The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

“Have another taste of my blade!”

Wen Jing had barely finished hearing the cry when he saw the purple streaks of lightning filling up the skies above and the dangerous gleam of his foe’s aura brushing by. The staggering and indomitable presence of his enemy had reached him before he could even react. He heard the angry crackles of electricity and felt the aura of his strokes graze his skin.

“Boom!”

The purple saber radiance fell with Meng Qi’s unparalleled momentum. It fell with terrible majesty upon Wen Jing.

“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”

A series of clangs rang out. The blows were so quick, blocking and attacking, that it was almost invisible to those who had just attained the Exterior Realms. Meng Qi’s incredible momentum forced Wen Jing backward. The strong and destructive lightning spread handsomely around him, instantly vaporizing the ghastly aura that was formerly in the shape of skeletons before they faded into nothingness.

The invincible force of his enemy reminded Wen Jing of the strong and merciless waves of the sea he had encountered in his childhood. Memories of the unrelenting and unwavering waves of the sea coming at him without allowing him any moment of respite relived before his very eyes.

In the midst of the smoke and the flashing gleams of lightning bolts, Meng Qi—still in the enchanted state of the Law Phenomenon—raised the Heaven Inflicted Pain. The huge saber fell slowly as if it was dragging the weight of the world behind it. It was so heavy that it sent a shiver down Meng Qi’s spine.

The sky grew dark and even the surface of the river became still. The forces of the vicious lightning bolts and the screaming gales of storm converged unto a single point on the tip of the saber, resulting in a black hole the size of a pinhead!

With high spirits, Meng Qi bellowed with a voice that shook the Vital Spirit of his enemy.

“Have another taste!”

Hehad barely cried out when the blade picked up the pace and fell with an astounding force that ripped even the fabric of Space.

Out of nowhere, a huge jade-green saber blocked the Heaven Inflicted Pain and parried the powerful stroke! The immense force that was concentrated before Meng Qi’s blade earlier immediately vanished!

Wen Jing had grown into a hulking size tens of meters tall. The silhouette of his Dharmic Form, a monstrous and hideous demon, towered behind him, radiating an evil and foul aura. It was clear that he had unleashed his trump card to deflect Meng Qi’s blow. Wen Jing flicked the jade-green blade in his hand, and the same immense force returned to Meng Qi’s blade but the force instead exploded suddenly!

“Bang!”

Meng Qi was sent flying backward. His hand throbbed with stabs of numbing pain. Still, he recognized the skill that Wen Jing used.

The Arcanum of Pagan Carnage!

Meng Qi noticed the ninth level of the sacrificial altar was nearing its completion. Jiang Zhiwei was deep in combat, surrounded by a few warriors of the imperial army. Even though she had the upper hand, she could barely come over to regroup with Meng Qi. Through the fray of the turmultous battle, he could hear Ruan Yushu playing her zither to counter the enchantments and curses hurled at the rebel army. Suddenly, he caught glimpses of a few practitioners of the Exterior Realms leaping off the top levels of the sacrificial altar to attack Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei!

“I must not allow him to use his techniques, otherwise he will keep me pinned here!”Meng Qi made his choice swiftly as he stood in mid-air.

With a florid turn in the air, through the force of the explosion, he stabbed forward with the Flowing Fire. The tip of the flaming sword pierced like a snapping viper as Meng Qi used the Chaos Vortex technique!

Unable to retaliate due to Meng Qi’s nimble reaction, Wen Jing could only parry Meng Qi’s blows with his green saber. He re-used his earlier technique, absorbing the force and deflecting it back to Meng Qi!

Meng Qi felt his blood boil as his hands trembled, numbed and stung. He came back for more, his grit and nerve steely. He conjured two more arms and performed another stroke—the Chaos Vortex yet again!

“Again!”

“Clang! Clang! Clang!” “Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The Arcanum of Pagan Carnage allowed its user to absorb and rebound the force of the blows back at Meng Qi so that the clangs of the clashing weapons could hardly be heard. Meng Qi’s relentless attack sent tremors into the air that suddenly produced noises as if he was hitting something hard and solid.

Meng Qi was repeatedly thrown up into the air and then lunged back at his quarry like an eagle on its prey. Each time, the blows that came back at Wen Jing became heavier and heavier.

“Again!”

Meng Qi cried out at the top of his lungs. With another flip, the Heaven Inflicted Pain swung down again, but this time, ruptures in the fabric of Space split open before his blade!

With the loss of the initiative, Wen Jing was forced to be on the defensive. He inwardly screamed, “If only we were allowed to use secret treasures in this mission!”

Coincidentally, the enemy before him, Meng Qi, harbored exactly the same sentiments.

“Clang!”

The thunderous clash of their weapons sent out a huge shockwave that instantly stupefied and incapacitated numerous fighting men around them.

Wen Jing felt the mass of an entire mountain thrown at him. The overwhelming weight forced him back a few steps as he was unable to take on all of the weight.

Yet, Meng Qi himself suffered from the repetitive rebound of force thrown at him. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and then he rushed to the top level of the sacrificial altar when Wen Jing was thrown backward. This allowed Meng Qi to ignore him for Jiang Zhiwei had finished disposing of her enemies and had come over and stabbed at Wen Jing with her sword.

There was no time for him to join Jiang Zhiwei in slaying Wen Jing. He needed to race against Time itself for the alter was almost complete!

Wen Jing’s hulking and grotesque figure radiated strongly with an evil aura that disrupted the flow of natural energies around them. The disruption affected Jiang Zhiwei’s aim. Despite her efforts to re-align her stroke, Wen Jing was able to evade her attacks. With a swing of his saber, his demonic aura swirled and blew at Meng Qi, taking the shape and forms of malignant wraiths. The apparitions circled around Meng Qi and held him down with effects resembling the God-tying Rope!

Meng Qi immediately transformed. With the disappearance of their target, the apparitions disappeared.

With no time to spare, Meng Qi sped up to the top.

The huge figure of Wen Jing, who had summoned his Dharmic Form, towered over Jiang Zhiwei. The difference between their strengths grew further but Jiang Zhiwei fought undauntedly with her Dharmic Form summoned and her skill displayed fully.

In his haste to reach the top, Meng Qi sensed the events taking place below.

Her aura grew substantially, giving Meng Qi recollections of Jiang Zhiwei as the aura bore her strong emotions. He could sense her boisterous charisma, her generosity, her cheerfulness, her joyous laugh, her sadness, her dejected disappointment, and her morose sorrow. The emotions from her aura turned into various figures in her semblance. The actual Jiang Zhiwei was below, fighting as she emptied herself of all her emotions as more doppelgangers materialized—the Jiang Zhiwei in focused concentration, the Jiang Zhiwei intently pursuing improvements, and another Jiang Zhiwei, composed and serene. Such was the style of her sword, her detached way of wielding her sword.

All of her feelings and sensation were all within her eyes that looked like a deep and silent well, dispassionate and tranquil. Her Dharmic Form grew with the prominence that all her doppelgangers wielded equal strength and power!

One by one, her doppelgangers waved their swords as if demonstrating the many swordsmanships she had learned. Despite racing up the steps with his back toward the unfolding spectacle, Meng Qi could fully feel the state she was in.

This was her own path to enlightenment!

This was Jiang Zhiwei—the Jiang Zhiwei who lived not for love and lived without fear of dying. She lived not as a friend to her comrades, not as a disciple of her teacher, not as a sister to her fellow students, and not as the love interest of others. She had always been herself, the one and only Jiang Zhiwei!

Wen Jing immediately felt his manipulation of the Dharma and Logos of Nature being broken off by Jiang Zhiwei’s strokes. The demonic aura and the malignant apparitions he had conjured were not spared as they disappeared one by one, smothered by Jiang Zhiwei’s attacks. Even the weakening effects that he had cast upon his enemies diminished greatly. Auric blades pierced from all directions toward him mercilessly, forcing him to use the complete set of skills from the Arcanum of Pagan Carnage to defend himself.

Despite his confidence in winning ultimately, the beating that he was suffering could only mean that he was losing control of the battle!

Deep within himself, Wen Jing could no longer contain his frustration and anger at the restrictions imposed by the Dominator in this mission. The unanticipated strength of their enemies and the forbidden use of secret treasures made this on par with the difficulty of Death Tasks!

He would have to suffer terrible losses in order to amass enough Karma Points to be forfeited if the mission went awry or the Dominator would obliterate him!

With another sudden stroke of ingenuity, he cast another spell. His demonic aura strengthened again, filling the air around them with his evil presence that seemed to reach even the skies above. He then summoned another barrage of auric projectiles that shot at Jiang Zhiwei.

Jiang Zhiwei steadfastly stood her ground. With the help of her skills learned from the Sword Washing Pavilion and the Nine Revolving Mystic technique, she was able to keep the upper hand.

With long strides, Meng Qi continued rushing up the steps. Two enemy combatants killed his doppelganger and were coming to intercept him.

He felt a weight suddenly landing upon his shoulders that he nearly fell. Fortunately, the effect was swiftly lifted by the sound of the zither being played by Ruan Yushu.

With a stomp of his foot and a blow from his saber, Meng Qi had no signs of faltering! With the Law Phenomenon enchantment still working, he instantly disposed of one of the enemies by hurling him off his feet. The enemy instantly fell unconscious!

The other enemy had his entire right shoulder cleaved off and his weapon on the ground. The injured enemy shuddered as he cowered in fear.

There was no time to lose. Meng Qi pressed on. He could hear the magic of Ruan Yushu’s zither deep in intense battle with the hexes and curses of the enemy, trying to negate and thwart each other.

Another warrior appeared in front him, trying to stop his advance—an opponent of the Realm of the First Celestial Ladder. He was armed with a strange weapon.

The enemy unleashed a stroke from afar and Meng Qi evaded it with ease. He barely paused before he continued with two more steps and then his blade shone once more, baring its fangs at his foe.

The enemy crumbled to the ground, his body severed in half at the waist as he groaned in agony—his incredible vitality had kept him from dying instantly.

A few more warriors appeared before Meng Qi as he continued his climb. With a dip of his head, he quickened his pace, the Heaven Inflicted Pain gleaming as he cast forth its aura.

Meng Qi made short work of them. Severed limbs littered the floor, and puddles of blood were everywhere. The beaten enemies were left shell-shocked with disbelief at the enemy trampling over them with hardly any effort.

On the waves of the Nu River, beads of perspiration formed upon Ruan Yushu’s forehead. Her hands danced with grace and determination as she continuously performed the Thousand-mile Massacre Tunes. With persistent courage, skill, and will, she jousted with the enemy sorcerer despite her lesser Realm. The complexity of her skills and techniques coupled with her talents made up for whatever she lacked.

Her Dharmic Form, the silhouette of a flying phoenix, swooped and circled around her as it sang and cried. At times, silhouettes of a Deity soared into the sky or a huge, ancient bell appeared around her. The projection of her Dharmic Forms protected her, encasing her in a domain of dreamlike enchantment.

The remaining warships and vessels of the imperial army, after suffering from the Divine Weapon, finally took notice of her powers. Immediately, they rushed to attack her, steering their boats in her direction.

Zhao Heng stepped forward and blended with a huge wind. He set forth a blow from his sword and summoned a huge hurricane that swept over the rocky waters of the river and capsized several boats. Hu Zhigao, Hou Yue, and the rest of the Revolutionary Army immediately sprang into action to prevent any more intrusion.

Despite being able to defend himself, Du Huaishang knew that he could barely help in of his army’s attack. He threw out a piece of wood and retreated to a safer place where he could concentrate on communicating with the Sword of Divine Mandate!

One blow after another, Meng Qi easily eliminated any opponent that dared stand in his way. He was grateful that Jiang Zhiwei had suggested the Saber of the Shattered Jade to him. It proved to be extremely helpful especially in conjunction with the Big Bang Technique!

With the ninth level just ahead, the Law Phenomenon that Meng Qi had conjured was nearing the end of its effect. He moved irregularly, zigzagging his way up while avoiding being targeted by any Divine Weapons or by ranged attacks.

It was a time-consuming but crucial measure for his safety!

Just then, through the clamor of the battlefield, he heard an unmistakable ringing sound. His eyes widened with shock.

“The altar is completed!”

Several practitioners of the Exterior Realms and acolytes of the Cult of the Gory Seas came down from the ninth level. Meng Qi saw the Crown Prince, Shen Yunqing, begin preparing offerings amidst the corpses of deceased warriors.

“There is still a chance for us to destroy it before it is activated!” Meng Qi’s tenacity drove him on with gritted teeth. Maintaining his peculiar of movements, Meng Qi flew up to the ninth level.

He would immediately use the Fruits of Karma once he was within range!

He had refrained from using the Fruits of Karma on Wen Jing because he had been saving it for Shen Yunqing who possessed a Divine Weapon!

Meng Qi felt his senses tingling suddenly, warning him of impending danger. He instinctively swung his saber to his side to parry the incoming blow whilst the other arm stabbed forward with the Flowing Fire and unleashed countless auric blades.

The shadow of a figure appeared to him. A golden spear came falling down near him by its handle!

Forsaking his previous weapon, Du Gushi now wielded a huge saber with a long handle in his fight against Immortal Wanshi and Qi Zhengyan, gaining the upper hand despite their numerical advantage.

He was indeed worthy of his fame as a master in the skills of combat!

Qi Zhengyan commanded greater mastery of skills and experience but his foe controlled the tide of their battle!

The golden spear came with terrible speed and force that Meng Qi barely avoided being hit. Wen Jing’s voice echoed through the air.

“You are all finished! The altar is ready!

“You will not stop us even if you save the girl playing the zither and delay the flow of Time!

“It is equally futile even if you try to thwart us with sorcery and forgo saving the girl!

“Death is upon you either way!”

He was inching closer and closer to regaining control in his duel against Jiang Zhiwei. The loud cries he made were like a prophecy of his impending triumph!