A Martial Odyssey - Chapter 232

As soon as Yi Ping had stepped into the shimmering portal, he found himself in a new magnificent hall but he had no time to appreciate the grandeur; the Great Khan Heavenly King was fighting against a gigantic white tiger and from the look of it, he was in a critical situation!

The Great Khan Heavenly King was worn-down and he was fighting for his life!

Yi Ping was startled for he had recognized the scars that were on this gigantic white tiger. He thought, “Isn’t this the White Tiger Divine Beast?”

Xian’Er who had just stepped forth from the shimmering portal was also startled as she said, “Isn’t this the Divine White Tiger?”

Nuwa was also startled as she whispered in secret, “Huh? Isn’t this the divine stead of the Great God Pangu?”

All of a sudden there was a great thunderous shout from the Western Paradise Heavenly King as he charged straight for the White Tiger Divine Beast!

Yi Ping was startled as he called out, “Wait!…”

But the Western Paradise Heavenly King struck the Divine White Tiger on its back with the full unleashing of his martial power. But instead of a thunderous strike that everyone was expecting, the blow was soft and was immediately neutralized!

The Western Paradise Heavenly King was startled but before he could react, the White Divine Tiger raised its paw and with a swipe, had caused him to crash thunderously against the wall!

At the same time, Xiao Ping the Golden Kirin had also rushed for the Divine White Tiger but was swept aside by the explosive shockwave roar of the Divine White Tiger!

Yi Ping was also startled because the Divine White Tiger appeared to be so much stronger than the last time.

Lingfeng seemed to understand what he was thinking. She gave a smile as she whispered secretly to him, “These Divine Beasts can freely appear in all the levels of the Stellar Sanctuary. When they appear at the lower levels, their true divine might are suppressed or else none of us will have a chance against the divine beasts.”

Alice whispered back in secret, “These divine beasts are not supposed to be defeated even in the lower levels. You are supposed to be able to make good your escape if you are capable. If you are incapable then you can only blame your ill-fate.”

Lingfeng raised her eyebrows as she whispered back with a soft, “You make it sound so easy…”

At this time, Xian’Er had flashed next to the Divine White Tiger to say, “I know you. You are the guardian of this floor?”

Yi Ping had also flashed next to Xian’Er. He lowered his swords to say, “You are here too?”

At the same time, he said to the group that was behind him, “Hold. I know this divine beast…”

The Divine White Tiger roared thunderous again but did not attack further even though it was surrounded by a large group.

The Great Khan Heavenly King who was lying flattened under the paw of the Divine White Tiger was mourning, “Help me…”

Yi Ping said quietly to the Divine White Tiger, “Let him go.”

The Divine White Tiger roared mightily again before lifting its paw.

The Western Paradise Heavenly King was already on his feet and he was next to the Great Khan Heavenly King in the next instant as he lifted him up angrily, “You traitorous fellow! You dare to walk out of us just like this? Do you think that you owe us an explanation?”

The Great Khan Heavenly King was extremely pale and he was coughing feebly, “I am wrong, I am wrong…”

Lele spat coldly, “Why do we have to save him? Just let him die!”

Lie Qing snapped her fingers to say coldly, “He is wrong but he didn’t even apologize for his actions. Therefore he isn’t in the least sorry at all. What a man, what a man!”

Yi Ping waved her down as he said to the White Divine Tiger, “You want to come with us? Fine, fine. Then come.”

Then he turned to the Great Khan Heavenly King with a soft sigh, “You are lucky that this divine beast is a friend of mine. Let bygones be bygones.”

The Great Khan Heavenly King muttered, “Indeed, indeed.”

Xiao Ping the Golden Kirin howled miserably as it stomped the ground as it looked at the Divine White Tiger.

Alice laughed as she calmed Xiao Ping down with her divine voice, “Don’t be a sore loser. I know you may not lose if you persist but I rather the two of you to be the best of friends in the future.”

Yi Ping pulled the two divine beasts close to each other as he laughed aloud, “That is what I am wishing for as well!”

Youxue smiled at the two towering divine beasts as she turned to Yi Ping to say, “Alas! Stop paying too much attention to these beasts and more on us!”

Yu’Er, Mei’Er, Yunzi, Han Lin, Aiel and all the other maidens began to chuckle among themselves as they exchanged glancing looks with each other!

Just as Yi Ping had wanted to protest to them, the entire floor began to shake violently!

Han Lin panicked cried out, “What is going on here?”

Aiel smiled, “Silly! The Stellar Sanctuary is arranging itself. That is why!”

Indeed the entire floor of the Stellar Sanctuary seemed to be shifting itself until the entire hall reshaped into an infinity stair that sprang right in front of them!

When the rumblings stopped, they were still in the same hall except that there was a flight of stair that stretched from no end in sight with only a blue light that could be seen at the very top of the stairs!

The Universal Old Man rubbed his hands as he looked at everyone, “What is this?”

Yi Ping was also looking at the stairs and was perplexed. Finally he muttered with a soft sigh, “It seems that we have arrived at our destination?”

Everyone was stealing glances at each other as they thought at the same time, “We have reached the epicenter of the 100th floor of the Stellar Sanctuary?”

Everyone was feeling excited!

It did not take long for them to know the answer to this. All of a sudden the blue light at the very top of the stellar stairs began to glow even brightly and it was like a stellar star that was descending!

Only Yi Ping and Xian’Er remained unmoved at the sight of this blue light as they took a quick look at each other at the same time.

Yi Ping thought, “Xian’Er, are you thinking of the same thing as I am? That, it is only the beginning and we are not out of danger yet?”

Xian’Er fingers were upon the hilt of her sword as she thought, “Ping’Er, I hope I am wrong in this but I have an uneasy feeling about this.”

She was not going to share her worries to the others lest it would unduly raise an alarm to the rest. She could only pray that she had been wrong!

But her slight movements were noticed by Yu’Er and Mei’Er who were secretly startled. That was because their mistress had a habit; she would never touch her sword unless she had no other choice!

Otherwise, the attention of the rest of the group was focused on the blue stellar light and what was in view, was now beginning to startle everyone, including Yi Ping and Xian’Er!

That was because beyond the blue stellar light was a shining blue full plate armor and the blue stellar light was actually its aura!

This shining blue plate armor had a reflective white orb in the middle and there were another two white orbs on the sides of its pauldron!

The Divine White Tiger was already moving and turning around excitedly!

Nuwa was the first to gasp, “It is the divine armor of the Great God Pangu!”

She paused before she looked excitingly at Yi Ping, “Yi Ping, that is actually the skeleton remains of the Great God Pangu. If you are able to get it then you will also have the golden body of the Great God Pangu!”

All the others were startled when they had heard the Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa mentioned that the shining divine armor that was in front of them was actually the remains of the Great God Pangu!

All of a sudden a deep voice that seemed to be resonant from within the blue shining divine armor thundered, “I am Pangu. Welcome to the 100th level of the Stellar Sanctuary…”

Yi Ping and the rest of the group were startled. Indeed, this was the familiar voice of the Great God Pangu which everyone would witness the first time when they had stepped on the 11th floor of the Stellar Sanctuary!

The voice echoed with a rumbling laughter, “So, you have managed to arrive at this final destination. Good, good! I have been waiting for you. But first you have to reach the top of the stairs to receive my mantle. Can you or can you not? But I must warn you first, it is not going to be easy and even will be impossible! You can try or turn back now. The trial starts at your very first step on the stairs! The one that reaches the top will be the next Great God Pangu!”

Everyone was now looking at Yi Ping and they seemed to be hinting to him now, “There is no turning back now.”

Alice smiled serenely, “What are you waiting for now?”

Yi Ping was also excited when he had heard the voice of the Great God Pangu once again. But he was also anxious for he had an uneasy feeling. He asked himself, “Is this what I am waiting for all this while?”

He heaved a soft sigh as he felt the presence of the Dark Chaos Lord that was within him, “The Dark Chaos Lord has reached the 100th level but he had failed. Is there a reason, a cause? I need more time to ponder but I am already here…”

The Goddess Isa, the Goddess of Mercy, Aiel and Han Lin noticed that Yi Ping was in a daze and they asked, “Yi Ping?”

Youxue, Yunzi, Yu’Er, Mei’Er, Asura and the rest were all looking at Yi Ping too and judging from their moods, they were all trying to contain their excitement!

He nodded to everyone as he smiled, “I just thought of something and is thinking about it.”

He mustered his strides, just when he was about to take his first step when Lie Qing and Xian’Er secretly dual whispered at almost the same time to him, “Ping’Er,wait!”

Yi Ping asked secretly, “Yes?”

Alice, Nuwa and Lingfeng who could hear Lie Qing and Xian’Er were now looking at the three of them curiously.

The rest of the group could not hear them but they could see that Yi Ping’s lips were moving and knew that he was talking to someone.

Xian’Er immediately whispered, “Qing’Er, you want to say something?”

Lie Qing lit a smile as she whispered in secret to Yi Ping, Xian’Er, Alice, Lingfeng and Nuwa, “I think that Sister Xian’Er and I are probably thinking along the same line. Ping’Er, when you step on the stair, be careful of the others, especially that Great Khan Heavenly King. Remember that the first one to reach the very top will claim the mantle of the Great God Pangu and become the next Great God Pangu.”

She winked at Xian’Er as she whispered again, “Sister Xian’Er, is that right? Are you thinking the same as I am?”

Xian’Er smiled as she whispered back, “Qing’Er, you are right.”

She paused for a while to look at Yi Ping intently before she whispered in secret, “Ping’Er, you must be wary of the others.”

Yi Ping looked at the Great Khan Heavenly King, the Celestial Liege, the Martial Sage and the others before he whispered sadly, “I hope it is not the case.”

Xian’Er and Lie Qing had survived for decades in the treacherous martial fraternity and they had seen much, heard much and experienced much. Therefore they were more wary and cautious of the others, even from those that they had known well. In a fraternity that was filled with mistrusts and betrayals, it never pays to trust anyone with blind faith alone.

Yi Ping said aloud as he took the first step on the stairs, “Everyone, be on your guard! We don’t know what would be going to happen next!”

No sooner had he taken the first step, the entire stairs exploded into blue flares as the voice of the Great God Pangu resounded with hearty laughter, “Great, you have decided to challenge your destiny. Can you inherit my Essential Righteous Energy and inherit my mantle to be the next Great God Pangu?”

When Yi Ping heard the mention of the Essential Righteous Energy, there was a twitch on his face. It was because he knew all along that he had already inherited the Essential Righteous Energy from the Great God Pangu. He had wanted to ask on numerous occasions, “If it is about receiving the Essential Righteous Energy from the 100th level, then what is the purpose of reaching the 100th level since I am already received it right from the very start? If I am able to receive it, does it mean that the Dark Chaos Lord had also received it right from the very start? Like me, he had reached the very top but he had perished. Why is that so?”

But he had no time to ponder over this now as the dozens of white golem knights that bore the appearance of the divine armor of the Great God Pangu had suddenly appeared and were now rushing down the stairs!

Ye Yin immediately cried out panicky, “There are thirty-three of them!”

Indeed, they had appeared in a formation of three and were descending in eleven waves!

Yi Ping was startled as he immediately raised his sword to defend himself against three of the white golem knights that had suddenly rushed at him!

These white golem knights were agile and were upon him in a blink of an eye!

There was a thunderous brilliant clash as Yi Ping was forced backward by the white golem knights!

He was startled because his strength now was of the ninth immortal positioning. Moreover these white golem knights were only a head taller than him and they did not appear to be much stronger than him!

He quickly raised his Celestial Alice to strike at the white golem knight that was nearest to him. But no sooner had he aimed at him, the white golem knight had moved its seemingly clumsy large shield at the precise time and position and deflected his strike!

Yi Ping was stunned for this very swift strike of his was with the sanctorum power of the swiftness of the Celestial Alice; he had already estimated the speed and movement of these white golem knights and had attacked through an obvious opening. This was an impossible deflecting reaction. Moreover, the moment the white golem knight had deflected his strike with its shield, Yi Ping could feel a rebounding force much like the Divine Emerald Force that neutralized his strike and forced him back!

Yi Ping turned ashen as he unleashed dozens of sword strokes around him with his two divine swords, “These creatures are able to use the Absolute Defense Force?!”

Nuwa had also turned ashen as her punches were neutralized as she muttered weakly, “Not only that, they are all of the Eighth Immortal Positioning as well!”

Indeed, the foreheads of these white golem knights were now glowing with an eight pointer circle!

The Goddess Aiel was extremely pale as she mustered all her strength only to say out, “This…this is the impossible!…”

Xian’Er slashed with a brilliant slash at the three white golem knights that were nearest to her but to no futile as the three white golem knights as they raised their shields at the same time!

From her ashen expression, everyone could tell that the Celestial Fairy aka the Great Goddess Fantian was anxious as well!

Yi Ping immediately shouted, “Everyone behind me! The stronger ones defend the front while the weaker one support from behind and don’t let them break through our lines of defenses!”

But no sooner had Xian’Er, Nuwa, the Jade Emperor, the Western Paradise Heavenly King, Alice, Isa and Asura formed a defensive line, the agile white golem knights had scattered their last ditch defense formation with hundreds of strikes, leaving everyone to fight for their own survival!

Instead of climbing up the stairs to battle the trial, they were back to the square one again and were forced to fight for their own survival in the hallway!

Yi Ping was panicky as he was now the only one that was fighting in front, as the Great Desolate Goddess Nuwa and Xian’Er were forced to retreat several steps away from him, leaving him to face with at least nine white golem knights who were all highly skilled swordsmen that could hold their own against him!

He was extremely pale now. He was not worried for himself but for everyone. He now blamed himself for bring them here. These white golem knights were all eighth positioning fighting automations and he knew that it would not take long for the battle to end; their entire group would perish and even for him, it was impossible for him to handle them alone!

As he fought these white golem knights furiously with his dazzling swordplay, he was also cursing himself, “I am to blame! I am the one that have taken the first step!…”