The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

“You’re finally here.”

Saren Gaowa’s calm manner and assured tone caused a sense of danger to erupt in Meng Qi, who was disguised as Devil of Malice and was using the Yuan Xin Seal to provoke as much internal strife as possible.

Even if he was appearing in front of Saren Gaowa as himself and was trapped in a siege by grandmasters, he would still be as pretentious as he was now. He would want to cause his opponent’s mind to waver and impact their imposing manner so that they would suspect that they had fallen for a trap. He would fight hard for a blood-soaked path out and create a favorable environment for himself. Battles of minds and imposing manners had always been the defining qualities of masters!

However, at this moment, the danger premonition of his Eight Nine Mysteries was surging in him so violently and distinctly. Coupled with Saren Gaowa’s manner, it went without saying what the true situation was!

Even though there were four grandmasters on their side, none of them belonged to the same sect. To make things worse, they were also constantly scheming against one another. No one here would fight to their death for the sake of another. It was just like how he had met Green Cultivator, Flame-scorching Devilman, and Soul-losing Flute on the Mountain God Temple when he had just enlightened his Apertures. His opponents were such a loose coalition that they had too many flaws for him to exploit. They had no way of ever working together as a united team because they were all considering their own futures.

Meng Qi made up his mind in a flash: as per the Thirty-six Stratagems, retreat if all else fails. He would use his hair to make a doppelganger that would replace him while he quietly escaped with his real body.

“The enigmatic Demoness Gu is certain to have life-saving tricks. It’s hard to say if she’s stronger or weaker than I am. There’s no need to worry about her…” The fact that she had previously saved him several times coupled with their involvement caused him to worry just a little. The thought had barely surfaced on his mind, however, when he instinctively knew something was wrong.

“Why was Saren Gaowa so confident that Gu Erduo would be so busy dealing with Master Lu and Senior Chong He that he won’t be able to make a move, that she would set up an ambush in Bayan? If the one who came here was Gu Erduo or some other Dharmakaya master, it was like placing a lamb in a tiger’s den!” 

No one trying to set a trap would be so naive as to depend solely on luck. The only explanation was that there was a traitor among them. This gave her the confidence that there would be no Dharmakaya masters joining the departing “investigation team.”

“Who’s the traitor?” 

Saren Gaowa had barely spoken when she extended her right hand and caused a terrifying murmuring sound in the air. She began speaking in an illusory voice, saying words that would usually require several minutes to utter in a flash:

“There’s a ‘monster’ hiding within me that thirsts for blood and massacre.

“I once killed so many people that my hands reeked of blood. It has been a long time since I stopped. Today, however, I will kill once again.

“I call forth the ‘monster’ to lend me strength.”

Every Aperture acupoint in her body lit up at the same time, emanating a dim radiance that was full of demonic quality. They became linked to one another all the way to her right hand and produced a meter-long sword tip. However, her Dharma Form did not materialize.

This strange sword condensed out of the dim radiance was three Chinese feet, three inches, and three decimeters long. The pitch-black sword emanated no light at all and bore no pattern nor mark on its body. It was plain but demonic. The moment it appeared, the dead branches and wilted leaves were all shattered. It also caused a crack to form on the ground and spread far into the distance.

Wherever the crack extended to, the lush greenery around it would die. Dead fish floated to the crystalline surface of the Toronsu Sea and the water plants lining the bottom of the sea all wilted.

The crack extended very quickly, all the way to Hirasu’s tribe in Gegengol. The herdsmen, martial artists, oxen, and horses, all fell into the ground wide-eyed and died with grievances. Nothing was left alive within five hundred kilometers.

“Ow!”

The strange, pitch-black sword emitted a drawn-out cry and the sky subsequently turned dark. Saren Gaowa showed such might just from the strength borrowed from the “monster” and the artifact condensed out of radiance alone. Buddha of Desires and the rest felt her murderous aura invading their bodies and piercing deep into their souls. For a moment, their Vital Spirits were actually stunned. Even Meng Qi, in his real body, felt his head spinning as if there were countless sword Qi entering his Vital Spirit. Fortunately, he managed to visualize the Big Golden Buddha with a finger pointed at heaven and another pointed at earth, executing I, the Unique and Righteous technique in time. Only then did he recover.

No wonder she was able to escape time and again and only sustained severe injuries in the hands of Wu Lihan, a master who had once occupied one of the top three spots of the Terrestrial Rankings. Kill-stopping Cultivator was extraordinary instead. Just as Meng Qi was thinking how she was powerful enough to enter the top 40 of the Terrestrial Rankings, he spotted change occurring on the ground.

There was only a crack in the ground at first, but fertile soil could still be found in abundance. At this moment, however, moisture in the soil began evaporating at an unimaginable speed. The soil turned into grit so rapidly that it made onlookers flabbergasted. The blowing wind scattered the yellow sand, filling the sky.

The desertification spread at an astonishingly high speed. The withered grass that covered the ground outside Bayan scattered in the wind. The sea level of the vast Toronsu Sea visibly dropped. From here to Gegengol, the Grassland had been reduced to a desert. As a cold, sinister wind swept the Hirasu tribe, all the dead bodies turned into shriveled corpses. Blurry forms of spirits flew out of the corpses, making mournful and shrill cries. Carrying Yin energy and grievances, the spirits sank into the yellow sand. Whirlwinds, one after another, transported these spirits to Bayan.

A dark-skinned and thin old man appeared behind Meng Qi and the others. His head was wrapped with a black cloth while his body was dressed in a white robe. His back was a little hunched. The old man’s eyes drooped toward the end, making him look as if he was perpetually weeping. Ghosts who died unjustly swarmed him, emitting shrill cries that could eat away at one’s Vital Spirit and shake one’s spirit.

“Crying Elder?

“Crying Elder, who’s ranked seventh on the Black List and 33rd on the Terrestrial Rankings no matter how he progresses or regresses !”

Crying Elder now stood in Meng Qi’s way. He had yet to flee. When he tried to escape via his side, he noticed that his two big enemies were already standing together. Were they targeting him?

“Is this battle a rehearsal for their tag-team battle?” 

“Namo Venerable Merriment.” Numerous red-and-white lotuses appeared, creating a lovely sea of “pure land” amid the violently shifting sand, sinister spirits, and the dark murderous aura. In each of the lotus flowers were a man and a woman engaged in copulation, all in different positions. The man was all Buddha of Desires, while the women were always different, all women that he had ravished for cultivation over the years.

The strongest of them all, Buddha of Desires, was the first to recover his senses. He materialized the Golden Buddha and Concubine Form behind him. He took a step forward and a lotus flower blossomed under his foot. He planned to step out of Bayan Valley with his Dharmic Conveyance and leave the siege zone. Then, he would have shown enough initiative whether he fought or stayed behind.

He was unafraid of Crying Elder. Though there was a disparity of more than twenty ranks between them, they were both in the same realm and they had fought quite a few battles together. In the end, Crying Elder was an old acquaintance and an old opponent. He was certain there was still hope for him to escape. There were still grandmasters on his side, after all. If they worked together, he was sure there was a good chance of winning over the duo. The only exception was if two more grandmasters suddenly popped up to join the opponent’s side.

Under such circumstances, Buddha of Desires had just taken his step when Crying Elder, whose heart was like a dried-up lake, stepped on the yellow sand and sent a flying palm stroke at him. It was a palm stroke that was as strange and unfathomable as a ghost would appear to an ordinary human. Crying Elder looked like he was trying to stop Buddha of Desires from running, but in reality, the palm stroke had already appeared on the top of the latter’s head and fell down with deep resentment.

“Thud!” Buddha of Desires raised his immensely large golden hand to block Crying Elder’s palm, but strands of black gas penetrated the golden layer, making it very difficult for him to make the palm stroke.

“Crying Elder, did you really think you’re good enough to stop me?” Buddha of Desires saw his surroundings reflected in his mind. Saren Gaowa, armed with her sword, subsequently charged at “Ordained Shamaness” Tuo Ya and Devil of Malice. The Goddess of Big Luo seemed to be here to help her. The corner of her mouth curved into a small smirk, revealing the dimple on her fair, jade-like face. She exuded an inexplicably cheeky beauty and cuteness. Coupled with her expressive eyes, her beauty exceeded even that of a fairy who had descended from heaven and stirred the deepest desire and lust in men.

The heart of Buddha of Desires jolted and the desire that he had suppressed for a long time broke through his rationality. He immediately felt raging lust burning within him, and incorporeal flames burst forth from every inch of his golden skin. His pupils turned red. Though he had not truly fallen into a state of Qi-deficiency Derangement yet, he was already temporarily befuddled.

“I need her! I need women!” 

The battle between two grandmasters, both in the peak of the Exterior realm, would be the origin of the opportunity to escape.

“Buddha of Desires, you’ll still end up dead in my hands!” Crying Elder gave a strange laugh as he sent another palm stroke downward. Countless distorting shadows penetrated Buddha of Desires’ self-protective Zen light, causing the glow to dissipate.

Meng Qi was preparing himself to flee just as his doppelganger was cut down. It was then that he realized how vicious the void had become一like it had become layers upon layers of shackles that locked him down.

“Xu-kong Seal?

“Is it Gu Xiaosang?”

Meng Qi’s heart seized as he thought that his identity was exposed. His sword appeared in his hand, but instead of using the Big Bang Technique, he hastily guarded his back.

“Clang!” The fair and graceful palm hit the body of Heaven Inflicted Pain. The void shifted and superimposed onto one another, abruptly giving rise to a terrifying burst of power. Even Meng Qi, whose expertise lay in his raw strength, felt his hand numbing and a pressure weighing on his body.

Explosions of Qi went off around him, causing all the mountain walls to collapse and go up in puffs of smoke and dust. This was to conceal him as he fell while scaling the mountain.

He thrust Flowing Fire as powerfully as possible, trying to get ahead of his opponent after the ambush that had caused his breath to stagger.

The fair and graceful hand lifted three fingers, with the forefinger and middle finger shaped into a dagger. There seemed to be dark vortices on her fingertips that caused the layers of airflow and the void to collapse into it. Meng Qi’s sword could not help itself from being drawn to the palm, as was the millions of fine sword light that it emanated.

Not only was this pointing motion similar to the Chaos Vortex, but it was also capable of absorbing one’s Vital Spirit and turning one’s surroundings dark and indistinct. One would be trapped in a quiet environment that could not be made heads or tails of as if one had returned to the embrace of one’s mother—the primeval, as well as the ultimate, “nothingness.”

Just then, Flowing Fire shuddered frantically. The sword then gave rise to layers upon layers of changes within a short frame of time and space.

“Pfft!”

The layers of fires were promptly extinguished. Meng Qi was thrown out and got knocked into a mountain wall so hard that it collapsed. Fortunately, he was able to use his “refinement” ability to produce changes at the eleventh hour, offsetting part of the impact. He left the rest of the impact for Eight Nine Mysteries to counteract. That was the only reason he was able to remain unscathed.

His pupils reflected a white, ethereal figure who had an indescribably beautiful face. She wore a faint smile that felt more aloof than it was sincere. Her gleaming eyes were full of murderous intent.

“Snap!”

Crying Elder shattered Buddha of Desires’ life-saving martial arts skill with a single palm stroke but the latter was still trapped in a state of vertigo. He watched helplessly as Crying Elder landed yet another palm stroke on his forehead. His body immediately disintegrated into sand and his Vital Spirit was absorbed. He was unable to show any of his skills, be it his Mind Connection Bead, Dharmic Conveyance, Invincible Palm, Ways of Desires, or Merriment Buddha’s Wishing Power.

Still in a daze, he heard Gu Xiaosang’s melodious voice resounding inside his Vital Spirit.

“You’ve been trying so hard to trigger Tao Gesi’s obsession remnants, my husband. You were nearly rendered defenseless after my sudden attack. From here, I can successfully plant nefarious intent in you so that you’ll revolt after obtaining the secret. How can I not exploit this opportunity?”

“What husband? What nefarious intent?” Buddha of Desires’ Vital Spirit darkened as bitter resentment buried it. His Vital Spirit then turned into Crying Elder’s strongest Grieving Spirit!

“It’s indeed Gu Xiaosang!” Meng Qi hovered in between the collapsed mountain walls as he cautiously stared at the woman in white whose murderous intent was so strong it felt almost tangible. Her parting words to him back then suddenly surfaced in his mind:

“I am, after all, a notorious demoness who spills innocent blood at my slightest whim. Perhaps the next time I meet you, you will be my victim.”

“How did she recognize me?” 

Gu Xiaosang smiled brightly at him. “You’re the most outstanding character in my mind and my heart. Even if you turn into cow dung, I’ll be sure to recognize you at first glance.

“Besides, our karma is entangled and our blood lineage is linked. How can I not recognize you?”

She rubbed her flat stomach with a grin, but the coldness and murderous intent in her eyes were unchanged. Meng Qi was so frightened that he almost thought it was real.

“Initially, I came up with this scheme to target you. I was planning to draw Gu Erduo’s attention yet I couldn’t find Saren Gaowa. That was why I spread the rumor that the Hao Yue Clan holds the secret of the Heaven-killing Axe. Once the war between the orthodox and heretical paths begin, once the Dharmakaya and Half-step to Dharmakaya masters are focused on the battle, my righteous and chivalrous husband will definitely be among the masters who would come here.

“Won’t you let me kill you, my husband?”

Meng Qi’s heart seized. “This isn’t right. If Demoness Gu recognized me when we were still in the Golden Tent, she could’ve very well just shouted and I’d be captured. Dharma King Dushi and Gu Erduo were there, after all. She could have just killed me in any way she wanted back then. There’s no need for her to make such painstaking efforts and make such a great detour.

“Even though the minds of those with mental illnesses are incomprehensible, this is indeed a great contradiction!”