The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Purple clouds covered a vast distance, the words of the Tao Te Ching filled the sky, as if heaven shouted in an awakening voice to enlighten people and spread morality. It could be heard no matter how far the distance was.

Inside the Cave of Golden Light, King Zhuang of Chu was frowning as he pondered over his recent difficult situation. He was thinking of there was any way to resolve Duke Huan of Qi’s alliance strategy. Suddenly, purple clouds floated in the air as specks of yellow, black and white descended slowly.

King Zhuang of Chu suddenly looked up as he heard a grand and solemn voice say, “The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao.”

“The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao…” his brows loosened up as he muttered. He felt that these words were mysterious and profound. The more he digested the more he found them meaningful, not specific yet commanding all things.

After recovering from his thoughts, what King Zhuang of Chu heard was already, “…all tangles untied, all glares tempered, all dust smoothed…” Having missed out on so many brilliant words of morality, he subconsciously scratched his ears, feeling annoyed and regretful.

Using the Myriad World Moving Method, his eyes saw the source of the edict of humanity to find out what exactly was going on.

Floating shadows appeared in his eyes. There was a figure riding on a black ox shaking slightly, looking very laid back. He felt that it was strangely familiar.

After that moment, King Zhuang of Chu blurted out, “Su Mo!”

It was actually the Mohist leader Su Mo — the one who got hold of the Kai Tian Seal and closely related to the Jade Mirage Palace!

He’s actually capable of saying such words of morality!

A sage brings prosperity to all!

Inside the palace of Qi, Duke Huan of Qi was so enraptured by the words that he matched them to the rhythm from time to time until the words of the Tao Te Ching reverberated. He then exclaimed, “In all rules and tactics, there is always the Tao!”

The black ox rose higher with each step. Meng Qi looked at peace and didn’t control the direction as he knew there were things he was going to face.

Now that he had freed himself from the restraint and cut away the past and future, thwarting the Devil Buddha Ananda’s plan to break free from the seal in advance, the one behind the scene was probably going to show up — the one who hid his earthly body in the Jade Mirage Palace; the one who left him the book of the Tao Te Ching written by the High Lord!

With clouds under its four hooves, the black ox reached higher as it walked. In front of it were white clouds which was magnificent like the sea.

It was afternoon and the sun was up high. The clouds were a sea of brilliant gold, glorious and magnificent.

Deep within the clouds, a palace suddenly appeared — yellow at the bottom, its roof flowed with air streams of dragon. With a tightly shut red gate, it’s covered with golden nails, looking high and honorable. Around it were nine ancient wells surrounded by jade railings, just like how Jade Mirage Palace should be!

The black ox shuttled in the clouds as it stepped through void space, slowly approaching the gate of the Jade Mirage Palace.

Creak! The red gate opened by itself without wind!

Meng Qi got off the ox and waved his hand. The ox suddenly disintegrated into yellow, black, white, and purple specks of light before entering Meng Qi’s Dharmakaya to heal the damages left behind by the fierce battle when forming the Dharmakaya.

As he strolled toward the gate, Meng Qi’s green robe was flowing and his temples showed signs of graying. The Emperor’s Sword in his hand had already flew away and returned to Gao Lan, in case it was borrowed for another ten years. The Tyrant’s Invincible Blade had become black again, flashing purple lightning from time to time and making it look gleaming throughout.

At this moment, other than the Tyrant’s Invincible Blade, the only few items on him had already assimilated into the Sea of Soul’s Zhen Yi Inheritance, the Tree of Dao, and the Demonic Peach. The others had either turned into fine powder with the destruction of the flesh body or turned into the words of humanity and spread in the universe.

They really come and go without worry, how free and easy.

After passing through the red gate, the cloister in front of Meng Qi was clear. Restrictive spells were all reserved, as though welcoming guests.

After passing through the cloister, the structure was no longer the same as previous experiences — an old yet simple and honorable-looking hall appeared straightaway. On it was a board inscribed with the words ‘Jade Pure Palace’!

The tightly shut yellow gate slowly opened as Meng Qi approached, showing the scene inside — empty and simple, with only one prayer mat.

A man was sitting cross-legged on one of the prayer mats. He was in a Taoist robe with his hair tied up in a silver crown. He wore straw sandals and had a silk ribbon around his waist. He looked handsome and delicate with rosy lips and white teeth, and gave Meng Qi a strangely familiar feeling!

As he sat there, it was as though he was everywhere — the past, present, and future. Without the feel of having experienced the vicissitudes of life, he had the depth of going through time. Not showing any awe yet made one not dare to look straight at.

Seeing Meng Qi walk in, he let out a faint smile, “Senior, do you still remember your junior at Daming Lake?”

“Zhenhui…” Meng Qi’s eyes shrunk and then said immediately, “Yang Jian…”

Junior Zhenhui is actually Yang Jian!

The mighty person honored as the most promising of the next generation to attain the Nirvana Realm!

The mighty person who controls heaven and earth with just one word!

The coincidence from discovering Zhenchang stealing the scriptures, the luck from Hanhai’s reckless doings, etc. — all these flashed across Meng Qi’s mind before he finally made a statement, “I see!”

His own destiny seemed to have suffered a certain degree of deviation as a result.

But he was the junior who was foolish and obedient, his eyes always bright and shining. He was the junior who risked his own life to find him and his teacher, and was heartbroken when he got expelled from Shaolin. He was the junior whom he didn’t have any feelings of unfamiliarity despite not meeting for years. Meng Qi really couldn’t match him with this good-looking and elegant mighty person in front of him who was known for being overbearing!

A touch of sadness and anger arose as Meng Qi stood at the door. He didn’t go inside or find a prayer mat to sit down.

With a faint smile on his face, Yang Jian said slowly, “He’s not a fish, not a Tao sign, and also not a reincarnated body. Zhenhui was created from my consciousness, using my temper before entering Tao as a base and only hiding a large portion of memories so as not to be found out. He is me, and I am him. We share everything and are not independent of each other.”

“When did you regain all your memories?” Meng Qi controlled his emotions and let out a sigh.

Recalling the past details and combining them with today’s experience and realm, he had to admit that what Yang Jian said was right.

Yang Jian pointed at the praying mat in front, signaling Meng Qi to sit down, as he said, “When you entered the Jade Mirage Palace and discovered the earthly body, hence activating the prohibition I secretly left behind.”

“You were the one who moved my earth body to Jade Mirage Palace?” Meng Qi slowly sat down, and was a distance away from Yang Jian.

Yang Jian nodded lightly with a smile, “I searched for the traces of the master and found the Jade Mirage Palace once again. After entering the top level of Ninth Heaven, I discovered the hint that was left behind that I didn’t understand at first. It was only until the Devil Buddha gained his power and then got suppressed by Gautama Buddha that I understood what it was pointing at. I followed the clue and found your earthly body. Then, I waited until the devil Buddha moved his soul onto Su Ziyuan to hide your earthly body in a secret hall of the Jade Mirage Palace before he destroyed the body.”

“You did all these to prevent the Devil Buddha from escaping?” Meng Qi looked indifferent as he guessed the plans of Yuanshi and Yang Jian.

Yang Jian shook his head and said, “No, after Ananda practiced the Buddha’s Palm the reverse way and became a devil, not only did he return to the peak very quickly, his progress was astonishing. He reached the Nirvana Realm not long after and even traced back to the beginning of the past, possessed everything from the future, and could be found in almost every timeless rivers in the universe. He could be called one of the people of the Nirvana Realm from ancient times, and was about to attain the initial form of the result of Tao, which made him only slightly below master.”

“This was beyond the expectation of all the mighty people and they suspected that the Devil Buddha was hiding something. Nonetheless, the Devil Buddha had already gained his power and cannot be controlled anymore. It was really a great bloodshed then, with countless mighty people falling into the mediaeval ages until Gautama Buddha took action to suppress.”

“His level was close to being omniscient and omnipotent, violating common theory, surpassing logic and was almost perfect. There were only a few who could compete with him. If he escaped intact, heaven and earth would experience darkness. Luckily he did a layout in advance, wanting to escape secretly with the help of the hidden fish, and this let me find a chance with the hint given to my master.”

“You are a part of him. Your independence would make him lose his realm of perfection and onto the ranking of normal nirvana, hence not omniscient and omnipotent, and re-emerge as an enemy within imagination. And precisely because of this, the most important thing to him after getting out was to engulf you and attain perfection again.”

Meng Qi listened quietly as he finally understood the reason why Yang Jian took great pains to plan, “Can’t the Devil Buddha continue to be suppressed?”

“The Final Trial has arrived and all the seals have been loosened. Unless the Gautama Buddha takes action again, or at least three of the other people of the Nirvana Realm unite, then could he be put under the seal again,” Yang Jian looked at peace and did not show any trace of fear.

“Isn’t the Heavenly Lord of a higher level than him? He also can’t do it?” Meng Qi was a little unsure of how to address Yuanshi.

Yang Jian showed a bitter smile, “I’ve searched forever and still couldn’t find him, but only gotten some hints.”

“What about Gautama Buddha? Why didn’t he take action at the Spirited Mountain but during the medieval period, and not reinforcing the loosened seals?” Meng Qi asked doubtfully.

Yang Jian said, “After attaining the result of Tao, all conjecture and cognition about them were wrong, so I do not know why he did that.”

Meng Qi pondered for a while before saying, “What is the Final Trial?”

“There is a reincarnation in heaven and earth, and there is an end to every era. This lifetime is almost coming to an end. According to master’s hint, I suspect that this is the last era and it’s hard to say if there would be a next time, hence it’s called the Immortal Final Trial. Who can achieve transcendence, who can achieve eternity, and who will disappear, it all depends on this trial.” Yang Jian explained, “By then, countless people of the Nirvana Realm and legendary mighty people will return.”

“Such as you? Why didn’t you return in advance?” Meng Qi’s eyes looked dull.

“For old fellows like us who have lived forever, once we return to the Timeless River, the erosion of our bodies would become very obvious and our strengths would slowly decrease. Therefore, we need to maintain at our peak and return at the best opportunity.” Yang Jian pointed at himself, “This soul is also returning to its original body and waits until the official beginning of the Great Trial, so there isn’t much time left. What else do you want to ask?”

Meng Qi thought for a while before saying, “What should I do if I want to save Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, Zhao Heng, and Qi Zhengyan?”

“They are different from you — Some of them are on the List of Deification. Once you show the intention of saving, their bodies would be destroyed and then kept within. Some of them are half-controlled by the Devil’s Claws. Anything slightly amiss and the Demonic Monarch would return in advance. So, you need to plan slowly, either wait for create the opportunity…” Yang Jian rattled on as Meng Qi listened carefully.

Right after speaking, Yang Jian’s body gradually became transparent. An illusionary Timeless River appeared, and he smiled again, “You can only rely on yourself for now. I hope I can see you again when I return, Senior.”

Meng Qi let out a sigh before standing up. As he walked out of the hall, he said in a low voice without turning back, “In my heart, my junior is already dead.”

In front of him was an ancient well standing amidst a sea of clouds.