The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

“Draw Han Guang out?” As much as he aspired to be a hero traveling through Jianghu uncontested, Meng Qi could not help but falter when he heard the Dharmakaya master’s name.

In a situation where one could not invoke the Force of Heaven and Earth, Meng Qi believed his physical strength alone would be enough to contend with the majority of grandmasters and Half-step to Dharmakaya masters. The disparity in realms would be mostly eliminated. He felt that he surpassed the skills of grandmasters who cultivated physical protective skills like the Golden Bell Shield. His bladesmanship and sword principles were superior, his mastery of skills was superior, the styles he designed were superior as well. In other words, as long as he did not encounter masters like Cao Xianzhi, he could be truly invincible against masters beneath the Dharmakaya realm in Luoyang!

The likes of Cao Xianzhi were physically far stronger than Meng Qi. Though their skills were simple, they were perfectly fitting for their owners. However, there were so few such masters that Meng Qi could count them all on his fingers.

In ancient times, Dharmakaya was a realm that differentiated immortals from mortals. It was a change brought forth by uniting one’s physical body, Dharma Form, and Vital Spirit. A Dharmakaya master would be able to crush Meng Qi without having to use the Force of Heaven and Earth.

Gu Xiaosang smiled faintly at him, revealing her pearly white teeth. “Relax, hubby. How could I bear risking your life? I am not asking you to fight with Han Guang. Once he shows up, we will give up on Bai Chong and run far away. His main objective is to obliterate Bai Chong and ruin the entrance map. Where would he find the time to go after you? It is not like Luoyang is his home where he is free to do whatever he wants.”

As ethereal and pure as she appeared, she did not show even the slightest hint of emotion nor hesitation when she talked about giving up her chess piece, Bai Chong.

“If worse comes to worst and Han Guang is determined to try to kill me, I can just trigger the Grand Formation of Luoyang and reveal my identity. Under the circumstances, if Cui Qinghe is in hiding and my divine weapon is accumulating power, Han Guang will have to shed his skin just to escape!” Meng Qi’s mind was already formulating a plan. This was the advantage of being a Young Master of the orthodox faction!

He had a feeling that the plans of Yuan Lihuo and his cohorts would fail due to lack of time.

Once he made his decision, Meng Qi stopped talking and partially closed his eyes. He began honing his strength and adjusting his condition for the final battle. His momentum gradually climbed as he waited for his chance to strike.

Gu Xiaosang’s smile vanished as she lifted her skirt to stand up. Her aura remained ethereal and elegant. In her hand was a green jade flute. She placed it on the side of her lips as if she was trying to set the mood.

The wind from the river ushered in the hint of coldness on a spring night. Sun Yuexiu and Ren Jingxiu were disguised as aristocratic ladies strolling downtown. Now and then, they picked up and fiddled with items like silver ornaments, embroidered goods, paintings, and calligraphy.

“Clack, clack, clack!” There was a loud stomping of hooves. A fine horse with snow-white hooves on its otherwise black body was coming from the other end of the street. It traveled at a leisurely pace, and on its back sat a majestic-looking man with a blade hanging from his waist.

Dressed in black, the man was holding a wine jar. Though he looked no different from ordinary sect members in Luoyang, Sun Yuexiu and Ren Jingxiu paused when they saw him. Their calm demeanor belied their tightened muscles and their harmonious internal organs. Their Interiors continuously spurred the flow of genuine Qi.

Though the man was in disguise, Sun Yuexiu, who had once tracked him, was certain that this was “Hand with Shifting-form” Bai Chong!

“Let’s wait and see what happens.” Ren Jingxiu spoke to her telepathically.

Sun Yuexiu nodded to indicate that she would not be reckless. Her Senior Sister had already warned her that there would be many masters on this street, whether in the open or hidden. The first ones to stick their heads out would become the mantis and cicadas!

She dared not spread her consciousness for fear of alerting Bai Chong. She watched him from the corner of her beautiful eyes. Bai Chong was enjoying the scenery while drinking out of the wine jar, seemingly unaware of an ambush.

Just then, four streams of sword light emerged from different directions as four pedestrians charged at Bai Chong and attacked him from all sides.

Bai Chong stooped down and unsheathed his saber in a manner that seemed quick yet relaxed at the same time. Though he did not invoke the Force of Heaven and Earth, his movements were still fast enough to create residual shadows that looked like shards frozen in time.

“Clang, clang, clang, clang!” Sun Yuexiu heard four crisp clanging sounds in quick succession. Subconsciously, she lowered her right hand to caress her Space Ring. She was ready to unsheath her own sword.

Suddenly, a sorrowful little sob drifted to her ears. It sounded like an emotional sigh. The melodious sound tugged at her heartstrings and its grief moved the weakest part of her heart.

“Who?”

Sun Yuexiu subconsciously raised her head and looked at the Golden River. She saw a small boat floating gently on the water with an ethereal figure standing at the bow. Her hands were clasped around a flute placed near her pink lips. While her expression was unreadable, her eyes were so lovely that they seemed to contain all the stars of the Milky Way. They were marked with feelings of sorrow, discontentment, and pity. Sun Yuexiu, who had always prided herself on her looks, felt a sudden shame at her inferiority.

Seated next to the white-clothed “girl” was a green-robed figure. The man appeared upright and his breath was introverted. It was as if he was shrouded in the sound of the flute.

“It is that Young Master!” Sun Yuexiu’s stare became frozen. Was that not the Young Master who had once helped her?

The thought had just struck her when she saw Meng Qi rise to his feet and cross half of the river with his sheer physical strength. He landed lightly on the shore and then threw himself at Bai Chong.

She heard Ren Jingxiu mutter. “How powerful!”

“How powerful!”

Neither of them had an inkling just how strong this Young Master was before!

Her reaction was sluggish. She saw the elderly woman who had been selling silverware pick up her stall, and each and every one of the silver ornaments turned into streams of light. Bearing malicious intent, they hit Meng Qi like a rainstorm.

Simultaneously, the downtrodden middle-aged scholar attacked from the side with his calligraphy pen, while the old man close to his deathbed thrust the pole that housed sticks of candied hawthorn at Meng Qi.

These three were in cahoots. Two of them were Peerless Master Pros and the other one was a grandmaster!

Sun Yuexiu hesitated. Just as she decided to come to Meng Qi’s aid, she saw him continue moving without dodging even once. He gripped a saber firmly in his right hand and made an incredibly simple thrust at the ‘writing brush’.

“Snap!”

Reflected in Sun Yuexiu’s sparkling eyes was the scene of the destitute scholar being flung away. His right hand fell down unnaturally. The blood flowing from the wound in the crevice of his hand dyed the iron rod red. The silver ornaments all rebounded after hitting the body of the green-robed Young Master and scattered in the air like a flurry of snow. The elderly woman was so frightened that she frantically tried to move out of the way.

How could the body compare to a divine weapon?

“Thump, thump, thump!” Sun Yuexiu heard the sound of heavy footsteps. She then saw the candied hawthorn peddler, a grandmaster, flung away along with his pole. All of his movements and changes had been rendered useless at that moment.

“He was instantly sent flying…” Her eyes widened as they tracked how Meng Qi rapidly charged at Bai Chong—the same Bai Chong who had just forced four swordsmen to retreat!

Suddenly, she seemed to hear the sound of a devil weeping and howling but could not pinpoint the source. The sound seemed to be lingering around Bai Chong and Meng Qi.

“He can hide in the shadows of the void without even using the Force of Heaven and Earth…” Ren Jingxiu’s quiet voice pierced Sun Yuexiu’s ears.

Realization instantly dawned on Sun Yuexiu when she heard her Senior Sister’s words. This was Sky-ease Devil of the Destruction Sect, a heretical authority of the grandmaster level and a famous master who had made it to the Terrestrial Rankings.

Before she could formulate another thought, Sun Yuexiu saw Meng Qi unsheath his sword. It was heavy and profound and looked as if it was engraved with turtle patterns. The sword bore no name and was hollow on its right side. Meng Qi’s action appeared casual and his eyes remained fixed on Bai Chong.

“Pfft!”

A shadow broke out of the void and the sword with turtle patterns instantly shattered the intangible, invisible quality in the air. Sky-ease Devil was forced to take several steps backward to dodge the attack.

“He forced Sky-ease Devil to retreat with a single sword movement!” Sun Yuexiu realized she knew nothing about the green-robed Young Master at all.

Just then, a familiar premonition of danger hit her. She subconsciously looked at the large tree by the street.

Light silently flared from behind the tree like it was the soul-summoning of the Netherworld. The light pierced Meng Qi from the back in an attempt to skewer him and Bai Chong at the same time!

“Be careful!” Sun Yuexiu cried.

She recognized the attacker to be the terrifying enemy she had encountered yesterday. It was the same person who could easily suppress her despite working under the limitation that the lack of Force of Heaven and Earth posed. He surpassed the average grandmaster by leaps and bounds.

To her surprise, Meng Qi thrust his sword backward without even turning his head. He pierced the flawless and continuous attacks contained within the dim light, causing unceasing clanging sounds. He walked inside as effortlessly as a butcher would dismember an ox.

Suddenly, a sword light fell from the roof of the neighboring building and landed squarely on Bai Chong. The momentum soared, and despite not climbing high enough to invoke the Force of Heaven and Earth, Sun Yuexiu’s spirit was nonetheless shocked.

“How terrifying!” Her entire body shuddered.

“It’s the Blue Stair Assasin, God-slaying Sword!” Ren Jingxiu suddenly recalled the horrible legend.

“While the assassin that I previously encountered is getting entangled with the green-robed Young Master, God-slaying Sword is ambushing Bai Chong at the most appropriate time…” Sun Yuexiu felt like she could predict the outcome.

She suddenly saw Meng Qi’s wandering sword light become restrained and mysteriously tap the surface of the pitch-black Water-shed Rapier. His strength exploded, causing vibrations so great that it forced the assassin’s retreat. He used the force of the recoil to rebound and meet the sword light gliding majestically through the air.

Sun Yuexiu felt as if she had sunken into a dream. Then, she realized she could no longer see the green-robed Young Master’s sword. His physical body was so strong that he could unleash sword moves at such an extraordinary speed without invoking the Force of Heaven and Earth. His sword moved so quickly that she could not catch a glimpse of it.

She discovered that the streams of sword light and shadows had burst forth. The green-robed Young Master unleashed a mysteriously powerful momentum with his sword strikes, leaving no difference between the residual shadows. Strong or weak, thick or thin, all was the same. It was difficult to distinguish illusion from reality.

Clang, clang, clang, clang! The sword light and residual shadows were like blossoming lotus flowers. The shadows fell, engulfing the sword light and Blue Stair Assasin’s God-slaying Sword whole.

“Clang, clang, clang, clang!” A shadow was sent flying toward the roof. Meng Qi subsequently found himself falling and stretched his left hand out. With profound Zen Philosophies, he grabbed Bai Chong as if he had surpassed his own realm.

After enduring successive attacks and having his Vital Spirit spooked by the God-slaying Sword, Bai Chong became helpless against this palm strike despite his best efforts to block it. The palm inexplicably penetrated his defense and grabbed his head.

“Thud!” There was a quiet, crisp sound. Sun Yuexiu felt as if a starry sky had taken over her vision but she knew that this was an illusion that resulted from her affected Vital Spirit. Gnashing her teeth, she saw a mysterious person wearing the mask of Crape Myrtle Star sliding down from the treetop. His two fists resembled the fall of a starry sky. It was unimaginably terrifying.

If she were the one fighting, it was likely that she would be squashed at once!

The thought had just occurred to her when she saw Meng Qi grabbing Bai Chong with one hand and gripping his sword with the other. With an incomparably solemn manner, he thrust the sword. The tip of the sword was dark as if every bit of his power was concentrated in that one point.

“Thud!”

The sound of collision seemed illusory as if it was resounding inside one’s Vital Spirit. Strong winds sprung up everywhere and sent all the Exterior experts flying just like that. The flow of the river became fiercer and the trunk of the tree snapped.

To think that such fearsome outcomes would result from a fight that only utilized powers at the level of enlightened Apertures!

Sun Yuexiu’s eyes were fixed on the scene. She saw only the handsome horse turning limp and falling to the ground with blood spouting from its body. Meng Qi stood on the horse with Bai Chong in hand, his sword placed before his chest. Overlooking Crape Myrtle Star, Meng Qi appeared to be the most powerful person in the world.

The whimper-like sound of the flute remained sorrowful. Everything had happened so quickly that the song was not even halfway done.

“One man with a single sword… Peerless Master Pro, grandmasters, Blue Stair Assasin, as well as Half-step to Dharmakaya masters… To think he managed to steal the item under the many layers of pincer attacks…” The scene earlier replayed inside Sun Yuexiu’s mind. She felt as if her soul had been blown away along with her thoughts.