The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The eeriness was more than enough to make Zhangsun Jing, Wishful Monk, West Invaders, and the others feel uneasy and stunned. The hall was dark and ghastly, with rings of darkness encompassing God-petrifying Sword and Living Buddha, sending chills up their spines.

Yet Living Buddha had unconsciously yielded the last round of the Grand Sun Anti-Fire Wheel. In a thousand years, there had been no Living Buddha that was able to cultivate the Grand Sun Wheel, where the body would emanate golden light, lighting up the eerie darkness.

He stood there like a Buddharupa, resembling the image of Vairocana, making the guards of West Invaders and themselves get on their knees and pay their respects. They knew that Living Buddha had reincarnated with the aid of Samsara, and was about to reach that elusive realm.

Zhangsun Jing and Wishful Monk had no words for the extraordinary scene before them, but concern had stemmed with the inside, could the ‘God-petrifying Sword’ Xiao Meng really defy Living Buddha’s power of the Secret Chamber?

Just at that moment, they heard a sorrowful sigh, like the benevolent mercy, like time had stopped, then suddenly, Meng Qi pointed one finger at the sky and another at the ground and grew. He had filled up their vision like the Buddha erected in the middle of the pure land, divine, compassionate, solemn, clean, like ‘I’ the all mighty!

“This kind of feeling…”  Zhangsun Jing and Wishful Monk weren’t the only ones stunned. So were the West Invaders, who too felt their souls tremble.

Meng Qi opened his mouth and took a step forward, and said in a divine and solemn voice,

“Boundless is the sea of bitterness, yet repentance will get you to the shore!”

The thundering voice of the Buddha had made Zhangsun Jing and others’ spirits quiver.

“Boundless is the sea of bitterness, yet repentance will get you back to shore…” It was as though they had been struck in the head by a bat like they understood something yet everything seemed empty.

During the spiritual battle, his Living Buddha body of Samsara turned into glaze, showing the Grand Sun. But when facing the giant Golden Body of Buddha, and under the momentum of ‘I’ the almighty, his spirit wavered, unable to guard his soul. The pure land had been permeated with his feelings from all the rounds of Samsara.

He saw the old man who transcribed the scripts, the lady who recited the sutras, the young girl of Old Buddha with the Altar Lamp, the eagle that perked on top of the temple listening to the teachings, such scenes all had flashed before him. He felt even more depressed, for though he had turned to Buddhism, he was still unable to let these feelings go!

Through all the rounds of Samsara, he was still stuck in the abyss of misery, was he stuck forever? Living Buddha began questioning himself, unable to guard his soul and the rays of the Grand Sun had become gloomy, which was gradually setting!

Just as he was about to get there, the giant Golden Body Buddha took seven steps in all four directions and shouted,

“Boundless is the sea of bitterness, yet repentance will get you to the shore!”

As those words reverberated, Living Buddha trembled, feeling as though the rounds of samsara was collapsing, his own spirit was breaking down along with it. Before his eyes appeared the lavish decor of the Yunyan Mansion and the handsome Young Master.

He then shouted again,

“Boundless is the sea of bitterness, yet repentance will get you to the shore!”

Living Buddha’s head began ringing, he stumbled on the ground and asked in a raspy tone,

“Where is the shore?”

He seemed to have voiced the questions of the West Invaders, all of whom had been shocked into misery by those words.

Though Meng Qi had retracted his hands, his solemness and grace didn’t diminish.

“Not here, not there, not anywhere but through repentance.”

“Repentance… ‘I’ the all mighty…” Living Buddha had suddenly felt enlightened. Smiling, he placed his hands together and shut his eyes.

Meng Qi’s momentum was quite reserved in that it did not fill up heaven and earth, but it was solemn and divine.

When a guard of the West Invaders saw that Living Buddha had no breath, he was both angry and shocked. Ignoring all mannerisms and respect, he yelled, “Was the Devil chased away?”

Suddenly his gaze froze and a cut appeared on his mid-brows. Blood oozed out from the cut, he almost lost his skull.

“How could I be cut? I did not see or feel his attack at all!”

“Where did the blade come from?”

Meng Qi sighed, “Take one last look at him.”

He got up to leave but tears had already filled his eyes. He was crying for the miraculous spiritual journey, and for all the true feelings he had experienced during rounds of Samsara.

Zhangsun Jing and Wishful Monk subconsciously looked around and saw that Living Buddha had tears in his eyes, he was sitting cross-legged, skin glowed like glaze. He had placed his hands together like a lotus and he was smiling. Apart from not breathing, he did not look at all like a dead man.

Was this his breakthrough before dying?

When the West Invaders saw what had happened, they all knelt on the ground and bowed. “This is the real Living Buddha!”

They walked out of Yunyan Mansion still in a daze as Zhangsun Jing and Wishful Monk couldn’t fully come to their senses just yet.

So Living Buddha, one of the Great Grandmasters, died just like that?

‘God-petrifying Sword’ Xiao Meng just killed a Great Grandmaster?

Could this be a dream?

It was always thus, and thus it would always be!

Meng Qi collected himself and came back to normal. A spiritual journey like this was great for cleansing the soul and vital spirit. It would also be helpful for reaching the Oneness of Heaven and Men.

“How come Ananda was nowhere to be seen?”

“Was the initial emptiness real or did some big power interfere?”

He did not answer but kept walking silently. Yet Zhangsun Jing and Wishful Monk did not interrupt for they were still immersed in shock.

They just kept walking until nightfall.

Within the Yuanjue Temple, Devil Empress who was pretending to have turned to Buddhism heard footsteps approach.

“What has made you all so flustered?” she asked without turning around.

The messenger who was a Devilish Cult master answered in a shocked tone, “Living Buddha has, has passed away!”

“What?” Devil Empress was not usually shocked by anything, but this time even she couldn’t control her emotions.

“‘God-petrifying Sword’ entered the Yunyan Mansion and locked eyes with Living Buddha. They were at it for about a cup of tea’s time. It seemed they were engaged in a mental battle. Then when he left, Living Buddha died on the spot,” the master explained as he tried his best to calm himself and sound logical.

He dared not use the name Xiao Meng anymore.

“How could his mental spirit be so strong?” Devil Empress muttered. She then added in a low voice, “Tell me all the details.”

Inside the Political Affairs Hall—

The left adviser Wang De was holding some mysterious treasure and muttering to himself, even this erudite man had a tone of shock in his voice, “‘God-petrifying Sword’ entered Yunyan Mansion, Living Buddha passing away…”

“‘God-petrifying Sword’ entered Yunyan Mansion, Living Buddha passing away…” The Royal Adviser who was looking up at the heavens also repeated those words.

From another side—

“Do you have a place to stay tonight?” Meng Qi asked casually as the Grand Sun set. Darkness fell upon the capital and he had totally shaken off the side effects of the spiritual journey.

Zhangsun Jing answered with a smile, “I’ve rented a yard, if you don’t mind dwelling in such a humble place.”

Meng Qi nodded in acknowledgment and said, “Not at all, lead the way please.”

Wishful Monk heaved a sigh. “Donor Meng, your words of ‘Boundless is the sea of bitterness, yet repentance will get you to the shore’ was like a lightning strike. I feel enlightened.”

It seemed he wanted to ask Meng Qi about the Teachings of Buddhism.

Though Meng Qi wasn’t a true monk as it were, he still understood the Teachings of Buddhism. After all, he did figure out the Buddha’s Palm. Not to mention that there were similarities between Buddhist sutras and Divine Skills. The ‘beginning’ of Inner World had some Buddhism tones, which read, “From birth, one must be polluted with all sorts of mundane feelings, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s all knowledge and experience. There are truths mixed in all things, but since one is restricted by oneself, one would be deceived. If one can’t reach enlightenment, one can’t see Buddha.”

He looked at Zhangsun Jing and said, “These words aren’t only the Teachings of Buddhism. Taoists, martial artists, and erudites alike have a similar philosophy. Great ideologies are often alike.”

“But only a few could breakthrough and comprehend emptiness….” Zhangsun Jing sighed.

But as a martial artist, this was a path that he had to travel.

“There’s a world inside our body and another outside of it. Both extremes are mysterious, what we must do is break through the barrier and merge both worlds. Taoists refers to it as ‘Man Law Heaven’…” Meng Qi casually said. “The barrier is both the lock of the soul and the partition of the body. The former is locked, we can’t feel the outside world and all the efforts are in vain. The latter is a concrete step, there is a Hidden Latch aperture in Taoism…”

This world had provided enough to cultivate the primary stages of the Primal Aperture at Mid-brows, but it was still lacking in the higher stages of cultivation. It needed time to consummate, which was why it demanded more of the spiritual realm.

Zhangsun Jing and Wishful Monk were mesmerized by the fact that Meng Qi could integrate the philosophy of Taoism, Buddhism, and kung fu. Though others before him had done similar, none had done to his depth.

“I now know what Living Buddha really means, even if my time is up, I’ll die without regret,” said the Wishful Monk as he put his hands together. He was a learned monk.

Zhangsun Jing’s adrenalin was pumping. It was as though he had found a clear path. “Young Master really has opened my eyes. You’re a godsend!”

Meng Qi just smiled with contentment. Making others enlightened gave him satisfaction without the desire for a reward because he didn’t exactly impart on them specific kung fu.

He suddenly felt a sense of Taoist morality!

Having begun cultivating the Tri-gem Wish Fist, he slowly started to understand the five virtues. He would love to collect all of them if there was a chance.

If he were to succeed in cultivating the Tri-gem Wish Fist, perhaps he could feel the so-called legendary sense of ‘Heavenly Primogenitor’ Ruyi Sceptre.

There was a man wearing military uniform standing in the yard that Zhangsun Jing had rented. He was holding a wooden box, upon seeing Meng Qi and others approach, he respectfully said,

“Swordsman Meng, I’m here to deliver a letter from Sword Emperor.”

Meng Qi was expecting this, so he received the wooden box and opened it.

There was a wooden doll inside that was wearing a comical smile, it had a long body and there were some words written on it,

“Tomorrow afternoon, when the sun is setting, how about a sword sparring session?”

“These words…” muttered a wide-eyed Zhangsun Jing. Wishful Monk seemed shocked too.

Each stroke of these words was inscribed with such power that though it seemed like common writing, it had made each stroke come to life. Just like the pieces of a chess board or the stars in the sky, they were linked together forming a death match!

Zhangsun Jing sighed once more, “This is a book on ‘Supreme Swordplay’…”.

This was a ‘book’ of secret sword art!

Yet, it was both a ‘letter’ and a challenge invitation!

Meng Qi slightly sighed at Sword Emperor’s level, but he also felt the breath of External Devil.

“What has my External Devil got to do with Sword Emperor?”

A long sword forged by flames has already appeared in his hands. He wielded it towards the wooden doll to answer the challenge!