Chapter 35 This Is My Gift (2)
There were dozens of magnificent palaces within the heaven gates of the Celestial Orthodox Sect with each mountain peak housing one magnificent palace.
Yuan Ji had never stepped into any of the top seven major orthodox clans before and he was dumbfounded by the sights of the many lofty palaces, pavilions and white celestium platforms that were visible to the naked eyes. It was liken to the sight of seeing dozens of celestial clans instead of just one celestial clan.
Before he had come here, he had already heard that the Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue resided in one of the thirty peaks of the Holy Maiden Peaks. The name of her palace was called the Sacred Maiden Tranquil Palace and it was the most beautiful palace in the Holy Maiden Peaks.
Yuan Ji had taken a quick look around and saw that there were thousands of female protégés practicing their sword arts on the many open platforms. At the same time he saw that there were also many golden celestials and high level cultivators in their ranks.
Soon, he was in the guest hall of the Verdant Tranquil Palace and it was the nearest palace to the heaven gates.
The group of holy maidens said to him, “Our Sacred Maiden will be here soon. Please wait here for a while and please help yourself to the spirit dews from the Heavenly Celestial Peaks that is in the pot here.”
They bowed respectfully before saying. “We shall take our leave now.”
Yuan Ji knew that Xue Qianxue would surely show up. It was because he had a way to make her read his ‘cheap’ and ‘worthless’ letter.
And he was proven right.
It was because the cover of the letter wrote that this letter was from Ji Yuan.
The content of the letter had nothing special in particular except for the lines, “The fluttering snow as white as the Goddess Maiden Qianxue and the spirit songs as vivid as the Goddess Maiden Feiyue. To have the two beautiful goddesses to dance with the strokes of my beautiful beard is as heavenly as the sight of the immortal fairies.”
It ended with the lines, “I know where Ji Yuan is.”
In short, his letter was pure provocation rather than any precious gift.
He had overheard the conversations that were between Xue Qianxue and Ling Feiyue; this poem irked them and that was the very reason why Ling Feiyue had set him up against Xue Qianxue.
It was because Yuan Ji knew that Xue Qianxue probably had plenty of false claimants coming to her on the whereabouts of Ji Yuan to get her rewards. Over time she must have seen plenty of fraudsters and over time, she may have lost her interest in the false claimants.
Therefore his aim was to get her attention on the cover of the letter first and then to provoke her in the content of the letter. Only then would she be willing to meet him.
In a short while time, Xue Qianxue had indeed arrived and she was alone.
As a matter of fact, she had arrived sooner than he had expected.
Yuan Ji was gasping when he saw her; it was because he had almost forgotten how peerless her appearance was. As was in the past, she still bundled her hair into a long side pony tail. Her loveliness was still as melting to the hearts and she was more adorable as ever before.
Even though she appeared to be upset but instead of having an ugly countenance, it was changed to a more adorable countenance instead.
The more provoked she was and the uglier her negative emotions were, the more her loveliness was shown and the more adorable she looked.
Xue Qianxue gave a soft gasp when she saw Yuan Ji but she soon displayed an uninterested look as she said nonchalantly, “You’ve better not lie to me. You know Ji Yuan’s whereabouts?”
After she had said that, she had thrown the letter like a secret projectile to the ground, piercing the letter halfway into the floor tiles like putting a knife on a piece of tofu.
Her internal profound strength was indeed startling!
It was also a warning to Yuan Ji not to lie to her.
Xue Qianxue said coldly, “There have been countless foolish cultivators that had thought of lying to me and they had all paid heavily. I hope that you are not one of them.”
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly as he eyed the letter that was pieced into the floor, “Of course I will dare not. If not I won’t be coming. You’ve better prepared your 10 000 high grade spirit stones for me to use, the sooner the better.”
Xue Qianxue hummed coldly as her eyes stole a glance at the letter, “That will depend on your answer.”
Yuan Ji chuckled, “Actually I am not interested in your rewards but I need two things from you before I can reveal Ji Yuan’s whereabouts to you.”
Xue Qianxue looked at him curiously, “Which is?”
Yuan Ji smiled, “Before that, let me give a greeting to Sacred Maiden Xue first. I’m Yuan Ji the Palace Master of the Emperor Hall Sect.”
Xue Qianxue gasped softly, “You’re that dead man Yuan Ji?”
Yuan Ji: …
Xue Qianxue quickly corrected herself, “I mean soon to be dead man in another five months. No one can win a challenge from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace.”
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly, “As long as righteousness exists in the heavens, I will not lose hope.”
Xue Qianxue looked at him quietly before she laughed lightly, “Although there is righteousness in the heavens but only the hearts of the righteous can find it. You are not. You are just a vermin.”
Yuan Ji: …
“Why is she cursing me?” He bitterly cursed her in his heart. “But her smiles are really so beautiful and cute…”
Xue Qianxue said impatiently, “I don’t have all the time in the world. Hurry up and tell me the two things that you want from me?”
Yuan Ji smiled coolly as he said, “Firstly, I want the divine remedy of the Celestial Orthodox Sect for growing back beards and secondly, I want to know who Xia Jiajia really is.”
Xue Qianxue was suddenly giggling and she had her hands on her belly. This made her look even more lovely and adorable.
But Yuan Ji was not amused as he asked, “What’s so funny about my requests?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking why you don’t want the high grade spirit stones and instead you want some cheap remedy.” Xue Qianxue continued to chuckle.
“Oh? That is my business…”
All of a sudden Xue Qianxue had raised her palm and struck Yuan Ji’s violently on his shoulder, sending him to fly and crash with a thunderous impact against the wall!
Yuan Ji was completely taken by surprise from her attack as he coughed out golden blood. He struggled to speak weakly, “Why did you attack me all of a sudden? Don’t you want to know where Ji Yuan is?”
Xue Qianxue returned him a delightful smile, “Do I need to know where Ji Yuan is when he is now standing right in front of me now?”
Yuan Ji was startled as he thought, “How did she know?”
As though Xue Qianxue could hear his thoughts, she explained delightfully. “You must be wondering why I know. Even if you want to deny it now, it is futile to explain because I know that you are really Ji Yuan.”
Yuan Ji was thinking. “Is she playing a mind game with me? Stay calm. No matter what she says, don’t be hasty to admit it. It is only her ruse…”
“Ji Yuan, I’ve been looking for you for so many years and I didn’t think that you will deliver yourself to me? You have insulted my honor that night and I’ve never forgotten you to this day.”
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly, “You must be greatly mistaken. I am not Ji Yuan.”
Xue Qianxue giggled, “I know you are because only Ji Yuan will be interested to get this divine remedy from me…”
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly to himself, “That isn’t true. All my beautiful beard brothers are also interested to get your divine remedy…”
“But do you know that only Ji Yuan knows the name of Xia Jiajia? Not Maiden Xia or Maiden Jiajia. This is the name that she has revealed only to him. Therefore if you are not Ji Yuan then who are you?” Xue Qianxue was giggling. “This is originally our secret code for Ji Yuan to reveal himself.”
Yuan Ji was completely stunned. He had thought that Xia Jiajia was in cahoots with Ling Feiyue but she was actually in cahoots with Xue Qianxue!
And to think that he was here today to help Xue Qianxue avenge her honor against Ling Feiyue.
Just exactly what was the identity of Xia Jiajia was?!
Was she from the orthodox or the unorthodox side?
Yuan Ji had broken into a cold sweat now as the injuries that Xue Qianxue had inflicted on him were not light and he could even feel an invading chilling profound energy that was afflicting him.
But he decided to make one last attempt to bluff his way through, “Your logic has a flaw. I have heard of the divine remedy from Ji Yuan himself. As for Xia Jiajia, I’ve heard from Ji Yuan that she is an astonishing beauty therefore I will like to be acquainted with her…”
Xue Qianxue laughed jovially, “No one will give up 10 000 high grade spirit stones to get a worthless divine remedy and be acquainted with a stranger.”
Just as Yuan Ji was about to protest with another excuse, Xue Qianxue had covered his mouth and was looking at him curiously. “Except for your beardless chin, you look exactly like Ji Yuan too. Also, you still have the same tiny scar that is just above your eye.”
Xue Qianxue had covered his mouth because she had wanted to be sure that he was Ji Yuan and she was convinced now.
Yuan Ji was gasping. He had forgotten the eyesight of a saintess was extremely sharp to notice small details that were not thought possible by the other lower level cultivators. He indeed had a tiny scar above his right eye.
Xue Qianxue was now laughing jovially, “I’ve finally found you. Do you think that I will let you off so easily?”
All of a sudden Yuan Ji had a very bad feeling about this.
“Let me tell you something very interesting first. Do you want to hear?” Xue Qianxue asked him as she gave him a heart melting wink.
But Ji Yuan had no mood to appreciate her loveliness now as he smiled bitterly. “What is it?”
“Do you know that the divine remedy that you’re looking for is actually a fake and is nothing but a bait for you to be hooked into?” Xue Qianxue giggled softly.
Yuan Ji: !!!
He was stunned, “It is a fake? How is it possible?”
Xue Qianxue winked at him with several teasing chuckles before she nodded lightly, “Have you ever considered the fact that why should a female sect like the Celestial Orthodox Sect actually have a divine remedy that can grow a man’s beard? Isn’t that such a strange thing?”
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
He had really never thought of that before…
All of a sudden he felt extremely stupid.
Instead of fixing Xia Jiajia, he had only found out that Xia Jiajia and Xue Qianxue were actually in cahoots with each other to fix him.
He could only mutter bitterly, “Why did I have to come here for? The truth hurts more and more.”
In the end, he was nowhere near to unravel who Xia Jiajia was.
So he could only say bitterly to Xue Qianxue, “Why did the two of you fix me up for?”
At least before he died, he would have the answers.
But Xue Qianxue chuckled, “The two of us? Are you sure that it is only just the two of us?”
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
There were actually more conspirers than he had thought?!
Xue Qianxue said nonchalantly, “We have prepared three sets of plans for you to fall into. In the end, you didn’t exactly follow the script.”
Three sets of plans?!𝑵𝞸𝒱𝑬𝑙𝗇𝑬xt.𝔠𝗈𝗆
Yuan Ji was startled, “I don’t remember having a feud with you, right? Why did you want to set me up for?”
Then he said bitterly, “If I’m not wrong, then the start of the plan begins with the banquet with my beautiful bearded brothers.”
It was because he had already known that Li Yi was the one that had set him up with Xia Jiajia.
Xue Qianxue chuckled, “You are so smart!”
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly, “So everything is an act? What do you want to get from me?”
Xue Qianxue winked at him, “You still don’t get it? Why did I ask you to shave off your beard?”
Yuan Ji smiled weakly, “Surely you didn’t plan all these just to ask me to shave off my beautiful beard?”
Xue Qianxue giggled for some time before she nodded with great delight, “Of course we did that just to get your beard.”
Yuan Ji was rendered speechless by her, “Did my beautiful beard have a feud with you or something?”
Xue Qianxue refused to answer him and instead she was looking at him intently.
Finally Yuan Ji heaved a heavy sigh, “So how are you going to deal with me?”
Xue Qianxue immediately snapped her fingers loud and returned him a heart melting wink, “You will soon know your fate.”
Yuan Ji smiled bitterly, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you first. If I didn’t turn up for my duel with the Hundred Flower Divine Palace, then I’m afraid the Hundred Flower Divine Palace will wipe out your puny Celestial Orthodox Sect next.”
To think that he had to use the Hundred Flower Divine Palace as his trump card now.
Xue Qianxue replied coldly, “What if the Hundred Flower Divine Palace doesn’t know that you’re even here?”
Yuan Ji: …
“I have heard that Palace Master Yuan Ji is in seclusion now to prepare himself for the duel with the Divine Palace Master of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace. So how can he be here at the same time?” Xue Qianxue winked coyly at him as she laughed jovially.
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
Yuan Ji: …
“Did I just screw myself to a dead end…”