Friend or Foe? (3)

For 3 weeks, Yuan Ji was held in the dark dungeon of the Celestial Orthodox Sect to be tortured and whipped by the female proteges of the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

Almost everyday, he would be whipped by a golden celestial maiden. 

Actually he was only pretending to be held in shackles as he could escape anytime since he had almost regained his profound strength as a half-step golden saint. 

He was mainly using his imprisonment time to regain his profound strength and to think of his next step. 

But unfortunately for him, there seemed to be no next steps and he was getting bored of his imprisonment. 

He had decided to look for the Dark Mistress Ling Feiyue next to find his answers. When he had fully regained his cultivation strength as a half-step golden saint, he would then try a way to rescue Xue Qianxue from this place. 

As he was pondering over his next move, the same golden celestial maiden had visited him again and she was saying unhappily to him, "You lecherous man, I am astonished that you have not died from your ordeals yet."

Yuan Ji pretended to grin weakly, "This lovely maiden here, are you disappointed?"

The golden celestial maiden said coldly to him, "Indeed I am."

Yuan Ji pretended to groan with great agony as he said weakly, "Before I die, may I know the name of this lovely maiden?"

He had a secret and the secret was that he was not affected by pains due to his master's painful training in the past. 

This allowed Yuan Ji to go beyond what the others would not because he could endure his pains far better than anyone. 

In fact, he was purposely allowing this maiden to torture him for the past 3 weeks so that he could feel motivated. 

The golden celestial maiden hummed coldly at him, "Since you are about to die tomorrow, I shall let you know the name of this golden celestial. My name is Qin Shuang and I'm a silver holy maiden of the Celestial Orthodox Sect. Now, are you happy?"

When she had said that, she had started to whip Yuan Ji with a powerful lash that torn open the flesh that was on his chest.

Yuan Ji pretended to ask painfully, "I am about to die tomorrow?"

Qin Shuang smiled coldly to him, "That's right. Tomorrow, you will be executed by none other than our Matriarch herself. Aren't you glad?"

Yuan Ji blinked his eyes, "What if I tell you that I am not glad at all?" 

Qin Shuang hummed coldly at him, "Does it matter at all if you are dead?"

Yuan Ji weakly said, "Indeed, it doesn't matter at all if I am already dead." 

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Today was the execution date of Yuan Ji and he was now being dragged to the execution platform of the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

The execution ceremony was attended by some three hundreds golden celestials and an additional five hundred holy maidens who were serving as attendants.

Xue Qianxue was now watching quietly as Yuan Ji was being dragged to the execution platform and it pained her to see that Yuan Ji was whipped into a bloody mess.

It had been three weeks since they were caught in a forbidden affair and today was the first time that she was allowed to see Yuan Ji again but only from afar.

Next to her were the Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi and several Matriarch Elders of the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

Unofficially Xue Qianxue had been removed from all her duties as Sacred Maiden and a new Sacred Maiden would be selected in her place.

The punishment melted to her was also harsh; she would be confined in the Celestial Orthodox Sect for the rest of her life and a profound signature placed on her to track her every single movement. At the same time she would be denied access to all the sect's cultivation resources and also had all her contribution points confiscated.

Her punishment only had one goal; she would be making penances to the Celestial Orthodox Sect for the rest of her life without getting a single contribution point.

The Matriarch Sacred Maiden and the Matriarch Elders had sworn everyone to secrecy on the affair between Xue Qianxue and Yuan Ji.

To most of the protégés of the Celestial Orthodox Sect and to the outsiders, they would declare that Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue would be giving up her sectarian leader position to whole-heartedly pursue the Great Dao and she would be in a permanent seclusion as she delved into the mysteries of the final sacred saint level.

But Xue Qianxue did not care for any of these. She only cared for Ji Yuan and she did not regret her passionate night with Ji Yuan.

She was now moving her trembling fingers to her belly. With great melancholy, she silently sighed, "Ji Yuan, I'll protect our child and I will avenge you…"

While Ji Yuan had wrapped his robe around her, he whispered quietly to her. "Ruse."

It was only then she had realized that there was someone who was out to get her in the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

It was because she had secured the imprisonment array that was housing Ji Yuan before she had entered. So how was it possible for anyone to hear their noises from the outside?

It was obvious to her that someone had secretly weakened the imprisonment array while she had entered into it to visit Ji Yuan.

A secret enemy of hers was planning to oust her and it was not a coincidence that they were caught.

But who was she?

However she knew that it was not the Matriarch Sacred Maiden who was her protégé master and celestial teacher. She knew that she had disappointed her protégé master and had failed her miserably.

After the execution of Yuan Ji, the Matriarch Sacred Maiden would be announcing the appointment of a new Sacred Maiden to lead the Celestial Orthodox Sect.

Who the new candidate was, even Xue Qianxue did not know. After all, she was in confinement all this while.

Many of the holy maidens in the Celestial Orthodox Sect did not know why the Matriarch Sacred Maiden had ended her seclusion and was now running the sect again.

It was like Sacred Maiden Xue Qianxue had suddenly 'disappeared'.

Right now Yuan Ji was being shackled to a towering pillar that was in the middle of the execution platform as he faced his final execution.

The Matriarch Sacred Maiden rose to proclaim, "This evil cultivator here actually has the guts to steal from the Celestial Orthodox Sect. His punishment thereby is death by the golden tribulation lightning. As for his name and celestial clan of origin, we do not know yet."

Xue Qianxue was trembling hard now; they had all known that he was Yuan Ji and he was the Palace Master of the Emperor Hall Sect but the Celestial Orthodox Sect had chosen not to disclose it.

Of course they would not disclose that he was Yuan Ji because the Celestial Orthodox Sect would not want the Hundred Flower Divine Palace to know about it.

The golden tribulation lightning was similar to the six-stage golden lightning tribulation that was taken by saints that aspired to be great saints as they breakthrough to the upper sacred saint level. A single strike by the golden tribulation lightning would instantly kill any cultivator that was below the seventh realm level.

That would mean that her Ji Yuan would die immediately.

Xue Qianxue was now staring blankly at Yuan Ji, "Only I know that you are actually Ji Yuan. Why must our meeting be so late and have such a regretful end? Ji Yuan, I swear that I will find the person that has plotted us to this end and I will kill her to avenge you."

Yuan Ji was not surprised by what he had heard but there was no way he could protest against the trump up charges. It was because his voice had been sealed by his captors.

He had been expecting the death sentence to come for weeks and the day of his reckoning had finally come.

But he was not bitter about it.

It was because he saw that Xue Qianxue was looking at him and that alone gave him the courage. "Qianxue, I'm sorry that I have known you so late and I can't unravel the whole truth. Be strong and don't fall into your opponents' tricks again."

He had finally realized that Xue Qianxue was actually their target.

He heaved a deep sigh, "Yan'Er, Chengxi…I love the two of you too. I am sorry that I am unable to return now and that you will have to pay for your lives in my place."

But he had a hidden meaning in this; he was about to escape his shackles and fled away for the time being. After all, he was a half-step saint and he had spent 3 weeks in these rich mountains to cultivate back his profound strength...

The Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi said coldly, "Unleash the golden tribulation lightning array now."

Immediately twenty golden celestials from all around the execution platform had raised their precious swords high up to the heavens as they began to channel their profound strength together.

Yuan Ji muttered, "Farewell Qianxue, Yan'Er, Chengxi…and Jiajia…"

"Hold!"

All of a sudden two lovely young maidens had flashed to the middle of the platform, startling everyone!

Yuan Ji was startled too because he had recognized the two lovely maidens were from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace. "Why are they here?"

The Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi said coldly, "Who are you? How dare you barge into the Celestial Orthodox Sect. Holy maidens, seize them!"

The lovely maiden standing on the right side of Yuan Ji began to giggle softly, "I'm Hua Wuwu and this is my sister Hua Baiyue. Who are we? We're naturally from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace."

When Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi heard that they were from the Hundred Flower Divine Palace, she immediately said. "Hold!"

Hua Wuwu pointed to Yuan Ji who was being chained to the towering pillar. "And this is Palace Master Yuan Ji. He has a duel with our old master in 4 months' time. Therefore you cannot take his life without the permission of my old master."

Hua Baiyue giggled, "My sister is right. Anyone that dares to take his life shall be an enemy of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace."

A Matriarch Elder angrily said, "Do you really think that we are afraid of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace? If you make an enemy out of the Celestial Orthodox Sect then I'm afraid that you will be making an enemy out of the seven major orthodox clans at the same time as well!"

Another Matriarch Elder hummed coldly, "Even if the two of you are seventh realm experts, how are you going to fight thirty saintesses that are here today? You are simply courting your own deaths!"

Hua Wuwu winked, "Even if we can't outfight you, at least we can have a couple of you as our companions in the Netherlands. It is still worth it.

"We are taking Yuan Ji away today. Make your choice!" Hua Baiyue said coldly and her malevolent air could be sensed by everyone.

The Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi hummed coldly, "So you are saying that he does not need to pay for his crimes against the Celestial Orthodox Sect?"

Hua Wuwu had put her hands on her belly as she laughed jovially, "We are not deaf and we have heard of you proclaiming his crime loud and clear. So what did he steal from the Celestial Orthodox Sect then? The Hundred Flower Divine Palace will pay double as compensation to the Celestial Orthodox Sect. What do you say?"

Hua Baiyue winked and chuckled, "Sister, it is a lucky thing that Yuan Ji's crime is only some petty theft. If he deflowers Xue Qianxue or several holy maidens then there is nothing that our Hundred Flower Divine Palace can do about it."

The Matriarch Sacred Maiden Han Yuchi: …

Everyone: …

Even Yuan Ji was rendered speechless by Hua Baiyue as he muttered silently, "Is she joking or she already knows what I've done?"

All of a sudden a holy maiden of the Celestial Orthodox Sect had flashed in front of Hua Wuwu and Hua Baiyue as she swung her sword at them.

When her sword was swung, a powerful rippling profound force could be felt by everyone.

Because Hua Wuwu and Hua Baiyue were at where the rippling shockwaves were the strongest, they were quickly forced to take three steps backward.

"Who are you? You dare to raise your sword against a divine messenger of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace?" Hua Wuwu hummed coldly as she displayed her sword.

"Sister, her profound strength is in the middle tier of the seventh realm sacred saint level." Hua Baiyue whispered to her sister. "Her profound strength is slightly above us."

"Who am I?" The holy maiden that had attacked them hummed coldly. "I'm Zhao Songjin the next Sacred Maiden. I alone will be able to handle the two of you."

Xue Qianxue had a light tremble as she stared at the beautiful back of Zhao Songjin, "Is she the one?"