A Martial Odyssey

Yixian smiled gently to Yi Ping, "Ping'Er, I have thought that I would never see you again. After we have passed through that shimmering golden portal, I have found myself lying in a beautiful scented coffin in different attire. There was a Divine White Tiger Beast that was next to me. It was the same divine beast that we have encountered in the earlier levels. At first I was startled by its presence but it meant me no harm but followed me everywhere. After exploring where I was, I was even more startled to find myself in a floating citadel and when I have looked down, there were oceans of swords everywhere."

Yi Ping was nodding, "Xian'Er, I know that it is you…"

Yixian lowered her glances as she stroked her blue hair, "In that surreal place, I dreamed that I am the Great Goddess Fantian. I dream of dreams that are distant and fantastic. I soon realize that it is really not a dream but I am truly Fantian herself. I don't know how to explain this."

She began to tremble as she whispered melancholy, "The Great Goddess Fantian ended her life to follow the Great God Pangu…"

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa was stunned, "The Great Goddess Fantian that I have known is gone…but your body is immortal…"

Yixian nodded, "The Great Goddess Fantian may have ended her life but she has preserved her body in a coffin. Somehow I have merged one with her."

Yi Ping muttered, "So the Great Goddess Fantian and Xian'Er are actually splitting images of each other…"

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa sighed softly before she said, "Anyway, we have to get out of here first."

Yi Ping asked the Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa, "Do you have a way to get out of this celestial formation?"

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa replied coldly, "Hmph. This Ten Thousands Celestial Formation may be able to trap lesser mortals but it is not enough to trap me."

Lie Qing was amused as she thought, "Then why are you trapped here."

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa continued, "This Ten Thousands Celestial Formation is able to trap ten thousands immortals hence its name. It is also because it is impossible to overcome all six celestial positions at the same time. Moreover while we are still in this formation, we will only get weaker and will be unable to recover our martial strength."

Yi Ping nodded as he sighed softly…

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa added, "The fact that there is an exit means that all six celestial positions are filled and opened. Because we are in with a large group therefore we are fortunately enough. Or else if we have to wait for the others to enter this formation, it may take a long time and by then, we may be disintegrated along with this formation when the Stellar Sanctuary returned to the Heavens."

She paused briefly before saying, "Even then the strength of the six groups varies and there is no telling that we can all overcome the six positions at the same time. In the end we will all be returned to the start of this formation until we have new groups joining us. But for the original groups, we would have already exhausted our strength and further expeditions into the Ten Thousands Celestial Formation will only spell our doom!"

Yi Ping cursed softly, "This Ten Thousands Celestial Formation is a cunning trap by itself. I wonder who the inventor of this cursed formation…"

Yixian and Nuwa immediately giggled softly as they said at the same time, "It is you!"

They paused to look at each other and suddenly shrugged their shoulders solemnly.

Yi Ping grinned, "It seems that the Lady Fantian and the Lady Nuwa have something in common now."

Lie Qing, Xingyue and Lingfeng were secretly looking at each other; it was because they had noticed that there seemed to be a subtle change in Yi Ping's personality.

The Yi Ping that they had known was more caution and he would never joke in a tense situation like this. But now Yi Ping despite his loss of martial strength was relax and had a confident look.

Shen Xingyue sensed a familiar sense of tranquility that was always around the White Sage…

Yi Ping grinned, "Well that is the Great God Pangu and not me. So is there a way to break this celestial formation?"

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa nodded, "Yes! All we need is to get to the formation center and break the formation core. It is not easy and it is way harder than overcoming the six celestial positions. It is also a great gambit though. Do you want to try?"

Yi Ping looked at the exhausted looks of everyone, "We are all half-dead already so let's try it."

Lingfeng muttered, "What kind of logic is this? We are half-dead already and so that is why we are going straight to go for the formation core?!"

Yi Ping rubbed his nose with a wry grin, "Lingfeng, you are scared?"

Lingfeng smiled alluringly as she paused to ponder a while, "You will be in front in front of me. If you are not afraid, why should I be? And don't expect me to protect you. I won't. On a serious note, do you know what you are driving into?"

All of a sudden Yi Ping had grown solemn, "I know. But I have to get into the epicenter of this celestial formation. The epicenter of this celestial formation…"

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa interrupted as she looked coldly at him, "…has a Pangu Artifact. The name of this Pangu Artifact is the Feather Sword Shard and there are three Feather Sword Shards. How did you know of this?"

Yi Ping rubbed his nose, "I will explain on the way. But first we have to get to the formation center as quickly as possible."

The Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa asked curiously, "But do you know the way?"

Yi Ping smiled, "I can try if you trust me."

Yixian smiled gently, "Ping'Er, I trust you. Let's go!"

Lingfeng and Lie Qing smiled weakly to each other as they remembered that Yi Ping was not particular good in finding his way…

Yi Ping muttered, "Let's hope that the luck of the White Sage is with me…"

He began to recall the moment when there were three other him…

The Pangu-Yi Ping had said, "I am the Great God Pangu. You are finally here but are you the one that I have been waiting for? This Stellar Sanctuary contains my past memories. If you want to become me, you have to meet the challenges that I have set to determine your worthiness."

As the Pangu-Yi Ping said with a regretful sigh, "If you can, find the Lady Fantian and the Lady Nuwa… tell them to forget me…"

Yi Ping asked wordlessly, "You are the Great God Pangu? Why is that I can see you?"

He paused briefly to look at the White Sage-Yi Ping and the Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping who were all looking serenely at him…

The Pangu-Yi Ping smiled wryly, "We are all your dead memories. We are the failures of your past incarnations. Perhaps you will also become another failure as well. I see that you have the Fantian Sovereign Sword now and have even unlocked its sanctorum power. I am really surprised. The sanctorum power of the Fantian Sovereign Sword is its ability to materialize the surreal, enhancing the energies that are invisible. That is the real reason why you can see us. We are now in a spatial space beyond time and space. Perhaps you are really the one."

Yi Ping muttered, "You are all my dead memories? Even the Great God Pangu…"

The Pangu-Yi Ping said, "Yi Ping, I have placed three Feather Sword Shards in this Stellar Sanctuary and I can sense that one of them is near here. Listen, you must find these three Feather Sword Shards and gathered them. These three Feather Sword Shards are the divine artefacts from Beyond. You mustn't let these Feather Sword Shards fall into the hands of others, especially to the Desolate Immortals. These are really the true treasures of the Stellar Sanctuary…"

All of a sudden the Pangu-Yi Ping froze in place…

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping smiled wryly as he lifted the Celestial Alice Divine Sword in is hands, "You are Yi Ping? Good! I have thought that upon my death I have no one else to listen to my last will. Alice, I am sorry that I will never see you again. Ishtar, Isa…alas. I am such a rascal that I have made used of the two of you to fulfill my selfish ambitions. And in the end, I got my just deserved ends."

He began to sigh…

Yi Ping was afraid that the Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping would freeze in stasis like the Pangu-Yi Ping so he quickly asked, "How did you die? Didn't you manage to reach the top level of the Stellar Sanctuary? What happens?"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping laughed aloud, "Indeed! I have reached the top level of the Stellar Sanctuary. I have overcome all the trials through my skills. I have thought that after I have become the Great God Pangu then I can come back for Alice…"

Yi Ping was startled that all of a sudden the Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping was crying hysterically as he bemoaned, "At long last, I have the choice to be the Great God Pangu and be the first to ascend to the Great Beyond as the God of Gods. But when I pick that choice, I was obliterated into dusts!…"

Yi Ping was stunned as he muttered, "You are obliterated? But didn't you say that you have overcome all the trials?"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping lamented aloud, "That is right! I got obliterated by the Ultimate Heavenly Calamity. Just one tiny step yet so far away…"

Yi Ping was quiet for a while before he asked, "You mention that there is a choice?"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping hummed coldly, "That choice is not a choice at all. One is to become the Great God Pangu and the other one is to exit the Stellar Sanctuary…"

Yi Ping smiled bitterly, "If I were you, I would surely choose to leave the Stellar Sanctuary…"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping hummed coldly, "That is because you are a weakling and is scared to take challenges. If I am a weakling like you then I wouldn't have ascended to the top of the Stellar Sanctuary!"

This time it was Yi Ping that was laughing aloud as he smiled bitterly, "I may be a weakling but I am not a coward!"

It was true. Yi Ping had no lack of courage and he had never been afraid of anyone!

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping looked at him and muttered, "This righteous air, so pure…"

Yi Ping was trembling as he said aloud, "Do you know how much Alice and Isa suffer as they await your return? Did you know that Alice tried to take her life once she had realized that you were dead? She always harbored a hope that one day you will return to her as the successor to the Great God Pangu? She believes that you have not returned because you have not found a way to return. And you choose to be a Great God rather than to be with her?! I really want to beat you up!"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping was shaken as he stepped backward, "Alice tried to take her own immortal life…"

Yi Ping laughed maddening, "So you don't know what love is? So the Goddess Ishtar also dies because of you?"

All of a sudden the Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping became stone, "I have a confession to make. Do you know that the one that I love most is really the Goddess Ishtar…"

Yi Ping was stunned by this revelation!

He muttered, "Not Alice?!"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping shook his head, "Alice, I love her too but that is only after I have met her. Before that I really want to settle a score with her for separating Ishtar and I. Do you know why I want to become the Great God Pangu so badly? So that I can revive Ishtar…in the end, I am powerless to do anything…"

Yi Ping was totally stunned!

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping managed a wry smile, "But I am content now. That is because I can sense Ishtar now. She is here now? Or rather her incarnation?"

Yi Ping muttered, "Xian'Er…"

The Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping smiled, "Doesn't matter now. I am supposed to be just a memory now. Protect her. Don't make the same mistake that I did."

He paused to take a last look at Yi Ping, "Good! You have already inherited my Dark Heavenly Emperor Artefact in your body. Then let me give you a little push to inherit my fighting skills."

All of a sudden he had tapped Yi Ping on his forehead with his fingers!

When he was done, the Dark Chaos Lord-Yi Ping was returned to his original stasis position!

Almost immediately the White Sage-Yi Ping smiled gently, "Yi Ping, it must be hard on you to carry all my burdens onto yourself."

Yi Ping asked, "You know?"

The White Sage-Yi Ping nodded, "Perhaps my state of divinity is good enough for me to sense what is happening. My grand protégé mistress the Heaveness, Xingyue and many others. I have caused them much misery. In the end, most of them lost their lives because of me…I am really a sinful person."

Yi Ping continued to listen because he knew that the White Sage-Yi Ping must have plenty of things to say…

The White Sage-Yi Ping sighed softly, "I have fallen in love with my grand protégé mistress the Heaveness. She is so forbidden. I know deep within my heart that she must be a celestial. That is why I want to ascend as quickly as possible to the Celestial Realm. But alas, I have never expected to meet Xingyue again. She refuses to see me…"

He sighed again, "And Revelation Star. I have never thought that I would fall in love with her at first sight. For all my firm beliefs, I have become lost. I have thought that through my meditations, I would have forgotten all about them. I didn't and they didn't."

Yi Ping said quietly, "That is alright. You don't have to worry. I will protect them and love them."

The White Sage-Yi Ping smiled, "I know that you surely will. Your will is stronger than any of us. In the end only you understand better than any of us. Before I vanish forever, can you put me to rest by sharing with me why is that your will is so strong?"

Yi Ping was puzzled, "My will is strong?"

The White Sage-Yi Ping nodded, "Or else you will never be able to bring Revelation Star to your side. Or else your destiny will eventually be the same as us!"

Yi Ping said firmly, "I have almost lost her many times. I don't want to lose her. I can't lose her or any of the other maidens that have been through countless numbers of dangers with me. I can't lose any of them. I will rather be the one that suffer in their stead!"

The White Sage-Yi Ping nodded, "So that is why! I have finally understood! You are not restrained by your heart to anyone and your love is equally boundless to all of them! That is really something that I cannot understand and constantly feels guilty upon!"

Yi Ping smiled bitterly, "I am not that great. In fact, I am constantly feeling miserable that I cannot shower any of them with equal care."

That was the true!

The White Sage-Yi Ping glanced at Lingfeng, Yixian, Lie Qing, Xingyue and the Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa as though he could see them and he was smiling, "The happiness in their inner hearts. It is not how much love you can provide but the trust and harmony that you can provide to each of them. To think that they will all be able to put aside their differences and feuds to be with you, that is really something that none is able to accomplish. You have really beaten destiny by your will!"

Yi Ping was perplexed, "Huh?"

The White Sage-Yi Ping explained, "Destiny is like giant strand of web. One gentle tap on it is bound to move the entire web. The destinies of everyone are all closely intertwined with each other. It is impossible to tap a single strand without affecting the other strands. Take for example, if you have not given Lie Qing the Divine Dragon Pill, can you imagine what would happen?"

Yi Ping muttered, "If I have not given Qing'Er the Divine Dragon Pill then I would have lost Yunzi. Yunzi would have been forced to betray us. If Qing'Er is not here then I would have been killed by the Celestial Liege a long time ago…and countless other times would not have happened…"

The White Sage-Yi Ping, "And what about Lele, Lingfeng, Yu'Er, Mei'Er and all the others?"

Yi Ping stared at the White Sage-Yi Ping as he muttered, "They all played equally important role…"

The White Sage-Yi Ping smiled, "Not only that. They all have indifferences and feuds that are not easy to resolve. Failing to resolve any one of their feuds mean that you will become exactly just like us. But you have actually managed to move the entire web without disrupting it!"

Yi Ping was enlightened all of a sudden but he was also smiling bitterly, "I didn't know that what I did can be called something great. I didn't want to hurt any of them and didn't know what to do…"

The White Sage-Yi Ping smiled, "You have been protecting them with your life all this while. They all know it and appreciate you."

Yi Ping smiled bitterly, "They have been protecting me too with their lives too. Surely I would have died ten times over without their aids!"

The White Sage-Yi Ping smiled, "All of you have been protecting each other with your lives. This is greater love."

Yi Ping muttered, "Greater love…"

The White Sage-Yi Ping smiled gently, "So it seems that I have no further memories to share with you. But I do have a gift to share with you nevertheless or else you will find me too ungrateful."

Yi Ping smiled weakly, "I won't."

The White Sage-Yi Ping laughed jovially, "I am link to you through the Great Emptiness Translucence. In your heart, you are actually cursing us and wanting to beat us up one day for giving you so many headaches."

Yi Ping immediately flushed deeply!

The White Sage-Yi Ping turned solemn as he stole a glance at Yixian, "It is good to be alive even for a while and I am thankful that the last pitched efforts that I have put into, actually works. Revelation Star…"

He quickly turned to Yi Ping as he smiled, "Maybe I can elevate your state of divinity to my level…"

Just as Yi Ping was about to ask why, the White Sage-Yi Ping had frozen into stasis and there was a binding flash of light as the other three Yi Ping merged into him!