A Martial Odyssey Book 3: The Stellar Sanctuary Chapter 91

The World Ruler Fu Xi

The Ancient Fortress was a colossus city with tall towers everywhere, the likes of which Yi Ping had never seen before and it was crowded with people, the Desolate Immortals!

There were little light because all the denizens here were Desolate Immortals who were capable of darksee and the lights from the starry heavens above were sufficient enough.

But now everyone was looking at the long procession that was led by Lord Asatru and his thousand companions!

All the other Desolate Immortals of the Ancient Fortress were all looking curiously at the street procession and wondered what was going on for they had never seen so many Desolate Immortals that were from the plains below that had left their posts to form such an orderly procession! 

It was obvious that they were escorting the Goddess Aeris and Yi Ping for they were in the middle of the procession!

Most of them had recognized the Goddess Aeris and not Yi Ping. But Yi Ping’s aura was all too noticing and there was something about him that attracted the attention of everyone!

They began to wonder, “Who is this Great Lord that carries with him two divine swords? Who is the man that is with Lord Asatru the Captain of the Outreach Immortals?”

Yi Ping on the hand was a little awe by the city as he said to the Goddess Aeris, “So this is the Ancient Fortress, the City of the Gods! There are so many imposing towers and citadel buildings here…” This had reminded him of the citadel city that he had seen floating in the skies above when he was in Level X of the Stellar City!

The Goddess Aeris smiled and said, “It seems that you have forgotten what the Ancient Fortress has looked like. I say, how long have you been out in the desolate Borderlands?”

Yi Ping smiled weakly and said, “Very long…”

The Goddess Aeris looked at him and whispered, “You don’t know how to lie? Just where are you from?”

Because she was an Eighth Positioning Immortal, she knew that it would be impossible for Lord Asatru or the others to eavesdrop on them.

Yi Ping sighed softly as he whispered in secretly back, “I am from the Three Known Realms.”

The Goddess Aeris was startled as she stared blankly at him, “Really? Do you know that everyone is now hunting for the sign of the strange celestial manifestation that is seen earlier? No one exactly knows about it except that it is an outer celestial phenomenon. How did you manage to traverse across the realms? And the Great Lord Xuan Yuan seems so particular interested in your divine sword. Just who are you?”

Yi Ping whispered quickly, “I will tell you in due time. But first, we have dangerous visitors!”

The Goddess Aeris was startled as she looked at her crowded vicinity. 

All of a sudden the streets became muted silent before it burst out excitedly as three imposing Desolate Immortals were seen at the front of the citadel!

Yi Ping was looking at their direction and he had become tense as he gently touched the hilt of the Celestial Alice…

He thought, “What a frightening malevolent!”

The Desolate Immortal that was in the middle wore an armor that had four wings and a half ring on top, while the female Desolate Immortal in white that was on the left had a white silver rune sword and the female Desolate Immortal in black that was on the right had a pair of black short swords!

Lord Asatru turned ashen immediately and the entire procession stopped in their tracks! 

It was because the Desolate Immortal that was in the middle was none other than the World Ruler Fu Xi, one of the two of the most powerful rulers of the Ancient Fortress! 

The other two ladies were not just stunning beholden but they were equally deadly. For the lady in white was the Heaven Goddess Zero of the Guarding Heavens, a Ninth Positioning Immortal and the one in black was the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien of the Twin Eternal Darkness!

The three of them were all Ninth Positioning Immortals and were extremely powerful! 

Naturally the World Ruler Fu Xi was the most powerful out of the three for he had already reached the late stage of the Ninth Immortal Positioning while the Heaven Goddess Zero and the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien were at the initial stage. 

In all the Immortal Stages, there were always the initial, the intermediate and the late stages. 

Yi Ping could feel their terrifying presence staring at him!

The World Ruler Fu Xi hummed coldly, “Why do you leave your post and have to bring so many up here?”

The Lord Asatru immediately said, “My honorable respects to the World Ruler. I have orders from the Great Lord Xuan Yuan to bring a guest to his palace.”

The World Ruler Fu Xi said coldly, “But what if I want to bring this guest to my palace instead?”

The Lord Asatru turned ashen immediately but he said firmly, “My lord, the Great Lord Xuan Yuan wants him…”

The World Ruler Fu Xi interrupted coldly, “So you chose to obey the commands of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan and not me?”

The Lord Asatru answered with a trembling voice, “No, of course not. Everyone knows that we have to heed the commands of the two great lords. This is really a most difficult thing to do. We can’t defy the Great Lord Xuan Yuan…”

The World Ruler Fu Xi smirked coldly, “Why don’t you ask your guest over there? Maybe he wants to come with me instead before going to the palace of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan. After all, I am really curious on the connection of the celestial omen that had happened tonight and the appearance of a long lost divine sword.”

He had stopped short of mentioning the Fantian Sovereign Sword but Yi Ping had understood his intentions immediately! 

The Goddess Aeris had turned ashen as she murmured softly to Yi Ping, “Please be careful on what to say. You don’t know what you are going into.”

All of a sudden a Desolate Immortal carrying a big ring weapon on both hands had walked calmly into the streets as he laughed aloud, “I am afraid that the guest of our Great Lord Xuan Yuan isn’t going anywhere.”

Lord Asatru was startled as he quickly bowed, “Great Lord Shenmu!” 

Many of the onlookers were startled as they muttered, “The Great Lord Shenmu is also here?!”

The Great Lord Shenmu of the Blighted Shields was the right hand man of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan and he was a Desolate Immortal of the intermediate Ninth Positioning! 

The Heaven Goddess Zero lifted her petite eyes and said coldly, “You dare to defy the will of the World Ruler Fu Xi?”

The Great Lord Shenmu laughed, “I really dare not but I am sure that the World Ruler Fu Xi isn’t someone who is so unreasonable as to set his eyes on a guest of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan, am I right?”

The World Ruler Fu Xi smiled coldly, “I am just interested in what type of a guest that the Great Lord Xuan Yuan is interested to bring to his palace. That is all. I won’t want to break the peaceful accord that we have laid down over the thousands of years. After all, it is soon time for us to invade the Material Realm.”

He added a mocking smile as he emphasized slowly, “But if I do want him then no one will be able to stop me. Not even the Great Lord Xuan Yuan.”

All of a sudden the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien had flashed forward with mocking laughter, “Our lord may think this way but we who are his servants are honor bounded to protect his prestige! What if your guest is dead before he could reach his destination?”

She was raining the sword energies of her dark swords and was aiming at Yi Ping! 

The Great Lord Shenmu had interrupted the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien with his huge platinum rings as he shouted, “So if you want a fight then don’t blame me!”

The Heaven Goddess Zero had appeared over the Great Lord Shenmu at the same time in a white blinding light as she hacked her silver sword thunderous over him, causing the vicinity to resonate loudly by their clashes!

At the same time, bursting dark outbursts from the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien were flashing explosively!

The Great Lord Shenmu raised his two large rings and in the next instant, his two rings had grown twice as large as he shouted, “Giga Rings! The sanctorum power of my Celestial Striking Spheres! Zero, Xia Hsien! If you want a fight, so be it!”

The Dark Goddess Xia Hsien said coldly, “We are just sparring. Do you need to utilize the sanctorum power of your divine weapon and be so serious? If so then I will need to be serious too!”

As she said that, her twin black swords became elongated dark forms and were slashing like whipping black dragons, exploding upon contact! 

The Heaven Goddess Zero lit a smile as she tumbled back, “So it is finally time. I have always wondered how strong the Great Lord Shenmu really is!”

As she said that, she had burst into a white flare, revealing the true extend of her divine power. 

“Aura Flare! That is the sanctorum power of my Crescent Heaven Blade!” 

Immediately everyone knew that a battle between the most high immortals had started and quickly scurried to the sides!

The Goddess Aeris quickly said to Yi Ping, “Obviously they are here for you. We should retreat first. Don’t worry. With the Great Lord Shenmu around here, they can’t get you in short notice unless the World Ruler Fu Xi chooses to interfere.”

But Yi Ping quickly said, “If they are here for me then it is my own battle. I can’t let the others fight or lose their lives for me.”

In a flash, he had already raised both his divine swords and had joined the battle!

The Goddess Aeris was startled but not entirely surprised. It was because it was the combative nature of the Desolate Immortals that compelled them to fight. But somehow she had a weird feeling as she looked at Yi Ping’s back and was actually afraid for him!

Yi Ping shouted as he swept aside the sweeping dark sword energies of the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien, “Two against one is not fair. How about two and two?”

And at the same time that he had interrupted the hacking slashes of the Heaven Goddess Zero, he had also knocked her back with an upward sword arc from the Celestial Alice! 

The Dark Goddess Xia Hsien and the Heaven Goddess Zero were slightly startled by the explosive power that Yi Ping had just exercised! 

Even the Great Lord Shenmu was startled for Yi Ping had just intercepted two Ninth Positioning Immortals at the same time!

At the same time, the World Ruler Fu Xi moved slightly and his scarlet eyes became a ring of crimson and violet! 

The Heaven Goddess said aloud, “Sister, he seems to be a capable fighter. We mustn’t be careless!”

The Dark Goddess Xia Hsien nodded as she deflected the attacks that were from the Great Lord Shenmu. All of a sudden, she had taken off her cloak and robe, revealing a tight fitting black wear but almost covered nothing except for her privacy!

The Heaven Goddess Zero did the same, only that her tight fitting wear was white.

Yi Ping was shocked as he felt a little dizzy as he thought, “They are fighting in their undergarments?!”

The onlookers were not surprised for they knew that the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien and the Heaven Goddess Zero had stripped only because they were trying to utilize their best combat mobility. Moreover their flimsy wears were the indestructible celestium silk!

Yi Ping was only startled because he was from a conservative culture and he was not accustomed to such an open display.  

The Heaven Goddess Zero had blinked on top of Yi Ping as she raised her Crescent Heaven Blade and with a quick swing, she had sent Yi Ping to fly thunderously to the back with an explosive impact! 

She immediately danced her blade forward to seize the initiative but Yi Ping had raised the Fantian Sovereign Sword and had deflected her flaring white sword aside!

He was soon upon his feet as he raised both the Celestial Alice and the Fantian Sovereign as he exchanged dozens of strokes with the Heaven Goddess Zero!

The Heaven Goddess Zero was startled as she thought, “What? He has been struck by my Crescent Heaven Blade and yet he was able to react almost immediately and seemingly unaffected?”

Actually Yi Ping’s martial strength was above her but because he was startled by her revealing appearance, this had caused his resolute to weaken and he was momentarily careless. 

The Heaven Goddess Zero blinked and appeared in three different positions in front of Yi Ping as she flurried her sword thrusts at Yi Ping, “This is my Mirage Swords! I don’t believe that I can’t hit you!”

Indeed Yi Ping was in awe as the Heaven Goddess Zero had displayed a dozen strokes quickly on him before she blinked out and blinked in again to attack his unprotected flank!

He gasped out as he tried to follow her attacks, “What astonishing speed attacks!”

He invoked the speed sanctorum power of the Celestial Alice as it burst into a golden flare as he blocked all her attacks, literally dozens of them in several blinks of an eye!

The onlookers were awestruck as they tried to follow their attack strokes!

The Goddess Aeris was gasping, “He can actually keep pace with Zero. She is the well known as the Goddess of Speed!…”

The Heaven Goddess Zero turned her blade as she split into seven images, “Seven Stars Mirage!”

The onlookers were more startled because the Heaven Goddess Zero had actually used her most powerful speed technique!

When the Seven Stars Mirage was used, that meant that she could enhance her speed by seven folds!

She had totally vanished and everyone could only see blurs of her attacks as her speed attacks had evolved to hyper speed!

But Yi Ping was still composed as he swung his swords around him, deflecting dozens of attacks in a blink of an eye, startling everyone!

Yi Ping was solely deflecting the attacks based on the slightest movements and with his acute seventh sense! 

He had dueled on numerous times with Shen Xingyue the Fiery Phoenix. She had taught him, “Eyes that can see cannot be seen, senses that cannot see can see. It takes a lot of strength to maintain the speed. If you able to wait it out, you will be able to have victory at the end of the ebb!”

Yi Ping knew that his opponent was taxing herself physically to execute this move. If she could not defeat him when she had used this move of hers then she would be exposing her physical weakness.

After seven blinks, he could sense the speed attacks of his opponent weakening so he gave a great shout as three outbursts of martial force erupted around him, followed by seven hovering golden discs and at the same time he was struck by the Crescent Heaven Blade through his chest!

This was followed by a brilliant golden white flare as the form of the Heaven Goddess Zero appeared into view. She was gasping breathlessly, “When my speed is enhanced by seven folds, the strength of my sword will also be enhanced by seven folds. Even if you have the same golden body as Shenmu, it will still be a fatal blow…”

The Heaven Goddess Zero gasped as she found the Celestial Alice on her chest and the Fantian Sovereign on her throat…

Her sword had not gone through Yi Ping as she had thought. It was only her sword energies that had gone through his chest but the damage seemed to have quickly dissipated into nothingness!

Yi Ping found himself looking at her heaving bosoms as he said weakly, “Lady, if you move then I will be nasty! Your aura has weakened considerably. Trust me, it won’t be a problem for me to cut you down or cause harm to your golden body if you were to move!”

The Heaven Goddess Zero stared blankly at Yi Ping as she trembled breathlessly, “You…you…my…Seven Stars…Mirage…fails me…it’s…just…not possible…”

Up close to Yi Ping, she could feel his imposing aura overwhelming her!

For the first time, she did not know what to do, what to expect and how to handle him!

Even the Dark Goddess Xia Hsien and the Great Lord Shenmu had stopped fighting and were looking at them!

The Goddess Aeris had a hint of jealousy as she looked at Yi Ping and the Heaven Goddess Zero!

The World Ruler Fu Xi said all of a sudden, “Zero and Xia Hsien, we have already known his strength. So let’s go!”

The Dark Goddess Xia Hsien was startled as she asked, “We are going just like this?!”

But the World Ruler Fu Xi had already left and only left behind his lingering words, “If ever you find the abode of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan unwelcoming then you are welcome to my place. If you ever desire anyone then I will surely fulfill your desires…”

The Dark Goddess Xia Hsien shot a glance at Yi Ping and the Great Lord Shenmu, “You have heard the World Ruler Fu Xi? We are just playing with you. So don’t feel offend. The Great Lord Shenmu is indeed strong. Surely you won’t take offend at someone who is lower in positioning than you?”

The Great Lord Shenmu hummed coldly, “Usually I will execute those who dare to offend me. But for you, Lady Xia Hsien, I will let the slight go!”

The Dark Goddess Xia Hsien smiled, “That is so good to hear.”

The Heaven Goddess Zero lowered her glances as she whispered almost incoherent to anyone but Yi Ping, “I am the Heaven Goddess Zero of the Guarding Heavens. And what is your name?”

Yi Ping was startled but he quickly said, “Yi Ping…”

She whispered humbly, “Great Lord Yi Ping…my humble respects to you…”