The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

On the core island atop the Earth Fairy Lake.

After witnessing Cao Tai’s death, the disciples guarding the surroundings took care of his corpse. They also dispatched someone into the depths of the small island, where the thousand-year Frigid Crystal was condensed.

In the center of the lake were layers of ice that overlapped each other as they crystalized. The surface of the lake was covered in a blanket of brilliant white snow. The dispatched disciple, having just enlightened his Apertures, could feel the biting cold sinking deep into his bones. He thrust his palm at the spot of the ice door with the Mysterious Ice Force skill. No signs of life could be found in this place for the cold had frozen everything. The unstable light overhead lit up a hazy scenery.

Cold radiance rose around the ice door as if frost was circulating on the inside but the door did not open. Instead, a melodious female voice came drifting from within.

“What happened to Cao Tai?”

It was impossible for an Elder responsible for guarding the forbidden ground to not notice the arrival of an Exterior expert. However, she was bound by the rules to stay in place until someone took over. This was to prevent enemies from taking advantage of a situation whereby no one was controlling the formation and Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis.

Once the formation was fully activated, only a grandmaster could help it maintain its state for an extended period of time. The same could be said for the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, where only a grandmaster or someone even stronger was capable of triggering it.

The disciple, who had adopted the Cao surname, instantly said:

“Brother Tai is dead!”

“We are now in a crisis after a Dharmakaya’s attack on Peijing! We seek your help in relieving the pincer attack, Ninth Aunt!”

Though Cao Feiyue could faintly sense the death of Cao Tai’s body, she could not help experiencing shock and sorrow after hearing the disciple’s words. Cao Tai was the grandson of the Master of the family!

Her expression changed when she heard the disciple’s final sentence. She blurted out, “Dharmakaya’s attack?”

Their family owned no unusual treasure in this generation and neither did they offend any Dharmakaya masters. How could they incur an ambush from one?

“Could it be…” Her pupils shrank as she recalled the murder of the two shamans from Jinzhang several days ago to silence them.

“Had Chong He and Lu Da found a clue and ambushed the family to test us and determine our objective?”

With the cause and effect accountable for, coupled with Cao Tai putting his life on the line to obtain back-up, Cai Feiyue knew she could not neglect the crisis at hand. She immediately triggered the formation, giving rise to a frosty radiance. The light transformed into a gargantuan eye that overlooked Peijing. Those observing it would only see a dazzling ray of light. The undulations of the grand formation came traveling from a distance.

This scene shocked the Cao family disciples outside, sending them into complete panic. Being beneficiaries of the advantages the family afforded them, they were naturally afraid of a calamity befalling the family.

Rumor in the Jianghu had it that a catastrophe was about to occur. If this was false, how could a top aristocratic family like the Cao clan be affected?

The disciple, with no more than Six or Seven Apertures enlightened, had yet to have the strength to enter the ground under the thousand-year Frigid Crystal for training. Thus, he had no right to open the ice door.

In the depths of the ice was a battle room amid a mist filled with ice fragments. Inside the room was the mouth of a spring that no one could see the bottom. What the spring sprouted was not clear water but flowing blue ice. The ice gushed out, spilling in all directions and absorbing whatever little warmth there was. The blue ice gradually solidified as it flowed. If an ignorant ordinary disciple with only his Apertures enlightened, his blood and skin would be instantly frozen, turning him into an ice sculpture.

The eye of the spring was several metres wide. Two corpses were bathing in the water, both dressed in wide-sleeved, antiqued robes and tall hats. They bore the characteristics of medieval times, not pre-ancient times.

No signs of decay could be found on their bodies. Their skin gently trembled as if they were still absorbing the flowing ice and taking in Vital Qi. One of them emitted purple lightning from his pores. The other had ice crystals formed all over his eyebrows, beard, and skin. Their eyes were tightly closed and no vitality flowed in them. They relied purely on the iced water to preserve their powers from dissipating.

Cao Feiyue and the elegant Cao Er were seated on both sides of the spring. Faintly discernable Thunder Lights entwined the latter, helping her resist the “cold” of being so close to the eye of the spring. She probed her surroundings with her senses and felt the corporeal body of the Purple Lightning Earth Immortal. Slowly, she explored the mysteries of its Interior, Aperture acupoints, blood, flesh, and skin. The most accurate method of cultivating one’s Dharma Form was using the “manifestation” of the Immortal who had cultivated the same skill to comprehend the Dharmas and Logos. This would help her build the firmest foundation for her future endeavors.

The beauty of the middle-aged Cao Feiyue had a sense of maturity to it. Once she confirmed that a Dharmakaya master had indeed ambushed Peijing, she got to her feet in a rush and made a respectful kowtow at the Earth Immortal in the ice crystals. She made a palm print with both her hands and turned her consciousness into a rope that sank into the midbrows of this particular Earth Immortal.

“Kaboom!”

Turbulence seemed to cause undulations in the eye of the spring. The mist dissipated, flinging the ice fragments in all directions. The Earth Immortal’s eyes suddenly flew open, revealing crystal clear pupils like the cores of ice crystals. The coldness it emitted made Cao Feiyue, a grandmaster who had cultivated the Mysterious Ice Force of the Seventy Two Phases of the Earth Immortal, to tremble. She felt as if her Vital Spirit alone had fallen into the Eye of Frost.

The Eye of Frost flew out of the Earth Immortal and fell next to Cao Feiyue. Though Cao Er could not sense the outside world, she was able to form a good guess based on the conversation between Cao Feiyue and the disciple. Her gaze on Cao Feiyue was tinged with both anticipation and worry.

“With the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, the purple lightning, the jade ruler, as well as the grand formation of Peijing, no Dharmakaya master today would be able to escape,” Cao Feiyue said concisely, trying to comfort Cao Er as she handed her the right to operate the formation. She repeatedly reminded Cao Er to seal the ice door and activate the formation as soon as she left.

She made no delay in a time where crisis had befallen her family. When she was done instructing Cao Er to control the formation, she opened the ice door and flew away on the Earth Immortal made out of ice crystals.

The thousand-year Frigid Crystal split open to reveal a door. Two sparkling cold lights flew out of it. Just as they were about to leave, a sword light abruptly came hacking at them.

The scarlet sword light was indescribably sharp as if nothing could stand in its way. It seemed capable of piercing through everything and satiating itself with blood.

The sword light came flying in a grandiose manner, hurtling the disciple away. It whisked Cao Tai’s body away and then charged at Cao Feiyue!

“Is there an ambush waiting here as well?” Cao Feiyue was startled. The treasury did not cross her mind. Instead, she could feel the enemy’s firm resolution to destroy her family. She instantly set out to trigger the changes. The Earth Immortal emitted a long whistle as it thrust its palm, freezing a portion of the void. Even the airflow solidified into ice and turned a gleaming topaz blue. The freezing continued to stretch toward the sword light.

Silently, the sword light began to freeze as if it was a scarlet glazed glass. It rose into the air and flicked its fingers, mincing Cao Tai’s body into pieces of bloody flesh and sending his hair scattered in the wind. In the same mannerthat it pierced the layers of ice, it struck Cao Feiyue.

“Thud, thud, thud!”

Both the sword light and bloody flesh managed to offset the spreading blue ice with great difficulty. However, Cao Feiyue failed to notice a strand of hair making a loop in the air by relying on wind power. The hair then flew through the open ice door.

If it was a grandmaster helming the formation, she would have definitely caught on and stopped the intruder in time. Unfortunately, Cao Er was in charge.

The battle turned fierce, where the Earth Immortal unleashed the entirety of its godly might to repel the intruder. The ice door was once again closed amid a fully activated formation. This brought them temporary relief from intruders.

Cao Feiyue made haste and borrowed the power of the Earth Immortal to pierce the void. In just two steps, she instantly arrived in Peijing.

Behind the ice door, the strand of hair floated downward until it landed in a dark corner in order to avoid discovery. It was none other than Meng Qi.

With the help of Flag of the Micro and the Macro and guidance from one of Primogenitor Lingbao’s Conjuration of the Taoist Trinity, his doppelganger could take a blood-and-flesh form. He was able to turn into a strand of hair and sneak into the forbidden ground of the Cao family.

Looking up, he could see this was a passage excavated from a massive block of ice. The winding passage led downward. On both sides were the depths of the ice layers. Several silhouettes were hidden in them, all of them Cao family disciples drawing support from this place to cultivate Mysterious Ice Force.

Meng Qi silently triggered the final item that he extorted from Primogenitor Lingbao, the Distraction Charm. The charm concealed his figure and eliminated his breath, allowing him to openly walk down the passage.

On the other side, upon discovery of the shamans from Jinzhang, Primogenitor Lingbao made a hasty trip back to the entrance of the Immortals. He exchanged several items in preparation of what was to come.

…

Inside the Cao family manor, “Mad Prince” Gao Lan and “Evil Master” Han Guang were seated face-to-face. One was cold and the other indifferent. The two gleaming stars of the previous generation were finally meeting for the first time.

Han Guang smiled with ease when he noticed the members of the Cao family staring at him. “Once we make a move, we will definitely expose the matter if we fail to kill the one outside. To you, what would be a great disaster would be, if the Cao family becomes a public target.”

“How could your family be incapable of blocking a lone Dharmakaya master?” an expressionless Gao Lan said. Next to his hand was a long sword sheathed in a black leather scabbard. “I have removed the shamans from Jinzhang. Who’d be able to nail a top aristocratic family with mere speculations and no witnesses? The negotiation isn’t complete and an opportunity has yet to appear. If exposed, it will bring nothing but harm.”

The Master of the Cao family nodded solemnly. “Yes.”

Carrying his divine weapon, he soared into the sky. This was his way of expressing his utmost confidence in the two Dharmakaya masters.

Thunder abruptly rumbled and the sky turned into a sea of lightning, each wave higher than the one before it. This aided Cao Xianzhi and the formation in resisting Primogenitor Lingbao’s attacks and the previous grandmaster blocking the fatal strike.

“Impressive! You are resisting the temptation. With us two, the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, divine weapons, and a grand formation, we have a good chance of killing Primogenitor Lingbao if we go all out. Doesn’t the fact that it is likely Chong He of the Pure Sun Sect tempt you?” Han Guang said leisurely with a smile.

Gao Lan spared him a cold, arrogant glance. “The preparations are not complete.”

“If you wish to reign over the world, it is not worth sacrificing the great payoff for small benefits.”

…

The bitter cold worsened so much so that the flow of blue ice reached even the corners. With the Distraction Charm, Meng Qi easily slipped into the vicinity of the Eye of Frost.

This place was shrouded in what resembled a mist but was, in fact, a haze formed out of specks of ice fragments. When he felt his internal protective spell activated, he knew the charm would be useless if he walked any further.

After thinking about it, he morphed into another Exterior expert of the Cao family who also cultivated the Mysterious Ice Force. It was someone he selected after observing the family for the past few days.

He had taken only a few steps when he saw a silhouette standing amid the ice fog, with mysterious lights of ice soul entwined around him. It was a Peerless Master Pro who was cultivating here.

“You are here too, Cheng Xuan?” Once a person started his cultivation, he would pay lesser attention to the outside world. Moreover, with so many of the family’s Exterior experts going in and out of the forbidden ground, who could keep track of them?

Meng Qi nodded in tacit agreement. “There seem to be movements outside. I am a little unsettled by them, so I am taking a walk.”

This Peerless Master Pro did not doubt Meng Qi’s words for he also sensed the movement of the Eye of Frost coming from the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis earlier.

They shared a brief conversation before Meng Qi took his leave with the excuse of wanting to question Cao Er. He continued to move forward to the Eye of Frost.

Along the way, the flow of the blue ice gradually turned heavier. Meng Qi detected a change in the Qi activity and went in a direction directly opposite that of the Eye of Frost.

After treading past layers of iced walls, he came upon a blue pond. The water inside was not cold enough to be frozen. It was none other than the Icy Cold Essence, the wondrous ingredient for concocting immortality elixirs.

Burbling sounds echoed in the air as the Icy Cold Essence was being formed at the bottom of the pond. Meng Qi used the Zhenwu Great Emperor’s Dharma handseal to turn himself into a stream of flying light and throw himself into the pond.

“Burble!”

As the world around him changed, Meng Qi felt himself seemingly passing through layers upon layers of screens. The surface rippled as he moved, the water deep enough to reach his chest. Palace halls emerged before his eyes one after another.

The cold moon hung in midair. As far as his eyes could see, he found no boundary. This place seemed to have become a dimension of its own.

While looking around, Meng Qi suddenly frowned. Ruined walls and pillars were scatted all over the place as if someone had destroyed them. Only the central black hall stood tall above the undulating water radiance, safe and untouched.

“Did someone enter this place but fail to break the seal on the treasury imposed by Zhenwu Great Emperor?” The thought suddenly occurred to Meng Qi.

Near the Eye of Frost.

Cao Er collected herself and continued to probe the arcane mysteries of the Purple Lightning Earth Immortal for reference.

Suddenly, a strange feeling came over her and prompted her to open her eyes. When she did, she felt as if her soul had been shocked out of her body. The Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis in front of her had opened its eyes!

The pair of eyes emitted two lightning bolts!