A Martial Odyssey

The bed chamber was not exactly big but spacious enough. It had a bath tub behind a wall screen, a small carpet hall and of course a bed.

Yi Ping took a quick look as he asked, "There is no table or chairs?"

The Goddess Lessica was puzzled as she asked, "Huh? Table or chairs?"

Yi Ping said awkwardly, "Never mind that…"

He had realized that the more he had asked, the more he was giving himself away even though he was able to pick up languages rapidly with his innate enlightenment.

Like the Celestials, they were likely to sit on the floor rather than the chairs…

The Goddess Lessica whispered, "The others are under instructions to spy on us. You have specific request for me so that is why I am here. But afterward, I will have to report everything that you have said and enquired to the Great Lord Xuan Yuan. You know, the Great Lord Xuan Yuan is really curious about you and I have never seen him like this for ages."

Yi Ping heaved a soft sigh, "Thank you for telling me so much."

The Goddess Lessica lowered her head shyly, "You can ask me anything you want. This is…a repayment of your kindness to me. What does my lord want to ask of me first?"

Yi Ping pondered for a while before he asked, "This Alluring Goddess Theresa, who is she?"

The Goddess Lessica laughed softly, "You say you are not interested in her but the first thing that you have enquired is her."

Yi Ping smiled weakly, "I just found her intriguing."

The Goddess Lessica smiled shyly, "I am just teasing my lord. I hope that my lord won't mind and pardon my impudence."

Yi Pig quickly said, "Of course not!"

The Goddess Lessica whispered, "The Alluring Goddess Theresa is from the Oracle Clan. She resides in her Oracle Citadel to the north of the Ancient Fortress. Trust me on this, she isn't someone that you want to mess with or want to acquaint with."

Yi Ping glanced at his Fantian Sovereign as he murmured, "She seems to have recognized my divine sword…"

The Goddess Lessica said, "That is because she is the younger sister to the Great Goddess Fantian. Of course she knows it."

Yi Ping was stunned as he muttered, "She is the younger sister to the Great Goddess Fantian?!"

Yi Ping was not as dense as he appeared. He stared at the Goddess Lessica and asked solemnly, "Just who are you? You recognize my divine sword too?"

The Goddess Lessica said quietly, "I do recognize the Fantian Sovereign. I am what you know."

Yi Ping thought, "Obviously she is hiding something. There is a subtle shift in her eyes…"

But that was her personal secret and he did not want to want to force her as he thought, "I don't have the right to force her to reveal her secrets. It doesn't matter. I am just a stranger here."

The Goddess Lessica lowered her voice even softer, "There is something that I want to say to you that I can't say earlier. You may be interested to know about it."

Yi Ping asked curiously, "Yes?"

The Goddess Lessica said quietly, "But before I can tell you this, can you tell me where you are really from?"

Yi Ping was startled as he thought, "Should I trust her? Maybe she is a spy from the Great Lord Xuan Yuan after all…"

But he quickly cursed to himself, "So what? She has not harmed me yet, right? Moreover I am not exactly in the best of situations. I don't even know if I can return to the Stellar Sanctuary now. I shouldn't have doubted her. What if she really meant well then I would have wronged her…"

Yi Ping prided his personal honor above his better common sense. There were many instances where the other maidens nearly fainted at his stupidity and had felt he should exercise caution against a stranger. But that was Yi Ping and in the end, the other maidens had to admit that what Yi Ping had done was actually the smart thing to do and that he had the 'foresight'.

But of course he did not have any foresight at all. It was just a matter of trusting this Goddess Lessica or not. What would he choose then? What decision would he make? This was a matter of life and death!

Yi Ping sighed softly, "My name is really Yi Ping. As from where I am from, I am not from the desolate borderlands as the Goddess Aeris has said. She didn't know either. I am from the Celestial Realm."

The Goddess Lessica looked at him curiously, "You are not from the Immortal Realm and is from a lower realm?"

Yi Ping shook his head, "If you want to know where I come from, that is it. But how did I come to be here, I do not know either!"

The Goddess Lessica looked at him intently as she murmured, "Impossible. The distances between the realms are simply too vast. Moreover, the Celestial Realm is a lower realm…"

She looked at Yi Ping before saying, "But I don't think you are lying or I will surely know."

Yi Ping was startled as he thought, "She can discern if I am lying?"

The Goddess Lessica said quietly, "My lord, your attainment must be exceeding in order to traverse across the realms or maybe it is because that is the desire of your divine sword."

Yi Ping was startled as he asked, "My divine sword? My Fantian Sovereign?"

The Goddess Lessica nodded, "All divine weapons have a will of their own so that is not surprising. Moreover the Fantian Sovereign hailed from the Ancient Fortress."

Yi Ping asked, "The Fantian Sovereign hailed from the Ancient Fortress?"

The Goddess Lessica nodded, "It hailed from the Oracle Clan in fact. The first mistress to the Fantian Sovereign is none other than the Great Goddess Fantian!"

All of a sudden she drawn close to Yi Ping as she sniffed, "And you have the scent of the Great Goddess Fantian on you…"

Yi Ping was startled as he thought, "She can really tell?"

She quickly smiled shyly, "Maybe you know, maybe you do not know. The Great Goddess Fantian is the number one exponent among the Desolate Immortals."

Yi Ping blinked his eyes, "She is? What about the World Ruler Fu Xi and the Great Lord Xuan Yuan?"

She heaved a soft sigh, "So it seems that you really do not know. Indeed, she is ranked as such. But now she is no longer here so that honor goes to her sister, the Alluring Goddess Theresa now. They are actually one of the most ancient Desolate Immortals around and moreover, they are able to discover their limits in battle and are able to surpass it, far more than any Desolate Immortals. That is why the Alluring Goddess Theresa is currently ranked at number one. Maybe even on par with the Great Lord Xuan Yuan and the World Ruler Fu Xi!"

Yi Ping thought excitingly to himself, "If the Alluring Goddess Theresa is the sister to Xian'Er, then she may be the only one that I can trust…"

The Goddess Lessica said quietly, "I know what you are thinking. Are you planning of allying with the Alluring Goddess Theresa?"

Yi Ping smiled faintly, "You…you can read my thoughts?"

The Goddess Lessica chuckled softly, "No, I can't. It is just that you are so easy to read. I just did a lucky guess."

Yi Ping was slightly relieved as he muttered, "So I see…"

The Goddess Lessica whispered gravely, "Great Lord Yi Ping, please listen to me. The Alluring Goddess Theresa has a personal vendetta with the Great Goddess Fantian for forsaking clan honor and for betraying the Desolate Immortals. You must always remember that. And it is obvious that she has taken notice of you and your divine sword. She will surely claim the Fantian Sovereign as her own."

Yi Ping smiled weakly at that but he was also perplexed at the same time. It was because he had suddenly realized that this Goddess Lessica was not as simple as she seemed!

The Goddess Lessica said shyly, "The Great Lord Xuan Yuan will surely request for you to pick a maiden as your desirables. That is because he wants you to join his camp but that does not mean that he trusts you. It is better than you joining his rivals. So he will entice you to choose the Great Goddess Aeris but you must never choose her. When the time comes for you to pick a goddess for yourself, you must choose me."

All of a sudden she had clung onto Yi Ping as she whispered almost incoherently, "You have to choose me, don't forget…"

Yi Ping was stunned at her sudden closeness. Just as he was about to push her away, she moaned softly. "Don't. They can sense our movements in this chamber. Don't give the game away…"

The Goddess Lessica added softly, "You must give them an impression that you have formed an attachment to me. Only then can you have the excuse to justify your request. Am I right?"

Yi Ping nodded slowly as he sensed two strangers that were standing outside the room. These two strangers were experts in concealing themselves but Yi Ping had received plenty of training from Yixian and Youxue in sensing the invisible opponents. Moreover, his state of divinity was really much higher than the watchers as well.

As the Goddess Lessica cuddled on him, she said gently. "In just a few hours, you will have to see the Great Lord Xuan Yuan so it is better for you to have as much rest as possible, alright?"

He nodded slowly but at the same time he was already pondering his current situation, "So this is the Desolate Realm and I am now in the company of the Desolate Immortals? Except for the Eighth and Ninth Positioning Desolate Immortals, why does it seem that they are generally weaker than the Celestial Immortals? I think that even Alice, Xiang'Er, Lele, Xingyue and even Yu'Er are all on par with the Eighth Positioning Immortals. No, Alice is superior to the Goddess Aeris in many ways. I saw her withstanding the tremendous impact of the Abominating White King Ape (See Chapter 184)…"

He paused as he thought excitedly, "If my guess is correct, they are indeed stronger than most of the Desolate Immortals here! That is because they carried with them the blood lineage of the Great Goddess Fantian! Moreover the spiritual levels of the Three Known Realms are much higher than here, allowing them to further develop their own techniques."

"So that means that the Heavenly Kings of the Immortals may not be weaker than most of Seventh Positioning Desolate Immortals here. The Western Paradise Heavenly King is currently at the Seventh Immortal Positioning so he should be on par with the initial or intermediate Ninth Positioning Desolate Immortals here? But compare to the late stage Ninth Positioning Desolate Immortals like the World Ruler Fu Xi and the Great Lord Xuan Yuan, it is impossible to surpass them yet. Even I, do not have the confident to do so…"

"No wait. The Ancient Desolate Immortals should be spiritually enriched in the Immortal Realm already and they won't be weaker than the Celestial Immortals. Alas! No matter what I think about this, this conflict will be a total disaster for the Immortal Realm!"

"Great Lord Yi Ping?…" It was the voice of the Goddess Lessica calling out for him, "Are you alright?"

Yi Ping snapped out of his thoughts immediately as he replied quickly, "I am alright."

He hesitated briefly before he asked, "Can I know something? Who exactly are you? I have already told you my background."

It was because he had already determined that the Goddess Lessica seemed to be hiding something from him…

That was because he had seen too much of the intrigues of the Martial Fraternity and the Celestial Realm. Over the years, he had grown wiser as well.

But some things shall not change, will not change!

He will not force anyone to bend their will to him!

The Goddess Lessica lowered her glances, "I…I will tell you after I have regained my freedom…"

She added quickly as she looked melancholy at Yi Ping, "Please believe me. I have no intention to deceive you or to make use of you. I…I have my own difficulties. I hope that you are able to understand it. I really have no other choice."

Yi Ping smiled gently, "Don't worry about it. I understand."

The Goddess Lessica sighed softly, "You are a good man. I know that I cannot force you to choose between the Goddess Aeris or myself. And you make no promise either."

Yi Ping was startled as he quickly sought to explain, "I…don't know…I need to think. I am sorry…"

The Goddess Lessica smiled gently, "That is alright. I understand as well."

Yi Ping was startled by her reply but before he could say anything, she said gently. "Great Lord Yi Ping, I must tell you two things."

Yi Ping asked curiously, "Yes?"

The Goddess Lessica whispered gently, "The first thing is that you must watch out for the left side of the Great Lord Xuan Yuan carefully. That is because his stronger hand is exactly his left. That is his greatest secret!"

Yi Ping was startled. That was because he really could not tell. Lele was left-hander but she had a tell-tale sign. When he had fought with the Great Lord Xuan Yuan, he really could not tell!

He quickly said sincerely, "Thank you! I didn't know!"

The Goddess Lessica smiled gently, "Secondly, there is little spiritual nourishment in the Desolate Realm unlike the Material Realms. If you want to recover quickly, you ought to know the rules of this realm quickly. For example…"

She lowered her eyes shyly before saying, "You can only replenish your vitality by engaging in unison with another…"

Yi Ping flustered quickly because the Goddess Lessica was cuddling him even tighter now and that she had left her robe slip!

The Goddess Lessica whispered, "There are watchers outside. A mere act will not be able to convince them, am I right?"