The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

In the sound of creaking, the Nether Emperor could hear his bones rubbing against each other in his enormous body. He could feel the bones pushing towards all directions uncontrollably. His body separated into many parts and could no longer form a whole. His life-long cultivation, his Formation of Meng Po, his Draught of the Nether, his wand of evil god, and his Life-and-death Mana, everything was at the hands of others and could not be controlled by his own will.

That palm bone was indeed the most special item of all. It controlled the cardinal of the Corpse of Nether, no wonder it was taken away… The black body of the Nether Emperor that was covered in white fur was out of shape with the ribs raised, the collarbone sunken, the black bones broken through the skin. His body was covered in yellowish blood as if he had swallowed a horrible monster that was now plundering inside him.

He and Meng Qi were of the same level and he could prevail with his years of cultivation and the Corpse of Nether. But now his body was completely out of control. What else could he use to defeat the enemy?

In a battle between superiors, a very small difference and the right place or time might be the key to winning. When the Nether Emperor exposed such a big flaw, how could Meng Qi not grasp this chance?

The void shook all of a sudden. Meng Qi’s body disappeared all of a sudden and reappeared a few inches right in front of the Nether Emperor as if he had come out of nowhere. Without any hesitation, he drew the long blade aslant and gently touched the brow of the Nether Emperor with the black hand bone held in his left hand.

The yellowish fog of blood that surrounded the Nether Emperor dissipated in an instant, revealing his face finally. It was a pale face with bloody red eyes and green pupils. His nose was high and his lips were thin, breathing in and out the dark cold air. He had a peculiar charm but thick black hair grew out from his pores as if he was a wild beast in the mountains. This contrast made anyone who saw him could not help feeling creepy.

Though he was still alive, he was more like an ancient corpse!

Poof, the dark hand bone with white gleam touched the forehead of the Nether Emperor. He tried to raise his hand to block it away, but his bones twisted to the other side. He wanted to use the Life-and-death pen, but his palm pushed the heavenly weapon away. His spirit was drowned in the congealed river of yellowish blood. He could only look on as the hand bone hit his forehead without any power to resist and he even could not perish with Meng Qi together.

This hand bone could control the Nether body of mine completely and Frenzied Blade Su Meng knew this all the time. This time he did not come in an attempt to defeat me. He came with a clear purpose and a clear plan. The result had been destined already!

At this moment, the Nether Emperor suddenly understood that as long as he was greedy for the Nether bones, the ending would be very hard to change.

Without Dharmakaya, the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect could not notice the changes of Meng Qi. With the existence of Su Wuming, they never needed to track or worry about exposing. Their cooperation prevented the formation from shutting down and activating. The participation of Mr. Lu can offset the connotation of vast majority of top forces. In the face of the ancient sects that had inherited for a few ten thousand years, there are the Priest God of Sun and monks that cultivated Ksitigarbha arts as back up to handle unprepared changes. The black hand bone can completely restrain the use of the Corpse of Nether so that he no longer had any hope, whether to perish together or to find an opportunity to escape.

In accordance with their cold and meticulous procedures, there might still be people lurking in the dark in case anything unexpected happened!

The power of the opponent was so strong, their planning was so careful, and their action was so meticulous that an ancient mighty sect that had inherited for a few ten thousand years was on the brink of collapsing with no strength to fight back. There were no fierce battles or imminent outbreaks. It was as if an ordinary sect had offended some top powerhouses.

This was like the mechanism of the middle ages of which everything was closely linked and operated orderly and indifferently, and then a trend slowly formed that led to the result of crushing the enemy!

The Nether Emperor heard the sound of his own body being torn apart. The dark flesh, the white hair, and the yellow blood adheres to the dark Corpse of Nether with white gleam and penetrated into the bone, causing them to become glossier and inexplicably holy.

In just a few moments, the Nether Emperor turned into a huge black skeleton without any flesh or blood.

The Life-and-death pen automatically protected its owner, but Meng Qi’s Fire Blade of Lingbao hit it directly and covered it with a layer of sun fire, forcing it back a little.

Seizing this opportunity, Meng Qi’s eyes become deep and serene. He stood in an indifferent manner like a god descending from the sky. He then displayed his promoted version of a heaven strike!

The heaven strike was a spiritual art at the peak of the Exterior Realm created by Meng Qi himself that mixed The Best in the World, the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship, the power of Heart Reflects Heart, the Yuan Xin Seal and Seal of Yin Yang together, and promoted with the second scroll of the Sinew-changing Scripture. It went through the past and reincarnated in the present again as fragments lept out!

Without the flesh to rely on and the help of form, plus the detonation of negative sentiment made by Yuan Xin Seal, the Nether Emperor’s Primordial Spirit only struggled slightly before being completely defeated. His sea of the soul surged with wind and clouds, pieces of golden fragments of memory jumped out from the sea and flashed across Meng Qi’s mind.

Without evoking the imperfection of his past life, Meng Qi only looked at the memories of this life.

After ten months of pregnancy, his mother died a violent death. The Nether Emperor was then borne from the corpse of his mother in the coffin. If his first cry had not been heard by an elder of the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect who was passing by, he was sure to suffocate in the coffin…

Born a special birth with gifted talent, he quickly cultivated the True Dharma of Nether and the Mana of the Life-and-Death Fugacity and soon become the top of the younger generation and was seen as the candidate of the patriarch…

He did not let the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect down. He went further on the exploration of the Nether Real Body. If only he could attain a body of a living Dharmakaya as a medium, he could turn Yin into Yang, turn the dead to living, and achieve the true Nether Real Body. By then his body would be close to the legendary realm and he would be half-immortal that could control life and death. He would be more powerful than Su Wuming today and may even surpass Mr. Lu. He would meet no obstacle on promoting towards legendary realm in the future…

However, human calculation was no match for divine calculation. Under the influence of an Achilles heel left intentionally by the evil god of Nether, he did not even have a chance to develop his strength as a guru nor the martial arts and secret magic he possessed in front of this hand bone…

Sometimes, destiny could really make one sigh! Meng Qi was very familiar with the last thought of the Nether Emperor,

“I am not reconciled!”

Memory fragments flashed by, Meng Qi found the thing he was looking for. This Corpse of Nether was attained by the patriarch who rebuilt the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect three thousand years ago in The Secret World of Nether of Nine Levels of Underground. Along with the corpse, they also got the secret method that could create a living dead person, but they did not find the trace of The Great Emperor Zhenwu.

Meanwhile, Meng Qi also discovered that there was a secret area called the Life-and-death Realm in the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect. Hiding there were complete descending and some heavenly weapons and materials. But even the Nether Emperor did not know how to enter this realm. Only descendants who would rebuild the Life-and-Death Fugacity Sect may find it by coincidence. The patriarch who rebuilt the sect did not leave a record on the way to enter the Life-and-death Realm.

This was fugacity. Life and death was impermanent. If one was lucky enough, one may always have a second chance!

“No trace of the Great Emperor Zhenwu was found…” Meng Qi slashed his blade eight times in the void as if digging out that part of void, forming a solidified cage that momentarily trapped the life-and-death pen in it.

“This left me only two ways to complete the missions of the Great Emperor Zhenwu. One is to enter The Secret World of Nether of Nine Levels of Underground to look for messages left by the Great Emperor Zhenwu. The other way is to wait for the Dao Yi Seal to cross the threshold, then seek connection with the help of the Corpse of Nether and find reincarnation of the evil god of Nether so that he can raise his memory of past lives and directly ask about the Nether that was taken away by the Great Emperor Zhenwu!” in a short time, Meng Qi had thought out the plans. The second way did not need to depend on others and was entirely up to him. Thus the second way was the most appropriate.

However, the Dao Yi Seal was indeed one the first three seals. He had already mastered the newly acquired seal of void, but the Dao Yi Seal was still a mystery to him. Principles of Karma were not that easy to master.

At this moment, the lotus of sword beams suddenly disappeared leaving the entire ancient tomb world hazy and void. Meng Qi felt like he had entered into a mirage.

A road rose from the ground and circled up to form a mountain peak.

A middle-aged man with clear features in a long robe with large sleeves slowly went up along the road while speaking in an illusory voice,

“The beings that are not good or evil do good or evil out of will. To know good and evil is conscience, to banish evil for the good is to measure…”

“Knowledge and action should go hand in hand…”

These words constituted his understanding of himself, his exploration of heaven and earth, his thoughts about man to man, man to heaven, and man to death. They are layered on top of each other and weave a self-consistent road leading to the road of Dao. Even if Meng Qi did not agree with him, he thought they were somewhat thought-provoking.

The man walked to the peak of the mountain and raised his head to look up at the distant starry sky. His breath dissipated gradually, but his pondering and exploration remained. His regret was distinct as he asked a final also ultimate question in a low voice,

“What is Dao?”

His eyes closed and tears trickled down his cheeks. Before he perished, he did not want to live or fear death. He just wanted to know what Dao was and regretted that he did not find the answer.

What was Dao? Meng Qi’s eyes suddenly also got wet and his heart was empty and clear. Although he had not reached the level of saints, he seemed to be able to understand a little about their state of mind and spirit on their quest to explore the world and the Dao.

If one heard about the truth of Dao in the morning, one can die in satisfaction in the evening.

The figure of the Heart Saint disappeared and the world of ancient tomb went back to normal as illusions dissipated. The remaining slough of the Heart Saint lay down again in the ancient bronze coffin.

Han Guang sighed. This case was solved so quickly that he could only be an onlooker.