Chapter 23: Palace Master Yuan Ji

Yuan Ji was now the Palace Master Yuan Ji and he had taken over the Emperor Hall Sect.

Suddenly he found himself taking charge of some three thousand protégés. These protégés were mostly low level cultivators and only a couple of them were fourth realm cultivators.

Three months had quickly passed.

And Yuan Ji had regained his profound strength to the fifth cultivation realm.

Although three months had quickly passed, it was like three days to him.

It was because he suddenly found himself with three roles; Palace Master (because the former Palace Mistress Xia Jiaqing had gone missing), Elder (all the other elders were killed) and top protégé fighter (all the top cultivators were also killed).

He found himself cursing Xia Jiaqing again, "Why don't you come back and be the Palace Mistress again. Do you know that you left behind a pile of shit to me?"

The minute the Emperor Hall Sect had lost most of its top cultivators, the other celestial clans in the surrounding vicinity were sending him challenges after challenges to reclaim lost honor or territories.

"I'm in mourning. According to the fraternity laws of the Desolate Celestial Fraternity, they have to wait three months to challenge me or my sect. Go and tell them to wait for three months!"

"What? The three months are almost up?!"

"...."

He was forced to seek help from Fairy Ye Chengxi to help him to run the Emperor Hall Sect and had made her an honorable elder of the Emperor Hall Sect.

Because he was also so short of elders, he was forced to ask Shangguan Yan for help too. Although she was a weak cultivator but she was nevertheless still a fourth realm cultivator.

But the thing that worried him the most was that he had almost run out of excuses why he was not consummating his union with Shangguan Yan.

Whenever he sees her, he would feel extremely guilty.

Today he was on the way to the practice platform because Shangguan Yan and Fairy Ye Chengxi were giving an instruction there to the inner protégés.

"I shouldn't be cultivating all the time. I should at least take a look around my new sect. At least I should show my face once a while." He said to himself.

All of a sudden he had paused in his tracks and hid himself.

It was because he had suddenly overheard some protégés exchanging gossips on him and he was frowning.

"Our new Palace Mistress Shangguan Yan is so personal and enticing. Our Palace Master is so lucky to have her. I can't imagine having such an enticing beauty like her in bed every day."

"Our Palace Mistress is an unranked great beauty. Now that she is a Palace Mistress, she may be ranked as the fifth great beauty soon."

"If that is the case then won't our Palace Master have two great beauties as his consorts?"

"Of course! Why do you think our Palace Master invites Fairy Ye Chengxi here to be our honorable elder? Things are not so simple. It is because he can see her every day."

"But I rarely see Palace Master talking to Fairy Ye Chengxi. In fact, Palace Master is rarely in sight."

"You're too young, too simple."

"You never know what they are doing at night. Why do you think that our Palace Master is always not around during the day?"

"Why?"

"Because he has completely exhausted himself with the two great beauties during the night! Haha!"

"Listen, this is our personal secret. Don't go around telling anyone…"

"Actually our Palace Master is quite handsome…it is no wonder that even Fairy Ye Chengxi and our previous Palace Mistress Xia Jiaqing are all looking at him in a weird manner."

"Yes, I agree…" A female protégé said.

"Other than the Great Poet Ji Yuan, I don't think anyone is as great looking as our Palace Master…"

"But it is a pity. The Great Poet Ji Yuan is only handsome when he is beardless…"

"I have heard that the one and only portrait of the beardless Ji Yuan is worth 10,000 high grade spirit stones and is now hanging in the forbidden ground of the Hundred Flower Divine Palace…"

Yuan Ji: …

Yuan Ji: …

Yuan Ji: …

Did he hear what he was hearing from these outrageous protégés?

He resisted the temptation to confront these protégés as he continued quietly to the practice platform while muttering, "I am busy cultivating during the day and night so that I can save all your asses from getting kicked by the other celestial clans. These good-for-nothing protégés only know how to gossip nonstop."

He was soon at the practice platform but remained out of sight.

"Hm, Chengxi isn't here yet?" He thought. "Maybe it is too troublesome for her to travel here every day. I should offer to give her a residence here. This place has plenty of rooms for her anyway."

Shangguan Yan had just finished a practice round with the inner protégés that numbered some three hundreds and she was now chatting with them.

"Palace Mistress, we have heard that you used to be a core protégé of the Orthodox Sword Sect and you are a junior sister to Sword Saintess Fairy Ye Chengxi. We are curious how you managed to be a core protégé? We are all inner protégés here and we hope to become a core protégé one day."

Shangguan Yan was smiling gently at the inner protégés.

Her smiles were like a beautiful breeze that seemed to lift the spirits of all the onlookers and that included Yuan Ji.

He was a little smitten when he saw her gentle countenance.

"How come I never know that she can smile so beautifully?"

"Because you've never make her smile at all." His inner demon countered.

"I am actually not a good core protégé." Shangguan Yan said quietly. "I have to practice twelve hours a day while the others only have to practice three hours a day. I am actually not good with the sword."

Everyone was suddenly quiet because they could sense her melancholy gaze upon them; it was as though she could express her emotions through her countenance and quiet voice.

"I've actually no time for my cultivation so I try to make it up by only sleeping two hours a day and during meal breaks."

When Yuan Ji heard her, he was suddenly very downcast as he muttered, "Yan'Er, sorry…"

It was because he knew that he had punished her for being so weak in her sword techniques.

"This is a sword sect. We practice our sword together with our cultivation practice. How can you be so useless with your sword? From now onward, you will practice your sword from day to night until I'm happy with you. Don't forget that you're a core protégé and not an ordinary protégé. How can your swordplay be weaker than an ordinary protégé?"

All the inner protégés were suddenly quiet. It was because none of them were willing to practice their swords for twelve hours a day.

Shangguan Yan smiled bitterly, "After nearly a hundred years, my sword skill is still no better than one-tenth of my sister Chengxi. And I continued to practice twelve hours a day for the past one hundred years even though my old master is no longer around."

Yuan Ji was stoned when he had heard her. "I am no longer around. Why the hell do you continue to practice so hard for? I can't see it anyway."

Actually all the inner protégés were also thinking the same but they did not dare to interrupt Shangguan Yan.

She continued melancholy, "When my old master took me in as a core protégé, I've promised him that I will not fail him and I will work hard to meet his expectations. Whether my old master is still around or not, I never fail to practice my sword while I was still in the Orthodox Sword Sect."

Yuan Ji was smiling bitterly. "When I took you in, you are still a child. A child promise is not worth remembering!" Then he was trembling, "I didn't know that you are suffering so much while you're in the Orthodox Sword Sect. Maybe coming to the Emperor Hall Sect is a release for you instead…."

Then he added bitterly, "You must have hated your old master so much, am I right?"

Some of the inner protégés could not resist sighing loudly, "Then Palace Mistress must have hated your old master?"

"If I were Palace Mistress, I would hate him!"

"Death to Palace Mistress' old master…"

Yuan Ji cursed them softly, "These idiots. Why are they cursing me all of a sudden?"

But he had quickly returned his attention to Shangguan Yan. He already knew her answers. She had told him that she had hoped that he was dead and would never come back.

Shangguan Yan voice was trembling softly and there were tears in her eyes, "He is a good master. I am just not worthy to be his core protégé. I can't protect the Orthodox Sword Sect. I don't want my old master to be back because I can't bear to let him see how useless I am. I don't want him to see this good-for-nothing core protégé that he has so painstaking trained to no avail."

Several of the protégés now had tears down their cheeks when they had heard her.

She continued woefully, "My old master is not only a Sword Saint, a peak sixth realm golden supremacy, the greatest poet in the Desolate Celestial Fraternity, the head of the Four Beautiful Bearded Cultivator with the most beautiful long beard in the fraternity and also has the celestial title of the Gentleman of the Sword but he is also the best master in the entire fraternity. Although he has scolded me harshly all the time but I know that he is trying to force me to be better and he has never lifted his finger to hit me, not even once."

The inner protégés were all trembling as they listened. Many of the female protégés were crying now. It was because they had been caned all too many times while they were receiving instructions from the elders and senior protégés in the past.

But their new Palace Mistress Shangguan Yan had never caned them and instead she was extremely patience with them. Moreover after each practice round she would chat with them so that everyone could keep up with the practice paces.

Although Shangguan Yan sword play was much slower than Fairy Ye Chengxi but her pace was enjoyable to many of the inner protégés, especially the slower ones.

Fairy Ye Chengxi sword play was too fast and it was difficult for her to slow down her natural reflexes. At the same time, she was also a fifth realm golden celestial and a renowned Sword Saintess so naturally even a simple stroke that had come from her, contained unfathomable speed and profound strength that defied the understanding of an ordinary cultivator.

Yuan Ji was trembling hard and he had to use all his willpower to suppress the tears that were in his heart. "Yan'Er remembers all my titles…I have really let her down…"

It took him a while to completely suppress all his emotions before he stepped out of hiding as he coughed on purpose to alert everyone that he was here, "So how is the practice? Is everyone doing well?"

All the inner protégés were startled by his sudden appearance and quickly greeted him.

He waved them off as he turned to Shangguan Yan to ask, "Fairy Chengxi isn't here yet?"

Shangguan Yan shook her head, "She will be here soon enough."

Yuan Ji nodded before he said, "Yan'Er, let's take a little walk over there first while we wait for her to arrive."

Shangguan Yan nodded as she followed him.

For some time, they did not talk at all but were both walking awkwardly together.

Finally Yuan Ji said awkwardly, "Yan'Er, actually…" He had suddenly hesitated. It was because he could not tell her that he was his old master. He did not even know why he was suddenly asking her to take a walk with him.

Actually he wanted to apology to her for his past action but he had suddenly remembered that he was not Ji Yuan the old master anymore but Yuan Ji and this Yuan Ji was now her personal lord.

Shangguan Yan looked at him quietly, "Actually?"

He hesitated sheepishly before saying, "Actually I have never look down upon you."

Shangguan Yan smiled awkwardly, "I know…" But her eyes were extremely melancholy. She did not dare to ask him why then he had not taken her if so?

But Yuan Ji could tell from her countenance what she was actually thinking of.

He heaved a heavy sigh before he said solemnly, "Yan'Er, I want to take you now."

Shangguan Yan was startled, "Now? Here?"

"Yes now. There is no one around." Yuan Ji said as he pulled her into the bushes.

Shangguan Yan was gasping softly, "In this place?"

Yuan Ji nodded, "I can't wait anymore. Yan'Er, are you willing?"

Shangguan Yan averted her eyes shyly before she said with flustered voice, "Your Yan'Er is most willing. I've been waiting for this day…"

It was all that he needed to hear.

Yuan Ji did not wait for her to say more as he quickly stripped her to nothingness, pulling her robe off, her dress, lingerie and finally her panties off her.

As he touched her, he was amazed that her body was silky smooth. This was a divine body in one in a million.

In front of him now, was a most beautiful maiden who was pure and close to his heart. It did not take him very long to start kissing her passionately.

"Yan'Er, this is going to hurt for your first time. I am going in now. Don't be afraid."

Shangguan Yan was already gasping softly with pleasures and soon Yuan Ji had entered into her. This caused her to grip her fingernails tightly into his firm body.

All of a sudden Yuan Ji was asking, "Your fingernails, did you apply the scents that Xia Jiaqing had left for you?" It was because he had suddenly realized that before he had entered into her, her fingernails were already sinking it into him and he had only just noticed.

Shangguan Yan was suddenly gasping softly, "Out of habit, I am always applying it…"

Yuan Ji rolled his eyes before saying sheepishly, "Never mind, it is already too late. Do you have any antidote for it?"

Shangguan Yan muttered softly, "I have another scent that can remove it…but it is not with me now…"

"Tell me later which part is real and which part is delusion…" Yuan Ji was now on fire and he was impatient to talk. Very soon, he was passionately banging her like a wild beast.