Chapitre 33: The Truth Hurts

Yuan Ji had now decided on his first target now. And it was Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue.

Therefore he had decided to go to the Holy Maiden Peaks where the Celestial Orthodox Sect was located and where Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue was.

After a few days, Yuan Ji was now in the vicinity of the Thousand Cloud Peaks.

All of a sudden he had remembered that he had a friend that was the Manor Lord of the Fluttering Winds Manor.

Therefore he had decided to visit this friend of his in secret.

"This is only for a short while and won't take long."

The Fluttering Winds Manor was one of the dozens of celestial clans that were in the Thousand Cloud Peaks.

It was just a small celestial clan with barely any renown but it had all changed when the Manor Lord Li Yi of the Fluttering Winds Manor was conferred with the honor of one of the four beautiful bearded cultivators.

Overnight, Li Yi had become famous in the Thousand Cloud Peaks and his renown was known throughout the Desolate Celestial Fraternity.

And this was the old friend that Yuan Ji was secretly visiting today.

But of course he was not going to reveal to Li Yi that he was really Ji Yuan. It was because he was just going to take a peek on the sly and to check on his rival's beard.

"It'll be bad if my position as the most beautiful bearded cultivator is overtaken by the other three."

All of a sudden he had noticed there was a veiled maiden in white with a pair of beautiful golden eyes walking down the mountain slope on the other side. She was actually very far away but Yuan Ji's eyes were sharper than an eagle and he could see the details on her quite clearly.

This veil maiden had extremely light steps and that was what had caught his notice was that her forehead had a beautiful blue flower petal. Her eyelids were colored with a faint blue and her fingernails were also painted with a light blue. Even her belt, earrings, hairpins and gloves were a beautiful peacock blue.

Yuan Ji was thinking, "This maiden seems to like blue alot. Even though I can't see her face but this maiden must be an extraordinary beautiful maiden. Since she had come from the direction of the Fluttering Winds Manor then she must be from there. But is she alone in this wilderness? What if there are desolate beasts in the vicinity?"

"She has the moving figure of my Xia Jiajia but unfortunately she is not her. This veil maiden has a pure look that is untainted by her surroundings."

All of a sudden he was gasping because a terrifying fifth rank desolate beast had just ascended from the desolate mists below the mountains and it had suddenly appeared in front of this moving veiled maiden.

The Celestial Realm is just the middle realm between the lower Mortal Realm and the upper Immortal Realm.

The Celestial Realm is unlike the lower Mortal Realm where there are vast oceans and plain lands. The entire Celestial Realm is consisted of endless lofty mountains and it is thousands of times as vast as the lower Mortal Realm.

The many celestial clans and populations are situated high above the mountains. Usually the powerful celestial clans will be situated on mountains that are rich in spiritual veins that are refined by rich deposits of jadeites. That will be the most ideal place for cultivation. Other than spiritual veins and jadeites, mountains that are rich in silver and golden celestiums are also ideal, since silver and golden celestiums are needed in great demand to make precious weapons.

Below the mountains, are thick desolate mists and endless bottomless valleys that are filled with many powerful desolate monsters. The spiritual aura below the desolate mists is poor and unsuitable for cultivation.

Moreover the presence of the desolate aura is too overwhelming and can easily corrupt a cultivator inner core. However because of this very same reason, it is the ideal place for the desolate monsters that feed upon it.

In a way, the desolate mists act as a natural barrier between the desolate beasts below and the divine beasts that dwell high in the mountains.

The desolate aura below the mountains actually come from the same mountain veins as the spiritual veins that the cultivators depend upon. The only difference is that this desolate aura is actually refined into spiritual aura by the rich deposits of jadeites in the mountains and by the purifying aura above the mountains that are continuously cleansed by the divine lightning.

From time to time, there is always a possibility that a powerful desolate monster will emerge from the valley below.

The richer the spiritual auras in the mountains, the weaker the desolate auras that will be at the bottom. Therefore it is not wrong to say that mountains that are rich in spiritual auras usually do not have powerful desolate beasts below the desolate mists.

For such a powerful fifth rank desolate beast to appear in the vicinity can only mean that the spiritual aura presented in the Thousand Cloud Peaks is only so and so.

Now a fifth rank desolate beast is typically beyond the strength of most cultivators to handle and even a superior fifth realm golden celestial like Yuan Ji may find it difficult to handle alone.

Moreover it was a pure and defenseless maiden that he saw. Golden celestial or not, she is going to have a hard time unless she is a seventh realm saintess.

Therefore Yuan Ji was panicky for her and just as he was about to step forth from his hiding place, the golden eyes of the veil maiden had turned blue and before he could know what was happening, the terrifying fifth rank desolate beast was kicked down the desolate mist again like a child kicking a pebble.

Yuan Ji was stunned as he blinked his eyes with disbelief. "Seventh realm saintess? What is a saintess doing here?"

The veil maiden appeared to be giggling as she continued her way down the mountains. As she giggled, she was dancing lightly away.

"Luckily, I am too far away for her to notice me. If not, I may be the one that is getting silenced too. The last thing I ever want to encounter is another enemy that is like Xue Qianxue and Ling Feiyue again."

With that he had secretly sneaked away but he was still thinking about the enticing veiled maiden that seemed impossible strong.

"Is it even possible to kick a fifth rank desolate beast that is twice your size and ten times heavier than you in this manner?"

"And what type of profound art is she practicing that can cause her eyes to turn blue?"

"Is she from the unorthodox sects?"

"Is someone in the Fluttering Winds Manor in cahoots with the unorthodox sects?"

When Yuan Ji had reached the Fluttering Winds Manor, it was already nightfall and was perfect for him to sneak around.

His lightless skill was among the top in the entire fraternity and naturally it was easy for him to sneak around undetected.

He soon found Li Yi in his study room and he was now taking a curious peek at him.

He was dying to know the status of his rival's beard.

All of a sudden he was stunned and had almost fallen from the roof; it was because he saw that Li Yi was actually beardless and he was now putting on his fake beard.

He began to curse loudly in his heart, "This Li Yi is actually a faker! How can he even be considered to be one of the four most beautiful bearded cultivators?! He is a cheater!"

He was so enraged that he had almost confronted Li Yi. But luckily, he had suddenly remembered that Li Yi was a sixth realm golden supremacy and it may not be easy to beat him up. Secondly he was like the kettle calling the pot black. He himself had no beard too; he was a faker now as well.

Li Yi was now bowing on his knees in his study room and he was heard muttering, "Big Brother Ji Yuan, please forgive me! I really didn't want to do this to you. For a hundred years, I've been living a life of regrets to set you up in front of Xue Qianxue. I didn't think that things will be this serious."

Then he was banging his head on the floor thrice before he lamented, "Today this Maiden Xia had come again to warn me never to reveal anything about the incident one hundred years ago or she will wipe out my entire sect. If I know that I will be in this state, I would never have agreed to help her to set you up…"

"I only did it because she says that Xue Qianxue has a remedy that can help me to regrow my beard. I cannot be a laughing stock in front of the other cultivators…"

Yuan Ji was completely stunned by what he had overheard.

If he had not decided to come to visit this 'friend' of his, he would never have learnt of the truth a hundred years ago!

All of a sudden he was startled when he recalled something. That veiled maiden earlier was actually Xia Jiajia!

She was actually still alive and well!

His heart was now aching. Why did he not confront that veiled maiden earlier? He had just missed the greatest opportunity that he had ever got to confront her for all the answers. In the end, he still did not know who she was.

He was now staring blankly at Li Yi who had set him up a hundred years ago, recalling what he had said to him that very day;

"Big Brother Ji Yuan, I think that in the entire Desolate Celestial Fraternity, only you are a compatible match to Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue. There are no others who can even come closer than you in term of your good looks!"

"I have heard that Xue Qianxue has a divine remedy that can not only restore a man's beard but also can make it grow even more beautiful than ever."

"If one day, Big Brother Ji Yuan decides to take Xue Qianxue as your consort, I hope that you can share the remedy with us?"

Li Yi obviously knew that Xue Qianxue was around and he had purposely baited him.

But the prime mover was actually Xia Jiajia and Ling Feiyue.

He was trembling hard, "Jiajia, why did you setup me for?"

Because Xia Jiajia and Ling Feiyue were from the unorthodox sects and they were trying to screw Xue Qianxue?

He was suddenly regretful for what he had done to Xue Qianxue. He had not only caused her to lose her honor and also caused her to lose her duel with Ling Feiyue.

He was but a small pawn that the bigger players would not hesitate to make use of for their bigger schemes of things.

Sometimes the truth was simple to guess especially when the missing keys had been found.

And the missing key was actually Li Yi who had betrayed him.

"Jiajia, you didn't know that you have such a pig head in your team, am I right? This Li Yi had just accidentally revealed everything to me. Your plan to silence him has now backfired because you did not think that I will be here."

"But who exactly are you?"

He was confused now. Because he had seen Xia Jiajia in three different lights. Which one was the real her?

His heart was bleeding tears now. "Jiajia, to think that I want to be with you. But you have actually set me up. Not only did you set me up, you even get me into trouble with Hundred Flowers Divine Palace. But why did you wait for me for a hundred years then? Why did you help my Orthodox Sword Sect then?"

Only the cultivators from the unorthodox sects would play tricks like this. First they helped you and then they stabbed you in the back. That was why they were not called the unorthodox cultivators for nothing. Because they enjoyed making fools out of the orthodox cultivators.

Take Li Yi for example. He may have helped the unorthodox cultivators but he was now living under the shadow of his beautiful beard being exposed as a fake and he had no choice but to do Xia Jiajia's biddings.

Yuan Ji sighed softly, "Jiajia, it is time for the tables to be turned upon you. I swear that I will get you before my duel with the Hundred Flowers Divine Palace. Even if I were to die, I'll make sure that you will accompany me along."