The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Meng Qi and Slayer Yaksh, both harboring their own schemes, exchanged smiles. Despite their sincere and calm appearances, one of them understood the other’s intentions, while the other did not understand the nefarious schemes hidden in their collaboration.

Meng Qi looked around, sizing up Yang Zhenchan and the middle-aged scholar. His gaze lingered on them for a long time as he sensed their breaths.

This was a cautious approach. Slayer Yaksh did not comment on it and made introductions instead. “This is ‘Devil-slaying Sword’ Yang Zhenchan that you mentioned. The other is a good friend of mine, ‘Primordial Chaos Devil’ Jia Zhen of the Destruction Sect.”

“I’ve never heard of him…” Meng Qi only found the middle-aged scholar Jian Zhen’s appearance to be somewhat familiar but the latter’s breath and appearance were both foreign to him. Since he had deliberately disguised himself, it was hard for Meng Qi to even accurately determine his strength. Meng Qi could be certain that Jia Zhen had yet to surpass the first step of the Celestial Ladder and was weaker than Slayer Yaksh and Merciless Tyrant.

‘Devil-slaying Sword’ Yang Zhenchan’s breath was unstable. When he was flying, he gave off a sense of superfluousness. It seemed that he had yet to make up for the hidden dangers of nearly suffering Qi-deviancy Derangement and also suffered a little in Bomi, resulting in a sharp decline in his strength. He was evidently much weaker than Ze Luoju. However, Meng Qi did not dare to be anything but cautious around him because Yang Zhenchan’s Dharmakaya, after all, was passed down in his family. The line ‘outstanding and exceptionally agile sword art’ written on his file would not be false.

Yang Zhenchan’s hair was grey and his eyes were lined with crow’s feet. His appearance seemed honest and earnest, with timid manners. He would look around every now and then like a person who would easily be frightened.

For a moment, Meng Qi found him to be pitiful and full of vicissitudes. He nearly could not bring himself to kill Yang Zhenchan; however, he thought of how Yang Zhenchan sought methods of the Devil Path to make up for his foundation in order to make a breakthrough. Yang Zhenchan had also killed countless pregnant women and dug out fetuses with particular Eight Characters to refine his Elixir Field-consolidating Devil Pill. Whatever little pity Meng Qi felt for him instantly dissolved and, steeling his heart, he restrained his desire to kill Yang Zhenchan.

“If he’s not faking his performance right now and his mental state has indeed regressed, then that’s a major flaw…” Meng Qi calmly made his judgment. If a swordsman famed for his sword art became timid, then his sword art would no longer be outstanding.

“We can now exchange the information that we have and find the entrance to Carefree Valley,” Meng Qi said calmly, looking away from the two helpers.

Slayer Yaksh cast him a deep glance, feeling particularly curious about the items that Meng Qi had mentioned could help him escape. What were they exactly, to give him such confidence in the face of such strong enemies and the perilous Bomi?

“If I can get my hands on them…” Desire took hold of his heart.

“If we’re to discuss this, then we must begin from two years ago. There was an earthquake in the vicinity, causing caves to collapse and rivers to divert. Some valleys collapsed while some had their crevices deepened. None of us gave it a second thought because it didn’t affect the red mist; however, the day after, the feeling of smoldering dampness became heavier and Nether Spirits besides the patrolling Nether Soldiers appeared. They were ghostly and unpredictable and would sometimes attack us,” he said, lowering his voice.

“While fighting these Nether Spirits, we discovered crevices leading to even deeper passages and caves. They were naturally-made entrances. Some of them would spout wind of Chinese Astrology Jin, some would flare with underground Yin fire, while some would be a quiet abyss without any reaction – no matter what you threw in them. We’ve tried exploring these places but they’re too dangerous and nearly killed us.”

Slayer Yaksh deliberately left out the specific details of their exploration in his explanation and that more than half of them would get injured and die if not for Emperor of the Netherworld. He continued, “Of course, we also managed to find some clues while probing these entrances. We believe that a place called the Carefree Valley is located underneath Bomi, the location of a certain large ancient sect.”

Meng Qi listened with rapt attention as there was plenty of useful information in Slayer Yaksh’s words. When he corresponded them with the information recorded in the ancient manuscripts, the layers of fog-like confusion seemed to have become thinner.

When Slayer Yaksh was done with his explanation, he told them about the master of the ancient manuscripts, focusing on the main points. “The master of the manuscripts had explored Bomi many years ago and found traces of the formation outside of the mountains and rivers.”

“Combining those clues with his research of the Carefree Valley, he hypothesized it to be the grand formation of the valley, called the God-trapping Formation of the Five Elements. However, for some reason, the targeting of the formation became inward rather than outward.”

Meng Qi deliberately glanced at Merciless Tyrant as he said this. He saw that Merciless Tyrant’s eyes were dropping, without any particular emotions in them.

“God-trapping Formation of the Five Elements…” Slayer Yaksh frowned. “What should we do?”

“Caves that spout wind of Chinese Astrology Jin and crevices that flare with underground Yin fire are all signs of nodes in the formation. Coupled with the traces recorded in the ancient manuscripts plus the owner’s understanding of the God-trapping Formation of the Five Elements, we can try and estimate the location of the entrance…” Meng Qi pointed a finger, sprouting Genuine Qi from the tip to engrave the boulder with a map of Bomi that he had garnered.

The other three helped him fill in the gaps in the map based on their explorations, focusing on the location of the nodes, including the one inside the temple.

With the passing of time, they finally ended up with a simple and crude map of Bomi. The locations of the nodes were clear and linked to form a mysterious, strange course.

Meng Qi looked at the map and recalled the contents of the ancient manuscripts in his mind. The manuscripts had superficial descriptions of the God-trapping Formation of the Five Elements.

The eyes of Slayer Yaksh and the rest were gleaming with hope.

Moments after, Meng Qi said, “The entrances to God-trapping Formation of the Five Elements are Yin and Yang; an entrance bordering life and death… Based on the pattern of the formation, the entrance should be here.”

When he pointed at the map, Slayer Yaksh’s pupils constricted when he saw where Meng Qi had pointed. It was the temple that Merciless Tyrant had explored earlier – no, rather, it was the twin temple that he himself had helped to open!

To think the entrance would be there!

“If it’s all normal, this place should be a dead entrance. The living entrance is over there…” Meng Qi pointed at a location on the map, which was where the temple that he had frantically escaped out of earlier. “However, the formation has been reversed, with the inner becoming the outer. The dead and living entrances have naturally changed places as well.”

He could only give them a rough assumption.

“Dead entrance… No wonder you said it was very dangerous…” Slayer Yaksh turned to look at Merciless Tyrant.

He had a little more confidence in Meng Qi’s judgment with his knowledge of Merciless Tyrant’s encounter inside the temple.

Merciless Tyrant nodded without speaking.

Meng Qi was grappling with doubt as to what Merciless Tyrant had encountered at the dead entrance!

“Then let’s go and see if there’s an entrance there.” It was the first time that ‘Primordial Chaos Devil’ Jia Zhen had spoken during the entire exchange.

Meng Qi and the others had no objections to his suggestion.

The temple was not too far away underneath. Inside was a thick air of Yin and layers of moss everywhere. There were also water condensations. It was a stark contrast to the clean and neat temple next door.

“Yin and Yang facing opposite each other. The other points seem negligible. I’m sure the entrance here and the entrance inside the other temple are the same.” Meng Qi walked toward the area behind the statue.

He subconsciously glanced at the statue as he walked past it and noticed it was a statue of a deity in the style of the West Regions. The deity had a soft and amiable expression, with both of her hands clasped around a vase. The mouth of the vase was carved in numerous patterns, and it seemed as if the patterns had the ability to absorb one’s soul.

“This is the Vase Goddess that the country of Bomi worshipped. It carries the meaning of returning after death and is a symbol of vitality in the Yang Temple. I’ve heard that the Yang Temple worships another ancient deity but I’ve never seen any temples dedicated to that deity,” Slayer Yaksh said after he saw Meng Qi abruptly halting.

“The temples of the country of Bomi were divided into Yin and Yang and they’re located exactly at the entrances of the God-trapping Formation of the Five Elements. I’m sure they don’t lack understanding of the Carefree Valley,” Meng Qi muttered.

Merciless Tyrant’s parched voice rang out. “The passage, as well as the Night-luminous Pearls fixed to the walls leading to the dead entrance, are obviously the work of later generations.”

The implication was that it had been someone from the country of Bomi who had discovered the entrance!

Meng Qi walked past the statue and examined the spot corresponding to the one in the other temple. Yet he could not find any traces of the entrance. He tapped hard on the wall and heard only a dull sound. Evidently, there were no empty spaces behind the wall.

“Since the mechanism for the entrance to the Yang Temple is here, the one for the Yin Temple should obviously be in the opposite area,” Slayer Yaksh said, realization suddenly dawning on him. He stepped out of the temple and walked toward the opposing temple. Previously, he had been focused on exploring the entrance to the Yang Temple and did not link the two together.

In just a few moments, the space between the rock wall and the floor cracked open silently, as if the opening had emerged out of thin air. Inside the opening were stairs leading downward.

“It’s obviously empty, yet there’s no corresponding sound…” Meng Qi believed that not even a crude and violent thunder fire would be able to split the opening. Perhaps he could damage the wall and floor but the entrance would not appear!

They waited for Slayer Yaksh’s return before going down the stairs. Night-luminous Pearls lined the walls on both sides of the passage, giving off a faint light.

This passage was even longer than the one in the Yang Temple; they did not see the end of it even after walking for a long time. Everything was so tranquil that it felt almost frozen in time.

“If this is the living entrance, they’ll be entering its surrounding illusory formation next…” Meng Qi had concealed part of the contents of the ancient manuscripts. He planned to use his understanding of formations after stepping into the illusory formation to ambush Yang Zhenchan. He would first complete his assessment task and then rely on the examiner to handle the other two!

Meng Qi looked around him and saw that there were murals on the walls this time. The murals were all carvings of countless people crawling as they moved forward.

He did not spare Yang Zhenchan another glance, lest he put him on guard.

The thought gave Meng Qi a sudden urge to laugh. In the past, it was the protagonist in the novels he read that would be ambushed while searching for treasures and leaving everyone in a nervous situation, not knowing if it was the work of a traitor or another enemy. Yet, when it came to him, he was the one playing the role of the traitor…

Out of the blue, a mist rose and enveloped him, causing him to lose track of the others!

Meng Qi racked his brain to recall their previous locations and, corresponding them with the nature of the illusory formation, he was able to roughly estimate of Yang Zhenchan’s location.

Just as he was about to travel through the illusory formation and ambush Yang Zhenchan, he suddenly sensed danger and the outline of a silent palm charging at him formed in his mind.

The palm was incredibly fast. If he had waited for his external senses to detect it, it would have been too late to avoid it!

Meng Qi neither advanced nor retreated amidst the glow of lightning and fire sparked by flints. He slammed his back into the palm, interrupting its subsequent changes, lest it attacked his neck.

His body was essentially a Precious Weapon as long as the attacker did not strike his weak points!

Genuine Qi perfused, followed by the emergence of the faint golden glow. It was as if the pale palm had hit Chinese Astrology Jin.

Meng Qi’s Vital Spirit trembled along with the force and the faint golden glow dimmed ever so slightly, but he had already thrust Flowing Fire backward.

The flame was restrained, concealing its heat. Flowing Fire suddenly erupted as it pierced the attacker’s arm. The original spot seemed to have lit up by a small sun, overflowing with immense heat.

The ambusher let out a muffled cry and disappeared before Meng Qi’s counterattack hit him.

The pores all over Meng Qi’s body opened and began absorbing Vital Qi in the air. He deliberately acted, pretending as if he had been injured.

Due to the changes in the landform just then, the power of the illusory formation weakened. They all stepped out of the formation and found themselves in a large hall.

“Shen Bao, what’s wrong?” Slayer Yaksh asked, looking horrified after seeing the trail of blood at the corner of Meng Qi’s mouth and the ragged cloth on his back.

Meng Qi looked at everyone and replied slowly, “I was ambushed.”

He focused on their arms but found no injuries.

“Could it be a Divine Skill that is capable of deifying one’s physical body? But it didn’t seem like when I pierced the attacker’s arm…” Meng Qi was filled with doubts. The one he suspected the most was, naturally, the possibly possessed Merciless Tyrant; however, his black robe was intact without any signs of having been pierced through with a sword.

“Shen Bao, my friend, are you suspecting us?” Slayer Yaksh asked.

“I couldn’t tell who it was,” Meng Qi said calmly.

Slayer Yaksh furrowed his brows. “Could it be the work of the mysterious Nether Spirits?”

“I can’t rule out this possibility…” Meng Qi looked around while considering this. He noticed that the murals on the walls had finally changed.

The crawling people became more lavishly-dressed the further they went. They were worshipping the god carved on the opposite wall: a god with a snakehead. From the depiction alone, he could feel its antiquity, vicissitudes, coldness, and death. Flanking this ancient god was the Vase Goddess and Water God.

“It’s this god!” Slayer Yaksh blurted out, appearing very surprised.

Meng Qi looked over and said, “Which ancient god is this?”

“This god has very few worshippers. I didn’t expect Bomi would hide this god here…” Slayer Yaksh muttered. “In the West Regions, my homeland, this god is called Emperor of the Netherworld but goes by the name Netherworld in the Central Plains.”

“Netherworld, an ancient great power, one of the Inborn Spirits of the Nine Serenities!” Meng Qi subconsciously pursed his lips.