The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Wang Siyuan’s eyes froze and a sudden bout of coughing assailed him. His face turned abnormally red, though it originated more from his excitement rather than astonishment—he seemed to have recognized the skeletal hand.

Saint Wan Shi saw an opportunity as his opponent coughed. He approached Wang Siyuan and abruptly turned several meters tall, with his swelling muscle turning stiff and taking on a sharper ash color. His two fists were like two mountain peaks as he firmly swung downward.

His plain punches were nothing fancy but resembled the genuine Mountains over Head. It was so heavy that the void around them seemed to shrink. The fierce winds at high altitude were instantly drawn to his fists as if there was an invisible vortex.

It was dark and indistinct in front of the fists. Inside, one could vaguely see a crevice resembling black lightning disappear in a flash. Everything that came into contact with the fists was promptly torn into pieces.

Splash!

Massive waves surged from the sea below as if they, too, wanted to be drawn into the “vortex”. A blue color concealed the sun as Qi dashed toward the Milky Way.

Wang Siyuan was treading upon the void when he made the misstep. As the illusion of Eight Diagrams appeared, he dashed past the fists and narrowly avoided the attack.

“Pfff!” He spat out a mouthful of blood as he forcefully looked away from what was in Meng Qi’s hands.

“Looks like things are becoming even more interesting! You’ll have to hit your target for your treasure to work. We still don’t know who’ll become the victor!”

“Six-apex Devil” Linghu Tao also held his breath the moment he saw Meng Qi take out the Wrist Bone of Nether. He had been a Peerless Master Pro for several years, famed for being on the Black List. He had experienced countless obstacles and even survived several life-or-death crises. Even if he could not recognize “Killing Blade” Su Meng’s skeletal hand, he could sense danger that caused his Vital Spirit to shudder. His eyes had merely landed upon the bone but he felt like his vitality was already slipping from him.

“He’s too terrifying, too formidable!” Linghu Tao had no doubt that the treasure could easily kill him and he instantly felt the urge to flee.

Then he thought of his nearly-exhausted lifespan. Never mind becoming a grandmaster, he would not live for much longer if he did not do his best now. Moreover, Su Meng would not be able to control the treasure completely given his current realm. His control would definitely be marred with all sorts of flaws. Linghu Tao could simply keep resisting and dodging!

“Do I flee or not?” The veteran Heterodox Demon hesitated over his decision.

Decisions should be made promptly or endless troubles could follow. Meng Qi would never give him the chance to ponder over his choices. He took a step forward and instantly unleashed his two-headed, four-armed self. Behind him was his lofty and imposing Immortal Form.

His two heads were aligned in a row, one with an aggressive expression while the other looked tranquil. One of his hands gripped a purplish-green long saber that resembled an immense wound while another held the pitch-black skeletal hand with underlying whiteness. The two other hands held a beautiful red jade-like long sword and a raised purple thunder saber respectively. The Immortal Form behind him, like a Buddha concealing endless changes, covered all the Dharma and Logos. What was stupefying was the fact that it looked like Meng Qi.

The Dharma Form was also extending its four arms, carrying a dazzling Grand Sun, a pitch-black vortex that engulfed all light, a whirling bolt of lightning, and a bloody-yellow river respectively.

These four objects were full of abstruse mysteries as if they were the Exterior Forms of Dharma and Logos.

Both the thunder saber and Flowing Fire fell to form the dazzling Grand Sun. Saber momentum condensed into a single entity so heavy that the radiance warped.

Suddenly, they collided with one another. Even the Grand Sun and the pitch-black vortex in the hands of Meng Qi’s Dharma Form followed suit.

Kaboom!

On the ground, the Heterodox Demons who were fighting with the Exterior experts of the Ruan clan temporarily lost their sight as their vision turned white. Explosions rang inside their ears and they could hear no other sound. They felt a scalding sensation on their skin like they were being burned. Then, a violent shockwave sent them flying, causing them to spit blood.

This idea had come to Meng Qi after he obtained the Three Swords. He began to gradually transform the Falling Sun through the combined knowledge from his past life.

He seemed to have developed the collision of the illumination of the sword and the weight of the saber to resemble the collision of the Grand Sun and the Chaotic Hole. The result was better than he expected!

The Grand Burial of the River of Stars!

Kaboom!

Linghu Tao, also temporarily blinded, felt his Vital Spirit melting and had the sensation of being torn to shreds. There was no longer any hesitation in him. If he responded incorrectly, he might meet his demise under the combined assault of Meng Qi’s sword and saber. Never mind obtaining the treasure!

His layers of fat protruded to form the perfect and softest of cushion. He shuddered incessantly to counteract Meng Qi’s attack, even secreting grease to exhaust the high temperature and flames.

Grabbing the opportunity, he grew four arms from the protruding flesh on his back. The Six-apex Devil Form also materialized behind him.

With the push of a hand, black magnetism began to condense. With the push of another hand, white magnetism condensed as well. His six arms pushed in the same direction. The two magnetic poles exchanged places, giving rise to a suction force that was capable of ripping apart the void.

Kaboom!

The first hand sucked both the shockwave and lurching flames. The bolt of lightning and Flowing Fire were also drawn to the force and struck the hand at the same time.

“Argh!” Linghu Tao screamed in pain as one of his arms fell. The severed arm was half-melted and half-fragmented.

He was paying the price for his hesitation!

Considering his strength, Linghu Tao would not have been forced into such a state by Meng Qi’s imperfect Falling Sun had he made a move earlier. He could have even exploited the flaw in Meng Qi’s imperfect attack and retaliated.

Setting aside realm, strength, movement, and use of treasures, the battle between two strong masters was also a battle of a series of variables such as mental state, fighting desire, concentration, willpower, and restraint. Why would everyone get into constant fights or announce each other’s realms and skills otherwise? The weaker party would just kill himself to end the matter.

Linghu Tao did not even have the time to think after giving up an arm to block the Falling Sun. He felt a piercing sense of danger and forcefully dashed to the side to avoid it.

Meng Qi’s Heaven Inflicted Pain appeared out of the blue and slashed his other arm.

The sound of thunder resounded in the air, bringing with it a blight. Like the maggots that ate away at one’s bones, it was nearly impossible to break away from it. Linghu Tao dared not delay for he knew just how powerful this strike was. Once again, he suffered the pain of having another arm cut off.

One misstep and every step afterward became a mistake as well!

However, Linghu Tao knew this was not the end. Meng Qi’s attacks so far were to force him into a state where he could not dodge. The killing strike would come later.

As expected, Meng Qi wielded the bone in his fourth hand like a sword. He thrust the bone through the air and displayed the Gist of Trueness of Sword Principles.

“Run!

“I must run!

“I must run immediately!”

Linghu Tao’s hesitation dissipated as his mouth spewed a spray of Blood Essence. The Six-apex Devil Form came to “life” and his six arms fell into a straight line—white on the left and black on the right. With the reversal of the magnetism came a great force of repulsion. The force pushed Linghu Tao directly toward the horizon with a speed so incredible it felt like teleportation.

Then, Linghu Tao’s Dharma Form gradually became weak and dim until it disappeared into thin air along with him.

Seeing how pathetic Linghu Tao’s escape was, Meng Qi did not pursue him. The most important thing at the moment was the Zither of Limbo. Besides, it was good to save another use of the Wrist Bone of Nether.

He finally found the time to check on Wang Siyuan’s battle after “settling” Linghu Tao. What he saw made him frown because the battle was so strange that he felt his blood run cold.

Saint Wan Shi was completely ignoring Wang Siyuan, his eyes focused on the zither that was making a descent in its flight. It was as if Wang Siyuan did not exist.

On the other hand, Wang Siyuan maneuvered to draw closer to Saint Wan Shi. He then thrust his sword into the latter’s midbrow.

Saint Wan Shi’s midbrows was covered in a thick, ash-colored layer but the incredibly simple sword strike was able to make a slight dent into the layer. Saint Wan Shi only came to his senses at this moment and brandished his two arms to trigger his range-based attacks. The void around them shook and a gale began to rise. Unfortunately, Wang Siyuan had long flown away and watched him “go mad” from a distance.

Yet, Saint Wan Shi rapidly recovered and once again flew toward the Zither of Limbo. There was no trace of alertness in his eyes as if he had forgotten Wang Siyuan or that he was even in a battle!

Each time Meng Qi’s consciousness probed their battle, he would see Wang Siyuan narrowly piercing Saint Wan Shi’s Hidden Latch.

Saint Wan Shi screamed with his fingers interlaced behind his head, no longer able to forget the danger he was in. However, he had no idea who the enemy was. Feeling goosebumps all over, he dared not give in to greed anymore. He instantly fled, flying so fast it was as if a ghost was chasing him.

“That fraudster is definitely using a treasure!” Meng Qi frowned. Considering Wang Siyuan’s Tathāgata Buddha Figure was in the Four-fold Heaven realm, it was impossible for him to make Saint Wan Shi dance on his palm otherwise. It was the same case for Meng Qi—he would not have prevailed over Linghu Tao without the Wrist Bone of Nether.

This was his confidence in his strength—the confidence of a master!

“Too bad Six-apex Devil fled a little faster.” Meng Qi chuckled as he flew toward the Zither of Limbo.

Wang Siyuan coughed twice, showing no resentment at his loss. Neither did he try to stop Meng Qi.

Just as Meng Qi was about to touch the zither, a sneer came from the nine-fingered, blue-blooded man, Gao Qianyuan. The latter threw caution to the wind and triggered the oddly-shaped token in his hand.

All of his force entered the token at such a frantic speed that even a grandmaster like him found it a little unbearable.

The token turned transparent, bringing forth indescribable changes in the world. The sea of Vital Qi suddenly became visible to the naked eye. Each droplet of Vital Qi inside turned into blue Gu Poison Bugs and Sword Qi spouted from every fine crevice of the sea to attack Ruan Bogao.

At that moment, the Dharma and Logos of this area seemed to have undergone a change!

The sea of Vital Qi returned to the void, as did the Gu Poison Bugs. Ruan Bogao was deeply astonished. His instinctive thought was to give up control and put all his strength into playing Clock Quaking the Three Dimensions.

Clank!

A momentary stagnation fell over the vicinity, giving him a short period of security.

Thanks to the shockwaves of Meng Qi’s Falling Sun plunging the other Heterodox Demons into a state of despair, the other Peerless Master Pros and Exterior experts of the Ruan clan were able to use their zither tunes to help Ruan Bogao restrict the movements of the nine-fingered man.

Even so, the disparity in their strengths was too great. There was little effect on Gao Qianyuan. With the speed of a grandmaster, he dashed toward the zither. He was so close that it seemed he would get there before Meng Qi.

However, a master ranked 5th on the Black List was waiting on the other side!

Clenching his teeth, the Oracle of the Covenant took out a bloody-red pearl.

It was the Blood Divine Bead!

It was a material capable of refining a divine weapon!

This was the most precious treasure that he had obtained over his long and endless life of over two centuries. He could not bear giving the bead up in exchange for the Immortality Elixir of East Pole last time for he possessed a different immortality elixir back then.

He would use it once this time to snatch the divine weapon, Zither of Limbo!

The Blood Divine Bead emitted innumerable fine rays of light to produce countless bloody illusions. Together, they formed a sea that surged violently forward. The waves reached for Friar Jiedu and the Zither of Limbo.

“Amitabha…” Friar Jiedu’s eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. He was so terrified that he fled before even finishing reciting Buddha’s name. The rotten alms bowl covered the top of his head, spilling the radiance of colored glaze on him.

The bloody illusions flitted across, causing the alms bowl to lose its light. However, Friar Jiedu seemed to be carrying a protective item and leaped out safe and sound from the sea of bloody illusions.

The sea made out of bloody illusions continued to move forward. When Gao Qianyuan, the nine-fingered blue-blooded man, detected its breath, he was instantly paralyzed. He watched helplessly as the sea was about to engulf the Zither of Limbo. Following from the rear was the Oracle of the Covenant.

Seeing this, Meng Qi took a deep breath. His body abruptly exploded in size as he interweaved with Dharma and Logos. He stood tall with an indomitable and authoritative spirit. In his hand was a small black flag covered with cracks that incessantly inhaled and exhaled a red mist!