A Martial Odyssey

Xiao Fei stammered, "Maiden Xinyue, you are really a Celestial Being?"

Chi Zhengqi and Xiao Ao were in awe of her to even move or speak!

It was because when she had manifested her divine aura, there was a weak yellow hue around her that caused everyone to be in awe of her.

Shen Xinyue did not reply Xiao Fei and instead, she had walked unhurriedly towards Lie Qing with her long fluttering feather dress flying gently around her. It seemed that her loose feathery cloak was lifted by a powerful inertia force that was surrounding her; the Divine Rejuvenation Force!

As Chi Zhengqi broke free of his awe and ran towards her, he fainted before he could even come within reach of her!

The Element Sage scolded Chi Zhengqi aloud, "Foolish!" as he grabbed him to safety! It was because this Divine Rejuvenation Force was constantly replenishing her own martial power by draining the martial power of the weaker opponents around her!

Lie Qing was stroking her long hair even as nine wisps of blue hue hovered around her!

Shen Xinyue was swinging the Blue Heavens while Lie Qing had raised the Perpetual Darkness in front of her as they now began to encircle each other with extreme caution!

Yi Ping was standing awkwardly in their middle as they encircled him and he was shouting, "Qing'Er, back off. Maiden Xinyue, your opponent should be me!"

Shen Xinyue took a quick glance at Yi Ping with a curious look before she turned to say to Lie Qing coolly, "It seems that my speed techniques are useless against you."

Lie Qing smiled mesmerizingly, "If you attempt that one more time, I am afraid you would already been killed by my Pandora Merciless Strike. You really missed a good opportunity to take me by surprise. Now it is already too late for regrets."

Shen Xinyue nodded, "And it seems that both you and him are not affected by my Divine Rejuvenation Force? Nevertheless, we shall see who has the last laugh."

She had deliberately displayed her startling swiftness skill to gauge the strength of her opponents and was astonished that Lie Qing was the only one among all the maidens that could follow her speed movements and even retaliate against her. And this Maiden Lie Qing had assumed correctly that if she would attempt another speed attack against her, she would be killed. It was because speed attacks would leave her vulnerable to retaliation against a skillful and powerful non-moving opponent if it failed to draw blood on the first try.

Yi Ping did not notice that while they were talking, many of the exponents had suddenly fainted on the ground one by one and at the same time, the exponents were all scurrying as far as possible from the gravitating martial force pull of the Divine Rejuvenate Force; her Divine Rejuvenate Force was tens of times more powerful than Han Shaodong and it was also capable of moving along with her, something that Han Shaodong was not capable of doing!

At the same time, Xiao Shuai, Xiao Fei, Yuan Shao had mustered their martial force with their Divine Virtuous Force as they seek to protect themselves from the draining effect of the Divine Rejuvenation Force as they observed the forthcoming battle in close melee!

Han Shaodong had raised his Divine Rejuvenation Force around him!

Yu'Er and Mei'Er were swinging their swords slowly in front of them as they displayed the Divine Emerald Skill.

Yunzi had displayed her Invincible Divine Force while Youxue had fortified herself with the Golden Impervious Body.

Lingfeng had mustered her martial power and had used the Great Dissolution Skill to neutralize the draining pull of Shen Xinyue's Divine Rejuvenation Force.

But none of them had the martial power to even come close to Yi Ping, Lie Qing or Shen Xinyue to render any help or to intervene!

Yi Ping was protected by his Divine Boundless Force and his Circular Rejuvenation of the Origin prevented his martial force from being drained away by the Divine Rejuvenation Force. That was why he could stand in close proximity next to Shen Xinyue!

Shen Xinyue sighed softly as she was secretly alarmed, "He is not affected by my Divine Rejuvenation Force? I have already lowered the effect of my Divine Rejuvenation Force and subtly tried to intimidate him off. He is still his same old self…"

She began to sigh…

The White Sage of Emptiness that everyone had known was a Celestial with a high accomplishment in martial and spiritual attainment. He was also a refine and young looking man, having becoming a Celestial early.

Normally, by the time most men and women could have the necessary attainment to become a Celestial; they would be almost a hundred years old and had aged. It was because becoming a Celestial did not mean that they could restore their youth. However the Celestials' countenance and complexion was different from ordinary people and were like a well-nourished baby despite their aged appearances.

As a highly eligible Celestial, the White Sage of Emptiness was the focus of quite a number of beautiful but haughty Celestial Maidens that were disdainful to the aged Celestials or did not find them to be a good match to be their celestial companions, not that there were many beautiful Celestial Maidens in the first place. Most of these beautiful Celestial Maidens may not be that young either but because they had based their martial foundation on a certain type of internal negative energy, they were able to retain their youthful appearances.

However, the White Sage of Emptiness was unmoved by the pursuits and temptations of the beautiful Celestial Maidens. It was because he had been practicing the Great Emptiness Translucence and he spurned their advances.

Back then, almost all the Celestials had lived in isolation from one another. Even though they had all belonged to different fractions but duels between the Celestials when they had met usually did not result in death unless for the most extremely cases; since killing a Celestial were detrimental to their celestial advancement.

She could still remember vividly how she had met the White Sage…

That day, she was on the way to the Ascension Palace to attend an important event that only happened once every one hundred years. When she was near the Great Tranquil Mountains, she saw an auspicious rainbow halo and an auspicious rainbow cloud. She was immediately startled!

It was because auspicious celestial omens were a rarity in the Celestial Realm and only seen when a celestial event had happened. When she had reached the scene, she was just in time to see a handsome young man struggling to stand straight after overcoming the Divine Calamity!

She immediately thought, "Who is this young man? Why is that he is so fortunate to have two celestial omens to aid him to ascend as a Celestial?"

She deliberately observed for a while and was stunned. This young man was clearly alone and there were no other Celestials in sight to serve as his protectors, nor did he have any Heavenly Relics with him. How did he manage to ascend as a Celestial when he was so young and moreover the occurrence of two celestial omens that happened at the same time was also an oddity itself!

She had never seen or heard of any Celestials that had two accompanying celestial omens that appeared at the same time. For most Celestials, the appearance of a celestial omen was an extremely rare event; for most of them, it only appeared when most of them were not prepared or had no divine crisis to overcome. It was more of a celestial sign for things to come…

As for her, even though she had received the indirect aid of the other Celestials and given the Perpetual Darkness, she could still remember how she had nearly lost her life in her ensuring Divine Calamity.

She secretly sighed, "Talk about bad timing for myself and good timing for him…I have become a Celestial not long ago and I have to suffer so much."

She was immediately intrigued by him and had flown with startling speed next to him, causing him to react with a surprise expression as she asked, "Are you alright?"

She had no idea how a simple 'Are you alright' would affect the two of them later!

The young man had just overcome the Divine Calamity and his eyes had just turned crimson. When he had thought that he would die in the aftermath of the Divine Calamity, a beautiful angelic heavenly maiden had appeared next to him and comforted him with soft words!

Because he had practiced the Great Emptiness Translucence, he was not interested in the physical appearances of any beautiful maidens nor could he be moved by any temptations easily. But somehow, at his lowest ebb in life and just when he had experienced the Celestial Awakening, his emotion awakening was also the most easy to be shaken; as he had not got used to his new awakening senses yet.

The young man appeared to be extremely touched and his eyes were bleary as he quickly said, "I'm alright. I guess I have ascended as a Celestial and maiden you must be a heavenly maiden that have comes to receive me to the Celestial Realm?"

Shen Xinyue was a little amused as she laughed softly, "You are indeed a Celestial now but I am not here to receive you. In fact, I am a little busy and in a rush. It is only my curiosity that has brought me here. Well then, good luck on being a Celestial and good bye!"

She had already turned around and had leapt away!

"Heavenly Maiden Sister! Please wait awhile!"

It was the young man again and he had leapt next to her in a startling flash!

But because he was still very weak, as soon as he had leapt next to her, he stumbled and fall into her!

Shen Xinyue was startled and she began to flush shyly as she quickly pushed him away, "You, watch your steps! I have never seen a Celestial that is as clumsy as you!"

The young man apologized most profusely as he quickly said, "Usually I am not that clumsy…"

Shen Xinyue was amused again as she laughed softly, "So you are intentional?"

The young man apologized again as he quickly said, "I feel a little weak after overcoming the Divine Calamity…"

Shen Xinyue whispered shyly, "You don't have to explain! I understand! I am only teasing you!"

All of a sudden, she had found herself talking to this young man more than she was willing at first.

She asked patiently, "What do you want? I am really in a hurry!"

The young man said with a sudden loss, "I am new as a Celestial. I really do not know the rules of the Celestial and how to proceed further. I wonder…"

The young man seemed embarrassed and he was now flushing. He had never flush as red as now as he asked, "Heavenly Maiden Sister, erm…I just wondering if I can come with you? Maybe I can train as a Celestial with you?"

Shen Xinyue laughed softly, "So you are thinking of Dual Celestial with me?"

The young man asked curiously, "What is a Dual Celestial?"

Shen Xinyue explained with a soft amused grin, "You really do not know?"

The young man had a stunned expression in his eyes.

Shen Xinyue said quickly, "Oh well, I can tell you but don't tell anyone I say this to you, alright? My reputation in the Celestial Realm will be ruined if you tell anyone of it."

The young man nodded eagerly.

Shen Xinyue said, "The Dual Celestial Progression is between two Celestials that pledge themselves as a pair, something like earthly couples. Now you got it? But it is considered to be more like a hindrance to the Celestials and not many are willing to practice it as our celestial progression will slow down. And moreover the two celestial couple must be able to progress at the same time or else their divine crisis will be extremely difficult. Until now, I have never heard of any Celestials that had successful ascended to the Ninth Heavens via the Dual Celestial Progression."

The young man asked, "Heavenly Maiden Sister, then can I Dual Celestial with you?"

Shen Xinyue was amused as she laughed softly, "I am afraid that you are still many celestial years too early for that. First you must overcome the Emotion Celestial State of Divinity or else it will be too dangerous for you."

The young man seemed to be stunned as he asked, "What is the Emotion Celestial State of Divinity?"

Shen Xinyue sighed softly, "I guess I help you all the way then. You really don't know anything about being a Celestial… I wonder how you overcome your Divine Calamity in the first place. (Sigh), let me give you a quick crash course then. There are seven celestial divinities to overcome before you can finally ascend to the Heavens above. They are Genesis, Enlighten, Emotion, Transverse, Seventh Sense, Crisis and Ascend. Got it?"

The young man was in awe, "I didn't know that there are so many states of divinities. It seems that being a Celestial is harder than being a human."

At that, Shen Xinyue sighed too as she said. "That's right…it is much more difficult and we can die at any moment…on the whims of the Heavens. That is why we need to trend carefully with every step forward."

The young man asked, "Heavenly Maiden Sister, can you explain to me what are the functions of each of the state of divinity?"

Shen Xinyue smiled bitterly, "I am really too busy to explain in depth to you but very well on account that I am your first celestial friend…"

The young man nodded happily, "My first celestial friend…"

Shen Xinyue continued, "The divinity state of each staging is a crisis that has to be overcome before the next celestial advancement and it is furthered divided into a lower tier, intermediate tier and an upper tier. Genesis is the awakening state which you are currently at now when you first become a Celestial. The Enlighten state is the awakened state when you survived to become a full Celestial and you will have achieved near immortality. Most Celestials actually stagnated after they become a Celestial. They are unable to achieve a breakthrough to the Enlighten state as they fall victim to their inner demons. Maybe it was because their Divine Calamities are too fearsome. Speaking of that, what is your Divine Calamity? Maybe I can give you some extra advice."

The young man sighed deeply as his eyes become bleary again. "It is my worst nightmare come true. My Divine Calamity is so terrible that I have no words for it and I will never want to experience it again…"

Shen Xinyue comforted him, "Have no fear. This is something you must overcome. The worse Divine Calamities are the heavenly lightning bolts and fireballs. Surely, yours can't be worse than that? I see no blackened marks around you. Don't worry; your Divine Calamity isn't as bad as you think."

She looked at him with a sympathizing look as she tried to comfort him, "If you are willing, you can share with me."

The young man nodded uncomfortably as he began to tremble, "I saw seven spiritual heavenly maidens dancing around me and trying to seduce me. It is lucky that I have a tremendous willpower and…just as I thought I have almost overcome my nightmare, a rainbow cloud and a rainbow halo increases the glory of these seven heavenly maidens…"

Shen Xinyue was totally stunned as she could not believe what she was hearing; a non-malevolent Divine Calamity was totally unheard of…

Shen Xinyue was still staring blankly at him when the young man asked her, "Heavenly Maiden Sister, what about the third state of divinity, the Emotion Divine State?"

She recovered her wits as she sighed softly, "The Emotion Divine State is also the Emotional State and is the period when a Celestial is most vulnerable. So you must be extra vigilant when you have reached this staging. If you can overcome this crisis, then you are able to enhance all your heart intricacy skills. The Transverse State is also the Reflex State. If you can overcome it, then you will gain enhance speed. The Seventh Sense is also called the Visualization State. It will enhance all your senses and unlock the Divine Sense. The Crisis State is also called the Calamity State, overcoming it will unlock your highest potential and your eyes will become gray. The Ascend State is the hardest and it is also called the Celestial State. It is the unison of the Heaven and Self. Your eyes will turn golden and you will live as long as the earth and the heavens last."

The young man was clearly extremely impressed and his eyes were glowing, "Thank you so much. Now at least I have an idea!"

Shen Xinyue smiled as she said politely, "Good luck then and good bye!"

She was reluctantly to part with him but she knew that their destinies had only crossed briefly.

The young man seemed reluctantly to part with her too as he asked, "Heavenly Maiden Sister, can I come with you?"

Shen Xinyue smiled patiently, "That is impossible. My protégé masters and protégé grandmasters won't be too pleased to see me bring an unknown Celestial to the Ascension Palace."

The young man seemed disappointed but he asked, "Celestials have protégé masters and protégé grandmasters too? And what is this Ascension Palace?"

Shen Xinyue explained with a soft laugh, "You will soon find the rules of the Celestial Fraternity to be even more rigid than the martial fraternity. I belong to the Celestial Ascension Sect, one of the three major celestial fractions in the Celestial Fraternity. There are many others of course. The Ascension Palace naturally refers to the location of the Celestial Ascension Sect."

The young man was impressed as he asked, "Then can I join the Ascension Sect? I really want to learn and advance my celestial progression with the celestial masters."

Shen Xinyue shook her head, "To be honest, I am just a low ranking celestial practitioner and I have also ascended as a Celestial not long ago. Only the First and Supreme Celestials have the right to invite another Celestial to the Ascension Sect. The criteria are strict and most of us are handpicked even before we become a full Celestial. Maybe you have a better destiny elsewhere and you shouldn't force your destiny. There is nothing I can do to help you to gain entry to the Ascension Sect."

The young man was clearly disappointed as he sighed, "The Celestials always believe in the providence of heavens. Maybe it is really not my destiny to join the Ascension Sect then…"

Shen Xinyue said, "Don't worry too much and best of luck. Goodbye!"

The young man seemed reluctantly to say goodbye as he asked again, "I haven't know your name yet…"

Shen Xinyue laughed softly, "That's right. But I won't tell you my real name. It is because all Celestials have to use a Celestial Name and our old name is best forgotten. My Celestial Name is the Dark Enchantress of the West."

The young man listened attentively as he said, "What a beautiful and cool name! Since you are the Dark Enchantress, then I will be the White Sage then!"

Shen Xinyue smiled gently at him, "You are doing that on purpose, am I right? I…won't Dual Celestial with you, not ever."

The young man mustered the courage to ask, "Why?"

Shen Xinyue found herself confiding in him, "I have a sad past. I don't want to be engaged to anyone anymore. Anyway, that is the past."

The young man was saddened to hear that. It was because he really had a very good impression of her and he knew that she was friendly enough to explain so much to him. But he tried to cheer her up, "Let the past be the past. By the way, where do you stay before you have become a Celestial?"

Shen Xinyue chorus softly, "I stay near the scenery West Translucent Lake!"

The young man laughed, "What a coincidence! I have actually stayed near the West Translucent Lake, at the East City Gate. I am the eldest son of the protégé master of the Translucent City. But that is not important. It is all in the past and I have been disowned…"

Shen Xinyue had turned away and she was trembling!

Without a word more, she had left hurriedly and she was weeping silently tears!

The young man failed to notice her expressions as she had left too hastily!

He was still thinking of her very first words to him…

Shen Xinyue did not know how long she had been running before she finally stopped and collapsed on the ground as she cried inconsolably.

It was because that young man that she had seen earlier was her heartless fiancé that she could not get over with and one that broke her heart!

Their parents had betrothed them when they were still little.

One day when she had turned sixteen and soon to be married into his clan, she had received word that he had run away from home with a priest to pursue enlightenment.

Even though they had never met, she was shamed and heartbroken at this cold heartless lad who had run off just like that. It was because she was eagerly anticipating the wedding and what it meant to have a family…

When he had left so suddenly, her world came stumbling down!

In a spur of a moment in excessing grief, she ran away from home and decided to travel to the various holy mountains to seek enlightenment. She was really fortunate and a Supreme Celestial from the Ascension Sect was touched by her sincerity and potential; she was then picked to be his direct protégé. Five years later, she had successful overcome the Divine Calamity and had become a Celestial. The speed of her celestial ascension was said to be the fastest in the entire known history of the Ascension Sect!

She had never expected to meet him after she had become a Celestial…

Many years later after they had met, the White Sage of Emptiness had joined the Great Quiescent Sect and had actually progress rapidly. Soon, his level of attainment, his righteous air and compassionate heart caught the imaginations and attentions of many beautiful Celestial Maidens. However, he did not seem to be interested in their advances but that did not stop many Celestial Maidens from secretly falling in love with him.

In a blink of an eye, hundreds of years had passed. The White Sage of Emptiness was known for his compassion and quiet chivalrous acts, impressing many, including the Celestials from different fractions. It was said that he had often traveled the fraternity in search of a maiden but he had never found her.

It was because Shen Xinyue simply refused to see him! She wanted to be more cold-heartedly than him…

When the Divine Descendant happened, quite a few of the Celestial Maidens were worried that the White Sage could not survive the Divine Descendant due to his compassionate nature. Therefore they secretly traveled to the Great Tranquil Mountains to secretly protect him or to sacrifice themselves for him so that he might live.

That included Shen Xinyue…

When she had arrived at the Great Tranquil Mountains, she was startled to find the Eclipse Heaven Goddess and the Axis Heaven Goddess were injured and lying on the ground…

She simply could not believe that the White Sage could harm her protégé sisters or even capable of hurting two Supreme Celestials.

But the White Sage of Emptiness had said to her, "It is a good thing that you have arrived or you may be too late to save them. You don't have to ask. It is I who has injured them. If you do not kill me, I will kill you because I do want to survive the Divine Descendant."

Without waiting for her to respond, he had attacked her!

She had retaliated and when she had gained the upper hand, the Eclipse Heaven Goddess and the Axis Heaven Goddess had mustered their remaining strength to stand, not to attack the White Sage but her!

That was how she had lost her celestial force and had survived the Divine Descendant!

And now she was facing the White Sage again who was Yi Ping and Luminous Star who was now called Lie Qing.

Shen Xinyue of course knows that Yi Ping was not the White Sage even though he may look like him. The real White Sage may have already been killed by the other Celestials or had ascended to the Ninth Heavens after the Divine Descendant. He was the one that she had secretly loved and no one could ever replace him in her heart. It was because she hated him as much as she loved him…

She did not even know why she had been so irrational and had chosen to intervene to save this Yi Ping from the Honor Manor. Perhaps, in her heart the Divine Descendant had never ended and this was a thousand year battle that was still continuing…

All of a sudden, Yi Ping was wiping his tears with his sleeves as he said in a trembling voice to her. "You are the Dark Enchantress of the West…I know you. You are Shen Xinyue and you stay near the West Translucent Lake…"

When Shen Xinyue had heard that, she was so stunned that she had actually dropped the Blue Heavens as she gasped, "You remember…?"