The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Jiang Zhiwei held onto her sword with her left hand and used the swordwill of “Anatta Sword” to change the Inner World. This resulted in resonance with the Outer World and activated “Yama’s Invitation”. Compared to the moves of “Anatta Sword”, it was much simpler, and almost crude when it came to variations. It was something she could handle with her unskilled left hand at present.

Her calm heart reflected the fine variations. Apart from eliminating the obstacles in front of her, she had no other thoughts. She had no considerations about death or worries about winning. It was as if she were on the verge of achieving Oneness of Heaven and Men, and becoming one with her blade!

With that strike, there was no going back. Although it was strong to the point of breaking, her will was unyielding!

The sword light was bright and blinding, like a faint, beautiful Heavenly Fairy above all things. However, it was also awe-inspiring and carried the concentrated scent of death, as if it were Heaven and Earth’s judgment on all living organisms.

Murky felt a chill run through his body. It felt the threat of death, like it never had before and its eyes were about to pop right out of their sockets. However, the “Wild Thunder” had just passed and its waves had been scattered. He could only wield its steel fork, in an attempt to block the blow from the Long Sword.

“Clang!”

The sound of metal clashing could be heard from far. Meng Qi felt his heart drop. Had the blade been blocked?

His mental power withered once more, as he felt the lethargy set in. Only his genuine Qi retained its balance. If either he or Jiang Zhiwei was unable to kill Murky or severely injure him, it would be over for them.

The sword light dissipated. Since Jiang Zhiwei was using her left hand after all, she was not quite used to it and had been a tad too slow. The steel fork had parried her blow to a good extent. It failed to hit the critical mid-brows to destroy Murky’s Vital Spirit, but had managed to stab the right of Murky’s head. The blade penetrated his hard skull and remained embedded there.

Sword Qi was unleashed and attacked Murky’s brain. Jiang Zhiwei had no intention of giving up yet. She planned to use such a method to get rid of Murky!

Argh! Murky’s sad and shrill shrieks filled the air. Blood Essence flowed out of his eyes and spurted out of its open mouth. The shards of Monster Core he had previously swallowed were also expelled at the same time.

Since it had come to this, there was no point in holding back anymore!

The shards of the black Monster Core transformed into a beam of flying light and shot directly at Jiang Zhiwei. She gritted her teeth and stood her ground, continuing to release the Sword Qi. The Qi passed through Murky’s skull and devastated his brain fluids.

One of the shards was about to hit Jiang Zhiwei on her left chest, when a hand suddenly reached out and blocked it. It was none other than Meng Qi, who had swiftly swung his blade and had not retreated. He had sacrificed his own flesh to save Jiang Zhiwei from a fatal blow.

The Monster Core pierced through Meng Qi’s left hand, which was not protected by the Golden Bell Shield. Although his flesh ended up twisted and torn, his blocking and the Immortal Pressing Art greatly helped to reduce the force. Jiang Zhiwei was only blown a few feet back and managed to escape without her body and heart being pierced.

When Jiang Zhiwei flew backward, she held her sword tight and yanked it. The Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow was pulled out of Murky’s head, leaving a gaping wound behind.

The Monster Core was utterly destroyed, causing Murky’s strength to plummet further. He no longer had the ability to borrow the power of Heaven and Earth. Besides, he was severely injured. In fact, he was already in a state of confusion and could only rely on his solid demonic powers and massive size to hold on.

However, he was not dead yet!

“Hahahaha!” He threw his head back and cackled, as blood continued to gush out of his forehead. His bloody face made him resemble a devil, ferocious and terrifying.

“Trying to kill me?”

“With the likes of you?”

“I’m going to make you regret that you’re still alive!”

He seemed to go berserk, wielding his steel fork to charge right at Meng Qi.

Meng Qi’s head was still hurting in a way that made him want to bash it against a wall. His mental energy had greatly diminished as well, making it even more difficult to control the complicated variation moves. He was only able to hold the Whisper Sword and fight Murky head on to the death.

“Kill!”

He hollered. His genuine Qi exploded and he swung his sword down on the steel fork.

“Clang!”

Both of them took a step back from the force. Meng Qi’s body was swaying, because he was slightly weaker than Murky.

Jiang Zhiwei struggled with all her might, but the damage to her left chest was so serious that she could not get to her feet.

“Die!” Murky made a forceful stab with his steel fork. His eyes were bloody and the crimson fluid was flowing from them, streaking his face with bloody streams.

“Kill!” Meng Qi did not back down. He swung his Long Knife horizontally at the steel fork with all the brute force of rampaging thunder and the unyieldingness of Knife Dao.

“Clang!”

Both of them took a step back again. Meng Qi spat out a mouthful of blood. He used the ability of the Immortal Pressing Art to turn death to life and managed to maintain an abundance of genuine Qi, but it seemed that he was still a bit weaker than Murky.

All of a sudden, the beautiful sound of a zither rang out in Meng Qi’s heart. It was like rain after a long drought, refreshing his spirit and welling out like clean water from a spring.

Ruan Yushu sat cross-legged on the ground, with her ancient zither by her side. Her left hand was not moving and her face was pristine and clear. Without audible sounds, she channeled the music of the zither into Meng Qi’s heart.

Only those born with the gift of the zither could learn the Ruan family’s secret technique — the “Heart of Zither”. One used his heart as a zither, his seven emotions as its strings and his Gist of Trueness to play it. Inaudible heavenly music would be played, leading to resonance with others’ hearts!

Everytime she played a note, Ruan Yushu’s face paled further. The “Heart of Zither” exhausted a lot of mental energy and was not something the average person could handle. Moreover, she was still recovering from her serious injuries.

Meng Qi felt that his genuine Qi was brimming and his mental energy significantly recovered a little. His strength also seemed to have been raised to a higher level. He suddenly violently shouted,

“Kill!”

His Long Knife swung out once more, like crackling thunder descending from the skies, crushing everything with its momentum.

Murky stumbled a little but raised his steel fork to block the attack. He also shrieked, “Die!”

“Clang!”

The Whisper Sword and steel fork could be heard smashing into each other once more from afar. However, this time around, Meng Qi did not move backward. Murky, on the other hand, took three consecutive steps back!

“Kill!” Unleashing his Body Movements, Meng Qi charged forward, with his blade like a wild dragon.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Meng Qi’s every strike was more ferocious than his previous one. Murky had no choice but to hang in there.

Blood spurted out of Ruan Yushu’s nostrils. She could not withstand the mental effort anymore and fainted, falling backward.

After that blow, Murky’s demonic powers began faltering against Meng Qi’s physical stamina and genuine Qi being constantly at its peak. The only issue was with the Whisper Sword. After clashing several times with Murky’s steel fork, which was almost on the level of a Precious Weapon, fine cracks had begun to appear on the blade!

Meng Qi was full of hatred and his desire for battle was boiling over. He forced out the last strands of Purple Thunder Force from his Dantian. Although he could not use the Violent Thunder Shocking the Sky, he would strengthen the power of his stroke.

“Die right now!”

Meng Qi’s bellow made the entire temple shake. His Long Knife went straight for Murky’s face. The blade appeared to be firm yet gentle, and feminine yet masculine. All these mixed together into a chaotic, indistinguishable mess.

The Trio Combination of Yin and Yang, which is Yin and which is Yang?

When his steel fork made contact with the Whisper Sword, Murky felt that his opponent’s Long Knife did not bear force. The knife seemed to be so feminine and gentle that his fork was pushed away easily.

“Die right now!”

Yin and Yang worked together and flowed from the former to the latter. In a flash, the gentleness turned to strength and forced the steel fork back. The Long Knife suddenly pressed forward and cleaved in the direction of Murky’s face with unparalleled ferocity. Its very target was Murky’s gaping wound!

“Die right now!”

His voice reverberated throughout the compound and his Knife Momentum was violent. Meng Qi was like a Thunder God from the Heaven. Streaks of purple thunder shot out from his palms, encircling his Whisper Sword.

The crisis of death entered Murky’s thoughts. He became sober all of a sudden and blurted, “Spare me… ”

“Clang!”

The Long Knife struck him right on his skull. It was like hitting Lazurite, causing only a few scales to fall off. However, the purple Thunderclap ravaged his wound, wrecking Murky’s brain from inside.

“Pop! Pop! Pop!”

Violet Lightning Snakes emerged from Murky’s eyes, nose, ears and other orifices, as if they were spitting smoke.

“Pop! Pop! Pop!”

His demonic power entirely collapsed and imploded. Black gas began billowing from Murky’s body.

With a shrill sound, the Whisper Sword shattered in Meng Qi’s hands. It turned into silver dust and scattered on the ground.

Murky’s pleading expression remained frozen on his face along with some remnants of his madness. A burnt smell drifted from him, and his skin appeared to darken even more.

His eyes were completely soulless. With an unceremonious thud, he collapsed before Meng Qi’s feet. Only the sound of his steel fork hitting the ground could be heard in the distance.

“He’s finally dead…”  A wave of happiness and relief washed over Meng Qi. All of a sudden, he realized that he had exhausted all his strength as well. He went weak in the knees and fell to the ground too.

He lay on his back, arms and legs spread apart, as he gazed up at the heavens. The blue bricks beneath him were icy cold, but Meng Qi felt nothing but peace and joy. This was indeed the feeling of escaping death!

However, he did not indulge in this state for long. Ruan Yushu was still unconscious and Jiang Zhiwei was still badly injured. They were waiting for him to go to their aids.

He relied on his genuine Qi to support him and struggled to his feet. He saw that Jiang Zhiwei had already sealed off her acupoints and was harmonizing her Qi-circulation in a cross-legged position, so he rushed over to Ruan Yushu first. Meng Qi helped her up and placed his hand on her sleeveless shirt, channeling inner force into it to protect her heart vessel.

Coldness and heat intersected in Ruan Yushu’s body, making her shudder. After a while, she regained consciousness. Meng Qi quickly asked, “Are you alright? Hurry up and take a recovery elixir.”

The other elixirs they had brought had all been consumed.

Ruan Yushu’s body was feeble. Therefore, she told Meng Qi the chant to access the Space Ring, and made him retrieve it instead.

Meng Qi repeated the chant in his head once and remembered it. Then he opened the Space Ring and retrieved the recovery elixirs Fu Zhenzhen had left behind.

However, even before Ruan Yushu opened her mouth to take the elixir, her large, clear eyes stared at Meng Qi. With much effort, she said, “Dried Dragon Fish!”

Meng Qi felt awkward in an instant. “She should be thinking about snacking at a time like this!”

He feigned patience and replied, “Take the elixir first. After your condition has stabilized, you can eat your Dried Dragon Fish.”

“Dried Dragon Fish first!” Ruan Yushu stubbornly looked at Meng Qi, refusing to give in.

“Fine.” Meng Qi decided to concede to her ridiculous request. He found the Dried Dragon Fish and placed it in Ruan Yushu’s mouth, then fed her the recovery elixir, using his genuine Qi to speed up the process.

A short moment later, the elixir’s recovery properties were unleashed and Ruan Yushu’s condition stabilized. She began to harmonize Qi-circulation by herself. Meng Qi then brought the elixir over to Jiang Zhiwei.

“It’s finally over.” Jiang Zhiwei had been harmonizing her Qi-circulation for a while and thus her injuries had not worsened. After taking the elixir, she let out a long sigh. A bright and heartfelt smile graced her beautiful features. It had really been a difficult journey!

Meng Qi was just as glad. “I couldn’t believe we managed to kill a monster at the Exterior level.”

He paused for a moment, before revealing a worried expression. “I wonder how Senior Brother Qi and Old Luo are doing… ”

He did not know where Qi Zhengyan and the rest had escaped. It was impossible to search for them in the depths of Holy Mountain, which was wrought with danger.

“I hope they’re okay.” Upon thinking about the matter, Jiang Zhiwei’s expression dulled too.

“Yeah, lucky people will always be helped by the Heaven… ” Meng Qi helped Jiang Zhiwei up and they made their way over to Ruan Yushu to help her up too. These three entered the Great Buddha’s Hall together.

“A zombified Luohan came from inside here. Judging from its momentum, there should be no other monsters in the Great Buddha’s Hall. Outside, it would be easy to come across zombies, but once we’re inside the hall, we should be safe,” Meng Qi explained.

Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu did not have any different opinions. When they passed by the Murky, these three people stopped and bent down to collect it’s steel fork, scattered scales and the Buddha’s Glaze Relic left behind by the Luohan. They put all these in the Space Ring.

As for Murky’s armor, Purple Gold Crown and other objects, Meng Qi lacked the strength to remove them at the moment. He could only return to get them after he had had ample rest. Other than those items, Murky was not carrying anything else on him.

Looking at Murky’s corpse, Ruan Yushu sighed. There seemed to be a hint of pity in her voice as she said, “It’s all burnt… ”

“He’s all burnt… What are you thinking about…”  Meng Qi was speechless. He led the girls into Great Buddha’s Hall, when suddenly, his eyes lit up.

On the incense table was a bluish white lamp, whose flame was as small as a bean. The interior was warm and tranquil, forming a stark contrast against the cold and gloomy exterior.

The bluish white lamp was covered in cracks. Its flame was dull, as if it had gone through centuries, without being extinguished.

All of a sudden, the sound of light footsteps came from outside of the temple. Someone seemed to be approaching.

Meng Qi was both shocked and horrified. Given their current state, the three of them were in no position to resist enemies!

He made Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei lean against a pillar for support, then reached for his “Meridian”. He had no intention of just resigning himself to death.

The person stepped into the hall. Meng Qi was first stunned, then burst into elation.

“Senior Brother Qi!”

It was Qi Zhengyan who had arrived!