Martialism

Chapter 75's

Yi Ping and his female comrades followed the old man through a hidden mountain road surrounded by towering ancient trees. If the old man did not lead them, they would never know about this mountain path.

Just as they turned a corner, they were astonished to see the beautiful white and blue palace built along the cliff. The only way to the palace was a series of wooden platforms along a steep cliff.

Yunzi commented softly to himself, “This is definitely a scary construction, requiring a lot of planning and skilled craftsmen.”

Yi Ping had heard it and he sighed, “I hope such a construction does not take a loss of life.”

Shen Xingyue secretly glanced at Yi Ping and her eyes shone with her compassion.

Lingfeng nodded as she looked at him gently, “But so because this palace has finished, we must admire the craftsmen who strive hard to make this possible so that future generations will be amazed by their skills.”

Youxue was in no mood to appreciate the grandeur of this hidden place. It was because he knew how worried Yi Ping and a dangerous enemy were waiting for them in that beautiful palace.

Not long ago, they had discovered the secrets of the Heavenly Palace. They were a group of Dark Celestials who had to use the vital blood of martial exponents to feed themselves.

He had personally witnessed the martial prowess of Celestial Liege and it was only through pure luck that they were lucky to survive the encounter.

They were all wary of the old man and their surroundings.

Before long, they were already on a steep cliff wooden platform and had entered the palace's iron gate.

The palace was large, much larger than its outer appearance.

The strange thing was, not a single guard or person everywhere was in sight!

Yunzi. The whole atmosphere was too quiet to like. The size of this place will require many people to maintain it. The pages were wiped clean, the walls were well painted and everything was too orderly. But there was not a single person other than the old man in sight!

Instead of taking them to the residence hall, the old man seemed to take them on a slow tour and they were now in a beautiful garden.

Youxue said coldly, “Old man, where are you going to take us? It looks like the perfect place for an ambush, doesn't it? You don't want to dirty your place with our blood so you take us to a suitable place for our execution?”

Even Yi Ping was also growing impatient, “Where is Celestial Liege? Why did he bring my son? Where..”.

Yunzi touched Yi Ping lightly on his shoulder as he said softly, “That could be just a trick. With the combined martial skills of the Goddess of Joy, Celestial Fairy, and Heavenly Teaser, it was unlikely for anyone to defeat them.”

He lied of course and wanted to believe it himself but the Heavenly Palace was the sacred ground of some of the most powerful exponents in the martial fraternity. So far they had only met two of them, the Goddess of Joy and Heavenly Liege. Even with just the two of them, they were not easy to deal with!

Shen Xingyue said in a low voice, “Be careful. There's someone else here.”

Suddenly, the old man stopped near the bridge that was above the artificial lake and said. “They are here.”

“Good, I've been waiting.”

It was unmistakably the voice of Celestial Liege!

Yi Ping immediately clenched his fists!

Even before he got close to them, a strong martial power could be felt and the intense pressure from his martial power suffocated everyone!

Almost immediately, a handsome middle-aged man with long white hair appeared at the end of the bridge and there was a petite young female servant behind him.

The petite young lady attendant was carrying the baby in her hands!

What was striking from that petite young lady servant was like Celestial Liege, her eyes were also red and white silver!

They were both Dark Celestials!

The baby started crying loudly as if he could feel the presence of his father and he wanted to get his attention.

Yi Ping instantly turned pale. It was because she had recognized from her cries that the baby was indeed her baby daughter!

The baby's mother was Lele the Goddess of Joy and she was born with red eyes like no other.

The baby was also very special. There was a strong bond between them and Yi Ping was able to recognize him empathically.

Yi Ping was now trembling.

It was not fear but anger that made him tremble.

Shen Xingyue was not happy to see the Dark Celestials and her evil aura surging, instantly showing her killing intent!

Celestial Liege saw him and he froze in his tracks as he stared into his gray eyes, “It seems we have an uninvited guest. Other than the Sage King and Jade Emperor, there are other Celestials who are very accomplished in the martial fraternity?”

Shen Xingyue hummed gently, “Why did you invite us here?”

The Celestial Liege laughed as she looked at Yi Ping, “We have met once again, Yi Ping. The last fight we have is hesitation. I finally found out why I couldn't cope with you last time ..”

Yi Ping yelled angrily, “Get my son back to me now! And what did you do with Lele and the others?!”

Celestial Liege said coldly, “Yi Ping, only if you are able to defeat me then will I consider returning your babies and telling you their whereabouts. What say?”

Just as Yi Ping was about to step forward, Yunzi frantically said to him. “Ping’Er, don't handle him alone. Let's attack as a group. He might not be able to win against so many of us.”

Youxue nodded as he said coldly, “It looks like he has not forgotten the slap I gave him last time!”

Celestial Liege looked at him with interest and he smiled, “I have been looking forward to replying to you too.”

Lingfeng already showed a martial defense posture as she hummed coldly, The same “Hal applies to us as well!”

The Celestial Liege laughed, “You are the Holy Girl. You know I'm not gonna kill you. Your blood is too precious for us.”

Lingfeng replied coldly, “But I can't say the same for your blood that I'm about to spill onto the ground.”

The Celestial Liege smiled with an arrogant grin, “You can try but you won't make it.”

Shen Xingyue had already stepped forward and was on the bridge, “You are a practitioner of Heavenly Power?”

It was because he had already sensed the absorbent power of the Heavenly Power around him!

The Celestial Liege was slightly surprised.

This girl could really stand casually on the bridge without any signs of falling and was not affected by her powerful Heavenly Power!

He nodded coldly, “Yes, this is Heavenly Power.”

Shen Xingyue said coldly, “Good! Heavenly Strength was one of the most powerful divine skills. I want to know how my Divine Rejuvenation Power will fight you!”

But Celestial Liege ignored him and said, “Yi Ping, do you dare to take me one-on-one first? You have no choice. If you can defeat me, then I will return your baby to you.”

To explain his point, he started patting the baby in the female attendant's arms lightly as he said. “She is so adorable. Honey, soon she will lose her life because her father did not dare to take me one on one.”

Yi Ping increased his martial power with his Absolute Balance Strength as he forced himself to walk towards the bridge, against the irresistible weakened flow of the Heavenly Power. He said to Shen Xingyue, “Xingyue, please step back. This fight is between us.”

Shen Xingyue was melancholic as she looked at Celestial Liege with red eyes. “Tercela. If you still have the honor, don't use the baby as a hostage!”

He had already hinted to Yi Ping that Heavenly Power was an incredible divine skill during his time in the Ascension Sect. But the determination in his eyes was so unshakable that he retreated reluctantly with a heavy heart!

Youxue, Lingfeng and Yunzi were both annoyed and their frustration was visible in their eyes, but they did not dare to move because the baby was everything to Yi Ping!

The female attendant who was beside Celestial Liege had also retreated. The air was filled with suffocating martial power that threatened to take down weaker opponents who even dared to approach Celestial Liege!

Yunzi sighed. It was exactly the same as the last time. It was only their wishful thinking that they could approach such tidal forces and move indefinitely. With a gentle******, he raised his martial power to display the Unbeatable Divine Power as three blue spheres were seen surrounding him.

Youxue had also surrounded himself with the Divine Virtuous Force as he looked calmly at Celestial Liege as he stole a glance towards Shen Xingyue who nodded in return. They will not stand by and just see what happens next!

Shen Xingyue and Youxue were both experts in fast attack techniques and were also known for their fast movement skills. At the first opportunity, they would take the baby. Hence they decided to wait until the Heavenly Strength that was blocking them was weak enough before they made a move.

When Yi Ping stepped on the bridge, the Heavenly Power of the Heavenly Subordinate had increased by several folds!

This forced Lingfeng to slide backwards as her martial power was not enough to hold her back.

His Holy Amalgamate Force was a variant of the Celestial Force and was much weaker than the original.

Shen Xingyue looked at Lingfeng curiously. Sometimes he wondered if he was faking his martial skills because he was Heavenly.

Meanwhile, the old man leading them here was already sitting in the nearby pavilion and he had taken out a pipe and he was smoking from his pipe casually!

While they were physically drained by the Heavenly Army of Heavenly Subordinates in an attempt to maintain their standing here, the old man stored his strength in the distance!

For him to appear so relaxed was an indication of his state of divinity. How could an old servant not care about the welfare of his master and be able to just walk away without saying a word?

Moreover, in Border Town when they first met him, he only detected him only when he was very close. Given his Heavenly Divinity, there was hardly anyone who could do it anymore!

That was why he was wary of this old man!

As for the petite girl standing on the other side of the bridge, she was too calm and did not seem to worry that they were a threat. It should not be so since there were five of them here and they were all Celestials!

For all her youthful looks, she might be centuries old and also super exponent!

The Heavenly Palace had existed for centuries without any external threat. The number of secret martial skills that had been gathered by them far exceeded all the other martial clans!

The Celestial Liege was already waiting for Yi Ping with an opening attitude as he said coldly, “Last time we fought, it was a contest of internal strength and martial power. I realized much later that you only won because you could. negate the draining effect of my Heavenly Power. It was so arrogant of me last time. But this time, we will fight for real.”

Yi Ping replied coldly, “You haven't opened a new sheet since the last time we met. Evil will not triumph over goodness.”

The Celestial Liege laughed, “I just said that because Qing’Er was there.”

He was referring to Lie Qing the Heavenly Teaser.

Yi Ping clenched his fists, “You're a hypocrite!”

While Yi Ping was scolding Celestial Liege, he had already moved and attacked her with his Divine Horizon Hands!

The Celestial Liege immediately changed the stance of his palm into a finger stance as the two super martial exponents clashed furiously!

As they clashed, explosions after explosions of furious martial power struck them so that even a sturdy bridge shook and the water in the lake had turned into a whirlpool!

All of the spectators were forced to retreat a few steps as the attacking martial explosion was too furious in the middle!

Yi Ping could feel the blazing burst of wind power negating his Divine Horizon Hands every time he exchanged blows with Celestial Liege. He was astonished that his heavenly Firmament Hand that had never let him down would face such a powerful martial power that even his hands were now trembling after they had exchanged only thirty blows!

Shen Xingyue was startled as she bellowed frantically, “Yi Ping, it is a Phenomenon Finger Skill! Careful!”

He instantly recognized the finger technique from Celestial Liege as a divine skill missing from the Heavenly Phenomenon Sect!

The Divine Horizon Hand was a powerful martial skill that could increase a practitioner's martial power several times but was also an extremely exhausting skill. If Yi Ping did not possess the martial power of the Absolute Balance Strength, then he would have been exhausted by now and would have been defeated by the Heavenly Guardians!

The Celestial Liege was surprised that Yi Ping was able to exchange over thirty blows against his Phenomenal Finger!

He deliberately used the finger skill to fight Yi Ping because he was also wary of other opponents. The Finger Skill was a natural enemy of the palm skill and it allowed him to save his martial power.

Yi Ping broke out in cold sweat as they exchanged hasty powerful blows. Such was their martial exchange that the entire bridge turned!

Suddenly, Celestial Liege felt the weakening of Yi Ping's resolve and he increased his martial power. Immediately his Phenomenal Finger pierced through the defenses of the Divine Horizon Hands and hit Yi Ping's chest!

The attack of Celestial Liege's martial force was so powerful that the spectators could see a burst of martial power burst out from Yi Ping's back!

Immediately, Shen Xingyue, Lingfeng, Youxue and Yunzi gasped at the same time!

Just like Celestial Liege who was smirking arrogantly, he had not expected that Yi Ping would actually have the strength to retaliate with the deadly Asper Horizon Hand as he received a violent clash in his chest at the same time!

The Asper Horizon Hand, the secret martial technique of the Divine Horizon Hands had unique characteristics that marked it differently. Such was the rippling martial power so that when used, a screeching explosion would be heard!

The two men were thrown to the other side of the bridge, followed by the collapse of the bridge which could no longer withstand the power of their martial power disappearing due to rustling around it!

Lingfeng and Yunzi immediately grabbed Yi Ping as he stumbled back.

Yi Ping smiled weakly as he was held by them as he raised his vital energy with the Divine Revelation Skill. Aided by the Translucent Void, he quickly cleared the pure positive complicated energy of the Heavenly Power from his body!

He sighed softly, “Lucky!”

The injury he received was not light but before he could calm down, Shen Xingyue and Xiao Youxue had shown their emblematic speed movement towards the other side of the bridge!

Not even a collapsed bridge could deter them from jumping over the lake!

Xiao Youxue had raised his hand in a downward swing as he aimed at the forehead of the Heavenly Liege while Shen Xingyue was seen grabbing the petite attendant and trying to snatch the baby from him!

Yi Ping shouted in panic, “Back! You are no match!”

But it's too late.

The Celestial Liege had raised her sleeve with her martial power and swept Youxue aside!

At the same time, Shen Xingyue was forced to pull her elaborate punch because she did not want to hurt the baby and the petite maid was not as weak as she thought. Shen Xingyue sighed at her failure and she was beside Youxue in an instant as she reached out to help Youxue stand up!

The Celestial Liege looked at Youxue with a smile, “Are you alright? You shouldn't have tried to attack me when I fell. Good thing I can hold back.”

Asper Horizon's hand didn't seem to seriously injure him. His Heavenly Strength is indeed formidable!

Youxue looked at Celestial Liege coldly as he said with disdain, “Who needs you to hold back?”

Suddenly, Celestial Liege coughed up bad blood. It was because he had blatantly deployed himself when Youxue forced a surprise attack on him. But other than that, it seemed like his injuries were light and he smiled arrogantly.

On the other hand, Yi Ping suffered a more serious internal injury but he forced himself to step forward. “This fight is not over, right?”

Celestial Liege smiled, “That's right. But in your current state, can you fight?”

Yi Ping trembled and his eyes reddened, “I just want to know this. What have you done to Lele, Lie Qing, Yixian, Mei’Er and Yu’Er?”

Celestial Liege hummed coldly, “I will only tell you if you can defeat me.”

Shen Xingyue had lost her temper and had exerted her martial power as she wrapped herself in Divine Rejuvenation Strength, causing his true self to be distorted as a shaky shockwave from his complicated energy in all directions.

He was really upset and had taken out the Blue Sky Divine Sword from its scabbard as he said coldly, “I don't care about your martial honor. I don't care about any agreement with the Heavenly Darkness. First, you should not take baby Yi Ping as your hostage. Secondly, you should not have injured Yi Ping. Today, I'll take your head!”

Without a word, he had flown at a shocking speed towards Celestial Liege as he raised the Blue Heavens Divine Sword.

Its speed was so astounding that the blue aura from the beaming Blue Sky left a trace of a shaky blue hue behind that was shaped like the wings of a blue phoenix!

But before he could reach Celestial Liege, the old man who was in the pavilion had flashed next to him at an equally astonishing speed as he struck him on his shoulder blades, directly threw it on the ground with a thunderous impact, sending rocks and earth flying in all directions!

Yi Ping was stunned as he quickly rushed towards her!

Shen Xingyue trembled as she looked at Yi Ping with a surprised look. It was because he never expected that anyone would be able to disturb him as he moved. Only Celestial Level Transversals could do it!

Even though he had landed with a tremendous impact, he was not injured too seriously because he had the protection of the Divine Rejuvenate Force but still, he was greatly shaken.

He looked at the old man and gasped in disbelief, “Who are you?!”

The old man looked at him coldly before he replied, “You came here to look for the Heavenly Palace, yet you asked who am I? I am the Jade Emperor and I am the grandmaster of the Heavenly Palace.”

Yi Ping, Yunzi, Lingfeng, Youxue and Shen Xingyue were all dumbfounded!

They never expected that the Jade Emperor was here!

Shen Xingyue said coldly, “I haven't lost yet. Because you're here, great! I will destroy you with my sword!”

The old man hummed coldly at his claim.

Yunzi whispered, “Her eyes are not red and her hair is not completely silver. He claimed to be the Jade Emperor. How do we know if it's true?”

Yi Ping was serious. It was because he had just witnessed this old man's martial skill. Even if he wasn't the Celestial Emperor, he couldn't be taken lightly. And they are now facing two super exponents, not one!

The old man who claimed to be the Jade Emperor pointed at Yi Ping, “Since you are here, I will not disappoint you. If you are able to defeat me, I will not only return your son to you but I will also give you the Heavenly Relic. What do you think?”

Yi Ping trembled as he asked, “Lele, Yixian? What have you done with them?! You're going to release them?”

The Celestial Emperor said coldly, “Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to. I already ate it!”

Yi Ping was stunned as he stumbled backwards in a daze!