The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

He had lost his sight and hearing. Meng Qi had once again entered the bizarre state of being that he had experienced back in the Heaven-destined Temple. Even his realm of imperceptibility and projecting his mental energy outwards was useless against the unfathomable darkness.

The familiar feeling was none other than Wolf King!

Ever since he had missed the mark before, Meng Qi and the others had lost all clues about Wolf King’s whereabouts. It seemed like he had left Ying City and returned to the grasslands. No one had expected his sudden appearance at the end of the Party of Happycloud when “The Myths” had attacked the Crown Prince. It was as if he had always been patiently waiting for a chance to strike.

Or, he was associating with “The Myths” in order to grasp such a split-second chance?

The last time, Meng Qi had borrowed the powerful Exterior-level defensive move “Standing Still” that derived from “Wutu Seal.” The Wolf King’s spiritual Qi activity had then dragged him. After all that, he had still barely been able to enter the state of being where he was sharp and unpredictable, surpassing the imperceptibility stage and nearing Oneness of Heaven and Man. He had scarcely managed to block the Wolf King’s merciless whirlwind of attacks in the dark by the skin of his teeth. Since he was using his own identity at the moment, using “Heavenly Primogenitor’s” moves would expose himself!

It was a matter of life and death. Should he still be worrying that much?

Suddenly, an idea flashed across Meng Qi’s mind. “Heaven Inflicted Pain” released a gentle cry and thunder leaped, naturally slicing towards a particular direction.

Precious Weapons would automatically protect their wielder!

The “Heaven Inflicted Pain,” and the “Flowing Fire” were Precious Weapons that were cheaper. They did not even hit 2000 Karma points and therefore could not allow their wielders to borrow their breath and power to create all sorts of mystical phenomena, unlike the Wind Cloud Blade and Tai Hua Sword from the Devil Tomb World. However, they were still Precious Weapons, and they possessed a certain amount of spirit. After an extensive period of spending time together and exchanges between their senses, they currently treated Meng Qi as their real master.

If Meng Qi did not wield them at a critical juncture, they would protect him of their own accord!

A sudden realization struck Meng Qi. He felt like he had returned to the world of Sword Emperor and Devil Empress, when his spiritual energy had spread into “Heaven Inflicted Pain” and “Flowing Fire” for the first time, instead of being projected outwards. They were his hands, his eyes, and his ears!

This time, his spiritual energy was intertwined with their spirit!

Everything within the scope of the Qi activity in the “Heaven Inflicted Pain’s” direction was outlining in Meng Qi’s mind bit by bit. Even if he closed his eyes and shut his ears, it was as plain to see as ever.

The broad patio, the wintersweet in the corner, the marks of heavy rain on the ground and the fresh airflow after thunder and lightning emerged one after another in Meng Qi’s heart.

For the first time in his life, he felt that he was in harmony with the surrounding environment and that he had become a part of an integrated whole. His spiritual energy spread along the “Heaven Inflicted Pain” into the distance, where he “saw” the mountains and rivers and the ebb and flow of the tide. Whereas whatever they sensed felt like his senses, down to the last detail.

With the help of the Precious Weapons’ spirit, he had forcibly reached the realm of “Oneness of Heaven and Men”!

Meng Qi cast all thoughts about defeat and victory aside. The “Heaven Inflicted Pain” slowly swung outward following a mysterious path, trembling as it did so. It felt like thunder was arriving as a gentle wail filled the air.

“Clang!”

The long saber fended off a swipe of Wolf King’s claws.

In the absolute darkness, the darkness where vision and hearing were rendered useless, the long saber had perfectly blocked the Wolf King’s attack!

Meng Qi could hear the sound of the collision in his heart, but there was no actual sound produced.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Wolf King blended into the darkness and silently changed his position. Using all four limbs, he rained down another torrent of attacks on Meng Qi.

However, Meng Qi had the Precious Weapon as his “eyes.” The “Heaven Inflicted Pain” seemed to have become an extension of himself. He was the blade, and the blade was him. The blade was a Precious Weapon, while he was a Deva!

With ferocity and the speed of lightning, Meng Qi slashed several times, every strike subtly conforming to some Dharma and Logos between heaven and earth. The tip of the blade, its edge, its back, its body and its hilt—every part of the “Heaven Inflicted Pain” fully utilized. It managed to block the Wolf King’s attacks once more.

Things were not looking good for Meng Qi.

Although Wolf King was currently attacking with speed and furtiveness, not a single move of his reached the standard of an ordinary Half-step Exterior Scenery. In other words, a master of Oneness of Heaven and Men like him could achieve such an effect without even using his ultimate moves or by going all out. Meng Qi would probably require the might of his Exterior-level killer move to reach the same level. However, with every action, Wolf King was growing closer and closer to the strength of an ordinary Half-Step level, while Meng Qi was only resisting each blow head on. How could he possibly hold it out?

When he had fought against the ordinary Half-Step-level Green-blood Dragon King in Nine Villages, Meng Qi had bested him by relying on moving about using his Body Movements instead of taking him head-on. Trapped in the darkness created by Wolf King, he had lost the initiative and had nowhere to run. He could only use bladesmanship, physical body, and Inner Qi Force to hold out.

Even if Wolf King’s moves were less potent than the Green-blood Dragon King’s, they would still be similar in strength. Thankfully, Meng Qi had reached the Eight Acupores level for Eight Nine Mysteries, giving him boundless genuine Qi and a sturdy body. He also had the Immortal Pressing Art to counter and resolve the force of impact. Otherwise, blocking so many consecutive blows from the Wolf King with mere enlightened Apertures-level moves would have left him battered and bruised already!

That was why his genuine Qi was still holding up even though it was a little too late for him to turn the living into the dead or vice versa. It was still in relative abundance, while his internal organs had already begun to tremble, his blood was churning, his chest felt stuffy, and his right arm was slightly numb. His feet sunk into and smashed the green tiles beneath them. Meng Qi did not know how much longer he could last, especially with his mental exhaustion slowly creeping up on him.

However, as he fended off Wolf King’s latest flurry of blows, Meng Qi broke free from his state of helplessness. He attempted to search for a chance to attack and find his rhythm.

He was well aware that if he were continually on defense, he would undoubtedly perish at the hands of the Wolf King!

Right at that moment, after Wolf King had suppressed Meng Qi with his barrage of attacks, he saw an opportunity and quickly spread open the five fingers on his right. They turned into sharp swords dripping with a murderous intent that seemed capable of puncturing the sky.

Without a sound, the five “sharp swords” clawed at Meng Qi like soul reapers.

The “Heaven Inflicted Pain” quivered, and a sense of danger seized Meng Qi’s heart. Without any hesitation, he directly used Eight Nine Mysteries to imitate the Purple Thunder Force!

The long saber made nine perfect slashes. The Purple thunder ripped across the sky, the airflow collapsed, and rumbling sounds shook the air. However, in the darkness, Meng Qi could neither hear the roaring thunder nor see the flashing lightning.

The Knife Qi and the purple thunder intertwined into one and the nine purple thunder dragons linked themselves up head to tail, ripping towards a particular direction with all the might and ferocity of conquering evil.

“Clang!”

This time, a faint sound was audible in the darkness.

The “Heaven Inflicted Pain” recoiled, and blood spewed from Meng Qi’s mouth.

Killing intent invaded his body, making him feel as though he had fallen into a cave of ice. His muscles and blood turned stiff, and his Vital Spirit felt numb.

The good thing was that Eight Nine Mysteries had yet to be defeated. Meng Qi ran it, and it quickly negated the effect.

At the same time, Meng QI borrowed the momentum to hurriedly step back in an attempt to escape the range of the shrouding darkness.

Out of the blue, “Flowing Fire” detached itself from his waist, and the feeling of imminent danger gripped him once more.

Oh no!

Meng Qi clenched his left fist around the sword hilt and concentrated his Energy, Qi, and Spirit. Then, following “Flowing Fire’s” senses, he stabbed backward.

The sword light was a brilliant red reminiscent of a Heavenly Fairy. It had no frills or variations, just a solid flash of color tearing through the air.

Just then, a pale finger tapped Meng Qi from the back. Its fingernail was clean and sharp and emitted pallid light. For some reason, only by looking at it, one would feel as though death had seized his physical body, and his Vital Spirit flogged by the murderous feeling it gave off.

“Poof!” The force dispersed, the “Flowing Fire” rewound, and the Wolf King’s finger that was overflowing with killing intent stopped suddenly.

Meng Qi could no longer repress the stuffy feeling in his chest anymore. His mouth flew open as more blood spurted out. However, making use of the momentum from his long saber’s rebound, he cleaved again. The blade perfectly coincided with the Wolf King’s left hand.

This time, the Wolf King did not use any Exterior-level ultimate moves. Using his Body Movements, he executed yet another furious round of attacks.

“He hasn’t fully recovered, so he can’t use more than two Exterior-level killer moves at one go?” Meng Qi was enlightened all of a sudden.

He Jiu had sustained less severe injuries, and he had taken two days to recover fully. With the extent of damage dealt to the Wolf King’s body, he had likely taken recovery pills and elixirs for him to have been able to heal thus quickly!

Meng Qi was not even sure if the Recover Pill had such healing properties because He Jiu’s invisible sword Qi lingered in his genuine Qi and body. It was difficult to extract, and without the right cure, one could not determine the exact effect.

Palms, fingers, fists, and claws pelted down on Meng Qi as the Wolf King danced around in the darkness. It seemed like he wanted to attack him until he depleted all his energy and died of exhaustion, or wait for him to snap out of his trance before destroying him with a series of Exterior-level killer moves.

It looked like if things continued as they were, Meng Qi was most definitely going to die!

Compared to his previous battle, Meng Qi, who was not using “Standing Still,” was at an even more significant disadvantage at the moment. He had already taken a lot of damage.

However, he kept his cool. His saber and sword took turns defending him from the Wolf King’s strikes.

The Wolf King swung his right fist out, and the Flowing Fire met it just as it had before, its sharp tip piercing towards the center of his palm.

“Poof!” The Flowing Fire suddenly became weak and was directly pushed away by the Wolf King’s right palm.

“Thud!” The Wolf King was taken aback at the sight of his right palm colliding with Meng Qi’s left chest. The impact caused the faded gold to dim further and crack lines began spreading as if it were on the verge of shattering. The force was so tremendous that a deep imprint of his palm was left behind and Meng Qi could feel his bones breaking.

With his chest pressed against the Wolf King’s right palm, Meng Qi spat another mouthful of blood as he hollered,

“Die!”

His voice was like thunder, rumbling as it spread into the distance, while the “Heaven Inflicted Pain” in his right hand swung at the Wolf King in a whipping motion.

Previously, Meng Qi had had to rely on Kill-stopping’s aid to be able to find a chance to turn the tables and escape from the Wolf King’s “darkness”. There was no need for that this time around!

That was because he could not use his kung fu back then.

With Eight Nine Mysteries and Golden Bell Shield, he could take his life in exchange for some damage. He could grasp the opportunity to turn things around!

He only had one shot, so it was all or nothing.

“Die!”

With that roar, lightning streaked and illuminated the darkness.

Meng Qi’s breath began to climb, and his muscles swelled tight beneath his clothes. His surroundings turned as vast as the heavens, capable of holding anything and everything. The long saber appeared to have transformed into a swift, heavy and ferocious thunderbolt. It struck down from above with a thunderous blast.

All those who had been struck by Meng Qi’s thunderclap would know that in that instant, the entire world seemed to crawl by. The only thing that pierced through the slowness was that bolt of thunder.

“BOOM!”

Grey clouds gathered overhead with countless silver snakes leaping about in their darkness. They quickly converged into a single, massive storm cloud that looked ready to release a downpour any second.

“BOOM!”

A thick bolt of Green Thunder struck. Five thunderbolts combined head-to-tail and directly shattered the darkness with their deafening rumble. They became one with the falling long saber as it prepared to execute divine punishment.

With the rage of the heavens, five thunderbolts ripped through!

Meng Qi began running the Sacrifice Formula, activated the Heaven Inflicted Pain, and displayed his Dharmakaya move!

There were no masters around, and there was also the darkness acting as interference. Apart from the Wolf King, nobody would be able to figure out the nature of his attack.

As for other people, there had always been rumors of his ability to trigger Sky Thunder!

With the darkness dispersed and the illumination of the lightning, Meng Qi saw the Wolf King’s true appearance for the first time. His facial contours were not as deep, and his face was rather flat, just like the typical man from the grasslands, and his icy glare resembled that of a beast.

The murderous intent surged at Meng Qi’s chest, but it was impossible to break his Eight Nine Mysteries in such a short period. The Wolf King’s pupils constricted. He no longer tried to kill Meng Qi and raised his left hand. From numerous aperture points, dim and creepy rays of light emitting, and they connected with one another as they spread towards his left hand.

His entire being seemed to turn into a long sword harboring immense murderous intent with his left hand as its tip, and every aperture point a different part of the sword. It was gloomy and broad and extremely ominous!

His left hand flew out towards the long saber.