The Romantic Cultivator

Chapter 76 The Sacred Maiden Ceremony (2)

In all of Yuan Ji entire life, he had never seen a hall that was as vast as this that could accommodate more than fifty thousand cultivators.

Not only was this hall grandeur and spacious but it looked like it could accommodate another one hundred thousand cultivators without any issue.

He had only one sentence to describe his experience with an envious look after a while in the hall, "The Celestial Orthodox Sect is really a rich sect."

Everywhere, the beautiful protégés of the Celestial Orthodox Sect were serving the guests with rare fruits and aromatic wines.

He was actually looking in the direction of the prestige seats and saw that even though there were only six celestial clans that occupied it but their protégés numbered in the thousands.

He was completely stunned by their numbers and was immediately sheepish.

It seemed that he needed to tweak his plan a little now…

He turned to growl weakly to Hua Wuwu and Hua Baiyue, "Do they need to send so many cultivators just to attend a ceremony?"

Hua Wuwu laughed, "It is only once every few centuries big event and moreover it is a change of leadership. Naturally the other six major orthodox clans must give a little face."

"It is more than enough face." Yuan Ji muttered unhappily.

Hua Baiyue whispered to them, "Look this time round, even the Blue Phoenix Sacred Sect is also here. What a surprise!"

Yuan Ji immediately followed her eyes and saw the protégés of the Blue Phoenix Sacred Sect. There were actually not many of them and they were only in their dozens instead of hundreds.

He immediately noted that their robes were actually light blue and that their female protégés were also donning a light blue face veil. Most of the female protégés had already loosened their face veils to sample the rare fruits and aromatic drinks that were spread in front of them.

Almost all, except for an outstanding maiden with a pair of beautiful golden eyes. However he was soon disappointed because he had noticed that the insignia on her forehead was a blue bird rather than a blue flower petal.

The veiled maiden that he had suspected to be Xia Jiajia had a blue petal on her forehead…

Next he managed to discover the seating arrangements of Fairy Ye Chengxi and Shangguan Yan. They were not hard to miss for they were sitting near to the upper echelons of the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

Yuan Ji could not help staring in their directions. He was not being discreet at all. But luckily for him, he was not the only ones who were staring at the two astonishing beauties. Therefore his actions were deemed as normal and did not attract any attention.

As a matter of fact, half of the male cultivators were all staring and inhaling in appreciation of the heavenly beauties of both Fairy Ye Chengxi and Shangguan Yan. Moreover there were many beautiful maidens that were sitting at the prestige seats and naturally almost everyone was looking in that direction.

Those who had the bronze invitations did not care if they were staring unruly because they were numerous and many of the maidens in the prestige seats and gold seats were actually dressing in their best. Their intentions were only too clear and it was for the men to appreciate.

Even though the men were all looking lecherous at the many beautiful saintesses, supremacies and golden celestials in the hall but they were not foolish to do anything funny. The rules were simple enough. They could only stare but not touch or harass anyone.

All of a sudden Yuan Ji saw a beautiful saintess in the ranks of the Profound Heaven Sword Manor. He was actually quite startled to see her because he had never known that she was from the Profound Heaven Sword Manor and she was sitting near Jian Menghao.

Jian Menghao was naturally Third Young Master Jian Menghao that he had met in the Lotus Sword Mansion Trial. Before Yuan Ji could take any actions on him in the trials, he had committed suicide.

But Yuan Ji was soon frowning because he had suddenly noticed that this beautiful saintess was now serving fruits to Jian Menghao and they were actually quite intimate. There was a look of displeasure in his countenance when he saw them.

When Hua Baiyue saw his countenance and followed his eyes, she began to chuckle. "What? You've already set your sights on Saintess Jian Yuluo, one of the top ten beauties. You really have sharp eyes or shall I say envious eyes?"

"What? She is Saintess Jian Yuluo?" Yuan Ji was startled. He was startled because when he had known her, she had called herself Saintess Yuxian and she had never told him that she was actually Saintess Jian Yuluo from the Profound Heaven Sword Manor

"Actually you don't have to be envious of them." Hua Baiyue giggled. "They have an aunt and nephew relationship. Moreover Saintess Jian Yuluo is the Celestial Teacher of Jian Menghao."

Yuan Ji laughed nonchalantly, "Is that so? Why says I am envious? It is just that I have recognized that Jian Menghao and had thrash him up inside the Lotus Sword Mansion. And why should I look at other beauties when I have two lovely saintesses by my side now?"

As he said to Hua Baiyue, he was thinking. "Saintess Jian Yuluo is not Xia Jiajia. Saintess Fang Zhenfei may not be Jia Jiajia too. So I have come to a dead end. Jiajia, where are you. Do you know that I am looking for you? Do you think that you owe me an explanation? Or do you have any difficulties? I can help you but only if you're willing to tell me..."

His attention soon returned where Saintess Jian Yuluo was. There was a burning hurt in his heart and the bad memories that had occurred three hundred years ago had returned to him.

That was the start of his bad luck. After he was dumped by his old sweetheart, he was captured by Little Princess to be made into her dual cultivation slave. But luckily for him, he had managed to escape after one month of imprisonment when she was not looking and he was found by Saintess 'Yuxian'.

He was now smiling bitterly now. So Saintess Yuxian was actually Saintess Jian Yuluo. Why did she lie to him? They had a short three months of romance after she had nursed him back to health but she had suddenly disappeared afterward. For the next one hundred years, he had been searching for her news before he had finally given up on finding her.

But three hundred years ago when he saw her again, there was a mix feelings in his heart.

Now he had finally understood why she had left him. It was because she was a proud daughter of one of the patriarch celestial clans and he was only a lowly fourth realm cultivator back then. For him to covet after a lofty seventh realm saintess was an unthinkable act and her celestial clan would never allow their relationship to develop.

Because of the loss of Saintess Yuxian and to fill in the emptiness of his heart, he began to drink heavily and spent more time on creating romantic poems. The rest of the fraternity may only know him as the Great Poet Ji Yuan but they did not know why he was able to create such lingering romantic poems. It was because he had undergone a series of setback three hundred years ago!

This was something that Shangguan Yan and Fairy Ye Chengxi did not know about their old master's past. Only his best friend Guo Tianming knew what had happened to him. Problem was, he was beginning to wonder if this 'best' friend of his had a tight lips about his awkward and bitter past.

"I will kill you if you tell anyone about this." He cursed Guo Tianming silently at the thought that his best friend's lips may not be so tight after all.

His thoughts were interrupted by Hua Wuwu who asked him, "There are about three thousands golden celestials here and as many as three hundred seventh realm golden saints here. Have you decided already?"

Yuan Ji replied her quietly, "We shall proceed as planned. As soon as Xue Qianxue has arrived, I will distract them. Help me to rescue her."

Hua Wuwu nodded quietly before she stood up with her sister Hua Baiyue and they seemed to be leaving.

Yuan Ji was startled, "Where are you going?"

Hua Wuwu replied coolly, "Naturally we are going to get as far away as possible from you. If we are seen with you then they may think that we are in cahoots and it will make the rescue plan difficult to execute."

Hua Baiyue whispered melancholy, "Brother Yuan Ji, please don't die."

Hua Wuwu was quietly clenching her fists as she left with Hua Baiyue. They knew that Yuan Ji's plan was to sacrifice himself for Xue Qianxue but they did not expose him.

There was actually another way to avoid the personal duel with their old master. And that was to allow the Celestial Orthodox Sect and the many celestial clans to kill him in full public view. In this way, the Old Master of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace would be appeased if he could not turn up for their personal duel.

After all, the Old Master could not find fault with a dead man. If he really wanted to find fault then he would have to settle this feud with the hundreds of celestial clans that had kill him.

Yuan Ji nodded quietly as he could only watch them mingle among the thousands of cultivators. They were right. It was best if they were far from him when he had stepped out to confront the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

All of a sudden he saw Lu Qingyun, Fan Yuqing and the rest of their group at the golden seats.

He was startled, "I thought that they are from the Nine Celestial Fraternity? Why are they here? They will be tricky for me to handle..."

Yuan Ji did not know that they had also stolen their invitation cards too. Fan Yuqing loved banquets the most and would never give up any chance to attend one.

He was soon impatiently counting the passage of time as he resolved silently, "Qianxue, I will surely rescue you. Because of me, you have lost everything…"

Just as everyone was jovially toasting and shouting cheers to one another, a spirited and beautiful lovely maiden had stepped on the side of the prestige hall with a soft shout, "Junior here is Celestial Jin Yuyun of the Mystic Profound Pavilion. I will like Celestial Fairy Ye Chengxi to instruct this junior here!"

Jin Yuyun as one of the ten acknowledged beautiful fairies and her alluring beauty was only slightly beneath the four great beauties. Therefore when she had stepped forward with a challenge to Fairy Ye Chengxi, everyone was startled but they were also looking in her direction with eager anticipation.

It was obvious to them that Jin Yuyun may be envious of the heavenly beauty of Fairy Ye Chengxi and even her reputation.

Even Yuan Ji was muttering, "Chengxi is only a beautiful vase. She won't be a match for this Jin Yuyun who is backed by the formidable celestial resources of the Mystic Profound Pavilion."

Fairy Ye Chengxi said nonchalantly as she took a look at Jin Yuyun before she humbly lowered her glances, "Chengxi is only less than two hundred years of age. How can I be considered to be your senior? We are both at the fifth realm golden celestial level and moreover I am younger in cultivation age than you."

There was a flush on Jin Yuyun's countenance. It was true that Fairy Ye Chengxi was younger than her. But she forced through a smile and said, "Everyone knows that Fairy Ye Chengxi is a Sword Saintess. Even if I do not acknowledge that you are my senior, it is not justifiable."

Then she chuckled softly, "Don't tell me that a Sword Saintess will be afraid of taking a challenge from the same realm level?"

"Chengxi is only afraid that we will spoil the happy occasion." She said quietly without lifting her eyes.

Jin Yuyun chuckled softly as she turned to ask all the cultivators in the hall, "If we have a short duel here, will it spoil the mood of everyone here?"

Immediately there were jovial outbursts, "No! Please continue! It is going to be an eye opener…"

Almost all the cultivators that were shouting a reply were all eager to see the two beauties in action. After all, this was not something that they could see every day!

Yuan Ji was actually shouted unhappily, "It will surely spoil my mood so get lost!" But his voice was drowned by the thousands of cultivators that were now hoping to see a fight between these two beauties.

Yuan Ji: …

"These cultivators are too lame…"

Shangguan Yan gasped softly as Ye Chengxi quietly rose up as she replied politely, "In that case, Chengxi will only have to oblige the wishes of everyone."

When she had said that, all the cultivators were clapping and shouting excitingly.

The only two persons that seemed extremely unhappy about it was actually Yuan Ji and Jin Yilong. It was because Yuan Ji did not want his Chengxi to lose his face and similarly, Jin Yilong did not want his daughter to lose his face too!

"This Jin Yuyun is really good. She manages to distract everyone but it is a pity that her distraction is at the wrong timing when Xue Qianxue, Zhao Songjin and Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi had not arrived yet." Yuan Ji sighed.

Then he added with another soft sigh, "If they had already arrived then she probably doesn't have the iron guts to create this disturbance."

Everyone was now muttering to one another.

"So who do you think will be able to win?"

"Jin Yuyun is an upper tier fifth realm golden celestial while Fairy Ye Chengxi is an initial fifth realm golden celestial…"

"Jin Yuyun is two small tiers higher than Fairy Ye Chengxi…"

"But Fairy Ye Chengxi is a Sword Saintess…"

"Although Fairy Ye Chengxi is a Sword Saintess but few have rarely seen her in action…"

"Is a Sword Saintess formidable?"

"Why don't you take the Sword Trials and experience it yourself?"

Although there were about twenty sword saints that were rumored to exist in the entire fraternity but they were rarely seen. Even the seven major orthodox patriarch clans had only one known Sword Saintess and that was the Saintess Jian Yuluo.

Saintess Jian Yuluo had only attained as a Sword Saintess in the Forgotten Valley of the Saint Swords three hundred years ago. At that time she was already a saintess.

The other two known Sword Saints were actually Ji Yuan and Fairy Ye Chengxi.

Countless number of cultivators had taken the Sword Trials of the Forgotten Valley of the Saint Swords and had failed.

All the sword cultivators who were lucky enough to survive the Sword Trials to become a Sword Saint knew how difficult it was.

Fairy Ye Chengxi may be only a fifth realm cultivator but in the eyes of the sword practitioners from the first to the seventh realm, she was their heroine and the shadow that they were chasing after!

Jin Yuyun was smiling as she took out an earth grade divine sword, "Please give me your instructions, Sword Saintess Ye Chengxi!"

Fairy Ye Chengxi had unsheathed her sword and to the awkwardness of all the sword cultivators, they saw that it was only a half-step precious sword.

Yuan Ji was smiling bitterly when he saw her half-step precious sword. It was because her sword was actually given to her by him.

His Orthodox Sword Sect was quite poor and the best sword that his sect had was actually a heaven-step precious sword and he had given it to Xia Jiajia…

He cursed her softly, "Chengxi, I'm sure that you can get a better sword from the treasuries of the Emperor Hall Sect? At least get yourself an earth-step precious sword…"

All the sword cultivators were now looking anxiously at Fairy Ye Chengxi...

Not only was Jin Yuyun two tiers higher than Fairy Ye Chengxi but she also had a divine sword that could project her profound power. Moreover she was from one of the patriarch clans and had many secret profound arts hidden in her sleeves.

Although most of the cultivators used a sword but most were not sword cultivators. Only around 10% of the cultivators presented in the hall were actually sword cultivators while the rest were sabre cultivators, spear cultivators, palm cultivators, finger cultivators, fist cultivators, body cultivators, profound power cultivators, internal profound art cultivators, profound aura cultivators etc. The majority of the cultivators were actually hybrid cultivators.

That was the main reason why the seven major orthodox patriarch clans had a hard time producing a Sword Saint was because they simply had too many profound arts and it was hard for them to specialize into a field alone.

Jin Yuyun could not resist a soft chuckle, "Aiyo~ I didn't know that Sword Saintess Ye Chengxi is actually so poor that she cannot afford a better sword."

Fairy Ye Chengxi replied nonchalantly, "This precious sword is from my old master to me. It is more than good enough."

Jin Yuyun chuckled, "You call this sword of yours a precious sword?"

Even Yuan Ji was cursing the same, "You call this sword of yours a precious sword?" He almost had the urge to throw her his divine sword.

Fairy Ye Chengxi smiled with great tenderness as she looked at the reflection of her sword, "This sword is precious in my heart..."

"Chengxi! Why don't you use this precious sword?"

The voice had come from Saintess Fang Zhenfei as she threw a sword in front of Fairy Ye Chengxi.

Everyone was quite startled that it was actually Saintess Fang Zhenfei that had spoken.

But when they had all used their divine senses on the sword that Saintess Fang Zhenfei had thrust in front of Fairy Ye Chengxi, they were all quite disappointed to learn that it was actually just a heaven-step precious sword.

"I believe that this sword belongs to your old master and it is the heritage sword of your Orthodox Sword Sect. I have happened to find it by the roadside." Saintess Fang Zhenfei said indifferently before she resumed her meditating pose.

Fairy Ye Chengxi gasped immediately when she saw the precious sword and her eyes were bleary. "This is Sky Forth, my old master's precious sword…"

Yuan Ji was also startled to see his sect heritage sword again. But he was more startled that Saintess Fang Zhenfei actually had his heritage sword. Although he could not be sure if she was Xia Jiajia but when she said that she had found it by the roadside, he was already ninety percent sure that it was her!

Moreover he had given Sky Forth to her as his pledge for her. Why would it be in the hands of others?

"Find it by the roadside? When she had stolen the Blue Divine Flower, she had also said that she had found it by the roadside. She is really such a bimbo. Haha. Jiajia, I have finally found you…"