86 The Dominating Aura Clan (1/2)
The walled city of the Dominating Aura Clan was situated between scenic mountains and lush greeneries. The city itself was situated on the highest peak of these mountain ranges.
Yi Ping was traveling with the Universal Old Man and the ten maidens.
The Stellar Heaven Fairy said quietly, ”Soon, we will reach the place. There is still time to turn back.”
Yi Ping nodded but there was no indication that he would back off now.
All of a sudden, Yi Ping saw something far away and was immediately appalled at what he had seen. There were hundreds of slaves being forced into heavy labor as they pulled heavy blocks of limestone and granite. The slaves were being whipped into submission and quite a few had even crumbled on the ground right in front of his eyes!
Immediately, Shen Xingyue said unhappily. ”Let's go and check it out.”
Yi Ping nodded and they hurried their paces!
When the guards saw them from afar, they were startled and they were just standing there holding their whips. Even the slaves stopped their work as they stared in awe of them.
When they saw Yi Ping, they saw a dashing young man in white with a righteous air around him and on his back, were two sheathed swords. To evil-doers, he was extremely intimidating for he was like a bright sun that disintegrated the darkness. To the people in need, he was like a hero that had suddenly descended and instantly inspired hope to everyone!
Behind him, walked an old man with a long white beard. Anyone that saw him would immediately thought of him as wise old man. The Universal Old Man was an Ancient Celestial and one of the first to be in the Celestial Realm. His attainment was high enough that he was able to disguise himself as a mortal and there was no tell-tale sign that he was a celestial practitioner. The only thing that marred his sagely look was his two black eyes and face that seemed to be scratched by something.
What was even more astonishing was the extraordinary beautiful sight of the ten maidens that were in view!
Yu'Er the Jade Sword Fairy and Mei'Er the Beautiful Sword Fairy were whistling beautiful tunes, Yunzi and Youxue were laughing captivatingly, the Stellar Heaven Fairy was looking sweetly as she walked with Yixian, Lie Qing and Lele at the same time, Lingfeng was looking at her surroundings keenly with her alluring as though her eyes could speak while Shen Xingyue was walking elegantly with her long red flowing dress in the cool winds.
What an extraordinary sight! It was like the immortal fairies had suddenly decided to descend upon the Celestial Realm!
When the guards and the slaves saw them, they were completely dumbfounded and everyone became immobilized on the spot!
Before they could even react, Yi Ping was already shouting. ”I am Yi Ping. Let them all go!”
When he shouted, there was a burst of martial shockwave that frightened the guards but at the same time, the hearts of the slaves saw hope and they were cheering loudly as they could sense excitement today that this young hero was going to liberate them today!
There were just two dozen guards armed with whips and poles. All of them were mortals except for the Captain of the Guard who was a practicing celestial. He was easy to spot for he had white hair and crimson eyes, characteristics of a dark celestial practitioner.
His men were all looking at him for instructions but the usual battled hardened veteran Captain of the Guard was trembling!
It was because other than the Heaveness and the Universal Old Man who had normal eyes, the newly arrival intruders were all practicing celestials! In fact in the group there were two True Celestials, the Stellar Heaven Fairy and the Fiery Phoenix (Shen Xingyue).
The Captain of the Guard had recognized the Stellar Heaven Fairy immediately. There was a warrant and a bounty for her by the Dominating Aura Clan for betraying the clan. She Weilun, the right-hand man Ximen Nanqing who was also their protégé master came back with a light injury warning one day announcing her betrayal and the death of Lian Longba.
Ximen Nanqing was furious. Since then, the Dominating Aura Clan had sent many super fighters to comb the surrounding mountains for her whereabouts but was futile.
But of course that was not the only reason. She Weilun had reported with due diligence that the group that the Stellar Heaven Fairy was with, possesses several divine swords and metallic weapons.
Ximen Nanqing was immediately intrigued. It was because metals were a scarcity in the Celestial Realm. The few metallic weapons and divine weapons that were in the Celestial Realm were mostly in the hands of the most powerful celestials and celestial clans!
Therefore he ordered half of his most powerful fighters to search the mountains for their whereabouts but to no futile. Finally two months later, She Weilun returned from the mountains in a critical condition. Before he could find the Stellar Heaven Fairy, he was injured by Yi Ping, Yixian and Lie Qing!
And he brought back the name of the only attacker that he could remember; his name was Yi Ping!
The Captain of the Guards remembered this account all too well. And this young man who had come from nowhere had just announced his name to be Yi Ping!
That was the reason why he was trembling!
He had never expected these renegade celestials to be so bold and had come to the Dominating Aura Clan. Did they all have a death wish? But now he knew that if he took them headlong, the one having a death wish was himself.
Yi Ping shouted again, ”Freed them all or I won't be polite anymore!”
As Yi Ping shouted, the ground was reverberating with the aftershocks of his martial shouts!
The Captain of the Guards was totally freaked out and he had bolted immediately without saying a single word!
When his men saw that their captain had fled, they too took flight after him!
Even Yi Ping himself was surprised that his martial shout had improved. He thought, ”Is it because I have reached the Transverse level that my martial shout is now further amplified? I have only thought that the Transverse Level is an enhancement of the speed only. This is a surprising find.”
The Universal Old Man knew what he was thinking so he said, ”Every practitioner will go through a different experience at the same celestial level. It all depends on the type of skills that the practitioner is most apt with and his natural affinity.”
Yi Ping nodded and asked curiously, ”There are so many mortals in the Celestial Realm?”
The Universal Old Man explained, ”There are a lot more mortals than celestials than you think here. They are the descendants of celestial practitioners in the past. But they are a pitiful lot. They are oppressed by the celestials here and used for manual work. The Dark Celestials also feast on their blood and hearts. Even if they can have a hope of becoming an aspiring celestial, they are quickly converted to the dark side. Very few of them ever make it to become a Golden Celestial. Even then, those Golden Celestials that are here have mostly converted to the dark side too, like Ximen Nanqing and She Weilun. Many Golden Celestials are actually forced to join them. The Celestial Realm is a ruthless place for the renegade celestials and the clanless celestials.”
Yi Ping secretly looked at the Stellar Heaven Fairy who shifted uncomfortably.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
He was soon interrupted by the loud cheering slaves as they approached Yi Ping hesitatingly. It was not because they had feared Yi Ping but because they were too much in awe of him and his companions!
Yi Ping smiled and said gently to them, ”You may go now. You are all freed men now. From now on, no one will oppress you anymore.”
Lingfeng smiled at them, ”That's right.”
A thin old man who seemed to be in his sixties boldly stepped forward as he said weakly, ”Thank you…hero…”
This thin old man was half-naked and his body was covered with blood, fresh from the lashing of the whips.
All the men that were behind the old man were all shouting aloud, ”Thank you hero!” And some of them had even fallen on their knees to give the highest honor to Yi Ping and his group!
Yi Ping saw that the thin old man was about to bow so he panicky stepped forward, saying compassionately to him, ”That's alright. You are now all free.”
The old man was moved to tears. He had dreamt of freedom every single day but saw it as an impossible dream. Even if he was free for just an hour, he would be glad to give up his life for it!
He coughed a few times before he said weakly, ”This place is the domain of the despicable Ximen Nanqing. Even we are freed for just a while, we are happy. Young Hero, you must flee this place and escape to the mountains. You are not Ximen Nanqing's match. In the past, there are many celestials that had come to challenge him but none of them had survived. We really thank you…”
When Yi Ping saw the state of the old man in this close up view, he was moved to anger and he looked at the gathering crowd who were all in a similar state of misery. ”I will surely free all of you today. I am going to the Dominating Aura Clan now and seek justice for everyone.”
The old man was trembling as he could hardly believe his ears!
Lingfeng hummed coldly, ”I thought that a few days someone didn't want to come here and now he wants to be a hero.”
Yu'Er and Mei'Er were giggling now. They knew that Lingfeng was about to tease Yi Ping again and they were always happy to see their master awkward expression.
Yi Ping rubbed his nose and said, ”My Heaveness. I have already changed my mind!”
Lingfeng trembled slightly and she quickly said, ”Stop! Stop calling my…”
Yi Ping said, ”Heaveness, Heaveness, Heaveness!”
Lingfeng was annoyed but she quickly said, ”I surrender! You…I won't tease you anymore, alright? So stop calling my name!”
Yi Ping was grinning much to the disappointment of Yu'Er and Mei”Er.
The Universal Old Man was startled as he dropped a whisper to Yi Ping, ”When did you become so smart?”
All of a sudden, a middle-age man from the crowd was frantically saying, ”Could he be the Son of Heaven? Young hero, can you unsheathe the swords from behind your back?”
Yi Ping was curious and with a quick flickering of movement, there were two bright halos as he held the Divine Echo and the White Phoenix in both hands!
The newly freed men were all startled as they began to hold their breath as they behold the beaming lights of the two divine swords.
The thin old man had suddenly caught of Yi Ping's hand as he trembled nonstop, ”Young Hero, you are indeed the Son of Heaven. Are you an Immortal from the Gods' Realm that is here to be our savior?”
Yi Ping could only smile weakly, ”Unfortunately I am not.”
Another old man had stepped forward, ”The prophecy can't be wrong. The Ancient Celestials say that a young hero with a pair of divine swords will one day appear to save us from the Dark Celestials. You are the one, no doubt!”
Yi Ping quickly protested, ”Unfortunately I am not…”
But the crowd refused to heed his explanations and was now rushing forward to touch him.
”Maybe young hero, you didn't know your true destiny yet.”
”What are the odds of a person with two divine swords?”
”The Immortal Being doesn't want anyone to know his true identity yet because it is not the time…”
”It is said that when the Immortal Being comes, he will be accompanied by heavenly maidens…”
Yi Ping was shouting frantically, ”Stop, wait. Hold…I am not.” But he dared not use his martial shout because he was afraid of hurting them.
Lingfeng secretly stole a glance at the Universal Old Man who was also looking at her. She began to sigh softly…
It was because many years ago, they had made up a prophecy in the Celestial Realm about an Immortal Being that could be the savior of the people. The powerful Celestials were oppressing the people and they had divided the Celestial Realm into thousands of domains and fiefdoms. So they invented a prophecy to give a hope to the people so that they could have the courage and hope to carry on living in their darkness hour.
That prophecy caught on like wildfire and there were even some Celestials that actually repented from their wicked ways because they feared the retributions of the Immortal Being.
But that was a long time ago while the Heaveness was still in the Celestial Realm and the prophecy was now largely forgotten. But today, it was revived again!
Before Yi Ping knew what was happening, he was being ushered by hundreds of people!
Yi Ping could not smile bitterly. It was because he did not want to shatter the faith of these people. He could only say to them, ”I will do my best. I come here to challenge Ximen Nanqing but I really have no confident at all. If you follow me, you may all be captured again or killed. It is better that you run to the mountains first.”
The thin old man said tearfully, ”Great Hero, I am already so old. Moreover, even if I am young and can hide in the mountains, Ximen Nanqing's men will still be able to find me. The fates that they deal to escape slaves cannot be imagined. I will rather take my chance with you. I am content enough to have a day of freedom and till unto death, I will fight for my freedom.”
When Lele had heard that, she had burst into tears. Among all the maidens even though it appeared that she was the most difficult to get along with and the most incomprehension to the feelings of others, it was actually a front for her to disguise her true feelings. She was easiest the compassionate and emotional among all the maidens.
Yunzi and Lie Qing were immediately at Lele's side as they tried to comfort her.
Almost all the men that were also shouting, ”Unto death we will follow you! Unto death we will follow you!”
Yi Ping muttered, ”All of you…I will do my best…”
Yixian said gently to Yi Ping, ”Ping'Er, you are not fighting alone.”
Xiao Youxue said shyly, ”That's right.”
Just when Yi Ping was about to say something, Lingfeng said. ”Something isn't right! Come!”
Indeed, they had all sensed a powerful malevolent air that came from the direction of the city!
Yi Ping turned and said to the crowd, ”Wait here!”
Before the crowd could react, Yi Ping, the Universal Old Man and the ten maidens were gone in a few blinks of an eye. Their swiftness movement skills were extraordinary and left the crowd gasping in astonishment!
When Yi Ping and his group arrived at the walled city of the Dominating Aura Clan, they were startled to see the dead bodies of the protégés of the Dominating Aura Clan on the city walls, on the ground, at the drawbridge, at the iron gates and everywhere!
Yi Ping was appalled at the sight. Most were mortals but there were at least a dozen dark celestial practitioners and two Golden Celestials.
Yixian said, ”They are killed by claws, swords, palm skill, finger skills and many more. Many of them are killed by a single fatal blow.”
Lie Qing was solemn, ”The killing malevolent air is just in front of us on the other side of the gate. It seems that these people are all killed swiftly but it is not a surprise attack. It is obviously that they saw their assailants but couldn't put up a fight. Only the celestial practitioners did slightly better.”
Shen Xingyue said wryly, ”It seems that someone else did the job for us. I was wondering how we are going to make our dramatic entrance but it seems that it saves us the trouble now!”
Yi Ping was solemn as he said, ”Let's go in.”
As Yi Ping walked through the gate, he was immediately greeted by a strong dominating aura and an equally powerful malevolent air!