Elder Sui from the Mystic Eye Sect was sighing immediately as he muttered, "I didn't come here to die. Why am I so unlucky?"
Many of the cultivators were all sighing heavily.
Yuan Ji heaved a quiet sigh as he revived Shangguan Yan, comforting her. "It is alright. We'll be fine. Maybe the Hundred Flower Divine Palace is here for a friendly visit."
When he had said that, none of the cultivators actually believed in that.
In fact many of the cultivators were now writing their last wills.
Even Yuan Ji did not believe in it. Just as he had thought that everything was now going in his way now, the mother of crisis had actually come knocking.
Shangguan Yan nodded lightly.
Fairy Ye Chengxi was holding onto her sister hand and was looking at her warmly. "Brother Yuan Ji will protect us."
Yuan Ji forced himself to laugh out jovially, "Come! Let's go outside the hall and see what the Hundred Flower Divine Palace wants! At most, we will fight them with everything we got. It is only two saints and not ten saints. Hahaha."
With that he took the lead to be the first one to confront the Hundred Flower Divine Palace and he was immediately followed by Shangguan Yan, Fairy Ye Chengxi and all the other cultivators.
In no time they were all at the heaven gate of the Emperor Hall Sect and Yuan Ji's protégés began to say panicky to him. "Palace Master…we can't stop them from barging in…
Yuan Ji said to them, "It is alright."
He turned his attention to the intruders.
Under the cool breeze were two elderly cultivators and behind them was a large beautiful blue sedan that was escorted by ten maidens.
Yuan Ji immediately greeted them, "I am Palace Master Yuan Ji. How do I address our honored guests?"
The elderly cultivator on the left stroked his white beard before saying, "Great Saint Fu Wushuang. First Elder of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace."
The elderly cultivator on the right lifted his chin and said, "Great Saint Wei Yidao. Second Elder of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace."
When Yuan Ji heard that they were great saints instead of saints, he almost dropped his jaws on the ground while the cultivators behind him were all gasping with great shock and many were now taking several steps backward.
Great Saints are upper seventh realm sacred saints and this tier is the hardest tier of the seventh realm level to breakthrough. It is almost like a standalone tier.
In order to overcome from the middle tier sacred saint level to the upper tier sacred saint level, the saint must first overcome a lightning tribulation first. Only if they can survive the life and death tribulation of the lightning tribulation will they be able to overcome this last barrier to become a Great Saint.
But it will not be easy. Failure to do so will mean death instantly.
And there are three types of lightning tribulation; the three-stage silver lightning tribulation, the six-stage golden lightning tribulation and the nine-stage purple lightning tribulation.
The three –stage silver lightning is the most commonly encountered but it is equally as deadly, killing a majority of the saints that are attempting it.
The more powerful a cultivator is, the more powerful the lightning tribulation will be.
There are actually very few great saints in the Desolate Celestial Fraternity and every single of them can wipe out a celestial clan like the Emperor Hall Sect with ease and moreover there are two of them today!
The difference between a seventh realm saint and a seventh realm great saint is like heaven and earth that it can be considered like a new realm level entirely.
Immediately all the cultivators that were behind Yuan Ji were all greeting them;
"Our respects to the two elders…"
"We have long admired the Hundred Flower Divine Palace…"
"We're all flattered to be in your presence…"
All kinds of flattering and humble greetings were suddenly flying behind him.
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly to himself, "These cultivators are all so spineless. Are they allowing the Hundred Flower Divine Palace to trample upon their pride? We are cultivators, the proud sons and daughters of the heavens."
Fairy Ye Chengxi and Shangguan Yan were smiling bitterly at the sudden change of attitude with the cultivators that had just pledged their loyalty to the Emperor Hall Sect. It looked like they could change their loyalty at a moment notice.
This was reality. The strong would always oppress the weak and the weak would rally behind the banner of the strong!
Yuan Ji saw the looks of disgust that were in the eyes of his two consorts and he decided to keep his mouth shut. It was because he had actually wanted to flatter the two elders himself but the other cultivators had seized the opportunity ahead of him and that was why he was cursing them for being spineless.
Yuan Ji was now smiling bitterly. "So what do you want?"
First Elder Fu Wushuang smiled coldly, "The Emperor Hall Sect has taken something that is from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace and we want it back now."
Yuan Ji blinked his eyes blankly, "Erm, what is it?"
"The Blue Divine Flower of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace." First Elder Fu Wushuang replied coldly.
Yuan Ji had a bitter smile as he answered, "Is this a mistake? The Emperor Hall Sect will never take anything that is from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace. This, I am very sure."
Second Elder Wei Yidao laughed coldly, "Mistake? I don't think so. We can sense the profound signature of our Blue Divine Flower in this place."
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly, "I will gladly give you back if you can find it."
All of a sudden Second Elder Wei Yidao had sped past Yuan Ji and the other cultivators and he had headed into the mountain palaces of the Emperor Hall Sect.
This speed that was displayed by Second Elder Wei Yidao was too insane and everyone was stunned. "This is the profound strength of a great saint…"
Yuan Ji smiled weakly to himself, "That old man sure is agile."
Even before the hearts of the cultivators had calmed down, Second Elder Wei Yidao had suddenly sped back and in his hand was a small pot of a beautiful blue flower. There was no doubt that this was the Blue Divine Flower that they were seeking.
Yuan Ji rolled his eyes as he whispered weakly to Old Liu Xuan, "The four elders are really too outrageous. Of all the celestial clans, why did they have to take something from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace? Now we're all going to be killed because of this matter."
Old Liu Xuan replied weakly, "Actually it is our previous Palace Mistress Jia. She said she had found it lying on the roadside and had taken it back."
Yuan Ji: ..
"Did she really say that? This is the lamest thing that I've ever heard." Yuan Ji was now smiling bitterly.
Shangguan Yan was gasping when she saw the Blue Divine Flower and she quietly whispered to him, "Brother Yuan Ji, I saw Palace Mistress extracting the scent of that flower for…" She did not dare to say it loud and showed her fingernails to Yuan Ji.
Yuan Ji was now cursing loudly in his mind, "Xia Jiajia! You are a bimbo! No, a big bimbo! No, a super bimbo for stealing from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace. You have really got me into a fine fix this time."
First Elder Fu Wushuang smiled coldly at Yuan Ji, "So you got nothing more to say right?"
Yuan Ji shook his head bitterly. He really got nothing more to say now. The legacy of Xia Jiajia had just jinxed him to his upcoming death.
First Elder Fu Wushuang hummed coldly, "No one has ever dares to take anything from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace. You're the first and you should pay. The entire Emperor Hall Sect should pay. Maybe even the one hundred celestial clans from the Five Heavens Peaks should pay too."
When he had said that, everyone had turned ashen.
Yuan Ji knew that they would all have to pay with their lives. The justice of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace was death to all the offenders, no matter how small or big was the offence.
Moreover Yuan Ji could tell that the Hundred Flower Divine Palace had valued this Blue Divine Flower highly because two great saints were being sent to retrieve it.
Yuan Ji kept quiet. Although it was all Xia Jiajia's fault for landing him into this, he would not betray her because in his heart, she was already his woman.
He felt a little pitiful that today his two beloved consorts would have to perish along with him.
All of a sudden a young and lovely maiden from the back had traversed instantly in front of them in a blink of an eye, startling everyone with her speed of movement.
Even Yuan Ji was startled.
It was because her speed clearly marked her as a seventh realm saintess!
The lovely maiden giggled softly as she said to her two elders, "Our old master, the Divine Palace Master says that on account of the honesty of Palace Master Yuan, he is willing to give him a chance."
Yuan Ji was suddenly smiling, "Really? I've a chance? Then I must thank the Divine Palace Master personally then." But he was suddenly alarmed. It was because their Divine Palace Master was actually here. Was there a secret with this Blue Divine Flower?
He stole a glance at the other nine maidens at the back and was quite startled to suddenly notice that they all had golden eyes. The celestial strength of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace was startling and it was no wonder why it was greatly feared in the Desolate Celestial Fraternity.
But at the same time he was quite disgusted by the Hundred Flower Divine Palace and their old master. It was because there was a long standing rumor in the celestial fraternity that the Hundred Flower Divine Palace practiced dual cultivation and they had the practice of using young maidens to be their yin melting cauldrons.
The fact that their elders and old master were this old confirmed the rumors in his heart. They must be using these ten maidens for their dual cultivation in order to prolong their lifespan.
The lovely maiden was now looking at Yuan Ji as she giggled, "This Palace Master Yuan is really handsome. He is a rare beauty."
Yuan Ji: …
Did he just hear this lovely maiden calling him a rare beauty?
He was totally rendered speechless by her.
The lovely maiden smiled at him before saying, "As long as you are willing to accept a personal duel from my old master then he will be gracious enough to spare the lives of everyone here."
Yuan Ji: …
This was the impossible, right?
He replied weakly, "What is the cultivation realm of your Divine Palace Master then?"
"Great Saint! You're in luck!" The lovely maiden giggled. "You got to fight with a great saint. This is the greatest accomplishment of your life. You also got to fight with my Divine Palace Master which is the greatest honor of your life. The entire Desolate Celestial Fraternity will be singing your praises for a long time."
Yuan Ji: …
"I'll rather that I fight you instead." He muttered weakly.
"This won't do at all!" The lovely maiden giggled. "I am the weakest among my sisters. Moreover I'm only a personal attendant to my old master. Surely you're not thinking of picking the weakest to be your opponent? Won't you be a laughing stock and won't it be beneath your status?"
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
Everyone: …
Everyone: …
Everyone: …
Yuan Ji and all the others were all gasping softly in disbelief. Did she just say that she was the weakest and she was only a personal attendant?!
The lovely maiden giggled softly, "Why are all of you looking at me like this? If my old master wants us to sleep with him, it is our honor. There is nothing shameful about being a personal attendant to my old master."
Yuan Ji was smiling weakly.
Actually they were all gasping with shock because of the ten saintesses and three great saints that they were facing today.
Yuan Ji cursed himself why did he have to make a joke earlier about facing two saints and not ten saints. Now he was indeed facing ten saints.
"So Palace Master Yuan will be glad to accept the honor challenge?" The lovely maiden giggled. Without waiting for Yuan Ji to reply her, she added with a playful smile. "Of course Palace Master Yuan can choose to decline the honor duel. Our old master isn't someone that likes to force anyone to accept his challenge."
Yuan Ji smiled weakly, "Really? That's good…"
"We just have to slaughter everyone here then. You must know that it is our usual practice." The lovely maiden nodded her head a she took a lovely look at him.
Everyone: …
Yuan Ji: …
He quickly did a fourteen million and six hundred and five calculations how he was going to win against a great saint and there was zero chance for him to win.
"Palace Master Yuan, you must take this honor challenge for us…"
"That's right…"
"Better for you to die alone than we accompany you…"
Even Supremacy Guo Taiming was whispering to him, "Brother Ji Yuan, I can only give you my spiritual support."
Yuan Ji: …
He sighed heavily as he looked at Fairy Ye Chengxi and Shangguan Yan, "Please take good care of yourself. Today I will be handing over the position of sect leader to Chengxi. Please be strong and live well."
Fairy Ye Chengxi and Shangguan Yan were both tearful as they took his arms, saying woefully together. "If Brother Yuan Ji our lord is to die, we will follow after you as well!"
Yuan Ji rebuked them sternly, "Do you know how many lifetimes of cultivation karma that you have to cumulate to be a cultivator? Don't talk about ending your life because of me. In this life, I am quite contended already…"
Then he sighed silently, "Maybe not. I still don't know if Jiajia is alive or dead yet. I really want to see her for the very last time to apologize to her."
All of a sudden a second lovely maiden from the back had traversed instantly in front of Yuan Ji and she was saying nonchalantly, "Our old master the Divine Palace Master says that on account of your fearless guts, he will give you six months to prepare your funeral and to say your farewells."
Then she raised her fingers and several profound energy projectiles had flown into Yuan Ji, Shangguan Yan and Fairy Ye Chengxi before dissipating harmlessly. "I have placed my profound signatures on you. Don't ever think of removing my mark. With your present cultivation level, you can't remove a saintess' mark. And don't ever think of running away or we will slaughter everyone in the Five Heavens Peak."
"The duel will be held at the Lofty World End Peak." Then she added with a wry smile. "A befitting end for such a dashing beauty like you."
Yuan Ji was not offended by her for calling him a beauty.
Instead he was delighted. It was because he had six months now to regain his profound strength to the seventh realm level. Then he would have a fighting chance.
And he got six months to find Xia Jiajia.
If she had really fallen into Xue Qianxue's hand then he would rescue her.
If not, he felt that he still owe her an important apology.
Although he may curse her for being a bimbo all the time, he was actually just venting it off and he was never upset with her. It was because he knew that she had been quietly waiting for him for a hundred years.