The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The mountain was lofty and black all over, like a tower. Its surface was so smooth that it was difficult to climb. Moreover, it emanated a sense of imprisonment, blocking Meng Qi from flying. Meng Qi fell directly once he came near to the mountain, like a stone falling into the sea. Bang! He was hit by a sheet of earth on which grew numerous black-green vines, and the earth was shaken a few times.

Vines were trampled off, and demon-like ruddy blood flowed out of them.

Meng Qi looked up, to find the mountain was as high as thousands of meters, towering into the dark clouds. The only way up was a winding path, looming around the peak and circling like a dragon.

“It seems like another world here,” much experienced in Samsara, Meng Qi frowned, trying to judge the current situation.

Could this be the preparation Hasula and others made for a counter-attack?

If so, according to the changing cardinal points and gathering of Qi Ji, only if they reached the peak could they leave or take the initiative.

Meng Qi was doing inferences with the Jade Spirit while observing the surroundings with his experience and command of cosmic laws, when the black-green vines started stretching fast towards him and got tangled around his ankles. Their spines were open wide, but could not pierce into Meng Qi’s skin.

“It feels like the Nine Levels of Underground or the Demon Realm,” Meng Qi felt a little more clear by comparison. With The Best in the World and the Yuan Xin Seal to keep himself from being affected by the world of illusion, Meng Qi sized up the environment in his third eye. After ensuring there was no one else, he took a composed stride to that winding path.

On both sides were grotesque stones, as if carnations of devils and demons after their death. Anyone who stepped on the path would be scared to shudder.

In its center was a slightly muddy black soil, permeating with dark red liquid and a pungent taste.

“Where have the others gone?” A large number of gurus were involved in the abruptly-changing situation, but Meng Qi found no traces of them at all.

“Is this world bigger than we think?”

…

Chen Zhao arrived at the pitch-black peak with his sister, Liu Zejun. They found they couldn’t fly forward anymore, and only a narrow path led to the summit.

On both sides of the path, there were devilish and ghostly stones, and its middle was made by pieces of crystal thousand-year ice. Chen Zhao and Liu Zejun felt cold and saw their figure reflected by the ice.

“The Frozen Path of Perseverance…” Chen Zhao hummed, “Sister, it is indeed like the Palace of Frost.”

The only difference was that the path in the Palace of Frost led to a mail hall from the palace gate, while the path under their feet led to the peak.

“This place must have something to do with the Palace of Frost,” Liu Zejun entered the palace, as well, and got a special experience, so it was not strange for her.

As a great secret of the Extreme North, the Palace of Frost was a fairy palace found by northern sects and families during their exploration in the core of the Extreme North. They found the palace was filled with various special experiences, but no one could step in deeply. However, special experiences on the periphery could benefit its entrants a lot. As long as one could step out alive, they would make great achievements, and the reason why Chen Zhao reached the level of guru before 30 relied on that as well.

Concerning their own strengths, the sects and families in the Extreme North kept that secret tacitly, so southern masters who went to the Extreme North for treasures knew nothing about it.

Chen Zhao laughed, “I am blessed with the special experience since I was just defeated.”

Not to mention the possible special experiences, just a trip on the Frozen Path of Perseverance could expose his drawbacks and imperfections, which would help him to resolve and realize self-actualization.

Liu Zejun was obviously relieved and congratulated her brother with a smile. Then she said, “The passerby with a blade was really strong. Is everyone in the south all so scary?”

And judging by his aura and appearance, he might be even younger than Liu herself.

Chen Zhao said, “Such a figure, I’m afraid, is also one in a million in the south. But he really made me know that there are skies beyond our skies and people more excellent than ours. We should never have a narrow view and stick to our own achievements.”

He looked up to the top of the mountain and hummed to himself, “This kind of world, this kind of martial arts, can be called interesting.”

Before he finished the sentence, he had dragged his sister to the Frozen Path of Perseverance.

…

As tall as thirty meters plus, the Nether Emperor stood before the path, again whom ordinary people were like ants. Through his every act and move, there was a sense of shaking in fake space by heavenly weapons, as if ancient mighty people were coming.

His bones were like growing on a hulk, with a sense of unreality, as if they were everywhere and controlled life and death. That was horrible, but there was an obvious incomplete feeling, making the sense of horror could not be connected consistently.

His figure and appearance were hidden by the yellow-blood mists. Holding his two life-and-death brushes, each in white and black respectively, the Nether Emperor looked at the path in front of him, as if a divine light was shooting out through the mist.

He had been to the Secret Realm many times, but had never seen it like today.

The skeleton of the real body of the Corpse of Nether should hook the lingering will of the Demonic Monarch and cause abrupt changes!

Since the division of Original Diabolism, the Life-and-death Fugacity Sect cultivated according to the True Dharma of the Nether, but later the inheritance broke many times. Until over three thousand years ago, when a patriarch entered the Life-and-death Realm, the sect was rebuilt again.

It was also this patriarch who cultivated the True Dharma of Nether to the level of Dharmakaya and sensed the unseen Corpse of Nether, and then he found slots of the Nine Levels of Underground through arduous and dangerous experiences, discovered in one level the slough of the nether corpse and secret spells of making the living dead.

Since then, every patriarch of the Life-and-death Fugacity Sect were bent on trying to mix the Corpse of Nether and the True Dharma of Nether into one. That was not finished until the previous generation. Pitifully, the old patriarch was dying and hardly made a try, so the Nether Emperor had been striving for this since the beginning, and it came to the final moment.

As long as with a Dharmakaya body of a living person, the Nether Emperor could turn yin to yang, death to life, achieve the unprecedented Nether Real Body, own a body which was still legendary after decay, and have direct access to part of the authority of life and death. He would be half fairy and half god, a special man fairy much stronger than Earth Fairies. He could realize breakthrough and improvement in a short time, join the line of Divine Fairies in a few years, reign in contemporary times, establish Hades on Earth and control the survival of the living.

Pitifully, he had made repeated attempts but failed to catch a Dharmakaya. Instead, he was seriously damaged.

The past flashed by in the Nether Emperor’s mind. He paid no attention to the bizarre stones on both sides, but was cautious and pleasant with the illusory yellow-blood stream in the middle.

“Maybe on the peak there is a Draught of the Nether congealed by the Demon Monarch when inferring the True Dharma of Nether,” looking at the indifferently flowing stream which ignored life and death and forgot the past, the Nether Emperor walked forward seriously.

…

Ye Yuqi walked on a path covered with snow, with her Sword of the Chilling Glint hanging low. At her sides, strange and terrifying stones seemed to be frozen by ice and snow.

Suddenly, an old woman appeared in front of her, who was humpbacked, with white hair, whose cheek skin was like a chicken’s, and whose eyes were turbid.

Beside her stood a cask, and she held a chipped stone bowl and said in a shrill voice,

“Drink this bowl of Meng Po Soup, and forget the past and present. Even an unfaithful husband and a fickle wife, will meet as merely passersby. Hereafter you’ll no more be sorrowful or hurt!”

“Meng Po Soup…” Ye Yuqi startled a moment. Her eyes were dim and uncertain. Later, she raised her left hand, as if to take over the bowl of Meng Po Soup.

Her fingertips penetrated through it. It turned out to be an illusion.

Ye Yuqi raised the corners of her mouth, and a faint smile appeared, which showed a sense of pain and willingness. She withdrew her hand and walked to the peak.

…

Meng Qi stepped on the slightly muddy black soil, worrying other gurus came up against dangers, so his pace became relatively fast while still prudent.

He walked around the peak twice, then the black mists before him began to get thick, isolating his Jing Shen and blocking his eyesight and hearing.

Subconsciously, Meng Qi slowed down his pace, with blade in right hand and sword in left hand. He stepped into the mists with nothing hidden any more.

The mists started to roll and suddenly separated. A figure appeared in front of Meng Qi, who wore an ancient crown and a loose gown with big sleeves. He was high, with black hair tied into a bun. His majestic aura had gone through heaven and earth, full of hatred, which made him appear to ruin the living, ruin the world, and even ruin himself!

His aura was long-lasting, crossing the river of history and making people unable to resist him.

He slowly turned around, and revealed an odd and ancient face. His right hand was thick, twice as big as ordinary people, and his fingernails were like swords. Dark and strange patterns spread on the back of his hands, filled with heinous blood and tremendous hate.

Devil Claws? Which generation of master was he? Meng Qi once saw the generous appearance of Devil Claws, and the hands in front of him reminded him of that.

The figure’s expression was indifferent, with thousands of years of hatred in his eyes. He said in a calm voice but with homicidal intent, “Qi, I will die together with you.”

Qi? Divine Emperor Qi? Meng Qi suddenly understood who this person was.

He was the Hen Tian Emperor, the third generation of Devil Claws. He gained Devil Claws after the Man Emperor passed away, and inherited Yuan Shi Diabolism. A few hundred years later he initiated an unprecedented Devil Trail and intended to ruin the world. However, the reigning Divine Emperor Qi was strong, and gathered a large number of immortals to suppress him.

Finally, in their duel fight, he was killed by the Divine Emperor Qi, and three years later, Qi passed away. They nearly died together.

“Is this the battlefield of the Divine Emperor Qi and the Hen Tian Emperor?” Meng Qi recalled but realized the location was not right. They fought in the God Burial Desert in the western region, but here were icy plains in the Extreme North.

But if it were not their battlefield, how could there be any lingering aura of the Hen Tian Emperor and his last words?

After careful identification, Meng Qi ensured that the Hen Tian Emperor was only remnants of a projection, not even an aura. He then detoured with doubt.

Not in a few steps, the mists rolled and separated once again, and Meng Qi found a figure sitting straight up before him, with white hair unbound and lingering at his back, and his eyes red with hatred. He was handsome but cool, in ancient apparel and with an identical thick right hand, on which dark and spooky patterns spread all over with speechless hate.

“Devil Claws again…” Meng Qi gave a glance and generally knew his identity.

He was the fourth generation of master of Devil Claws, the Devil Emperor Xie Tianshu.

He had amazing talents and was once eminent in medieval times as a righteous swordsman. Many saints later were inspired by him. But he degenerated all of a sudden and no one knew the reason. He was blinded by hatred, betrayed his sect, became crazy, and killed his teachers and brothers. He grew into a big shot among devils and demons, and later gained Devil Claws, which helped him unify the diabolism. He started a period of dark years, and later concluded by the earliest medieval saints.

The medieval time was a time when men and devils were contending with each other.

“I hate!” Devil Emperor Xie Tianshu let out a long and loud cry, full of unwillingness.

Meng Qi took a breath. What he saw were all the residues of the masters of Devil Claws. Did this place have something to do with Devil Claws?