The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

“What is there to fear?”

“The stroke of the Emperor of the Netherworld, one who possesses powers close to that of a grandmaster is about to fall upon him, and still he asks, ‘Why the fear?'”

Exasperated and confounded by Meng Qi’s reply, Slayer Yaksh shook in horror at the danger closing in upon them. He turned frantically at Meng Qi and screamed,

“You!”

His head swung back to look at the approaching Emperor of the Netherworld with gaping eyes.

Long has Slayer Yaksh escaped the pursuits of vengeance and retribution and survived the treacherous pitfalls that infested the region of Bomi. He was hardly an inept fool to not notice Meng Qi’s calm composure. “Surely he has a hidden ace up his sleeve!” A cry rang from within his mind.

He had barely looked over when a sudden, stabbing chill assailed his senses. The blood in his veins iced and froze as everything around him fell into a grim sluggishness. The movements of the Emperor of the Netherworld and the ancient one slowed. The mysterious wave of blood-red fluid glaciated into huge ice by the abrupt artic frost that descended the entire chamber. Currents of cold air blew about while everything in the chamber glistened and sparked with the luster of ice.

A palm, fair and graceful as the pale sun of the winter, fell from the roof of the cave chamber. Snowflakes circled the falling hand that gleamed of a cold and merciless frost that appeared like a huge fist.

Flickers of sparks shone from the body of the Emperor as the palm struck upon him. Be it a conjuration of defense, or an effect of his magical artifact; they mattered no more. The fair, pale hands smote upon its mark with unnerving sternness, leaving the Emperor no room for escape or maneuver!

Bang!

Down came the unforgiving stroke that had flattened both the apparition and the Emperor into pulps of flesh and blood!

The blood that spewed forth had barely flown far when it crystallized into bright, red beads of ice. The magical array conjured before was rendered futile in the face of the trampling might of the blow!

“How…” stammered Slayer Yaksh whose expression and movements froze. Nothing save for a simple thought registered in his mind, “Has the Emperor of the Netherworld been slain with just one stroke?”

The breadth of the force that hammered its foes into mushy waste stupefied even Meng Qi himself, “Is this the full might of the Progenitor Doumu’s wrath?” he wondered, perplexed.

“Thus is the difference in the might between a Half-Step from Dharmakaya and a common warrior of the Exterior?” he wondered, “Like a warrior of the Exterior Scenery and a fresh sapling who had barely unsealed his apertures? No! The difference is even greater! Desperate was the Emperor of the Netherworld in venting his fury and unleashing his powers. Yet, still ,he was reduced to bits in the next breath by a mere stroke!”

It dawned upon Meng Qi that the Crying Elder’s ignominious defeat after being wounded by Su Wuming with just a strike of his blade and the former’s desperate flight to safety was no less dissimilar!

Not even Gu Xiaosang and the minions of the Luo Denomination who possessed powers of the Exterior would have been able to repel the onslaught of the Primogenitor Doumu had she unleashed her full might during their havoc in Luoyang! She had wilfully refrained from employing her powers which would have twisted even the very fabric of truth and wielded the forces of Nature between her fingertips in fear of the Grand Formation of Luoyang!

Frozen in the midst of his flight, layers of ice trapped and encased Old Zhong, holding him despite the gleaming radiance of the magical artifact in his grasp that tried in vain to released its master.

To the ground, he fell with a great bang. Still, the ice that held him remained steadfast and intact despite the fall.

Slayer Yaksh trembled with fear and shock. His quivering eyes turned to Meng Qi, teeming with uncontrollable panic and horror as his gaze conveyed his plea for mercy.

Suddenly, he found himself gripped tightly by an invisible hand. Helpless and unable to move, he could do nothing but felt the stabbing cold piercing through his protective aura. The frigid cold seeped into his body, clenching him with a gnawing frost that drained what was left of his vim and verve, rendering even his Vital Spirit sluggish and weak.

Dizziness overcame him as consciousness seeped gradually away from him. Through the blackness that descended upon him, he caught vague glimpses of the startled Meng Qi staring at him and the one who has held him. No, instead he saw the mass of flesh and blood of the two corpses on the ground!

Dazed, the Merciless Tyrant’s eyes centered on the middle as his eyeballs crept closer to each other, oblivious of the irreparable crack. Incoherently he mumbled,

“Who am I…”

“Who am I…” Shuddering at the sudden events, Meng Qi slowly reached out his sword.

In the thick of the unfolding events, he had not realized that the Merciless Tyrant had incapacitated the half-frozen Slayer Yaksh.

“Who am I…” In the mind of Slayer Yaksh, a voice reverberated ceaselessly, distant and lost. A whirling giddiness swept upon him as a stinging chill crept within him, devouring at his Vital Spirit.

Glimmering shafts of sunlight shone upon them both. The crimson blade of the sword stabbed forth, a force of a destructive burst swelled within.

Simultaneously they struck at each other. They were thrown behind the force of their blows and fell into the spot of light where the shaft of the sunlight fell. Within moments, they were whisked through the Gate of Life of the Carefree Valley.

The magical array has been broken once the Primogenitor Doumu had obliterated the apparition of the ancient one!

Meng Qi was about to take flight in pursuit when he decided against the notion. He remained and waited for the Primogenitor. None could say what perilous dangers would lurk within the depths of the Carefree Valley.

A cold, chilly mist spread across the cave chamber at the destruction of the Emperor and the apparition. From within the plumes of mist, Primogenitor Doumu emerged. She has not her mask on, revealing her fresh appearance and her lush, black hair, emanating a joyful vigor and freshness as the morning’s dew.

Here she was as the authority from the Huamei Heights to dispense justice and retribution on the former student of the school who had deviated to the Path of Evil. Her identity as the Primogenitor Doumu shall be kept hidden for now.

“That would explain the use of her Ice Fairy techniques earlier,” as the reason dawned upon Meng Qi. The techniques and course of the culmination of the Primogenitor Doumu persona, however, would remain unknown for now.

“Yang Zhenchan has been executed, Lady Ye,” said Meng Qi, addressing her by her true name instead of her persona from the Immortals in public.

Ye Yuqi nodded without a word in acknowledgment.

She strode over to Old Zhong. A flicker of black emerged from the pulp of flesh and blood suddenly, and hurled towards the Gate of Life!

“The Emperor of the Netherworld had endured!” Meng Qi thought, his pupils contracting in shock.

“No! The form is luminous in appearance, it is the Vital Spirit of him!”

“Impossible! Even in the form of his Vital Spirit, he should have been frozen and pummeled into bits and pieces by the mighty strike of the Progenitor!”

Ye Yuqi hastened as she tried to seize the escaping apparition. Still, the pearly-white apparition had beaten her to the Gate of Life and vanished past its threshold. With a deadpan expression, Ye Yuqi remarked, “It would appear that he is inextricably linked to this place.”

Thence her failure to apprehend him.

“He and the ancient spirit seemed to share identical appearance… I wonder if he is a descendant of the line of Bomi… ” Meng Qi wondered aloud, “But I had once believed that the residents of the country had perished in a sudden catastrophe…”

Ye Yuqi did not attempt to question Meng Qi on the origins of his knowledge of the Carefree Valley, nor did she pursue the escaped apparition. She walked briskly to Old Zhong who had lain frozen on the ground. “There might be merchants of Bomi who had been away during the catastrophe,” she said.

“Still, after generations and generations… They share the same, identical visage…Could it be that he is a reincarnation of his ancestor…” Meng Qi asked himself quizzically.

Ye Yuqi halted before Old Zhong. Her slender hands slapped upon his forehead. Energies of frosty chilliness channeled into him, increasing her restraint upon him.

“He should be a full member of the Myths. A direct interrogation or torture of his spirit might have adverse reactions. Let us take caution. Study first his powers and martial discipline,” Ye Yuqi spoke, her deep gaze bored into Meng Qi, “Use the Eight-Nine Mysteries technique of yours to penetrate his genuine Qi. I will rouse the conjuration of his powers for you to detect any traces.”

“His cultivation is called the Kungfu of Heaven and Demon…” Meng Qi muttered to himself. He strode over to the side of Old Zhong. With one hand on his forehead and another on his dantian, Meng Qi channeled his genuine Qi into that of Old Zhong’s. Maintaining a calmness as still as a peaceful lake, he attuned himself with the natural forces around and within himself, sensing and visualizing the physical properties of the restrained Old Zhong.

Slowly, the Primogenitor channeled her powers to stimulate Old Zhong’s Vital Spirit, triggering the instinctive conjuration of his Kungfu of Heaven and Demon. Ripples of dark lines materialized in Meng Qi’s spiritual sight of the channels of meridian points and apertures throughout Old Zhong’s body.

A golden glow radiated from Old Zhong’s body, the secrets of the Sky Devil’s Golden Body began peering from a tight gap.

Meng Qi’s Eight Nine Mysteries technique allowed him the ability to simulate the techniques and skills of other. This allowed him a grazing glance on the mystics of the Kungfu of Heaven and Demon. Little was the information that he had managed to amass, being unable to fully replicate the culmination discipline and its crux. Still, it should be sufficient in allowing Meng Qi to disguise as Old Zhong for short periods.

“This is the Sky Devil’s Four Erosion… These are the shifts of the meridian and aperture channels of the Extreme Bliss of Heaven and Demon…” Meng Qi thought to himself as he studied intently on what he could. Moments then passed, Meng Qi rose and ended his survey. He turned to the Primogenitor and spoke to her in a hushed tone, “Lady Ye, I have a rough understanding of his powers and discipline of culmination. It should be the Kungfu of Heaven and Demon…”

“The Kungfu of Heaven and Demon of the Dharmakaya stage?” Ye Yuqi asked with a tone of affirmation rather than doubt.

“Indeed, the Sky Devil’s Golden Body,” answered Meng Qi as he quietly reflected on the harvest of his study. He would have been able to disguise as Old Zhong and infiltrate into The Myth and act as a hidden agent from within if it were not for the hazardous and deadly but yet rewarding nature of the undertaking.

There was little understanding that Ye Yuqi has on the powers of the Kungfu of Heaven and Demon, given her first encounter with the discipline of culmination. Her gaze turned to Old Zhong. “We shall see what we can study from him on the tidings of The Myths. Better if we can convert him.”

The bindings of the Dominator of the Six Samsara Realms had not forbidden members of the Myths or the Immortals from making pacts with others so long as the nature of the pact would never undermine the interests of the guilds. A pact along the lines of the restrictions would allow conversions of members of opposing guilds.

Ye Yuqi lifted parts of her restraint, allowing Old Zhong to speak.

“You should understand your present predicament. Answer my questions truthfully and you may live,” Ye Yuqi declared blandly.

A dark, gloomy malaise swept over him as he answered, “Long have I lived, believing that the slaying of the weak, triumphing over the invincible, savoring of the taste of blood, and satiating all my desires and cravings give me the purposes of my life. What amusement and pleasures I have reaped, raping and pillaging, draining others of their powers, feasting on their flesh and blood as I torture their Vital Spirits…”

“Is this a confession…” Meng Qi wondered as he sucked lightly through his teeth.“Deviants like him would have been better off dead.”

“Still, if there is one thing that I would never do…” Old Zhong broke into a roaring laughter and screamed loudly, “is that I shall never surrender!”

“The Heaven Sovereign is…” He taunted through gritted teeth and continued his thunderous laughter.

Noticing his final act of defiance, the Progenitor Doumu rushed forward to restrain him. Still, she was too late. Dark flames of the Underworld erupted from his body and consumed him rapidly.

His laughter persisted despite the raging, black flames that devoured him continuously,

“Never have I been able to luxuriate in the splendors of life while I lived, let me die as the heretic and apostate as I will!”

“How can I plead for mercy when my hands are soaked with heinous sins and atrocities!

“Lunacy and evil in their most extreme indeed…” Meng Qi brushed his forehead as if cold sweat had begun perspiring.

The black flames engorged mercilessly on the flesh of Old Zhong, consuming even his Space Ring as the round band crumbled and melted in the extreme heat.

Only ashes were left save for a single bone. A wristbone. Black soot and filth coated its surface, but under the layer of grit and dirt, the bone glistened, white as ivory. Unremarkable was the bone in Meng Qi’s grip, nothing more than a common bone. Yet, he knew that the bone held unspoken mysteries, for it had survived the unholy blaze of the flames of hell.

“This is…” Ye Yuqi received the wristbone from Meng Qi. Thoroughly she studied the piece of bone but nothing could be found from her examination.

Meng Qi remembered suddenly, “Old Zhong was a formerly a disciple of the Life-Changing Sect. It was said that he had rebelled against the teaching of his order and had escaped with an artifact. I wonder if this bone was the artifact that was stolen during his flight?”

“I see… It once belonged to the Life-Changing Sect…” Ye Yuqi murmured. She handed the wristbone to Meng Qi and spoke to him telepathically, “If this had triggered a task, inform us. Keep anything you may find useful for your own. Consider it your reward for your assistance in executing the renegade of the Huamei Heights.”

Meng Qi would naturally welcome the opportunity of adding another item to his inventory. Beaming radiantly, he answered, “Rest assured, Lady Ye.”

“I wonder what this bone actually is…” he wondered.

Meng Qi stowed away the bone. He instantly noticed Ye Yuqi walking to the Gate of Life and he rushed to follow behind her heels.

With the magical array broken, the Asoka Blossoms by the gate withered and died. Stepping on the fallen petals, they both walked through the threshold into the Carefree Valley.

The air inside was cold and damp. Unlike the Gate of Death, there were no signs of sentient consciousness that prowled about, no malevolent will that would try to gnaw at the spirit and soul of people walking through. Without requiring any other deployment of his techniques, the protection of the Eight-Nine Mysteries technique glazed lightly on his skin.

Silence reigned supreme in the dark cave, save for the sullen drip-drop of unseen water that echoed through the cave, trickling down from the ceilings of the cavern.

The path they took opened wider and wider as if an entire mountain gorge had been stuffed beneath the earth.

Slowly they strode with steady paces. The passage they passed opened suddenly into a vast and brimless expanse. Emptiness spread before them with a pitch-black darkness that conjugated with dead silence.

Meng Qi breathed in a gulp of the cool air that hit him as he braced at the horrifying sight before him. The flat ground of the wide tract of emptiness before him was filled with innumerable corpses of the dead!

Husks of dried corpses littered the ground, robed in white or adorned in black armor and mail. A striking resemblance the corpses have to the specters of Nether Soldiers roamed the vicinity outside!

The dried corpses assumed various forms of posture. There were mummies standing, some knelt on the ground, there were some who were lying on the ground. A cold, faint air of Death drifted ceaselessly in the cavern like a gliding specter. Yet, they had caught naught of the stench of rot and decay.

A sudden fog of darkness rolled in towards them. From within the crests of the whirling fog emerged a band of Nether Soldiers.

“Are these the patrolling sentries? Could they be the folk of the kingdom of Bomi who were once lost?” surmised Meng Qi as he frowned.

Taking no heed to the silent pair, the ghastly sentries broke formation. Mutedly they drifted and merged into their corpses in the midst of the pallid lull.

Ye Yuqi hesitated as a thought came to her. She kicked a pebble forward with force.

The pebble hit the ground, severing the deadened peace with a magnified cracking sound!

The corpses shook with sudden life as they stirred and rose like a tide of waves!

Their eyes opened one by one, hollow and distant. Howls and cries, sounding lost and cold, clamored and rang from the sea of corpses in the deep.

“Who am I…”

“Who am I…”

“Who am I!”

Their screams and cries echoed in this ears, boring deep into his mind with horror and fright!