A Martial Odyssey

Chapter 178: The Western Paradise Heavenly King

Yi Ping and his group arrived just in time to witness the Immortal Saint of Swords, the Lord Supreme, a dozen unknown practitioners and they were all fighting against an unknown old man at the same time!

Scattered on the ground were dozens of dead practitioners!

The fight had been fierce from the obvious wounds and injuries on them. Even though the unknown old man was fighting against fourteen fighters, it was obvious that he had the upper hand and was the verge of winning when Yi Ping and his group had barged into the scene!

And this unknown old man was fighting unarmed against everyone!

When Yi Ping saw that the unknown old man was fighting against the Lord Supreme and the Immortal Saint of Swords, he unsheathed his sword immediately and displayed several strokes against him. It was immediately followed by the rest of the group!

But no sooner had Yi Ping executed his sword strokes, he was knocked back by an invisible martial shockwave that sent him scurrying backward as he thought. "What is this martial shockwave"

Yu'Er had intercepted the unknown old man. It was quickly followed by Mei'Er, Shen Xingyue and Ye Yin as they quickly surrounded the Lord Supreme. She greeted her father, "Yu'Er is late. Father, are you alright?"

The Lord Supreme smiled weakly as he coughed a bout of blood, "Yu'Er, Mei'Er, you are here too? How is it possible for you to reach this far? We are not his match. Leave me alone and quickly flee while you can!"

Mei'Er protested, "Father, I refuse!"

At the same time the twelve other practitioners had turned ashen were when they caught sight of Alice, Asura and the Goddess of Mercy, "The Goddess Celestial Alice, the Goddess of Mercy!"

Alice had recognized them as immortal practitioners; they were actually consisted of two main groups of immortals, the Zen Practitioners and the Arhat Practitioners. Among the Arhat Practitioners was a Skylord Jun, who was one of the Eight Heavenly Dragon Generals.

Skylord Jun was startled to see the Goddess of Mercy who was also one of the Eight Heavenly Dragon Generals with Alice, "You are with the Goddess Celestial Alice?"

The reasons that they had turned ashen when they saw the Goddess Celestial Alice was because they had all sneaked into the Stellar Sanctuary on the sly. It was because the Goddess Celestial Alice and the Goddess Asura had repeatedly warned the immortal practitioners not to enter the Stellar Sanctuary!

In short, they were caught red-handed!

The Goddess of Mercy had also sneaked into the Stellar Sanctuary but why was she on the side of the Goddess Theocracy?

The Goddess of Mercy Xiang interrupted hastily, "I will explain later. Right now, we have a common foe!"

Alice said quietly to the immortal practitioners even as she appraised the unknown old man, "Let put all our enmities aside first."

At the same time the Immortal Saint of Swords was startled to see Yunzi, "Yunzi, you are here too? You are supposed to be outside the Stellar Sanctuary. Why are you here?"

Yunzi smiled weakly, "My respects to protg master. I will explain later. You are alright?"

The Immortal Saint of Swords quickly exercised his internal strength to cough out the bad blood as he smiled to Yunzi, "Iam alrightYunzi, this old man is not an ordinary opponent that we can tackle alone. Youshould go as far as possible!"

Yunzi asked hastily while looking at the unknown old man, "Who is he?"

The Immortal Saint of Swords steadied himself with his sword, "No idea!"

Yunzi was slightly afraid. It was because she could sense that this unknown old man was actually one of the Heavenly Kings. It was because judging from the sword energies remnants that were in the surroundings, she could tell that the Immortal Saint of Swords had already executed his most powerful sword technique, the Inverting Eternal Occurrence and he had actually survived unscathed!

Therefore if he was not a Heavenly King then who was he?

The unknown old man had quickly scurried tens of steps back as his eyes beamed with delight. It was because he was looking covetously at the sight of so many divine weapons flashing in front of him and at the sight of so many heavenly maidens!

The unknown old man laughed jovially, "What have we here? Alice, Isa, Aiel, Asura, Xiang, you are all here."

Aiel was startled, "You know me?"

The unknown old man laughed jovially, "Of course I know you, Aiel. I know all the goddesses of the Immortal realm. You are all handpicked by me to be the goddesses of the Immortal Realm!"

Aiel turned pale as she stammered, "Then you are"

She immediately looked at Alice and Isa, who nodded at her.

Yi Ping had stepped in front of Aiel as he said coolly to the unknown old man, "Old Senior, who are you?"

The unknown old man looked at Yi Ping with a slight amusement, "You don't know who I am?"

Yi Ping asked as his expression darkened, "You haven't say who you are so how would I know your name?"

The unknown old man appraised this young looking man with interest. It was because he had already noticed that this young man's martial skills were indeed profound from their brief exchanges. He was the reason why he had scurried backward all of a sudden.

There were seventeen newly arrivals and he had indeed actually recognized quite a few of them. He had noticed that they were all standing at an arm's length from each other as they displayed a defensive stance. This natural positioning indicated that that they had already reached an amicable understanding in previous group battles. While it was not a formation yet but it was nearly so!

This caused him to be taken by surprise by their formidability and caused him to appraise these newly arrivals anew!

The unknown old man laughed jovially, "If you are trying to provoke me then you are wasting your time. As to who I am, why don't you ask my dear Alice here?"

Alice answered coldly, "Who is your dear Alice?"

Yi Ping was a little jealous when he had heard the unknown old man calling Alice in such an intimate term so he quickly asked, "Ziyan, who is he?"

Alice said quietly, "He is Lord Judas of the Western Paradise, the Western Paradise Heavenly King. Yi Ping, don't fall for his wily tricks. He is extremely fond of messing up with people. He is a close aide to the Jade Emperor and if you think that the Dark Primordial and Great Ascetic Heavenly Kings are formidable, he is even more so!"

Yi Ping had already guessed that this unknown old man was a Heavenly King. Other than a Heavenly King, none was able to fight against so many super exponents at the same time and still remained unscathed!

If Alice had not warn him that this Western Paradise Heavenly King was even more dangerous than the Dark Primordial and Great Ascetic Heavenly King, he would never have guessed. It was because unlike the Dark Primordial and Great Ascetic Heavenly King who had a terrifying presence, this Western Paradise Heavenly King did not emanate any formidable presence.

It was precisely because of this now that Yi Ping was even more concerned. It was because experts that could conceal their auras were actually the most feared!

Lord Judas laughed merrily, "My dear Goddess Celestial Alice, the most heavenly of the goddesses! You have forgotten about me so fast? How long have it been? Are you missing me? You aren't like this when you are sleeping on my lap the last time!"

Yi Ping said coldly to Lord Judas, "I am Yi Ping. Why are you being so shameless? ZiyanAlice will never sleep on your lap!"

Lord Judas stared at Yi Ping maliciously as he laughed coldly, "Rascal, why don't you ask my dear Alice yourself?"

Yi Ping stole a glance at Alice but she immediately averted him. He muttered, "It is true"

Lord Judas laughed, "Now you believe? Not only Alice, but Isa, Asura and Gusu Xiang as well!"

Isa, Asura and Xiang immediately lowered their glances.

Yi Ping was speechless.

Alice immediately said, "Lord Judas, why are you here? We have all thought that you are no longer around. Why are you bullying your juniors?"

Lord Judas hummed coldly, "So Alice, you didn't even want to pay your respects to me anymore? How the times have change now! But how can you say that I am bullying them? They are many while I am only one. Moreover"

He pointed to the Immortal Saint of Swords, "moreover, this junior has the tenacity to injure me. If I don't make him pay, then I am unfit to be called the Western Paradise Heavenly King!"

The Immortal Saint of Swords smiled bitterly. It was because despite his best effort, he was only scratching this Western Paradise Heavenly King.

The Lord Supreme and the Immortal Saint of Swords were secretly looking at each other. It was because many of these practitioners were leagues above them and if their secret guess was correct, then they must be immortal practitioners.

And this Western Paradise Heavenly King must be a really eminent immortal practitioner. It was because they had noticed that even the Goddess Celestial Alice seemed to be dreading him.

They were puzzled that that there would be so many immortal practitioners around but at the same time they were also excited. It was because they had been seeking the elusive immortal practice all their lives

Alice said coldly to the Western Paradise Heavenly King, "But you don't look the least injured to me."

Lord Judas immediately smiled, "You must know that I am aching and painful all over."

He immediately rolled up his sleeves, "If you don't believe me then why don't you examine me?"

Alice smiled bitterly, "I am not so foolish to get near to you!"

Lord Judas protested innocently, "If you don't examine me then how do you know that I am not in pain or injured?"

Alice refused to answer him.

Lord Judas patted the side of his head as he looked at everyone, "Don't tell me that the whole lots of you are going to gang up on me?"

He proceeded to pat his chest, "Alas my poor heart! Today you are going to depart from my body! I am doomed!"

Alice smiled bitterly at his act before she said coldly, "If you don't want us to gang up against you and if you don't want your heart to leave your body, why don't you depart from here instead?"

Lord Judas laughed, "Yes, why didn't I think of that?"

Skylord Jun smiled bitterly, "Yes, why don't you leave? We promise we won't pursue you."

Lord Judas laughed merrily all of a sudden, "No way!"

Skylord Jun smiled bitterly

Alice said coolly, "We have more than thirty here. You really think that you can fight us all at the same time?"

Lord Judas laughed, "Dearest Alice, you think that I am a bad guy?"

Alice smiled weakly, "You are not?"

Lord Judas shouted spiritedly, "Of course I am not. You can ask them!"

He started to point at Skylord Jun, the Lord Supreme, the Immortal Saint of Swords and the rest of the immortal practitioners, "They are killing each other when I have arrived. If I have not intervened in time, they would all have killed each other!"

Alice stared at Lord Judas and the rest of the immortal practitioners. It was obvious that the Zen Practitioners and Arhat Practitioners would natural come to blows, especially in a place like the Stellar Sanctuary.

They had all kept quiet and were lowering their glances in guilt. From their expressions, she knew that Lord Judas was not lying.

She sighed softly as she said to Lord Judas, "So what if they are fighting? You can choose not to intervene and go along your way."

Lord Judas appeared to be indignant, "If I close an eye to it then I am not a hero!"

Alice said coldly, "Unfortunately when you have intervened, none will survive whatever so!"

Lord Judas laughed maddening, "Since they didn't behave themselves, what does it matter if I end their lives?"

Skylord Jun, the Immortal Saint of Swords, Lord Supreme and all the other immortal practitioners turned ashen when he laughed. It was because his laughter seemed to have an invisible grabbling hold on them.

Yi Ping said coldly, "Isn't that a little too inhumane?"

Lord Judas looked at him coldly, "You want to fight me? If you want to be a hero then you must be prepare to pay the price for a hero. You must know that there are some that you cannot afford to offend even if you are a hero and I am one of them."

Yi Ping replied quietly, "You may be powerful alone but I doubt that you are able to deal with all of us alone!"

Alice nodded, "Even if you are a Heavenly King, you won't be able to escape unscathed!"

Lord Judas laughed as he stared at them, "If I fight headlong with you then I may not be able to win but what if I just kill the weak ones among you?"

At that everyone turned pale.

Yi Ping immediately said as he took a step forward, "Then don't blame me as well!"

Lord Judas looked at this Yi Ping. It was a little pity to kill him because he was emanating an air of righteousness that was rarely seen or else he would have already skewered him outright!

So he said rudely, "Young fellow. You are getting on my good patience. Don't think that you have a divine sword in your hand, you think you are fit to talk to me. This is your last chance. Get my dear Alice to talk to me. Do you know how ancient I am in the Immortal Realm? You are just a puny celestial. Let me ask you, how many years did you spend before you ascend to the Celestial Realm? And how many years have you been in the Celestial Realm?"

Yi Ping stammered, "I"

Lord Judas was secretly smiling. It was because the first generation immortals were the oldest of all creations and incredible ancient. A celestial was just like an infant in front of him!

Alice knew that Lord Judas was trying to mock Yi Ping so she said gently to Yi Ping, "You don't have to answer him. He is really a mean fellow. We are many and need not be afraid of him. He should be the one that is afraid of us instead!"

Lord Judas laughed, "I am afraid of you? If I am afraid, why don't all of you give it a try now"

Yi Ping said, "Senior! I know that I am just a junior and have only just embarked as an immortal practitioner and my cultivation isn't as profound as you. I have only practiced for three years before I have ascended to the Celestial Realm and have been in the Celestial Realm for only a year."

All of a sudden Lord Judas froze on the spot as he stared at Yi Ping, "What did you say? You only take four years to become an immortal practitioner? You are an immortal practitioner now?!"

Yi Ping said firmly, "That is right!"

Immediately the Immortal Saint of Swords, the Lord Supreme, the other immortals and even Isa, Xiang, Aiel, Han Lin and many others who had only recently been acquainted with him in the Celestial Realm were all looking at him with stunned silence!

Four years were an extremely short time.

The Immortal Saint of Swords looked at Yunzi, who nodded to him before she said. "That is right. We have all attained as immortal practitioners now."

The Lord Supreme asked Yu'Er and Mei'Er hastily, "My daughters, you have found the Immortal Practice?"

Yu'Er shook her head, "But we have an accident encounter. Father, we will explain to you later."

Mei'Er nodded gently as she looked at Lord Judas, "The most important thing at hand is to deal with him first."

Lord Judas roared aloud, "Alice! Is that true?"

Alice nodded gently. It was because she had remembered that Yi Ping and most of his group were not even golden celestials when they had entered the Astronomic Stellar Formation

Yi Ping said, "Will Senior please leave?"

Lord Judas was trembling as he stared at Yi Ping. This time he began to appraise this group seriously. All of a sudden he had noticed that the divine sword that was in Lie Qing's hand was the Eternal Light. And when he had noticed the Eternal Light, he had also noticed the Blessed Heaven Divine Sword that was in Ye Yin's hand!

He smiled weakly as he pointed at Lie Qing and Ye Yin, "Who is the Martial Emperor Heavenly King and the Ceremonial Saint Sword Heavenly King to you?"

Lie Qing and Ye Yin refused to answer him.

Lord Judas growled angrily, "Very good! I have been away for a long time and now everyone seems to have forgotten how they ought to be respectful to the Heavenly Kings!"

He tilted backward but all of a sudden he was upon Lie Qing in the next instant!

Lie Qing hastily displayed the Invincible Divine Force to meet his challenge!

There was a thunderous martial shockwave when Lord Judas and Lie Qing had exchanged a blow!

Just before Lie Qing was knocked back, she had displayed the Slashing Crucifixion, the second technique of the Flawless Sword Energy Techniques as multiple sword energies struck Lord Judas.

At the same time Shen Xingyue had also struck a quick slash at Lord Judas!

Lord Judas was startled as he stared blankly at Lie Qing, "The Invincible Divine Force! The Flawless Sword Energies Techniques! Maiden, who are you"

But before he could compose himself, Yi Ping was already on him with the two Celestial Alices, followed by Shen Xingyue, Ye Yin, Alice and Isa.

Lie Qing cough softly and there was blood on the tip of her lip as she thought, "I have already mustered up my Invisible Divine Force to the tenth invincible level but yet I cannot even handle a single blow from him"

Lele called out panicky to her, "Sister Qing'Er, are you alright?"

Lie Qing replied softly, "Lele, he is a dangerous foe. You must exercise full caution"

In the meantime, the rest was startled that Yi Ping could actually cause this Western Paradise Heavenly King to be beaten off and they were now engaging furiously as they scurried to the edge of the imposing cliffs.

In a blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of blows.

Lingfeng the Heaveness was about to join the fray when Asura stopped her sternly, "Everyone stay back! More doesn't mean better. Moreover he is luring them to the side of the cliff where he could maximum his advantage. If you go there now, you will only be hindering them. So watch first."

She nodded reluctantly. It was because she knew that the Goddess Asura was right. This Western Paradise Heavenly King could fight the Lord Supreme and the rest without faltering. His martial skills must indeed be formidable. If she wanted to help Yi Ping then she must observe his strokes for possible weakness.

The Lord Supreme, the Immortal Saint of Swords and many of the injured immortals made use of this short breather to recuperate as much of their strength as possible while several of the immortals had make use of this distraction to get away!

Skylord Jun quickly said the Goddess Asura, "The Arhat Practitioners have nothing to do with the Zen Practitioners. As you can see, this is not a good time to talk."

And he quickly disappeared.

He was quickly followed by the rest of the immortals who had all departed in a different direction!

Youxue said coldly, "And they did not even say a thank you and now we have to clear their mess!"

Yunzi smiled weakly as she continued to watch the fights.

The Goddess Asura was slightly relieved that the immortals had left on the sly. It was because she was wary of their intentions and had remained behind. But because they were gone now, she was now free to join in the fight against the Western Paradise Heavenly King!

She smiled at Youxue and the rest, "I don't mind them. These immortals are also wary of the Goddess Theocracy. And if it wasn't for the sudden appearance of the Heavenly kings in the Stellar Sanctuary, I would have gone after them without a second thought too."

She paused for a while before saying, "Wait here!"

She had joined the battle with Yi Ping.

The Lord Supreme and the Immortal Saint of the Swords waited until the Goddess Asura had left before they asked at the same time, "They are all true immortals?!"

Yu'E, Mei'Er, Yunzi, Lele, Lingfeng and Youxue nodded

Suddenly they were interrupted by earthshaking shockwaves as Yi Ping and the Western Paradise Heavenly King slammed into the cliff at the same time!

Lord Judas was stunned by Yi Ping's martial strength and his ability to hold his ground against him!

In ten blinks of an eye, they had exchanged more than two hundred strokes before Ye Yin, Shen Xingyue, Alice, Isa and Xiang had once again joined hands against him.

Because Yi Ping was like an impassable barrier that was always in front of him, this gave Ye Yin, Shen Xingyue, Alice, Isa and Xiang plenty of chances to be more on the offensive. After Asura had joined in against him, he found himself more on the defensive.

He was so startled that he asked, "What swordplay is that?"

It was because he had never seen a swordplay that could flawlessly defend and attack at the same time. Moreover, he had the advantage of being unarmed and he could have easily dealt Yi Ping a blow but he had not!

It was the same theory as a spear versus a sword. While the spear had a longer reach, it was useless against a sword at point blank.

Yi Ping had the advantage of a first strike but that did not mean he had an advantage against an experienced unarmed fighter. Moreover, ambidextrous wielding was even more difficult to use and required room for maneuvers.

Yi Ping did not reply as he blocked the blows of the Western Paradise Heavenly King and unleashed dozens of whirling sword strokes against his opponent while shouting, "Asper Continuous! Heavens Forward Stance! Heavens Encompassing Stroke!"

But these were not the only things that Lord Judas was startled with. He had used his fingers to tap the sides of Yi Ping's swords and was astonished to feel the emanating martial force of the Martial Emperor Unifying Force but at the same time he could also feel mini shockwaves of the Pangu Intricate Energy.

He was so hopping mad that he gave a great martial loud that was so earthshaking that Yi Ping, Alice, Isa, Asura, Ye Yin, Shen Xingyue and Xiang were all thrown off balance!

In that blink of an eye, Lord Judas had turned completely golden and there were nine bursts of hovering golden wisps around him.

Lie Qing was so startled that she gasped with surprise, "The Invincible Divine Force! He actually knows the Invincible Divine Force! His Invincible Divine Force is golden in color?"

Lord Judas had clearly heard her even though they were quite a considerable distance away, "Yes, indeed this is the Invincible Divine Force!"

Immediately an imposing suffocating presence could be felt in the entire vicinity.

Alice coughed out weakly, "Yi Ping! Everyone! Be on our alert. He is fighting for real now!"

Yi Ping broke into cold sweat. He had already been fighting with all his strength and both his arms were trembling and Alice was warning them that Lord Judas was only now fighting for real

He murmured softly, "He is not fighting for real earlier?"

Lord Judas laughed and all of a sudden, a light slammed down from the Heavens and there was a golden rod in his hand, "My precious Golden Rod of the Divine Pillar, how long has it been since I have last used you in my battles?"