The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

With ringing camel bells, the caravan struggled to travel through Immensity Sea. Looking around, only desert and plain land with a few stubborn shades of green could be seen.

By noon, the sun was shining directly overhead, and the high temperature made them dizzy. Even those who had the Apertures enlightened felt burning sensations on their body, and dryness of the mouth, not to mention the ordinary men leading the camels. Thus, they sought shade behind a few weathered rocks.

With a loud gurgling of water, many regained their spirits and chatted idly.

“Evil Blade was killed. We probably have to change our flag soon.” The leader of the caravan sighed.

They had handed over many goods in exchange for Evil Blade’s protection, and no longer needed to worry about attacks from large bandit groups. Their own escorts could handle the situation for smaller groups. But who would have imagined the sudden turn of events, in which Ze Luoju was killed in the royal advisor’s mansion?

As such, before the news spread around Immensity Sea, they hurried off soon after the blockade was lifted in Hahler. They would probably need to change their flag after the trip too.

Another leader of the caravan didn’t care very much. “What are you afraid of? Even though Evil Blade is dead, Crying Elder is still alive! He will definitely hand the Evil Ridge to someone else, so our flag will be just as useful!”

The leader who spoke initially was somewhat relieved, and could not help lamenting, “Killing Blade is definitely worthy of being called a legend for chasing after him for more than 20 days across tens of thousands of miles, and then finishing him off in the royal advisor’s mansion, the safest place in Immensity Sea. His rank in the Ranking List of Young Masters is indeed well-deserved. Maybe after a few years, he will be able to reach the Terrestrial Rankings…”

“True. Who would have thought that he would suddenly attack in Immensity Sea right after shooting up in levels, without stabilizing his realm at all! Ze Luoju probably didn’t expect it either!”

“We just heard about the level up a few days ago? And Killing Blade had actually already killed Evil Blade tens of thousands of miles away from Luoyang! It’s like a dream.”

“Perhaps those who have been through Heaven’s Punishment four times are just that strong to begin with…”

This incident caused a sensation in Hahler, and all from the caravan joined in the discussion except for the escorts, who were keeping a lookout for horse bandits. The discussion was intense, as if they had seen the fight themselves. They felt as if Killing Blade was like a god descended from heaven, suddenly appearing in front of Ze Luoju, striking and killing him when he least expected!

But there was one man who did not join the discussion. He was sitting under a weathered rock, looking indifferent but secretly pleased. It was Meng Qi himself, pretending to be a desert tramp.

He had a long sword hanging by his waist, looking calm and composed with average facial features that differentiated him from Killing Blade.

He could not use his Killing Blade identity to kill Devil-slaying Sword, just as it was inappropriate to use his Heavenly Primogenitor identity as Meng Su, who had suddenly appeared in Immensity Sea.

He looked up at the sun, estimated the current location and realized that he was not far from Bomi.

Among the buzz, several desert tramps had turned to look at the weathered rock. And as soon as they saw his figure, they felt bright sunlight shining on them, sparkling in gold.

Squinting their eyes to look again, the man with his back against the weathered rock had already disappeared. Nothing was there except for sunshine.

After leaving with the shelter from the sun, and moving hundreds of miles into Immensity Sea, Meng Qi stopped and found a hidden weathered ground, and hid inside the gap. Listening to the rippling of the underground river, he took out his bounty.

Meng Qi stayed in Hahler now for two reasons. He wanted to confuse Crying Elder by making it hard to find him, as he would probably not search where he had been. Furthermore, he had been hit by Ze Luoju’s Netherworld Evil Eye and his Vital Spirit was damaged with Yin Qi entering the bone. His injuries were serious, and he needed to heal and rest. It would only completely heal after 20 days or so.

If not for the fact that he had two heads and four arms, with another head to stop the disaster, he would still be greatly injured by Ze Luoju’s ultimate evil skill despite the strength of his Eight Nine Mysteries, making it impossible to escape!

Since he stayed in Hahler, he was afraid that Ze Luoju’s black bag contained things that could be sensed by Crying Elder. Thus he resisted the urge to check it until today.

The most obvious bounty would be Ze Luoju’s devil sword. It was long and narrow, strange in shape and dark in color. When listening closely, one could hear piercing cries of pain coming from inside. However, it was struck by the Grand Sun and Sky Thunder, causing it to lose its dark malice on the surface as damage.

After looking at the devil sword for a while, Meng Qi put it back into the Space Ring, took out the black bag, and opened it.

Instantaneously, glowing rays and mysterious dark lights were emitted. If not for Meng Qi’s Grand Sun Geniune Fire, which had illuminated the surroundings in a golden colour and suppressed the strange sight, the rays could have been seen from miles away.

This bag seems to be a half-completed space object… Meng Qi nodded thoughtfully when he saw that the contents of the bag exceeded his expectations.

His eyes were very sharp, and he immediately found two objects that seemed strong and strange.

One was a deep green, almost black, stone, with a human face curved onto it. It was sinister, fierce and twisted, as if it was describing the Nine Serenities. The other was a string of prayer beads made from brown wood with a total of nine pieces, of which seven had already lost their faint Buddhist shine, appearing dark and obscure. Of the other two, one shone with a pale gold glaze, while the other was dark brown exuding a little starlight.

“These are two secret treasures.” Meng Qi was no longer a novice, he was well informed and had very accurate judgment.

The secret treasures of his own world were not as wonderful as those of apotheosis. They were mostly defensive and offensive items made by separation of breath. After carefully identifying them for a while, Meng Qi preliminarily decided on the abilities of the two treasures. The dark black ghostly stone was made by one of the moves in Haunter’s 18 Slaps, combining the yin ghost and exotic treasures, and was used for offense. Judging from its breath, it was at least the standard of a 4-fold Heaven in the Exterior, which is more powerful than the first step of the Celestial Ladder.

“Fortunately I engaged in a sneak-attack and didn’t give Ze Luoju a chance to rest. Or I would have had to run for my life after he took out this secret treasure…” Meng Qi was very satisfied with his strategy.

The beads contained the breaths of Buddhism, and it was not hard for the half-monk Meng Qi, who had mastered the Buddha’s Palm, to assess it. He could basically confirm that the nine prayer beads were in fact nine secret treasures, and Ze Luoju had obtained them from a masterful Buddhist monk. Seven beads were used, and the last two were the Protective Glazing Light and Mind Connection beads, which Meng Qi had always wanted. All kinds of magical Heavenly Knowings required one to complete the first level of Celestial Ladder, otherwise Meng Qi, with his four heavenly ordeals, would have had them already. So he could only rely on the Grand Sun and Bright Stars that combined with his Body Movements to hide for the time being.

“Judging from their breaths, these two prayer beads do not exceed the power of the Third Heaven of the Exterior…” Meng Qi’s smile was all across his face. He loved the beads. Ze Luoju was indeed worthy of being leader of the horse bandits, storming through Immensity Sea for so many years. Meng Qi had just received a windfall.

With two secret treasures in hand, Meng Qi had more confidence about his trip to Carefree Valley.

Apart from them, the rest were extraordinary as well. There were the shiny and golden Divine Sun Stone, Core of a Fallen Star, Vast Earth Soil, Essence of the Golden Sand, White Pure Gold, and Netherworld Iron. They were all exotic minerals and products that could be used for training, especially Divine Sun Stone and Vast Earth Soil. After inducing them with genuine Qi, Meng Qi could enact one of the steps of Vairocana Swordplay, Standing Still and Clear Jade Swordplay consummate, greatly reducing the amount of time spent.

Meng Qi calculated, and he felt that the exotic minerals and products that he had would be worth ten thousand Karma points, and could help his training speed keep up with his body’s condition, which had been through four heavenly ordeals without slowed down by the reduction of Vital Qi in the Exterior.

“Indeed the leader of horse bandits who stormed Immensity Sea for all these years…” Meng Qi was touched to tears, almost praising Ze Luoju.

It was quite right to choose revenge first!

When transferring the exotic minerals and products into the Space Ring, Meng Qi gave a slight squeal as he saw two obscure things inside.

One was a token which was made from neither gold nor stone, neither wood nor silk, with ancient seal script written on it:

“Open when seen.”

The other was a brass key with a familiar shape.

I seem to have seen this somewhere… Meng Qi frowned in thought, suddenly remembering something, and took out a string of brass keys from the Space Ring.

It was the key found on An Guoxie, of which Meng Qi and Gu Changqing suspected to lead to where The Lone Robber had hid his property. However, aside from the key shape, which gave a clue on an Oasis nation, there was not a single other clue. Unfortunately, Meng Qi was never free enough to look for the location.

After careful selection, Meng Qi took out one of the brass keys from the string and placed it next to the key from Ze Luoju.

The pair had gouges on the front as if they had been bitten by rats at random. By comparison, however, they were identical!

“Exactly the same. They are keys that open the same door…” Meng Qi felt that the key was a little odd.

Ze Luoju had one, and An Guoxie had one. This illustrated the extraordinary character of the door that the keys could open.

“The rest of the keys can be sold to Jiuniang or as chips for information since I don’t have time to look for it anyway. They are probably considered normal jewelry, and not able to be exchanged for Karma points. But I have to keep these two keys and search for the Oasis nation that the keys represent, after Carefree Valley…” Meng Qi made his decision fast and kept his stuff.

…

Bomi, initially a vast Oasis of Immensity Sea, was home to a strong country.

But more than thousands of years ago, within one night, dark red mist appeared in the air and completely enveloped Bomi. No one could escape from it, and they all disappeared from the face of the earth. Rumors were all circulating in the West Regions then, some said that the Bomi kingdom had discovered some ancient grave and started digging secretly, but instead dug through a gap into the Nine Serenities which allowed dark evil spirits to fill the air with the Netherworld water pouring out. Others said that underneath Bomi some terrible Monster was contained, and someone accidentally broke the seal, causing its power leak out, breaking the earth…

There were all types of guesses and many Dharmakaya masters entered to explore, but none came back with success. The dark red mist within could block spiritual perception, blind the senses, and blur seer’s eyes. There was also a long valley deep in the grounds beneath, with complex structures and routes haunted by ghouls and demons. Therefore, it became a place for many villains or enemies to hide, and was deemed the most dangerous area of Immensity Sea.

The red mist in front was stagnant even though strong winds were still blowing, devouring the sandstorm like a monster.

Meng Qi looked at the malicious red mist, took a deep breath, held the long sword at his waist, and stepped inside.

Coldness penetrated his body via the Nose and Mouth Aperture, but did not eliminate the hot and dry feeling, creating breathing difficulties and pore blockage instead.

His eyes were burning and could see less than twenty inches ahead. His ears twitched but all sound ceased near him. As he looked up to the sky, he could only see red mist, not the sun or a moon, neither stars nor clouds. Meng Qi had lost all sense of direction.

He inched forward slowly, waiting for a signal. The information that The Immortals had given him include the specifics of Bomi, and the contacts of certain individuals inside, so he could find Devil-slaying Sword Yang Zhenchan easier.

After about half an hour, a group wearing black armor or white robes came through the howling dark winds and swaying red mist. Their eyes were glazed and their skin withered, with many places rotted and oozing. They were all dead!

Meng Qi held his breath and did not move, only deciphering the position they came from.

“Piieeww!”

Horn-like wails blasted as the team moved on slowly, staring straight ahead, without any noise other than the horn, not even the sounds of the armor plates colliding.

“Piieeww! Piieeww! Piieeww!” The team went far into the other end of the red mist, and the chilly, eerie, uneasy feeling was gone instantly.

Meng Qi heaved a sigh of relief and turned in the direction the team of dead had come from.

Other than Dharmakaya masters, this was the only way anyone could determine directions in Bomi!

The Yin soldiers patrol from east to west!

It was rumored that these nether spirits were the original occupants of Bomi.