14 Zuo Tianyi (1/2)
The grand hall of the Gongsun Manor was huge and majestic. It was divided into three colored walls, gold, silver and bronze colors. And the pugilists were partitioned within these walls according to their clan repute in the martial fraternity.
Gongsun Bai was the most powerful and most influential man in the entire martial fraternity for the past ten years. The Gongsun Martial Clan under his leadership had attracted many top martial exponents into the clan. Even top exponents like Gu Tianle the Warrior-God and Jue Yuan the Merciless was now in his protégé clan, the Honor Manor.
As the Grand Master of the Honor Manor, Gongsun Bai was also well-known for his martial abilities, the Ironclad Claw Skill and the Invincible Divine Force Skill.
In the martial fraternity, there was no one else other than Old Man Zuo the Sword Saint and Gu Tianle the Warrior-God that could rival his martial level. Old Man Zuo the Sword Saint had passed away last year and Gu Tianle the Warrior-God had joined the Honor Manor.
Now Gongsun Bai was not only the most powerful man in the entire martial fraternity, he was also the martial fraternity number one top exponent.
To be invited to the Honor Manor, even for those at the bronze seating, was a great prestige and honor. There were countless pugilists that were denied this opportunity and because of this, hundreds of small fights broke out in the martial fraternity to seize the invitations.
Needless to say, all the pugilists here presented today were fearsome exponents and experienced pugilists.
Nangong Le had a gold invitation. Naturally he was supposed to be a seated in the golden section, the closest to the host.
When he had entered the grand hall, he was instantly recognized by many. Unlike the other three young masters of the martial fraternity, Nangong Le spent most of his time in the martial fraternity and was acquainted with many.
Nangong Le fraternity name was 'The Joyous' for he was always smiling and in light spirits. And today he had reasons to smile.
When he first entered the grand hall, there was a sudden silence. Everyone seemed to turn their attentions to him. Even though his role in this congregation was minor, he seemed to be stealing the limelight and that he was causing great envy among many of the guests.
When Yi Ping and Ji Lingfeng entered the grand hall with him, the pugilists had never seen such a matching couple in terms of looks and magnetism. They had instantly captivated the attention of everyone, causing them to be awestruck.
Young Master Qiu Wufeng and the Heartless Scholar were among the guests presented. Even though they had met Yi Ping before but they failed to recognize him. It was because the Yi Ping they had briefly known then was a rugged traveler and this Yi Ping was clean and had a noble air around him. Moreover the Yi Ping then was just a nameless nobody. No one would pay him scant attention.
But today, he was in the company of Nangong Le and the opponents of Nangong Le would naturally be interested in anyone that was with him.
Ever since Young Master Qiu Wufeng retreated from the Heavenly Mountains, he had been thinking of the Celestial Fairy. He began to lose interest in his food and in other ladies. It was because he had never seen anyone as mesmerizing as the Celestial Fairy, until now.
Gongsun Jing recognized Yi Ping immediately. He wanted to recruit him to be his follower but a fight broke out between them. He thought, ”No wonder he rejects my overturns. It is because he is already Nangong Le's follower. What a pity!”
Jue Yuan had recognized both Yi Ping and Ji Lingfeng. He had tried to kill Yi Ping back then and had thought that Yi Ping was a protégé disciple of Young Master Qiu Wufeng. The Qiu clan had always opposed the Gongsun Clan. His first thought was, ”Have the Qiu Clan and the Nangong Clan forged a secret alliance already?”
Gu Tianle the One-Arm Warrior-God had recognized Yi Ping and was relieved that this young man was well. He did not know that instead of helping Yi Ping that day, Jue Yuan had actually tried to kill him. Even though he had a grudge with Qiao Feng the Shadow Kicker, his intent was not to hurt him. He had thought that Qiao Feng was nearby and had wanted to settle a score with him.
Yi Ping however recognized them all. He thought, ”Good! Even though I am being outnumbered today, I am not afraid of death. Let settle our scores once and for all today!”
He scanned his eyes for Gongsun Bai but it seemed that the host had not arrived yet.
He took a quick look and saw that only six out of the seven leading major orthodox clans were presented in the golden wall section. Judging from their colorful banners, the six major orthodox clans that were presented were the Infinity Sword Clan, the Zen Sect, the Monument Monastery, the Divine Sword Martial Clan, the Universal Truth Clan and the Traverse Clan.
The Ironclad Clan was inconspicuously absent from this meeting.
It was well known that the Ironclad Clan and the Heartless Scholar who was a follower of Young Master Qiu had a feud with one another and the Ironclad Clan would often be absented from any meetings that involved the Qiu Aristocracy Martial Clan.
There were at least thirty other clans that were seated in the silver and the bronze sections of the hall.
Yi Ping thought, ”This Gongsun Bai is indeed influential. He is able to invite so many martial clans to this congregation. But where is he? Why is that I can only see Gongsun Jing? Maybe it is not the time for him to show up yet? His status must be really prominent to keep the martial congregation waiting for him.”
Gongsun Jing laughed gently and walked over to Nangong Le respectfully, saying. ”Welcome, welcome Young Master Nangong! We have been waiting for you to start the meeting.”
Nangong Le laughed, ”I am so honored. I don't think I am so important to keep everyone waiting.”
Gongsun Jing smiled, ”Not at all, Brother Nangong. We are honored that you have decided to grace the congregation with your presence.”
Nangong Le smiled bitterly, ”Not at all. Unless I am really weary of living, I would never think of not attending the congregation.”
Gongsun Jing asked quietly, ”What do you mean by that? …”
But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Priest Bai Chongzhen, who was the protégé master of the Traverse Clan, ”Brother Ling, how are you?”
Priest Ling Kongquan smiled awkwardly, ”Not as well as the Traverse Clan for sure. Look at the Tranquil City, we only got a silver invitation.” He purposely looked at Gongsun Jing for a second.
Gongsun Jing smiled, ”Next time, we are sure to issue the Tranquil City a gold invitation.”
Jue Yuan the Merciless smirked, ”It still depends if the Tranquil City is fit to deserve a gold invitation from the Honor Manor.”
Priest Bai Chongzhen stared at Jue Yuan and questioned, ”What do you mean?”
Jue Yuan said, ”If the Tranquil City thinks that it deserves a golden seat, then its protégés must be able to prove that they are deserving of the honor.”
Jue Yuan looked at Yi Ping, Ji Lingfeng and Priest Ling Kongquan before saying, ”Just because they are acquainted with Young Master Nangong Le, they think they deserve a seat in the golden section? Is it fair to the other pugilists?”
He deliberately said it aloud and aroused the attention of many of the pugilists.
Gongsun Jing smiled awkwardly, ”Master Jue Yuan…”
But Jue Yuan ignored the awkwardness of Gongsun Jing and continued to say aloud, ”Do you think you deserve the honor?”
There were muttering among the pugilists and quite a few were shouting, ”Prove to it that you are deserving of the honor!”
Gongsun Jing continued to smile awkwardly. It was because Jue Yuan was his protégé master and as his disciple, he had to pay due respect to him even though he had a higher status than him in the Honor Manor.
Gu Tianle knew immediately that Jue Yuan had wanted to embarrass Nangong Le and his acquaintances.
But of course, he did not know the Jue Yuan was still sore that Yi Ping and this beautiful mysterious maiden had escaped from his fists. No matter, he would teach them a harsh lesson that they would never forget today!
Priest Bai Chongzhen smiled wryly, ”Have you forgotten that the Tranquil City and the Traverse Clan hail from the Emei Clan?”
Jue Yuan said unhappily, ”There are so many Emei Clans in the Western Fraternity. Just because the Tranquil City is also an Emei Clan, they deserve the golden seating? Fat hope! I afraid the Priest Ling Kongquan still has to prove it!”
Priest Ling Kongquan was really upset, ”You stupid monk! Are you really picking a fight with the Tranquil City or just me?”
Yi Ping was amused. It was obvious that Jue Yuan was intentional provoking them. Just when he was about to step forward, Ji Lingfeng inconspicuously pulled his sleeve and he stayed his cool.
Zuo Tianyi, the young protégé master of the Infinity Sword Clan and also one of the four young masters of the martial fraternity fame, was staring at Ji Lingfeng with bewildered eyes. He had taken over the mantle of the leadership of the Infinity Sword Clan when his grandfather the Sword Saint had passed away last year after a deadly duel with Ji Wuzheng, the Holy Sect Leader of the Holy Hex Sect.
In fact, besides Zuo Tianyi, many other pugilists were also staring at her mesmerizing beauty. Only a blind man would fail to notice her. Only the protégés of the Monument Monastery did not stared at her.
It was because the clan protégés of the Monument Monastery were all monks. When they saw Ji Lingfeng, they lowered their heads and looked the other way. The younger monks who were accompanying their elders were blushing all of a sudden and began to chant softly.
The Monument Monastery was famous for its seventy-two epic martial skills, with each warrior-monk practicing at least one epic martial skill in their lifetime.
But the real reason why Zuo Tianyi was looking at Ji Lingfeng was because he had recognized her!
His father died in a duel when he was still very young and he was brought up by his grandfather. And now, his grandfather, Old Man Zuo the Sword Saint had died because of her brother!
The reason that Zuo Tianyi had recognized her was because they were both presented at the duel between the Sword Saint and Ji Wuzheng, the Holy Sect Leader of the Holy Hex Sect!
Zuo Tianyi's fingers began to twitch and tremble slightly…
One year ago at the summit of the Lofty Green Mountains, Ji Wuzheng had the tenacity to challenge the Sword Saint. At that time, he was with his grandfather and Maiden Ji was with her brother.
The Sword Saint asked, ”You have come to challenge me?”
Ji Wuzheng said coolly, ”I dare not!”
The Sword Saint asked again, ”Then why did you send me an invitation to come here for?”
Ji Wuzheng smiled, ”It is not me that is looking for a challenge but you are.”
The Sword Saint said, ”Oh?”
Ji Wuzheng said, ”You are a peerless swordsman and there are none in the fraternity that is your match. Don't you feel lonely at the very top?”
The Sword Saint said, ”Indeed. No one else understands my feeling. There were once two super exponents during my time that could be my match. One was Yi Tianxing and the other one was your late father.”
Ji Wuzheng asked, ”You seem to have forgotten about the renowned Gongsun Bai and Gu Tianle the Warrior-God. In the martial fraternity, they are ranked among the very top.”
Old Man Zuo the Sword Saint stroked his long white beard and said, ”Indeed they are but not twenty years ago.”
Ji Wuzheng said, ”And yet you did not mention them?”
The Sword Saint answered, ”Twenty-years ago, they are nowhere near my martial level and I didn't notice them.”
Ji Wuzheng said, ”Don't forget that Gu Tianle had killed my father.”
The Sword Saint said, ”Even though I was not there, I know that your father had a secret duel with Yi Tianxing that worsened his existing internal injuries. To say that Gu Tianle had really defeat your father, is an overstatement.”
Ji Wuzheng said, ”You know that my father had internal injuries?”
The Sword Saint nodded slowly, ”I was there when Yi Tianxing and your father fought against one another. It was just that they did not notice me.”
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Ji Wuzheng and Ji Lingfeng were both stunned as they both asked together, ”You are there?”
Old Man Zuo the Sword Saint looked at the drifting clouds and said, ”I too, want to challenge your father with my Infinity-Two. After watching that duel, I knew how unfathomable their martial levels had been. Inspired by that duel, twenty years later, I have finally achieved the Infinity-One.”