centuries that so many dark celestial lords had gathered in the same place. They were all here at the special summoning of their Dark Celestial Mistress who styled herself as the Golden Mask Devil Goddess.


    Before long, an alluring maiden with a golden mask had appeared at the throne seat. Although no one had ever seen the true appearance of the Dark Celestial Mistress before but there was no mistaking her sweet scent, long flowing beautiful raven hair and her unique bearing.


    She was also accompanied by two extremely moving maidens with similar golden masks and a dozen maidens with silver masks.


    The Dark Celestial Mistress preferred to be known as the Devil Goddess and she had called her followers, her ''shadows''.


    The minute that the Devil Goddess had shown up, a dozen dark celestial lords had rushed forward as they lamented loudly.


    The hall was suddenly noisy as all the dark celestial lords attempted to speak to the Devil Goddess at the same time.


    But the Devil Goddess waved her hand to silence them all as she said coldly, "I have already known what had happened."


    When the Devil Goddess had spoken, all the dark celestial lords were all quiet again as they eagerly listened to the voice of the Devil Goddess.


    "Saint Gao Tianshou has led the might of four patriarch divine realms on the offensive against us. In just a week, the Divine Moon Realm has lost five celestial clans, the Thousand Worlds Sacred Realm has lost seven celestial clans and the Scarlet Divine Realm has lost three celestial clans." The Devil Goddess said coldly.


    "Thousands of our fellow celestials had perished but this is not the most upsetting thing that had happened."


    "Saint Gao Tianshou had actually ordered the surrendered female cultivators of the Spirit Divinity Sect to be given to the victorious cultivators to do as they pleased. All the female cultivators of the Spirit Divinity Sect had committed suicide rather than allowing themselves to be subjected to such a humiliating fate."


    "I, the Devil Goddess of the three dark divine realms now vow before all of you that I will not let the dead be forgotten and I now declare that all the celestial clans in my three dark divine realms will not rest their carnages until Saint Gao Tianshou and his cronies are all dead!"


    She slammed her hand on her throne, instantly shattering it into a pile of wasted debris before saying out loud. "The Valiant Arms Divine Realm, the Divine Sovereign Realm, the Astral Sword Heaven Realm and the Divine Sage Realm; these four patriarch divine realms are now our mortal enemies. If the other five patriarch divine realms are to join hands with them then they are our mortal enemies as well."


    The Devil Goddess displayed her profound aura and her voice echoed beyond the great hall. "Since in the eyes of the righteous patriarch celestial clans, we are the heretics, the dark celestials, the unorthodox and the unrighteous, then this will be my command. Take no prisoners. Spare no one."


    When she had said that, she was trembling lightly and her heart was grieving for the dead and the carnage that would follow.


    All the dark celestial lords were now shouting mightily for blood and their profound shouts were heard throughout the Divine Moon Citadel.


    The Devil Goddess stole a quiet glance at the other maidens with the golden masks. "Minyue, Danfeng¡­is it too late to turn back now? I''m no longer Qin Keqin. Qin Keqin may now be gone forever. I will never see him again¡­"


    Feng Minyue nodded with conviction in Fan Yuqing''s direction as she silently said. "No matter how difficult this battle is, I will always be with my Sister Saintess Yuqing."


    Xuan Danfeng was also nodding to Fan Yuqing as she said silently, "We may not lose this battle and we will kill this Saint Gao Tianshou."

 194 The Moon Demon Forest 3

    Late at night at the perimeter of the camp;


    Lu Qingyun was picking spirit herbs as he wandered around with Qian Jingjing.


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly, "I know that Brother Qingyun must be up to no good. Indeed I''m right."


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had raised his nose to sniff the air, "This is¡­"


    Qian Jingjing: ???


    "Jingjing, go back to the camp first. I have sniffed something. If I''m not wrong then this is the blooming of the Demonic Flower of Death. This is exactly what I have wanted!" Lu Qingyun said excitingly to her.


    Qian Jingjing said unhappily, "Why is it that I can''t sniff anything? Don''t tell me that Brother Qingyun is just packing me off because you don''t like Jingjing to accompany you?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "It is dangerous this time of the night. You will never know the hidden dangers that are in these dense woods and fogs. Moreover, it isn''t too good for your reputation if you are seen with me."


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly, "I''ve long thrown away my own reputation to be with you."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He said weakly, "I am not a good man, especially at night¡­"


    "Really? Then I like it!" Qian Jingjing said shyly and there was a flush on her cheeks.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Brother Qingyun, do you like Fairy Ling Xiu, Leng Qiuyue or me more then?" Qian Jingjing took a bold question to ask as she looked shyly at him.


    In a normal circumstance, a normal man would have already stripped this city-toppling beauty to prove that he liked her.


    But Lu Qingyun hesitated for a while before he sighed softly, "You are all astonishing beautiful maidens. I can''t decide." With another sigh, he said. "Jingjing be careful when you are following me. Run at the first sign of danger, alright?"


    Qian Jingjing was delighted that Lu Qingyun had allowed her to follow him.


    As she followed him, she tugged his sleeves and pulled him close to her. "Brother Qingyun, you are thinking of having all three of us as your consorts and that''s why you can''t decide?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Actually Jingjing, I don''t feel anything for Fairy Ling Xiu." Lu Qingyun said awkwardly. "There is really nothing that is between us."


    "Then what about Leng Qiuyue? You are so grieved when she had ''died'' during the trial." Qian Jingjing asked with a trembling look.


    Lu Qingyun was dumbfounded by the question. At that time, he had really thought that Leng Qiuyue had died and he was really so grieved that he had thought that he had sunk to the deepest abyss. He muttered, "I don''t know¡­"


    "Then what about me? Will you be equally grieved if I were to die?"


    Lu Qingyun found himself trembling but he quickly regained his composure. "Don''t talk rubbish alright? Nothing will happen to you."


    He quickly said, "Come follow me tightly. This Demonic Flower of Death will only bloom for an hour or so. After that, its spirit roots will disappear into the ground and it will be impossible to find it again."


    Qian Jingjing nodded as she followed him quietly. In her heart, she was sad that Lu Qingyun did not use any flowery words on her nor did he make any move to violate her.


    She was the renowned beauty of her city and had countless suitors. Even her grandmaster was constantly pressuring her to marry his son. But for Lu Qingyun, she was willing to give up everything that she had got and followed him.


    "What is so good about these spirit herbs when a real person is standing right in front of you¡­" She silently thought. "And this person is willing to let you do as you please¡­"


    Before long, Lu Qingyun had quickly found the location of the Demonic Flower of Death. This flower was hidden mid-air down a mountain steep cliff.


    "Jingjing, wait up here for me. I am going down the cliff."


    "Brother Qingyun, are you sure? It is so dark down there and we don''t have any ropes." Qian Jingjing panicky said.


    "I''ll be alright. This isn''t my first time. I am quite good in climbing." With that, he had already hopped down the steep cliff.


    Qian Jingjing was startled when he had suddenly jumped off the cliff and she took a half open peek to see if Lu Qingyun was really alright; he was and he was climbing with great agility along the steep cliffs.


    In less than 30mins, Lu Qingyun had already picked the Demonic Flower of Death and he was already back to the top of the cliff, much to the great astonishment of Qian Jingjing.


    "Brother Qingyun, you are really so impressive." Qian Jingjing gasped softly.


    "Haha. See, nothing will happen to me. It is quite impossible for me to fall off the cliff unless I''m a pig." Lu Qingyun returned her a gentle smile.


    All of a sudden the ground below them was trembling and they could that the tall trees in the vicinity were all swaying.


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he could see several gigantic looming figures that were heading toward his camp. These gigantic looming figures all had two heads and four arms.


    "Seventh rank Devious Cyclopeans!" He gasped with shock.


    Each one of the seventh rank Devious Cyclopean was equaled to a sixth realm cultivation expert and even a seventh realm saint may not find one to be an easy pushover.


    "We must return to camp immediately!" Lu Qingyun said quickly. "This is going to be a hard battle. We don''t know how many of these Devious Cyclopeans are there¡­"


    "There are eight actually." A feminine figure had emerged and the beautiful form of Yue Lingxi was seen.


    "Yue Lingling?!" Qian Jingjing gasped. "Why are you here? Didn''t you get disqualified? You''re not supposed to be here."


    Yue Lingxi smiled coldly, "I''m only here to visit my brother."


    "Jingjing, step back. She is extremely dangerous!" Lu Qingyun had stepped in front of her and he had unsheathed his sword.


    Yue Lingxi smiled dangerously, "Surrender the Horizon of the Heavens willingly and I will call off the attack. Or else, everyone will die because of you."


    She pointed her fingers at Qian Jingjing, "And I will start with her."


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "What Horizon of the Heavens? I don''t have it. Quickly call off the attack. You are making a huge mistake here."


    "What mistake? I am the Desolate Lord Yue Lingxi and these celestials are our enemies. Lu Qingyun, you are one of us. Rather, I don''t understand why you are helping the celestials?"


    "I am not one of your kinds." Lu Qingyun said firmly.


    Qian Jingjing looked at Lu Qingyun in utter confusion, "Is she saying the truth?"


    Yue Lingxi had suddenly raised her fingers and a profound energy sword flew with startling speed toward Qian Jingjing.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he quickly raised his divine sword to parry the sword energy attack.


    It happened so fast that Lu Qingyun was only barely able to parry the sword energy attack in a nick of time but still, some of the undispersed sword energies from the parried attack had pierced through into Qian Jingjing, causing her to spurt blood.


    "Jingjing!" Lu Qingyun yelled out loud.


    But Qian Jingjing could not reply him as she crumbled onto the ground.


    The sword energy attack of a seventh realm cultivation expert was not something a fourth realm expert could absorb so readily. Moreover Yue Lingxi true cultivation realm was much higher and her true cultivation strength was actually suppressed to the seventh realm level.


    Lu Qingyun was trembling as another divine sword appeared in his other hand, "Yue Lingxi! You are a demoness!"


    Yue Lingxi hummed coldly, "To think that I was racking my brains on how to approach you from the hundreds of cultivators and now you have actually delivered yourself to me. If I know this would be the case, I would not have made a pact with the Devious Cyclopeans. What a waste of my cultivation resources."


    She added, "You are not my match. Surrender the Horizon of the Heavens to me and I will let the two of you go." When she had said that, she was actually nervous. It was because she still remembers the nightmare situation when Lu Qingyun had suddenly used the Horizon of the Heavens to injure her.


    Lu Qingyun said silently. "Yan''Er, please lend me your strength. We have a tough fight ahead of us."


    When he had said that, his profound aura had burst forth, enveloping him in a fiery strong animus. Although his profound strength was still at the fourth realm level but the pureness of his profound aura was no less than a sixth realm golden supremacy!


    Yue Lingxi hummed coldly, "Then we shall fight to the death. When you have died, I shall rip the Horizon of the Heavens from your inner cultivation sea. It may be extremely troublesome but rest assures that I will have my ways."


    Lu Qingyun divine sense was however not on Yue Lingxi. Rather, he was silently watching the vital signs that were on Qian Jingjing. Her life force was now quickly slipping away. He knew that he had to win this fight quickly if he were to save her.


    Yue Lingxi had loosened her robe and she had her profound armor on her. Her armor was actually just a few metal pieces that covered her beautiful curved bosoms and conveniently covered the area that was between her legs.


    With another wave, she had unsheathed a half-step divine sword and there were gathering winds that accompanied her divine sword.


    "I''m going to pierce your body into the mountains and you will die a slow and painful death¡­Gathering Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword."


    Lu Qingyun did not dare to be careless as he mustered all his profound strength to display his profound power with his right sword. "Alpha Soaring Heavens as One!"


    "You really think that you can stop me with this puny sword technique? Why don''t you use what you have used on me that day¡­" Yue Lingxi scoffed.


    "Beta Soaring Heavens as One!" Lu Qingyun had displayed his second sword art with the divine sword that was in his other hand.


    Yue Lingxi was startled. "You can use two sword arts at the same time¡­"


    "The True Soaring Heavens as One!"


    As the two ultrapowerful energy techniques collided, there were several thunderous shockwaves that engulfed both combatants.

 195 The Moon Demon Forest 4

    Hundreds of shocked cultivators were now rushing out of the camp to fight the eight seventh rank Devious Cyclopeans that were attacking them.


    Feng Xiaoxiao shouted to her prot¨¦g¨¦s, "Do not panic. Deploy your sword formations!"


    The Devious Cyclopeans were not tall by the standard of the Moon Demon Forest that was populated with thick red wood trees that grew to a 100m in average height. But to the cultivators, these 10m tall Devious Cyclopeans were extremely terrifying.


    The third realm cultivators were unable to get close enough to the Devious Cyclopeans to do any damage while the fourth realm cultivators lacked the profound strength in their sword energies to do any lasting damage to these seventh rank devious monsters.


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were already engaging the nearest Devious Cyclopean and they had succeeded in halting it but it was only a halt; they had not found a way to kill it yet despite Yin Shisi was a seventh realm saintess.


    Although they had offer a ray of hope to the defenders but there were seven other Devious Cyclopeans that were advancing from all around the camp.


    Everyone was panicky.


    Even though they had six hundreds of them here but they were dealing with eight high level devious monsters!


    "Where did these high level devious monsters come from?!"


    "They seem to be co-coordinating their attacks on us¡­"


    "Will we survive tonight?"


    "Look at the number of cultivators that have already fallen. They can''t take a punch from these monsters¡­"


    "Dodge their attacks and don''t be a fool!"


    "Focus all your sword energy attacks on one target at a time¡­"


    Feng Xiaoxiao was looking really pale and she knew that this battle was hopelessly against them.


    She muttered, "Xingye. I need you now."


    Zhao Xingye immediately replied quietly, "I am here."


    "Go and stop one of the Devious Cyclopean." Feng Xiaoxiao commanded her.


    "I will go now." Zhao Xingye had immediately taken off.


    Although Zhao Xingye was only at the fourth realm level but she had already formed the golden celestial body that was only available to the fifth realm experts. Moreover her reflexes and stamina were more extraordinary than any of the fifth realm experts when her twin sister Zhao Riyue was around.


    Feng Xiaoxiao said to the rest of her leaders, "Divide our prot¨¦g¨¦s into five main groups and lead the rest of the cultivators into holding off five of the Devious Cyclopeans."


    She inhaled softly, "As for me, I will hold off one of the Devious Cyclopeans."


    "Do not let the Devious Cyclopeans group together or it will surely be devastating to us." She said firmly.


    With that, all the cultivators had regrouped and were hastily defending their positions.


    For a short time, the battle was a stalemate. It would be a matter of time before the Devious Cyclopeans could break the ranks of the cultivators.


    The only ray of hope for the cultivators was now resting on the shoulders of Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue, Zhao Xingye and Feng Xiaoxiao. If anyone of them would be able to beat off one of the Devious Cyclopeans then they would be able to reinforce the weaker ranks.


    But an hour had passed quickly and yet the battle was still in a stalemate. It was not easy to kill any of the Devious Cyclopeans. Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue, Zhao Xingye and Feng Xiaoxiao had all entered into the most difficult fight of their life.


    Except for Yin Shisi, all the cultivators were defending more than attacking.


    All of a sudden the eight seventh rank Devious Cyclopeans were all turning back and were retreating, startling the defenders by their actions.


    "What is going on?"


    "They are retreating?"


    "We have won?"


    Yin Shisi had seized the golden opportunity for the confusion that was displayed by the Devious Cyclopean that she was fighting against with and had finally killed it with her sword.


    But compared to this small victory, the bodies of the dozens of dead cultivators were laying everywhere.


    Ouyang Xue inhaled deeply, "Why are they retreating?"


    She knew that if the Devious Cyclopeans did not retreat soon, they would have lost this battle.


    Feng Xiaoxiao quietly said, "Attend to the wounded and count the survivors¡­" With a short hesitation, she added. "Buried the dead."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    What had exactly happened was that Lu Qingyun and Yue Lingxi had engaged in a sword battle with one another.


    After several rounds of intense battle, Lu Qingyun was expended all his profound strength and he had crumbled weakly on the ground.


    He muttered, "In the end, I am still unable to win¡­"


    Yue Lingxi was inhaling heavily. She simply could not believe that a mere fourth realm cultivator could have fought her to such a stage where she had to expend nearly all her profound strength.


    She was even more astonished that there were now eleven divine swords that were scattered all around her.


    "How did he get so many divine swords?"


    But as her divine sense swept through these divine swords, she had a quick realization. "These divine swords are actually copies of a single godly divine sword. Because he didn''t have the profound strength to wield a godly divine sword to its full power and so that''s why he is splitting the power of his godly divine sword?"


    She was soon frowning lightly as she recognized the profound signature of Qin Keqin that was on these divine swords. "So these divine swords actually belong to her¡­"


    But she was suddenly startled and she was trembling lightly. "The profound energies of the Endless Abyssal Sea?! These divine swords had been to the Endless Abyssal Sea? This Lu Qingyun is full of mysteries."


    She had walked quietly next to the fallen Lu Qingyun, "Now will you surrender my Horizon of the Heavens back to me? I swear by the Great Beyond that I will spare you and your friend."


    Lu Qingyun hummed coldly, "I¡­I don''t know what you are talking about!"


    Yue Lingxi had lost her patience and she did not want to waste any more time. "You have seized my Horizon of the Heavens when my profound strength is at its weakest. Why are you still pretending and refuse to use your desolate profound strength? Maybe if you have used your desolate profound strength, you may still have a ray of hope."


    "Very well then, I shall send you to your maker¡­"


    All of a sudden Yan''Er had panicky appeared in front of Lu Qingyun and she was raising her small body to protect him.


    "Yan''Er? Get inside. I don''t want you to see me in such a state. When I die later, the scene won''t be pleasant to look at." Lu Qingyun said weakly.


    Yue Lingxi was not startled to see Yan''Er for she had recognized her as Lu Qingyun''s spirit entity.


    Yan''Er was muttering almost incoherently, "Big Sister Keqin. Yan''Er cannot keep my promise to you¡­"


    All of a sudden Yan''Er had transformed into a flaming spirit sword and she had exploded herself in front of Yue Lingxi.


    "Yan''Er!¡­"


    Yue Lingxi was completely stunned by the fiery explosion as she gasped, "The Horizon of the Heavens¡­she has actually¡­merged into it¡­this is impossible¡­"


    That was Yue Lingxi''s last words as the explosion had flung her down the mountains.


    It was also around this time that the Devious Cyclopeans had also stopped their attacks on the expedition force.


    But Lu Qingyun had no time to ask Yan''Er what was going on. Instead, he quickly mustered his remaining profound strength as he crawled his way to the unconscious Qian Jingjing, "Jingjing, are you alright¡­your Brother Qingyun is here now¡­"


    Yan''Er had reverted to her true spirit form and she was saying softly, "Master, Yan''Er will be transferring my profound strength to you now. Hold on please¡­"


    As she transferred her profound strength to her master, Yan''Er had suddenly noticed that she had a shadow and that she could actually feel the body heat of her master on her palms.


    Yan''Er: ???

 196 The Moon Demon Forest 5

    Lu Qingyun was looking at Qian Jingjing panicky.


    "Her physical injuries are too heavy and her profound meridians also severely damaged by Yue Lingxi''s sword energy."


    Without any hesitation, Lu Qingyun had taken out the Divine Profound Pill that he was saving and had put it into her mouth.


    "Jingjing, hold on. You¡­will be¡­fine¡­" His eyes were bleary and he really did not want her to die.


    He took a quick look at his surroundings, "It is too late to take her back to the camp now."


    "Forgive me Jingjing¡­" He steeled his heart and started to disrobe her.


    "I must treat her profound injuries and her wounds. Her life is more important than any rites." But he had turned to give Yan''Er a stare. "Promise your master not to tell anyone about it."


    Yan''Er nodded nervously as she saw that Lu Qingyun was stripping Qian Jingjing. She was actually thinking, "Master once says that he will only strip the maiden that he likes¡­"


    If Lu Qingyun knew what she was thinking about, he would surely flip over.


    For the next two hours, Lu Qingyun patiently attended to the injuries of Qian Jingjing. It was a lucky that he had all kinds of healing medicines on him.


    He had no time to think why Yan''Er was able to transfer her profound strength to him until he was done with treating Qian Jingjing''s injuries and dressing her up.


    Then he had turned to Yan''Er with a sudden realization, "Yan''Er, we suppose to share the same inner spiritual sea. When I''ve exhausted my profound strength, you are not supposed to have any too. Why is that you are able to transfer to me your profound strength?"


    Yan''Er looked sheepish. It was because she was holding onto a vast reservoir of spiritual force for Lu Qingyun as she was holding it for his fifth realm breakthrough.


    All of a sudden he had realized that he could feel Yan''Er. "Erm, Yan''Er¡­aren''t you a spirit entity?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Yes, I am."


    "But I can touch you now¡­" Lu Qingyun said slowly.


    Yan''Er nodded happily, "I can finally touch master now."


    "That isn''t the point." Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. "I mean I can touch you now."


    Yan''Er continued to nod delightfully, "Indeed master!"


    "I mean why is it that I am able to touch Yan''Er now?" Lu Qingyun smiled weakly.


    "Oh that. I am taking the form of the Horizon of the Heavens now. Yan''Er has merged into it. Because the Horizon of the Heavens is a physical entity therefore Yan''Er can also be a physical entity if I want to." Yan''Er laughed.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "The Horizon of the Heavens is really with us? I have taken her thing? No wonder she is so persistent in coming after me. We ought to return it to her¡­"


    Then he added, "If she isn''t dead of course."


    Yan''Er said, "Master, we can''t return it to her. This Horizon of the Heavens is now part of us now. I am afraid that you need to be at least the seventh realm in order to extract it out of your inner spiritual sea."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    While they were chatting, Qian Jingjing was quietly listening. As a matter of fact, she had long regained her conscious but she was too shy to tell Lu Qingyun. It was because she could feel his hands wandering around her body.


    She knew that Lu Qingyun was trying to treat her injuries but she was also thinking, "Brother Qingyun, you have to bear responsibility for me in the future. You have already¡­"


    "So Brother Qingyun really cares for me after all¡­"


    Actually if it was other men, she would not say that. She had already made up her mind on Lu Qingyun and was just finding an excuse to affirm her decision.


    But she was also startled to hear him talking to this ''Yan''Er''. Who was this Yan''Er?


    From their conversation, she had realized that this Yan''Er was actually Lu Qingyun''s spirit entity and she was greatly astonished that he actually had a sentient spirit entity.


    After a while Lu Qingyun began to carry Qian Jingjing back to the camp in great haste.


    It was because he was also anxious for Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.


    When he reached the camp, he was dismayed to see the camp was ruined and there were hundreds of groaning sounds.


    The number of casualties and wounded numbered in the hundreds.


    Many of the cultivators were now looking at where Lu Qingyun had made his entrance. He was seen carrying a beautiful maiden in his arms and there were resentments in their eyes. It was not because they were envious of him but they were resentful that while they were fighting hard for everyone''s lives, Lu Qingyun was nowhere to be seen.


    This managed to reinforce a strong opinion in the hearts of many that he was really a good-for-nothing cultivator.


    Lu Qingyun had finally found Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue. He was glad that they were alright. He took a quick look around and saw Feng Xiaoxiao, Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye, Yu Tianjian and Gongsun Ya among the survivors.


    Ouyang Xue gasped when she saw the state that Qian Jingjing was in. "What has happened to her?"


    Yin Shisi saw the injuries that Qian Jingjing had sustained and began to feel her pulse. "Her injuries are not light at all. She is lucky to be alive. Who did that? This is the work of a high level cultivator."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "This is a long story. I shall tell you when I have the time¡­"


    Yin Shisi had suddenly asked, "Who is the one that has helped her to dress her wounds? You?"


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly turned ashen as he said awkwardly, "I have the time now. Why don''t I tell you the long story first?"


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue: ¡­

 197 Reaching the Ancient Ruin 1

    There were a total of fifty dead in the aftermath of the devastating night attack. Eight were from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa while forty-two were from the other celestial clans. A number of cultivators were also critical injured and thirty cultivators had to be sent back to the main waiting camp.


    Qian Jingjing was also critically injured but she refused to be sent back to the main camp.


    She had said, "What is the point of going back to the main camp? I have no one there to wait for me."


    Lu Qingyun had tried to persuade her to recuperate her injuries first but it was in vain.


    A few days later, the weary group of cultivators had ventured deep into the Moon Demon Forest without any further major troubles.


    There were some minor troubles though and dozens more of the cultivators had crumbled to either heavy injuries or had perished along the way.


    What was left of a group of around six hundred cultivators had dwindled down to a group of some four hundred cultivators.


    Just as Lu Qingyun was wondering how many more days would they be arriving at the ancient ruin, their group had suddenly encountered dozens of prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa that were waiting for their group.


    There was a powerful celestial array that was in the area and it was glowing brightly when they had arrived.


    "Where are we?"


    "We are safe?"


    "Why are there so many prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa here?"


    "There are so many golden celestials here¡­"


    "It seems that many of the high ranking Herald Fragrance Heralds are also here¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had spotted Celestial Tang Xuefeng among half a dozen other golden celestials as she arrived to greet Feng Xiaoxiao and her group.


    As he was watching them from afar, he could not hear what they were saying.


    Tang Xuefeng had a solemn look when she saw the dejected look of their expedition group. But when she saw that Lu Qingyun was looking in her direction, she smiled as she winked at him.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "Did she just wink at me or?"


    Even Qian Jingjing was frowning with displeasure as she asked him quietly, "Did that beautiful sister over there just wink at you?"


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "We are acquaintances."


    "Oh? You seem to know quite a number of beautiful sisters from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa." Qian Jingjing probed.


    Lu Qingyun explained, "They were staying at my celestial clan. Naturally I know some of them."


    Qian Jingjing said, "Is that so?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Although I know many of these beautiful sisters but we are just friends."


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly before she mimicked Tang Xuefeng to give him a mocking wink.


    Feng Xiaoxiao had turned her head toward the expedition group and her lovely voice began to echo, "We have finally reached our destination so you can setup camp in the northeast of this celestial array. You are safe now and can have a good rest first. Tomorrow, I will give everyone a debriefing."


    "You are all dismissed." She added after a short inhale.


    When everyone was moving toward the northeast area, Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue had suddenly approached Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing as they greeted. "Senior, Heavenly Fragrance Herald Xuefeng wants to talk to you."


    Qian Jingjing was startled that they were actually calling Lu Qingyun a senior, "Did I hear wrongly?"


    Zhao Xingye smiled as she added, "Maiden Qian, please come with us as well."


    Lu Qingyun was a little surprised that Tang Xuefeng had wanted to summon him into her audience and had even summoned Qian Jingjing at the same time.


    "Please follow us." Zhao Riyue smiled.


    Soon they had arrived at the tent of Tang Xuefeng''s dwelling. Her tent was in the interior of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa''s camp.


    When they had arrived in her tent, Tang Xuefeng had not arrived and there were only the four of them.


    Zhao Riyue smiled, "Please take a seat while waiting."


    Qian Jingjing could not resist asking, "Sisters, why are you calling my Brother Qingyun your senior? Do you know him very well?"


    Lu Qingyun nearly flipped when he had heard Qian Jingjing. He had not really expected Qian Jingjing to ask something like this.


    Zhao Riyue smiled and was not offended. "His master is an elder of our sect. Therefore we ought to address him as our senior. Am I not right to say so? We have heard that Maiden Qian is really close to Senior Lu."


    Qian Jingjing was flushing when she had heard her. She took a quick look at Lu Qingyun before she said shyly, "We are not close at all. We are only friends."


    Zhao Riyue smiled and said nothing while Zhao Xingye was secretly behind Zhao Riyue. They knew that Qian Jingjing was lying in front of them.


    Lu Qingyun saw that Tang Xuefeng''s tent had a nice scent and he liked it.


    Therefore he began to walk around the tent as he said curiously, "So this is Heavenly Fragrance Herald Xuefeng''s tent." Then he spotted a wooden curtain and walked behind it to take a look.


    Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were suddenly shouting to him and they had hot flushes on their countenances, "Senior, don''t go there. It is because¡­"


    "Because?¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly paused in his tracks; it was because he had suddenly spotted rows of Tang Xuefeng''s lingerie behind the wooden curtain.


    He was suddenly flustered and he tried to pretend that he had not seen anything, "There is¡­nothing here¡­"


    "What nothing here?" A lovely chuckle could be heard and it was Tang Xuefeng as she entered together with Feng Xiaoxiao, Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue.


    When Lu Qingyun had heard her voice, he was so startled that he began to knock into her hanging lingerie clumsily and even the wooden curtain stand had toppled over, covering himself with her scented lingeries.


    This scene was witnessed by everyone who was all gasping with great shock. Even the smiles that were on Tang Xuefeng had vanished and a beautiful flush had appeared on her countenance.


    Feng Xiaoxiao was covering her mouth with shock and her eyes were wide-opened; she simply could not believe that Lu Qingyun was actually playing with her prot¨¦g¨¦ sister''s lingeries.


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue were gasping and they were trembling lightly with shock.


    Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye had gasped aloud while Qian Jingjing had taken a step back in shock.


    Lu Qingyun was so flustered that his face and ears had turned completely red and he was shouting panicky, "This is all a misunderstanding! This isn''t what you think it is!"


    The ears of Tang Xuefeng was extremely red as she looked confused for the very first time. All her lingeries were all over the place and on Lu Qingyun. She was completely lost and speechless.


    It took her a lot of courage to say in front of so many eyes, "Senior, what are you doing?"


    Lu Qingyun was also stunned by this question. What was he doing? He was actually taking a look at her tent and this happened. But how was he going to explain it in a casual manner that would not embarrassed himself and could get him out of this fix at the same time?


    Finally he was forced to reply quickly because so many shocked eyes were looking at him now for an explanation, "I am a little clumsy and has knocked myself over the wooden curtain¡­" It was a white lie and not exactly what had happened.


    Therefore when he had said that, his nervous eyes were looking at Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye and Qian Jingjing and seemed to be saying silently to them. "Please don''t tell them what has happened or I''ll be screwed¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng blinked her eyes and she said weakly, "Then be more careful next time." Her ears were intense red when she had said that. It was obvious that she had never been so embarrassed in her entire life before.


    Feng Xiaoxiao, Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were all staring awkwardly at her as though they were all saying, "Isn''t this punishment a little too light?"


    Tang Xuefeng was a golden celestial and she was aware of their stares without a need to look at their faces. Her sensory perception was actually quite superior to many of the same level golden celestials. But this time her sensory perception had worked against her and it had magnified her awkwardness to a high level.


    She tried to force herself to say icily, "There won''t be a next time¡­or I will¡­or I will¡­"


    "Or what?" The others seemed to be looking at her for an answer.


    Even Lu Qingyun was extremely nervous when she had said that.


    Tang Xuefeng had wanted to say that she would slice him to pieces but Lu Qingyun was her senior and the direct disciple of their Great Benefactor Fan Yuqing. No matter how awkward she was, she would never be able to mutter that out.


    Moreover she knew in her heart that it was an accident. Surely Senior Lu Qingyun would never do such a thing in front of the three maidens that were with him before she had entered the tent.


    Although she trusted that it was an accident but she doubted the circumstances that led to this accidental. What was he doing before she had entered the tent? Was he looking at her lingerie?


    But this was something that she had wanted to sweep under the carpet lest it became overblown and she would have lost all her reputation.


    In the end Tang Xuefeng really did not know what to say what the punishment would be. Instead she changed to a new line and said shyly, "Surely you ought to know what to do, am I right?"


    She was giving Lu Qingyun an easy exit. As long as Lu Qingyun could quickly apologize to her, she was willing to forgive him and they would have a face-saving exit.


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue, Feng Xiaoxiao, Qian Jingjing, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye knew what Tang Xuefeng was thinking. This was the best way out for the two of them.


    Lu Qingyun quickly stammered panicky, "I will surely wash them all clean before I return them to you¡­.it is my fault for dirtying them. I will make amends¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng: ¡­


    Everyone: ¡­


    Tang Xuefeng almost flipped when Lu Qingyun had said that instead of apologizing immediately. She and all the other maidens really had not expected Lu Qingyun to say that.


    They had almost forgotten that Lu Qingyun is a man while they are women. Men and women do not always think alike.


    In Lu Qingyun''s mind, this was the best way to make amends and to make it up for his mistakes. In this way, Tang Xuefeng did not need to wash her lingeries again and he could help her to save plenty of troubles and her hands would be free to focus on her other tasks.


    However he did not know that women can sometimes do the most troublesome things like cooking and washing because they like to pay a personal attention to things that affect them personally. To them, this is like a practice that they enjoy doing because practice makes them better and they are always constantly learning from their experienced practices.


    That was when both sexes screwed themselves up over an action and this was now the case.


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "Did I say something wrong? Or she is not willing to forgive me?"


    Tang Xuefeng was now flushing even redder at the thought that Lu Qingyun would be washing her lingeries for her.


    With a flushed look, she began to walk over and bended over to pick her lingeries. She was now so awkward that she did not know what to say anymore. Her only thought now was to pick her lingeries as soon as possible.


    As she bended over to pick her lingeries, she muttered. "No thanks. I can wash myself." Her golden eyes were bleary. She had never been so embarrassed before and she wanted to cry but her pride kept her from doing so.


    Tang Xuefeng was an astonishing beauty and was a different beauty from the other maidens. She had an intelligent look and was a scholarly beauty. Even her eyes gave others the impression that she was intelligent.


    But right now, Lu Qingyun found himself staring at her exposed cleavage and saw that she had a full figure despite her slim figure.


    Realizing that his eyes were wandering to where he should not be looking, he quickly said. "Let me help you¡­" And he was grabbing her panties to hand it over to her.


    Tang Xuefeng was so startled by what he had grabbed that she panicky said, "No wait. I can help myself¡­"


    All of a sudden they had banged their heads together in their clumsy attempt to ''help'' each other.


    "Ouch¡­" Both said at the same time.


    Feng Xiaoxiao could not bear to watch the scene anymore. She weakly said, "At this rate, our meeting can never start¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng and Lu Qingyun were so flustered by now, especially more flustered when they had heard Feng Xiaoxiao.


    Tang Xuefeng may be a golden celestial but right now she felt as though she was only a lowly cultivator and she almost burst into tears. "You¡­Senior, please take a seat first. I will gather my own clothing¡­"


    Lu Qingyun gasped as he clumsily stepped on her lingerie, "Sorry! I have just stepped on your¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng looked at him with bleary eyes, "Just step aside. It is alright. Please say no more¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled that he had actually made a proud golden celestial like Tang Xuefeng cry in front of him and so many others.


    And Tang Xuefeng had actually burst into sobbing tears now; she had thoroughly embarrassed and shamed herself today.


    Feng Xiaoxiao was heartbreak when she saw the scene and she quickly said to the others, "Please do not tell anyone what has happened here. Or I, Feng Xiaoxiao will not spare any one of you!"

 198 Reaching the Ancient Ruin 2

    Lu Qingyun was literally speechless and he was now looking awkwardly at Tang Xuefeng.


    Tang Xuefeng was still crying and she had been crying for the past hour. In front of her were many wet handkerchiefs that were soaked with her tears.


    He had not expected that when she had started crying, it would be like an overflowing river.


    "What did I do¡­"


    He wished that he could find a hole to hide in and in everyone''s eyes he was the one that had bullied Tang Xuefeng.


    He had succeeded in making a proud golden celestial to break down in front of her junior sisters and the outsiders.


    He was completely ashamed of himself now. If he had not been so curious as to walk around her tent, this would not have happened.


    Earlier, Tang Xuefeng was even smiling and winking at him but now she was tearful and was sobbing nonstop.


    Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye felt extremely guilty. If they had not teased Qian Jingjing when they had entered the tent then Lu Qingyun would not have the opportunity to start exploring Tang Xuefeng''s tent and this accident would not have happened.


    Feng Xiaoxiao really could not wait for Tang Xuefeng to stop crying so she said quietly, "Let me host the meeting instead then."


    Lu Qingyun stammered out, "Let me leave the tent first. You can tell me later¡­"


    When he had said that, Tang Xuefeng sobbed even louder and she had rolled up another soaking handkerchief and she was looking around for more handkerchiefs.


    One by one, Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue, Zhao Riyue, Ouyang Xue and Feng Xiaoxiao had already passed her all their available handkerchiefs and there were dozens of soaking folded handkerchiefs on the table.


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled weakly before she said to Lu Qingyun, "You may stay. Just keep quiet."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Tang Xuefeng suddenly said with her sobbing voice, "I need more handkerchiefs. Anyone has any?"


    Everyone: ¡­


    All the handkerchiefs of the maidens had been used up by Tang Xuefeng. They had not expected her to be able to sob for an hour¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I actually have several handkerchiefs here¡­"


    Feng Xiaoxiao gasped and muttered almost incoherently, "Didn''t I just tell him to keep quiet¡­"


    Yin Shisi thought that Tang Xuefeng was now going to cry for another hour¡­


    Tang Xuefeng was suddenly staring at Lu Qingyun but she quickly averted her eyes, "No thanks."


    She had suddenly stopped her tears but her lovely voice was hoarse from the crying and she had heavy swollen eye bags.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Qian Jingjing secretly tugged Lu Qingyun''s long sleeves as though she was telling him to keep quiet.


    But all the other maidens were curious enough to think. "Why has she stopped crying when Lu Qingyun has offered her his handkerchief?"


    They simply could not understand and it was like magic. Just when they were beginning to wonder when Tang Xuefeng would stop crying, she had stopped all of a sudden.


    It was because they were not in Tang Xuefeng''s shoes and they could not know her heart.


    Tang Xuefeng was actually waiting for Lu Qingyun to comfort her. While the other maidens had thought it was bad timing for Lu Qingyun to offer his handkerchiefs to Tang Xuefeng but this was exactly the comfort that she had needed. Therefore she had stopped crying and her wounded heart was comforted.


    Now she was looking with a weird expression on Lu Qingyun¡­


    But Lu Qingyun was actually thinking after seeing the look that was in her eyes, "She must hate me so much now¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng was actually thinking, "I hope that I didn''t lose my standing in his eyes¡­"


    Now that Tang Xuefeng had stopping crying, Feng Xiaoxiao continued. "First I must thank Supremacy Yin Shisi and Celestial Ouyang Xue for accompanying me here. If it weren''t for them, we may not be here now."


    Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue nodded lightly.


    "I had already told my Prot¨¦g¨¦ Sister Xuefeng what had happened in the past few days." Then she took a look at Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue and Qian Jingjing. "Since you are all friends of Senior Lu, I shall be very frank with all of you. We have found an ancient ruin in this vicinity and that will be the final destination of the expedition group. However we don''t expect any survivors."


    Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue, Qian Jingjing and Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Qian Jingjing was gasping softly as she panicky looked at Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "Previously you have mentioned that you will need 500 cultivators that are below the fifth realm level. But from what I can see, there are only around 300-400 cultivators left now. So there will be a shortfall. In order to fill in this shortfall, you will need to send another 100-200 prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa into the Pangu Suppressing Arrays."


    He had not forgotten what they had said to him previously.


    Lu Qingyun took a look at Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye before saying, "You will be sacrificing quite a large number of prot¨¦g¨¦s for this expedition. Are you really willing to do so?"


    Then he laughed weakly, "If Xingyuan and Qiuyue are here, are you also planning to sacrifice them as well? Just for some heavenly relics and some ancient celestial treasures?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao said quietly but firmly, "Yes!"


    "This is for the continuous survival of our divine realm. Our divine realm is one of the three smallest divine realms among the ten divine realms in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Our threat is not just exterior but interior as well. Except for the three major patriarch divine realms, the other seven divine realms had changed hands and names several times already."


    Feng Xiaoxiao added, "However Senior Lu is the disciple of our Great Benefactor. We will advise you and Maiden Qian to opt out if you want to. You have a day to reconsider."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I don''t need any special treatment. I want to join the other cultivators. If we can get into the ancient ruin then I don''t mind paying my life for this experience. This experience is really important to me for my future breakthrough. But¡­"


    He turned to look at Qian Jingjing, "But I hope that Maiden Qian will opt out. Her injuries are not light¡­"


    Qian Jingjing hummed coldly, "I am not opting out unless you are opting out too."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Qian Jingjing smiled, "I am not afraid. It is because I know that Brother Qingyun will be able to protect me."


    Feng Xiaoxiao said, "Sorry to burst your bubble. He can''t take care of you inside without risking his very life. So think carefully."


    Qian Jingjing smiled, "Brother Qingyun isn''t the only one who is trying to overcome his state of divinity. I am the same and I won''t change my mind."


    Lu Qingyun gave a heavy sigh, "If you are not injured so badly, I won''t stop you. Jingjing, you are really not in a good condition to participate in this expedition¡­"


    Qian Jingjing lowered her glances, "I won''t be your burden and I''m not afraid."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Feng Xiaoxiao said, "Don''t be in a haste to tell me yet. You have until tomorrow to think." Then she took a quick glance at Tang Xuefeng before turning to say to Lu Qingyun, "Senior Lu, let''s take a walk outside. I''ve something to talk to you."


    Lu Qingyun was startled and curious at the same time. "Alright."


    When Feng Xiaoxiao and Lu Qingyun were alone outside, Lu Qingyun curiously asked her. "Celestial Feng, may I know what it is that you want to talk to me about?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled. She took a look at her surroundings to make sure that there was no one around before saying, "I have a secret to tell you but you mustn''t tell anyone."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "Is she going to tell me that she likes me? If so, how do I reject her?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao began to sigh heavily before saying, "I actually shouldn''t be telling you this. It is a betrayal of my sisterhood with Xuefeng but you are the disciple of our Great Benefactor."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly when he had heard her.


    "As you know, I have the listening heart skill and I can tell that Xuefeng has never been so confused and sad before. I''m afraid that today you may have humiliated her greatly."


    Lu Qingyun nodded and his ears were now burning as he recalled what had happened earlier.


    "Do you know who she is?" Feng Xiaoxiao asked him all of a sudden.


    Lu Qingyun was perplexed why she was asking him such an easy to answer question. "Isn''t she Celestial Tang Xuefeng?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao nodded, "You have only known one side of her story. She is actually the daughter of our Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su Shanyue."


    "Oh. Haha, so she is the daughter of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su¡­" All of a sudden Lu Qingyun asked again. "Wait a minute. Did you just say that she is the daughter of your Heavenly Fragrance Princess?!"


    Feng Xiaoxiao nodded quietly.


    "I¡­I''ve offended the Heavenly Fragrance Princess indirectly¡­" Lu Qingyun muttered with shock.


    "Wait a minute. I thought that the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa can''t get marry¡­" He suddenly said.


    "Xuefeng is the illegitimate daughter of our Heavenly Fragrance Princess. This is supposed to be a secret." Feng Xiaoxiao said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun muttered miserably, "Lucky she is only the illegitimate daughter of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su and has no powerful father for me to offend¡­"


    "You are wrong." Feng Xiaoxiao said quietly. "If her father knows what you have done, he will surely slaughter you and tear you to pieces."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "So fierce? I thought that she has no father? Who is this fierce father?"


    "He is none other than the Divine Ruler of the Celestial Sword Realm, Grandmaster Yun Xinghe."


    Lu Qingyun nearly flipped over when he had heard her. The Celestial Sword Realm was one of the three major patriarch celestial clans and the Celestial Sword Clan of the Celestial Sword Divine Realm was naturally one of the top three celestial clans in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    "What did you say?" Lu Qingyun had completely turned ashen. If her father was the divine ruler of the Celestial Sword Realm then he would be surely be dead.


    "I''ve thought that usually in this case, the parents'' relationships may not be good. Why would the divine ruler of the Celestial Sword Realm bother with an illegitimate daughter in a faraway place?" He was stammering now and was trying to find an excuse to make himself feel better.


    "Who says that Xuefeng''s relationship with her parents is bad? Who says that her parents'' relationships must be bad?" Feng Xiaoxiao looked at him curiously. "On the contrary, her parents'' relationship is unusually good. Moreover, do you know that Xuefeng is the only child of Grandmaster Yun Xinghe?"


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply at the sudden realization, "She is the only daughter of Grandmaster Yun Xinghe¡­then I think I am totally screwed¡­I have just offended Saintess Su Shanyue and Saint Yun Xinghe¡­"


    Now he was the one that felt like crying.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had an idea, "Quick! Take me to Celestial Tang Xuefeng. I will beg for her forgiveness now. Hopefully I can still sweep this crisis under the carpet. I thank Celestial Feng for telling me and for saving my life. There is still time to make amends¡­"


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled bitterly, "It is already too late. Our Heavenly Fragrance Princess Su is already aware of this. There is a distress signal that will trigger if Xuefeng is in distress and you have already triggered it."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Then I am really screwed¡­"


    Feng Xiaoxiao said quietly, "I hope that Senior Lu will be able to watch your steps in the future¡­"


    Suddenly she had stopped speaking because she saw Tang Xuefeng was approaching them.


    Feng Xiaoxiao muttered, "Xuefeng¡­"


    Lu Qingyun took a step back when he saw Tang Xuefeng and he had turned ashen.


    Tang Xuefeng smiled weakly at the two of them before she averted her eyes to say, "I will like to have a quiet word with Senior Lu."


    Feng Xiaoxiao nodded before she left quietly.


    When Tang Xuefeng was alone with Lu Qingyun, she looked up to him to say. "Why are you so afraid of me now? Is it because you have already known of my background?"


    Lu Qingyun could only smile awkwardly. He had promised Celestial Feng Xiaoxiao not to tell anyone what she had told him.


    "I just have a quiet transmission with the Heavenly Fragrance Princess and I told her that I am just sad that Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye will be leaving to join the expedition group tomorrow. You don''t have to be so afraid. I didn''t say anything."


    "Oh?" Lu Qingyun was startled. Did she really say that?


    Tang Xuefeng lit a faint smile before she said melancholy, "Other than my parents, you''re the first person that has made me cry like this. I hope that you can also be the first person that can make me happy."


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes, not understanding.


    "Please come back in one piece¡­" Tang Xuefeng had a light flush as she spoke gently with her golden eyes looking intently into his eyes.


    Lu Qingyun''s heart almost stopped when he saw the gentle look that was reflected in her eyes.

 199 The Pangu Suppressing Arrays 1

    Later at night, Lu Qingyun was still up in his tent as he recalled what Tang Xuefeng had said to him.


    "Maybe I shouldn''t think so much now. I will probably never going to come back anyway. Either way is a dead end for me."


    Finally he had put his heart to the rest as he quietly looked at the transmission stone that Keqin had left for him. "I wonder how Keqin is doing now. Is she doing well?"


    "Why doesn''t she allow me to come with her? Is it because her mother consort does not like me? In the end, I have failed to impress upon Fairy Jade Light. Her mother consort must have despised me because I am just a lowly cultivator¡­"


    He did not know that the ''Fairy Jade Light'' was an impostor and was actually the Great Goddess Heaveness. But the Great Goddess Heaveness was not exactly not Qin Keqin''s mother consort. It was because Qin Keqin had many other mother consorts.


    "In the end, my clan tournament results and my performance at the Heavenly Fragrance Tournament had failed to impress her mother consort. Alas¡­it is really not easy to impress upon a seventh realm saintess¡­"


    "I have better not think too much and should turn in early since I have nothing better to do¡­"


    "Senior brother, are you asleep?" a musical voice was heard.


    It was Yin Shisi and she had quietly entered the tent. In her hands was a tray of hot soup. "I''ve made some soup for you. I hope that you can quickly regain your strength and be in your best condition as soon as possible."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. It was true that he had sustained quite a beating during his encounter with Yue Lingxi. Until now, he had not completely regained his peak yet.


    "Please take the soup and tell me what do you think of my culinary?" Yin Shisi smiled at him.


    "It just that that I''m so hungry now." Lu Qingyun laughed greedily at the sight of the soup.


    Lu Qingyun took the soup greedily as he was feeling a little hungry and moreover the soup really looked delicious. The key word was ''look delicious'' and he had suddenly turned ashen. He had never tasted such an awful soup in his life before. Although the ingredients were top notch but it was prepared too hastily. The more top notch the ingredients were, the longer the soup had to be boiled to make into a delicious soup.


    But he could not bear to tell her that.


    "Is it nice? This is my first time preparing it. I hope that senior brother will like it." Yin Shisi lowered her glances shyly.


    Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes as he gasped silently. "First time. No wonder¡­" But he forced himself to say, "Yes, I like it¡­"


    Yin Shisi smiled, "I have some help from Sister Ouyang Xue as well. So this soup is from the two of us."


    Lu Qingyun sighed silently, "Ouyang Xue doesn''t know how to make a soup either. I ought to take note of this lest I may suffer in the future."


    "Where is Maiden Xue?" He asked, trying to distract attention from the soup to another topic.


    "She is washing cleaning the cooking mess. She asks for the soup to be delivered to you hot." Yin Shisi smiled shyly.


    Lu Qingyun muttered almost incoherently to himself, "I think she probably knows the soup is horrible. She is so intelligent. I''ll be surprised if she doesn''t know¡­"


    "What did you say?" Yin Shisi asked curiously.


    "Oh, I was thinking that it is my honor to have a saintess to cook for me. Haha¡­" He replied sheepishly.


    "Then finish it all up." Yin Shisi chuckled softly.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    If Ouyang Xue was here and knew what Lu Qingyun was thinking about her, she would probably reply. "If it weren''t for me, this soup would be much worse."


    Lu Qingyun began to hesitate as he took a bitter look at the soup, "Actually I shouldn''t just be feasting alone and ignoring you¡­"


    Yin Shisi smiled weakly, "Is it really so awful? I''ll try to improve next time."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Actually it tastes great¡­"


    "Really?!" Yin Shisi was delighted.


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "That''s right." And he forced himself to take another sip of the soup.


    "Senior, you are still awake?" A lovely voice asked as Tang Xuefeng entered into the tent.


    Lu Qingyun was startled to see Tang Xuefeng and he blinked his eyes in disbelief.


    Tang Xuefeng laughed softly when she saw Yin Shisi, "So Saintess Yin is here as well. This is so wonderful."


    She had a basket with her and she had bended over to place the basket on the table. "I have made some soup for my sisters. These are some leftover. Why don''t the two of you try my soups?"


    Lu Qingyun was thinking, "Don''t tell me that this is also her first time in making the soup. I will be screwed if I take her soup."


    Yin Shisi was really startled to see Tang Xuefeng and did she hear her correctly that she was actually bringing soup to Lu Qingyun? Earlier, she was crying the entire time and it was all because of Lu Qingyun¡­


    Tang Xuefeng smiled as she carefully took two bowls of soup out of the basket. "I hope that the two of you will like my soup."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he took the soup in his hands, "It looks good¡­"


    "Try it." Tang Xuefeng smiled.


    Under the watchful look of Tang Xuefeng, Lu Qingyun started to take a sip from the soup.


    To his astonishment, it was actually quite delicious and his hungry stomach soon finished the entire bowl of soup.


    "You like it? Do you want more?" Tang Xuefeng smiled as her golden eyes looked intently at him.


    "Yes please." Lu Qingyun answered greedily.


    "Please excuse me!" Yin Shisi said as she stormed off the tent.


    Tang Xuefeng: ???


    Lu Qingyun said weakly, "Saintess Yin has some urgent matters to attend to. That''s why."


    Tang Xuefeng nodded shyly, "I see."


    "Erm Celestial Tang, it is getting late and I''m thinking of turning in soon." Lu Qingyun thought that it may be a good idea not to give her any illusions about himself. Therefore he had decided to be heartless.


    He stood up and bow with his hands respectfully, "I really thank Celestial Tang for treating me such a delicious soup. I will never forget about this."


    "Celestial Tang? Senior, you are too polite. You may call me Xuefeng in the future, alright? You are my senior so it is alright for you to call me by my name." Tang Xuefeng said shyly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "That won''t do. You are a golden celestial after all while I am only¡­"


    "You''re already a fourth realm cultivator, am I right? After taking the Divine Profound Pill, you will have a good chance to become a golden celestial as well. We''re almost on par in our status." Tang Xuefeng added shyly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly. How could he address her by the name directly? So he replied, "This doesn''t sound too right. I am really not any senior but a lowly cultivator. Whether I can be a golden celestial in the future still remains to be seen¡­"


    "Then I shall call you Qingyun too, alright? We shall drop each other''s titles." Tang Xuefeng smiled as she averted her eyes shyly. "Alright?"


    Her voice was lovely and gentle, making it difficult for Lu Qingyun to disagree with her. He found himself saying along her lines, "Alright¡­"


    "What am I saying?" Lu Qingyun was startled as he said silently. "Did I just agree with her?"


    Tang Xuefeng returned a lovely smile to him. "Isn''t this better this way?


    Lu Qingyun found himself nodding, "Right¡­"


    He did not know that Tang Xuefeng was not only a master of celestial arrays but she was also extremely good in reading and leading people to follow her suggestions. Moreover Lu Qingyun lacked guile and therefore it was all too easy for Tang Xuefeng to impose her suggestions on him.


    "Since you''re tired, I''ll take my leave first." Tang Xuefeng returned a lovely wink at him. "Good night and see you tomorrow."


    Lu Qingyun was startled and he felt his soul flying. He began to stammer, "Good night¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng took a last and mesmerizing look at him before she left quietly.


    She knew that if she wanted to capture his heart then she must not be too hasty. No matter what, this man that had made her cry in public would not be able to escape from her from now on. Even if her rival would be the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing!


    As for Lu Qingyun, he was thinking that all these prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were all not only astonishing beautiful but they were also extreme talents; Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye, Feng Xiaoxiao, Tang Xuefeng and even Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue.


    "I need to cultivate harder so that I can win Keqin''s heart. Erm, I mean Keqin''s mother consort approval¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    The next morning;


    Hundreds of cultivators had arrived at the designated clearing and they were astonished to see that hundreds of prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had gathered with them.


    Unlike the chaotic entrance of the hundreds of cultivators that include Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing, the beautiful prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were orderly and graceful; it was as though they were performing a slow dance.


    The sight of so many beautiful maidens caused many of the male cultivators to burn with lust and the eyes of the other female cultivators to be envious.


    The expedition group was also startled to see twenty golden celestials and a few were even sixth realm golden supremacies!


    "Why are there so many prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa here?"


    "The number of golden celestials here are able to overwhelm most of the celestial clans here¡­"


    "What is going on here?"


    "Aren''t we setting off for our experiential expedition?"


    "Why are there so many prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa here to welcome us?"


    A cultivator muttered with fright, "Don''t tell me that this is a plot by the Heavenly Fragrance Villa to massacre all of us, so as to weaken the power of the regional celestial clans¡­"


    "Don''t talk rubbish. If that is the case, why bother giving us the Divine Profound Pill first and to send the heavily wounded back to the main camp."


    "Then, what is going on here?"


    Other than Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing, all the other cultivators were actually in the dark about the expedition and many of them had their bundles on them thinking that they were about to go deeper into the Moon Demon Forest.


    Lu Qingyun had secretly stolen a glance in the direction of Tang Xuefeng. But she was regal and did not look in his direction. She was with Feng Xiaoxiao and the other golden celestials.


    Somehow, he looked a little disappointed that she was not looking in his way.


    "Brother Qingyun, are you alright?" Qian Jingjing asked.


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I¡­am alright¡­I am just looking around."


    Qian Jingjing smiled quietly. Last night she had a long chat with Ouyang Xue and knew more about Lu Qingyun. It seemed that Ouyang Xue knew that Lu Qingyun had a sentient spirit entity as well.


    However this was no an ordinary chat as Ouyang Xue was also helping to treat her internal injuries.


    In the end Ouyang Xue had said to her, "Are you sure you want to report tomorrow? You can only use at most 30% of your profound strength without hurting yourself." Then she added weakly, "Even I can''t tell from your countenance. You are strong will, stronger than I think."


    Qian Jingjing simply smiled and said nothing. During the Heavenly Fragrance Tournament, she had also suffered a similar heavy injury but she had chosen to suppress all her pain. If there was anything that she disliked, it was to show any signs of weakness in front of others.


    She did not want to be the vulnerable maiden that needed anyone to take special care of.


    All of a sudden a new group of prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had arrived. They numbered only twenty but there were two golden celestials in the group.


    Lu Qingyun was startled to see that Fragrance Herald Yufeng was in this group and he was even more startled to see that the other golden celestial was actually Lie Xingyuan!


    Even Leng Qiuyue was in this group!


    His eyes were immediately excited. "Xingyuan, Qiuyue. I got to see you again¡­"


    But while his eyes were excited, they had displayed no emotions as they followed Fragrance Herald Supremacy Shen Yufeng quietly behind. They had totally bent in with the rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, appearing to be cold and distant, yet so beautiful and graceful.


    Shen Yufeng had walked to the rest of the golden celestials as she had quick chat with them. It did not take her long to turn to say to the cultivators that had gathered.


    "I am Fragrance Herald Yufeng, Supremacy Shen. This is for the benefit for those that did not know who I am."


    The cultivations from Lu Qingyun''s region had certainly recognized who she was and they were suddenly groaning almost incoherent. "It''s her again¡­we are in deep trouble¡­"


    There were also cultivators from the other seven regions of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm. Although they had not met Fragrance Herald Yufeng before, they certainly knew her as one of the leading four Fragrance Heralds.


    "She is the one of the strongest Fragrance Heralds."


    "She is also here?"


    "Something must be up¡­Supremacy Yufeng is here¡­giving away so many Divine Profound Pills¡­hundreds of core prot¨¦g¨¦s from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa are also here¡­"


    Shen Yufeng chuckled softly, "Good. You are all here. Three hundred and fifty-five of you are here to be precise. Out of eighth hundred chosen cultivators."


    "I will be direct with all of you here because I don''t want to deal with some headless ghosts later. We are going to enter an ancient celestial ruin that we''ve found recently. This trip may be dangerous and may even be a trip of no return. So if anyone of you wants to back off now, I won''t blame you."


    Then she chuckled, "But if you are willing to enter into the ancient ruin, you can keep whatever you can find inside. You have 10 minutes to consider."


    Immediately the many cultivators had broken into loud mutterings.


    "Ancient celestial ruin?!"


    "Then there must be celestial treasures inside?"


    "It is no wonder there are so many prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa here¡­"


    "We can keep the celestial treasures that we can find?"


    "If we can find a divine sword inside, we can also keep it?"


    Yu Tianjian had stepped forward to ask, "Pardon me for asking this. We are only lowly cultivators. Surely you don''t need us to be around and can easily seize all the celestial treasures inside?"


    He was looking nervously at the number of golden celestials that were around.


    Most of the more cunning cultivators were actually thinking the same thing as Yu Tianjian; with so many golden celestials around, how could they even have any lucky opportunities? In the end, they would all just be cannon fodders for the Heavenly Fragrance Villa!


    Shen Yufeng said nonchalantly, "We can only sent cultivators that are below the fifth realm cultivation level inside the ancient celestial ruin. As for the many golden celestials here, they are only responsible for opening up the Pangu Suppressing Arrays that are here so that you can enter into the ancient celestial ruin."


    Then she smiled, "We will of course be sending our own group of cultivators inside as part of their experiential training. This will be a fair opportunity for everyone. We are expecting a total of 800 of the most talent cultivators in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm to share in this opportunity. Unfortunately, not all are willing to come and for those that had come, some were unfortunately killed or injured on their way here."


    "Ten minutes. This is all the time that you have to consider."


    ------------------------------------


    [Author] I didn''t think that Tang Xuefeng is attracting so much attention from the readers. Yes, there is an extra scene for her in this chapter.

 200 The Pangu Suppressing Arrays 2

    Shen Yufeng chuckled, "Time up! Those who did not want to go can step aside."


    "What? Barely five minutes have passed and it is already timed up?" Many of the cultivators were shocked.


    "I thought we have ten minutes to think?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he looked at Qian Jingjing, "Do you think that Supremacy Yufeng has a bad sense of timing?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded as she whispered, "I''ve noticed that she is terrible with her timing as well¡­"


    But in the end, all three hundred and fifty-five cultivators had stood their ground and none bulged from their positions.


    Shen Yufeng smiled, giving her approval of these brave cultivators.


    She turned to whisper to the rest of the golden celestials. "It seems that we still have a reasonable number of willing cultivators."


    Feng Xiaoxiao nodded, "We will need five hundred cultivators that are below the fourth realm to participate in the Pangu Suppressing Array."


    Shen Yufeng smiled, "That may not be necessary. There are quite a few strong cultivators in that group. They can double up for two to three cultivators. Therefore I want to minimize our risks to the lowest. We shall pick one hundred of our prot¨¦g¨¦s to participate in the Pangu Suppressing Array. No more, no less."


    Tang Xuefeng said, "We have actually prepared two hundred of our core prot¨¦g¨¦s for this undertaking. So who will stay and who will go?"


    Shen Yufeng sighed softly as she stole a glance at Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye who were standing faraway, "Except for the Zhao twin sisters, have the rest to draw a lot."


    The reason why Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye had to participate was because they represented the greatest hope of succeeding in this expedition and they may find a way to save the rest of the expedition group.


    Finally after a short while, a hundred prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had been chosen. Most of them were third and fourth realm core prot¨¦g¨¦s and were all young cultivators.


    Shen Yufeng and many of the golden celestials were grieved to see so many of their young prot¨¦g¨¦ juniors having to take this risk. But it was either a slow decline or a chance to maintain their divine realm status for the next few centuries.


    Feng Xiaoxiao was quite grieved to see Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue go. When Tang Xuefeng saw her expression, she said quietly. "Saint Gao Tianshou is too ambitious. He even has the audacious to come to our divine realm to recruit our cultivators to his banner. If we don''t do something, sooner or later our divine realm will be absorbed into his divine realm."


    Feng Xiaoxiao nodded quietly, "He isn''t a hero but we can''t stop the gossips about him. His network is now everywhere."


    Lie Xingyuan was quietly looking and listening. She had heard the mention of Saint Gao Tianshou being mentioned on a number of occasions by Lu Qingyun who had idolized him like his personal hero.


    Once the one hundred prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had joined the ranks of the other cultivators, Shen Yufeng announced with a lovely smile. "Prepare to enter into the Pangu Suppressing Arrays!"


    Behind her, Feng Xiaoxiao, Tang Xuefeng and many of the golden celestials were secretly sighing softly. They knew that Shen Yufeng was only putting on a brave front. Feng Xiaoxiao who had the Listening Heart Intricacy Skill knew that deep down, Shen Yufeng was deeply grieved.


    As a matter of fact, she had argued with the Heavenly Fragrance Princess over a lengthy period of time over this. But as the subordinate of the Heavenly Fragrance Princess, Shen Yufeng was completely loyal her and the divine realm.


    In the end, Shen Yufeng had asked the Heavenly Fragrance Princess to allow her to chair the trials of the Heavenly Fragrance Tournaments. In order to ensure greater survivor rates for the participants, she had purposely set a high bar for them. At the same time, she had requested a ridiculous amount of Divine Profound Pills that could bankrupt the treasury of the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.


    She had urged, "If we fail to have any success in the ancient celestial ruin then Saint Gao Tianshou will surely find an opportunity to turn the celestial clans against us. Although our sect is a strong sect but we can''t deal with the combined strength of all the celestial clans that will be demanding justice later."


    Seeing that the Heavenly Fragrance Princess was hesitating, she added. "The Spirit Sword Manor may also seize this opportunity to take over the divine realm or collaborate with Saint Gao Tianshou."


    The Spirit Sword Manor was the second most powerful celestial clan in the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm and was the former divine ruler. It had no less than twenty golden celestials and many powerful alliances.


    "Although the Heavy Moon Sect appears to be at odds with the Spirit Sword Manor but they had many secret dealings on the sly."


    The Heavenly Fragrance Princess nodded, "Then do as you have said."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Back to the present;


    Shen Yufeng had raised her fingers and had raised the veiled illusions of the celestial array that was in place.


    Immediately, all the cultivators could see that they were now looking at a misty valley that was overlooking them and there were moving reflections above this misty valley.


    Some of the cultivators with keener eyes like Lu Qingyun could even pick up the remnants of an ancient ruin in the misty valley.


    A celestial portal had also opened in front of them.


    Shen Yufeng said solemnly to them as she pointed to Zhao Riyue, "Once you are inside this portal, do not move unless Zhao Riyue says so. She will be the leader of your expedition group."


    Then she added, "This ancient celestial ruin is protected by the Pangu Suppressing Arrays. The rest of us from the outside will try to suppress the Pangu Suppressing Array so that it will be safe for you to enter inside. Do not be hasty. As promise, you may keep everything that you have found inside, including any divine swords."


    Then with a soft sigh she added. "You have only six hours to make your escape once you are inside. Do not forget about the time. You will all be given a talisman. Burn it and we will use our divine sense to locate you and we will get you out. Don''t burn it at the last minute or to lose it. We are humans after all."


    Lu Qingyun had heard of the array teleporting talisman before. After burning it inside the celestial array, the cultivator could be found by the divine sense of the high level cultivators that must be a golden celestial. It was because only a golden celestial had the profound strength to penetrate through the protective celestial array.


    However that was a flaw with this talisman that not many cultivators know; whether the cultivator could be located depended on the superior divine sense of the golden cultivator and it would take a lot of profound strength for even a golden celestial to pull anyone out.


    There were some twenty golden celestials here but there were some five hundred of them inside!


    It was impossible for twenty golden celestials to save five hundred cultivators at the same time!


    More so, if a group of cultivators were burning their talismans at the same time. The golden celestials had to choose who to save and who not to save if they were in danger. And the feat to pull anyone was not instantaneous.


    Just as he was thinking hard and was a little dismay, he had suddenly spotted the golden eyes of Tang Xuefeng who was looking melancholy at him.


    He was startled and quickly looked away.


    Feng Xiaoxiao was also startled when she saw Tang Xuefeng looking dreamily in the direction of Lu Qingyun. As she had the Listening Heart Skill and she was so near to Tang Xuefeng now, she was startled that the emotions that were displayed in her prot¨¦g¨¦ sister''s golden eyes were not a negative emotion but a forlorn expression.


    "I''ve thought that Xuefeng is going to hate Lu Qingyun?" She silently said with a perplexed look.


    At the same time she had also noticed that Lie Xingyuan was also looking quietly in Lu Qingyun''s direction.


    "They¡­don''t tell me that they¡­"


    At this moment, Shen Yufeng said. "Get the talisman and enter the portal. Remember, don''t make any hasty move when you''re inside or the consequences will be upon yourself."


    Soon, everyone had taken a talisman and had entered into the portal.


    Lu Qingyun had entered the shimmering portal with Qian Jingjing and he soon found himself surrounded by thick woods and tall mountains all around them.


    "We are now in the Pangu Suppressing Arrays? It was not long before everyone was inside and was all looking bewildered just like anyone else.


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Ridge Villa were calmer. Some of them had been here before but there was a look of dread on their countenances as they had remembered that some of their prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters had perished here previously.


    Zhao Riyue shouted to everyone, "Wait here and meditate here first. No one is allowed to go move."


    All of a sudden a big size cultivator was laughing, "Why should we listen to you now? Didn''t you hear what Supremacy Yufeng had said earlier? We can take all the loot that we can find in here. Right now, it is every man for himself and every loot for ourselves. Therefore I''m going into the ancient celestial ruin now."


    "That''s right." Another man said. "You are only trying to take the lead because you are afraid that we may have an advantage over you."


    Immediately these two men and three other men had quickly rushed into the woods where the ancient celestial ruin was.


    They did not stop to wait for Zhao Riyue or the rest nor did they bother to turn their heads back. Their intentions were all too clear; before anyone could react, they could quickly enter into ancient celestial ruin first and find all the profound treasures that they could gather.


    But all of a sudden the five men were screaming loudly in front of all the other cultivators as numerous black lightning flew out of the ground and had instantly torn them apart.


    All the other cultivators were startled and several dozens of the cultivators were secretly sighing with relief, "Whew. I have almost rushed with them¡­"


    Zhao Riyue hummed coldly, "Foolish idiots."


    -------------------------------------------------


    Thank you readers and supporters for the 200th Chapter of this story =)

 201 In the Ancient Celestial Ruin 1

    The cultivators had only meditated for a while before golden portals had started to appear before them.


    This startled many of the cultivators who were wondering what these golden portals were.


    But for Lu Qingyun and the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, they knew that these golden portals were actually the true entrance to the ancient celestial ruin.


    What the naked eyes could see sometimes may not always be the whole truth.


    From the outside, Supremacy Shen Yufeng and Celestial Tang Xuefeng must have already gathered the profound strength of the cultivators inside the Pangu Suppressing Arrays and had opened the real entrance of the ancient celestial ruin.


    Zhao Riyue had also opened her eyes by now as she said quietly to the cultivators, "The entrance of the ancient celestial ruin has now been opened. You may enter freely into any of these golden portals. Good luck to all of you."


    The cultivators did not exactly move to the golden portals immediately. It was because after they saw what had happened to the earlier five cultivators, their hearts had gone cold.


    Lu Qingyun said to Qian Jingjing, "Let pick a portal and investigate."


    Qian Jingjing nodded as she followed Lu Qingyun into one of the golden portals.


    When the rest of the cultivators saw that nothing had happened to the good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun, they began to rush maddening into the golden portals.


    The prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were orderly and they simply followed Zhao Riyue''s lead.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    When Lu Qingyun was inside the golden portal, he saw that they seemed to be in an underground passage.


    Qian Jingjing was holding onto his arm and she was looking around warily. "We are inside now."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Let''s wait a little while. Maybe we can group with the other cultivators who are coming along. This will be a lot easier."


    Qian Jingjing nodded as she displayed her sword, wary of her surroundings.


    But after waiting for a while, there was still no sight of anyone. This caused Lu Qingyun to frown lightly, "Where is everyone?"


    Qian Jingjing smiled weakly, "The portal has to be entered within a short time of anyone in order to appear in the same location. Maybe that is why."


    Although Lu Qingyun was nodding at her answer but the two of them knew in their heart that the other cultivators had mostly looked down upon Lu Qingyun and did not want to enter the same portal as him.


    But this was not an issue with Lu Qingyun as he soon smiled, "Let''s go and do some exploring on our own."


    Qian Jingjing nodded eagerly as she swept her eyes around.


    Just as they had taken a few steps forward, they had heard the screams of several cultivators and they had turned ashen at the same time. They did not know where the screams had come from since they were surrounded by the stone walls all around them.


    Lu Qingyun said with a startled look, "Some of the cultivators have already met with dangers?"


    But he immediately steeled his heart and said. "Let''s go."


    It was because there was nothing he could do for them and they were all cultivators to seek the Way of the Heavens to be immortal. The more trials and tribulations that they had faced, the easier their divine calamity would be when it was time for them to face their life and death tribulations.


    Qian Jingjing nodded quietly. Although it was unfortunate for these cultivators but they were in the same shoes as them.


    Many of the cultivators did not just come for the profound treasures in the ancient ruin. Instead, they had come for a lucky occurrence in becoming a golden celestial. To be a golden celestial was every celestial cultivator''s dream. This was a holy grail in the hearts of every young cultivator. They had to achieve this goal before they had become too old.


    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were both peaked fourth realm immortal celestials now. They were only a half-step in becoming a golden celestial but this half-step had a nearly impassable barrier. In order to become a golden celestial, they had to first chance a divine calamity or forcefully overcome their life and death tribulation. The second option was extremely risky and most of the cultivators that had attempted it could not survive the risky attempt.


    As Lu Qingyun took around his surroundings, he thought that this place seemed familiar to him. "Why is that so?" He thought that he would be nervous in entering this ancient celestial ruin but instead he felt quite calm when he was here.


    Qian Jingjing on the other hand was looking a little panicky and even nervous.


    Yan''Er had suddenly popped up, startling Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing.


    "My cute little Yan''Er, you are not supposed to come out unless I say so. Especially so when there are strangers." Lu Qingyun said gently to her. It was a soft reproach.


    Yan''Er giggled, "But this Big Sister already knows about Yan''Er. I saw her peeking at me that night."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he looked at Qian Jingjing, "You know?"


    Qian Jingjing averted her eyes shyly before she nodded. She was flushing with shyness now because she had remembered the touch of Lu Qingyun''s hands that were on her body that night¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he introduced, "This is Yan''Er. She is my golden roc spirit entity."


    Yan''Er chuckled softly, "That''s right."


    "Yan''Er, why did you come out?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously.


    "Master, Yan''Er is here to help you to become a golden celestial!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "What do Yan''Er means?"


    Even Qian Jingjing was looking curiously at Yan''Er and Lu Qingyun as she muttered with shock, "Golden¡­celestial¡­"


    "Actually Master, you are supposed to be a fifth realm golden celestial but Yan''Er uses all my profound strength to seal your breakthrough." Yan''Er explained.


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    But Lu Qingyun had decided it was pointless to ask Yan''Er about the details because sometimes Yan''Er could not even explain herself clearly. Therefore he asked excitingly, "I can be a golden celestial? I can finally join the ranks of the golden celestials? Quick, tell me how and what must I do to become a golden celestial?"


    Then Lu Qingyun was frowning, "I only got six hours in here. The breakthrough may take hours and even days. Moreover, the spiritual force here is really bad. My odds of succeeding will be bad. No, I can''t become a golden celestial here¡­I must find a place with high spiritual force first¡­"


    All of a sudden Yan''Er had lifted her little finger and had zapped Lu Qingyun with a red lightning bolt, shocking him and Qian Jingjing both at the same time.


    Lu Qingyun was immediately sent flying against the wall with a thunderous impact!


    "Yan''Er, why are you attacking your¡­master¡­" Lu Qingyun coughed out a bout of fresh blood, startling Qian Jingjing who panicky flashed next to him. "Brother Qingyun, are you alright?"


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing was gasping, "Brother Qingyun, you¡­you¡­"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    "Your eyes are golden now!" Qian Jingjing covered her mouth with her right hand as she gasped. "You are a golden celestial now!"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stared at Qian Jingjing, "I am a golden celestial now?"


    Then he looked at the blood that was glowing golden on the ground. Only the blood of a golden celestial would shimmer golden in color.


    "I¡­I am really a golden celestial now? But, where is the divine calamity? Where is the life and death tribulation?" Lu Qingyun asked as he stared at Yan''Er.


    Even Qian Jingjing was astonished. Did her Brother Qingyun just become a golden celestial just like this?


    Yan''Er looked curiously at her master, "Master, you are a golden celestial now. Shouldn''t you be happy? Now Yan''Er is also a golden celestial too!"


    Lu Qingyun asked, "Erm, you just zapped me with a lightning bolt and I¡­erm¡­become a golden celestial? What did you exactly do?"


    Yan''Er pondered for a while before she answered, "I promise Big Sister Keqin that I will unseal Master''s cultivation strength once you are inside the ancient ruin. That lightning bolt is only for unsealing Master''s true profound strength."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Unseal my cultivation strength? Promise Keqin? My true profound strength?"


    He thought, "Is it because that I''ve accidentally swallowed the Starforge Pill that I can''t remember anything now?"


    He asked weakly, "Yan''Er, why did Keqin ask you to seal my cultivation strength? I have almost thought that I was a loser inside the Endless Abyssal Sea when everyone else had advanced in their cultivation strength while I was struck."


    "Endless Abyssal Sea?" Qian Jingjing was startled. "Brother Qingyun, you have been to the Endless Abyssal Sea?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded weakly, "I have a lucky occurrence."


    Then he looked at Yan''Er curiously, "Since I can already overcome my cultivation limitation then why did Keqin ask you to seal my profound strength?"


    Yan''Er put her little finger in her mouth before she said, "Big Sister Keqin didn''t say. She only says it is for your own good."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun clapped his hands, "That''s it. I know now. I am so stupid. It is because I have insisted on coming here but if I am a fifth realm expert then there is no way that I can enter into this place. That is why she had asked Yan''Er to seal my profound strength until I am inside."


    This was the most logical deduction!


    Qian Jingjing was not paying attention to his deduction. Instead she was asking him, "Brother Qingyun, quick. Circulate your profound strength and see if you have any injuries?"


    Lu Qingyun did as he was told and all of a sudden, he said excitingly. "Jingjing, I am really a true golden celestial now and not a half-step golden celestial. I am now at the initial fifth realm golden celestial level."


    "You can exercise your profound strength?" Qian Jingjing was also astonished.


    Lu Qingyun nodded and he was scratching his head.


    It was because when a cultivator had first overcome to a higher cultivation realm, the previous soul sea had to be completely burn off to propel the cultivator to a higher state of divinity.


    So even if a cultivator could successful reach the fifth realm golden celestial level, without any soul sea, they could only be considered as a half-step golden celestial until they could solidify their inner cultivation sea first by meditating and absorbing the spiritual force that was presented. And this would take time to accomplish.


    But Lu Qingyun did not lose any of his profound strength at all!


    At the moment Lu Qingyun could not think of a reasonable reason why this was happening. He could only laughed weakly, "Maybe I have absorbed too much spiritual force inside the Endless Sea Abyssal."


    He did not know that he was actually right.

 202 In the Ancient Celestial Ruin 2

    The stone passage was actually quite broad and the height was ten times taller than Lu Qingyun. It was as though it was not meant for any men but for the desolate beasts.


    But this conclusion was quickly proven to be right as Lu Qingyun saw the many step imprints of the desolate beasts on the ground.


    The stone passage also had many intersections and they picked a random passage as they continued their way. It was as though that they were walking in a maze.


    Qian Jingjing had an ominous feeling about the place so she tried to distract attention from it by asking Lu Qingyun, "Tell me more about Yan''Er? She is so cute. I wish that I have one myself."


    Lu Qingyun chuckled weakly, "Actually there is something that I want to tell you. Do you remember that when we were trapped in the desert at that time during the trials? It was actually Yan''Er that was helping me."


    He looked a little sheepish when he had said that, thinking that she may look down upon him.


    But Qian Jingjing only smiled even more warmly, "Thank you for sharing with me! Yan''Er is part of your soul sea. She is you and you are her. There is actually no difference between the two of you. I really wish that I have a spirit entity too¡­no, a sentient spirit entity like Yan''Er. Hehe."


    Then she added, "Do you know that my prot¨¦g¨¦ grandmaster also has a sentient spirit entity?"


    "Oh?" Lu Qingyun shook his head. He had really never heard of it before.


    "But my prot¨¦g¨¦ grandmaster''s sentient spirit entity is an ugly old man. I don''t want an ugly old man like my grandmaster''s sentient spirit entity in the future." Qian Jingjing laughed softly.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling sheepishly, "I don''t want either." But he was thinking and was drooling, "If I have a spirit entity that looks like Keqin¡­and Yin Shisi''s figure¡­"


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing knocked him on his head with her fist, "Are you thinking of something dirty?"


    Lu Qingyun immediately stammered, "Of course not! We are in such a situation. How is it possible for me to think of something dirty at this time?"


    "Oh really?"


    Lu Qingyun replied, "Really!" But his ears were burning red and that was a big giveaway.


    Qian Jingjing chuckled softly but she did not say further.


    All of a sudden Yan''Er warned him from inside his soul sea, "Master, a devious monster is approaching."


    Lu Qingyun had immediately unsheathed his sword, "Jingjing we have a visitor."


    Qian Jingjing was startled as she immediately displayed her sword.


    Indeed there was a monstrous figure of a Headhunter that had appeared and it was carrying a huge two handed sword on its shoulder!


    Judging from its size and profound aura, it was a sixth rank Headhunter and it was also carrying a weapon!


    Lu Qingyun was startled. Previously he had met with three fifth rank Headhunters on the way to the Moon Demon Forest. Although he had managed to dispatch one on his own but that was only a Fifth Rank Headhunter. Now a Sixth Rank Headhunter was another different matter entirely. Its strength was twice as powerful as a fifth rank Headhunter.


    He had immediately said to Qian Jingjing, "Wait here please!"


    With a swing of his sword, the ground below him had burst gently with a light shockwave as he jumped onto the Headhunter to engage it.


    Lu Qingyun was startled by his lightness and the profound animus that was lifting him upward. With a single jump, he was already upon the Headhunter.


    "This, this is the profound strength of a fifth realm golden celestial?!" He was thinking. But he had no time to think further; he displayed his ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One'' as he swung his sword upward into a downward cut at the Headhunter.


    The Headhunter reaction was astonishing startling; the clumsy looking gigantic two handed sword was actually an illusion and in the next second, it had already blocked Lu Qingyun''s Alpha Soaring Heavens as One'' with a thunderous outburst of exchanged profound power as the two weapons clashed together!


    But Lu Qingyun had the superior profound strength and the Headhunter was forced to take five steps to the back due to Lu Qingyun''s great profound strength.


    Lu Qingyun saw an attack of opportunity and he had immediately raised his other hand to summon a beaming divine sword to display the ''Beta Soaring Heavens as One'' as he moved his entire body forward.


    Almost immediately the Headhunter''s profound aura was shattered as the ''Beta Soaring Heavens as One'' had cut it down, slaying it immediately.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he muttered, "This is the profound strength of a fifth realm golden celestial?" He felt as though he had his profound strength doubled and that even a Sixth Rank Headhunter was also unable to withstand the martial power of his self-created sword art.


    "I have actually defeated a Sixth Rank Headhunter on my own. I didn''t even need Yan''Er help to empower me yet¡­"


    It was not only Lu Qingyun who was startled but Qian Jingjing was also looking at him with a startled look. The profound strength that Lu Qingyun had displayed was clearly out of a fifth realm golden celestial and was on par with an upper sixth realm golden supremacy. A fifth realm golden celestial was definitely unable to kill a Sixth Rank Headhunter with a single slash even with the most powerful sword art.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was shouting excitingly, "Jingjing look! The spirit core of the Headhunter is glowing!"


    This could only mean one thing. Lu Qingyun''s attack was quite clean and painless to the Headhunter that they would be able to obtain its spirit core. Since this Headhunter was a sixth rank devious monster, obtaining its spirit core mean that they would be able to obtain its spirit entity too.


    Even then, the chance of obtaining a spirit core was only one out of a hundred. It did not mean that it would drop from all the clean kills.


    Lu Qingyun smiled excitingly to Qian Jingjing, "Since I''ve already got Yan''Er, I can''t get another spirit entity anymore. Why don''t Jingjing have the Headhunter''s spirit core? Maybe with some luck, this spirit entity may even be a sentient spirit entity."


    Qian Jingjing had a sheepish look before she smiled weakly, "No thanks."


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    "Why doesn''t Jingjing wants one? It is such a golden opportunity to obtain one." Lu Qingyun was perplexed.


    Qian Jingjing had taken a look at the ugly Headhunter and she was thinking, "Because this Headhunter is not cute at all and is a male. I want a spirit entity that is cute like Yan''Er."


    But of course, she did not dare to say it to Lu Qingyun lest it would damage her image in front of him. But if they were a couple, she would not hesitate to say to him that it was ugly.


    "Erm¡­I am not yet a golden supremacy. There is no point in having a spirit entity at the moment. It may even affect my chance of becoming a golden celestial. I am at my most critical point now." Qian Jingjing quickly comes out with an excuse.


    "Right. I didn''t think of that." Lu Qingyun sighed softly. "Sorry."


    "What should I do with this spirit entity then? If we don''t do anything about it, it will deteriorate quickly without a soul sea. I can''t absorb it. I''m sure the desolate strength of a Sixth Rank Headhunter is extremely strong. It may even be stronger than Yan''Er in terms of raw strength¡­"


    Yan''Er had suddenly appeared with an annoyed look, "He is an inferior spirit entity! Yan''Er is a Ninth Rank Golden Roc! Ninth Rank mighty golden roc! Ninth Rank!"


    Lu Qingyun immediately argued with her, "It isn''t the issue of rank. Every desolate and devious monsters have their own unique attributes. Yan''Er your spirit animus is stronger and helpful to my profound aura. But in terms of martial strength, this Sixth Rank Headhunter seems stronger. Did you see the way it had reacted to my sword art? It is able to completely block my ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One'' in such a short time. This feat alone is astonishing enough."


    "Yan''Er don''t care. Yan''Er is the best¡­"


    Qian Jingjing began to giggle at the sight.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had paused and was thinking of something.


    Qian Jingjing asked, "What is wrong?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Nothing. I am suddenly fighting of my fight with Yue Lingxi."


    Qian Jingjing looked at him curiously, "Oh?"


    It was because Lu Qingyun had suddenly recalled his fight with Yue Lingxi and was thinking, "A disparity between a fourth realm expert and a seventh realm expert is really too vast. Even though my profound strength is equaled to that of a sixth realm golden supremacy but I am still limited in my profound power that I can use. It is only when I am a golden celestial that I''ve realized the great disparity that is between the two of us."


    Then with another deep sigh, he thought. "She is purposely giving leeway to me that day? And I''ve killed her¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    A short while later, they had finally emerged from the passage and saw that they were in an open space that was surrounded by tall cliffs around them.


    Although this was an open space, there were thousands of gigantic trees and the sky above had a heavy fog.


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes, "I think we are only at the edge of the ancient celestial ruin and we have not really reached its inner premise."


    Qian Jingjing nodded. "And we have taken over an hour to get out of that maze."


    All of a sudden there was a growl and a Fifth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit was seen. This Fluffy Desolate Rabbit was a gigantic rabbit with long fangs and a pink coat. Although it may look fluffy but its jaws could easily crush any fourth realm cultivators with a single swipe.


    And the Fifth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit had suddenly rushed headlong into Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing, attempting to crush them with its tremendous speed!


    "Be careful!" Lu Qingyun shouted to Qian Jingjing as the two of them jumped out of its way.


    Lu Qingyun was muttering weakly. "Yan''Er didn''t warn me at all¡­"


    But Yan''Er said in his soul sea, "It is only a fifth rank little puny monster. It can''t surprise Master."


    Lu Qingyun had raised his sword and had immediately cut down the Fifth Rank Fluffy Desolate Beast. He did not even use any of his sword art. With a divine sword that was in his hand that was empowered by the profound strength of a fifth rank golden celestial, it was more than enough to bring it down.


    All of a sudden the dead Fifth Rank Fluffy Desolate Beast was glowing. It was its spirit core!


    For a fifth rank desolate beast to have a spirit core was something unusual. Probably one in a million odds.


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "What luck. Unfortunately, we don''t need any spirit cores. Moreover, a fifth rank spirit core won''t be strong."


    But Qing Jingjing was looking sheepishly at Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, may I have the spirit core?"


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    "Erm, this is only a fifth rank spirit entity. Are you sure? You cannot get another spirit entity in the future. If you want to destroy it in the future then your soul sea would be damaged as well. Is this really what you want?" He asked.


    Qian Jingjing nodded. But she did not tell him that she wanted the spirit core of this Fifth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit because it looked cute and not because it was strong. She was afraid that Lu Qingyun may laugh at her.


    Lu Qingyun could not refuse her but at the same time he was perplexed. "Alright then¡­if that is your wish."


    He did not understand why Qian Jingjing did not want the earlier spirit core of the Sixth Rank Headhunter but wanted an inferior spirit core of a Fifth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit.


    He used his profound strength to extract the spirit core and gently guided it into Qian Jingjing''s hands who then used her profound strength to absorb it into her soul sea.


    Lu Qingyun asked her, "How is it? Are you feeling fine?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded with a faint smile, "It seems good. I''ve absorbed this spirit core completely and it is a perfect fit. There is no ill-effect as far as I can tell."


    All of a sudden a spirit entity in the form a beautiful naked maiden with long pink hair had appeared right in front of them, startling the two of them.


    Qian Jingjing was startled, "My spirit entity is a sentient spirit entity?"


    "Jingjing, your spirit entity is a sentient spirit entity?!" Lu Qingyun was looking wide-eyed at Qian Jingjing''s spirit entity.


    Qian Jingjing had suddenly noticed that Lu Qingyun was sniffing hard and was nose bleeding. "What is wrong? You are injured?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Yes, I must have suffered an internal injury while I was fighting that Headhunter¡­"


    All of a sudden Qian Jingjing gave him a kick as she had suddenly noticed that Lu Qingyun was staring at her spirit entity with a lecherous look. "What are your eyes looking at?"


    Her spirit entity was very beautiful and she was now looking at the two of them innocently while muttering, "Master¡­"


    Qian Jingjing quickly said, "I am Qian Jingjing, your new master. I shall call you Yunqing. Since you have only just awakened, quickly hide in my soul sea first and search my memories for your clothing. Never appear naked in front of any man. They are rotten apples."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Yes Master. Yunqing obeys you." The spirit entity said gently. Before she vanished, she smiled gently at Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Why is that Jingjing''s spirit entity seems so mature and gentle compared to mine?"


    Then he looked at Qian Jingjing, "Your spirit entity name is Yunqing? Isn''t that my name in reverse?"


    Qian Jingjing giggled softly before she walked off without giving an explanation.


    Yan''Er was sobbing inside Lu Qingyun''s soul sea, "Huhuhu, Master don''t want his Yan''Er anymore." Yan''Er was never envious or jealous of the other big sisters. But a spirit entity was different and Yan''Er saw that Lu Qingyun was staring at Yunqing and heaping her so much praises over her that she was sobbing now.


    Lu Qingyun laughed before he said gently, "My cute little Yan''Er is the best."


    "Really?" Yan''Er asked between her sobs and her voice was almost incoherent.


    "Really. I won''t give up my Yan''Er for anything else in the world." Lu Qingyun said proudly.


    Yan''Er was immediately delighted and she was laughing jovially now.

 203 In the Ancient Celestial Ruin 3

    \u003cThis chapter is also titled The Mother of Crisis\u003e


    As Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were walking in the tall woods, Lu Qingyun noticed that Qian Jingjing was moving slower than usual and knew that she was communicating with her spirit entity in her soul sea.


    "Jingjing, I really don''t understand why you will want a lower rank spirit entity. That Headhunter seems a better choice to me." He asked but he quickly added. "But I admit that she is really a pretty spirit entity."


    Qian Jingjing smiled. "My Yunqing isn''t as useless as you think. Brother Qingyun, do you know that she is now treating my soul sea?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stared at her, "What did you say? She can treat your soul sea? I have never heard anything like this before."


    Qian Jingjing laughed softly, "I have never heard of this before too. But when Yunqing saw that I''ve sustained some profound injuries, she offers to treat me. Now I''m feeling much better than before."


    "This is great!" Lu Qingyun was delighted. He was actually anxious about her profound injuries and knew that she was only pretending to be well in front of him. If her profound injuries were light then he would not have given his Divine Profound Pill to her.


    "You mustn''t lie to me, alright?" He took another look at her as he added.


    Qian Jingjing was now flushing shyly when she saw that Lu Qingyun was now looking at her with concern. She shyly nodded, "Alright."


    "But how did you know that your Yunqing is so special? I mean not only is she a sentient spirit entity but she can also treat your soul sea. This is too amazing. I have almost made a wrong judgment for you." Lu Qingyun inhaled softly. He was really wrong to suggest the spirit core of the Headhunter for Jingjing.


    "This is my sixth sense." Qian Jingjing laughed softly. "I have a sharp instinct." She did not want to tell him that she had disliked the Headhunter for many reasons.


    She was horrified to think that if the Headhunter turned out to be a lecherous sentient male spirit entity; it would be really inconvenient and awkward for her when she was in the bathroom with a male spirit entity.


    It turned out that her choice was good, saving her plenty of face in front of Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun muttered to himself, "Weird. Usually my instinct is also quite good¡­it didn''t work this time round¡­"


    As Lu Qingyun looked around his surroundings with his divine sense, he had quickly come to a conclusion. "This place is bigger than we think it is. Although I got an impression that it is just an ancient celestial ruin but this is actually a domain that we are exploring and I''m afraid that this place may be even bigger than New Empyrean City."


    New Empyrean City was not just a city but a city that intertwined with numerous mountain peaks and it was impossible to visit every single peak in a short time.


    Qian Jingjing was startled as she stared at Lu Qingyun before she folded her arm on his arm, "I am not afraid. Brother Qingyun will protect me."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "We will leave this place safe and sound together."


    Then he looked around his surroundings again. "So the cultivators that are in our expedition group are all far apart too. This may not be a good idea."


    "Why do you say so?" Qian Jingjing asked curiously.


    Lu Qingyun heaved a soft sigh, "This place has already been taken over by the various powerful desolate monsters and has become a treacherous place. We have already met two powerful desolate monsters in such a short span of time. If we are not careful, we may even encounter the more powerful desolate monsters."


    Qian Jingjing was startled and had turned ashen. She dreaded to think of an encounter with a seventh rank desolate monster. When their camp was attacked by a group of Seventh Rank Devious Cyclopeans, the fight had been hard won and many of the cultivators had lost their lives. They had only won because the Devious Cyclopeans had chosen to retreat and not because they were really victorious.


    And it took a Saintess like Yin Shisi to put down a Seventh Rank Devious Cyclopean and it was only because she had seized the opportunity to attack it while it was retreating.


    Although Lu Qingyun was able to slay a sixth rank desolate monster now but a seventh rank desolate monster was on another totally different level.


    Even Lu Qingyun was solemn and he said quietly to her, "If we see a desolate monster that is higher than the sixth rank, quickly run first. I will hold it off for a while and will join you later. Don''t worry about me. I will be alright. It is not so easy to kill a golden celestial."


    Qian Jingjing slowly nodded with a soft sigh, "Let''s hope that we will always be lucky."


    After walking for a while, Lu Qingyun was suddenly sniffing the air as he said quietly. "Hold first. I sniff something."


    Qian Jingjing whispered in alarm, "What is it?"


    Lu Qingyun said, "I sniff the aroma of a spirit plant."


    Qian Jingjing was amused. "What are you? A hound?"


    But Lu Qingyun expression was solemn as he whispered, "This spirit plant is most unusual. I must take a look."


    "Huh? Are you sure?" Qian Jingjing was startled.


    It was because spirit plants in the Celestial Realm were nourishing to the desolate beasts and it would usually attract plenty of desolate beasts to gather around it. In this way, the spirit plants would also receive protection from the desolate beasts.


    In the Celestial Realm, spirit plants were rarely seen above the desolate mists and were different from the ordinary floras or herbs.


    These spirit plants were all potent cultivation resources and were often hundreds and even thousands of years old. When a spirit plant was growing, it was in its immaterial state and was invisible to the eyes. It could not be touched either.


    Most spirit plants would only materialize when they were several hundred years old, with some taking thousands of years even.


    Whenever these spirit plants appeared, there would be similar attribute desolate beasts that would appear in its vicinity to feed off the spiritual aura of the spirit plant to evolve into a more powerful form.


    The spirit plants may not stay materialize forever and would dematerialize after some time. This would depend on the species and types of the spirit plants.


    But no matter what species the desolate beasts were, it would never hurt a spirit plant. It was like some kind of harmony relationship had been established between the spirit plant and desolate beast. No one really knows what the reason behind it was.


    "Let''s approach quietly." Lu Qingyun said.


    Qian Jingjing nodded.


    Before long, they were creeping quietly along the edge of a cliff and saw a small clearing below them.


    Several pink spirit flowers were seen growing in the middle of the clearing and around these flowers were tens of high ranking Fluffy Desolate Rabbits.


    Lu Qingyun looked a little disappointed as he muttered, "There are too many of them for us to have a chance."


    Qian Jingjing asked curiously, "What are these spirit plants?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Actually I have no idea either. But these spirit plants radiate a strong life-force. It may be what I need for my alchemy. It may be a potent ingredient that I may need."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had turned ashen as a monstrous desolate beast had suddenly emerged from within the woods. It was a Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit.


    An Eighth Rank Fluffy was completely unlike a Fifth, Sixth and a Seventh Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit. In fact, it was not fluffy looking at all. Instead of having pink fur, it was covered with heavy metallic white scales. Even its neck was extremely long like a long necked lizard. Moreover its four talons were razor sharp and it had a long tail with long four wicked spikes. Even its head looked like it was wearing a metallic winged helmet and its two fangs were extremely long, protruding out of its mouth.


    "It has spotted us¡­" Lu Qingyun gasped. "We need to flee now¡­"


    Yan''Er was also pleading to him in his soul sea, "Master, it knows we are here. Run please!"


    Qian Jingjing was also gasping with fright.


    But it was too late.


    In a blink of an eye, the Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit had leapt with a thunderous landing next to them!


    Lu Qingyun''s jaws almost dropped after witnessing this monster had jumped a mile with only a single hop.


    There was no way the two of them could escape from this monster.


    Lu Qingyun had immediately flashed his divine sword as he shouted to Qian Jingjing, "Run first! I will hold this monster back. Quickly flee before the rest of its kind surround us!"


    Even as he had spoken, tens of Fluffy Desolate Rabbits were hopping in their direction.


    All of a sudden the beautiful form of Yunqing had appeared between the Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit and was saying gently to it, "They are my friends. Do not hurt them. I''ve evolved into a spirit entity now¡­"


    The Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit roared thunderously, causing the ground beneath them to tremble dangerously like an earthquake.


    Yunqing turned to say gently to Lu Qingyun, "As my great benefactor for helping me to evolve, my queen here says she will allow you to pluck one of the Celestial Flower of Life."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he muttered, "Really? I can have one?"


    This was the first time that he was seeing a spirit entity talking to a desolate beast. He was astonished by the sight but was perplexed at the same time as he thought. "I''ve thought that the spirit entities have little memories of their previous forms?"


    But at the same time, he finally knows the name of this unique spirit plant. "The Celestial Flower of Life? Is it no wonder that Yunqing is able to treat Jingjing''s profound injuries?"


    Qian Jingjing had almost fainted from fright when the Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit had jumped in front of her and she was now heaving a soft sigh of relief. "Thank you Yunqing¡­" She swore in her heart that she would never hurt any Fluffy Desolate Rabbits in the future.


    "How did you manage to persuade your queen to spare us?" Qian Jingjing smiled weakly.


    Yunqing smiled gently, "The queen is my mother."


    Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes as he said weakly, "And I''ve just killed her daughter¡­how did I become Yunqing''s benefactor¡­"

 204 In the Ancient Celestial Ruin 4

    Lu Qingyun had quickly picked the Celestial Flower of Life and had left hurriedly.


    He was feeling really excited about this find and knew that he had a rare spirit plant in his hand. He was now one more step closer to create his life-giver sixth rank divine pill.


    After making sure they were now at a safe distance from the Fluffy Desolate Rabbits, he said to Yunqing, "Erm, I am so sorry that I''ve turned you into a spirit entity. You must be so sad to be separated from your mother."


    But Yunqing merely returned a faint smile, "I am happy to be in this form."


    "Huh?" Lu Qingyun did not truly understand what she had meant by that.


    Even Qian Jingjing was feeling guilty that Yunqing was forced to be apart from her family as she muttered, "Sorry Yunqing¡­"


    But Yunqing laughed jovially, "Great Benefactor and Master, don''t be sad. Yunqing is really happy to be with you."


    Yan''Er was nodding, "That''s right. Yunqing isn''t sad. She is really happy!"


    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing stole a glance at each other. They could not understand why Yunqing and even Yan''Er did not seem to be bothered with the fact that they were addressing them as masters and they were servitude to them.


    In the Celestial Realm, even though the desolate beasts and the celestial cultivators dwelled side by side but very little was known about the desolate beasts. It was because the desolate beasts mostly dwelled below the mysterious desolate mists that blanketed the mountains below.


    No one ventured too deep below the desolate mists as the deeper they go, the more likely a higher ranking desolate beast would be encountered. At the same time, the spiritual force below the desolate mist was a poor sustenance for the cultivators, impairing their ability to regain their profound strength and to cultivate.


    The cultivators did not really know that the desolate beasts also had a desire to transcendent to the Immortal Realm as a divine beast or evolve to a spirit form. This spirit form was actually the human form which all the desolate beasts had the secret desire to evolve into.


    It was because the human form was the form of the first immortals and was the ultimate creation of the Endless Abyssal Sea.


    Therefore Yunqing was really happy that she now had the likeness of a human. Because of this, even her kind was extremely jubilant for her. That was the reason why the Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit Queen had not only let Lu Qingyun to go and had allowed him to pick one of the Celestial Flower of Life.


    So Yan''Er was right that Yunqing was really happy.


    But of course if Yunqing did not become a sentient spirit entity then the Eighth Rank Fluffy Desolate Rabbit Queen would definitely be hostile.


    Lu Qingyun began to look at Yan''Er and Yunqing before he looked at Yan''Er again, "Why is it that my Yan''Er is only a little child?"


    Yan''Er chuckled as she pointed at Yunqing, "Because I''m very young while she is so old."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "But Yan''Er is a Ninth Rank Golden Roc, am I right? You should be thousands of years old." Lu Qingyun frowned lightly. It was because Yan''Er could not possibly be so young. She had to be thousands of years old in order to evolve into a powerful ninth rank golden roc.


    Yan''Er chuckled, "I''m only ten thousand years old while she is at least a hundred thousand years old."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he stared at Yunqing. "What?! She is a hundred thousand years old?! But she is only a fifth rank desolate beast¡­"


    Qian Jingjing giggled. "Actually I should have guessed when I saw her size earlier. Usually the ones that are around are the small ones. I guess that their kind evolve quite slowly elsewhere Yan''Er kind evolve faster."


    Yunqing was nodding with a smile, "Indeed master is right. Also, my mother is a million year old."


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes at Yunqing. He really could not imagine an existence of a million year old. He had heard of spirit plants that are a million year though but not desolate beasts. Are these desolate beasts immortal? He seriously did not think so.


    He did not know that the desolate beasts in this ancient ruins were truly immortal beasts and had infinity lifespan compared to the outside. It was because these desolate beasts were all trapped in a timeless space of the Pangu Suppressing Array.


    "Well¡­" Lu Qingyun smiled to Yunqing. "Welcome aboard. We are happy to know Yunqing."


    Yunqing was smiling, "I am really happy to be able to talk and given a new life. Thank you Great Benefactor."


    She was addressing Lu Qingyun the same way as Yan''Er was addressing Qin Keqin. It was because these spirit entities knew in their hearts and had a link with the person that had awakened them even though they may not necessary be their masters.


    As Qin Keqin was the one that had awakened Yan''Er, Yan''Er would also listen to her even though she was not her master.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing soon come to a place with mighty walls that were so imposing that they were like hills.


    The sight of these walls completely stunned them.


    "Who will build something like this?" Lu Qingyun muttered.


    "Brother Qingyun, I got a weird feeling about this place. Isn''t this an ancient celestial ruin? How come I got a feeling that this is an immortal ruin?"


    "Jingjing, I don''t want to lie to you. Indeed. This place is pre-dated before the celestials and is sealed off by the Great God Pangu." Lu Qingyun said quietly.


    Qian Jingjing gasped softly with shock, "We are in an immortal ruin?!"


    Lu Qingyun grinned, "That is right."


    Qian Jingjing pondered for a while before she said, "It is no wonder that the Heavenly Fragrance Villa is willing to expend so much of their cultivation resources for this expedition. This place is like a wonderland of celestial treasures. I wonder if I may be able to find a piece of the heavenly relic and get my own divine sword?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "Sure you will."


    As they chatted, they quickly moved in through the cracks of the huge monument walls that were taller than even the tallest gigantic trees here.


    They were soon on the other side of the wall.


    What greeted them on the other side was a shocker; there were golden skeletons of the cultivators and the gigantic skeletons of the desolate beasts everywhere.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he said to Jingjing, "These are the ancient remains of the golden celestials?" He quickly added. "No, to be more precise, these are the ancient remains of the immortal cultivators that had perished here."


    Qian Jingjing was also startled by the sight of the thousands of ancient skeleton remains that stretched for miles amidst the thousands of tall trees in the vicinity. "This is like an ancient battle field."


    As Lu Qingyun walked forward, suddenly he had kicked something on his foot by accident and he bended over to pick it up. It was a small silver metallic object the size of his palm that was extremely heavy. He was gasping as he blinked at Qian Jingjing who was also curious what he had picked up, "This¡­this is a heavenly relic!"


    He quickly transferred his profound strength into the heavenly relic and no sooner had he done so, the heavenly relic was immediately hovering on his palm. "This heavenly relic is good enough to be made into a divine weapon. Jingjing, you may have it."


    Qian Jingjing was gasping, "Brother Qingyun, it is for me? But it is your lucky occurrence. How can I deserve it? This is far too precious."


    She quickly averted her eyes shyly before saying melancholy, "You''ve already done so much for me. You have even given your precious Divine Profound Pill to me. Lucky you''re now a golden celestial or Jingjing will be even more guilty. No, I can''t take this¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun interrupted gently, "I''ve already got a divine sword. Or rather two divine swords now. It is alright. Since this is an ancient battle field, we may find more of these heavenly relics here. But I just got one request and that is to move on quickly. I like to see more of this place before we leave."


    He really had two divine swords now. One was the Divine Sword Jade Light and the other one was a newly obtained Divine Sword Horizon of the Heavens.


    Then he chuckled softly, "But whether it can really become a divine sword is up to your providence. Alright?"


    Qian Jingjing heisted as she looked at Lu Qingyun before she replied, "Then I keep for Brother Qingyun then. If you want it back anytime, just let me know."


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "That is my good Jingjing."


    Qian Jingjing smiled before she held Lu Qingyun by his arm, "Let''s go."


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he started to comb the area for the sight of any spirit plants and interesting celestial treasures.


    As they combed the vicinity, Qian Jingjing asked. "Brother Qingyun, do you know the origins of the Heavenly Relics?"


    "I have heard that the Heavenly Relics are only formed when a golden saint has failed to ascend or when a great saint has died. The spiritual remains of these saints are able to form into a Heavenly Relic. But this is only a rumor that I''ve heard."


    Qian Jingjing nodded, "That is actually true. But it doesn''t matter all the time. Maybe 1 in 100 chance for a saint and 1 in 5 chance for a golden saint that has perished. Or 1 in 3 chance if it is a great saint that has failed his ascension to the Immortal Realm."


    "Jingjing, how do you know so much?" Lu Qingyun asked curiously.


    Qian Jingjing returned a weak smile, "The Spirit Sword Manor has quite a few Heavenly Relics in its secret treasury and also quite a few divine swords. I was given a chance to view it and was taught about each of the origin of every single Heavenly Relic and Divine Sword that are in the Spirit Sword Manor."


    Lu Qingyun nodded. The Spirit Sword Manor was a major celestial clan and it had dozens of golden celestials. Throughout its long history, it probably had thousands of golden celestials.


    He was smiling weakly. He was like an uneducated high level cultivator now compared to Qian Jingjing who knew much more about the history and secret knowledge of the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    He knew of course that Qian Jingjing was revealing a secret of the Spirit Sword Manor. The odds of obtaining a Heavenly Relic was actually a top secret in any celestial clan for this was paid with the studies of numerous golden celestials in its rank. Moreover no celestial clans would want to tell the others that there were more previous Heavenly Relics and Divine Weapons than admitted lest it invited the envious hearts of the cultivators.


    "And this Heavenly Relic that Brother Qingyun has just given me is far superior to any of the Heavenly Relics that I''ve seen." Qian Jingjing added as she took a forlorn look at Lu Qingyun. This gift was far, far too precious¡­


    But Lu Qingyun merely nodded as he continued to walk and was muttering, "There are so many broken divine armors and weapons around here. With a Heavenly Relic, we can even repair one¡­"


    He tried lifting a piece of armor but soon gave up. It was extremely heavy and moreover its soul sea was dead when the previous owner had passed away. This was a special characteristic of the divine weapons and armors. Unless the owner willed it, it was impossible for anyone to take away their divine armaments once it was divine harmonized with it. In order to move a divine armament that had already divine harmonized with the soul sea of a master, a great deal of profound strength had to be exercised and it was extremely tiring.


    Therefore Lu Qingyun did not try to move the piece of armor anymore.


    He was soon laughing with a sheepish look, "Maybe we can find some divine armaments that did not have a master. These ancient immortals seem to be able to divine harmonize with their divine armaments as though it was an effortless thing. Haha."


    While he was distracted by his find, he did not notice that Qian Jingjing was now leaning even closer to him and was looking at him with great endeavor as though he was already her husband.


    "I don''t believe that they are all so pros and not a single noob in the ranks of these immortals. Surely there must be a good-for-nothing immortal cultivator in their ranks¡­" Lu Qingyun was muttering.


    Qian Jingjing was giggling when she heard him. She silently said, "You''re not a good-for-nothing cultivator. You are a hero in my heart¡­"


    "Jingjing, you are not making a search? We have just found a wonderland of treasures that are waiting to be discovered."


    Qian Jingjing merely smiled. She had already found the most precious treasure in her life and that was Lu Qingyun.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Faraway in the Divine Moon Realm;


    Fan Yuqing had slowly removed her golden mask in the privacy of her room. Her beautiful face had a weary look but when she looked at the reflection of her divine sword, she was relieved and was glad.


    This divine sword was a copy of the Divine Sword Jade Light and was an extra copy that she had kept for herself. In this way, she would know if he was doing fine from looking at his soul sea through the divine sword.


    She muttered softly, "So he is a golden celestial now¡­this is good¡­I''m doing fine too¡­"


    With a gently smile, she added. "Yun''Er, I miss you so much¡­"


    She was suddenly weeping silent tears, "I''m really fine. We will not be apart for long¡­"


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 205 The Good-For-Nothing Savior

    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were moving cautiously along the many tall walls of the ruins when they spotted a group of seven cultivators that were being chased by a terrifying sixth rank devious raptor.


    Lu Qingyun had immediately recognized Yu Tianjian and Gongsun Ya from the group. All the cultivators that were in the group were grievously injured and they had claw marks on them. The only reason that they did not die instantly was because they were all fourth realm cultivators of the energy level and they were forcing their agonizing bodies to move with their sheer strength of will.


    But their situation was desperate and one of the cultivators had suddenly faltered, becoming the food of the terrifying large raptor that towered over the cultivators. The unfortunate cultivator had managed to buy the rest of the cultivators some time but only barely.


    Lu Qingyun did not hesitate as he said to Qian Jingjing, "Wait here!"


    Every second was crucial for these cultivators that were below them.


    He quickly ran along the slope that was above the pursuing raptor before he leapt suddenly upon the startled sixth rank raptor with two copies of his Divine Sword Jade Light.


    Gongsun Ya was startled when a cultivator had suddenly jumped between the pursuing raptor and their group. Although she could only see his back but she was suddenly gasping; it was because she had recognized the divine swords that were in his hands that had belonged to Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun had raised his two divine swords in a swirling fury as he slashed the sixth rank raptor as though he was slicing tofu. The raptor did not even have the chance to react as it was cut down by the sharp blades of his divine swords.


    Even Lu Qingyun was startled by his startled outburst of strength. This was a sixth rank devious monster and he did not even have the time to use his sword art. His only thought was to raise his sword to attack it with a couple of quick strokes to buy him time to prepare his sword art.


    But when he had attacked with his swords, he found himself attacking so fast that he could not stop in time so instead he had moved along with the flow.


    He was actually quite sheepish. It was because he had overestimated his own lightless swiftness skill and had jumped down right in front of the terrifying raptor. His original idea was to jump several steps away from the raptor to prepare his ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One''. After all, this was a sixth rank devious monster and the thick armor of this monster may be almost impervious to his normal attacks, even though he was holding onto a divine sword.


    "Huh? My divine swords can actually hurt this monster?" He thought with a startled look at his two divine swords. It was only then that he had noticed that his two half-step divine swords were actually now a full earth-step divine sword.


    "My strength has grown?" He was startled but he soon had a sudden realization. "My divine sword has been bathed in the Endless Abyssal Sea for a year, absorbing the spiritual essences inside. It has now evolved¡­"


    His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Yu Tianjian who had quickly greeted back, "I thank savior for coming to our aid. If it were not for you, we¡­"


    But when Lu Qingyun had turned around, Yu Tianjian was so startled that he had completely forgotten what he was going to say.


    It was because this powerful ''savior'' was actually the good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun! This was impossible right?


    The second shocker that he had was that Lu Qingyun was now looking at him with his bright golden eyes!


    The notorious good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun was now a true celestial, a golden celestial that all the half-step celestial cultivators were thriving for!


    Yu Tianjian''s jaws dropped, "You¡­are¡­really¡­Lu Qingyun?" This time he did not add the good-for-nothing cultivator.


    Even Gongsun Ya and the other cultivators were astonished.


    Gongsun Ya had actually witnessed Lu Qingyun killing a Fifth Rank Headhunter previously on the way to the Moon Demon Forest. Therefore she did not think that he was actually a good-for-nothing cultivator.


    But she was completely taken by surprise that he was actually a golden celestial now.


    "He is Lu Qingyun?"


    "Isn''t he the good-for-nothing..."


    "He is a golden celestial now?!"


    The other four surviving cultivators knew who Lu Qingyun was and could not believe their eyes. Yu Tianjian and many others had been spreading damaging stories of a good-for-nothing cultivator that was riding his way through all the competitions and his name was Lu Qingyun. Moreover, the presence of Qian Jingjing in his company reinforces this belief.


    Lu Qingyun was really handsome and even the male cultivators were all forced to admit it secretly. So they had all believed that Lu Qingyun had been riding Qian Jingjing and all the other maidens in order to cheat his way through the competitions.


    Even Gongsun Ya had thought so.


    Although this group of cultivators did not say this but they were all actually thinking that Lu Qingyun may have ride on Yin Shisi and had dual cultivate with her, drawing upon her primordial yin to elevate his own cultivation. Maybe even Ouyang Xue was his partner in dual cultivation and that was why he was now a golden celestial.


    Yu Tianjian was not totally ungrateful. He may be arrogant and had looked down on Lu Qingyun but today Lu Qingyun had saved his life. So he said, "Thank you for your aid." But deep down, he was still looking down on him because he had dual cultivated with the higher realm cultivators to advance his own cultivation.


    Moreover, he was actually envious of him because Yin Shisi, Ouyang Xue and Qian Jingjing were all great beauties. There were also Leng Qiuyue and Fairy Ling Xiu that he knew of who were previously with Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun asked, "What is going on here?"


    At this moment, Qian Jingjing had also jumped down from the cliff above as she landed gently next to Lu Qingyun.


    Gongsun Ya said panicky, "We are with the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Ridge Villa when we are attacked by a group of high level raptors. There is also a powerful Seventh Rank Raptor in the group. Immortal Celestial Zhao Riyue and her group have brought us time to flee while they¡­they battled¡­the monsters¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had turned ashen. Zhao Riyue was not a combatant. Instead it was her twin sister Zhao Xingye who was the real fighter. He quickly asked panicky, "They are in the direction that you have fled from?"


    "Yes¡­"


    Barely had Gongsun Ya said yes, Lu Qingyun was already running off at full speed!


    Gongsun Ya was gasping, "Don''t go. It is a seventh rank raptor king¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun had already disappeared from view and he was accompanied by Qian Jingjing.


    Gongsun Ya began to sigh heavily as she muttered, "Let''s hope that he will be alright¡­"


    Yu Tianjian said solemnly, "It may already be too late."


    All of a sudden, the dead cultivator in their group had vanished from view.


    All seven of them had actually burned their talismans in order to escape from this place. But it was only when they had suddenly realized that too many of them were burning the talisman at the same time and it was not instantaneous.


    Right now, the dead cultivator was being retrieved by the golden celestials that were outside and it was already too late for the dead cultivator. He had actually activated his talisman a good 30 minutes ago.


    Gongsun Ya muttered, "What should we do now?"


    Yu Tianjian muttered as a cultivator had suddenly vanished from view in their group, "Since we have already burnt our talisman, we can only wait now. If we are constantly moving, the golden celestials outside may even lose our profound signatures and we may even be struck here forever. When that happens, we can only be food for these desolate beasts here."


    Gongsun Ya nodded as she took a forlorn look at the direction that Lu Qingyun had gone to. "I guess that we have no other choice now."


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 206 The Seventh Rank King Raptor

    A Seventh Rank King Raptor was now raising its claw with startling speed to attack a group of cultivators.


    Its claw attack was so devastating that it imploded the thick wall, leaving behind its claw mark behind a cultivator that it was attacking.


    Behind the Seventh Rank Raptor was a group of eight Fifth Rank Raptors.


    And behind the cultivator was a group of twelve cultivators.


    These two groups were all watching the fight keenly between the two champions.


    The lone cultivator that was fighting the King Raptor was Zhao Xingye.


    There were many dead bodies of the cultivators and raptors around them but for most of the cultivators, they had already escaped by burning the talisman.


    The cultivators that were left were those that stubbornly refused to abandon their other companions. At the same time they knew that if too many of the talismans were burnt at the same time, this would decrease the odds of survival for those that need to escape.


    Moreover this group of cultivators was really very close to one another. Among them was naturally Zhao Riyue her twin sister.


    The messy fight had now become a fight between two champions of these two groups.


    The cultivators were astonished that the raptors had suddenly stayed their hand; if the raptors had chosen to attack all at once, their small group was certain to be obliterated by them. After all, most of these raptors were at the fifth rank level.


    Perhaps it was because of Zhao Xingye that had slain three of the fifth rank raptors and her feat had caught the attention of the king raptor.


    Although Zhao Xingye was only a fourth realm expert but with the mental empowerment of her twin sister, her strength had risen to that of a fifth realm golden celestial.


    But even then, she was defending more than attacking against the Seventh Rank Raptor. A Seventh Rank Raptor was capable of tearing apart even a sixth realm golden supremacy and Zhao Xingye was only a fifth realm golden celestial.


    Without the enhance speed and the mental intuition that was given by her twin sister Zhao Riyue, she would be torn apart long ago.


    The Seventh Rank Raptor of course was not aware that Zhao Xingye astonishing reflexes was due to the mental guidance and mental empowerment of another cultivator.


    Zhao Riyue watched the fight with astonishing keenness as she lifted her sister away from harm again and again with her profound strength. But she was now breaking into heavy sweat and was trembling now; it was because she had expended too much of her profound strength and mental energies.


    She was now almost at her breaking point and in another few blinks of an eye, she would collapse from sheer exhaustion. When she fell, so would her twin sister Zhao Xingye!


    As for Zhao Xingye, she was already at her breaking point. If it was not for her twin sister, she would have been torn apart already by now.


    All of a sudden a white flash of light had appeared between Zhao Xingye and the King Raptor, separating them from their fight.


    The white flash of light had come from Lu Qingyun''s two beaming divine swords!


    Zhao Xingye, Zhao Riyue and many of the cultivators were gasping when they saw that it was Lu Qingyun. It was because he was now a true celestial, a golden celestial!


    Although Zhao Riyue could temporary elevated her sister to the level of a golden celestial fighter but there was no way she would change her cultivation characteristic to a real golden celestial. A golden celestial was a golden celestial because of their regeneration abilities and was much tougher.


    At the very least, a golden celestial would not be torn apart by the Seventh Rank King Raptor with only one or two hits since even their skeleton would also become golden and was much tougher than any of the fourth realm cultivators.


    At the same time Qian Jingjing had also arrived at the scene and was shocked to see the monstrous size of the King Raptor and its malicious claws towering over Lu Qingyun.


    She panicky shouted, "Brother Qingyun, be careful!"


    Lu Qingyun had immediately displayed his ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One'' with his right divine sword and the ''Beta Soaring Heavens as One'' with his left divine sword.


    These two powerful sword arts had immediately swept the King Raptor aside, causing it to fall to one side of the ground.


    Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye and the other cultivators were all gasping softly; they had never seen such a profound display of sword energies before.


    Lu Qingyun however was not too glad about his feats. It was because he could see that his two powerful sword arts were only able to knock it aside but not hurt it.


    Immediately he raised both of his divine swords high up in the air with his newly golden profound aura as his animus. This next attack was going to be his most powerful attack ever, merging his profound aura with his profound strength.


    This was his ''True Soaring Heavens as One'' sword art, merging the speed of the ''Alpha Soaring as One'' with the profound power of the Beta Soaring Heavens as One''.


    A beam of towering profound energies had enveloped his two upright divine swords and had begun to follow his directed swing against the King Raptor, immediately puncturing through its scales and because the outburst of sword energies were so devastating, two unfortunate raptors that were caught in the blast behind were instantly obliterated.


    The King Raptor was bemoaning loudly as it was caught in the full blast of the attack.


    All the cultivators were now cheering now. It was because they did not expect that a fifth realm golden celestial would actually have the profound power to defeat a Seventh Rank King Raptor.


    Zhao Xingye was blinking her eyes as she stole a glance at her sister with a silent thought, "Is he really a fifth realm golden celestial? His powerful sword energies are in the realm of the seventh realm sword energies cultivator."


    Zhao Riyue was also exchanging silently with her twin sister, "Even a saint may not be capable of using such powerful sword energy attacks."


    Lu Qingyun was also startled by his new profound strength. "This is the strength of a golden celestial? The disparity between a fourth realm and a fifth realm expert is so vast¡­"


    Just as he was about to swing his sword to make another move at the King Raptor, Zhao Riyue quickly said. "Don''t. This King Raptor is quite honorable to fight us one to one. Even if it is only a desolate beast but it is better than most cultivators that are without any honor. Let it go."


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he pulled back his two divine swords to his back.


    When the King Raptor saw his gesture, it seemed to understand. It gave a huge bemoaning roar before turning back clumsily. The King Raptor was quickly followed by the other raptors.


    Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye quickly greeted Lu Qingyun with a hand bow as they said respectfully, "Senior, thank you for coming to our aid."


    Zhao Xingye chuckled as she added, "Or should we call you Celestial Lu Qingyun now?"


    "Or Senior Celestial Lu?" Zhao Riyue was giggling.


    Lu Qingyun returned a weak smile at their tease. He was not used to being addressed as a Celestial. In the Celestial Realm, fifth realm experts were the true celestials and were called the golden celestials. At such, they had an honorable celestial title attached to them, according to their cultivation realm.


    He had never dreamed that one day he would be a golden celestial. Qin Keqin was a golden celestial and unless he was a golden celestial himself, there was no way he could be with her.


    Maybe he could even win the approval of Saintess Jade Light now.


    Qian Jingjing looked immensely proud of Lu Qingyun when all the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavens Ridge Villa were now looking at him with awe.


    "He is Lu Qingyun?"


    "He is really dashing¡­"


    "I''ve heard that he has a bad reputation¡­"


    "The rumors are not true at all¡­"


    Zhao Riyue quickly said to her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters, "Don''t be rude and greet this Celestial Lu! Don''t forget that his master is an elder of our sect. Therefore he is also your senior."


    Immediately the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were all greeting, "Our greeting to senior! Our respect to Celestial Lu!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly. He was not used to being greeted by so many. Moreover these maidens were all core prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa and they were all mostly fourth realm experts. He was only a fourth realm expert not too long ago.


    But this was the protocol of the Celestial Realm. The disparity between a fourth realm level and a fifth realm level was simply too great. Although there were many peaked fourth realm experts but overcoming the barrier to become a golden celestial was simply too great and many had perished during the life and death tribulations.


    Lu Qingyun asked Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye, "What is going on here?"


    Zhao Riyue said weakly, "We are combing the ruins here when we are attacked by these raptors. It seemed that we are in their territory."


    Lu Qingyun looked at their numbers with an anxious look, "Only a few of you have remained?"


    Zhao Riyue said without a hint of sorrow, "We have actually split into three groups of about thirty each to better comb this place. After all, we only have six hours."


    Then she took a look at the bodies of five of her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters as she lowered her glances, "We have lost seven of our prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters here. The remaining prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters are back outside now."


    Lu Qingyun saw that there were many other dead cultivators too. These cultivators must have followed Zhao Riyue and her group when the attack occurred.


    He muttered quietly, "Let''s bury them first before we go deeper."


    Zhao Riyue replied with trembling voice, "No need."


    She had quickly taken out a talisman and a fire pill from her spatial ring. With a flicker of her fingers, she had imbued her profound strength into the talisman and had sent it flying with the fire pill into one of the bodies, detonating it into a fiery fire.


    Lu Qingyun was startled. This was the Samsara Fire. Unless there were profound energies to resist this fire, it would continue to burn until there was no flesh that was left. And dead cultivators were unable to muster any of their profound energies.


    The rest of the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were all doing the same as they burnt the bodies of the dead. This was actually the greatest respect for the dead to prevent their bodies from being defiled by the desolate beasts.


    Lu Qingyun could see beyond the cool countenance of Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye and the other maidens that they were grieved but they had chosen to suppress their emotions of their hearts. In fact many of them had red sorrowful eyes as they burnt the bodies of their beloved prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters.


    He began to sigh quietly.


    But he was soon startled by Zhao Riyue who said to him, "Senior, may you guide us. We will follow you."


    "Follow me?" Lu Qingyun asked.


    Zhao Riyue nodded with a melancholy sigh, "I''ve led my prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters to their deaths and caused the deaths of so many of the other cultivators. I am not worthy to lead anyone now. Why don''t senior lead us instead? You are not only our senior but also a golden celestial. If you are not fit to lead us, who is?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "This is a most unfortunate encounter and it can happen to anyone. How can I be worthy of leading anyone?"


    But all the maidens from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were all nodding at him with a fierce determination.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he stole a glance at Qian Jingjing who was nodding to him, "Alright then¡­"


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 207 The Mysterious Floating Citadel 1

    After a weary battle, Zhao Riyue ordered her group to have a quick meal to regain their strength.


    Lu Qingyun had no issue with that since he was feeling hungry as well.


    He watched as Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye started to take out a pot that had noodles in it from their spatial storage and started to add water into the pot.


    All of a sudden, the pot was boiling and the fragrance scent of the boiled noodles reached Lu Qingyun''s nostrils.


    He was astonished, not from the delicious looking noodles but the fact that the pot of noodles was boiling the water and the noodles without any fire!


    This was the holy grail of alchemy!


    He quickly flew to them as he said excitingly, "Maiden Riyue, Maiden Xingye. This pot¡­"


    Zhao Riyue was startled when she saw Lu Qingyun was now looking excitingly at the pot of noodles. "Senior, you are a golden celestial now. Surely not that you will actually be famished?"


    Qian Jingjing laughed, "The noodles look so nice that even I''m hungry as well. But I''ve only my dry ration with me."


    Lu Qingyun returned a soft chuckle, "Who says golden celestials can''t eat. I''m always hungry. But¡­"


    He smiled weakly as he did not know how to start his question before saying, "Did I see you only pouring water in this pot and it is boiling? Where is the fire and how did you do that? You can actually have fresh food as long as you have water. This is really too amazing. I have never seen anything like this before."


    Then he added excitingly, "Can I know how this work?"


    Zhao Riyue chuckled, "This is actually an invention by our Celestial Tang Xuefeng. She is the one that has invented this. But the secret lies in this pot. When water is added to this pot, there is a special coating that is being used by Celestial Tang Xuefeng to make the water boil. How it works, I actually have no idea."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Will she tells me?"


    Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were both laughing before Zhao Xingye chuckled, "She won''t tell anyone because she once says that if this method is known to the others then it may do more bad than good."


    Lu Qingyun looked a little disappointed and he was sighing softly. "I didn''t know that Celestial Tang Xuefeng is such a genius alchemist¡­"


    Zhao Riyue laughed softly, "I do not know if she is a genius alchemist but I do know that she is really good in cooking. She says that she has discovered this method when she is experimenting with her cooking."


    Zhao Xingye was nodding, "In case senior did not know, she is really good in cooking soups and you will surely feel invigorate after taking her soup."


    Qian Jingjing knew that Lu Qingyun had made Tang Xuefeng cry that day so she said weakly, "Unfortunately my Brother Qingyun will never have the chance to drink her soup."


    Zhao Xingye nodded, "Celestial Tang is really busy. It is extremely difficult to get her to cook for anyone. I had only taken her soup only once and that was during the Heavenly Fragrance Princess'' birthday banquet."


    Lu Qingyun was laughing weakly. He did not dare to tell them that he had already taken Tang Xuefeng''s soups. He was thinking, "No wonder it tastes so good."


    But he decided to make a shameless request, "Although I am not hungry now but I may be hungry later. Do you think that I can have a pot to cook something later?"


    Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue said at the same time, "Senior, you may have my pot!"


    Then both sisters were looking at each other in astonishment before they averted their eyes shyly.


    Zhao Riyue said quietly, "Senior, you may have my sister''s pot."


    Zhao Xingye was startled as she looked at her sister, "This won''t do. Let sister gives her pot to him."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he said shamelessly, "I can take two pots. Maybe Jingjing needs some food too."


    Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    She knew that Lu Qingyun was not trying to get one of the pots for her but was for himself to study. She had been long enough with him to know that he was actually an alchemist.


    Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye said at the same time, "Senior, you may have our pots."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "In that case I won''t decline. But will I get you into trouble for giving me such precious pots?"


    Zhao Riyue smiled and said, "Don''t worry. All the prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa have one."


    When Lu Qingyun had heard her, his jaws nearly fell to the ground. "How did Tang Xuefeng make so many of these pots?"


    Zhao Riyue smiled weakly, "Actually senior, this pot can only be used three times altogether. So our pots can only be used one last time since we have already cooked it twice."


    Lu Qingyun was stammering, "It can only be used one last time¡­"


    What if his research had failed?


    Actually Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye could tell that Lu Qingyun was more interested in the pots than the noodles. But they did not expose him.


    Lu Qingyun was muttering, "It is alright then. One last time each, so be it then. Quick, give me the pots."


    Zhao Xingye shy said, "Senior, can you please let us finish our food first?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Haha. I''ve forgotten¡­no hurry. Please take your time to finish your food."


    But he was already looking impatiently and excitingly for them to finish their food.


    Qian Jingjing secretly whispered to him, "I will suggest that you don''t approach Celestial Tang Xuefeng to ask her anything. Just in case, you will make her cry again."


    Lu Qingyun returned a sheepish look as he whispered back, "How do you know that I will ask Celestial Tang Xuefeng about it?"


    "It is all written all over your face¡­" Qian Jingjing smiled weakly.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Soon Lu Qingyun was moving with Qian Jingjing, Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye and eleven other maidens as they ventured deeper inside the walled ruins.


    "What is this place?" Lu Qingyun asked. "It seems to be endless even though we are all moving so hastily. I have never seen walls that are so many hundreds of miles long. This is really a big city. At this rate, we can never explore the place fully."


    Zhao Riyue replied, "Yes, this place is bigger than we have expected as well. Rather than saying that we are exploring an ancient celestial ruin, it is more correct to say that we are exploring an entire domain."


    Lu Qingyun nodded. "So do you have any interesting finds so far?"


    Zhao Riyue smiled, "We have found precious metals. Mostly Celestiums and Heavenly Relics. Hopefully we will be able to forge a divine sword or two from the Heavenly Relics that we have found."


    As they chatted, they soon passed through a crack in the mountains that led them to the other side.


    When they had emerged from the mountain tunnel on the other side, the group was suddenly astonished by the sight of a gigantic citadel that was floating in the air, chained by dozens of massive metal chains that were rooted by the surrounding tall mountains.


    Qian Jingjing was gasping in bewilderment, "This gigantic citadel can actually float in mid-air?!"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "This citadel is too massive. In order to float in this manner, there must be a massive artefact core that is supporting it and this artefact core can only be a Heavenly Relic artefact core."


    Zhao Riyue said weakly, "This is such a waste of cultivation resources to melt the Heavenly Relic into an artefact core to support this massive citadel. More than a thousand divine swords may be able to be forged from this artefact core alone."


    "We lack the cultivation strength to extract this artefact core. Moreover there is no way we can carry it too. It must be equally massive." Zhao Xingye pointed out.


    "The real question is," Lu Qingyun said. "How do we get up to this gigantic citadel?"


    Qian Jingjing asked, "Brother Qingyun, you want to explore this citadel? I got an ominous feeling about it. Maybe we can go elsewhere? There are still plenty of places to explore. We only have three hours left now."


    Lu Qingyun was drawn to this citadel for an unknown reason. So he nodded, "I guess so. There may be profound treasures in this citadel. This citadel looks more intact than the ruins that we have seen."


    Then he was looking at the massive chains with a grin, "We can take the chains up. So, who is with me?"


    Everyone could feel that the winds here were extremely strong and it would take a mad man to want to climb the chains to reach the floating citadel.


    Qian Jingjing, Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye and all the others: ¡­


    Zhao Riyue smiled weakly, "Senior, are you really sure about this?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "I think that I will be able to do this alone. After all, I have the profound strength of a golden celestial now."


    Then he turned to look at Qian Jingjing, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye. "We are all here for our lucky occurrences. Don''t wait me here. Look for your own opportunities. I will be fine, don''t worry and I hope that you will all be fine. Alright?"


    Lu Qingyun was right. Climbing the chains against the strong winds would indeed require a cultivator to have the profound strength of a golden celestial first or they would lose their grips easily.


    With great reluctant, they were forced to nod.


    "Help me to take care of Maiden Qian. Farewell." And Lu Qingyun was already speeding for the nearest chain.


    Qian Jingjing was sighing softly¡­


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 208 The Mysterious Floating Citadel 2

    Lu Qingyun was now climbing on the massive overhanging chain that was chaining to the floating citadel above.


    The winds were heavy and it had threatened to loosen his grip on a few occasions.


    But Lu Qingyun had exercised all his profound strength to tighten his grip as he made his way across the massive overhanging chain.


    Because he was a fifth realm expert now, it only took him slightly less than an hour to perform the feat to the equally massive floating citadel.


    If it was a fourth realm expert, they may even need two hours to complete the treacherous climb against the furious fury of the strong winds.


    He sighed quietly as he made his way to the walls of the citadel, "I have only two hours left to burn the talisman and to leave this place."


    This citadel was in a much better shape than the ruins below and was hidden from view within the tall mountains.


    As soon as Lu Qingyun had stepped on the castle walls of the citadel, he was in awe. He was like a tiny ant that was looking at the towering walls and entrances of the citadel. The many entrances of this citadel were as wide as twenty men standing side by side and as tall as ten men put together.


    He was completely stunned by the imposing and grandeur of the entrances.


    He randomly picked an entrance to walk inside and saw that the passageways were even more imposing and large, colored by white and gold walls that seemed to be immune to the passage of time.


    It was only then that he noticed that there were no dusts along the passageway or anywhere but there seemed to be a gentle wind that was flowing everywhere from all around him.


    He was suddenly perplexed.


    Dusts were supposed to be everywhere and moreover this citadel was too huge. No one had the time or will to clean this place. This was his conclusion.


    Suddenly he was startled by a sudden thought. What if this was a ghost citadel and that everything was just an illusion? Although it seemed grand and out of place with the passage of time but this may all be an illusion. The reality was that this place was actually broken down and there may be holes all over the ground to lure the unwary to fall to their deaths below.


    But he soon pushed this conclusion out of his mind because he was now a golden celestial. Illusions could be easily perceived by the divine sense of the golden celestials and illusions were futile against him now.


    Then he did something that few cultivators would bother to do.


    He rubbed his neck and threw a speck of dirt on the ground and patiently watched for five minutes. Soon he noticed that the gentle winds were lifting the speck of dirt and were throwing it out of the citadel.


    "So that where all the dusts go to!" He clapped his right hand against his left palm, delighted that the mystery had been solved.


    If Qian Jingjing, Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue were here, they would have stopped him immediately because this was a complete waste of time and useless to the exploration.


    "But where did the wind come from?" Lu Qingyun asked. "It will be interesting to find out."


    Again, if Qian Jingjing, Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue were here, they would have stopped him immediately because this was a complete waste of time and useless to the exploration.


    But because they were not around, Lu Qingyun was not in a rush to explore the citadel and instead he was simply following his heart and satisfying his own curiosity.


    So he started to use his divine sense to follow the source of the winds.


    "Yan''Er, warn me if there are any dangers." He said to her in his soul sea.


    "Master, actually now that you are a golden celestial, your divine sense is now as sharp as me now." Yan''Er yawned softly.


    "Don''t be lazy, Yan''Er."


    "Master, Yan''Er thinks that you are the one that is being lazy¡­"


    "Haha, is it? I''ve got better use for my divine sense than to waste my energies on constant vigilant. There is a saying, the enemy will never strike when you are on your best vigilant but will always strike you when you are at your lowest vigilant!"


    Yan''Er: ???


    "Master, so the enemy will always strike you because you are at your lowest vigilant?" Yan''Er asked, not understanding.


    "No. The enemy will never strike me because I''m not wasting my profound strength on my mental energies to maintain full vigilant."


    Yan''Er: -__-?


    "Erm, I mean that your enemy will always strike you because they want you to exhaust all your strength first so that you cannot have the strength to retaliate back. Never mind¡­just help me to be on a lookout for dangers."


    Yan''Er displayed a sheepish look before she said, "Lazy master¡­"


    "Lazy Yan''Er too. We are supposed to be on an exploration expedition and Yan''Er is napping. We need to be united in our minds and souls. Only then can we succeed¡­"


    "Erm¡­Yan''Er? Yan''Er, you are there?"


    "She has dozed off¡­"


    "Crap¡­"


    "Nowadays you can''t trust a growing up sentient spirit entity. I need to put a note for this somewhere¡­" Lu Qingyun was muttering while he walked around the passageways.


    He soon followed the winds to the underground basement of the citadel.


    Usually most people would go to the inner citadel where the treasuries were in search for the profound treasures but Lu Qingyun was driven more by his curiosity rather than an interest in the profound treasures.


    Soon he had come to a white and gold gate that towered over him.


    He was frowning softly, "This is just a gate here. To think that I''ve wasted half an hour in a vain search. How is it possible for the winds to be generated behind a closed gate¡­"


    Yan''Er suddenly shouted panicky, "Master, there is an eerie presence behind this gate."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he quickly used his divine sense to sense beyond the gate but there was nothing.


    He began to rebuke Yan''Er lightly, "What eerie presence? There are no ghosts in the world¡­"


    "But Yan''Er saw your ghostly citadel images earlier¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "That is only my imagination. Silly Yan''Er. You need to discern what is real and what is my imagination¡­"


    All of a sudden the white and gold gate began to swing open slowly, startling Lu Qingyun.


    There were strong winds that were blowing from within the room and as the gate began to open, the gentle winds had suddenly become strong winds that were almost swept Lu Qingyun away.


    Lu Qingyun immediately used his profound strength to display the Thousand Weight Fall to root himself where he was.


    As he lifted his sleeve to shelter his face from the strong winds that were blowing against his face, he suddenly saw a little girl dressed in white that was about six standing in front of him!


    This little girl did not seem to be affected by the strong winds at all and the winds seemed to blow through her.


    Behind her, was a metallic ball that was hovering rapidly in mid-air and it seemed that this metallic ball was the reason why there were winds in this place.


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "Who are you?"


    Yan''Er had also appeared all of a sudden as she lifted her little finger at the little girl, "She is the eerie presence, master."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Right¡­"


    He quickly regained his composure as he asked the little girl in white, "You are¡­a spirit entity?"


    The little girl slowly nodded as she pointed at the massive hovering metallic ball, "I''m the spirit entity of this citadel''s artefact core."


    Lu Qingyun looked at her curiously, "Judging from your size, you must be around ten thousand years old?"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Master, she is a million year old."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "I think I will give up on guessing the age of the spirit entities. It all doesn''t add up to me." He sighed.


    Then he smiled weakly to the little girl in white, "Are you friend or foe? What is your name?"


    The little girl smiled as she said awkwardly, "My name is¡­Xingxin. I am¡­just Xingxin."


    Yan''Er had hovered to her and was laughing, "I am Yan''Er and this is my Master Lu Qingyun. Got it?"


    Xingxin returned a light nod.


    Lu Qingyun was astonished, "So Xingxin is a also a sentient spirit entity? But where is your master?"


    Xingxin replied, "I have no master. I am¡­the master of this Flying Cloud Citadel. I am all alone now."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "You are the master of this citadel?"


    Then he quickly said with a weak smile, "Please forgive us for intruding. I am just exploring the area. If you are not happy with us for intruding, we can leave immediately. Haha."


    And with that he had really turned his back around with a sheepish look, "Yan''Er, let''s go!"


    All of a sudden Xingxin had re-appeared in front of him and behind her, the white gold gate had shut itself now. "You cannot go."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling weakly, "Please open the gate¡­"


    Xingxin shook her head lightly as she said softly, "Not until you agree to my demands."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He was now being held hostage by a sentient spirit entity. And the most important question was, how do you kill a spirit entity?


    Then he took a look at Yan''Er before saying bitterly, "Yan''Er, I think I leave this fight to you."


    Yan''Er: ¡­


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 209 The Mysterious Floating Citadel 3

    Xingxin was hovering in mid-air as she looked quietly at Lu Qingyun before saying, "It is my duty to kill all the intruders that have entered this great hall."


    When she had said that, dozens of divine swords were suddenly forming from the metallic ball that was hovering in the middle of the hall.


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Isn''t this too unfair? She can hurt me but I can''t hurt her¡­"


    Yan''Er chuckled, "Master, you are fighting a ghost now."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Yan''Er, this isn''t the time for any joke. If I die, you will die too. Quick, think of something. Like, making friends with her." Lu Qingyun said weakly.


    Yan''Er nodded as she hovered to Xingxin, "Can we be friends and you do not hurt my master?"


    Xingxin giggled as she nodded, "I am¡­only scaring him. No one has ever found their way to this hall and I can''t leave this hall too."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "No one? This place isn''t so hard to find."


    "It is actually protected by multiple layers of celestial arrays. It isn''t that simple to find this hall." Xingxin said.


    Lu Qingyun laughed awkwardly, "Really?" He had been following the winds until he had found this place and had failed to notice his surroundings.


    Xingxin said quietly, "I am also not allowed to appear in front of any strangers."


    "Oh?" Lu Qingyun said.


    Xingxin looked quietly at Yan''Er, "Because of Yan''Er and you. I found the courage to show up."


    Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes, not understanding.


    Xingxin said slowly, "Yan''Er¡­has a physical form¡­I wish to have one as well¡­"


    Yan''Er clapped her hands, "That is right. I have taken over the Horizon of the Heavens."


    Xingxin nodded slowly.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was frowning as he looked at Yan''Er. He had suddenly realized that these two spirit entities were communicating in secret. Xingxin never had the intention to hurt him and that was why Yan''Er was not panicking and was even playful.


    Xingxin looked earnestly at Lu Qingyun, "Xingxin wishes to leave this accursed place¡­to go out. You have the Divine Sword Jade Light. It is a saint grade divine sword that is bathed in the pure profound energies of the Endless Abyssal Sea. It¡­will be a suitable vessel for my spirit entity."


    She struggled to find words before adding, "In return, I will divine harmony with your soul sea so that you can wield the Divine Sword Jade Light to its fullest potential. You shall be my master."


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "I can wield the Divine Sword Jade Light to its fullest potential? Really?"


    "Actually I don''t mind that but why me? You are the artefact spirit of this citadel and have an immortal soul. At least you have your freedom here." Lu Qingyun pointed out.


    "Because you are the true master of the Horizon of the Heavens¡­" Xingxin said melancholy. "¡­and also the same race as my masters."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "This Horizon of the Heavens, isn''t it just a divine sword?"


    Xingxin smiled, "That is its true form but it is more powerful than just a divine sword. It will be able to restore my master''s strength."


    Yan''Er was nodding, "That''s right. Master''s strength will be restored in no time!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he flashed out the true Divine Sword Jade Light, "Come inside then. I will take you outside. But before that, may I ask you something?"


    Xingxin nodded as she hovered near him, "Yes master?"


    "I don''t think I have the time to explore this citadel for any profound treasures. As a matter of fact, I should be burning the talisman anytime soon and to exit this place. Erm, I wonder if there are any valuable spirit herbs or celestial herbs that are in this place? I wonder if you can guide me to find them?" Lu Qingyun asked sheepishly, unsure if it was morally alright to make such a request. He was trying to plunder his newly spirit entity.


    Xingxin smiled as she seemed to be able to read his thoughts, "Since I will be leaving this place, these things are of no use to me. It is better to bring some of it along."


    Then she chuckled, "Why don''t I bring all the profound treasures here so that master can have your pick?"


    Lu Qingyun''s jaws almost dropped to the ground, "You can bring all the profound treasures to this place?!"


    "Of course! Master has so fast forgotten that your Xingxin is the master of this great citadel."


    "This is great!" Lu Qingyun was really excited at the thought of seeing so many profound treasures. But he was soon sighing heavily, "My spatial ring and belt, I don''t think I can carry so many items¡­"


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun was now looking at the number of rare celestial herbs and spirit plants that were lay in front of him as well as a great quantity of profound treasures including the purest Heavenly Relics that he had ever seen.


    "This¡­how do I carry all these?" He muttered as he looked at Yan''Er and Xingxin.


    Although he had a spatial ring and a spatial belt but all items had a weight. It may be a spatial storage but the items were real and the weight of these items would affect his fluid movement. That was why most cultivators would only put a sword or two in their spatial rings and nothing else while they kept their other less important items in their spatial belt as a secondary backpack.


    Putting a sword on a spatial ring had an advantage; it was almost the same as training with a sword that was in the hand constantly without attracting attention in the most unlikely of places.


    And spatial rings and belts were only given to core prot¨¦g¨¦s of a celestial clan usually. Although these spatial storages could only hold a backpack of items but that was more than enough usually. At the same time, it was very expensive to craft one and all the spatial storage items had the signature of their celestial clan of origin and the personal profound signature of the cultivator that it was given to, so was to prevent the others from using it.


    Xingxin chuckled as she pointed to an exquisite jade belt, "This spatial storage belt is empty and is a profound treasure. It is equivalent to a hundred of master''s current storage belt."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "What is the point? I can''t move with such a heavy weight around my waist."


    Xingxin giggled, "It is a profound treasure and it is able to render the items within it weightless."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he quickly examined the exquisite belt before shouting excitingly, "Yan''Er, Xingxin. Quick! Find me all the best things that I can carry with me!"


    Yan''Er looked around her and saw the hundreds of celestial herbs and profound treasures that were around her, "Which one is the best?"


    Even Xingxin looked a little lost.


    Lu Qingyun quickly said awkwardly with a heavy sigh, "Never mind, I think I will select these spirit plants myself. Two hours are not enough. We need two months to sort everything in this place. Just get me the oldest spirit plants and those spirit plants that have the most profound energies."


    Then he looked at the hundreds of profound treasures that were lying around, "Although profound treasures are important but it is really too numerous to take it away. I will just take a few and leave the rest of it to the other lucky cultivators to find."


    "Erm, I may need some high grade spirit stones too." Lu Qingyun laughed weakly as he muttered. "It seems that greed is unsatisfied."


    He started to calm himself down as he thought, "I may just have the celestial herbs to make a sixth rank divine pill now. All I need is more time to research the celestial herbs that I''ve found. I will fulfill my old master''s dream as well as mine."


    Then he smiled to Xingxin and Yan''Er, "Let''s not be too greedy. I just need the cultivation resources for my future breakthrough to the sixth and seventh realm level. I''ve already have the two best profound treasures in my hand and that are the two of you here."


    He was actually not wrong. The Horizon of the Heavens and the Divine Sword Jade Light were the better profound treasures than any other profound treasures that could be found in the citadel.


    And that was the main reason why Xingxin had manifested herself to him, drawn by the Divine Sword Jade Light that could make a potential vessel for her. Even if the entire artefact core of the citadel could be re-forged into a thousand divine swords, it was incomparable to a single saint divine sword and moreover this was a divine sword that was bathed in the profound energies of the Endless Abyssal Sea.


    Xingxin and Yan''Er were both nodding with delight as they looked with earnest at Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun''s eyes seemed to be in a faraway place, "Now I am closer and closer to Keqin¡­I hope that she is well¡­will I ever meet her again¡­"


    Suddenly Xingxin had interrupted his thoughts, "Master, actually there are plenty of fourth rank, fifth rank and even a couple of sixth rank divine pills here. Isn''t it easier to get the divine pills instead?"


    Now that she was connected to Lu Qingyun''s soul sea, she was able to sense his needs.


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he blinked his eyes, "Did you just say there are a couple of sixth rank divine pills in this place?!"


    Xingxin grinned as she pointed to the pile of sealed bottles that she had earlier summoned into the place. "Over there master."


    Lu Qingyun was laughing heartily, "Why don''t Xingxin¡­say so earlier¡­haha¡­"


    Xingxin and Yan''Er were both laughing jovially too as they watched Lu Qingyun made a mad rush to the pile of sealed bottles as he muttered, "Even fifth rank divine pills are extremely precious¡­these are treasures beyond treasures¡­two hours are definitely not enough¡­"


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 210 The Return

    The golden celestials of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa, numbering some thirty were sitting inside a celestial array as they retrieved one cultivator after another.


    These beautiful golden celestials were all perspiring heavily as they had overdrawn their profound strength to return the cultivators from the sealed ancient celestial ruin back to the surface.


    There were some that carried an anxious look on their countenances and they were namely Lie Xingyuan and Tang Xuefeng.


    Feng Xiaoxiao was slightly startled to see the anxious look that was on Tang Xuefeng; she could see and hear her anxious heart with her Listening Heart Skill.


    She thought, "This shouldn''t be right? He has made her cry. She should be hating him instead. Hmm, maybe my prot¨¦g¨¦ sister wants to execute him with her own hands for humiliating her. Maybe this is the best outcome now¡­"


    The six hours that had given to the exploration party were due and most of the cultivators had returned to the surface.


    Now there were only three talismans that remained to be retrieved.


    A cultivator was soon retrieved and he was not Lu Qingyun.


    Tang Xuefeng and Lie Xingyuan looked extremely disappointed.


    Standing near the edge were Ouyang Xue, Yin Shisi, Qian Jingjing, Leng Qiuyue, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye as they watched keenly the return of every cultivator that was brought back by the golden celestials of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa; they shared an equally disappointed look.


    Even Gongsun Ya had a look of disappointment as she muttered, "He has saved my life after all. I should show a little concern for him¡­"


    Soon a second cultivator had been brought back into the cheers and claps of the exploration survivors. But he was not Lu Qingyun either.


    And the final cultivator was also brought back but the cultivator was a she and not a he. Therefore she was not Lu Qingyun either.


    Lie Xingyuan and Tang Xuefeng had completely lost hope now.


    Lu Qingyun was not among the survivors¡­


    Lie Xingyuan took a pleading look at Shen Yufeng, "There is still time, isn''t it? Can we extend our range and make another search with our divine senses?"


    Tang Xuefeng quickly added as she said panicky, "I second it as well. There may be a survivor."


    Shen Yufeng was perplexed. It was obvious to her that the survivor that both maidens were waiting for was Lu Qingyun. What had happened while she was away?


    "Alright. Since there is still a little time and we have completely exhausted our profound strength yet, we shall make a more thorough search." Shen Yufeng said as she took a look at the other five sixth realm golden supremacies that were all nodding discreetly.


    Since Tang Xuefeng had also made the request, it was hard to refuse her. After all, almost all the high ranking golden celestials knew that she was the daughter of their Heavenly Fragrance Princess.


    Shen Yufeng shouted with her pretty voice, "Prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters! Unite our profound energies into this celestial array. We will make another search!"


    The divine senses of all thirty of the golden celestials began to delve into the Pangu Suppressing Arrays once more. They would sense that the profound energies mark of the five hundred cultivators had almost dissipated. Once that happened, the ancient celestial ruin would be closed once more.


    Their divine senses quickly flew throughout the ancient celestial ruin hoping to detect the profound signatures of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa''s talismans.


    But it was all in vain as their searches yield nothing.


    Shen Yufeng said solemnly to everyone, "We need to pull back our divine senses now or we will lose our profound strength permanently in this Pangu Suppressing Arrays."


    Lie Xingyuan suddenly said, "No wait please! I can sense the profound signature of the talisman behind the mountains. It is not on the ground but in the air."


    "In the air?" Tang Xuefeng was startled. "Where?"


    Shen Yufeng made a verification based on Lie Xingyuan''s account before she nodded, "Indeed."


    "Sisters, home it on the profound signature now!" She called out to all her prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters.


    When the talisman was burnt, it will leave a profound mark on the soul sea of the cultivator. They had no idea why this profound signature was in the air.


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled weakly, "Maybe a flying desolate beast has lifted him into the air or he has been eaten up by one."


    All of a sudden Feng Xiaoxiao was flustered because she had suddenly noticed the fierce glares of Tang Xuefeng and Lie Xingyuan that were upon her.


    "I was only kidding¡­" She muttered almost incoherently.


    "Bring this cultivator back." Shen Yufeng said. "Quickly."


    There was a bright halo that flashed into sight as they brought the unknown cultivator back and everyone was now looking in his direction.


    This cultivator was Lu Qingyun!


    Immediately Lie Xingyuan, Tang Xuefeng, Ouyang Xue, Yin Shisi, Qian Jingjing, Leng Qiuyue, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were all smiling as they began to surround him.


    "Are you alright?"


    "Are you hurt in any way?"


    "Do you know that you are the last to return?"


    "I''ve thought that I will never see you again."


    "Brother Qingyun¡­"


    "Senior brother¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was startled when he was suddenly surrounded by so many beautiful maidens and they were all asking after him at the same time.


    "Erm, I''m alright¡­" He weakly replied.


    Far away from Lu Qingyun; Shen Yufeng, Feng Xiaoxiao and all the other golden celestials were startled when Tang Xuefeng and Lie Xingyuan had suddenly broken ranks with them and had suddenly flew hastily to Lu Qingyun.


    Shen Yufeng had a perplexed look as she muttered, "Lie Xingyuan I can understand but Tang Xuefeng?"


    She took a look at Feng Xiaoxiao, "What is going on here? Maybe you should tell me a thing or two?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao was blinking her eyes rapidly, "I¡­erm¡­don''t know¡­"


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    Faraway in the Divine Moon Realm;


    Fan Yuqing was startled as she looked into the reflection of the copy of the Divine Sword Jade Light. "I can''t see his soul sea anymore. A spirit entity is now the host of the Divine Sword Jade Light. What is going on here¡­"


    But she quickly calmed down, "As long as this divine sword does not break, it means that he is still alive¡­"


    "Yun''Er, I can see that you may have already some lucky occurrences in the ancient celestial ruin. This is good. It seems that I am unable to stop you from awakening your true strength. No one can¡­"


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 211 Reunion & Swords

    Shen Yufeng made a count of the survivors. Out of some five hundred cultivators, there were some three hundred survivors.


    She shook her head as she said to the rest of her peers, "The price for entering this ancient celestial ruin is too heavy. At most we can only make three divine swords of doubtful quality and thirty precious swords. It is not worth it."


    Feng Xiaoxiao smiled weakly, "At least we may have a chance of obtaining three divine swords for our celestial clan. No matter, it is still a worthwhile price to pay."


    Tang Xuefeng muttered, "This comes at the loss of lives for so many of our prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters as well as the other cultivators."


    Feng Xiaoxiao said quietly, "I feel the pain too but without these precious swords and divine swords, we will be at a great disadvantage once the battle starts."


    Shen Yufeng nodded, "No matter. We have already taken a look inside and it is time for us to make an accounting to the Heavenly Fragrance Princess."


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    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun was now in the tent with Qian Jingjing, Ouyang Xue, Yin Shisi, Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue and everyone was now looking awkwardly at one another.


    Finally he smiled, "It is so good to see everyone again."


    Leng Qiuyue hummed coldly, "You''re just lucky to be back alive."


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "Indeed."


    Leng Qiuyue had turned to look at Ouyang Xue, "Weird, how come you are a golden celestial now?"


    Ouyang Xue smiled at this one time rival of hers, "I have a lucky occurrence, that''s all. How are your new life at the Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    Leng Qiuyue lowered her glances, "I''m good. All my new prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters are nice to me." But in her heart, she had missed the days when she could see Lu Qingyun in the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Lie Xingyuan was looking shyly at Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother, you are a golden celestial now. Congrats to you."


    Lu Qingyun laughed softly, "Xingyuan, I am not longer your senior brother. Moreover you are at a higher tier than I am now. I should call you my senior now."


    Lie Xingyuan shook her head gently, "You are always my senior brother."


    Lu Qingyun returned a weak smile before saying, "I am so glad to see you again."


    Leng Qiuyue laughed softly, "Senior brother, how about me then? Can I still call you senior brother?"


    Qian Jingjing interrupted as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "It seems that you are quite popular in your sect."


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "We are all prot¨¦g¨¦ brother and sisters, naturally we ought to be friendly to one another."


    All of a sudden a lovely voice asked from outside, "Are we welcome to interrupt your reunion?"


    It was Shen Yufeng and she had walked in with Feng Xiaoxiao, Tang Xuefeng, Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue.


    Lu Qingyun quickly greeted them, as did the rest.


    Then he asked, "What brings Fragrance Herald Yufeng and everyone here?"


    Shen Yufeng chuckled softly, "What? You don''t seem to welcome us?" Then she took a look at Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue, "Or you are seducing my prot¨¦g¨¦s and you do not want me to know?"


    Lu Qingyun knew that she was only teasing him. He could only say, "Welcome, welcome."


    Tang Xuefeng said shyly, "I have made some soups for everyone. Please try my cooking and see if you like it."


    Feng Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Is it only for him or for us all?"


    Tang Xuefeng shot her an icy look, "Can''t you see that I have made a big pot?"


    Zhao Xingye and Zhao Riyue were both grinning, "Finally we have a chance to try Senior Sister Tang''s soups again."


    Tang Xuefeng smiled as she quickly served everyone a portion.


    Lu Qingyun could sniff that this soup that was serving to him was actually many times more delicious that previously. His sharp nose could pick up the scents of many spirit herbs in the soup and he greedily started to sip from the hot soup, "This is good stuff!"


    Everyone was soon in praises of Tang Xuefeng''s soups.


    Shen Yufeng laughed softly, "Every time I have taken my junior sister''s soups, I will feel invigorate for a week."


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "I hope that everyone will like it." Although she was saying to everyone but she was looking quietly at Lu Qingyun.


    Suddenly Tang Xuefeng had suddenly looked up to ask Lu Qingyun, "What are your plans now? Are you returning to the Heavens Ridge Villa?"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "I will be traveling with Maiden Qian to join Saint Gao Tianshou and his Valiant Arms Divine Realm. We hope to do our little contribution against the three dark divine realms and the Devil Goddess."


    Lie Xingyuan gasped softly. It was because she knew who the Devil Goddess was¡­


    Shen Yufeng, Tang Xuefeng and Feng Xiaoxiao were also gasping. It was not because they knew who the Devil Goddess was but because Saint Gao Tianshou was an ambitious man and they did not like him at all.


    Shen Yufeng immediately said with an unhappy expression, "Senior, this Gao Tianshou isn''t a good man. It is better that you don''t go there."


    Lu Qingyun was startled by the suddenly change in expression that was in Shen Yufeng, Tang Xuefeng and Feng Xiaoxiao. "But he is a great hero. Perhaps the greatest hero in the Nine Celestial Fraternity in many centuries. He is leading a crusade against the Devil Goddess. This is for the greater good. Why does Supremacy Yufeng says that he isn''t a good man?"


    Tang Xuefeng hummed, "He is an ambitious man that seeks to unite the Nine Celestial Fraternity into one divine realm. Don''t fall for his tricks."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "If that is the case, I will leave his camp immediately. I just want to contribute my part with the other cultivators from the Nine Celestial Fraternity against the constant looming threat of the Devil Goddess."


    Then he was smiling even more broadly, "My master is probably fighting the heretic cultivators now. I wish to join her as soon as possible."


    Shen Yufeng was gasping to herself, "The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is fighting the Devil Goddess?" She quickly regained her composure to say quietly, "In that case, I won''t stop you."


    All of a sudden Lie Xingyuan had stepped forward, "Senior brother, I don''t think you should be doing this."


    Lu Qingyun asked curiously, "Xingyuan, why not?"


    Lie Xingyuan smiled bitterly, "I have heard that the Devil Goddess is a peaked seventh realm great saintess. You will not be able to fight her."


    Lu Qingyun was laughing, "I don''t need to fight her directly. There is Great Saint Tianshou and so many saints around. I will be just fighting the small prawns and fishes. Don''t worry about me, alright?"


    Lie Xingyuan saw that he had a determinate look and knew that he had already decided in his heart. Therefore she said quietly, "Promise me you won''t fight the Devil Goddess yourself."


    "I probably won''t have the opportunity and I won''t be so unlucky to encounter the Devil Goddess too." Lu Qingyun laughed.


    Lie Xingyuan was sighing softly. It was impossible for Qin Keqin to be fighting the Devil Goddess. She could only sigh silently, "Senior brother, you''re making a big mistake somewhere and you''re in the wrong camp. But I can''t tell who she is¡­"


    "By the way since Supremacy Yufeng, Celestial Tang and Celestial Feng are here, I have something to give to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa¡­." Lu Qingyun muttered as he checked the contents of his new spatial storage belt before he poured a pile of high grade Celestiums and Heavenly Relics on the makeshift table.


    "This is for the Heavenly Fragrance Villa."


    When everyone saw the pile of precious metals that were on the table, they were all taken aback and were all staring blankly at Lu Qingyun.


    Shen Yufeng was gasping with shock and it was out of her usual demeanor, "How did you get so many of these high grade Heavenly Relics?"


    Feng Xiaoxiao was stammering, "The minimum grade for a successful forged divine sword with these heavenly relics will be an earth-step divine sword. We can probably even get one or more heaven-step divine swords from these Heavenly Relics."


    Tang Xuefeng was also blinking her eyes, "We can attempt twenty divine swords with this pile of Heavenly Relics. Even if the divine sword isn''t successful, they will be heaven-step precious swords for sure. At least a hundred precious swords can be forged from these metals."


    Ouyang Xue, Yin Shisi, Qian Jingjing, Leng Qiuyue, Lie Xingyuan, Zhao Riyue and Zhao Xingye were all staring blankly at him.


    "I just have a lucky occurrence, that''s all." Lu Qingyun said sheepishly. He did not tell them actually he had more of the Heavenly Relics.


    Shen Yufeng muttered, "This exploration expedition isn''t totally in vain and it is now all thanks to senior¡­"


    Then she smiled, "I wonder what is it that senior wants? We can''t simply take your things without any payment, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun pondered for a while before he said, "Alright, I want Celestial Tang Xuefeng¡­"


    No sooner had he said that, Shen Yufeng and Feng Xiaoxiao had all taken a step back in shock as they said at the same time, "Senior, no¡­"


    Shen Yufeng added panicky, "You can have any maiden in your bed but not Xuefeng¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng was flushing and her golden eyes were looking dreamily at Lu Qingyun, "If senior wants me then I can only¡­"


    But Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes rapidly, "Erm, did I say anything wrong? I mean, I want Celestial Tang Xuefeng¡­"


    Once again Feng Xiaoxiao interrupted him, "Senior, have you forgotten what I''ve told you? I am so disappointed in you. Just because I have told you my prot¨¦g¨¦ sister''s background and you are trying to use this opportunity to blackmail her?"


    Shen Yufeng was frowning lightly, "You told him that?"


    Tang Xuefeng averted her eyes shyly, "It is alright. I''m not upset¡­"


    "What background?" The rest of the maidens were confused.


    Qian Jingjing said coldly, "Brother Qingyun, I didn''t know that you are such a lecherous man!"


    Even Leng Qiuyue was saying, "I am so disappointed that you are making such audacious demand."


    Lu Qingyun had to shout loudly amidst all the mutterings and confusions, "Wait! Let me finish first, alright?"


    Immediately all the maidens ceased their talks at the same time as they looked curiously at Lu Qingyun.


    "I mean that I just want Celestial Tang Xuefeng''s secret alchemy receipt on how to boil water with her pot." Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly.


    Suddenly all the maidens had a sheepish look on their countenances.


    And everyone was pretending that nothing was happening.


    Shen Yufeng smiled weakly, "Oh, that¡­I''m afraid you have to ask her yourself."


    Tang Xuefeng looked a little disappointed as she muttered, "I''m willing to share with senior¡­"


    Suddenly everyone was asking one another how were things going and other trivial. It was as though nothing had happened earlier.


    "Best soup ever..."


    "I like to have more..."


    "I miss the days when I was with everyone..."


    Lu Qingyun: ...


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 212 Departing to a New Realm

    That very night, Lu Qingyun, Shen Yufeng and all the other maidens chatted throughout the night. There was a free flowing of wines and everyone had their own recount of their lives. There were no seniority and no celestial titles to restraint them. They were just friends and everyone just chatted freely.


    Lu Qingyun shared with them his life in the mountains before he had joined the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue shared with them their constant rivalries in the past but they were now friends now.


    Lie Xingyuan shared with them her old life at the Heavens Ridge Villa and the Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    Yin Shisi shared with them her quarrels with Qiuxiang Mei and her brother.


    Qian Jingjing shared with them her days at the Spirit Sword Manor.


    Zhao Riyue, Zhao Xingye, Feng Xiaoxiao, Tang Xuefeng and Shen Yufeng shared with them the interesting details of their lives in the Heavenly Fragrance Villa.


    Afterward, everyone was either dead drunk or had fallen into a deep sleep.


    The next morning, several female prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa had arrived in Lu Qingyun''s tent to check on Fragrance Herald Yufeng and the other senior prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters.


    What they saw, shocked them; the whole tent was extremely messy and there were wines everywhere. Lu Qingyun and the rest of the maidens were all lying on the ground with their robes loosened.


    "This¡­what is going on here?"


    Then they took a look at Lu Qingyun who was holding onto to Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng''s bosom.


    And they were gasping with shock.


    Actually it was Qian Jingjing who was holding onto to Lu Qingyun and not the other way round but these were not what the female prot¨¦g¨¦s of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa were all thinking.


    As for Tang Xuefeng, Lu Qingyun had fallen drunk on her while they were sharing the secret alchemy receipt that she had discovered. They had actually chatting on other alchemy receipts until they were too drunk and tired to continue.


    Then the female prot¨¦g¨¦s were all gasping with shock and had misunderstood.


    "Did Senior Lu Qingyun and they¡­"


    The female prot¨¦g¨¦s quickly exited the tent hurriedly, pretending that nothing had happened but the image of Lu Qingyun that was upon Tang Xuefeng was extremely vivid in their minds. Nothing could convince them that nothing had happened between the two of them.


    Of course, nothing had happened except that everyone was too drunk but in the eyes of these female prot¨¦g¨¦s, everything had happened when they saw the loose robes, shoes, belts, gloves and messy attires.


    Actually Tang Xuefeng was not too drunk to realize that her junior prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters had just entered the tent and was only pretending to be asleep.


    She did not drink as much as the rest of the maidens as she had spent more time talking to Lu Qingyun about her alchemy discoveries that could be used for her cooking. She was not afraid that her alchemy secrets would be leaked out because she had suddenly realized that only Lu Qingyun could make a sense on what she was talking about.


    Lu Qingyun was actually a good drinker but because all the maidens were offering toast after toast, he was now the most dead drunk among everyone.


    So when he had collapsed onto Tang Xuefeng and had used her as a pillow, she did not dare to move as his head and hand rested on her soft bosoms. Instead she had spent the whole night thinking of him¡­


    When all the maidens slowly regained their consciousness, everyone pretended that nothing had happened and quietly put Lu Qingyun on his bed before they hastily left his tent.


    Shen Yufeng muttered before she left, "Who pulls my belt when I am drunk¡­" Actually she had removed her own robe when she was feeling too hot when she had taken too much of these spirit wines that were actually powerful enough to knock off even a golden celestial.


    "No one must leak out what has happened here." Shen Yufeng warned everyone with a flustered look.


    And every one of them had their own lame excuses as they exited the tent in great haste.


    So when Lu Qingyun had regained his consciousness with a big headache, he was not aware of what had happened. His first thought was, "Everyone is not here¡­I must be as drunk as a dead pig¡­"


    But he was smiling because he had finally got Tang Xuefeng''s secret alchemy receipt that could make water boil without a fire. He had thought that this was going to be an uphill battle to persuade her to share with him but he did not expect that it would be so easy.


    "I''m right to give the Heavenly Relics to the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. She must be so touched by this gesture, that''s why."


    But he did not know that ever since he had accidentally made her cry, Tang Xuefeng''s sentimental heart had been awakened and she was now looking at Lu Qingyun in a different light.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were now bidding farewell to Lie Xingyuan, Leng Qiuyue, Ouyang Xue and Yin Shisi now.


    Lu Qingyun had firmly decided to go to join the fight against the Devil Goddess and the three dark divine realms.


    Lie Xingyuan sighed softly, "It is so good to see you again, senior brother. Please take care and I hope to see you again soon."


    Leng Qiuyue was saying to Qian Jingjing, "You are more fortunate than I am." Then she lowered her voice to whisper to her. "At least you have a chance to fight for your happiness."


    Qian Jingjing averted her eyes shyly before she whispered quietly, "Thank you."


    Yin Shisi said quietly to Lu Qingyun, "Senior brother, Grand Elder Ouyang Xue and I have decided to return to the Heavens Ridge Villa. Please come back when you have found sect leader and tells her that we miss her."


    Lu Qingyun nodded with a heavy sigh, "I will."


    Actually he had no idea where Qin Keqin was now. She had left in such a great haste. But he was determined to find her and to kindle their romances again.


    Ouyang Xue sighed softly, "We have only want to escort you to the Moon Demon Forest and didn''t think that senior brother you will be going to the other divine realm." In her heart, she had wanted to follow him but she had her own responsibilities to the Heavens Ridge Villa.


    Lu Qingyun laughed jovially, "I will be fine, don''t worry."


    Originally Yin Shisi and Ouyang Xue had accompanied Lu Qingyun to the Moon Demon Forest to persuade him to give up the trip while there was time. They did not think that Lu Qingyun would make it out of the final trial alive.


    When Lu Qingyun was inside the ancient celestial ruin, they were extremely anxious for him and thought that the worst had befallen him.


    When they saw him again, they were extremely relieved.


    In their hearts, they wished that they could accompany him in his search for Qin Keqin and to join him in the fight against the Devil Goddess.


    But they could not. It was because they just had a breakthrough in their cultivation realm and would need to further solidify their inner cultivation sea with some quiet meditation.


    Lu Qingyun patted Lie Xingyuan and Leng Qiuyue on their shoulders as he sighed heavily, "It is so good to see Xingyuan and Qiuyue again in such a short time. I was actually hoping to see you soon but was disappointed when I did not see you at the first outpost camp."


    Lie Xingyuan lowered her glances, "I am glad that senior brother didn''t forget about us."


    Leng Qiuyue nodded lightly, "Senior brother, you will surely be able to find Sect Leader Keqin."


    Lu Qingyun felt a little guilty toward Leng Qiuyue and he mustered his voice to say, "Actually Qiuyue, I¡­"


    Leng Qiuyue interrupted softly as smiled, "Actually prot¨¦g¨¦ sister Xingyuan had already told me about you and sect leader¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Oh really. That is good¡­"


    Qian Jingjing looked at Lu Qingyun and Leng Qiuyue curiously, "What about it?"


    But all the other maidens were all laughing jovially as they said to her, "It is for you to find out."


    They did not tell her directly but were sincerely praying for her instead. It was because the way Lu Qingyun had looked at Qin Keqin was completely different when he was looking at them.


    Lu Qingyun was already thinking of Qin Keqin now. "She said that she is traveling incognito with her sister saintesses to assist Saint Gao Tianshou. I just need to be more alert and to pick up the clues along the way¡­Keqin, do you think that I will wait in the Heavens Ridge Villa for you till next year? No! I will look for you now and to give you a surprise!"


    ------------------------------------------------


    (I didn''t want to write a story about two ill-fated lovers that have misunderstandings on the way but instead they are ill-fated lovers due to their different alignments.)


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 213 Young Master Tang Feng

    Soon Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were traveling along the mountains. They did not stop at the first outpost camp but had departed from the Moon Demon Forest immediately.


    After traveling for a few hours, Lu Qingyun said to the smiling Qian Jingjing. "Jingjing, actually I have something to tell you."


    Qian Jingjing looked at him curiously, "Brother Qingyun, what is it?"


    Lu Qingyun began to sigh softly before he said awkwardly, "Actually, I like a maiden. She is constantly in my heart."


    Qian Jingjing looked away as she said quietly, "And she is definitely isn''t me because we have only just met, am I right?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I don''t want to lie to you. We have been through several rounds of life and death situations together already. We are friends."


    Qian Jingjing smiled weakly, "Who is she? I am curious."


    Lu Qingyun began to stammer, "Actually she is¡­"


    "Your sect leader?" Qian Jingjing said quietly.


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "Jingjing, how did you know?"


    Qian Jingjing smiled weakly, "I saw her before. She is like a goddess. But are you sure it isn''t a one-sided and is it even allowed?"


    Lu Qingyun quietly said, "Actually we have pledged ourselves to each other."


    Qian Jingjing gasped softly, "Really?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded quietly, "That''s right."


    Then he added with a heavy sigh, "I know that this relationship that is between us is frowned upon but I do not care. She is the maiden of my heart. It is like that she is the maiden that I''ve been waiting for a long time. It is like I have known her for a long time."


    "I have to find her." He added slowly.


    Qian Jingjing lowered her glances, "But Jingjing don''t understand why she has to leave you without telling you where she is going?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I''m sure that she has her own reasons for doing so." He could not tell her that Qin Keqin was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.


    Qian Jingjing was suddenly giggling, "Brother Qingyun, I won''t change my mind about you. Just as she is the maiden of your heart, you are the man of my heart. Jingjing knows what to do. Thank you for sharing with me."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He began to sigh softly before he smiled, "Jingjing, let me show you a new friend. Alright?"


    "Oh?" Qian Jingjing said curiously. "A new friend?"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Yan''Er and Xingxin, please come out."


    Immediately two little girls about five had appeared.


    Qian Jingjing had of course recognized Yan''Er but for Xingxin, it was her first time seeing her. "Xingxin is also a spirit entity?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed, "Indeed."


    Qian Jingjing was astonished, "Is it even possible to have two spirit entities in the first place? Moreover, you have two sentient spirit entities too."


    Then she smiled to Xingxin, "Hello Xingxin. I''m Qian Jingjing. I have a spirit entity too. Yunqing, please come out."


    Yunqing smiled as she appeared from within Qian Jingjing''s soul sea. "Hello¡­Xingxin¡­"


    Xingxin was giggling softly, "I have sensed you earlier and have wanted to talk to you¡­"


    Yunqing smiled, "It is good to¡­have¡­more friends¡­"


    "This is really so interesting. Three sentient spirit entities¡­" A voice said above them.


    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were both startled. They did not realize that someone else was here!


    Yan''Er was also startled, "I didn''t sense any intruder too¡­"


    Yunqing and Xingxin were both pointing at a white figure that was above them.


    And this white figure had made a gentle jump and landed lightly in front of Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing.


    He had a silver fan that covered his face as he said coolly, "I''m Young Master Tang Feng."


    Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes but he quickly introduced himself, "I am Lu Qingyun¡­"


    "I know." Young Master Tang Feng was suddenly laughing softly as he put down his fan.


    When Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing saw ''his'' face, they were so startled that they had both taken a step back. It was especially so for Lu Qingyun and his heart was suddenly pounding hard.


    It was because this Young Master Tang Feng was actually Tang Xuefeng, who was dressed in a male attire.


    Tang Xuefeng winked at Lu Qingyun as she smiled shyly, "I''m Tang Feng, Feng as in Wind and not Feng as Phoenix. I am not Xuefeng the Snowy Phoenix that you have known."


    Lu Qingyun frowned lightly, "But you are Tang Xuefeng¡­"


    "Well, I am Tang Feng now." Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Well, hello Tang Feng."


    Tang Xuefeng averted her eyes as she said shyly, "I''ll be joining your party."


    Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing were startled as they looked at each other.


    "It has been a long time since I have joined an experiential expedition. So I''m thinking of joining your party." Tang Xuefeng looked shyly at Lu Qingyun.


    "Erm, is it even allowed?" Lu Qingyun muttered. "I mean that you are a golden celestial of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa. Are you even allowed to leave your duties¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng interrupted with a soft laugh, "Then what about you? With your master and sect leader?"


    Lu Qingyun was startled, "You have overheard?"


    Tang Xuefeng averted her eyes shyly, "Rather than saying that I have overheard, it is better to say that I''ve known about it."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He was thinking, "Just how many people already know about Keqin and I? Isn''t this supposed to be our secret?"


    Qian Jingjing asked curiously, "Since you have already known that Brother Qingyun already has the maiden that is in his heart, why are you here?" She was really direct.


    But Tang Xuefeng did not seem to mind as she laughed shyly, "Like you, I have already decided who is the man in my heart is and that is why I''m here."


    Qian Jingjing: ...


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "You don''t welcome me to join your party?" Tang Xuefeng asked quietly as she averted her eyes shyly.


    Lu Qingyun said awkwardly, "It isn''t that but we are going to a dangerous place. We are going to fight the heretic cultivators and it is not a good thing to¡­"


    "To bring me along?" Tang Xuefeng added for him.


    "If something were to happen to you, Supremacy Yufeng''s wrath and the Heavenly Fragrance Princess'' wrath will be upon me." Lu Qingyun laughed weakly.


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "Then you ought to watch out for me and make sure that you don''t allow me to come to harm."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Then she lifted her lovely fingers to point at Lu Qingyun with a soft chuckle, "Or else I will complain to the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing about you."


    Qian Jingjing was gasping, "The Great Saintess Fan Yuqing? She is still around?"


    Tang Xuefeng winked at her, "I can even introduce you to her."


    "Really?!" Qian Jingjing was beaming with excitement. "I wonder if she is willing to accept a disciple then."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly to Qian Jingjing, "Honestly, I don''t think it is a good idea. You will never learn anything from her. In the end, you are better off alone."


    Qian Jingjing: ???


    Lu Qingyun added with an even weaker smile, "I mean she is too busy to teach anyone."


    Tang Xuefeng was laughing softly as she watched Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing. "Yes, the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing is really extremely busy, especially if she is seeing someone."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun quickly said with a flustered look, "Celestial Xuefeng really knows how to joke."


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "I can really make a good guide. I can promise you I won''t lead you wandering in circles unlike someone here."


    Qian Jingjing smiled weakly, "I just need a good map, that''s all. Who says I have no sense of direction?"


    Tang Xuefeng giggled, "Did I say you have no sense of direction?"


    Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    Tang Xuefeng laughed softly, "So am I welcome to join your party?"


    Actually Lu Qingyun was more than happy to welcome her because there were still many things that he could learn from her in alchemy. It was just that he was worried that it may not be safe for her. So he could only muttered, "Of course, we welcome you..."


    Tang Xuefeng giggled softly as she winked at Lu Qingyun, "Maybe you can introduce Yan''Er, Xingxin and Yunqing to me first before we continue our way?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered awkwardly, "You''ve already overheard us earlier¡­"


    But Tang Xuefeng had turned to say to the spirit entities, "Hello, I am Celestial Tang Xuefeng. But now I am traveling incognito and will be known as Young Master Tang Feng. I''ll be traveling with your masters now."


    Qian Jingjing muttered with a displeased look at Tang Xuefeng, "Welcome, welcome¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was not blind to see that Qian Jingjing was not entirely happy to see Tang Xuefeng so he laughed aloud to drown out her bitter tone, "Welcome, welcome¡­"


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 214 Golden Transformation Crisis 1

    Lu Qingyun was pacing up and down outside a cave with an anxious look.


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "Look at you. You look like it is your consort that is in labor."


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "Jingjing is undergoing her life and death tribulation to the fifth realm golden celestial level now. So how can I not be worried for her?"


    Tang Xuefeng nodded as her golden eyes flashed into the wilderness of the mountains. "We ought to be better guardians for her then as it seems that we have some company soon."


    Lu Qingyun quickly said as he brandished his divine sword Jade Light, "Xuefeng, please help me to look after Jingjing and don''t let the desolate beasts approach her."


    "You can trust me to protect her." Tang Xuefeng replied immediately as she brandished her half-step divine sword and stood guard over the entrance of the cave.


    The three of them had been on the road for slightly more than a month now. During this one month, Qian Jingjing''s soul sea was slowly being healed by Yunqing and Tang Xuefeng had also taken noticed of Qian Jingjing''s injuries.


    It was only then that Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing had realized that Tang Xuefeng was also a superb physician and she had patiently treated and restored Qian Jingjing''s broken meridians.


    What divine pills could not do, Tang Xuefeng was able to accomplish it.


    Lu Qingyun was startled that Tang Xuefeng was not just a genius in cooking, alchemy, celestial arrays but also in healing treatments.


    "Is she a genius or what?"


    Very soon Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng were calling each other each other sisters this and sisters that in an intimate manner.


    And suddenly Qian Jingjing had a divine revelation that she was about to breakthrough to the fifth realm level, startling Lu Qingyun and Tang Xuefeng.


    So they quickly found her a cave for her to overcome her divine calamity.


    Tang Xuefeng had said anxiously, "The spirit force in this area is too weak for her to sustain her breakthrough. She may fail. Moreover the desolate force in this vicinity is strong and during her breakthrough, she may attract plenty of high level desolate beasts that would attempt to devour her. Right now, she is like a beacon that is attracting all the unwanted attention."


    Lu Qingyun quickly took out dozens of high grade spirit stones and gave it all to Qian Jingjing, "Take all these. These can substitute for your spiritual force and restore your inner sea elixir."


    Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng were both stunned when they saw the dozens of high grade spirit stones that Lu Qingyun had taken out.


    "How come we didn''t know that Brother Qingyun is so rich?" Qian Jingjing teased him.


    Lu Qingyun laughed before he said solemnly, "Jingjing, hurry inside the cave and setup your breakthrough arrays. I will take care of any threatening desolate monsters and will keep you safe."


    And that was the situation earlier.


    Now Lu Qingyun was rushing out of the cave to confront the desolate beasts that were rapidly ascending from the desolate mists to devour Qian Jingjing, whose body was now dissipating a strong animus of profound energies. Her profound energies were made even more delicious to the desolate beasts in the vicinity because it had the added profound spirit of a powerful sentient entity. To consume Qian Jingjing would mean instant evolution to these desolate beasts!


    Outside the cave where tall trees covered the mountains, dozens of desolate beasts had already gathered. However, not all the desolate beasts were alive as the different species had battled out for this ''nectar'' that was attracting them.


    Lu Qingyun was startled to see the sight of so many of these desolate beasts.


    Among them was a powerful spiked seventh rank dire wolf that was now moving to claim its ''prize'' and Lu Qingyun was blocking it.


    Lu Qingyun could see that there were at least six sixth rank desolate beasts that had gathered up the mountains but these desolate beasts were not making a move yet because a more powerful seventh rank desolate dire wolf was now in the vicinity.


    He was smiling weakly, "So I have to fight a seventh rank desolate beast now¡­"


    In his hand was the divine sword Jade Light but all of a sudden, it was resonating softly.


    "Master, Xingxin will aid you!"


    Lu Qingyun could feel profound energies pulsing through his veins and he could feel the divine sword Jade Light was reverberating. "I''ve divine harmonized with my divine sword?"


    All of a sudden the seventh rank dire wolf had dashed to him with a startling speed!


    Lu Qingyun had no time to think further. He was actually thinking should he split his divine sword into two to execute two sword arts at the same time. But this time, he simply reacted out of pure reflexes and had executed his faster sword art which was the ''Alpha Soaring Heavens as One''.


    Swoop!


    A powerful wave of profound sword energies had slashed mightily against the body of the seventh rank dire wolf and had sent it flying backward.


    Immediately, this seventh rank dire wolf was immediately attacked by the other sixth rank desolate beasts for the wounds that it had received from Lu Qingyun was quite fatal.


    Lu Qingyun was startled at the profound power that he had just displayed against the seventh rank dire wolf. It was definitely more powerful than when he had used it on the Seventh Rank King Raptor!


    "This is the power of a saint grade divine sword¡­." Lu Qingyun was staring blankly at his divine sword.


    After seeing Lu Qingyun''s profound power display, the other desolate beasts did not make a move.


    Lu Qingyun was quite surprised as he thought, "What are they waiting for?"


    But he soon got his answer as the ground was suddenly trembling.


    It was because the gigantic form of an Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant was seen looming in the darkness. It was so huge that all the other desolate beasts dwarfed in size compared to it.


    Lu Qingyun had turned ashen immediately.


    It was because it would take a seventh realm golden saint cultivator to fight on par with an Eighth Rank Desolate Beast and even then they may lose their lives. Moreover, this Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant was a terrifying monster that even great saints may not be able to defeat.


    Seventh rank and eighth rank desolate beasts were in two totally leagues!


    Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes as he sighed heavily, "What luck¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly smiling to himself, "Jingjing, I''ll protect you. If I can''t even protect you or Xuefeng, can I even protect my Keqin?"


    His profound aura was now burning furious in a white and gold animus as he said with trembling voice, "Yan''Er, we are going all out. Do you regret having a good-for-nothing master like me?"


    Yan''Er burst out of his inner cultivation sea and chuckled, "I love my master the most!"


    "Master, Yan''Er has also divine harmonized with the Horizon of the Heavens now. Why don''t you try wielding it?"


    With that Yan''Er had transformed into a beaming silver sword that was also reverberating along with the divine sword Jade Light.


    Lu Qingyun lifted both divine swords up as two bright rainbow halos began to surround him. Immediately he could feel a crushing pressure that was upon him as he tried to lift the two divine swords with his profound strength.


    The earth beneath him had immediately sunk into the ground, caused by the pressure of the profound aura that had suddenly enveloped him. But this was also making it difficult for him to swing his swords as every little movement was eating his profound strength.


    Lu Qingyun sighed heavily, "Yan''Er, Xingxin. I''m afraid that it is still too difficult for me to wield two divine swords at the same time. I can''t split my profound strength between the two divine swords¡­.I am still not strong enough¡­"


    All of a sudden there was a sudden flashback as he recalled the first time that he had met Qin Keqin and how she had defeated the Ninth Rank Golden Roc.


    "Keqin didn''t need much strength to defeat a Ninth Rank Golden Roc. She always focused all her attacks into one point. That is why she has invented the Heavens as One attack¡­"


    Then he looked at Yan''Er and Xingxin with a weak smile, "This may be a little last minute but I need to divine harmonize the three of us together. We can only succeed or die."


    Yan''Er and Xingxin were startled but they were nodding immediately as they could read what was in Lu Qingyun''s mind.


    "Let''s do it then!" Lu Qingyun mustered his voice to give a great shout.


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 215 Golden Transformation Crisis 2

    The monstrous towering figure of the Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant moved slowly toward Lu Qingyun.


    All of a sudden its monstrous razor sharp tail had flashed with a black light; dozens of nearby desolate beasts and towering thick trees had immediately toppled over!


    All the desolate beasts were now on the retreat; the disparity with a single eighth rank desolate monster was simply too great.


    Today, nothing would stop this Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant from evolving into an all-powerful ninth rank Tyrant.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he gasped at the towering Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant, "Jingjing, of all places for your breakthrough, you have to pick a place where the spiritual force is the weakest and the desolate force is plenty."


    He had only said this in jest.


    In no way was he blaming Jingjing at all.


    "This is the very first time that I am acting as a guardian to safeguard a friend''s breakthrough. I must not fail at all¡­"


    Lu Qingyun had lifted his two divine swords as he said gently, "Yan''Er, Xingxin."


    The bright halos from the two divine swords on his right and left began to shift to his profound aura that was glowing a golden animus around him, becoming a single bright stunning halo.


    Lu Qingyun saw the sword intents that were fluttering around him. "This is? I have realized a new sword art from my Flaming Phoenix Sword Art? This is the awakening of my fifth sword stance from the Flaming Phoenix Sword Art?"


    He inhaled softly, "I shall name you the ''Flowing Horizon Lights'' then."


    With that Lu Qingyun had leapt forward. This time round, there was no more drag on him. In fact he felt empowered by his two divine swords as he dashed like a flash of light at the Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant.


    Dozens of sword strokes were unleashed by him instantly and his sword attacks became faster and faster as he attacked.


    Each of his sword strokes was imbued with his profound energies that could shatter rocks. Moreover, he was wielding two saint grade divine swords that could even burn through the protective profound animus of most seventh rank desolate monsters.


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    There was heavy thunderstorm and the sounds of flash floods could be heard rushing down the mountains.


    Tang Xuefeng was now standing in the rain and her eyes were teary.


    Earlier, she could sense the presence of a seventh rank desolate monster and then the earthshaking form of an eighth rank Emperor Tyrant had suddenly emerged in the darkness.


    She knew that Lu Qingyun was fighting this Eighth Rank Emperor Tyrant below the mountains and was helpless.


    She had to safeguard Qian Jingjing and she had already slain two flying desolate beasts that had tried to sneak past her.


    "Senior¡­" Tang Xuefeng was trembling in the rain.


    For thirty minutes, she could hear the thunderous roars of this eighth rank desolate beast and the slashing of Lu Qingyun''s sword in the thick woods below. Even the entire mountains seemed to be moving because of their titanic clash.


    All of a sudden, there was a dead silence that followed.


    A while later, a tall shadow emerged in front of her; it was Lu Qingyun and he was being followed by Yan''Er and Xingxin who were supporting him in their physical form that they had assumed.


    Tang Xuefeng did not know whether to laugh or cry when she saw him. But her tears began to flow in the rain.


    Lu Qingyun was bloodied all over and he was even limping. He was moving very slowly.


    All of a sudden Tang Xuefeng had jumped into him and was crying in his chest, "Senior¡­you''re back. I''m so glad to see you again¡­"


    Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "Xuefeng, why are you crying? I''m really alright."


    Yan''Er sobbed, "Master, you are not alright. You have broken all your rib bones when the monster crushed on you."


    Tang Xuefeng was shocked as she stared blankly at him, "Senior, you got to lie down immediately¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was muttering as he suddenly coughed out a bout of golden blood, "It is a lucky thing that I am a golden celestial now¡­.it not easy to kill a golden celestial¡­haha¡­"


    Xingxin shook her head sadly, "Master, don''t get too conceit yet. Your injuries are extremely serious. There are injuries that not even a golden celestial can easily recover even with regeneration."


    Lu Qingyun muttered wearily, "Tell me about it if I don''t die¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng panicky said, "Senior, you won''t die¡­"


    She quickly supported him into the cave with great tenderness.


    When they were in the cave, all of a sudden there was brilliant flash of golden light and the air was suddenly lingering with spiritual force energies.


    Tang Xuefeng gasped softly, "Jingjing has successfully overcome her breakthrough to the fifth realm golden celestial level¡­"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly as he closed his eyes, "This is good to hear¡­I''ve managed to keep her safe¡­"


    "Senior¡­"


    Yan''Er and Xingxin were both pleading to Tang Xuefeng, "Please help Master¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng immediately replied with woeful eyes, "I will do my best." And she panicky began to inspect his injuries.


    Lu Qingyun had indeed almost suffered broken bones in almost every part of his body. If it was not for Yan''Er and Xingxin who were able to assume a physical form now and that they were using their profound energies to hold his golden skeleton together, Lu Qingyun would have crumbled to his injuries a while ago.


    Tang Xuefeng gasped, "All his meridian channels are also broken. I can''t support him with my profound strength¡­in his current state, he is unable to absorb my profound energies to keep his regeneration going¡­"


    Then with great tenderness, she had bended her head to kiss Lu Qingyun on his lips. "I can only transfer my profound strength to him in this way¡­"


    She kissed him gently and could feel his soft lips. With great care and tenderness, she began to press her mouth into his.


    Qian Jingjing had just emerged from the interior of the cave and was suddenly gasping when she saw the scene that was laid in front of her. "Brother Qingyun, Celestial Xuefeng¡­"


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 216 Fan Yuqing the Devil Goddess

    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."


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 217 Gao Tianyou

    The tavern was unusually crowded today.


    It was because it was filled with the boastful shouts of the many orthodox cultivators that had just won a battle with the unorthodox cultivators.


    But the sudden appearance of two young men and a young maiden had suddenly caused the tavern to be quiet and the hundreds of cultivators were now looking at them.


    The two men were really dashing and the maiden was extraordinary beautiful. But it was the fact that all three of them had golden eyes and were obviously golden celestials that were attracting the sudden attention.


    Golden celestials were really rare in the Nine Celestial Fraternity and had a lofty status.


    All these cultivators in the tavern naturally knew which golden celestials in the Nine Celestial Fraternity were fighting on their side and these three were certainly not one of them.


    There were only two conclusions in the hearts of all the cultivators that saw them; either they were newcomers or foes.


    If they were foes then they must be courting their own death!


    It was because there was a seventh realm saint in their midst now!


    The two men and maiden were actually Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing.


    Tang Xuefeng was now taking the guise of a man and she looked a little more dashing than even Lu Qingyun and she was causing the wandering eyes of the many female cultivators to look in ''his'' direction dazedly.


    Lu Qingyun did not expect to find so many cultivators in this tavern. After all, they had just arrived at this small garrison city and it was nowhere closer to the main camps of Saint Gao Tianshou.


    He thought, "Maybe this is just a local celestial clan that is celebrating an occasion here."


    A steward immediately greeted them, "Great Celestials, what can I do you?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "I want three rooms to rest our legs for the next couple of days."


    The steward smiled weakly, "Great Celestial, we have only two rooms that are available now¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "That is good enough too. We shall have two rooms then."


    Lu Qingyun was stammering, "This is a big city. We can check the other taverns first¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly as she winked at Lu Qingyun, "We''re both men. What are you afraid of?" She knew exactly what Lu Qingyun was thinking.


    Qian Jingjing: ¡­


    Tang Xuefeng began to look at Lu Qingyun with gentle eyes as she inhaled softly. Her eyes were full of tenderness that was extremely mesmerizing.


    Lu Qingyun quickly pulled his eyes away from her and he felt a little guilty. When he was heavily injured for the past two months, Tang Xuefeng had used her mouth to nurse him day and night as his own body could not could not muster any profound energies to kick in his regeneration.


    Qian Jingjing giggled softly as she took Lu Qingyun''s arm, "Maybe we should take one room while Brother Tang Feng takes a room to yourself."


    The golden eyes of Qian Jingjing were also looking with great tenderness at Lu Qingyun. It was because Lu Qingyun had fought an eighth rank desolate monster to safeguard her and had almost lost his life. His injuries were so severe during the first few weeks that he could not take in any divine pills.


    It was only with the patience care of Tang Xuefeng that Lu Qingyun had managed to hold on to his life.


    Therefore she was only teasing Tang Xuefeng and there were no enmities between them for the attention of Lu Qingyun.


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "This won''t do. You are not wedded to each other yet. Therefore I shall share the same room as my brother here."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He had actually wanted to tell them to share the same room but Tang Xuefeng was disguising herself as a man now¡­


    This arrangement had to wait until they were in the safety of their rooms.


    Tang Xuefeng was now saying to the steward, "What are you waiting for? Two rooms, so be it."


    The steward was immediately saying, "Yes, yes Great Celestials."


    All of a suddenly, four golden celestials had approached Lu Qingyun and his group.


    Actually when Lu Qingyun and his group had entered the tavern, they had already noticed that they were being watched by these golden celestials and all the other cultivators. But they were cool and continued as usual.


    Among the four golden celestials that had approached them, was a fine looking young man and he seemed to be the leader of their group.


    In fact, he was also the first to greet them with a warm smile. "I''m Young Master Gao and is known by the name of Celestial Gao Tianyou." As he greeted them, his eyes were wandering at Qian Jingjing.


    Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were all gasping silently. They knew who Gao Tianyou was. He was the eldest son of Saint Gao Tianshou.


    Although their surprises were subtle but Gao Tianyou immediately knew that he had their attention and he was grinning broadly, "And this is Saint Wu Lei." He had pointed to a middle age man with a short beard.


    Next he pointed to two middle-age men, "And these two are Supremacy Hai Zhongtian and Supremacy Liang Tiege."


    Except for Gao Tianyou himself, all his side-kicks were a realm or two higher than Lu Qingyun and his group!


    Gao Tianyou smiled, "I wonder how I should address our Great Celestials here?"


    Tang Xuefeng saw that Lu Qingyun was about to speak and she had interrupted with a hand bow, "I am Celestial Tang Feng, the leader of the group."


    Then she smiled at Lu Qingyun and Qian Jingjing, "And this is my Second Brother Lu Yun and my Third Sister Qian Qian. They are all fifth realm golden celestials like me. We are actually not any ''Great Celestials''. We ought to address your group as Great Celestials instead."


    Then she pay a humbled hand bow toward the middle-age short beard man, "It is our honor to meet a seventh realm saint. Our cultivation is still so lacking."


    Saint Wu Lei laughed, "I am old already. The future belongs to the young."


    Gao Tianyou laughed too before he said a little more solemn, "We are all from the Valiant Arms Sect. May I know where you are all from and where you are going?"


    Tang Feng smiled, "Actually we are just autonomous celestials from the other divine realms and we are on our way to join Saint Gao Tianshou in the fight against the three dark divine realms. And to think that we will actually meet the Valiant Arms Sect here and have the honor to meet Young Master Gao here. Are we lucky or not?"


    Gao Tianyou and his group nodded as they listened. They actually knew that Tang Feng was spinning a story but it was also an acceptable story. It was because they had many celestials that had joined them from all over the Nine Celestial Fraternity. And many of them seemed to have a prominent background but they did not want to disclose it.


    This was something that they did not want to force them to reveal as long as they were not spies from the dark divine realms and were contributing to the fight against the Devil Goddess.


    What they needed now, were more powerful cultivators and cultivators that could sacrifice to their cause!


    Gao Tianyou laughed as he took a glance at Qian Jingjing, "In that case, why not join my group instead? We are on our way back to my father''s main camp. I can even introduce you to more mind-like heroes."


    Tang Feng smiled, "It is actually our pleasure then."


    Lu Qingyun said excitingly, "It is great. We hope to lend our puny contribution to the fight against the dark celestials."


    But he was even more excited at the thought that he may have a chance to finally meet Qin Keqin again.


    He was thinking, "She says she will be incognito as she aids Saint Gao Tianshou. If that is the case, she may be nearby whenever there is a major conflict. Therefore I may be able to see her again in the event of a major conflict."


    "Keqin, I miss you so much¡­"


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 218 Tang Xuefeng

    Lu Qingyun and his two companions were soon traveling with Gao Tianyou and his group that consisted of some two hundred cultivators.


    Gao Tianyou had told them that they just had a small victory against a group of dark celestials and they were celebrating it with heavy drinks in this small town.


    "Every battle is a life and death battle. Every time we have survived through the battles, we will celebrate." Gao Tianyou said with a great spirit of heroism that inspired the cultivators who had heard him as they clapped loudly.


    Even Lu Qingyun was inspired by his words.


    However Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were not impressed by his words.


    Instead Tang Xuefeng was whispering to Qian Jingjing, "Sister, you have to be wary of him. I see his lecherous eyes feasting on you."


    Qian Jingjing whispered back, "I feel it too. It is giving me the creeps."


    Gao Tianyou was laughing as he said to Lu Qingyun, "I wonder if Maiden Qian here is your partner?"


    Lu Qingyun was about to reply no when Qian Jingjing hastily replied, "Yes, we are. So mind your eyes."


    Even Tang Xuefeng was saying coldly, "My third sister Qian Qian is already engaged to my second brother. It is best that everyone be mindful of it."


    She had suddenly noticed that many of the cultivators were also secretly looking into Qian Jingjing''s way and she was feeling quite uneasy about it.


    Gao Tianyou had now turned his attention to Tang Xuefeng, "Brother Tang Feng doesn''t seem to like to talk much?"


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "I prefer to pay my attention while on the road. You will never know if you were to step on a pile of dung."


    Gao Tianyou: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly. He never knew that Tang Xuefeng could be so crude with her words. Moreover Young Master Gao Tianyou here was the son of the greatest hero in the Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    So he quickly said, "My Big Brother Tang Feng always have a sense of humor. Please do not take it seriously."


    Tang Xuefeng giggled, "That''s right. If you take it too serious then you may fall into a pit full of dung instead."


    Qian Jingjing was also giggling, "That is because he didn''t watch out for the pit while he is walking."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Gao Tianyou smiled weakly, "Celestial Tang Feng really has a sense of humor."


    Then he secretly waved a secret sign behind his back to Supremacy Hai Zhongtian and Supremacy Liang Tiege.


    Hai Zhongtian immediately stepped forward and said coldly to Tang Xuefeng, "You are too rude to our young master. You can eat the wrong food but you can''t say the wrong words."


    Liang Tiege hummed coldly, "Or are you a spy for the dark celestials?"


    Tang Xuefeng took a disinterested look at them before she replied coldly, "Hmph! I say what I want. If you are not willing to listen, why don''t you go away?"


    Gao Tianyou pretended to say, "This is only a small matter. Why blow it up?"


    Liang Tiege said, "Even if young master is willing to tolerate it, I am unwilling to do so. He is insulting your honor!"


    Saint Wu Lei immediately said from behind them, "Quickly apologize to my young master or else don''t blame me for being impolite!"


    Lu Qingyun quickly whispered to Tang Xuefeng, "We''re all on the same side¡­"


    But Tang Xuefeng shot him an icy look as she whispered back, "Who is on the same side as him?"


    Then she had stepped forward with a soft chuckle, "Since it is Young Master Gao Tianyou''s honor that is being sullied, why don''t we have a little duel to settle the issue of your honor?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He was sighing heavily, "Xuefeng is too reckless¡­"


    Liang Tiege had immediately stepped forward. "Do you think that my young master will fight anyone just like this? He is far more cultured. I shall take the place of my young master to fight you instead."


    Tang Xuefeng looked at him with a wryly smile, "So be it then."


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he whispered, "He is a sixth realm golden supremacy¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng whispered back, "Don''t worry. This is just a friendly duel. I won''t die."


    Lu Qingyun saw the hostile looks of Liang Tiege, Gao Tianyou, Hai Zhongtian, Wu Lei and other cultivators that were upon Tang Xuefeng as he muttered. "In what way is this just a friendly duel?"


    He quickly said, "Let me fight on your behalf¡­"


    But Tang Xuefeng chuckled, "Who is the big brother here? It is Big Brother who wants to fight so how can I let my second brother fight my duel for me? At least I am willing to fight over my own honor."


    Gao Tianyou: ¡­


    Liang Tiege was shouting angrily, "You are too insolent! Draw your sword!"


    Tang Xuefeng immediately unsheathed her half-step divine sword as she displayed a defensive sword stance.


    Qian Jingjing was shouting, "Big Brother Tang, please beat him up!"


    Liang Tiege and the other cultivators were a little startled when they saw that this Tang Feng had a divine sword. Although it was a half-step divine sword but it was nevertheless a divine sword. In the Celestial Realm, divine swords were extremely rare and were mostly owned by cultivators with influential background.


    Liang Tiege unsheathed his earth-step precious sword as he stared coldly at Tang Xuefeng.


    Lu Qingyun was smiling bitterly as he watched them. Although Tang Xuefeng had an advantage with her sword but Liang Tiege had the stronger profound strength.


    The duel between golden celestials was completely different from the average cultivators. It was because the average cultivators could still overcome their opponents with a superior swordplay or profound art.


    But for golden celestials, planning to take hits were part of their combat strategy. It was because golden celestials could always regenerate their non-fatal wounds quickly and they did not care much about taking damages as long as they could retaliate against their opponents.


    If Tang Xuefeng could strike Liang Tiege, it may not necessary mean that her sword play was superior to him and instead it was just a fake opening that Liang Tiege was exposing to get back at her.


    With Liang Tiege''s profound strength, his strikes would always hit harder than her.


    So how could Lu Qingyun not be anxious for her?


    Moreover she was a scholarly maiden and she did not look particularly strong in her martial skills.


    Lu Qingyun was thinking anxiously, "I just have to intervene if she needs help. Forget about the honor. Her life is more important¡­but why is Xuefeng purposely messing up with them in the first place?"


    Lu Qingyun did not know that Tang Xuefeng disliked the cultivators from the Patriarch Valiant Arms Sect and that the Patriarch Heavenly Fragrance Villa was actually preparing for a possible conflict between the two patriarch celestial clans that could pull the two divine realms into a war.


    There were nine powerful patriarch celestial clans in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Currently there were four patriarch celestial clans and their divine realms that were leading the attack against the three dark divine realms while the other five patriarch celestial clans were watching the situation closely.


    Although it seemed that it was only the Valiant Arms Divine Realm and three patriarch divine realms that were attacking the three dark divine realms but there were cultivators from all over the Nine Celestial Fraternity that had joined their cause. It was because the temptation to loot the profound treasures of the three dark divine realms were too tempting even if their patriarch divine realms did not join Saint Gao Tianshou''s cause.


    And Saint Gao Tianshou was highly regarded as the greatest hero in the Nine Celestial Fraternity for his many heroic deeds.


    But only Tang Xuefeng and the high leadership of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa knew that most of it was an exaggeration to bolster his renown and to garner support so that he could unite the Valiant Arms Divine Realm.


    What the other patriarch clans did not expect from him was that shortly after he had united the Valiant Arms Divine Realm, he had manage to persuade three other patriarch celestial clans and their divine realms to attack the three dark divine realms with him.


    His mobilization was too swift and this had caught the other five patriarch clans off-guarded.


    Even the three dark divine realms were caught off-guarded by Saint Gao Tianshou sudden attack.


    But to most of the cultivators from the Nine Celestial Fraternity, this had only confirmed their belief that Saint Gao Tianshou was a true hero and he was the destined hero that would get rid of the Devil Goddess that had terrorized the Nine Celestial Fraternity in the past.


    Liang Tiege was shouting to Tang Xuefeng, "Since you are my celestial junior then I shall let you make your first move. Then you won''t say that I''m bullying you!"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled as she swung her sword, "You really think that I will change my mind about you if you give me a leeway? Why only one stroke and not three strokes, ten strokes? Bully, bully!"


    Liang Tiege: ...


    "Enough!" Liang Tiege gave a great thunderous shout that caused his profound aura to burst brilliantly, startling everyone with his profound strength.


    Even Lu Qingyun was forced to take a step as he gasped silently, "He is strong. Xuefeng may not be able to last more than a hundred strokes with him¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng had suddenly raised her sword as she sent five bursts of sword energies to explode upon Liang Tiege, startling everyone.


    Although her sword bursts were unable to really hurt Liang Tiege as he was still protected by his profound aura but Liang Tiege and on the onlookers, including Lu Qingyun were all gasping. "Sword energies! She is an energy practitioner."


    In the Nine Celestial Fraternity, energy practitioners were extremely rare because sword energy techniques were extremely demanding to even use. Even a saint level cultivator may not be able to use one. It depended more on the practitioner innate talent and body physique rather than cultivation level.


    Just as Liang Tiege was about to swing his sword forward, Tang Xuefeng had unleashed another three quick successive bursts of sword energies that exploded over him.


    Liang Tiege was really angry now. It was as though someone was flinging mud on him and he could not retaliate.


    He had immediately leapt forward as he attacked with his unique sword art but Tang Xuefeng had displayed her lightless skill as she flashed out of his way to his back and again, she had unleashed another three bursts of sword energies on Liang Tiege!


    Lu Qingyun was startled as he thought, "It seems that Tang Xuefeng''s lightless skill isn''t weak and moreover her swiftness movement is also most extraordinary. She can actually move to his back in such a short notice and even use her sword energies on him¡­"


    Sword energies were also extremely demanding on the use of profound energies and so did the use of lightless skill. It was because lightless skill could give quick burst of speed and this quick burst of speed consumed plenty of vital profound energies which were the same as performing a strenuous exercise like running or lifting a tremendous amount of strength.


    In the lower realm, profound energies were known sometimes as internal strength or Qi.


    Liang Tiege was shouting, "I see how you can maintain your profound energies. When I catch you, you will be dead!"


    Tang Xuefeng shouted back, "When your protective profound aura is weakened, I like to see if you can still withstand my sword energies attack."


    The two of them were betting on each other to exhaust their profound energies first.


    Lu Qingyun was actually quite anxious. It was because Tang Xuefeng had to use her sword energies and lightless skill at the same time. She could not maintain her own defensive profound aura to receive a tremendous attack from Liang Tiege.


    At the same time, Liang Tiege used much less profound energies and he was also a sixth realm cultivation and his reserve profound energies were stronger than Tang Xuefeng.


    So how could Lu Qingyun not be worried for her?


    Actually Liang Tiege, Gao Tianyou and his group were also quite anxious. It was because of the divine sword that was in Tang Xuefeng''s hand. A divine sword could easily double the penetrating power of a cultivator''s attack.


    In fact, Liang Tiege was trying to shore up his profound aura defense with each hit that he had received. There were many types of energy practitioners. Most were just average users and their sword energies took a long time to charge and they had to rely on a sword formation for cover and to recharge. But this Tang Feng happened to be an expert sword energy practitioner and she specialized in multiple sword energy bursts instead of just one, which made the fight even harder for him to engage her.


    Moreover he had to admit that her lightless skill was indeed superior to him. He was so angry that he was cursing him in his heart, "This Tang Feng! He is fighting just like a spineless maiden. A man should put strength on their arms and not their legs!"


    Men were usually stronger than women in their raw physical strength. Therefore when profound strength was cumulated with men''s raw physical strength, their strokes were usually more powerful than the women.


    But women were usually lighter and not blog down by heavy muscles. Therefore when profound strength was cumulated with their natural lightless and speed, their lightless skills were usually more impressive than the men.


    Liang Tiege had never expected that this Tang Feng would be fighting like a maiden and he was really very angry.


    Even Saint Wu Lei could not bear to watch anymore and he had suddenly shot up a small pebble like a secret projectile that had suddenly struck Tang Xuefeng''s leg from behind her.


    This secret attack was lost on many but to Lu Qingyun who had an acute divine sense due to the added unison between Yan''Er and Xingxin who had tripled the acuteness of his divine sense.


    Yan''Er was screaming unhappily in his soul sea, "Master, he is cheating!"


    Xingxin was also saying, "Master, he is so despicable! He is bullying Big Sister Xuefeng!"


    Yan''Er and Xingxin were actually watching the duel with Lu Qingyun together.


    Liang Tiege immediately seized the attack to swing his sword over Tang Feng''s head. He was now smirking. Although he may not kill him with this attack since he was a golden celestial that could regenerate grievous wounds but this attack of his would make him lie on the bed for several days to nurse his broken skull.


    It was a befitting punishment to someone that had dared to offend his Young Master Gao Tianyou!


    Lu Qingyun saw the incoming attack that was upon Tang Xuefeng and he was about to rush in to aid her when he suddenly found that his shoulder was gripped hard by Hai Zhongtian, "This is a personal duel. No one should be allowed to interfere in it unless it has ended."


    Liang Tiege''s attack had come swiftly upon Tang Xuefeng''s head and she quickly made a last ditch effort to evade the attack by strengthening her profound aura.


    The attack missed her head narrowly and had cut the ribbon on her head that she had tied up to look like a man. Immediately her long flowing hair began to loosen and she was gasping mesmerizingly.


    Suddenly she had lost her manly disguise and this short gasp had immediately revealed her true voice.


    All the cultivators were not blind and they could immediately see that this Tang Feng was actually an astonishing great beauty and not a man.


    "She is actually an astonishing beauty¡­"


    "Am I seeing what I''m seeing?"


    "I can''t believe my eyes¡­"


    "Supremacy Liang is actually bullying a fifth realm maiden¡­"


    Even Liang Tiege was so startled at her beautiful appearance that he did not continue his attack. "This¡­"


    Gao Tianyou had quickly stepped between Liang Tiege and Tang Xuefeng as he smiled lecherously at Tang Xuefeng, "I see that you are a maiden. This is actually a great misunderstanding between us. I hope that maiden will not put it into your heart. Let me apologize to you if I''ve offended you."


    Tang Xuefeng, "Huh?" She was thinking, "He is actually saying sorry to me?"


    Gao Tianyou was now looking lecherously at Tang Xuefeng. He had found his next target and that was her.


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 219 Hearts Exchange

    Along the way, Gao Tianyou seemed to be paying extra attention to Tang Xuefeng as he talked about his heroic deeds.


    Even Saint Wu Lei had apologized to her because he had secretly shot a secret projectile to her, hence causing her to lose the duel.


    Even Liang Tiege was suddenly very friendly to Tang Xuefeng.


    Tang Xuefeng was actually as rude as ever but she had soon toned down her attitude because Gao Tianyou and the others kept giving way to her and took her teases as mere jokes to be shared around.


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly unhappy because he had noticed that Tang Xuefeng had now laughing in the company of Gao Tianyou and his group.


    This was not lost on Qian Jingjing as she whispered to him, "Brother Qingyun, are you jealous?"


    Lu Qingyun frowned quietly to Qian Jingjing, "I will be jealous?"


    Qian Jingjing nodded quietly as she chuckled softly, "It''s all written all over your face now."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "It''s not possible." Lu Qingyun muttered. "If I am jealous, pigs can fly."


    Qian Jingjing giggled, "There is one type of desolate pig that has wings and it can fly."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Jingjing, your jokes are not funny."


    "You got to witness it to believe it. How do you know that Jingjing isn''t telling the truth?"


    "There are no such things as a desolate flying pig." Lu Qingyun muttered.


    All of a sudden the cultivators in front of them were all shouting, "We are under attack by the desolate beasts!"


    Immediately all the cultivators unsheathed their swords and they could see dozens of pig-like flying desolate beasts that were flying through their ranks!


    Lu Qingyun was stunned, "These are flying pigs¡­"


    Qian Jingjing giggled, "Told you that they exist!"


    These desolate flying pigs were mostly third rank desolate beasts and were no match for their group.


    Qian Jingjing had quickly displayed her sword as she quickly cut down two of the flying desolate beasts.


    She did not know that she was being observed by Gao Tianyou and his inner circle.


    This was actually a fake battle that they had arranged so that they could observe the fighting level of Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng.


    Gao Tianshou was thinking, "This Maiden Qian Qian, she is from the Spirit Sword Manor? I can''t be wrong about her Heavens Sword Slash."


    Lu Qingyun had unsheathed a heaven-step precious sword which was actually a copy of his Divine Sword Jade Light; he did not want anyone to know that he had a divine sword in his hand and quickly dispatched one of the flying desolate beast.


    As for Tang Xuefeng, she simply evaded the flying desolate beasts but made no move to attack them since there were so many cultivators around.


    Although Gao Tianshou and his inner circle could not tell which celestial clans Lu Qingyun and Tang Xuefeng were but they got a hint from Qian Jingjing''s sword strokes that they may be from the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm.


    Actually Qian Jingjing had already tried her best to conceal her swordplay and did not display the Heavens Spirit Sword that was the unique sword art of the Spirit Sword Manor. It was just that Gao Tianshou and his inner circle happened to know even the lesser known sword arts of the Spirit Sword Manor.


    Before long, the flying desolate beasts were mostly dispatched or were in retreat.


    Except for a few injuries, no one was actually killed.


    Lu Qingyun was startled that this group of cultivators were all strong cultivators even though they were mostly second to fourth realm cultivators. A third rank desolate beast was still a formidable challenge to any cultivator that was not a golden celestial yet.


    After the battle had ended, Lu Qingyun quietly pulled Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing to one side before he said unhappily to Tang Xuefeng. "Celestial Xuefeng, I feel that these men are not good men. You ought to exercise some caution and not be in their company."


    Tang Xuefeng laughed softly, "What is wrong with them? I don''t see anything wrong with them. They are heroes, great heroes."


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "Or is there any other reasons why you are telling me this?"


    Lu Qingyun said solemnly, "Did you see these flying pigs?"


    "Yes, so?" Tang Xuefeng asked curiously.


    Qian Jingjing was giggling softly. It was because she knew that Lu Qingyun was trying to cook up any lame excuse now.


    Lu Qingyun stammered, "Well, these flying pigs are a sign that they are not good men."


    Tang Xuefeng: ???


    Lu Qingyun quickly added as he pointed a finger at Qian Jingjing, "That what Jingjing says."


    "Senior, you are so humorous. But why should I believe in you?" Tang Xuefeng smiled shyly.


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "I thought that we are all close friends for the past three months. You don''t believe in me?"


    Tang Xuefeng averted her eyes shyly before she chuckled, "You are the one that is singing their praises all the time. Why the sudden change?"


    Qian Jingjing was nodding, "That is right."


    Lu Qingyun frowned, "That is before I saw that Saint Wu Lei throwing a secret projectile at you. Such despicable act. Can you see it too? They are trying to maim you earlier. Why are you so trusting now?"


    Tang Xuefeng turned to look at him intently, "Are you jealous?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    Qian Jingjing whispered softly, "He is jealous for sure."


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "No, I am not¡­"


    "Then why should I believe you? You''re not somebody to me, am I right to say so?" Tang Xuefeng pointed out.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    She looked away shyly, "You have to decide if you want to address me as Celestial Xuefeng or Xuefeng."


    She added, "Jingjing is now always your Jingjing. But for me, sometimes you will call me Xuefeng but sometimes you will be so polite to address me as Celestial Xuefeng. Can you please make up your mind what you are going to call me?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered, "Maiden Xuefeng¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng: ¡­


    "Why don''t you die in the flying pigs'' attack, Lu Qingyun!" Tang Xuefeng was about to storm off when Lu Qingyun had suddenly grabbed her arm. "Xuefeng. I will call you Xuefeng from now on, alright?"


    Tang Xuefeng paused in her tracks and she was smiling secretly.


    She turned around and said, "In the future, I shall just call you Qingyun too, alright?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded but he quickly whispered to her, "Somehow, I really don''t trust them. I can''t explain why but I got an uneasy feeling. You got to believe me alright? And don''t get too close to them."


    Qian Jingjing nodded, "Actually Brother Qingyun is right."


    Tang Xuefeng nodded shyly before she smiled at Lu Qingyun, "Actually I don''t trust them at all."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "I don''t believe. You are so close to them earlier¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "Can''t you see that I''m only trying to make you jealous?"


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    He quickly insisted, "But I''m not jealous."


    "Then I guess I will go to their company instead." Tang Xuefeng smiled coldly.


    "No, wait please." Lu Qingyun quickly said. He began to stammer for words as he looked panicky at Qian Jingjing but she refused to help him.


    Finally he blurt out, "I¡­am¡­a little jealous."


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were both giggling suddenly.


    Gao Tianyou and the other cultivators who were watching them did not know what they were talking about. They were suddenly curiously why Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were suddenly laughing jovially while Lu Qingyun seemed to have an ugly expression on him.


    Tang Xuefeng was now holding onto Qian Jingjing''s arm as she averted her eyes from Lu Qingyun, "Have you forgotten what we''ve all been through in the past three months?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed heavily all of a sudden.


    Indeed. In the last three months they had been through a lot together.


    Tang Xuefeng said melancholy, "My only regret is that we didn''t really get to know each other while I''m at the Heavens Ridge Villa nor did we talk much." ¨C Chapter 109


    "At that time," Tang Xuefeng said shyly. "I actually didn''t have you in my eyes. In fact, I didn''t have anyone in my eyes until that day we have met again at the Moon Demon Forest. If I don''t tell you now, I may not have a chance in the future."


    Lu Qingyun was smiling awkwardly.


    Tang Xuefeng was suddenly waiting and looking at Lu Qingyun intently.


    Lu Qingyun finally said with trembling voice, "You''re the most talented maiden that I''ve known. If I know that earlier, I will not hesitate to make friends with you. I still have many things to learn from you."


    Tang Xuefeng looked away with a flushed countenance, "Is that so? Just that?"


    Qian Jingjing was looking at Tang Xuefeng with great melancholy. It was because in the end Lu Qingyun did not tell her what she had wanted her to hear.


    \u003cThis Chapter/2, round down is Chapter 109\u003e


    How many still remember the first meeting between Lu Qingyun and Tang Xuefeng?


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 220 Saint Vs. Sain

    Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng were walking together when a shooting star was seen bursting through the clouds in the heavens above.


    Qian Jingjing gasped, "Look! A shooting star! We ought to make a wish."


    Tang Xuefeng nodded, "We are so lucky to see one."


    Shooting stars were a really rare sight in the Celestial Realm because the entire Celestial Realm was covered with a thick cloud canopy, blanketing the entire heavens with white clouds that were rich with spiritual force.


    Lu Qingyun was thrilled at the sight of the shooting star too and he quickly made his wish. "I wish to see Keqin soon¡­"


    Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng were all making their wishes too.


    Lu Qingyun chuckled softly as he looked curiously at them, "So what are your wishes?"


    Qian Jingjing giggled softly, "What is Brother Qingyun wish first?"


    Lu Qingyun laughed dreamily, "I''ve only one wish and that is to find my master. So what are yours?"


    He was silently thinking, "Keqin, why is that I can sense that you are around yet I can''t see you?"


    Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng both laughed and replied at the same time, "I wish that Qingyun''s wish will come true."


    Lu Qingyun was startled. "The two of you¡­"


    Then he smiled, "Thank you."


    "Brother Tang Feng, Brother Lu Yun, Maiden Qian Qian." It was Gao Tianyou calling out to them. He was followed by Saint Wu Lei, Supremacy Liang Tiege and Supremacy Hai Zhongtian.


    Gao Tianyou was laughing, "It is indeed a beautiful night today. Am I disturbing your rest?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "What can we do for you?"


    "It is actually nothing but we have a great secret to share with you. Can you follow us out of the camp?" Gao Tianyou smiled warmly.


    "A great secret?" Lu Qingyun was perplexed. "We can''t discuss it here?"


    Gao Tianyou laughed before he said in a low voice, "The walls have ears. There may be spies from the dark celestials in our group. Therefore it is safer that we let you know elsewhere."


    Tang Xuefeng interrupted with a wry smile, "What if we tell you we''re not interested in your secret?"


    Gao Tianyou laughed, "But you will." Then he took a look at Qian Jingjing. "Actually this great secret involves the Spirit Sword Manor."


    Qian Jingjing was startled as she thought. "Why is he looking at me like this? He knows that I''m from the Spirit Sword Manor?"


    Gao Tianyou suddenly heaved a deep sigh, "I''m afraid that the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Realm will soon be in trouble."


    Then he smiled at Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing. "Shall we go to one side before I tell you more?"


    Lu Qingyun saw that Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing had an anxious look in their countenance even though they did not say it.


    Therefore he replied for them. "Alright then."


    Gao Tianyou was smiling. "Follow me."


    Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing followed them out of the camp and soon they were quite far away from the camp.


    Lu Qingyun was frowning lightly, "We''re already far from the camp. Is it necessary for us to go so far away?"


    Gao Tianyou laughed jovially, "It does seem far enough now."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "So what is the secret?"


    Gao Tianyou was suddenly smirking, "This secret will cost you your life."


    Lu Qingyun: ???


    Gao Tianyou was now smiling now. It was really a simple plan. He would bring Lu Qingyun here and to kill him then he would take Qian Qian and Tang Feng by force. He had already planned this and knew that there was no escape from the four of them because they had Lu Qingyun cornered.


    Just as he was about to reveal this ''secret'', A mesmerizing voice suddenly said, startling everyone. It was because this mesmerizing voice was not from their group! "Maybe he won''t have a chance to know this secret yet." Everyone had turned their heads around, only to see that a beautiful figure with a golden mask was on a tree.


    Lu Qingyun immediately gasped, "The Devil Goddess!"


    But Gao Tianyou said, "She is just her golden shadow. Their masks are not the same."


    Immediately Saint Wu Lei shouted, "Let me have a try at her first!"


    Saint Wu Lei had immediately raised his precious sword and displayed a flying sword stance as he leapt to her at the same time.


    The maiden in golden mask was suddenly laughing softly as she raised her precious sword to greet the attack. As she swung her sword, profound martial force began to cumulate around her sword and all of a sudden it condensed into an outburst of winds that were in the shape of a wolf!


    Lu Qingyun was suddenly stunned and he had turned ashen. It was because he had recognized this sword technique as Yue Lingxi''s Gathering Windforces of the Demonic Wolf Sword''.


    Not only was Lu Qingyun startled by the sword technique but Saint Wu Lei and his group were all startled as well. It was because her sword technique was not sword energies but was instead a condensation of profound power into the shape of a projectile attack.


    In order for profound power to be so exceeding that it could be condensed into a projectile profound martial force that could have the range of a sword energy was extremely difficult for any cultivator to do so.


    Even Lu Qingyun''s profound martial power was limited to a melee range that was three times the length of his swords.


    A ripple of thunderous outburst had immediately struck Saint Wu Lei and he was immediately forced to discontinue his leapt toward the masked maiden and at the same time, he was forced to take five steps backward.


    If he was not a seventh realm expert then this outburst of profound force would have immediately struck him dead or maimed him!


    "Seventh realm saintess!" Saint Wu Lei was startled.


    When he had muttered it out, Gao Tianyou and all the others were startled. This included Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng. However only Lu Qingyun was not surprised.


    He was muttering, "What till you see her crazy regeneration ability. She isn''t a human or just an ordinary golden celestial."


    This was Saint Wu Lei very first time fighting a golden shadow of the Devil Goddess and he did not expect that a mere servant of the Devil Goddess would actually be a seventh realm cultivation expert!


    Moreover for her to be able to use such a technique, he was afraid that her martial power may be above him and she could even be a great saintess as well.


    This fight would not be easy for him to finish.


    The fights of the seventh realm experts were always a prolong fight, relying not only on profound strength. Their state of divinities, determinations, emotions, profound aura animus and skills were all factors!


    Saint Wu Lei did not dare to be careless anymore as he displayed his seventh rank golden aura to its fullest strength, immediately sending a soft ripple of outburst in the vicinity.


    But the masked maiden merely scoffed as she chuckled softly, "Look at the fires that are in their camp. Thank you for your precious supplies of spirit stones for our war cause. Thank you for giving us an opportunity by coming here."


    Gao Tianyou was startled as he turned his head around. Indeed there was smoke that came from the direction of their camp.


    He was suddenly panicky because he could not afford to lose this supply of precious spirit stones or he would be severely punished by his father and be a laughing stock to his ambitious second brother.


    He quickly shouted, "Quick! We will head back to camp immediately!"


    Saint Wu Lei hesitated for a while because he was still in the middle of a fight and may need some help in case things were not going his way. With two sixth realm golden supremacies aiding him, he was confident that he may be able to take down this seventh realm golden mask maiden.


    But the masked maiden had simply faded into the shadows. Her mission was done. There was no need to waste her precious profound strength to fight an equally difficult to beat foe.


    Before she faded from view, she took a glance at Lu Qingyun. "Do you know that I''ve saved all your lives tonight? I am afraid he has to suppress this secret of his until he reaches the safety of his main camp. Consider yourself lucky that I am happened to be here."


    Then she muttered, "Why do I have to see you everywhere? You''re just like my little nemesis that I can''t win¡­"


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 221 Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches

    A few days later, Lu Qingyun and his party had followed Gao Tianyou and his group to the Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches.


    Throughout the journey, Gao Tianyou had put on a long face and he was in a bad mood; it was because the night raid by the dark celestials had reduced his two hundred strong group to a mere eighty cultivators. At the same time, he had lost half than half of the spirit stones that he was transporting to the main camp.


    As Gao Tianyou did not know when the dark celestials would strike soon, he put his plans of getting rid of Lu Qingyun on hold first. It was because he did not want to put the rest of the spirit stones that he was transporting at risk since he needed all the fighters that he could muster to protect his precious cargo.


    Lu Qingyun had asked him about the ''secret'' that may cost him his life but Gao Tianyou merely said, "I will tell you when we''ve reached the main camp."


    The Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches was the main camp that Gao Tianyou had mentioned and was the converge point of the main expedition force of the four divine realms that were attacking the three dark divine realms.


    The last time that Lu Qingyun had seen so many cultivators were during the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Tournament. There were literally thousands of cultivators everywhere in the streets and many of these cultivators were all at least a third realm cultivator.


    In additional, there were also many golden celestials in the streets but barely anyone battled an eyelid. It was because there were actually hundreds of golden celestials in the city and dozens of golden celestials were always seen at any point of time.


    The group of eighty cultivators immediately made their way toward the inner citadel.


    Lu Qingyun took a look around, "So this is where the main camp is."


    Gao Tianyou was now smiling to Lu Qingyun, "I will introduce you to my father and the elders."


    Lu Qingyun returned a weak smile as he thanked him. He seemed a little less excited now. It was not because he did not want to fight the dark celestials. It was still his ambition to earn a renowned for himself in the fight against the Devil Goddess and the dark celestials but he was less passionate about fighting on the side of Gao Tianyou.


    Gao Tianyou had whispered to him, "If you are willing to serve me with your loyalty then I will surely treat you like my trusted follower."


    Then he had suddenly dropped a bomb shell on him that caused Lu Qingyun to be really unhappy, "I''m not greedy. I only want Tang Feng. You can have your Qian Qian. Think about it for a few days. This is your chance to prove to me your loyalty. In return, fame and cultivation resources await you."


    Lu Qingyun did not expect that Gao Tianyou would be such a person and he was really disappointed that his so call heroic talks were all a front.


    He tried to convince himself by saying, "I am not helping Gao Tianyou. I am joining the cause of the good against the dark terror of the Devil Goddess. Now I am on the way to meet my hero the Great Saint Gao Tianshou and I''m finally here. There will be many other heroes as well."


    Now as they walked along the streets toward the inner citadel, there was a sudden mocking laughter from the other end.


    Lu Qingyun saw that a small group of cultivators had approached them.


    There were three golden celestials in the small group of ten.


    A golden celestial that was leading this small group was the one that had laughed earlier. In fact, he had walked to Gao Tianshou and said, "My older brother. How are you? What happens to your group of three hundred? It seems that only less than a hundred are left now. I hope that you did not disappoint father this time."


    The cultivators in Gao Tianyou group immediately greeted this newcomer, "Second Young Master Gao Xianyou."


    Gao Tianyou did not hide his disdain for this brother of his and he said almost unpleasantly, "At least I am fighting hard outside while someone is hiding behind walls."


    But Gao Xianyou did not appear to be angry as he laughed jovially. "My brother is indeed humorous." Then he was suddenly looking at Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng. "Weird. You have three more golden celestials with you now."


    Gao Tianshou hummed coldly, "I''ve met them on my way back here. This is Brother Lu Yun, Brother Tang Feng and Maiden Qian Qian. They are interested to join our father''s fight against the dark celestials."


    Gao Xianyou smirked coldly, "They are not bad looking. Congratulations for finding three more able fighters to join on your side."


    Then he smiled toward Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng before saying. "You can always welcome to join my camp."


    Gao Tianyou growled unhappily, "I found them first."


    Gao Xianyou laughed, "I think you are only interested in the maiden. Isn''t it always your practice?"


    Gao Tianyou: ¡­


    Gao Xianyou smiled coldly, "You are just in time for the banquet tonight. I see you soon enough, my brother."


    Gao Tianyou returned a smile, "Watch your steps brother and don''t accidentally step into a pit of dung."


    Gao Xianyou appeared to be startled and there was an ugly countenance in his face.


    Lu Qingyun stole a glance at Tang Xuefeng who pretended to look another way.


    He was smiling weakly because this joke was said by Tang Xuefeng to Gao Tianyou and now he was saying it to his second brother Gao Xianyou.


    Gao Tianyou began to laugh aloud after Gao Tianyou had disappeared from view.


    He turned to say to Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing. "I have arranged for a fitting accommodation for you in the inner citadel. There is a banquet tonight. My father and all the other three divine rulers will be presented. You must definitely attend this banquet. During the banquet, I will make a recommendation for the three of you to my father the patriarch lord."


    Lu Qingyun raised his hands in a gesture of thanks, "Thank you, Celestial Gao."


    "What Celestial Gao?" Gao Tianyou laughed. "Why so polite? Just call me your Brother Tianyou and I will call you my Brother Yun."


    While he was saying that, he was actually looking at Tang Xuefeng but she pretended not to hear him and was looking the other way on purpose.


    Even Qian Jingjing was looking at the other way too.


    None of them had wanted to address Gao Tianyou as Brother Tianyou.


    Although Qian Jingjing looked extremely innocent all the time and appeared to be a maiden that lacked tact but her swordsmanship was actually very good. Her state of divinity with her sword had long reached the Spirit Intent state of divinity and she could sense the slight killing malevolent of anyone near her.


    That day, she could clearly sense the killing intentions of Gao Tianyou and his group. It was the sudden appearance of the golden shadow of the Devil Goddess that caused their killing intentions to vanish all of a sudden, hence saving them.


    Actually Tang Xuefeng had also sensed their malevolent air and she knew that Gao Tianyou was up to no good.


    Soon they had reached the gates of the inner citadel.


    Gao Tianyou soon said to Lu Qingyun, "Brother Yun, please wait here for a little while. I will get a personal attendant to show you your resting place later." Then he laughed, "There are many good places in the outer citadel that you may want to have a look first. All the top merchants from all over the Nine Celestial Fraternity is here. Who knows if you may find a profound treasure or two in the profound treasures market or the auction house?"


    With that, he had disbanded the rest of the cultivators and he had entered the gates of the inner citadel with his inner circle group.


    Qian Jingjing hummed coldly, "Finally they are off our backs. They are like smelly flies."


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly but he had a subtle nod.


    When the two maidens saw that he was nodding, they began to chuckle softly.


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "So even our Qingyun cannot stand him too?"


    Qian Jingjing inspected her surroundings before she whispered, "Just a few days ago, they are trying to kill us."


    Then she turned to smile at Tang Xuefeng, "Because of our great beauty Tang Xuefeng here."


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "But it seems that this Gao Tianyou had a change of plan. Why is that so?"


    Qian Jingjing laughed, "Isn''t that obvious? It is because they are afraid that they may be attacked on the way here and they need us to be their extra swords."


    Then she turned to smile at Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, what do you think?"


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "This Gao Tianyou is just trying to make use of us to redeem himself later."


    Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng gave him a perplexed look, "Oh?"


    Lu Qingyun continued, "He had lost such a valuable precious cargo of spirit stones. Great Saint Gao Tianshou may not be too happy with him. However, there is a way to make up for it if he is able to recruit three golden celestials to his side."


    He inhaled softly, "And we are the three golden celestials."


    Tang Xuefeng frowned softly, "So he is only trying to pretend to be the nice guy by suggesting that he will be kind enough to recommend us to the Great Saint Gao Tianshou. But in actual fact, he is only trying to save his own skin."


    Qian Jingjing giggled as she looked at Lu Qingyun, "Brother Qingyun, why are you smart?"


    Lu Qingyun returned a weak smile, "It all comes to me when I saw his second brother. It seems that this Gao Tianyou isn''t exactly favored by his father as the eldest son or else his second brother won''t be behaving in such a manner toward him."


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were astonished that Lu Qingyun was able to interpret so much information from the small exchanges that he had observed.


    At the same time, they were both frowning secretly to themselves. "So he is just playing dumb when he is with us all the time and pretending not to see our affections for him?"

 222 The Great Banquet 1

    Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches, inside the Inner Citadel Hall;


    Tonight was the golden banquet that was personally hosted by the Great Saint Gao Tianshou.


    Lu Qingyun, Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng were among the some one hundred odd celestials that were presented.


    This was an only ''golden celestials'' banquet, meaning that all the guests presented were all celestials that were at least a fifth realm cultivator.


    Lu Qingyun was now staring at Saint Gao Tianshou. "So this is how he looks like."


    Saint Gao Tianshou was as tall as Lu Qingyun and he had a heroic aura emanating around him. He was indeed a heroic figure as he was rumored to be.


    On his left and right side were his two sons, Gao Tianyou and Gao Xianyou.


    It was during a casual conversation that Lu Qingyun had overheard that Gao Xianyou was actually a sixth realm golden supremacy while Gao Tianyou was only a fifth realm golden celestial. It was no wonder why Gao Xianyou appeared to look down on his eldest brother and was even unafraid of him. It was because he had the superior cultivation level.


    Sitting on the high seats were also three more groups of golden celestials from the three divine realms that were assisting Saint Gao Tianshou in his fight against the three dark divine realms.


    Lu Qingyun was gasping now.


    They were Saint Yuan Chenggong from the Divine Sovereign Clan, Saint Linghu Fei from the Supreme Truth Sect and Saintess Su Rushuang from the Divine Monarch Pavilion.


    Among the four patriarch clans that had gathered, the Divine Sovereign Clan was actually the most powerful and could be considered to be a major patriarch clan. The Divine Sovereign Realm was actually one of the three top divine realms in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. The other two were the Celestial Sword Realm and the Holy Ascension Realm.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun was frowning. It was because he seemed to have recognized someone that was with Saint Yuan Chenggong. He was none other than Old Saint Wen or rather he was better known as Zhou Hai.


    He was suddenly excited. It was because this Zhou Hai was a friend of Keqin. Maybe he could ask him on her whereabouts?


    Zhou Hai saw that Lu Qingyun was looking at him too but he pretended to look the other way.


    Lu Qingyun: ¡­


    "Maybe it isn''t convenient for us to talk? I must find an opportunity to ask him if he has seen Keqin¡­" He sighed.


    By secretly listening to some of the conversations, he realized that Saint Zhou Hai was actually a senior elder of the Divine Sovereign Clan.


    Saint Gao Tianshou had now raised his cup as he gave everyone a toast, "May the victory belongs to us and the righteous wins every battle!"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong laughed, "It is our great honor to fight to be fighting on your side."


    Saint Linghu Fei nodded and said, "We are all from the righteous celestial clans. Moreover we all share the same goals together and that is to get rid of the dark terror of the Devil Goddess."


    "We have even captured this Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches from the dark celestials. With this citadel, we can now make inroads against the Divine Moon Realm where the Devil Goddess is said to be." Saintess Su Rushuang said.


    "Indeed!" Saint Gao Tianshou smiled toward Saintess Su Rushuang. "Rather than spreading our forces against the three dark divine realms, we just have to attack the Divine Moon Realm. Once the Divine Moon Realm falls, the other two divine realms will soon follow quickly."


    Saint Gao Tianshou then turned to everyone and shouted. "We will march against the Divine Moon Realm in a week time. The ultimate victory shall be ours!"


    Gao Xianyou had suddenly stood up and said, "Patriarch Father, I am afraid we may need a little more time now."


    Saint Gao Tianshou frowned, "Why so?"


    Gao Xianyou pretended to sigh heavily, "I''m afraid that several of our supply caravans had been raided recently and we have lost tens of thousands of spirit stones. Among the raided caravans, was one caravan of high grade spirit stones that was being escorted by my brother Celestial Gao Tianyou."


    Saint Gao Tianshou was staring angrily at Gao Tianyou. "How is it possible for your caravan to be raided and you can even come back in one piece?! Isn''t Saint Wu Lei in your company? And Supremacies Liang Tiege and Hai Zhongtian as well?"


    Gao Tianyou, Saint Wu Lei, Liang Tiege and Hai Zhongtian were now looking sheepish at one another. They could not tell Saint Gao that they were on an assassination plan and they had lured themselves out of the camp when the raiders attacked.


    This was like shooting themselves on the foot!


    Therefore they did not know how to explain.


    But eventually there must be an explanation.


    Gao Tianyou smiled weakly as he explained. "We are attacked by a golden shadow of the Devil Goddess and were lured by her out of the camp. By the time we rushed back to the camp, half of the precious high grade spirit stones were already taken away. We are too careless."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong said, "We should not blame him for the failures. It is obvious that the enemy is too cunning. Moreover they were being attacked by the golden shadow of the Devil Goddess."


    Gao Tianyou nodded and said weakly, "We are only too eager to capture a golden shadow of the Devil Goddess to boost the morale of our fighters. That is why we have fallen into her trap."


    Then he was smiling in the direction of Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing. "Although I have partially failed to protect the cargo but I have recruited three golden celestials to our cause. I hope that Patriarch Father will give me a chance to prove myself."


    Saint Gao Tianshou asked, "Who are they?"


    "They are Celestial Lu Yun, Celestial Tang Feng and Celestial Qian Qian." Gao Tianyou introduced.


    "What can three fifth realm golden celestials do?" Gao Xianyou scoffed coldly. "It seems that they did not help you to protect the cargo at all."


    Saint Gao Tianshou said coldly to Gao Tianyou, "I''ll let this pass for the time being. You have better proved yourself next time."


    Then he turned to everyone and sighed softly, "We shall delay our march for a little while."


    "Hold on for a minute!" Tang Xuefeng had suddenly stepped forward as she said aloud.


    Lu Qingyun was startled and so was Gao Tianyou.


    It was because no one really know what Tang Xuefeng was intending to do or say.


    Tang Xuefeng smiled, "I''ve something to say first."


    Gao Xianyou frowned lightly, "Learn your manners first. You''re just a mere fifth realm cultivator and you''ve dared to interrupt my Patriarch Father?"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "So what if I did?"


    Many of the golden celestials presented were startled by ''his'' proclamation. And some were even coldly staring at this ''Tang Feng'' now.


    Tang Xuefeng smiled coldly, "Our Saint Gao Tianshou here is a great hero. He won''t be angry with a little fry like me. Am I right to say so?"


    Saint Gao Tianshou frowned lightly, "What is it that you want to say?"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "Don''t you find that Young Master Gao Tianyou story to be a little weird? There are seven golden celestials, including us of course and we have all failed to capture or kill this golden shadow? Or rather, we have all gone after this golden shadow at the same time."


    Gao Tianyou panicky interrupted, "That is because we are all too eager to capture the intruder. That''s why."


    Saint Wu Lei immediately rose to speak on behalf of Gao Tianyou, "That is true. We''re all so eager, that''s why."


    Saint Wu Lei, Liang Tiege and Hai Zhongtian were now all staring coldly at Tang Xuefeng and were now warning her with their eyes not to say or do anything funny.


    But Tang Xuefeng had to pretend not to see them and she continued to chuckle, much to the fierce annoyance of Gao Tianyou and his inner circle.


    Even Lu Qingyun was whispering to her, "Maybe we should keep this matter under wraps. Our main objective is just to fight against the dark celestials and not get involve into their politics."


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly as she smiled at Lu Qingyun. Her primary intention was not to fight against the dark celestials and instead, she just wanted to mess up the side of the Valiant Arms Divine Realm as much as possible to buy valuable time for her own divine realm just in case Saint Gao Tianshou had become too ambitious.


    Her action delighted the Gao Xianyou and he was now saying out loud, "Please pardon me for my rudeness earlier. I see that young hero is a person with righteousness in your heart and that''s why you are willing to tell us more about the bad actions of my brother. For this, we''re grateful."


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled, "Not at all. I can tell you more¡­"


    All of a sudden Saint Gao Tianshou laughed jovially. "No need. The enemy is too cunning. This matter should be put to a rest. Tianyou, please remember that you have failed in your mission and I want you to use your life to protect everyone the next time. This is your chance to do something for the four divine realms!"


    Then he added, "Today is a happy occasion for all of us so let''s not ruin it. On account of your past merits, I will give you your precious second chance."


    Gao Tianyou was smiling as he inhaled a soft sign of relief, "Yes, yes." His eyes were suddenly staring coldly at Tang Xuefeng as he said silently. "My cold heart beauty, since you want to play me in this manner then don''t blame me for being ruthless with you later."


    As for Tang Xuefeng and Gao Tian Xianyou, they were slightly startled that Saint Gao Tianshou did not appear to be interested to hear the future accounts.


    Tang Xuefeng cursed silently, "So this is the heroic spirit of the Great Hero Gao Tianshou. He is just covering the misdeeds of his own son."


    All of a sudden a prot¨¦g¨¦ rushed into the hall and he was shouting panicky, "All the Great Celestials! The dark celestials are attacking the citadel city from all sides!"


    Everyone was startled.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong immediately said, "I shall lead my fighters to put down the dark celestials immediately."


    Saintess Su Rushuang laughed coldly, "These dark celestials are courting their own deaths by attacking the camp of our Saint Gao Tianshou here. It seems that they are now so desperate to make a last ditch fight."


    Saint Linghu Fei hummed coldly, "Do they even have any idea that there are more than a hundred powerful golden celestials that have gathered in this place? We shall see to their deaths immediately."


    Saint Gao Tianshou had suddenly unsheathed his heaven-step divine sword and he was saying coldly. "Everyone, calm down first and stay in this place. We have some uninvited guests soon."


    By now, several of the high level golden celestial cultivators had also picked up the intruders with their divine senses.


    All of a sudden from all the entrances of the hall, several masked assailants with golden eyes were seen charging inside and all the guards were quickly put down to the sword.


    Several of the golden celestials that were sitting near the entrance were now fighting against the intruders that numbered some twenty and from the look of it they were all golden celestial level cultivators!


    Gao Xianyou immediately shouted, "Guards! Summon the guards! They are assassins that are sent by the Devil Goddess to assassinate the four divine rulers!"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong gave the assassins a lazy look as he watched them fight their way into the hall. "I''ve never thought that the Devil Goddess will be so desperate to send her precious golden celestials to their deaths."


    None of the four divine rulers were showing any sign of panic or fear. It was because they were all seven realm experts and moreover, they were being surrounded by many seven realm and six realm cultivators as well.


    In short, the assassins would never have the chance to even touch them before they would all be put down to the sword.


    All of a sudden a mesmerizing voice laughed coldly. "Who says they are assassins that are sent by the Devil Goddess? "


    A mesmerizing maiden wearing a golden mask with a lofty aura had suddenly walked into the hall and she seemed to be laughing jovially. "They are merely my personal guards."


    Following her were three other equally mesmerizing maidens with golden masks and they were the golden shadows of the Devil Goddess.


    "The Devil Goddess is here?!"


    "She is actually here?"


    "This¡­is impossible right?"


    "Is she delivering herself to us?"


    All of a sudden the fighting in the hall had ceased and everyone was staring at the beautiful form of the Devil Goddess.


    For most of the cultivators presented in the hall, this was their very first time seeing the Devil Goddess who was the divine ruler of the three dark divine realms.


    Even Saint Yuan Chenggong, Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang were looking a little panicky. One to one, they knew that they were not the Devil Goddess'' match. After all she was rumored to be a Great Saintess, a peak seventh realm expert.


    The only upper tier seventh realm sacred saint in their midst was Saint Gao Tianshou. He had become a Great Saint not too long ago.


    But no matter what, all the divine rulers would not give the Devil Goddess her chance of fighting them one to one. They were not foolish enough to engage her in any honor duel.


    Lu Qingyun was trembling when he saw the beautiful form of the Devil Goddess. He did not know why and thought that he was only being nervous.


    He did not know that the Devil Goddess was actually his master Qin Keqin because she had the ability to change her divine profound aura and even the way she carried herself as the Devil Goddess was an act of disguise.


    The Devil Goddess had coolly scanned her eyes at all the golden celestials presented in the hall and when she saw Lu Qingyun, she began to tremble lightly.


    "Why is he here?"

 223 The Great Banquet 2

    The Devil Goddess was laughing and her mesmerizing figure was moving to and fro, "You have such an interesting banquet here and you''re not inviting me?"


    Saint Gao Tianshou smiled, "I don''t think you are here to enjoy the banquet, am I right?"


    The Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "That''s when you are wrong! I enjoy banquets the most!"


    It was true that the Devil Goddess enjoyed banquets the most in the past when she was terrorizing the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity.


    Saint Gao Tianshou laughed, "But unfortunately we do not welcome you for our humble banquet. Moreover you will soon be our prisoner."


    The Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "You want to capture me today? Do you think that it will be an easy matter?"


    Saint Gao Tianshou lifted his fingers and made a small flicker.


    Immediately two golden saints had flashed toward the Devil Goddess. These two golden saints were the elders of the Valiant Arms and their combat abilities were only second to Saint Gao Tianshou.


    "Elder Gong Nantian here!"


    "Elder Xu Qiang here!"


    Under the attack of powerful two saints, even the Devil Goddess may find it a little hard to remain undefeated.


    Moreover she was in enemy territory now and the presence of her air was naturally weaker than them.


    All of a sudden two of her golden shadows had stepped forward with their palms that were aimed at the two golden saint elders.


    There were thunderous thunderclaps as both sides exchanged blows with their palms.


    In a blink of an eye, the two elders were forced to take three tremendous steps backward, much to their startled shock!


    "This¡­" Elder Gong Nantian gasped. "They are also seventh realm experts? This is impossible¡­"


    Elder Xu Qiang was also gasping too and he could feel the trembling of his fingers. "Their profound strength is actually above us?"


    "The golden shadows of the Devil Goddess are also seventh realm experts?!"


    Many of the golden celestials were caught by surprise.


    According to the updates on the three dark divine realms, the dark celestials had only nine saints in total. And all the saints were male with the only exception of the Devil Goddess of course. Moreover, the Devil Goddess was rumored to be the only Great Saintess.


    As for Elder Xu Qiang and Elder Gong Nantian, they were both middle-tier seventh realm sacred saints. It was really hard for them to meet an opponent that had the superior profound strength than them.


    "They must have taken some divine pills to boost their profound strength¡­"


    "That''s right¡­"


    "This must be the only reason!"


    "They are indeed heretics. To think that they will stoop so low as to take some heretic drugs to boost their profound strength¡­"


    "If we all attack the Devil Goddess together, this victory is ours. We don''t even need months or years to win the war."


    The Devil Goddess chuckled softly when she had heard them. "Actually I didn''t bring any of my golden saint divine lords with me. If I know that I am being outnumbered by eighteen saints here, I may not want to come after all."


    "This Devil Goddess is really too brave."


    "Or foolish!"


    Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng were now looking at Lu Qingyun who had been observing the Devil Goddess.


    Qian Jingjing whispered, "Brother Qingyun, what do you think? Should we step in to help?"


    Tang Xuefeng was also whispering, "Saint Gao Tianshou may order us all to attack at the same time. In this way, we can help him to weaken the strength of the Devil Goddess and provide a firmer winning condition for him."


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly, "I have never dream that the Devil Goddess has such a heroic spirit and guts to come here alone. Maybe I am wrong about the Devil Goddess."


    He turned to said quietly to the two maidens, "The main battle is between the eighteen saints and the Devil Goddess. The rest of us are just punching bags."


    Then he whispered to them, "The third golden shadow that is standing next to the Devil Goddess is a Great Saintess."


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing gasped softly, "How do you know?"


    Lu Qingyun had of course recognized Yue Lingxi as the third golden shadow from her shoes.


    He replied, "She was the one that had attacked Saint Wu Lei that night."


    Qian Jingjing was perplexed, "How did Brother Qingyun know that she is a Great Saintess? She didn''t exactly show her strength that day."


    Lu Qingyun did not want to lie to her so he replied weakly, "She is Yue Lingxi, my ''sister''."


    Saint Gao Tianshou was now saying as he raised his heaven-step divine sword, "The name of my divine sword is ''Sacred Valiant Lightning''. It is a heaven-step divine sword and is naturally one of the most powerful divine swords in existence."


    He was smiling profound as he looked at his divine sword. "You must know this divine sword is a profound treasure of our Valiant Arms Sect for thousands of years but I am the only one in recent history that is able to wield it. It is because I am the only great saint in my sect that had been tempered by the six-stage golden lightning tribulation. Because of this, I am able to wield the Sacred Valiant Lightning."


    The Devil Goddess smiled coldly, "I have heard that once the Sacred Valiant Lighting is unleashed then all its opponents will be pulverized by the power of the golden lightning. But I have also heard that it is actually just a myth and no one has ever seen it before."


    Saint Gao Tianshou roared with laughter as he raised his divine sword and a golden globe of lightning was now enveloping his divine sword now. "Very soon, you shall see if it is only just a myth."


    He had planned to use his secret trump card against the Devil Goddess in their final battle and that day had come sooner than expected.


    With his Sacred Valiant Lightning Divine Sword, he could kill the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows almost effortlessly.


    "The Devil Goddess has always fought with her bare hands and she may not grasp the power of the divine swords. She will soon regret coming here today." These thoughts had flashed in his eyes as he stared coldly at the Devil Goddess.


    All of a sudden Saint Gao Tianshou had given a great shout that shook the entire hall. "My divine sword has the divine power of the Divine Tribulation of the Six-Stage Golden Lightning. It is not any ordinary lightning that anyone can hope to withstand."


    A golden sphere of lightning had fired from his divine sword toward the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows.


    "This is the same power of the Divine Tribulation! This is your lightning calamity!" Saint Gao Tianshou shouted as the tiles of the hall were completely ripped apart by the furious charge of the golden lightning.


    Everyone was gasping and was startled by the tremendous power that was just released by Saint Gao Tianshou''s divine sword.


    Everyone could feel the electrifying pulses of the golden lightning and were paralyzing everyone in that instant.


    This was truly the lightning calamity of the Six-Stage Golden Lightning Tribulation and right now Saint Gao Tianshou was duplicating the power of the divine calamity with his divine sword.


    Even Lu Qingyun was completely stunned by the paralyzing golden lights that had suddenly exploded into the hall!


    The Devil Goddess was startled as she took a step back, "Oh no!"


    She had not expected that Saint Gao Tianshou would have such a secret weapon in his hands!


    Dozens of golden lightning had flown and exploded on the bodies of the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows now.


    "Devil Goddess!" the golden celestials on her side were all gasping and shouting panicky.


    Saint Gao Tianshou said coolly, "This is the end of the Devil Goddess and a new era has now started."

 224 The Great Banquet 3

    After the dozens of golden lightning had flashed through the hall and exploded in front of the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows, the entire hall was covered with a thick smog and debris were fluttering everywhere.


    It was as though the entire place had been struck heavily by a meteor and the aftershocks continued to ripple nonstop.


    Half of the golden celestials in the hall had been floored by the power and force of the six-stage golden lightning.


    But in the epicenter of the attack, the Devil Goddess and her three golden shadows were standing unharmed, protected by their golden animus that was shining brilliantly.


    All the onlookers were trembling now and were looking at the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows with great shock.


    It was because the brilliant of their profound aura had indicated to all of them that they were all great saintesses of the highest level!


    Upper seventh realm experts!


    The upper seventh realm sacred saint level was the hardest tier of the seventh realm level to breakthrough. It was almost like a standalone tier.


    In order to overcome from the middle tier sacred saint level to the upper tier sacred saint level, the saint must first overcome a lightning tribulation first. Only if they could survive the life and death tribulation of the lightning tribulation would they be able to overcome this last barrier to become a Great Saint.


    But it would not be easy. Failure to do so would mean death instantly.


    And there were three types of lightning tribulation; the three-stage silver lightning tribulation, the six-stage golden lightning tribulation and the nine-stage purple lightning tribulation.


    The three ¨Cstage silver lightning was the most commonly encountered but it was equally as deadly, killing a majority of the saints that were attempting it.


    The more powerful a cultivator was, the more powerful the lightning tribulation was.


    And Saint Gao Tianshou had survived a six-stage golden lightning tribulation and he had broken the middle tier barrier to become a Great Saint.


    The six-stage golden lightning tribulation was rarely encountered and it was even harder to survive it.


    But Saint Gao Tianshou did and he had become the second Great Saint after Elder Tang Yiren of the Celestial Sword Clan to survive the six-stage golden lightning in recent history.


    And he was the only Great Saint among the eighteen saints that were presented in this hall.


    That was exactly how uncommon a Great Saint was.


    That was the very reason why the other three divine realms had flocked to his banner and had even proclaimed him to be their alliance leader.


    But now, they were seeing the presence of four great saintesses!


    Saint Gao Tianshou and all the other golden celestials simply could not believe what they were seeing.


    It was because a six-stage lightning tribulation was thirty-six times more deadly than a normal lightning and four times deadlier than a three-stage lightning tribulation.


    Most golden celestials would have been pulverized instantly regardless of their profound strength.


    But for the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows, they had actually survived through it. Was this not the most astonishing thing to happen?


    Was it even real?


    The Devil Goddess said coolly, "You can only use the sanctorum power of your divine sword only once, am I right? Is this your trump card? This attack must have sapped half of your profound strength if I am not wrong about it."


    Saint Gao Tianshou hummed coldly, "I really don''t understand how did you manage to survive the six-stage lightning of my divine sword? You have a profound treasure that can ward off my lightning?"


    The Devil Goddess chuckled, "Profound treasure? Do we need one? Did you see anyone of us using one? Even if you are able to use your six-stage lightning ten times on us, you still won''t be able to kill any one of us here."


    "Rubbish!" Saint Gao Tianshou shouted. The terrifying power of the six-stage lightning was not something to be underestimated. Even if Saint Gao Tianshou were to take the six-stage lightning tribulation again, there was no telling that he may survive it. Moreover, it was ten times.


    The Devil Goddess said coldly, "Do you know why? I guess you still haven''t figured it out yet. The four of us had survived through the nine-stage purple lightning tribulation. That is why your six-stage golden lightning is unable to hurt us."


    Everyone was gasping with shock when they had heard the Devil Goddess.


    "She has survived through the nine-stage purple lightning? This isn''t possible¡­"


    "And there are four of them now¡­"


    "We are fighting four Devil Goddess?!"


    "Aren''t the other three just her weaker followers?!"


    "Four great saintesses¡­"


    "Four great saintesses that had overcome the nine-stage purple lightning¡­"


    Even Saint Gao Tianshou appeared to be shocked.


    The Devil Goddess chuckled as she looked in the direction of Saint Yuan Chenggong, Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang, "Why are you still here? Do you know that your camps have already been taken over by me?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong shouted, "Rubbish! I have over twenty thousand cultivators in my camp. Do you think that you can take over my camp with your mere talks? Your main forces are now attacking this place at this very moment. Do you think we will believe your bluff?"


    Saint Linghu Fei said coldly, "That''s right. It is only her trick to get us out of the way. Her only aim is Saint Gao Tianshou."


    Saintess Su Rushuang nodded, "Therefore all the more we ought to protect Saint Gao Tianshou. We have a hundred over golden celestials in this very hall and we outnumber them four to one. Even if they are great saintesses, they are still unable to fight our combined strength."


    "Everyone attack them at the same time!" Saint Gao Tianshou gave a spirited shout. "Today we will get the Devil Goddess and end the war!"


    Immediately dozens of golden celestials had all charged into the middle of the hall where the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows were.


    But Lu Qingyun remained unmoving.


    And when Lu Qingyun did not move, so did Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng.


    Lu Qingyun was blinking his eyes.


    In front of him was the Devil Goddess herself and the target of his secret dream to get rid of her.


    But today when he had finally seen the Devil Goddess herself, why was he feeling that she had a more heroic air than Saint Gao Tianshou?


    Although he could not really see her golden eyes clearly as she was donning a mask but why was he feeling that her eyes were as playful as Qin Keqin?


    Qin Keqin had the most playful eyes that he had ever seen, especially when she was rolling her eyes teasingly.


    He was suddenly feeling his spatial space for the secret transmission that Qin Keqin had left behind for him.


    Qin Keqin had two great saintesses as her sisters. And two of them were also the two of the greatest saintesses in the Nine Celestial Fraternity, Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue. Everyone knows that these two legendary saintesses had overcome the nine-stage purple lightning tribulation in the past.


    The Devil Goddesses also had two golden shadows who were Great Saintesses and they had also overcome their nine-stage purple lightning tribulation. Was this too much of a coincident?


    He knew that the third golden shadow was Yue Lingxi and there was no doubt about it. But there was no way Qin Keqin would know who Yue Lingxi was but yet they were in each other company?


    Lu Qingyun was sighing to Yan''Er and Xingxin in his inner cultivation sea, "Yan''Er, do you think that she is¡­"


    Yan''Er shook her head, "Their profound signature is different."


    Lu Qingyun replied quietly, "Some cultivators are known to have the ability to alter their profound signatures. It is not hard at all for any seventh realm experts."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun said in a low voice to Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng, "Wait here for me. Don''t take any action please."


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were both startled by him but it was too late to stop Lu Qingyun as he had already charged into the battle foray!


    Just as Tang Xuefeng was about follow after Lu Qingyun, an old voice said after her. "Wait here or I will take you away now."


    Tang Xuefeng was startled as she quickly turned her head around. It was because this voice seemed so near yet she was not able to sense his presence at all!


    Even Qian Jingjing was startled by this sudden old voice and had turned her head around.


    Away from them, a golden celestial was standing in the shadows of the hall quietly.


    Tang Xuefeng gasped softly, "Godfather!"


    Qian Jingjing looked curiously at her, "Godfather? You have a godfather? Aren''t you from the Heavenly Fragrance Villa?"


    The Heavenly Fragrance Villa was an all-female prot¨¦g¨¦s sect. Therefore there were no men in its ranks.


    Tang Xuefeng smiled weakly, "He''s is indeed my godfather and he is also the Great Saint Tang Yiren. I''m using my god-father clan name."


    Qian Jingjing was greatly startled as she gasped softly. Another Great Saint!


    There was another great saint that had successfully survived through the six-stage golden lightning and he was none other than Elder Tang Yiren of the Celestial Sword Clan. And he was actually Tang Xuefeng''s godfather?!


    Tang Xuefeng did not want to lie to Qian Jingjing so she sighed softly to her, "My father is actually Saint Yun Xinghe, the divine ruler of the Celestial Sword Clan."


    Qian Jingjing gasped with shock.


    The Celestial Sword Clan along with the Divine Sovereign Clan and the Holy Ascension Sect were the three most powerful celestial clans in the entire Nine Celestial Fraternity. Under their clan banner, were numerous golden celestials and they also had the three of the largest divine realms in the Nine Celestial Fraternity.

 225 The Great Banquet 4

    In the middle of the hall were dozens of golden celestials with their precious swords and divine swords.


    When Gao Tianshou had given the command the attack the Devil Goddess, dozens of golden celestials had all rushed to the epicenter where the Devil Goddess, her three golden shadows and twenty odd masked golden celestials were.


    The stunning display of dozens of superior grade precious swords and divine swords were all too stunning.


    Normally the appearance of a single divine sword was enough to draw envious looks and awes but today in this hall, there were actually dozens of divine swords from both sides.


    Hundreds of glaring flashes and shadows were flickering with every flicker of an eye.


    One of the fiercest battles between the righteous celestial clans and the heretic celestial clans now took place in this small hall.


    And the key target in the golden eyes of the righteous golden celestials was none other than the Devil Goddess herself who was standing in the epicenter as her three golden shadows defended her.


    Extraordinary sword arts, powerful profound arts and deadly sword energies were unleashed by both sides instantly.


    Although golden celestials were difficult to be killed but golden celestials had their own disparities as well. There were fifth realm, sixth realm, seventh realm golden celestials and the seventh realm golden celestials were further grouped into those who were saints and great saints.


    In just a few blinks of an eye, several fifth realm golden celestials were felled by the more powerful golden celestials of the supremacy and saint levels.


    In the hall, everyone had a sword in their hands save for the Devil Goddess.


    It was because the Devil Goddess was not known to carry or fight with any weapons, preferring to use her own unarmed martial profound arts instead. The name of her profound art was known to all and it was called the Heavenly Heretic Divine Skill.


    The original name of her Heavenly Heretic Divine Skill was actually the Divine Horizon Hands and was passed down to her by her father. As she did not want to anyone to associate the Divine Horizon Hands with her bad reputation, she had actually changed the name of her profound art.


    It was a profound art that the Devil Goddess often used and combined with her seventh realm profound strength, it was often more than enough to deal with most of her opponents.


    But today, her opponents saw it as a sign of weakness and thought of it as an opportunity for them to exploit. After all, there was no way bare hands could contest against the might of a divine sword, moreover there were so many divine swords that were swinging now against the Devil Goddess.


    When Fan Yuqing created her Devil Goddess identity, her character design did not include the Devil Goddess to wield any weapons and not because the Devil Goddess could not wield any weapons.


    In the Celestial Realm, there were many unfortunate cultivators that suffered a backlash after an unsuccessful sword art breakthrough or suffered a rejection by a divine weapon that would cause them to suffer burning touches if they were to use their profound strength to wield a metallic weapon.


    Now most of her opponents were now betting on this possibility.


    And if their hunches were correct then the Devil Goddess may also suffered a double adverse in pain if she was struck by a metallic weapon and more so, if it was a divine sword.


    She may even be defenseless against the strikes of a divine weapon!


    Saint Gao Tianshou and the three divine rulers that were on his side were now watching the battle keenly, hoping to exploit a weakness in the ranks of the Devil Goddess.


    They were not in a hurry because time was on their side and they had more than ten saints now that were slowly closing in on the Devil Goddess.


    Among the some eighty golden celestials that were surrounding the Devil Goddess and her aides, Lu Qingyun was one of them.


    He had displayed his Fairy Light Divine Sword as a heaven-step precious sword now because he did not want to draw attention to himself.


    Ever since he had become a fifth realm golden celestial, he now had the ability to make a copy of his divine sword Jade Light as a precious sword.


    Right now, the three golden shadows were forming the inner ranks of defense that were guarding the Devil Goddess.


    Lu Qingyun did not have any problem of sneaking pass the twenty odd heretic golden celestials as there were too many fighters from his side for them to handle.


    Each of the golden shadows was in fact fighting with at least five opponents at the same time.


    Lu Qingyun had suddenly raised his sword to strike the nearest golden shadow in sight, seizing an attack of opportunity after she had forced three golden celestials to back off.


    While he was attacking the golden shadow, he was also looking at the Devil Goddess; their golden eyes had actually met in that instant.


    The sword attack that was from Lu Qingyun was quickly parried and with a quick flash of the divine sword that was in the golden shadow''s hand, Lu Qingyun was quickly kicked out of the epicenter of the fight.


    When Gao Xianyou saw Lu Qingyun was sent flying backward in the most awkward manner, he laughed at Gao Tianyou, "Big brother, is this your valuable recruit? Haha."


    Gao Tianyou: ¡­


    When Lu Qingyun was kicked far away, he was quickly helped up by Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing as they panicky said with great concern. "Are you alright¡­does it hurt¡­"


    Lu Qingyun sighed softly as he shook his head, "I''m alright¡­"


    He was staring at the golden shadow that had just kicked him. It was all too obvious that she was lenient to him. It was because he had purposely created an opening for her to attack him. Instead of a lethal strike, he was given a powerful kick instead.


    But the main reason he was sighing was because he had almost got the answer that he had wanted; he wanted to know if the two other golden shadows were someone that he had known.


    When he had got near to the golden shadow, he did not use his divine sense to unravel her identity but instead he was sniffing her. His nose was extremely sharp and with a sniff, he could identify thousands of spirit herbs and their properties.


    And the golden shadow was Great Saintess Feng Minyue. It was because he could sniff her light heavenly fragrance that was unique to her. High level cultivators could alter their profound signature but there was one thing that they could never change and that was their unique scent.


    Although he was now short of sniffing out Qin Keqin but he was almost certain that the Devil Goddess was her; it was because their eyes had been exchanging ever since he had stepped into the battle foray.


    He was only a fifth realm cultivator and was like a fly in the eyes of the Devil Goddess. It was unusual enough that she was paying him attention that was out of the norm.


    His gambit had worked.


    He was still alive after the charge and he almost got his answer.


    But now he was staring blanking at the Devil Goddess. He could not believe that Qin Keqin was actually a super villainess. Qin Keqin was also the great heroine Fan Yuqing. How could a great heroine possibly be the greatest super villainess in the history of the Nine Celestial Fraternity?!


    He was completely stunned.


    All of a sudden he had never felt so lost in his life. He had finally realized that he did not know Qin Keqin well at all. She had too many secrets.


    Then he remembered the Starforge Substances that Qin Keqin had wanted him to have. Was she actually planning to turn him into one of her shadows so that she could rule the Nine Celestial Fraternity?


    He was now totally confused what he should call her now; Qin Keqin or Fan Yuqing?


    All of a sudden the Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "So you are finally here? What takes you so long?"


    No one knows who the Devil Goddess was talking to until a golden profound light had suddenly crashed from the roof top into the hall and another golden shadow was suddenly seen.


    But this newly arrived golden shadow was a little unfortunate as she had landed into the midst of four saints and they had all raised their swords at her. In that instant sword energies and sword arts were zapping all around.


    But the golden shadow simply walked out of their way as she slashed them with her sword. "This¡­looks like a bad landing spot¡­"


    The four saints were startled that they had not only missed her but they were also slashed by her sword. Luckily for them and unlike the other three golden shadows, this newly arrived golden shadow had only a precious sword in her hands. If she had a divine sword then their injuries may not be light.


    One of the saints was stammering, "Her attacks can penetrate past our seventh realm profound aura? She is also a seventh realm saintess?"


    The stammering saint soon got his answer. This newly arrived golden shadow appeared to be much more formidable and was also extremely agile as she flashed to and fro the ranks of the righteous celestials with extreme ease. No attacks could stop her because none of the attacks could hit her!


    In just a just while, this newly golden shadow had totally messed up the tight formations of the righteous celestials.


    This newly arrived golden shadow appeared to be quite annoyed as she shouted in the direction of the Devil Goddess, "Junior sister, why are you still standing there like an idiot? Hurry and help me!"


    The Devil Goddess raised her palm to floor one unfortunate righteous celestial that got too near to her as she laughed, "So you need my little help now? Why are you late in the first place? And I am your senior sister. You''re now my junior sister."


    The righteous celestials were startled as they listened on to their conversations.


    Senior sister? Junior sister? None of them knew that the Devil Goddess actually had a prot¨¦g¨¦ sister.


    All of a sudden the ranks of the righteous celestials seemed to be panicking because this newly arrived golden shadow appeared to be a great saintess as well.


    "The heretic celestials have five great saintesses on their side?! How come we did not know about this¡­"


    Lu Qingyun was also startled when he saw the newly arrived golden shadow. It was because he had suddenly found her lightless movement to be really familiar and he had seen it somewhere before.


    All of a sudden he had remembered the fight between an extremely beautiful maiden and an eighth rank Giga Mountain Giant. In that fight, that extremely beautiful maiden was moving like a phantom and she could even handle the eighth rank Giga Mountain Giant as though she was just taking a walk.


    And that extremely beautiful maiden was the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing.


    Lu Qingyun was stunned.


    "Isn''t the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing the greatest champion of the righteous celestials? In the stories, she had suppressed the Devil Goddess within the three dark divine realms and brought peace to the Nine Celestial Fraternity. Why is she calling the Devil Goddess her junior sister? Maybe she isn''t the Nine Celestial Goddess. The Nine Celestial Goddess will never do anything like this. She will never betray the Nine Celestial Fraternity¡­"


    He could not believe what he was seeing as he struggled with his beliefs.


    The Devil Goddess had suddenly shouted, "Now!"


    The Golden Shadow ''Yue Lingxi'' had suddenly raised her divine sword as her martial profound force had suddenly parted a small gap in the ranks of the righteous celestials. Numerous weaker celestials were instantly floored or sent flying aside by her powerful profound force that was in the shape of a demonic wolf.


    At the same time the Devil Goddess had charged forward as she unleashed the powerful profound art of the Great Goddess Alice the Mystic Stratosphere as she flew like a shooting star through the ranks of the righteous celestials.


    "Stop her!"


    "Close your ranks!"


    "The Devil Goddess is aiming for Saint Gao Tianshou! Stop her!"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong, Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang, along with a dozen of their fifth rank golden celestials had also joined in the fight as they attempted to close ranks with the rest.


    They had to protect Saint Gao Tianshou at all costs because he was the one that the Devil Goddess feared.


    Right now Saint Gao Tianshou was rooted to the ground and they knew that he had expended nearly all his profound strength and he was now circulating his profound energies in a hasty bid to quickly regain his profound strength.


    Until that happened, they must protect Saint Gao Tianshou at all costs.


    As the Devil Goddess sped through the ranks of the righteous celestials, a dozen golden celestials were felled by her. Among the fallen were Gao Tianyou and Gao Xianyou!


    All of a sudden the ranks of the saints that were holding the charge of the Devil Goddess and her four golden shadows had broken and confusion reigned in the ranks of the righteous celestials.


    Five seventh realm great saintesses were now fighting their way through the ranks of the righteous celestials in a straight line like an unstoppable force now.


    Although there were a hundred righteous golden celestials in the hall but more than half were scattered all around and they could not stop the Devil Goddess now.


    Saint Zhou Hai had suddenly coughed out blood under the ''attacks'' of the Devil Goddess and he had accidentally swung his divine sword at his fellow celestials. Unknown to the righteous celestials, Saint Zhou Hai was actually a secret shadow of the Devil Goddess. Therefore he had no reason to fight against the Devil Goddess.


    And he was not the only clumsy one all of a sudden. It was because in the ranks of the righteous celestials, the Devil Goddess had long planted four saints and eight supremacies as her secret shadows.


    These twelve shadows were her secret moles since her early days and were scattered in all the four divine realms.


    And today she was activating them.


    This was the main reason why the formations of the righteous celestials were broken up so fast, with some of her moles stepping aside for her to sweep into it and hindering the rest.


    The Devil Goddess really did not lie to the four divine rulers that the other camps had already been taken by her. Her moles had told her of this banquet in advance and she had sent all her divine lords to attack the other three camps.


    The force that was attacking this camp was actually puny and was just a distraction.


    Fan Yuqing figured out that she did not need a large force but she would need all the capable fighters that she could find. In the end, she did not find many since she had to split her divine lords into three main groups.


    Therefore she had asked her rival Ye Jing to aid her this time.


    But why would the Nine Celestial Goddess Ye Jing aided her? Was it because she had a handle in the hands of the Devil Goddess?


    The answer was actually no. Even though they were rivals all the time, they were also the best of friends at the same time and moreover, they were really prot¨¦g¨¦ sisters of the Great Goddess Heaveness.


    And now the Devil Goddess sped past all her opponents, covered by her golden shadows. With four great saintesses behind her back, who would dare to come forward to stop the Devil Goddess now?


    But one cultivator did.


    He was Lu Qingyun and he had the saint grade Fairy Light Divine Light in his hand as the two of them reached Saint Gao Tianshou at the same time.


    Lu Qingyun was saying to the Devil Goddess, "Don''t please¡­"


    But Saint Tianshou and the Devil Goddess had already clashed with all their profound strength mightily in a thunderous explosive exchange that exploded a tremendous ripple of profound force that caused all three of them to cough out blood at the same time.


    In that instant the Devil Goddess had seized Saint Gao Tianshou''s divine sword, "I shall use your sword to end you¡­"


    Gao Tianshou laughed weakly, "You can''t use my divine sword. It has already been divine harmony by me¡­"


    The Devil Goddess spat her blood on the divine sword to temporary remove Saint Gao Tianshou''s profound link with his sword. "Oh yes? My blood happens to have the ability to do so¡­"


    She had swiftly swung the divine sword and had pierced it through Saint Gao Tianshou''s heart and at the same time Lu Qingyun had swung his sword against the Devil Goddess.


    In that instant, it was as though time had frozen for the three of them;


    Saint Gao Tianshou was killed by the Devil Goddess and Lu Qingyun had swung his sword to stop the Devil Goddess but she was so determined to kill Saint Gao Tianshou that she did not evade Lu Qingyun''s attack.


    Therefore Lu Qingyun''s divine sword broke through the protective profound animus of the Devil Goddess and he had slashed her.


    Lu Qingyun was shocked and he was stammering almost incoherently, "Keqin¡­I''m sorry. I¡­didn''t mean to hit you. I only¡­want to stop you¡­I really¡­didn''t mean it at all¡­"


    The Devil Goddess'' aura had a subtle shift and Yan''Er was sobbing in Lu Qingyun''s inner cultivation sea, "I¡­have¡­hurt¡­Big Sister Keqin¡­"


    Qin Keqin quickly pushed Lu Qingyun away as she grasped her wounds. It would be hard for her to regenerate the wounds that were caused by a saint-grade divine sword.


    Her four golden shadows were immediately by her side to assist her while they stared fiercely at Lu Qingyun.


    But none of them made a move against Lu Qingyun as they assisted the Devil Goddess for their getaway.


    Lu Qingyun was left alone to stare blankly at the back of the Devil Goddess.


    As for the remaining righteous celestials, they did not make a move to stop the heretic celestials from making their getaway. Everyone appeared to be spent and many were staring blankly like Lu Qingyun.


    Saint Gao Tianshou was dead now.


    Many of the golden celestials had fallen and among the fallen celestials, were also Gao Tianyou, Gao Xianyou and many high ranking golden celestials.


    The more powerful righteous celestials that could still fight were mostly the moles of the Devil Goddess and naturally they would not give anyone the orders to pursue the Devil Goddess.


    No one was foolish enough to pursue the trail of four great saintesses that were now escorting the Devil Goddess.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong, Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang the three divine rulers were also staring blankly at the carnage and the dead body of Saint Gao Tianshou.


    It was like they had suddenly become lost.


    Just then several prot¨¦g¨¦s had rushed into the hall with several panicky messages. "The other three camps have been attacked and are now in the hands of the heretic celestials."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong, Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang nearly fainted from shock when they had heard the news.


    The Devil Goddess really did not lie to them at all.

 226 Messy Aftermath 1

    Lu Qingyun was still staring blankly in shock when Saint Yuan Chenggong had suddenly approached him with a smile, "May I know the name of this hero?"


    Lu Qingyun muttered blankly, "Lu Yun."


    He was still thinking of the incident earlier; he had slashed the body of his most beloved Keqin and master. Although he did not use all his profound strength and was only merely trying to stop her from killing Saint Gao Tianshou but he did not expect the Devil Goddess to go all out with her profound strength against Saint Gao Tianshou.


    Was he wrong trying to defend the righteous and peace of the Nine Celestial Fraternity from the Devil Goddess?


    But it turned out that his playful master who had actually aided him to become a powerful cultivator was none other than the Devil Goddess herself.


    He had only learnt of the whole truth today and he could not believe what he was seeing.


    His master was actually the infamous Devil Goddess that everyone had scorned and the number one super villainess in the entire fraternity. How could he have accepted such a truth?


    It was impossible for him to accept such a truth¡­


    His heart was now weeping, not because his master was the Devil Goddess and she had lied to him but because he had actually lifted his sword to wound her, causing his heart to bleed with a deep wound.


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were now next to him and they were calling quietly to him, "Second brother Lu, are you alright?"


    They were very startled when Lu Qingyun had dared to approach the terrifying Devil Goddess and they could see that there were at least ten instances that the Devil Goddess could kill him. But luckily, the focus of the Devil Goddess seemed to be wholly on Saint Gao Tianshou and not Lu Qingyun.


    Tang Xuefeng had quietly called for her god-father to save Lu Qingyun for interrupting the vengeful attacks of the Devil Goddess. Just as Great Saint Tang Yiren was about to intervene, the Devil Goddess and her golden shadows had all retreated quietly without laying their hands on Lu Qingyun.


    Therefore he did not intervene and had also quietly slipped away.


    What Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing could not understand was why did the Devil Goddess merely give Lu Qingyun only a push out of the way?


    They could clearly see that the Devil Goddess was grasping onto her wounds with her other hand. Perhaps her injuries were really severe. After all, the sharpness of a saint grade divine sword had no comparison. That could be the only explanation.


    But Tang Xuefeng was sharper than Qian Jingjing and all the others in the hall.


    Was it because they were all too concerned about the injuries of the Devil Goddess and they were more eager to get away. It was a real possibility.


    But then she had also noticed that some of the golden celestials seemed to only make a half-felt attack on the retreating Devil Goddess and her group.


    She could understand why if they were conserving their profound strength for their defenses but she was an array expert and she was really good in remembering the movements of all the cultivators presented. She had noticed that some of the righteous celestials seemed to have an easier time throughout the battle and the heretic celestials also seemed to be lenient against the same group of righteous celestials.


    Therefore Tang Xuefeng was thinking, "What is going on around here?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong patted Lu Qingyun on his shoulder with a loud chuckle, "You''re perhaps now the greatest hero of the Nine Celestial Fraternity for wounding the Devil Goddess. It is a heroic act that we ought to celebrate."


    Saint Linghu Fei gave Lu Qingyun a respectful bow with his hands, "Great hero Lu, please allow me to give you a humble bow with my hands!"


    Lu Qingyun said bitterly, "I''m not any great hero."


    Saint Linghu Fei laughed, "Surely you can. Moreover you have a saint grade divine sword in your hand and you have won back some of the pride that we have lost today."


    Even Saintess Su Rushuang was nodding as she smiled at Lu Qingyun, "You''re indeed the number one great hero in the Nine Celestial Fraternity now."


    Then she said quietly, "Saint Gao Tianshou and his sons are all dead now. We''ve no one to lead us now. So I hope that Great Hero Lu will lead us in the fight against the Devil Goddess as our alliance leader. What do you think?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong immediately said, "I second that. We need Great Hero Lu to lead us at this critical point."


    Saint Linghu Fei was nodding too, "I am also agreeable to that. Since all three of us are in unison about this then why don''t we make Great Hero Lu as our alliance leader straight away?"


    Many of the golden celestials were stunned by this sudden proclamation and they were all staring at the three divine rulers and Lu Qingyun.


    Actually although many of the golden celestials were lying on the floor but there were only ten real causalities. It was because once a cultivator had become a golden celestial, it would be really difficult to kill them unless their vitals were all shut down.


    Out of a hundred odd over golden celestials, seventy golden celestials could still stand while twenty other golden celestials had received such a severe beating that they would need months to recover.


    The remaining golden celestials could still be considered a mighty force and moreover there was no way the Devil Goddess could recover from her wounds in such a short time. The heavy wounds that were caused by a divine sword would render her golden body''s regeneration ability to a slow snail.


    Therefore the Devil Goddess was as good as out of combat action now.


    Lu Qingyun answered bitterly to the three divine rulers, "Shouldn''t you take care of the funeral of Saint Gao Tianshou and the dead first?"


    The three divine rulers were all looking weakly at each other. Actually they had a hidden motive to make Lu Qingyun as their alliance leader.


    One was that he had a saint grade divine sword that could intimidate his opponents.


    Two was that he had actually wounded the Devil Goddess and was a perfect lightning rod to attract all the attention of the vengeful heretic celestials. Who knows if he may end up dead like Saint Gao Tianshou in another assassination attempt.


    Three was that he was only a fifth realm golden celestial and was easy to control.


    Therefore there was no hurry to make any one of them the alliance leader first. They could always wait for later to get rid of this ''Lu Yun'' later and obtained his saint grade divine sword.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong laughed, "Of course we will take care of the funeral of Saint Gao Tianshou but appointing a new alliance leader is equally important as well."


    Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang were both nodding in agreement, "That''s right."


    All of a sudden a trembling Supremacy Liang Tiege who was holding onto the dead body of his sworn brother Supremacy Hai Zhongtian was shouting angrily. "Our divine ruler has just been killed and you''re all appointing a mere fifth realm cultivator as your puppet? This I am not convinced at all!"


    He stepped forward and pointed his sword at Lu Qingyun while shouting mightily. "If you want to be alliance leader then you have to get past my sword first!"


    Saint Wu Lei had also stepped forward angrily, "And my sword too!"


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "Don''t provoke me today. I''m¡­not in a good mood today."


    Supremacy Liang Tiege hummed coldly as he flashed to Lu Qingyun with all his profound power on his sword, "Whether you''re good mood or not, you will be a dead man today!"


    In everyone''s eyes, there was no way Lu Qingyun could survive an attack from a golden supremacy and moreover Supremacy Liang Tiege was now attacking with all his profound strength.


    Even Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were gasping as they raised their swords to defend Lu Qingyun.


    But Lu Qingyun was faster and was faster than anyone had expected.


    In that instance, he had raised his divine sword and had cut down Supremacy Liang Tiege, splitting his golden body with his profound strength and shattering his precious sword into hundreds of broken pieces.


    As Supremacy Liang Tiege dropped down dead, all the golden celestials that were watching the scene could not believe what they were saying.


    Not only was Lu Qingyun faster with his sword that anyone of them had expected but his profound strength was also above Supremacy Liang Tiege. In front of this Lu Yun, Supremacy Liang Tiege seemed like a defenseless low level cultivator.


    Lu Qingyun''s swordplay had always been faster than most cultivators while he was only a low level cultivator. But his speed attacks would often lack the profound power because he was only a weak cultivator in the past.


    But now it was a thing in the past. Not only was he strong in his profound strength now but the foundation of his profound strength was built on an inner cultivation sea that was three times as vast as any normal cultivator of his level.


    Moreover he had the added profound strength of the awakened annihilating seed in his soul sea now. Therefore his profound power had already exceeded that of a peaked golden supremacy.


    Plus with the added profound power of his saint grade divine sword in his hands, Liang Tiege would need a divine sword in his hand to even handle a single stroke from Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun stared blankly at the dead body of Liang Tiege. This was the very first time he had ever killed someone. Liang Tiege was the very first person that he had killed but why was that he did not feel remorse at all?


    In that earlier instance, he had recalled the malevolent air of Liang Tiege that had wanted to kill him a few days ago and he had acted unrestrained. He had always been able to restraint himself but why was this not the case today?


    Saint Wu Lei was enraged as he raised his precious sword to attack Lu Qingyun.


    Although this Lu Yun could shatter Supremacy Liang Tiege''s precious sword but there was no way that he could shatter a saint''s precious sword. It was because when a cultivator had exercised their profound strength to empower their attacks, their profound power and animus would also affect the swords that were in their hands, protecting it from damages while increasing the killing effectiveness of their swords.


    Moreover Saint Wu Lei was a seventh realm saint and the profound strength between them was like heaven and the earth!


    Today this Lu Yun would die!


    All of a sudden there was another saint grade divine sword that was in Lu Qingyun''s other hand and there were two divine halos that were surrounding them.


    "He is able to divine harmony with his divine sword?!"


    "Not one divine sword but two divine swords at the same time. Is it even possible at all?"


    "He has two saint grade divine swords?!"


    Everyone was stunned at the sight of Lu Qingyun''s two divine swords.


    Even Saint Wu Lei was startled but he had already attacked halfway therefore this Lu Yun must still die today!


    In the entire history of the Nine Celestial Fraternity, there were no fifth realm golden celestials that could kill a seventh realm saint in a one to one fight.


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun''s profound aura had suddenly shifted and it had exploded into an outburst, startling all the onlookers. It was because Lu Qingyun''s profound aura had suddenly increased from the fifth realm level to the sixth realm level now in full visibility of everyone as he broke through the limitations of his fifth realm level.


    This stunned all the onlookers; did they see him completing a full realm breakthrough right in front of them and it was completed in barely a blink of an eye?!


    Was such a thing even possible in the first place?


    Actually Lu Qingyun potential was actually much higher than anyone was seeing now and given the right condition, he could breakthrough to the seventh realm level at a moment notice.


    But now because Lu Qingyun was suddenly attacked by such a powerful opponent, his instinct immediately took over from him to resist the incoming attack.


    Only a sixth realm golden supremacy could successful use a spirit entity to its fullest potential. After Lu Qingyun had fully divine harmonized with both his divine swords during the battle with the eighth rank Emperor Tyrant, he had already fulfilled all the sixth realm conditions for a breakthrough.


    The sixth realm level, also called the spirit level was hard to breakthrough for many fifth realm golden celestials.


    While the fifth realm energy level could be easily understood by most of the cultivators, the spirit level was on another cultivation level that was extremely difficult to grasp.


    But not to Lu Qingyun. It was because through the constant exposure with Yan''Er and the recent divine harmony with her, he had long grasped the spirit level. But he lacked for a breakthrough was a state of divinity to trigger his breakthrough.


    There must be a strong will for a breakthrough and a state of divinity must be established for a breakthrough.


    And when Saint Wu Lei had attacked Lu Qingyun, the state of divinity was quickly formed instinctively.


    Five small bursts and one major burst would be seen in the blink of an eye from Lu Qingyun''s profound aura when the breakthrough was completed.


    Lu Qingyun had breakthrough from the fifth realm lower tier, middle tier, upper tier to the sixth realm lower tier, middle-tier and upper tier in the blink of an eye. That was the indication that his profound aura was now showing to everyone!


    Saint Wu Lei was stunned by what he saw and he was even more startled when Lu Qingyun had cut him down in mid-air with his two divine swords.


    It was a clean kill.


    Everyone was stunned by the scene and was staring in disbelief that a saint was killed in such an easy manner. But seeing is believing. After all, saint grade divine swords could easily triple the profound power of a cultivator.


    In the hands of a sixth realm expert, a saint grade divine sword was equivalent to the deadly strike of a great saint. Moreover there were two saint grade divine swords in this Lu Yun''s hands.


    Many of the golden celestials were stammering, "He¡­he¡­has breakthrough six times¡­is this even possible¡­"


    Each time a breakthrough occurred; vast reservoirs of the cultivator''s inner spiritual sea had to be consumed. Therefore it was not possible for someone to breakthrough six times in a row!


    But they were not Lu Qingyun and they had no idea how unfathomable Lu Qingyun''s inner spiritual sea was now, especially after he had spent a ''year'' inside the Endless Abyssal Sea.


    The three divine rulers were now staring blankly at Lu Qingyun and they were all thinking of the same thing. "Did we just choose a monster to be our alliance leader instead?"


    But to Lu Qingyun, he was muttering sadly. "So I''ve just killed another now¡­I told you not to provoke me today¡­"


    He, together with Yan''Er and Xingxin were one body that was in one harmony. They had all decided that Liang Tiege and Wu Lei both deserved to die.

 227 Messy Aftermath 2

    In the secret location in the mountains was the camp of the Devil Goddess;


    The tent of the Devil Goddess;


    Fan Yuqing was grasping her wounds weakly as cold sweat perspired from her forehead. Surrounding her were Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng, Ye Jing and Yue Lingxi.


    Feng Minyue said quietly, "This is the best paste for wounds in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. I will advise sister saintess not to exert yourself lest your wounds re-opened. This will take at least a month to get rid of the lethal profound energies of the divine sword that is in your wounds. Until then, you will be in this weaken state. Even exercising your profound strength may cause your wounds to re-open. You''re now a mere mortal now."


    Xuan Danfeng exclaimed out coldly, "I want to kill this Lu Qingyun now! He has actually used the divine sword that our sister saintess had given to him to wound her. This is too ridiculous!"


    Yue Lingxi said quietly, "If you''re not wearing the Sky Heaven Lithe, your wounds will be much deeper. To think that even the Sky Heaven Lithe offers little protection against a saintly divine sword."


    Ye Jing sighed softly, "He is so different from the last time¡­"


    Fan Yuqing chuckled weakly, "You''re all wrong about him. Did you see that he only taking aim on my non-vitals?"


    Xuan Danfeng interrupted, "One more inch and all the non-vitals will become vitals. I can''t believe that you can still defend him. It is better for you to find another man. You need to break up with him for sure."


    Feng Minyue nodded, "He knows who you are now and he can still bear to bring his sword onto you. Didn''t you say that his lofty ambition is to deliver the Nine Celestial Fraternity from the dark terror of the Devil Goddess? This is the real him."


    Fan Yuqing smiled weakly, "But I''m really the Devil Goddess right? I can''t deny this fact. I didn''t want to evade his strike because I didn''t want to waste an opportunity to kill Saint Gao Tianshou. So it isn''t his fault. He did try to warn me¡­"


    Xuan Danfeng frowned softly, "Stop defending him anymore."


    Ye Jing, Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng: ¡­


    Fan Yuqing was trembling and there were tears in her eyes, "I have never forgotten how he had chosen to end his lofty existence for my sake. Do you know how long I''ve been waiting for him to reincarnate?"


    Then she added woefully, "So what if he had slashed me? I know that he did not mean it and that''s enough already. I can see the sorrows and the regrets that are in his eyes. I know it hurts him more than anything else."


    Everyone: ¡­


    Ye Jing said quietly, "He is not Dongfang Jun."


    Ye Jing: ¡­


    "You''re hopeless¡­" Ye Jing had turned around and she was trembling. "Don''t curse me when you regret it later."


    "I won''t¡­" Fan Yuqing said dreamily.


    "Up to you, junior sister."


    "Who''s the junior sister?" Fan Yuqing frowned lightly.


    But she was soon inhaling weakly with a weak smile, "We did get rid of Saint Gao Tianshou and his ambitious sons, am I right? From now on, there will be peace in the Nine Celestial Fraternity. We can finally retire to our hideout now and lead an ordinary life. Thank you everyone. Without all of you here, we can''t pull off this dangerous stunt off."


    Feng Minyue nodded, "We have to thank your other shadows that are in the camps of the righteous celestials too. Their acting is pretty good too."


    Xuan Danfeng nodded too, "If not, we won''t be able to even enter the main hall too and will just be wasting our precious profound strength before we even get to see Saint Gao Tianshou."


    All of a sudden there was a voice calling out from outside the tent, "Devil Goddess, you have a visitor. He says he is Zhou Dafu."


    Fan Yuqing giggled weakly, "What Zhou Dafu? He is Zhou Hai."


    Then she shouted, "Bring him in."


    When she had said that, everyone began to put on their masks.


    In a little while time, a masked man with a black hood had entered the tent.


    He was indeed Zhou Hai as he took off his mask, "Ah, my goddess! Are you seriously injured? That Lu Yun is too much! I almost want to expose him as that good-for-nothing cultivator Lu Qingyun! How can he do this to you?"


    Fan Yuqing said weakly, "I''m alright and I won''t die. So how are things on your side?"


    Zhou Hai said, "All the cultivators from the other three camps are now re-grouping in the Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches. The war has not ended yet."


    Then with a short hesitation, he said bitterly. "The three divine rulers have made Lu Qingyun as the alliance leader now."


    Fan Yuqing gasped softly, "Is this a joke?"


    Zhou Hai said solemnly, "He had killed Supremacy Liang Tiege and Saint Wu Lei with a single stroke of his sword. Not only that, he had breakthrough six times in a row to become an upper tier golden supremacy now."


    Everyone: ¡­


    "That''s not all. He actually has two saintly divine swords and he is able to divine harmony with both divine swords. I''m afraid that he may be the strongest golden celestial in the camp of the righteous celestial now."


    Everyone: ¡­


    Fan Yuqing was gasping, "He¡­has become so strong now?"


    "Two saint grade divine swords¡­" Yue Lingxi was gasping softly. "He has divine harmonized with two saintly divine swords?"


    Feng Minyue muttered softly, "Lu Qingyun is now the alliance leader¡­"


    "He had breakthrough six times in a row?!" Xuan Danfeng was stunned.


    Ye Jing was also gasping with shock, "Is it possible that he is even more dangerous than Saint Gao Tianshou?"


    Xuan Danfeng muttered, "We can still win him. We have so many great saintesses here. Let''s think of another plan first."


    Fan Yuqing lowered her glances, "We''re only lucky this time that Saint Gao Tianshou''s secret trump card does not work too well against us but he is going to be a different opponent."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "If we can lure him away from the other golden celestials, surely we can kick his ass. It doesn''t matter if he has two saint-step divine swords."


    Fan Yuqing was now shaking her head weakly.


    "The Divine Sword Jade Light has a great secret. It is able to divide itself into ten heaven-step divine swords and attack simultaneously. The sum of ten heaven-step divine swords is greater than any single saintly divine weapon. Once the owner is able to divine harmony with her, it is the single most powerful saint sword in the Celestial Fraternity."


    She added woefully, "Even if all of us join hands together, you will only be throwing away your lives. A saintly weapon will need another saintly weapon to neutralize."


    Yue Lingxi was also smiling bitterly, "The divine harmonized Horizon of the Heavens also contains one of the three strongest desolate forces in the universe. I am afraid that the Lu Qingyun that we know previously is now no longer the Lu Qingyun that we''ve known in the past. One saintly sword is more than enough for us to handle and moreover he has two."


    Fan Yuqing inhaled weakly before she said, "I happen to be divine harmony user of two saintly weapons too, the Primordial Heaven Chart and the Tranquil Flute. Maybe in this world, I am the only one that can restraint him."


    Yue Lingxi asked in a low voice, "Is he going to turn into¡­"


    Fan Yuqing shook her head, "I don''t know. I hope not¡­"

 228 New Initiatives

    Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches;


    In just a matter of days, the Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches was crowded with the thousands more cultivators as the cultivators from the other camps had quickly fled to this stronghold to regroup.


    As a matter of fact, the number of cultivators quickly tripled and even the ranks of the golden celestials quickly doubled.


    Right now the three divine rulers had just finished a meeting with all the leaders under their banner and were being updated of the current situation; although the three camps had been taken by surprise, most of the cultivators had managed to escape. However their losses of the spirit stones were heavy and without the precious spirit stones, they could only slowly cultivate back their lost profound strength.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong cursed the dark celestials, "May they choke on all the spirit stones that they have looted from us."


    "Although we have lost our camps but it is not a big loss. Sometimes it is better for us to fight together rather than splitting our forces thinly." Saint Linghu Fei said.


    Saintess Su Rushuang smiled, "Although we may have some losses but the losses on the dark celestials are just as bad. They may have taken our camps but it is merely a small victory and we have made them paid heavily. In short, it is a costly victory for them. If you consider the situation on our side now, we have managed to lure them all out and they are now forced to defend on three sides while we have a single point here that is totally unassailable."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong pondered for a short while before he nodded, "True, true. Moreover the Devil Goddess is now out of the fight. This will make things easier for us now."


    Saint Linghu smiled weakly, "Don''t forget that they still have four great saintesses fighting on their side."


    Saintess Su Rushuang was smiling, "While we have more than two hundred golden celestials regrouping here now. What can four mere great saintesses do? They can''t change the situation. We outnumber them."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong nodded, "Moreover our new alliance leader looks formidable."


    Saintess Su Rushuang smirked coldly, "Unfortunately he is also out. Of all times, he had to pick such a time for his breakthrough. We don''t have spare spirit stones to help him to restore his inner elixir sea. I can be generous enough to donate him some couple of hundreds of spirit stones but it won''t be enough."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong nodded, "This is so true. He says that he is going for a short cultivation retreat to stabilize his new cultivation foundation. But I think he won''t be able to come out so soon."


    Saintess Su Rushuang nodded, "By the time he has finished stabilizing his new cultivation foundation, it would be months already. Therefore we can simply ignore this good-for-nothing alliance leader for the time being¡­"


    Many of the golden celestials that were on Saintess Su Rushuang side had quickly raised their loud voices to drown her voice lest it was overheard by Lu Yun, their new alliance leader.


    It was indeed Lu Qingyun and he had entered the hall with Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng. As he entered through the hall, he said quietly. "I''ve heard that everyone is discussing on the plans to deal with the dark celestials today. Therefore I am thinking that I should be involved too. After all, I''m the alliance leader."


    Saintess Su Rushuang was looking a little flustered as she looked at him. "Indeed we are."


    Saintess Su Rushuang, Saint Linghu Fei and Saint Yuan Chenggong were actually looking at Lu Qingyun with a little shock. It was because Lu Qingyun seemed to be quite spirited as though he had regained his profound strength.


    But it was impossible for any cultivator to regain their profound strength in a matter of three days.


    So Saintess Su Rushuang chuckled with the intention of finding it out. "Alliance Leader Lu, we are so glad about you. Actually we want to ask you to attend this meeting but we are afraid to disturb your cultivation. You look really spirited today. I guess that it won''t be too long before you can recover your profound strength. Do you need any spirit stones from us?"


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "No need. I''ve already recovered my profound strength to the peak."


    When he had said that, the three divine rulers and all the golden celestials were all stunned. It was because it was clearly impossible to regain one''s profound strength to its peak after a breakthrough. Most realm breakthrough was extremely demanding and would drain almost all the cultivator''s reservoir of profound energies in their soul sea.


    *Note that soul sea/ inner cultivation sea/ elixir sea actually shared the same meaning


    Lu Qingyun really did not lie to them. He had really recovered his profound strength to his peak.


    Three days ago, immediately after he was proclaimed to be the alliance leader, he had announced that he would be in a cultivation retreat to regain his profound strength.


    Naturally, this was understandable as everyone here was a cultivator. After a breakthrough to a new realm, the cultivators would be at their weakest level and they would need to cultivate further to regain their profound strength. Most cultivators would usually take six months to a year to regain their profound strength but it was not unusual for some cultivators to take three years and even ten years to do so.


    But for a high level cultivator to regain his profound strength to the peak in a matter of just three days was too exaggerating!


    It was no wonder that all the high level cultivators in the hall were now staring with a doubtful look at Lu Qingyun.


    Lu Qingyun saw their looks of disbelief and he asked nonchalantly, "You don''t believe?"


    Three days earlier, when he was alone in the cultivation room, he had taken out hundreds of high grade spirit stones that he had taken from the flying citadel in the ancient celestial ruin. By cultivating and absorbing these high grade spirit stones, he would slowly regain his profound strength.


    But he had too many of these high grade spirit stones and his absorption was too slow. Therefore he asked Yan''Er and Xingxin to cultivate as well.


    Now because Yan''Er and Xingxin were both spirit entities, they could absorb at ten times the speed of any cultivator of their same level. Combined with Lu Qingyun who could also absorb three times as fast as any cultivator of his same level, their rates of absorption were actually 23 times faster than any cultivator of their same level.


    Now because they were using high grade spirit stones that could triple the absorption rate by three times more, their speed of absorption was actually 69 times faster than any cultivator of their same level.


    High grade spirit stones were 100 times more expensive than a normal spirit stone but it was highly valued by the high level cultivators for their breakthroughs and for regaining their profound strength. Even though the speed of absorption was only 2-3 times more but it was worth 100 times the value of a normal spirit stone because time was the equivalent to life and death for the cultivators.


    This was especially so during a life and death tribulation.


    If it was not for Lu Qingyun''s high grade spirit stones, Qian Jingjing''s breakthrough to her fifth realm golden celestial level would be much more risky.


    But 69 times the normal speed was still not enough for Lu Qingyun to completely regain his profound strength. It was because his reservoir of profound energies in his inner cultivation sea was really too vast.


    But luckily he had with him several fifth rank divine pills that could increase his rate of recovery by five times, upping his 69 times speed of recovery to 345 times. In just three days, he was cultivating at the astonishing speed of 1,035 times of any cultivator of his same level.


    In short, in just three days he had cultivated an equivalent to 34.5 months or 2.875 years.


    In just three days, a thousand high grade spirit stones were completely expended and a dozen of the fifth rank divine pills were also used!


    Saint Yuan Chenggong laughed when he had heard Lu Qingyun said, "You don''t believe?"


    "Naturally we believe Alliance Leader Lu. But isn''t it too hasty a recovery? We''re just worried if Alliance Leader Lu may feel unwell and may need a few more days of rest."


    Lu Qingyun returned a faint smile at him as he replied, "Thank you for Divine Ruler Saint Yuan''s concern for me. I''ve never been so good before. So this is the profound strength of a sixth realm golden supremacy? I feel that I can have another breakthrough to the sacred saint level anytime soon."


    Everyone: ¡­


    Everyone: ¡­


    Everyone: ¡­


    Everyone was secretly cursing Lu Qingyun in their hearts. It sounded like breakthrough was a piece of cake to him. Every breakthrough for the golden celestials was a life and death tribulation. There were many golden celestials that had perished during their attempt to breakthrough to a new realm.


    After getting a new lease of life, few golden celestials that had succeeded in their breakthroughs would want to attempt it again so soon. Why not enjoy the extended lifespan first that was brought about by the new breakthrough first?


    That was what most golden celestials would be thinking first.


    Moreover after each golden celestial breakthrough, it would take a long time to reach the peak of the new realm level. Lu Qingyun was the first that they had known to ever reach the upper tier sixth realm golden supremacy level after he had just breakthrough from the fifth realm cultivation level.


    Saint Linghu Fei saw that Saint Yuan Chenggong was rendered speechless by Lu Qingyun so he stepped in to say, "Our new Alliance Leader Lu really knows how to be humorous."


    Then he said gravely, "We''re actually discussing on a stratagem to deal with the dark celestials. Since Alliance Leader Lu is here now, why don''t we let Alliance Leader Lu gives a one or two hopeful suggestions instead?"


    Everyone was nodding but most of the nods and smiles were actually malicious. It was because none of them actually believed that Lu Qingyun had anything to offer. After all, he did not even have a power base to back him off.


    What everyone saw was that he was only a puppet of the three divine rulers who were using him as their scapegoat if things go south.


    Lu Qingyun inhaled softly before he said lightly, "We should have a peace talk with the dark celestials."


    When he had said that, everyone was laughing out loud.


    "Peace talks?"


    "Orthodox and unorthodox do not mix!"


    "Are we losing already? We have won 99 times and the dark celestials have only won just this once. And we are holding peace talks with them?"


    "If we do, then won''t the dark celestials think of us as a laughing stock?"


    "They may think that we''re afraid of them."


    "Peace talks? Too na?ve!"


    "We should attack them while the Devil Goddess is still severely wounded. Their morale must be low at this moment."


    "After we have bashed them hard then we talk about any peace talks."


    Saintess Su Rushuang gave Lu Qingyun a smile, "I''m sure that Alliance Leader Lu is able to see with your own eyes that this suggestion of yours isn''t garnering any support. Therefore I suggest we drop this impractical suggestion¡­"


    Lu Qingyun interrupted nonchalantly, "We will have a peace talk with the dark celestials, with the Devil Goddess herself. I will tell her that we will all go back peacefully to our divine realms and we will all be willing to bury the hatchet."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong had immediately stepped forward angrily, "Don''t forget that we have made you our alliance leader because we''ve thought that you will be the hero that can lead us to fight against the Devil Goddess. Now you''re talking about a peace talk?! Are you a spy for the Devil Goddess or what?"


    Saint Linghu Fei said with an ugly face, "We are now so close to wiping out the terror of the Devil Goddess forever. Without the Devil Goddess, the three dark divine realms will soon be broken up into three weaker divine realms. When that happens, true peace will reign in the Nine Celestial Fraternity and we will no longer live in the darkness of the Devil Goddess."


    Lu Qingyun asked quietly, "How many times have the Devil Goddess invaded the nine divine realms ever since she had united the three dark divine realm??"


    Everyone rolled their eyes and said nothing. They could not recall any¡­


    Saintess Su Rushuang smiled, "Just because she haven''t done so yet doesn''t mean she will not do so in the future. After all, uniting the three dark divine realms is just one of her first step. Sooner or later she will be targeting the other nine patriarch divine realms."


    Lu Qingyun said, "But she hasn''t yet, am I right?"


    "What if she doesn''t have the intention?"


    Then he added, "What if I can make her promise never to invade the nine patriarch divine realms?"


    Saintess Su Rushuang hummed coldly, "No one has ever succeeded in telling the Devil Goddess what to do. No one."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong nodded, "Or else she won''t be the Devil Goddess that is feared by all in the Nine Celestial Fraternity."


    Lu Qingyun asked, "If you don''t try then how do you know that it won''t work?"


    Saint Linghu Fei laughed coldly, "Don''t forget that we have killed so many of the dark celestials already. Even if we are willing, the dark celestials may not be willing¡­"


    Lu Qingyun interrupted, "Since we''re willing then we may as well give it a try first. Whether they''re willing or not, let adopt a wait and see approach."


    Saint Linghu Fei hummed coldly, "Hold it! We didn''t say that we''re allowing this. Who do you think you really are? Have you forgotten that we are the ones that have put you in this position? Listen up, we have been nice to you so far so don''t push your luck too far with us."


    Saintess Su Rushuang was also smirking coldly as she looked at Lu Qingyun, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing. "It is just the three of you versus the opinion of all of us here."


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "I am not alone here."


    He turned to nod gently at Tang Xuefeng.


    Tang Xuefeng looked up to him as she returned a faint smile before she loosened the braid that was on her head, "My real celestial name is Yun Xuefeng. My father is Yun Xinghe, the divine ruler of the Celestial Sword Clan."


    Everyone was suddenly gasping when ''Tang Feng'' had suddenly shed off her disguise.


    "What an astonishing beautiful maiden¡­"


    "She is really a great beauty¡­"


    "I already know that she isn''t a man. How can a man be this beautiful¡­"


    "Is she telling the truth?"


    Saintess Su Rushuang was laughing to and fro, "Do you believe that we will believe you?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong hummed, "Do you know what the consequences are for the imposters?"


    Saint Linghu Fei laughed, "Do you know that Saint Xinghe does not have a daughter or any heir?"


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled as she clapped her hands three times.


    All of a sudden two middle-age men had appeared in the entrance that was behind her.


    When everyone saw the two middle-men, they had all turned ashen immediately.


    It was because one was Great Saint Tang Yiren from the Celestial Sword Clan and the other was Great Saint Lin Wucheng from the Holy Ascension Sect. The two of them were not just from two of the biggest patriarch celestial clans but they were also great saints!


    "Saint Tang Yiren¡­"


    "Saint Lin Wucheng¡­"


    Everyone was greatly startled.


    Tang Xuefeng chuckled softly, "They are my god-fathers and naturally they will be able to prove my identity."


    Saint Linghu Fei was stammering, "I wonder what brings the two great saints here?"


    Tang Yiren laughed jovially, "Naturally it is because I am trying to see who is trying to bully my god-daughter and her future significant other."


    Tang Xuefeng held onto Lu Qingyun''s arm and laughed softly, "That''s right. So who is still against the peace talks?"


    Immediately all the other celestials kept quiet while the three divine rulers were all looking weakly at one another.


    Two great saints from two of the most powerful celestial clans were now backing their new Alliance Leader Lu.


    And an ''heiress'' of the powerful Celestial Sword Clan had suddenly emerged from nowhere.


    Saintess Su Rushuang was the first to speak, "Actually we can try the peace talk first. I never say that I am against it in the first place."


    Saint Linghu Fei was also laughing, "It is definitely worth trying first."


    Against the might of the two most powerful patriarch divine realms, their divine realms were just too puny to even compare against one of them. Therefore Saintess Rushuang, Saint Linghu Fei and the golden celestials that were under their banners had to humble themselves.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong was the divine ruler of one of the three most powerful patriarch celestial clans and naturally he was not afraid of provoking the Celestial Sword Clan and the Holy Ascension Sect.


    But if it was two major patriarch celestial clans then even his Divine Sovereign Clan would need to be tactful about it. Furthermore, his Divine Sovereign Clan did not even have a single great saint to support it.


    Therefore he could only smile bitterly and said, "Peace talks? Naturally we welcome one if it comes along."

 229 Prelude to Peace

    Fan Yuqing was startled to hear from the envoy of the orthodox cultivators that they had wanted a peace talk.


    "Is this a ruse?" She thought.


    "Then we shall meet Alliance Leader Lu in three days later at the Clarity Valley of the Melody. You can go now."


    She promptly dismissed the envoy and took off her mask and looked at Feng Minyue, Xuan Danfeng, Yue Lingxi and Ye Jing.


    "Do you think that this is an ambush?"


    Xuan Danfeng nodded, "It may be a possibility. We have just killed Saint Gao Tianshou and they may be pulling the same similar stunt on us. They know that they outnumber us and we have lost our element of surprise now."


    Fan Yuqing''s golden eyes looked a little dazed. Actually before they had received the envoy, they had all known from Zhou Hai and their other informants that Lu Qingyun was the one that had wanted the peace talks and he was met with much opposition.


    Feng Minyue looked at her and said quietly, "You don''t really care about the peace talks, am I right? You are just thinking that he is engaged to Yun Xuefeng now and you''re brooding because of that?"


    Fan Yuqing: ¡­


    They had an earlier discussion before the envoy had even come and yet Fan Yuqing was still asking them whether if the peace talk was actually a ruse. This only shows that she was not paying attention to their analysis at all.


    Her mind must have wandered away when she had heard that Lu Qingyun had suddenly been engaged to Yun Xuefeng and that was the reason why Fan Yuqing was looking lost now.


    They could understand her because she had only Lu Qingyun in her heart and she had often talked about ending this conflict quickly so that she would return to the Heavens Ridge Villa to see Lu Qingyun again.


    Fan Yuqing averted her eyes, "He must have hated me so much after he had known that I''m the Devil Goddess. It is impossible between the two of us now. And now he has even engaged to Yun Xuefeng. She is really a nice maiden. I like her as well."


    Yue Lingxi said, "Do you need me to go teach him a little lesson?"


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "I will go as well to give him a few slaps to wake him up."


    Ye Jing was frowning, "There are so many saints there now. Before you can even reach him, the two of you will be slaughtered by them first. Don''t forget that Great Saint Tang Yiren and Lin Wucheng have just arrived on their side."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled, "Ye Jing, why don''t you join us?"


    Ye Jing laughed softly, "Sorry, I value this worthless life of mine."


    "Lin Wucheng is actually on our side. Why are you afraid of?" Xuan Danfeng laughed.


    "This still doesn''t change the fact that we are courting our own deaths if we go there with just the few of us here." Ye Jing shrugged her shoulders.


    As a great saintess, she can fight 1-2 saints at the same time but Ye Jing was on a totally different league than her; she could fight 5-6 saints at the same time and could emerge almost unscathed. After all, Ye Jing was once a super villainess that had once rampage throughout the Nine Celestial Fraternity on her own.


    In a sense, Ye Jing was no less horrible than the Devil Goddess in her terror. The only difference between the two of them was that Ye Jing was endorsed by the Great Goddess Heaveness and all her crimes were forgiven and she had turned from a super villainess to a super heroine.


    Feng Minyue was frowning softly, "It seems that all of you have regained your profound strength already? Since you are all so free, why don''t you help to do some patrolling in the vicinity? I have noticed plenty of hostile activities in our vicinity lately. And that envoy earlier was followed by no less than ten golden celestials and they are secretly planting their arrays along the way. So why don''t you go and give these golden celestials a warning or two first?"


    Yue Lingxi coolly said, "I''m going back to my tent to cultivate first. I''ve lost more profound strength than anyone of you."


    Xuan Danfeng chuckled softly, "Actually I have not restored my profound strength to the peak yet."


    Ye Jing laughed lightly, "I was just warning them not to be hasty only. I need to cultivate my profound strength too or else we won''t be their match in time for the peace talk."


    Before Ye Jing had left the tent, she winked at Feng Minyue and Fan Yuqing. "Maybe it is time for the Nine Celestial Goddess to make her appearance."


    Fan Yuqing smiled gently as one by one, Ye Jing, Yue Lingxi and Xuan Danfeng had left the tent.


    There was only Feng Minyue now.


    Feng Minyue quietly asked her, "Sister Saintess Yuqing, what do you think of the peace talk?"


    Fan Yuqing smiled weakly, "It is not a peace talk. It is a duel to the death for either one of us."


    Feng Minyue sighed softly, "Must things go this way?"


    Fan Yuqing nodded lightly.


    Feng Minyue said quietly, "I will go and kill this Lu Qingyun first before that happens."


    Fan Yuqing said weakly, "If you do so then I will kill myself straight away."


    Feng Minyue: ¡­

 230 Peace or War

    Three days later in the Clarity Valley of the Melody;


    Today was the start of the peace talk and each side would be allowed to bring seven aides to accompany their leaders.


    The Devil Goddess was naturally accompanied by four of her golden shadows and three other shadows.


    Lu Qingyun as alliance leader was accompanied by the three divine rulers, Tang Xuefeng, Qian Jingjing, Saint Tang Yiren and Saint Lin Wucheng.


    Although it seemed that both sides had only just a few representatives but along the perimeter of the Clarity Valley of the Melody were thousands of cultivators in waiting.


    The righteous celestials were naturally backed by more than two hundred golden celestials and their presences were nerve racking to the dark celestials


    Due to the differences in the cultivation methods of the righteous and dark celestials, the progression of the righteous celestials tended to be slower than the dark celestials but because of the same reason, the numbers of higher level righteous celestials were actually more numerous than the dark celestials.


    Although the dark celestials had almost two hundred golden celestials on their side but the righteous celestials actually had more golden supremacies and saints.


    Lu Qingyun trembled a little when he saw the Devil Goddess as her group stood a good distance away; there was no need for both sides to be near as they could use their profound voice to communicate with great clarity. Moreover, their hearings were also just as good.


    He began to wonder, "Master¡­Keqin¡­no, I should call you Fan Yuqing from now on¡­I wonder how your wounds are?"


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing also had a light tremble when they noticed the change that was in his countenance.


    Fan Yuqing aka the Devil Goddess also had a shudder when she saw Lu Qingyun as she said silently, "Yun''Er, you are looking more and more heroic now. So we''re finally on the opposite side now."


    Then she took a quiet look at Tang Xuefeng. "Xuefeng, I wish you good luck with him. From now on, he is yours¡­"


    The Devil Goddess was the first to speak as she raised her voice, "So you''ve requested for a peace talk? Do you mean it? Why don''t you say your terms first?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded lightly before he said, "Both sides will retreat to their respective territories before the war starts. We will treat it as though nothing has happened."


    The Devil Goddess chuckled, "Are you sure you aren''t buying time for your supplies to reach you? Or you''re plotting something else?"


    Lu Qingyun replied, "No¡­"


    The Devil Goddess interrupted him, "No one will reveal their plans to the others. Even if you are doing despicable acts, you''re still the righteous celestials¡­"


    Lu Qingyun interrupted them. "This is between the Devil Goddess and I."


    Immediately the three divine rulers were all humming as they kept quiet.


    Saintess Su Rushuang could not resist a soft chuckle. "We are only trying to protect the honor of our alliance leader and did not mean to interrupt."


    The Devil Goddess hummed coldly before adding, "What about the celestial clans that you had destroyed? What about their lives that you had taken? Can they come back to life? How am I going to answer to all the celestials that are in my three divine realms? Do you think that it is going to be so easy to just retreat and treat as though nothing has happened?"


    Lu Qingyun sighed heavily, "Indeed no."


    The Devil Goddess nodded, "Yes indeed."


    Lu Qingyun forced himself to smile, "Both sides have lost many. It is pointless to continue. Since we have such a great feud, why don''t we use the traditional celestial way and have an honor duel with each other to end our feud? Win or lose, as long as one side perishes honorably then we shall all retreat to our respective divine realms and none shall intrude for the next one hundred years."


    The Devil Goddess replied coldly, "I am a little afraid that others may say that I am bullying you."


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "But you are injured so it is a fair duel."


    "So you are thinking of defeating me and killing this Devil Goddess that you so despise while I am wounded?"


    Lu Qingyun nodded slowly, "This is the best opportunity for me, don''t you agree?"


    The Devil Goddess returned a nod as she said nonchalantly, "I''m willing to give you such a chance. So we have the duel now?"


    When she had said that, all her golden shadows were gasping and they quickly whispered to her, "Don''t! You can''t fight now. This is too crazy. Your wounds will surely re-opened."


    The three divine rulers were all delighted that the Devil Goddess would actually accept a duel from Lu Qingyun. They actually did not know the details of the peace talk and had thought that Lu Qingyun would be only be a fool for trying to persuade the Devil Goddess.


    This was much better than they had expected!


    Today the Devil Goddess would perish in this very valley!


    They were all thinking, "The Devil Goddess did not know that our Alliance Leader Lu actually commanded two saint-step divine swords. With her current condition, she is only courting her own death!"


    Lu Qingyun shook his head, "We shall have our duel in a month time."


    When he had said that, all the divine rulers and the celestials from both sides were startled.


    Even the Devil Goddess appeared to be startled as she said, "You''re not afraid that I may recover in a month time?"


    Lu Qingyun said quietly, "Only then will the duel be honorable. I want to fight the peaked Devil Goddess."


    The Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "I have no reason to reject a proposal that is stacked to my advantage, right? Therefore I accept your honor challenge."


    All of a sudden Lu Qingyun had brandished his two saint-step divine swords and had thrust them in front of her. "I won''t be easy for you to beat now. I will suggest that you get yourself a better weapon to duel with me."


    The three divine rulers nearly spurted blood when they saw that their Alliance Leader Lu had just revealed his trump cards in front of the Devil Goddess.


    "Is he stupid or what?" They were cursing him silently.


    The Devil Goddess hummed coldly as she flashed her Primordial Heaven Chart into a blue divine sword, startling everyone with the presence of her divine sword.


    It was because the blue divine sword that she had just flashed was also a saint-step divine sword!


    Saint Yuan Chenggong and the other two divine rulers were all startled, "The Devil Goddess can use a sword?!"


    All of a sudden another white divine sword had also appeared in front of the blue divine sword and it was another saint-step divine sword!


    Fan Yuqing had transformed her Tranquil Flute to a saint-step white divine sword!


    "As you can see, I''ve two saintly divine swords too. Therefore are you regretting your decision now to give me a month''s grace?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled and said, "As expected from the Devil Goddess."


    With that, he had turned his back around.


    As he turned around, he was saying quietly to himself. "You will always be my master and my Keqin."


    Fan Yuqing stared blankly after him as she said silently, "You will always be my Yun''Er¡­"

 231 The Sixth Rank Divine Pill

    The three divine rulers had immediately confronted Lu Qingyun after the peace talk had ended.


    "Alliance Leader Lu! Do you know that you have just given up such a good opportunity to get rid of the Devil Goddess?" Saint Yuan Chenggong said angrily.


    Lu Qingyun returned a quiet smile, "I know."


    "You know? And you are giving her a month to recuperate her injuries?" Saint Yuan Chenggong could not believe what he was hearing.


    Lu Qingyun said, "I''ve the full confidence to defeat the Devil Goddess. But in the meantime I need one month of cultivation to prepare myself as well."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong asked him in disbelief, "You can win the peaked Devil Goddess one to one?"


    Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang returned a perplexed look at each other.


    Lu Qingyun nodded as he looked at everyone around him, "That''s right."


    Then he added, "On the contrary, if I challenge the Devil Goddess just now, I may not be able to win her."


    "Why is that so?" Saint Yuan Chenggong was frowning. He did not understand and he doubted anyone would also understand.


    Even Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing were looking at Lu Qingyun and they did not understand too.


    Lu Qingyun smiled before explaining, "Let me ask you all. Do you know who the real Devil Goddess is?"


    Everyone was suddenly startled by his question.


    "What do you mean?" Saint Tang Yiren asked on behalf of everyone.


    Lu Qingyun said, "No one has really seen the face of the Devil Goddess. She has four other golden shadows on the same level as her. How do you know which one is truly the Devil Goddess?"


    When he had said that, everyone was startled and was looking at one another.


    "I may or may not have injured the real Devil Goddess. I may even be fighting against her substitute." Lu Qingyun pointed out.


    "I need to assure that I am fighting the real Devil Goddess and that is why I''m giving her a month to recuperate. That one month isn''t for her but for me to prepare myself fully. Got it?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong muttered, "Now this makes a little sense¡­"


    Lu Qingyun said, "Prepare an alchemy chamber for me. I''m going to concoct a powerful divine pill for my upcoming duel."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong laughed, "We have many alchemists in our ranks. Just let us know what alchemy pills you''re intending to concoct and we can simply give them the orders. There is no need for our Alliance Leader Lu to concoct it yourself."


    Lu Qingyun asked coldly, "Do they know how to prepare a sixth rank divine pill? Because that is my intention."


    When Saint Yuan Chenggong and all the others heard Lu Qingyun, they were greatly shocked. It was because in their knowledge, there was no alchemist that could concoct a sixth rank divine pill in the current fraternity. Maybe in the past yes but not anymore now.


    Was he joking with them?


    Saint Yuan Chenggong laughed, "I didn''t know that Alliance Leader Lu is actually also an alchemist. Maybe I can get a few alchemists to aid you instead."


    Lu Qingyun replied nonchalantly, "No need. I don''t wish to share my alchemy secrets. Don''t you know that it is rude to pry into someone''s alchemy secrets?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong: ¡­


    "Indeed, indeed." He replied weakly to Lu Qingyun.


    Saintess Su Rushuang smiled, "Sixth rank divine pills are all miracle divine pills. May I know what divine pills will you be concocting? Do you need any rare spirit herbs? Just let us know and we will try our best to gather for you."


    She was only pretending to be helpful and was tactful in her choice of her words. She did not believe that Lu Qingyun would succeed in concocting any sixth rank divine pills. It was because even a fifth rank divine pill would take years to concoct and moreover he was trying to concoct a sixth rank divine pill.


    Lu Qingyun replied, "I will be trying to concoct two sixth rank divine pills. One for aiding me for a breakthrough to the seventh realm sacred saint level and the other is a sixth rank rejuvenation pill for healing and recovery."


    When everyone heard him, they were stunned.


    A seventh realm sacred saint breakthrough pill was extremely precious and he was concocting one to make a breakthrough himself?


    Was he joking with them?


    It was like the dream pill of many golden celestials that had not attained to the seventh realm level yet. It was not unheard of but it was extremely difficult to obtain especially when the ancient alchemists were not around anymore.


    Then Lu Qingyun said, "If there is nothing else then I shall take my leave first."


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing had immediately followed after him.


    When they were alone, Qian Jingjing asked. "Brother Qingyun, you''re making a sixth rank divine pill? Is it even possible?"


    She knew that her Brother Qingyun was an alchemist but she did not know that he was such a high ranking alchemist.


    Lu Qingyun smiled as he nodded lightly, "Thanks to Xuefeng, I have some new inspirations that I think I may be able to try. Moreover I have all the necessary regents now for the attempt."


    Tang Xuefeng was looking at him with an astonishing look. It was because she did not know that Lu Qingyun was actually such a high level alchemist. It was no wonder he had been so curious to ask him about the alchemy methods that she had invented.


    But there was something that had bugged her till now so she asked quietly, "Brother Qingyun, you know the Devil Goddess?"


    Even Qian Jingjing was looking at him curiously. "Earlier, my legs are shaking when I saw the Devil Goddess. But Brother Qingyun, how did you manage to remain so calm in front of her?"


    Tang Xuefeng added quietly, "She seems polite toward you unlike to the others."


    Lu Qingyun returned a faint smile to them before he walked off with a heavy heart. "Xuefeng, Jingjing. Sorry¡­if you know what I will be doing, you will surely stop me¡­"


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing could tell that their Brother Qingyun seemed to be weighed down but he was also not sharing any of his troubles with them.


    As a matter of fact, he had been keeping very quiet to himself.


    They could not help but felt anxious for him.


    Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing had never seen him like this before.

 232 Concocting the Impossible 1

    The first day that Lu Qingyun had entered the alchemy chamber, there was a thunderous explosion that shook the protective arrays around it.


    It startled all the nearby cultivators and quite a few of the cultivators began to rush to the alchemy tower that Lu Qingyun was at to have a look.


    But they were all stopped by Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng who were meditating outside his alchemy chamber.


    Tang Xuefeng merely told them, "It is alright. It is normal."


    And then she had turned away all the cultivators.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong was mocking Lu Qingyun in front of the other two divine rulers, "He says he is concocting a sixth rank divine pill? What a joke. Does he even know how hard it is to concoct a single fourth rank divine pill? Fifth rank divine pills are already considered miracle pills. Sixth rank divine pills are all mystical pills that are extremely difficult to produce. Even the alchemists of legends can only produce one or two sixth rank divine pills in their entire lifetime."


    Saint Linghu Fei nodded, "What an arrogant fellow. Let''s see what he can produce in a month time then. We shall spread the news that he is concocting a sixth rank divine pill. When he fails to produce one then he will be a laughing stock in front of all everyone."


    Saintess Su Rushuang returned a weak smile at them, "I think maybe we should have a little faith in him."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong was frowning, "You are chickening out of our secret triple alliance?"


    Saintess Su Rushuang stared blankly for a while before she said quietly, "Saint Gao Tianshou is already dead. We have never thought that the Devil Goddess will be so daring as to confront him in front of so many of us. Maybe we should really consider a peace talk with the Devil Goddess¡­"


    Saint Linghu Fei interrupted, "This is all heretic talks! We have all come so late to this point to give up. What about the heroic sacrifices of the many celestials under our banners? We cannot allow their blood to be shed in vain!"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong raised his finger up as he said coolly, "Brother Fei here has a point here. We are already so close to getting rid of the Devil Goddess and leaving our names in the celestial canons. We cannot give up now."


    Saintess Su Rushuang asked, "But they have agreed to have an honorable duel and news of this duel has spread by now. One side will die and everyone must agree to abide by the honor of this ancient tradition. If we do anything dishonorable to this ancient celestial tradition, we will not only be a laughing stock but we will even lose our positions in our divine realm."


    She paused to add quietly. "We will be targets of all the dissentions and the hundreds of celestial clans from all over the Nine Celestial Fraternity. My celestial clan cannot afford to take this risk."


    Then he said with great righteousness, "If the honorable duel is carried out immediately and we have won, I have nothing more to say. But this Alliance Leader Lu has insisted on delaying the duel so that the Devil Goddess will be able to recover from her injuries. Isn''t this asking for trouble and isn''t this as good as conceding the victory to the dark celestials?"


    Saint Linghu Fei nodded, "I totally agree with Brother Chenggong here."


    Saintess Su Rushuang stammered, "We¡­we will lose?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong returned a nod. "Isn''t that obvious?"


    Saintess Su Rushuang asked, "Any proof?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong smiled coldly, "Do we need proof? A sixth realm supremacy against a great saintess like the Devil Goddess. Isn''t victory already certain on the side of the dark celestials?"


    Saintess Su Rushuang shook her head, "I don''t believe. He is now engaged to the heiress of the Celestial Sword Clan. He will lose everything."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong hummed coldly, "You have better believed me. Our best course of action is to¡­:


    He began to whisper in a low, low voice¡­


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Lu Qingyun was frowning in the alchemy chamber.


    It was because he had blown up the alchemy furnace.


    "The quality of this furnace is so poor?!" He was astonished. "How am I going to concoct my pills then?"


    Then he had suddenly remembered he had a divine cauldron that he had taken from the ancient celestial ruin. "I shall use that then."


    "Xingxin, will you get me that divine cauldron?"


    Immediately, Xingxin had displayed a large silver cauldron in front of him and it had landed resounding on the floor; it was extremely heavy.


    But luckily the entire alchemy chamber was actually sound proof as long as the protect arrays were still in place.


    Tang Xuefeng had helped him to create a new and better protective array after the explosion on the first day. For that, he was extremely grateful.


    He began to sigh deeply, "I can''t believe that the materials here are so poor here. Even the protective arrays are only sub-par. Luckily Xuefeng is around."


    "Xingxin, do we have another cauldron? I need one more to concoct another type of divine pill."


    Xingxin immediately replied delightfully, "Yes we have one more!"


    Immediately she had displayed a large golden cauldron.


    When Lu Qingyun saw the golden cauldron, he began to frown lightly. "How come I don''t remember seeing this cauldron at all?"


    Xingxin chuckled, "That is because there are too many profound treasures for master to notice that day. I saw that master is particularly interested in the spirit herbs and the profound pills therefore I take the initiative to squeeze in this cauldron. I never thought that master will actually be using it today."


    Lu Qingyun laughed. "Luckily you did."


    Then he turned to Yan''Er and Xingxin with a solemn expression. "Yan''Er, I want you to help me with the golden cauldron and Xingxin, I want you to help me with the silver cauldron. I''m going to try to concoct two sixth rank divine pills. Now, this won''t be easy and I need your spiritual fire to help me."


    Yan''Er clapped her hands delightfully, "Yan''Er is super happy to help master!"


    Xingxin was nodded gently, "I love to help master too."


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply, "We have only less than a month to finish the two divine pills. Usually that will take ten years but we will be doing it in two weeks instead. In order to accomplish this impossible task, we need very strong fires."


    He began to sigh with a bitter smile, "And naturally the strongest fire in the Three Known Realm is my Great Annihilating Fire."


    His thoughts had quickly returned to Qin Keqin while he was saying that, "Keqin, trust me. Your Yun''Er will never hurt you again. Let me atone for all my mistakes."

 233 Concocting the Impossible 2

    Citadel City of the Lofty Sky Reaches;


    Three weeks after Lu Qingyun had entered the alchemy tower and there were suddenly two auspicious halos in the heavens.


    Everyone was marveled at the sights of these two celestial omens and they knew that a heaven-defying breakthrough had happened.


    It was because in the Celestial Realm, heaven-defying achievements were always accompanied by auspicious omens.


    "Someone had a breakthrough to the saint level?"


    "Maybe. We''ve so many golden celestials here."


    "Look! The auspicious omens are now casting a ray of light onto the black tower over there¡­"


    "Isn''t that the alchemy tower?"


    "There are two rays of light on that tower¡­"


    "Does it mean that two heaven-defying breakthroughs have been accomplished?"


    "The alchemy tower? Isn''t that where Alliance Leader Lu is current at?"


    "Everyone knows that he is trying to concoct two sixth rank divine pills¡­"


    "You mean he is not joking with us?"


    "I didn''t know that Alliance Leader Lu is actually a high ranking alchemist¡­"


    "He isn''t just a high ranking alchemist. If he can concoct two sixth rank divine pills then he is a genius alchemist and there is probably no one that is near to his alchemist skills."


    "Two sixth rank divine pills in three weeks?!"


    It was not just the celestials that were all excited to see the auspicious omens.


    All of a sudden, dozens of high level alchemists were also rushing to the alchemy tower. They had to see with their own eyes!


    If Lu Qingyun was able to concoct even a single sixth rank divine pill, then he was the God of Alchemy in their eyes!


    "Sixth rank divine pills can only be obtained through the dangerous trials in the Empyrean Warrior Labyrinth or bestow by the immortal cultivators¡­"


    "The past genius alchemists of old are able to concoct one but not in our present age¡­"


    "This Alliance Leader Lu is really the genius among the geniuses¡­"


    Even the three divine rulers were startled to see the auspicious omens and were startled that Lu Qingyun had actually succeeded in concocting not one but two.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong was blinking his eyes as he looked at Saint Linghu Fei and Saintess Su Rushuang, "Can someone please tell me again what are the two sixth rank divine pills that he is concocting?"


    Unknown to everyone, Lu Qingyun was actually sighing to himself. It was because he had hoped to concoct the two sixth rank divine pills in two weeks but he had actually taken three weeks. It was because he had to make constant adjustments on an hourly basis instead of in a daily basis.


    He had expended half of his profound strength and he was now looking very pale.


    Yan''Er said anxiously, "Master, your soul sea is only half its peak. Are you sure?"


    Xingxin agreed, "The seventh realm sacred saint level will surely dissipate all your profound energies. To attempt at half-peak is a little risky."


    Lu Qingyun returned a soft sigh, "That will mean using up our remaining spirit stones to regain my profound strength. I will rather that we use the remaining spirit stones for my sacred saint breakthrough."


    Yan''Er asked, "Why don''t we ask the three divine rulers for more spirit stones? Didn''t they offer to aid us some time ago?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled bitterly, "They''re only pretending to offer us aid. Even if they are willing to give us the spirit stones, it will not be the high grade spirit stones. Therefore it is pointless. I will rather that we focus all our efforts into extracting and absorbing the high grade spirit stones rather than be distracted by the lower grade spirit stones."


    Xingxin asked, "We let Big Sisters Xuefeng and Jingjing know? They''re just outside now."


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Actually they have just a few only. Let them keep their spirit stones as a reserve. We shall take the gambit ourselves."


    Then he gave Yan''Er and Xingxin a warm smile, "Are you afraid?"


    Yan''Er and Xingxin shouted loudly in his soul sea, "Master, we are not afraid!"


    "Good!"


    Lu Qingyun looked at the two sixth rank divine pills that he had just successful concocted.


    One was the Sacred Saint Profound Pill that could temporary elevate his state of divinity to the peak so that he could attempt for a breakthrough to the seventh rank sacred saint level.


    The other one was the Life-Giver Profound Pill that his old master had often dreamed of concocting.


    "Old master, I''ve finally succeeded in fulfilling your dream now. I''ve made some minor adjustments but your theory is right. This is the life giving divine pill that you have often talked about. This is a divine pill that can revive even the dead¡­"


    Yan''Er asked him, "Master, if we don''t succeed then are you taking the other divine pill?"


    Xingxin had the same curious look as well, "Is that why you''re making two divine pills?"


    Lu Qingyun returned a warm smile to them, "No. This Life-Giver Profound Pill is for Big Sister Keqin. Should I perish in the breakthrough attempt, I want Yan''Er and Xingxin to use your very last profound strength to send it to her. I repeat, do not attempt to give it to me."


    Yan''Er sighed melancholy, "If master perishes then we will all be gone in a matter of minutes."


    Lu Qingyun nodded, "Therefore I want you to use these precious minutes to deliver this Life-Giver Profound Pill to her."


    As he said that, he had taken out a transmission stone. "Use this transmission array to get her location and to send the Life-Giver Profound Pill to her."


    Yan''Er said bitterly, "May we never have the chance to use it!"


    Lu Qingyun smiled, "Are you all ready now?"


    Yan''Er and Xingxin shouted at the same time, "Ready!"

 234 7th Realm Sacred Saint Level

    These were the common rules when attempting for a breakthrough and most celestials would religiously follow it;


    One, the heart must first be calmed.


    Two, never attempt a breakthrough when you are injured especially when suffering from internal injuries.


    Three, find a quiet place with high purity of spiritual force.


    Four, obtain a divine sword, the higher grade the better to act as a soul link to bolster up the cultivator elixir inner sea. There was a higher chance if the cultivator was able to divine harmonize with the divine sword.


    Five, prepare as many high grade soul jewels for emergency uses.


    Six, ready as many celestial treasures as possible that can aid your chances.


    Seven, pray for the blessing of the heavens.


    The Sacred Saint Profound Pill that Lu Qingyun had created was very similar to the Rainbow Saint Pill that could be used to aid a sacred saint level breakthrough. The only difference was that his was not rainbow hue in texture.


    Moreover, the one that he had created may not be useful to most celestials other than himself. It was because it was created using his annihilating fire and was more unstable in nature.


    But regardless, it had the same divine properties of expanding the celestial practitioner''s spiritual boundaries temporary, making an attempt at breakthrough possible.


    In order to attempt for a sacred saint breakthrough, the practitioner''s spiritual boundaries must be a peaked sixth realm golden supremacy first.


    There were two ways that a breakthrough attempt could occur.


    One was that it occurred naturally when the celestial practitioner had attained to an awakening state of divinity that allowed the practitioner to grasp the spiritual boundaries of the sacred saint level.


    Two was that the celestial practitioner could find a way to forcefully expand their peaked spiritual boundaries for it to occur.


    Lu Qingyun was now a peaked sixth realm golden supremacy and he was now taking the second option.


    After taking the Sacred Saint Profound Pill, he began to close his eyes for a deep meditation and focused on his soul sea to will his breakthrough.


    His soul sea was now boiling in a great diaspora of spiritual energies as it sought to expand beyond its spiritual boundaries, caused by the effect of the Sacred Saint Profound Pill.


    In a few moments, Lu Qingyun would be facing his life and death tribulation soon.


    In his soul sea, Yan''Er and Xingxin were both hovering restlessly around the phantasm soul of Lu Qingyun and they were extremely anxious.


    All of a sudden from the heavens of the soul sea, a dark storm had descended!


    This dark storm had the shape of a colossus head and two wicked claws.


    Lu Qingyun opened his eyes as he stood above the restless spiritual waters of his soul sea. "The Divine Tribulation has come!"


    The Divine Tribulation would come whenever a celestial practitioner attempted a heaven-defying breakthrough to a new realm. This would occur during the fifth, sixth and seventh realm level breakthrough.


    The celestials had another name for the Divine Tribulation and it was also called the Life and Death Tribulation.


    It was because failure would kill the celestial practitioner and success would transform the celestial body of the celestial practitioner toward an immortal body at its most final stage.


    At the fifth realm level, the celestial practitioner would be a half-step immortal. At this realm, they would gain their first golden body and would no longer age. In fact, their regeneration abilities would be rapid and even be visible to the eyes. They would then be known as the golden celestials.


    At the sixth realm level, this was the soul level. The profound strength of the golden celestial would expand beyond the soul sea and their animus and soul would be enhanced greatly, causing their profound aura, profound defenses and profound power to be greatly enhanced.


    The difference between a fifth realm and a sixth realm golden celestial was so great that most would consider a sixth realm golden celestial closer to the seventh realm level than a peaked fifth realm level.


    At the seventh realm level, the golden celestial would reach the spirit level. Their divine sense would be greatly enhanced and all aspects of their profound abilities would improve another notch. It was also way harder to kill a Saint level cultivator as their divine senses were so acute that they all had uncanny reflexes to evade any attack.


    Now Lu Qingyun was attempting for his seventh level breakthrough.


    This was actually his first life and death tribulation because he could not remember having facing the previous two attempts before.


    Therefore he was a little nervous.


    It was only now that he could read Yan''Er memories and had realized that she had taken the fifth realm divine tribulation for him.


    "Yan''Er, thank you." He said gratefully.


    Because he was now a half-step to the spirit level when the spiritual boundaries of his soul sea had temporary expanded from the sixth to seventh realm boundaries, Lu Qingyun was now aware that it were the combined soul strength of Yan''Er and Xingye that had aided him to overcome the sixth realm level without even a single hassle.


    For that he was also extremely grateful and he was now muttering. "Thank you Yan''Er, Xingxin. You are all my goddesses."


    But now he had to battle the Divine Calamity that was taking the shape of a monstrous phantom and was now descending rapidly upon him.


    Some Golden Supremacies were known to have lost their spirit entities fighting the Divine Calamity. It was not just a battle between the celestial practitioner and the divine calamity but also one that included their spiritual entities.


    But Lu Qingyun was not prepared to allow his two spirit entities to take any risks. Therefore he extended his annihilating fire profound aura to envelop over to Yan''Er and Xingxin.


    It was then that the Divine Calamity had completely descended, raining its shadow form onto Lu Qingyun.


    This shadow form was actually consisted of a million phantoms!


    From afar, it was as though they were a gigantic phantom.


    Lu Qingyun could feel that his soul body was now being consumed by the Divine Calamity as tens of thousands of phantoms began to pass through to him.


    He willed all his fortitude to resist the Divine Calamity and used the divine swords that were in his hands to banish the dark shades of the Divine Calamity as much as possible. Every dark shade that was banished was one less pain for him.


    Yan''Er and Xingxin were also aiding him to banish as many dark shades as they could.


    "Master!" They were both calling panicky to him. "You should withdraw your profound aura to protect yourself. Your profound strength is weakening rapidly."


    Lu Qingyun smiled gently as he struggled weakly, "It is alright. I don''t have intention to fail."


    If he could overcome to the sacred saint level then it would mean that he was worthy of his Keqin and he did not let her down.


    "I love you, Keqin¡­"


    He found renew strength in his solace for his Keqin.


    With a mighty shout, he gathered all the profound energies in his soul sea to form his profound strength once again. "I¡­must¡­not¡­fail¡­."


    ¨C


    ¨C


    ¨C


    Time passed and all of a sudden the alchemy tower had a golden auspicious cloud just a few hours after the earlier two auspicious omens were seen.


    Everyone was startled.


    "There is another auspicious omen again?!"


    "This one is a golden halo¡­"


    "Someone has breakthrough to the seventh realm sacred saint level?"


    "This one has come from the alchemy tower too¡­"


    "Is it our Alliance Leader Lu?"


    "It is impossible right? He only just had a breakthrough to the sixth realm level not long ago. Therefore it isn''t him."


    "Alliance Leader Lu has just become a golden supremacy. He needs time to cement the foundation of his soul sea first¡­"


    "I''ve heard that he has regained his profound strength¡­"


    "He isn''t a half-step golden supremacy but a full golden supremacy now¡­"


    "Even if he can regain his profound strength, it is impossible to be him. I''m afraid that he is 300 years earlier¡­haha¡­"


    "I also think so that it is not our Alliance Leader Lu¡­"


    "Maybe it is an elderly alchemist in the alchemy tower¡­"


    "Yes, we agree¡­"


    The three divine rulers were startled and they were all looking at one another now.


    Saint Yuan Chenggong had a perplexed look as he said to the other two divine rulers, "Surely it isn''t him, am I right? This speed is clearly impossible."


    Saint Linghu Fei smiled bitterly, "It must be a pure coincidence. It is clearly impossible for this to happen. Remember, he has not even been a golden supremacy for a month yet. Therefore we can rule him out completely."


    Saintess Su Rushuang was smiling weakly, "He did say that he is concocting a sixth rank divine pill that is used for a seventh realm sacred saint breakthrough. From what I can see, he seems to have succeeded already. And¡­"


    She began to look at the direction of the alchemy tower from the towering windows of the inner palace that they were at, "And it seems that he had taken the pill and has now succeeded in his breakthrough now."


    All of a sudden there were thunderous wildfire shouts everywhere in the city.


    Everyone was shouting wildly, "It is really Alliance Leader Lu!"


    "He is a saint now!"


    "Alliance Leader is a Saint now!"


    There was no need for any messengers because everyone was shouting at the same time.


    When Lu Qingyun had emerged from the alchemy tower with Qian Jingjing and Tang Xuefeng, everyone could see his golden profound aura that marked him as a saint that had still not faded away.


    With a mere few minutes, the news that Lu Qingyun was now a seventh realm golden saint had spread like wildfire!


    Saint Yuan Chenggong was startled when he had heard the shouts. He was stammering, "He has really become a saint?!"


    Saint Linghu Fei was smiling even more bitterly, "This isn''t a joke, right?"


    Saintess Su Rushuang hummed coldly at them, "I told you so. It seems that we have all underestimated this Alliance Leader Lu of ours and we ought to have a new evaluation of him."

 235 Prelude to the Honor Duel

    Today was the day that Alliance Leader Lu Yun was supposed to duel with the Devil Goddess at the Clarity Valley of Melody.


    Almost all the celestial cultivators from both sides had gathered at the perimeter as they could not be allowed to enter the valley to observe the duel.


    However both sides were allowed to pick seven representatives to observe the duel and be witnesses.


    Lu Qingyun''s side had picked the same seven representatives that were selected for the peace talk a month ago. They were Tang Xuefeng, Qian Jingjing, the three divine rulers, Saint Tang Yiren and Saint Lin Wucheng.


    The Devil Goddess had her usual pick too; four golden shadows and three shadows. However since no one could see their appearances, they did not know whether they were all the same person.


    Under the rules of the honor duel, the witnesses had to stay five miles away from the duelists.


    This was not actually far as most of the witnesses had excellent eye sight and could reach the duelists in a few short blinks of an eye.


    Saintess Su Rushuang smiled to Lu Qingyun, "Alliance Leader Lu, may your victory be swift and fortune accompanies you."


    Lu Qingyun returned a faint smile, "Thank you."


    As Lu Qingyun walked to the epicenter of the duel location, Tang Xuefeng gasped softly. "Brother Qingyun, please be careful. I hope that you can win."


    Qian Jingjing was nodding tearfully, "You must win and come back to us alive. Please."


    Lu Qingyun inhaled deeply as he took a last look at the two maidens before he said. "I''ll try."


    Saint Yuan Chenggong shouted behind Lu Qingyun, "Alliance Leader Lu, we are behind your back."


    But he was secretly cursing, "I hope that both the Devil Goddess and you can perish together. That will be the best outcome that can happen."


    As he said that, he returned a cunning glance to Saint Linghu Fei. If this Alliance Leader Lu wins then they would not take any action. But if he had lost, the golden celestials behind them would quickly attack to overwhelm the Devil Goddess.


    No matter what happened today, they would not allow the Devil Goddess to escape from this valley.


    They had secretly calculated that this duel would have snapped most of the profound strength of the Devil Goddess. Therefore this was their best chance of attacking the Devil Goddess.


    And of course there were two saint-step divine swords for the pickings too and they were determined to obtain it.


    They did not discuss with Saintess Su Rushuang about this plan of theirs as they saw that she was now hesitating.


    Saint Tang Yiren sighed softly, "This Alliance Leader Lu is a hero. Let''s hope that he can win this duel."


    Tang Xuefeng averted her eyes quietly, "If he perish, I don''t wish to live as well."


    Saint Tang Yiren: ¡­


    Saint Tang Yiren rebuked them, "The two of you! Alas! Stupid! Foolish!"


    Saint Lin Wucheng was smiling bitterly. It was because he was a shadow of the Devil Goddess and naturally he would be supporting her. But this Alliance Leader Lu seemed like a righteous fellow and he was beginning to like him.


    In fact most of the righteous celestials were now proclaiming Alliance Leader Lu as the next greatest hero after Saint Gao Tianshou.


    He was not only the youngest saint now and had two saintly divine swords but he had also created three auspicious omens on the same day as well.


    The morale on the righteous celestials'' side was naturally high because of the feats that were performed by their Alliance Leader Lu.


    As Lu Qingyun walked over to the Devil Goddess, he was greeted by her soft chuckle. "I see that Alliance Leader Lu have two maidens that are pinning for you and you can''t bear to die yet."


    Lu Qingyun sighed, "Indeed."


    The Devil Goddess continued, "You''ve made quite a stir recently. I''ve heard that you have three auspicious omens that had befallen upon you and that you are a saint now?"


    Lu Qingyun inhaled softly, "Yes, I have just recently breakthrough to the seventh realm sacred saint level."


    The Devil Goddess said, "Well, congratulations to you then. If you got killed then this duel will be so boring. But you look like a weak saint. You''ve not recovered your profound strength yet?"


    Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Indeed you''re right. But you don''t look too well either. You have not fully recovered from your injuries yet?"


    The Devil Goddess chuckled softly, "That''s none of your business.


    Lu Qingyun slowly raised his swords before asking, "So shall we begin our duel now?"


    The Devil Goddess hummed coldly as she displayed her swords. "Naturally we can."


    Lu Qingyun was sighing secretly, "Keqin, to think that we have to come to this point."


    The Devil Goddess was also sighing in secret, "Yun''Er, do we really have to fight?"


    Saint Yuan Chenggong was now looking at the duelists excitingly, "It is about to start soon. The fate of the Nine Celestial Fraternity is about to start soon. This will be the most exciting duel ever and today we are bearing witness to this epic fight."


    Saintess Su Rushuang sighed softly, "Let''s hope that our side will be the final victor and we can all go home in peace."


    Saint Linghu Fei smiled coldly, "Today will also be the end of the Devil Goddess."


    Tang Xuefeng was staring at the Devil Goddess as she said silently, "Is the Devil Goddess someone that Brother Qingyun knows? I can see from his eyes that he is hesitating. I hope that he is able to win and live at the same time."


    Qian Jingjing was sighing secretly, "Brother Qingyun, I don''t sense your killing intent at all. Why is that so? If you don''t intend to win then why did you have to expend so much of your effort to concoct a divine pill that can take you to the sacred saint level?"


    Saint Tang Yiren said quietly, "They are now drawing their saint-step divine swords now."


    Saint Lin Wucheng turned to him and asked, "Who do you think will win?"


    Saint Tang Yiren heaved a soft sigh, "If the Devil Goddess isn''t injured, I will surely place my bet on her."


    Saint Lin Wucheng returned a nod, "But unfortunately our Alliance Leader Lu doesn''t seem to be in his peak either. He had just cultivated to the sacred saint level and his profound strength seems to be lacking. He can only be considered as a half-step saint."


    When Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing heard him, their hearts began to sink. It was because they knew that it was true.


    After Lu Qingyun had breakthrough to the sacred saint level, he had only a week to cultivate whatever profound strength he could muster.


    Tang Xuefeng had even borrowed hundreds of spirit stones from her two god-fathers Tang Yiren and Lin Wucheng for Lu Qingyun but that was still not enough for him to regain even a third of his profound strength.


    But Lu Qingyun merely laughed it off by saying, "Now that I am a saint, I will be able to muster my saintly divine swords to its fullest potential. I don''t need a lot of profound strength since I am not expecting a prolong battle. What I need is a good opportunity to use my sword arts and I can finish the fight quickly. So don''t worry too much for me."


    Right now, Tang Xuefeng and Qian Jingjing could only pray to the heavens for Lu Qingyun.