The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The mountains stretched back and forth like long snakes slowly moving in the quiet night.

After a few random turns, the “head” and “tail” of the snake faced each other across its “body”, almost forming a loop.

However, there was a huge gap in the “body” between them, creating a deep valley. The Everlasting Tribe of yesteryears had lived here, and thus it was called Everlasting Valley.

Blood mists floated up from the Everlasting Valley, mixing with the peach blossom miasma, thousand poison miasma, and dead leaf miasma. Birds flew around it and wild beasts avoided it, making it a habitat only for the most poisonous.

Fog and miasma weakened Meng Qi’s mental perception, and he thus fell from the air and stepped on the muddy and slippery ground at the mouth of the valley.

He was still dressed in white, holding his sword in one hand, and walking gracefully at a leisurely pace.

Looking into the valley, Meng Qi discovered that there were few miasmas and fog inside the valley as they tumbled mid-air, refusing to fall into the valley.

Beneath Meng Qi’s relaxed appearance was a concentrated mind. He slowly stepped into the valley and discovered that it looked as if it had been washed by blood. Other than strange rocks and deep pits, there was not a single trace of human civilization. Instead, blood stains were everywhere, dyeing everything red.

“Blood Sea Rakshasa had completely plowed over Everlasting Valley. They didn’t leave a single trace behind…” Meng Qi seemed to have realized something.

Suddenly, he frowned. He had suddenly thought of the mysterious Three-life Temple.

If what Gu Xiaosang said was true, Three-life Temple was still intact when Ninth Heaven broke down. However, someone arrived years later to destroy the Hall of Yesterday and the Hall of Tomorrow. After that, Sun God perhaps hid in the “past”, or perhaps he was the one who destroyed the hall to prevent people from coming to Three-life Temple to search for treasures, hindering his plans.

However, a paradox arose. Blood Sea Rakshasa had just become a Dharmakaya, and yet he can already wipe all evidence of Everlasting Valley. How can there still be pieces and breaths remaining in the ruins of Hall of Tomorrow and Hall of Yesterday? If Sun God purposefully left those clues for himself, why didn’t he destroy the Hall of Today as well? In that case, he and Gu Xiaosang would have left, and their adventures would not have disrupted his plan.

“Someone else destroyed the temples. His purposes are unknown…” Meng Qi was unable to find the truth amidst the many unknowns. It was obvious that Gu Xiaosang knew more, but she kept her mouth shut, refusing to leak out any information.

“What could the demoness be planning…” Meng Qi controlled his thoughts as he murmured to himself. “Xi was unable to pass through the seal of Thunder God and could only open it after our arrival. From this, we can deduce that the arrival of Sun God at the Hall of Yesterday and the destruction of the halls were before the seals…”

In the midst of his thoughts, Meng Qi heard a clear and crisp female voice.

“Another one here to find a way to live forever…”

There was an obvious teasing tone.

Raising his head, Meng Qi saw a “girl” around 15 or 16 years old through the light mist. She was sitting cross-legged on the bloody cliff and was wearing a colorful dress. Her face was childlike and her eyes were naive. However, she had a mature breath that was like the Grand Sun at noon. She was older than she appeared.

Meng Qi said coldly, “Have a lot of people come here for that?”

The mysterious girl flew down suddenly. Her petite body fit her childlike appearance. Giggling, she said, “Visitors come once every few days. However, they are all old men waiting for death. Only a few were as healthy as you…”

She seemed to have not chatted for a long time, so she chattered incessantly with Meng Qi.

“What did they find?” Sensing that the girl was talkative, Meng Qi asked directly.

The girl pouted. “Is this how you ask someone? With such manners, how can you be from the Central Plains?”

Before Meng Qi could apologize, she continued speaking. “Who would not be interested in repeated reincarnation after death? Aren’t all our tough cultivations for power to be free of death?”

After saying much nonsense, she smiled with the combination of the naivete and passion peculiar to the women of the tribes in the Southern Wilderness. “Even though Everlasting Tribe was wiped out by the Blood-robed Cult and Everlasting Valley was eternally destroyed, some still suspect that the secret to the reincarnation of the Everlasting Tribe lay not in them but in the unique nature of Everlasting Valley. Thus, many masters come here to bury themselves in order to pray for reincarnation.”

“With your young age, you’re not here to bury yourself, right?” Meng Qi spoke emotionlessly, holding the sword in his left hand. He wanted to appear like Ximen Chuixue, but he could not resist the urge to talk, so he could only imitate Brother Qi.

The girl stepped into the depth of the valley, proclaiming proudly. “Of course! I still have hundreds of years left, why would I do that?”

She said nothing about what she was doing here.

Looking around, Meng Qi realized that there were many new traces of cover-ups on the bloody ground, as well as damages caused later. The wind penetrating the valley was even more alarming.

He suddenly caught on and said coldly, “You’re here to dig graves.”

“How can you be so impolite? Tomb-raiding! Understand? Tomb-raiding is not digging graves!” Seeing that Meng Qi was not here to bury himself, she admitted and rebuked his usage of words.

She chuckled. “These old men had lived for so long! How can they not have any treasure on them? Anyway, if they can reincarnate, they would have done so already. After they are completely dead, any disturbance to their grave won’t affect them anymore. Why should we leave the treasures underground forever?”

“She speaks with the habits of Great Jin Dynasty. She could be from there or had friends and relatives from there…” Meng Qi commented as his thoughts drifted away. “Would they not place protective spells, curses, and traps?’

No one wanted to be disturbed after death.

The mysterious girl stuck out her tongue. “Of course! I almost died a few times! Most of them have self-destruction mechanisms too. We— I have stayed here for several years and have only succeeded five times.”

She spread out her left hand, tossing and turning it, showing the number five proudly. Her hand was as small as her body and age.

Meng Qi followed her forward while sensing the air flow in Everlasting Valley and observing the cliff walls, pits, and any other place that a person could hide in.

“No one is guarding their tomb?” Meng Qi maintained his cold demeanor as he stared at the cheerful girl.

The mysterious girl slurped. “Not many experts of the Exterior in Southern Wilderness are well-liked. Most of their spouses, children, and disciples would be happy to be rid of them. Few could even stay for seven days. If not for fear of traps, they would likely rob the graves of their own family.”

As they spoke, they turned the corner and Meng Qi saw a muscular, toned man sitting in front of an old tombstone. He was wearing blue pants with short sleeves, and he appeared serious and solemn, turning a blind eye to Meng Qi and the mysterious girl.

“Isn’t that someone?” Meng Qi cast a glance at the man.

The girl laughed. “There are exceptions to everything. That’s the tomb of the Tai Shang Elder of Ascendance Tribe, Gu. The whole tribe owed him a favor and thus experts of the Exterior guard his tomb day and night.”

Ascendance Tribe was one of the top ten tribes in Southern Wilderness, with the Shaman Elder as their leader. They were not weaker than any of the medium-tier sects in the Great Jin Dynasty. It was rumored that Gu had lived for nearly 300 years, saving Ascendance Tribe from danger countless times, allowing it to quickly grow into its size today.

“Gu sacrificed much for the tribe and yet he refused to let go before he passed away, wasting the resources of the Ascendance Tribe. Such a pity.” Meng Qi commented.

As soon as he spoke, the toned man raised his head and stared straight into Meng Qi with electrifying eyes and wild breath. He was like a giant wild beast.

He spoke word by word in a southern dialect. “Say that when you are dying.”

How many heroes and chivalrous men in the world can let go? One tends to be more afraid of death as one ages!

“He is not weak…” Meng Qi didn’t expect to meet a grandmaster so casually. He stared back at the man and said, “If I do so before I die, I’d be pathetic too.:”

“Huang, are you not afraid of damaging the grave in a fight?” The mysterious girl stepped forward.

People of the Ascendance Tribe used a single word as their name.

Huang returned his gaze and took a deep breath. He sat as still as a mountain again.

Meng Qi seemed not to have felt the immense pressure exerted on him just now and sensed the air flow once more while using Jade Virtual Divination to calculate the location of the Cardinal.

After walking five steps forward, he stopped in front of a bloody ground and waved his left hand. Soil flew out and a deep pit was formed.

“What do you want to do?” The mysterious girl was confused.

Meng Qi stared at her casually. “Die for a while.”

“Eh…” The girl was stunned and confused.

“How can one die for a while?”

Just as she was thinking, Meng Qi’s face turned pale while all life went out of him. Death crept up, turning him into a ghost and zombie.

“You, you, you…” She stumbled on her words.

Meng Qi fell straight down and lay in the deep pit. The earth tumbled and buried him.

The Everlasting Tribe reincarnated before death. How could he discover their secret if he was not about to die?

When everything was restored to its original state, Meng Qi hid his Vital Spirit and life within his mid-brows. He felt chaos near him and vaguely saw something. However, he could not decipher what it was.

“It is indeed odd inside here!”

The petite girl was shocked, finding it ridiculous for the swordsman in white to just die so easily.

At this moment, a figure wearing night clothes swept in. He looked between 40 to 50 years old, was of medium height, and had average looks with a full face of lewdness and treachery.

“Little Ru, did someone just get buried?” He rubbed his hands in excitement.

The mysterious girl Little Ru nodded blankly. “Yes.”

“Tsk tsk.” The middle-aged man walked around the place and explained. “I’ve told you long ago that this is the cardinal of Qi activity and Yin and Yang. It corresponds to the snakehead and tail outside and was home to great mysteries and secrets. Anyone who saw through this would be abnormal and would have precious treasures!”

He rubbed his hand once more. “How long has he been dead?”

“A while.” Little Ru stared at her master blankly.

The middle-aged man nodded and whispered. “It’s good that it’s been a while…”

He then placed a few ancient wooden sticks down, sprinkled silver needles, and connected the red lines. After a long time, he finally started digging.

“Hey, why are there no protective spells and curses…” He was confused as he stuck his right hand in slowly.

Suddenly, a trickle of cold sweat fell from his forehead as his right hand froze. A pale hand had grabbed it firmly!

“It zombified so fast!”  He felt as if he was flying. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience in tomb raiding!