74 The Celestial Divinity Stages (1/2)
The Celestial Palace was said to be located somewhere in the misty Nirvana Mountains, a region of mountains that were as enormous as the vast expanse of the Central Plains itself!
When Yi Ping saw the map that was drawn on a piece of goat skin, he was speechless. It did not take a bright person to figure how daunting his task was in locating the mysterious Celestial Palace.
It was no wonder that the one year ago the Honor Manor and the Virtuous Palace saw the need to muster the entire martial fraternity on a secret expedition against the Celestial Palace. By all appearances, the expedition was against the Holy Hex Sect but in secret, it was also a master plan to draw the attention of the Celestial Palace.
Plan A was designed to lure the martial exponents of the Celestial Palace into revealing themselves so that the Honor Manor and the Virtuous Palace could at least have someone to interrogate on the exact whereabouts of the Celestial Palace.
Failing that, Plan B would be to expose the Celestial Palace as a direct threat to the martial fraternity and muster all the martial clans to comb the Nirvana Mountains for the mysterious Celestial Palace.
Plan B of the Honor Manor and the Virtuous Palace was not without its flaw and it was a plan that Xiao Shuai the Protégé Master of the Virtuous Palace had hoped not to see in action. His objective was simple; seize the Heavenly Relic and the Holy Maiden from the Holy Amalgamate Sect, invoke the Divine Calamity under an auspicious omen for ascension as a Celestial. He had no real wish to provoke the Celestial Palace until he was more confident.
Previously, there were many expeditions that were undertaken by the various martial clans to gain a foothold in the vast Nirvana Mountains. None had ever returned and not even an outpost had survived!
Yi Ping smiled bitterly as he asked, ”So which way do we go?”
Yunzi replied, ”There is a small borderland town that is the nearest to the Nirvana Mountains. If we want to know the whereabouts of Lele and the rest, we may find a clue in that town. However there is a possibility that Lele may not go that way and heads toward the Celestial Palace directly.”
She took a glance at Shen Xingyue who nodded quietly to her.
Yi Ping nodded as well, ”If there are any clues to the Celestial Palace then that town may have some information for us there. Let's go and hurry then!”
It took just two weeks for them to traverse past the wilderness before they caught sight of the small borderland town.
The borderland town was serene. There was a river in front and lofty mountains surrounded it on all sides. Along the river bank was tall bamboos, plum blossoms and willow trees.
This was far from the deserted and barren town that Yi Ping was actually expecting. After all, the name of this town on the map was really called Borderland.
Lingfeng took off her veiled straw hat as she eyed the beautiful town as she smiled at the beautiful sight.
Yi Ping asked her, ”Lingfeng, why did you take off your straw hat?”
Lingfeng smiled and asked, ”Why not? Why can't I take off my straw hat?”
Yi Ping adjusted his straw hat uncomfortably and sighed, ”Your crimson eyes. You can easily scare off the others…”
Lingfeng interrupted with an alluring soft laughter, ”Have you ever seen a freak that is as beautiful as me?”
Yi Ping smiled bitterly.
Indeed, no one would describe Lingfeng the Heaveness as a freak. She was more of the epitome of a heavenly fairy!
Shen Xingyue chuckled softly as she took off her veiled straw hat, ”I don't have crimson eyes so I can at least meet some people.”
Yi Ping smiled even more bitterly.
Shen Xingyue's eyes were gray and most people would be captivated by her enchanting demeanor than noticed that her eyes colors were slightly different from the others!
Youxue adjusted her veiled straw hat and said coolly, ”It doesn't matter to me. At most, I can wait to have a decent meal until we can find a cozy room.”
Yunzi nodded and said, ”We also cannot rule out the possibilities that the Celestial Palace have their lookouts in this town. We must take extra precaution.”
Yi Ping said with some irritation to Lingfeng, ”Lingfeng, put back your straw hat…”
Lingfeng laughed cheerfully, ”Hmph! You seem to have forgotten that I am also the Heaveness. I am your Grand Protégé Mistress!”
Yi Ping smiled bitterly, ”That was in the past…”
Lingfeng hummed, ”Even now, I am still your Older Protégé Sister. So you got to listen to me and not the other way round!”
Yi Ping was feeling giddy, ”We can't go in the town like that. You will attract too much of an attention.”
Lingfeng sighed softly, ”Oh well…”
All of a sudden, her eyes were black again!
She winked at Yi Ping, ”How about this?”
Yi Ping sighed as he looked dazedly at her.
She was the only one in their group that was able to disguise the coloring of her eyes. She was able to do so due to her high state of divinity.
Shen Xingyue was a highly attained Celestial and her state of divinity was also astonishing. But even for her, she was not able to tell the extent of Lingfeng's state of divinity!
By now, she had already known that Lingfeng was the mythical Heaveness and her divine aura was incredible commanding. In the end, she concluded that Lingfeng was trying to mask her celestial state for an unknown reason.
Even though they had all tried on numerous times, especially Lele to query her on what the upper realm was like but she had always declined to answer politely by saying. ”Heaven's secret is not to be divulged. It is best to wait until you are there. All these are but tribulations to a higher state of divinity.”
Mei'Er the Beautiful Sword Fairy, who was also the Axis Heaven Goddess, was not shy to ask. ”Why can't you tell us? Why are you being so secretive about it? You don't trust us or you are looking down on us?”
Despites Mei'Er constant taunts, Lingfeng said nothing and was unconcerned.
Whenever she was asked the same question, she seemed to be in a place far, far away and her alluring eyes would be melancholy.
Yixian the Celestial Fairy simply said to Mei'Er, ”Some things are best not known. You should be more concerned in trying to attain your divine state.”
Among the group, Yixian was the most unconcerned. It was because she had pushed herself too hard in the past and after ascending as a Celestial, she had grown much wiser. She guessed that Lingfeng did not want discourage them and was goading them toward a higher state of divinity. What better motivation was there other than the unknown and the desire for knowledge?