The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The Meditation Yard was where Shaolin received guests, and was composed of multiple smaller yards. Currently, it was filled with stark trees, and on the trees there was a thin layer of snow.

Meng Qi waved his broom around to clean up the snow in the yard. Suddenly, the door of a room flew wide open, and a young Taoist with two topknots on his head, stood there and yelled, “That little monk over there, come here and clean this room. It is a little dirty.”

“Yes, donor.” Meng Qi performed a single-hand salute, and walked towards the room with his broom. The young Taoist, who had a slightly childish appearance, already went back into the room.

Meng Qi looked into the room from the door, and saw around seven to eight people there. They all wore different kinds of clothes that were of different colors, which was much prettier than the simple clothes of Shaolin.

Wait, I think I saw a girl? Meng Qi didn’t look carefully as he didn’t want to be impolite, but he believed that he saw a girl who wore a light-yellow dress.

So in this universe, Shaolin doesn’t ban women from entering the temple… Meng Qi cautiously walked pass the guests to clean up the broken fragments of a tea cup on the floor.

Suddenly, a leg coming from nowhere was placed in front of Meng Qi’s feet.

It was too late for Meng Qi to stop. He tripped over the leg, lost his balance, and stumbled forward.

In astonishment, Meng Qi found through his blurry eyes that the person who tripped him was exactly that topknot young Taoist. The Taoist had a well-defined face and his thick, black brows were extremely impressive, they looked like two flying blades. Currently, he didn’t look at Meng Qi at all, but rather glared at somewhere in front of Meng Qi.

Meng Qi waved his arms wildly, trying to keep his balance. However, the young Taoist stretched his leg out at an excellent timing, and Meng Qi could only pathetically look at the approaching ground and imagine the miserable fate that would soon arise.

At this moment, a glimpse of something that was light yellow came into his sight. A long sword encompassed by a heavy, aeruginous scabbard followed right after. It appeared suddenly like a bird sprinting and landing from outer space, and softly it touched Meng Qi’s chest.

Only little strength was exerted on the sword, and Meng Qi could hardly sense any pain. However, both the strength and angle of the sword were skillfully controlled, and it effectively stopped Meng Qi from falling. He finally regained his balance.

Meng Qi raised his head with confusion, and there he saw a beautiful face. The girl standing in front of him had bright, big eyes, her hair was coiled in a straightforward manner and smoothly extended down her back, and she wore a light-yellow long dress. She was around 16 to 17 years old; however, she didn’t seem at all immature.

The girl slightly opened her mouth, and her voice was as clear and melodious as an oriole. “Xuan Tian Sect calls itself the righteous sect approved by the emperor of heaven, and this is how you behave, bullying a child?”

The young Taoist from Xuan Tian Sect didn’t reply, but only made a humph sound.

The girl turned around, looked at Meng Qi, and smiled. “Little monk, don’t mind that bad guy. He just wanted to use you to test my sword techniques.” The two dimples on her face made her seem very sweet.

She slightly raised her head and continued, “But what can he change even if he sees my sword?”

She didn’t say it directly out loud, but Meng Qi could still sense the pride and confidence she had in her strength.

“Thank you very much, miss,” Meng Qi subconsciously said.

The young girl withdrew her sword and giggled. “You talk like an aristocrat and not like a little monk. You should have called me donor.”

After this, she reversed the sword and saluted back. “My name is Jiang Zhi Wei, and I am a disciple of Xi Jian Pavilion. I am really sorry that you were involved in our conflict.”

The young Taoist from Xuan Tian Sect humphed again. “I didn’t imagine that Shaolin disciples would be so weak and trip over so easily.”

He raised his brows, and pretended to remain prideful and calm.

“He’s just a char monk. Do you want me to test the Kungfu of the char guys at your place, and see if they are at the same level as you?” Jiang Zhi Wei mocked with a sarcastic smile.

“You!” The young Taoist stood up at once.

“What’s happening?” Suddenly, a deep voice arose by the door.

Meng Qi turned back and saw a young man walk in with his hands behind his back. He wore a long robe with the pattern of eight trigrams. His brows were long and extended to the edge of his forehead, his nose was tall and straight, and his eyes flashed like lightning.

At first sight, Meng Qi thought this handsome and manly guy was more than 20 years old. However, after looking at him carefully, Meng Qi realized from his appearance that he was probably only around 17 or 18.

“He has such a mature atmosphere…” Meng Qi put away the anger that he originally had, and secretly commented in his mind.

“Big Brother Zhang, Qing Jing tripped this little monk to test my sword techniques,” Jiang Zhi Wei simply stated the facts.

The young man looked to Qing Jing. Although he didn’t become angry, there was stateliness in his voice. “Now that you are not at home anymore, every single word or action of yours would represent Xuan Tian Sect. Stop doing things that are inappropriate.”

“Yes, Big Brother Zhang,” The young Taoist answered in a tone that conveyed that he felt he was wronged. However, it seemed that this Brother Zhang had high authority among the young disciples from all the sects, and everyone in the room remained silent. Nobody defended Qing Jing.

“Sorry, I was too offensive,” Qing Jing said to Meng Qi, and then quickly turned away. Meng Qi gently breathed in, and didn’t say anything unnecessary. “My name is Zhen Ding.”

Big Brother Zhang nodded slightly at Meng Qi. “Brother Zhen Ding, I am Zhang Yuan Shan from Zhen Wu Sect. I am thankful for the respect from my friends here, as they call me big brother. I apologize for what happened today.”

[It’s my fault for being so weak…] Yet Meng Qi didn’t say this out loud. He nodded to indicate that it was not a big deal, and put his palms together and chanted the name of Buddha. He then bent down to clean up the mess of the floor, and left the room afterwards.

“This little monk has a backbone…” Meng Qi vaguely heard Jiang Zhi Wei’s comment from behind him.

After he returned to the Char Yard, there was still some time left before lunch. Meng Qi couldn’t calm down and eagerly wanted to practise Kungfu. However, he had finished the “Hundred-day Foundation”, and he didn’t have the script for the next step of “Qi-cultivation in Dhyana”. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to hide in his room and practise Luo Han Fists again and again, and build up his body’s potential.

Zhen Hui and the others didn’t return at lunch time, and Meng Qi heard that they were cleaning the Dharma Yard. It was the place where disciples from different sects dueled and competed.

Meng Qi didn’t see Zhen Hui and Zhen Yan until nighttime. When they came back, they couldn’t hide the excitement on their faces, and endlessly talked about what they had seen during the day.

“Did the duels already begin this afternoon” Meng Qi walked up quickly towards them and asked. Zhen Hui nodded energetically. “Yes, it was so exciting to watch! It was a pity that big brother you weren’t there.”

Zhen Yan nodded slightly and then sighed, “They are about the same age as me, and yet their Kungfu is ten times stronger than mine…”

Comparison leads to despair…this phrase suddenly popped into Meng Qi’s head. He asked with curiosity, “Who was the final winner”

“The final duel was the best. Long swords, Taoists…” Zhen Hui waved his hands and explained with an unstoppable thrill. However, because his language structure was so chaotic, Meng Qi couldn’t understand anything at all.

Zhen Yan smiled and took over the conversation from Zhen Hui. “The final duel was between Zhang Yuan Shan from Zhen Wu Sect and Ms. Jiang Zhi Wei from Xi Jian Sect. Hehe, they had previously defeated the young disciples from all the different sects, including Zhen Miao and Zhen Ben.”

Zhen Yan gloated as he talked about the unfortunate loss of his two brothers, Zhen Miao and Zhen Ben, who joined Shaolin at the same time as him.

“Zhen Wu Sect and Xi Jian Sect” Xuan Xin walked in without being noticed by anyone. “Hey, I didn’t expect that the two young disciples from those two enemy sects would encounter each other.”

“Enemy” Meng Qi was surprised as he didn’t sense any animosity between Zhang Yuan Shan and Jiang Zhi Wei.

Xuan Xin clicked his tongue and explained, “Taoism has a Kungfu that is comparable to The Buddha’s Palm, which is called the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception. It had also been lost for a long time, and Zhen Wu Sect and Xi Jian Sect were both established based on one of the moves. Thus reasonably, these two sects would be similar to the connection between Shaolin and Jing Gang. Furthermore, Xi Jian Sect only respects Daode Tianzun, and refuses to become a Taoist Sect. So, who won the match in the end?”

“Zhang Yuan Shan from Zhen Wu Sect lost to Ms. Jiang Zhi Wei by half a move,” Zhen Yan promptly answered. He had repeated the comments of the head of the Dharma Yard, divine monk Kong Jian.

Xuan Xin was stupefied and said, “The little girl from Xi Jian Sect won Will she be the second Su Wu Ming Hehe, but be aware, as the hardest blades break the most easily.”

Other monks were talking about how the matches were prolonged and took too much time. After he went back to his room, Meng Qi couldn’t calm down. He thought about the god’s chosen ones, Zhang Yuan Shan and Jiang Zhi Wei, and then related them back to himself. Agitation stirred up in his stomach.

The moonlight permeated through the thin clouds, and reflected on the floor a beautiful view that was like the clear water waves.

When could I possibly leave the Char Yard, and officially begin to learn Kungfu… Meng Qi couldn’t stop thinking. He decided to ask Zhen Guan and Zhen Ying, who had been char monks for many years. Uncle Xuan Zang must have some plans in mind for assigning him here.

“Brother Zhen Guan and Brother Zhen Ying, do you know how to leave the Char Yard Or are there any detailed requirements for leaving” As long as there are specific requirements, and not only saying that you have urge and persistence, Meng Qi thought that there would be some way that he could manage to leave.

Hearing this, the normally sleepy Zhen Ying sat up suddenly, and laughed in a loud voice. “I did all I could to join Shaolin, but after 6 long years, I am still here! In another two years I would be expelled, and I have done nothing! Haha, nothing, how do you think I will face my family!”

His laugh was even more unpleasant to hear than a cry, and it felt like a cuckoo weeping blood from its eyes.

“Leave the Char Yard Ha, in these seven years, I have never seen anyone succeed! Hey, that bald donkey Xuan Ku boasted that we could leave the Char Yard someday but just to force us into hard labor instead!” Zhen Guan grinded his teeth with hatred, as if he wanted to swallow someone’s raw flesh.

Hearing their responses, the tiny hope that Meng Qi had a moment ago was extinguished completely by their coldness. His mind went blank.

Zhen Ying and Zhen Guan went on for some time and then returned back to silence and “autism”. On the other hand, Zhen Hui was breathing soundly, and it was obvious that he was already asleep.

Meng Qi looked out of the window and couldn’t fall asleep. He felt that he was a bird trapped in a cage, and no matter what he did and how much he struggled, he wouldn’t be able to break through. Anxiety, sadness, and desperation arose within him all at once.

After a long, long time, he finally went into sleep.

The moonlight shone on him like water, as if it had helped put a thin layer of silk on him. Suddenly, a mysterious, bewitching green light appeared on his chest.