The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The jet-black sky was decorated with sparkling stars like a piece of black velvet with diamonds shining on it.

Meng Qi’s eyes were half-closed as his Vital Spirit expanded and hit his Hidden Latch with immense strength. A crack seemed to appear at his mid-brows and was gradually opening up, revealing unfathomable darkness.

Without any difficulties, Meng Qi heard a sound of cracking in his head. At the same time, his Primal Aperture opened up and Hidden Latch was broken through. He instantly felt the infinite spiritual energy flowing out of his mid-brows, as if all power he accumulated was unleashed at this moment!

He also sensed more aspects of things in his mental world. Besides the Sea of Vital Qi, there were also life, death, the genuine fire from the Grand Sun, the magnificent force of the stars, as well as all kinds of power and breath. There seemed to be no pattern in their arrangement. At the same time, they also seemed to be following certain laws and theories, developing towards an even more chaotic state until everything was in dead silence!

Shortly after, his spiritual energy was transformed into a bridge on top of the chaos that connected his Inner World and the outside. It was golden as if the legendary golden bridge that could lead one towards the ideal state of life.

“Boom!”

Upon hearing that terrifying noise, Meng Qi felt himself being guided by the bridge towards an overwhelming Nature Force that cleansed his physical body, casting off all harmful characteristics.

Should Meng Qi never open the nine acupores and only open the three Secret Chambers, his body would not be able to undertake the Nature Force and disintegrate upon the huge impact. However, he was unmoved while sitting under the impact of Nature Force. A faint golden glow enveloping his body slowly.

Half-step Exterior Scenery masters would usually stop at this stage, yet Meng Qi still kept his eyes half-closed, and attempted to blend the Nature Force with his Inner World!

“Boom!”

His Sea of Vital Qi started seething with excitement, so did all other kinds of powers. Dark clouds gathered above Luoyang City as the surroundings turned gloomy as if an abyss in hell. It was a complete opposite from the Luoyang City lit up by the romantic starlight.

Streaks of silver lightning were flashing in all directions, intertwining with each other.

In the place where Wang Zai was standing, one could still see the clear sky and sparkling stars. Looking up at Meng Qi, Wang Zai sighed in secret and thought to himself, He’s indeed trying to reach the Exterior in one step by withstanding the Thunder Punishment, and he didn’t even use the help of any external forces. It seems that when he was contemplating about that stele or fighting with Six-annihilation Devilman, his Inner World had already reached its peak. Back then he hadn’t connected the external and the inner worlds, but his strength was already approaching that of an Exterior master. With such amazing power, I’m afraid the entire Luoyang City is now seeing this change in natural phenomena that he had caused…

He had read about similar cases from some books.

“Boom!”

A silver Thunder Light as thick as a pillar instantly penetrated the roof and struck at Meng Qi’s position.

Keeping a calm and carefree expression, Meng Qi drew out his Heaven Inflicted Pain and held it up high!

The saber vibrated at high speed to create eight consecutive attacks before slashing at the thunder with great strength. It even generated streaks of purple lighting that transformed into a roaring dragon which pounced towards the Thunder Punishment with an unstoppable momentum!

He was trying to disrupt the Thunder Punishment with another violent attack of thunder!

Without any urge to win or a feeling of uneasiness, Meng Qi attacked with his saber. He was already extremely close to the Exterior and the strength of his Inner World was also pushed to its peak. Under such conditions, he could make the breakthrough any time he wanted. Even his ordinary movements would have the power close to that of a perfect Half-step Exterior Scenery master, and that explained why he could kill Six-annihilation Devilman so easily. If he didn’t have such great strength, how would he dare open up the Hidden Latch at mid-brows before gaining a full understanding of the current situation?

“Boom!”

Being led by the purple thunder, his saber struck the Green Thunder perfectly with a loud bang. Streaks of lightning dashed across the hall in all directions, leaving the entire place parched. Shortly after, Heaven Inflicted Pain fell down gently and cut into the ground right next to Meng Qi again.

Onlookers around the yard of Family Su were completely stunned upon seeing what just happened.

“The Heaven Punishment came down just like that?”

“There wasn’t even evidence of any fight between two masters!”

“He indeed reached the Exterior in one step!”

While in shock, they were also looking forward to the kind of change in natural phenomena Meng Qi would cause. Besides the starry sky earlier, there should be another one after he had made the breakthrough.

Just then, they saw a few Grand Suns rising up and Golden Crows flying around along with raging flames covering the sky!

Why would Grand Sun and Golden Crow exist inside Meng Qi’s Inner World? He had never displayed movements related to any of those before… Not only were the onlookers outside surprised, even Wang Zai, as someone who knew Meng Qi considerably better, frowned at the sight of them as well. His Inner World should not be like this… unless he never revealed his full strength!

Wang Siyuan looked pale as before. His right hand kept changing gestures as if he was trying to deduce something.

Qi Zhengyan and Ruan Yushu had the same question as Wang Zai. Are these the symbols of Eight Nine Mysteries technique? But they don’t seem to be related to it even in the slightest sense!

They could understand the Bodhi Tree, yet why did the stars, the Grand Sun and Golden Crow appear? Could it be possible that they were derived from the Immortal Tao?

After seeing Meng Qi resolving the Thunder Punishment in a breeze, everyone was about to congratulate him. However, the darkness showed no indication to fade away, nor did the stars. Grand Sun and Golden Crow were high up in the sky as well. It seemed that the Heaven Punishment was not over yet!

“What’s going on?” Everyone in the hall, as well as nearby, was wondering about this same question.

“Could it be…” said the officials from the Political Affairs Hall. They seemed to have recalled something, while some showed expressions of approval, others frowned at the thought.

“In the past, Su Wuming once experienced three punishments…” murmured the master of the Family Zhang.

“The Punishment of Yin fire!” shouted Wang Zai. He couldn’t help but opened his eyes wide, witnessing flames rising from Meng Qi’s feet and gradually creeping higher. The Yin fire was trying to burn his flesh and Vital Spirit into ashes.

Cui Zhe, Aunt Bai, and others had long been amazed, none of them had thought that they would witness Heaven’s Punishment falling onto the same person twice!

Meanwhile, Meng Qi formed a finger sword with his left hand. Holding his left hand up high, he directed the Yin fire out of his body with the help of the sword momentum he had created. The Yin fire then dispersed in thin air.

The sword art he used was the Exterior movement “Yaksha’s Blaze” from Samsara Beasts Sword. Despite that he didn’t use Flowing Fire to activate that movement, his own body was already as strong and powerful as any Precious Weapon, that was why he could shift away from the Yin fire so easily to the point that all onlookers couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

In Meng Qi’s eyes, Heaven’s Punishment seemed almost like a childish game that only kids would play…

Everywhere in Luoyang seemed to have turned much dimmer again. Accompanying this darkness were the splendid starlight as well as many vortices through which no end could be seen at all. They exuded an irresistible suction and a suffocating feeling that seemed to herald despair and destruction.

“What is it… What on earth is in the Inner World of Killing Blade…” Almost everyone in Luoyang was already lost in the current situation since what they were seeing was way beyond their common sense. “Wait a second, the darkness is not fading, is there another punishment?”

The roaring sound of a storm could be heard everywhere, yet no one felt the wind blowing inside the hall. Instead, the vortices that appeared earlier on started piercing through his head, they were trying to break down both his Vital Spirit and his body!

“He’s now at the third stage of the Punishment, the Punishment of Golden Wind…” whispered Wang Zai.

Since many people recalled Su Wuming’s experience, some of them had already guessed that there would be the third stage coming to Meng Qi. Now everyone had fixed their eyes on him, and were waiting for another legend to be born!

Since wind had no shape and blades were unable to cut through it, Meng Qi let it go into his head without using any movements. At the same time, a faint golden glow enveloped his body, allowing it to recover immediately upon being torn apart for a countless number of times.

Despite bearing the pain that ordinary people couldn’t withstand, Meng Qi still looked calm and collected as usual. As the golden glow restructured itself upon numerous times of breaking apart, the strength of his body grew as well, until his body was terrifyingly invincible.

With the protection of Eight Nine Mysteries technique, nothing would be able to harm his body!

“It would indeed take great effort to overcome Heaven’s Punishment…” said Cui Zhe with a sigh. After all, if everyone could succeed only by overcoming two stages of punishment like most of their predecessors, he would no longer believe in the authenticity and difficulty of the one-step breakthrough as recorded by many ancient books he had read.

After Meng Qi’s golden body was done being tested by the wind, everything seemed to be returning to a state of tranquility.

“It’s finally over.” said Wang Zai as he examined the surroundings.

That should be the complete change of natural phenomena that Meng Qi would cause.

As Wang Zai was witnessing everything, he was completely speechless with his mouth half-open. In his surroundings, there were thousands of stars moving around the Grand Sun as they spread across the boundless sky like a far-reaching river glimmering under the moonlight. Golden Crows flew from all directions while an imaginary world with a round sky and square land gradually came into people’s notice. A vortex was devouring everything into the unfathomable darkness. All these phenomena appeared concurrently and they seemed to be related to one another at some point.

Meanwhile, there was an obscure area where no details could be seen. It seemed like the Fourth Zenic Heaven of Buddhism and the World of Immortals of Taoism!

“What kind of Dharma Form is this?” Aunt Bai was shocked and perplexed.

Cui Zhe was captivated by the phenomena that Meng Qi had caused. The longer he observed the phenomena, the stronger he believed that there were secrets of Heaven and Earth hidden within.

Those from Political Affairs Hall had already stopped their discussion and shifted their full focus onto the phenomena that were occurring above the entire Luoyang City.

“How interesting…” The grandmaster from Wang family seemed to be taken aback while seemingly deep in thought.

“How on earth can such phenomena exist…” pondered Cui Yan as he frowned at the thought, he still could not fully understand what the meanings behind such phenomena held.

One thing, however, could be said for sure. Everyone present could sense that the phenomena delivered certain mysteries of Heaven and Earth!

All Jianghu masters in Luoyang had been long lost in confusion and astonishment. They could do nothing but to let this feeling gradually take over their minds and bodies.

When the Golden Wind had dispersed, Meng Qi immediately felt certain indescribable connections between his body and the world around him. The stars, Grand Sun, Golden Crow and Chaotic Hole within his acupoints had also built connections with the Stars Force and other phenomena. Having overcome this stage of punishment, Meng Qi felt more invigorated and his breathing much smoother!

Just as Wang Zai was about to stand up and congratulate Meng Qi on overcoming all punishments, he heard a couple of severe coughs followed by someone saying, “No… not yet…”

“Not yet?” Everyone looked up at the sky subconsciously despite that their expressions were already dull and lifeless. Looking through the big hole that was ruptured open by the Green Thunder, they saw no stars, Golden Crows or Chaotic Holes. Everything was in a chaotic state!

After seeing such a chaotic state, many people with insufficient strength or limited capabilities were already too terrified to react.

Su Li and Su Yue were dumbfounded as well. Ever since the Human Sovereign made his breakthrough to the Exterior, they had never heard of four stages of punishment during one breakthrough. Even the Overlord had only experienced three stages!

As for Demonic Buddha, however, no one knew about his abilities at the enlightenment period or the Exterior level since he was already at Dharmakaya level when the whole world learned about his overpowering and frightening strength.

As for the Human Sovereign or anyone that came before him, probably no one knew anything about them except the Wang family of River East!

Meanwhile, Gu Xiaosang looked directly at that state of chaos, her complexion was fair and stunning as usual. Heaving a sigh all of a sudden, she murmured, “The stages of punishment he’s going through are indeed beyond my expectation. I’m afraid I can’t ‘stay together’ with him afterward anymore…”

Some officials from Political Affairs Hall kept stroking their beard, while some frowned and were lost deep in thought. Some discussed that state of chaos intensely, trying to figure out what kind of punishment Meng Qi would be going through.

The grandmaster from the Wang family first appeared perplexed, then his expression turned extremely solemn as he gradually understood what was happening.

“This isn’t over yet…” With the sound of a gasp, that state of chaos dropped on top of Meng Qi all of a sudden. Its impact was overwhelming and irresistible, so much so that he felt the power of destruction and the change from life to death!

That was the first time he sensed danger ever since he began overcoming the Heaven’s Punishment!

Keeping his head down and eyes shut, Meng Qi activated his Inner World and opened up all his acupoints. As a result, all his organs started working conjointly and changes started to take place at his Nine Apertures!

In the blink of an eye, Chaotic Hole, Golden Crow and all other abnormal phenomena were absorbed into Meng Qi’s body. All that was left was the darkness that enveloped Luoyang City, and the state of chaos!

Just as everyone was keeping their breath and anticipating for Meng Qi’s next move, his right hand gripped Heaven Inflicted Pain without anyone noticing.

With a long roar, he drew out the saber and slashed up high!

Amidst the boundless chaos, a saber radiance suddenly came to everyone’s notice. It was so bright and blinding as if possessing the power to create a whole new world by breaking the chaos apart.

The chaos was torn apart, as well as the darkness!

Finally, everything standing in Meng Qi’s way was torn apart!

Everyone present, including the officials from the Political Affairs Hall, were amazed by Meng Qi. Although that saber attack was not a mature and consummate one, it was still released at the perfect timing with immense power!

“BOOM!”

Chaos was dispersed upon a deafening rumble and sunlight covered the entire city again. Everything finally returned to its original state!

…

As the Golden Wind was slashed apart at the sight of a sword light, Jiang Zhiwei appeared in her yellow dress.

Just as she was filled with ecstasy, a strange feeling urged her to look to the direction of Luoyang, although there was nothing to be seen from her position.

…

In Huan Province, at the bottom the Sixiu Mountain.

Liu Su the Master Lotus was drinking in large gulps. Apparently, he was already drunk.

Suddenly, he burst out laughing and started talking to himself.

“My temperament is different from everyone else, why must I learn to be like them? Being a perfect Half-step master is not like the end of the world!”

When he laughed, there appeared to be streaks of green light glowing at his mid-brows. His surroundings were covered by a carefree, relaxing atmosphere as if there were lotuses blooming around him.

…

After banishing the chaos and darkness, Meng Qi felt immense pain all over his body. When he breathed, however, he could feel his Vital Spirit on top of his body, unrestrained and full of energy!

Activating the Inner World and triggering the forces of Heaven and Earth, Meng Qi gradually flew down to the ground.

“Huh?”

“Where are the abnormal phenomena?”

Wang Zai and others still couldn’t understand what was happening in front of them. Meanwhile, Meng Qi looked shabby and exhausted in his ragged clothes, but his breath was deep and beyond anyone’s knowledge, frightening yet awe-inspiring.

“Please allow me to get changed, then I will join everyone for a toast shortly after!” said Meng Qi with a laugh as he turned and walked away.

His loud and hearty laughter echoed in the hall as he strode towards the rear hall. Both his posture and his laughter exuded confidence and pride.

Since he kept an indestructible body with the will of Primogenitor, his form should be called the “Immortal Primogenitor Form”!

…

Liu Su stood up while swaying back and forth, he then chanted loudly ——

“My heart elates with joy, for I know I am no ordinary man!”

(End of volume three)