The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

To Cao Er, the eyes of the Earth Immortal were like two deep pools of water. In the depths of those ‘pools’ was a splendid purple light. Its gaze was empty, betraying no life in them. Yet those eyes emitted two bolts of lightning. She could feel herself being struck by lightning even just looking into them. Numbness and soreness paralyzed her entire body so much so that she could not activate her Interior and link it with heaven and earth.

“Did the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, which had been deceased for tens of thousands of years, just open its eyes without the prompting of any grandmaster’s Vital Spirit?”

“Is this a sudden burst of movement of a corpse?”

Cao Er’s body felt so numb and sore that she could not move. Different thoughts weighed heavily on her mind as she recalled the many legends of deceased and ghostly monarchs.

If one could not end his obsession, the Dharmakaya corpse left uncultivated by his body would likely make an abrupt movement. This would only happen by chance, however. It was to the extent that a new intelligence would be born, allowing its previous life to be shed. The body would then turn into an entirely new being. This was said to have inspired the ancient powers. The several ways of extending one’s existence past death were all developed from this idea.

Of course, no one has yet to succeed!

“The door is open, the door is open…” Purple Lighting Earth Immortal said in a hoarse, booming voice. Due to its rotten flesh, it was barely audible. The voice that harbored the vicissitudes of life sounded distant as if it had weaved through a thousand years and waited for ten thousand years.

“Really? Its obsession is strong enough to not dissipate?”

The thought just occurred to Cao Er when she saw Purple Lightning Earth Immortal suddenly sink, drilling into the depths of the Eye of Frost!

In the treasury of another world, the icy water was deep enough to rise to one’s chest. Under the surface was the growth of numerous peculiar plants. However, like the buildings in this place, the aftermath had long destroyed them and left only traces of them behind.

The sky was not high up; Meng Qi estimated it to be around 30 meters at the most. The cold moon hanging in midair was intangible. It seemed to be a projection that penetrated through layers upon layers of the void.

In the distance, the black main hall stood tall like a ferocious beast quietly lying in the wait. It was as if its eaves, supported by columns made out of interlocking wooden brackets and carved out of nearly translucent jade, had nothing to do with it.

Meng Qi instantly flew over but felt a biting cold sensation before he could get close to the hall.

Underneath the hall were water ripples that had solidified into ice. The deeper the ice went, the bluer it became. In its deepest nook was a seemingly man-made hole that connected to an inexplicable place. The hole gushed with a fresh flow of blue ice.

Upon closer inspection, Meng Qi noticed this scene repeated all around the black hall. The water would be solidified, giving him an unbreakable impression. The cold struck deep into his bones. Though he had cultivated the Eight Nine Mysteries and crossed the first layer of the Celestial Ladder, he still felt as if his blood vessels and arteries were frozen.

In the depths of the ice, several ice fragments were scattered. These fragments were those that had lost the ability to disperse cold. However, anyone with a good eye would be able to tell just how ordinary they once were.

“Fragments of divine weapons…” The thought unconsciously surfaced in Meng Qi’s mind. When he looked at the black hall again, he realized it was covered in traces of being burned and then frozen. Yet the hall had remained as steady as a mountain.

“In the past, did a Dharmakaya master discover this treasury but fail to open the seal even after shattering his divine weapon and perforating the world?”

“Or did an internal strife happen after failing to open the seal?”

Various thoughts crossed Meng Qi’s mind as he speculated about the possible scenarios based on the traces he found. Unfortunately, few of the traces were useful and he was forced to make conjectures.

Having made only a rough judgment, Meng Qi frowned as he muttered to himself, “Though the forefathers of Zhenwu Sect and Sword Washing Pavilion would have undergone great danger when obtaining these two hidden relics, the circumstances wouldn’t be so bad that they would be incapable of opening the seal. They were not even Dharmakaya masters back then; so why did it work for them while Dharmakaya masters who could perforate the world or even stronger individuals would fail so spectacularly?”

This was a contrast that invited many suspicions.

When he considered the backgrounds of both parties, he could not help thinking, “The Secret Chambers that Zhenwu Great Emperor left behind were about 200,000 or 300,000 years old but the discoveries of both chambers were no older than 5,000 years ago and focused on post-medieval times. Could it be that a great change occurred in the world after the Chaos of the Demonic Buddha and caused Zhenwu Great Emperor’s seal to weaken drastically? That would explain why the Dharmakaya masters of the final years of ancient times and medieval times failed to open the seal yet post-medieval Exterior experts or even those with mere enlightened Apertures succeeded.”

He formed his judgment based on the nearly exhausted breaths of the shattered divine weapons. The last time a Dharmakaya master intruded into this place was at least several hundred thousand years ago.

“Or are the items hidden here more valuable than those in the other two Secret Chambers?” Meng Qi immediately flew to the entrance of the black hall and silently recited the mnemonic chant that Zhenwu Great Emperor had imparted to him. He also unleashed his seal technique and triggered his breath.

He pressed his palms on both sides of the door. Faint lights surfaced and concentrated on the Mystic Turtle and the Flying Serpent. They intersected in the manner of Supreme Yin and Yang, converging to form the Black Tortoise. It seemed as if not even the collapse of this world would be enough to open the seal on the door.

He sensed his surroundings but found nothing abnormal. With a tug of his palms, the black and white lights soared and the Black Tortoise disintegrated. Then the door quietly opened.

With personal guidance from Zhenwu Great Emperor, no seal could pose a problem to Meng Qi!

The door slowly opened wide and the first thing Meng Qi saw was the black floor tiles. The tiles looked as if they were condensed out of black water.

He walked inside and found three tables, one of which was lying on its side. On the central table was a small tree with three branches and nine green leaves. Its vitality was buried inside and its radiance contained. The breath of Great Dao that pervaded the hall felt oddly familiar to Meng Qi. Instantly, he understood that this small tree was the item that sustained the fifth style of the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception, World of Dao.

He then turned his attention to his left, where three items were placed on the table. Each of them was sealed inside cyan jade boxes that failed to obscure his senses.

The first item was so dazzling that it nearly blinded Meng Qi. It resembled a miniature sun that assembled and released in a never-ending cycle. The seal bound the heat and storms that the miniature sun produced. Even so, it nearly extinguished his approaching consciousness.

“Grand Sun’s Heart?” Meng Qi suddenly recalled the main material for refining a famous divine weapon.

The second item was a tiny blue ice crystal that seemed like a fluid. Ice gushed out of the crystal without ceasing as if it was an endless source. Meng Qi could feel how his consciousness nearly froze over and how his mind became sluggish simply by sensing the item through the seal.

“Frost-eye Crystal…” This was yet another main material for refining a divine weapon.

“Riches, here I come…” Meng Qi found it hard to contain his happiness. Retrieving his consciousness away from the second item, he extended it toward the third item.

It was a pitch-black charm covered in dizzying decorative patterns. On the bottom of the charm were two ancient seal scripts.

“Space-breaching!”

“Space-breaching escaping charm?” Meng Qi made a rough judgment as he looked to his right.

The first item on the table to his right was a bottle guard of entwined golden yellow and vermilion hues. He could not detect any mysticality from it. The value of the gourd seemed to be the elixir hidden in it.

The second item, a double-edged sword, remained sealed inside the jade box. Its heavy body was a black hue as if refined out of a tortoiseshell. The sword voluntarily prevented Meng Qi from prying any further.

“It is a Precious Weapon of exquisite quality.” With a nod, Meng Qi turned to examine the third item.

It was yet another double-edged sword with an evasive blade. The sword gleamed with reflected light as if it was a star. The entire sword seemed to be condensed out of a river of stars.

“Celestial-river Sword?” Meng Qi could vaguely see the name of the sword strung out of stars.

“This is yet another Precious Weapon of exquisite quality!”

His spoils included two Precious Weapons of exquisite quality, two main materials of divine weapons, a life-saving charm, an elixir, and an impartation object of the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception. No matter how he looked at it, it was a bountiful harvest for him. However, he had now lost whatever happiness he felt earlier. He was frowning in perplexity.

The Secret Chambers that Sword Washing Pavilion and Zhenwu Sect opened both contained divine weapons!

Why was he facing such discrimination?

Based on Zhenwu Great Emperor’s custom, there ought to be an item on the level of a divine weapon even if it was of mediocre quality. After all, a crafty rabbit would have three burrows!

He racked his brain and suddenly thought of what happened earlier. He began looking for clues.

Based on the premonition ability of his Eight Nine Mysteries, the divine weapon ought to be the first thing he noticed. That was unless the weapon was intentionally concealing itself.

“What attracted my attention the most after stepping into this place?”

With a jolt, he turned to look at the central table.

“The little green tree bearing the impartation!”

“Could it be an extraordinary item with one of its aspects on par with a divine weapon?”

Focusing his gaze on the tree, one of the leaves became enlarged in his vision. Meng Qi seemed to have finally seen a vast and dark universe containing celestial entities, the Grand Sun, galaxies, nebulas, and rivers of stars.

Another leaf magnified and he saw the spherical heaven and flat earth as well as the Golden Crow and Jade Hare. The Small Chiliocosm emerged in the void around him like a protruding bubble.

The leaves stretched thin and long one after another, allowing Meng Qi to see the different universes contained in them. Each branch would link three leaves and the branches would be connected to the trunk. It looked nearly the same as the world he had once reflected upon.

Sword light suddenly soared and flowed from the trunk into the branches before splitting apart into countless streams. The lights entered each leaf and its universe. No world was left untouched.

The fifth style of the Seven Strokes of Heaven, World of Dao!

Meng Qi shuddered and withdrew his consciousness from such a sensation. He was increasingly convinced of the extraordinary quality of the tree. It seemed to contain a certain mystery of the world.

“Could it be that Zhenwu Great Emperor didn’t make this impartation-bearing item? Did he perhaps obtain this from Taoist Primogenitor?”

While considering the many thoughts that crossed his mind, Meng Qi took a step forward to try and absorb the impartation.

It was at this moment that his back became bathed in sweat as a premonition of extreme danger crossed his heart. The sense of danger felt a hundredfold stronger than being simply on pins and needles.

Without even thinking about it, Meng Qi wielded his saber in one hand and Devil-rinsing Flag in the other while leaning on the side.

Someone had appeared at the door. It was a dull-looking man dressed in an antiqued robe and a long hat. Lightning bolts flickered in his eyes. His skin was covered in a layer of blue ice crystals.

In Meng Qi’s perception, he found the man’s flesh and blood to be jumping with vitality. The power contained in the man seemed like a Grand Sun emitting incomparably bright radiance and intense heat.

“When this man is at his peak, he will be able to kill me with just a drop of blood or a strand of hair!” Just as such a thought rose in Meng Qi’s mind, he heard the man muttering to himself. “The door is open, the door is open…”

The man extended his right hand and his entire body turned purple as if he was condensed out of millions of Thunderclaps. The terrifying might posed such a great pressure on Meng Qi that his consciousness was shaking. He could not help trembling.

“The metamorphosed Earth Immortal?” Meng Qi watched as the man shrank until he was no more than an inch tall and threw himself at the small tree that could not be obtained remotely. Seeing this, Meng Qi made a prompt decision in triggering the Devil-rinsing Flag.

The black water condensed and the red mist began to fill the air. Water radiance shrouded the entire sky and reached for the man with a rumbling sound. It was about to unleash millions of lightning bolts to engulf the man.

With this breath drawing it in, the small tree produced a hazy green light. The abstruse and cryptic breath converged into one and charged high up the sky, bursting out of the grand formation placed in the forbidden ground of the Cao family. Nothing seemed capable of stopping it!

The green light and breath exploded like fireworks in midair.

Inside the Cao family manor, “Evil Master” Han Guang’s apathetic eyes contained a hint of mirth. Green light was reflected in those eyes.

He fell into momentary silence as he looked at Gao Lan. Suddenly, he laughed and said, “This breath resembles the Buddha’s Palm. If it is not the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception, then it must an item similar to the Nine Primeval Seals. Aren’t you going to try and vie for it?”

There were few people in this world who would not covet such things.

Gao Lan got to his feet and clasped his hands behind his back. His expression remained cold.

“One can’t achieve great ambitions if one can’t resist temptation!”

To think that he would remain unaffected!

Han Guang stroked his hand with a smile. “Impressive. Once you show yourself, your scheme will fall through.”

He lifted his cup and relished in the tea as he turned a blind eye to everything unfolding outside the manor.

Waves of blue water were surging in the depths of East Sea. A young Taoist with disheveled hair was seated inside a shallop speedily making its way toward the horizon.

He had his head lowered with his hair obscuring his face. He muttered to himself irresolutely,

“Who am I, I am who…”

Suddenly, his head turned to look behind him. His hair moved out of the way, revealing a handsome face. His eyes were full of confusion.

“Where have I seen that before…”

There was a tremor in the depths of the great snow mountain, causing rocks to fall and the precipice and peaks to split open.

Nine ancient tombs were emitting a dazzling radiance that converged to form a single beam of light. Gradually, the tremor was quelled.