The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

“Lord of Purity and Magic…” Primogenitor Lingbao whispered, “He is the top amongst the third-generation Disciples of Jade Virtual Palace. He trained his physical body to a great extent. It’s no wonder he has such great power.”

He had entered the Apotheosized World several times after obtaining the Azure Palace, so he knew the story of Yang Jian. He had exclaimed on purpose in order to remind Meng Qi of the power of the real Lord of Purity and Magic, worried that he might not be aware of it.

However, Meng Qi had already known about the affairs of Yang Erlang in his original world and did not need a reminder. In fact, Yang Jian was his role model in cultivating Eight Nine Mysteries.

Meng Qi took a deep breath and suppressed his shock. He started looking around, trying to find clues.

Yang Erlang would not have put up the stele here for no reason. What did he want to do?

Suddenly, he saw an object behind the stele. It was pure black with square edges. It could not be detected by his other senses!

“Huh?” He stepped forward to take a closer look. It was a wooden board about the size of a palm, with golden words carved on a black base. It said: “The Jade Virtual Palace”.

“Waist plate for the disciples of Jade Virtual Palace!” Sprite of Herbs exclaimed in surprise.

After careful examination, Primogenitor Lingbao instructed Meng Qi to pick up the object. “This is related to Jade Virtual Palace and was mysteriously left here. Perhaps it is related to you as well. Let’s keep it for future use.”

Meng Qi nodded and picked it up. He was not worried about having so many problems even though they could not offset one another!

As he was playing with the token, Primogenitor Lingbao started to examine the surroundings beginning with the pale gold gate that they had entered.

After a long time, he sighed, “If not for you, even if I had discovered this place by chance I’m afraid I would not have passed the seal. Tricks are useless. Such is the law of this realm.”

Meng Qi smiled and said, “How could the five provincial governors even think of entering here through loopholes? Ha, even if they can, they wouldn’t find anything they want inside.”

He had discovered that there was nothing special about the waist plate aside from its ability to block out mental senses. He kept it in his Space Ring.

“They had obtained the first token left by the Lord of Purity and Magic, perhaps using loopholes might not be that useless…” Sprite of Herbs explained weakly.

Meng Qi and Primogenitor Lingbao turned their attention back to the stele, ignoring the sprite.

As they focused their senses on it, the stele remained ordinary – nothing special or unique could be sensed. It was like the clouds in the sky or the water in the sea, everpresent and natural.

Knowing that the token can block out mental senses, the duo chose to touch and feel the stele.

Just as the cold and hard feeling of the stele entered Meng Qi’s mind, he felt his spirit leaving him and flying up. He felt like he was looking down on the vast world, on the revolutions of the moon and the sun, on the changing seasons, on the water cycle; they were like strings that harmoniously created the entire earth and the laws and reasons governing it.

Amongst them were nine stone steles. They were round and flawless, and did not seem out of place, but also seemed to stand above them as if embedded from the outside realms.

“These nine steles suppress and limit this world.” Primogenitor Lingbao’s voice suddenly rang in Meng Qi’s ears.

Suppress this world? Why would that be necessary? Meng Qi was confused.

The Primogenitor was confused as well, murmuring to himself. “What would happen if I remove the seal?”

He practiced his Mystic Art and silently sensed the power of the stele. After a long time, he sighed, “With my current power, even if I utilized Conjuration of the Taoist Trinity and set up the Immortal-slaying Sword Formation, I would still be unable to make a mark on the stele.”

“Seems like we won’t find out Yang Erlang’s reason for putting up these nine steles just yet…” Meng Qi realized the gap in the power level of the ancient big powers and the Dharmakayas of today.

By his reckoning, the Chong He who was able to set the Immortal-slaying Sword Formation all by himself would be one of the top Dharmakayas. Even Master Lu might be weaker than him.

Meng Qi had never seen a Peerless Godly Weapon. However, from the fact that Taoist Shou Jing had been able to temporarily suppress White-tiger Monster King using the Blade of Timeshadow, it was difficult to judge between Gu Erduo, who held the Heaven-killing Axe, and Chong He.

Of course, he had not seen Master Lu’s full strength. His judgment could be inaccurate.

“Perhaps we can obtain some clue from the token and the information obtained from the five provincial governors.” Meng Qi said. He glanced at Sprite of Herbs and then sent a message to the Primogenitor using secret sound transmission. “Primogenitor, this sprite is being dishonest and pretends to be scared purely by our skills. He’s behaving strangely.

“Also, why do you think the Lord of Purity and Magic moved a few medicines from Mount Kunlun to here? They had no effect on the seal. Do you think there’s anything other than the stele inside?”

The waist plate had been left behind by Yang Jian and was an exception in their discussion.

Primogenitor Lingbao nodded lightly, “I agree. This Big Green Root knows more than it appears to know. How about we bring it back to the Immortals for the Dominator to investigate?”

Sprite of Herbs appeared to be the Big Green Root monster.

“Sure.” Meng Qi and Primogenitor Lingbao immediately carried the oblivious Sprite of Herbs out of the seal, having decided to find the tokens, information and other Sprites of Herbs after the investigation.

Outside the valley, Primogenitor Lingbao tore the void apart once more and flew in the darkness with Meng Qi and the Big Green Root, returning to Azure Heaven immediately.

As soon as they landed, Primogenitor Lingbao and Meng Qi pulled the Sprite toward the central jade pillar. Seeing this, Sprite of Herbs suddenly stopped and timidly asked, “Masters, where… where are you taking me?”

“Oh, just somewhere for a small check-up.” Meng Qi smiled creepily. Fortunately, he had a mask to cover him or the image of “Heavenly Primogenitor” would be destroyed.

“No! No!” Big Green Root seemed to think that it would be stewed, retreating desperately.

“What are you afraid of?” Meng Qi asked, giving him a faint smile.

How could the weak Sprite of Herbs even resist against the Primogenitor? It was immediately held hostage, flying forward with him.

“No!” It issued a loud piercing whine. “I guarded the mountain of Kunlun! I guarded Yuxu door! Master, spare me!”

Meng Qi frowned slightly. Why is it so scared? Is it holding secrets that it is afraid of revealing?

Wait, how does it know what will happen to him? Having an examination isn’t necessarily bad. Why is it putting up so much resistance?

Primogenitor Lingbao had similar doubts. He paused in midair and looked at the Big Green Root whose leaves and branches were fluttering with fright.

“What are you afraid of exactly?”

Big Green Root murmured weakly. “I-I won’t go. I know its secret. It will kill me.”

“Who? Whose secret?” Meng Qi seemed to have caught on. His speech became faster and his breathing became slower.

One of the branches of Sprite of Herbs pointed toward the central jade pillar. “That! I remembered its breath!”

Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms?! Meng Qi was so shocked, it was as if he had been struck by lightning. He was paralyzed and unable to think clearly. Sprite of Herbs had seen the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms? It can remember its breath?

That’s so ridiculous!

Had the mysterious Dominator shown its true self?

Primogenitor Lingbao remained silent for a long time, obviously troubled by the new discovery. After a while, he brought Meng Qi and Sprite of Herbs back to Azure Palace and re-opened the seal.

“When did you meet him?” Primogenitor Lingbao asked Sprite of Herbs.

The Sprite timidly replied. “Before I obtained my wisdom, I felt it coming to the sealed place. I don’t know exactly what it did and where it went. But since it was so secretive back then, if it finds out during the check-up that I know it, it would definitely kill me!”

The Dominator went to where Yang Jian’s seal was? Meng Qi and Primogenitor Lingbao found the situation even weirder. Why would the godlike Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms inspect a place personally?

Who is the Dominator?

“This monster is still lying. It may be hiding many secrets. How about you hand it over to me so I can slowly question it and reveal the truth?” Primogenitor Lingbao asked Meng Qi.

Meng Qi had no objection. Sprite of Herbs was secretive most of the time, so one could not tell if it had any malicious intent. It would be dangerous to keep this monster beside him, but if they were to exchange it to the Dominator, they would lose all the clues and secrets that the monster held. It would be most ideal for the Primogenitor to take over this monster!

As for other Sprites of Herbs and information about the token, the Primogenitor would naturally be in charge as well!

“Later on, I will enter that world again to obtain other Sprites of Herbs, tokens, and any other useful information. I will leave a message for you if I find anything. Please focus on your cultivation and don’t be distracted. I’m not sure how long it would take to find another clue.” Primogenitor Lingbao felt that he needed to be careful in his investigation, which could take a long time.

Meng Qi agreed as he knew that he should not meddle with such business given his poor ability. Since the Primogenitor had taken over the matter, he nodded and left the Big Green Root behind, traveling to the central jade pillar alone. When he arrived at the pillar, he threw in the sword from the swordsman, the Grand Sun Tiara from Chen Wendeng, and the fan from Fang Butong.

“Green Divide Sword, a Low-grade Precious Weapon… made from materials of Mid Grade but had crude production quality, thus can only be exchanged for 1,400 Karma Points.”

“Grand Sun Tiara, a Low-grade Precious Weapon, Object of Immortal Path that can gather the power of incense… can be exchanged for 1,600 Karma Points.”

“Untroublesome Fan, a Low-grade Precious Weapon… can be exchanged for 1,100 Karma Points.”

This simple task was welfare given by the Immortals to Meng Qi as he had obtained 4,100 Karma points for only half a month of work. Together with his savings, he now had a grand total of 4,300 Karma Points.

At this time, some of the exotic minerals and produce that he had placed for trading had already been bought. There were many other things there that he needed.

He took three pieces off after calculating their value, believing that it was what he deserved. Then he flew toward the Immortals’ entrance of the River East!