The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The invincible aura of the blow shone with the eternal brightness of the Grand Sun. The enlightening radiance of the Buddha dispelled darkness from the world.

Ji Shan felt the blinding light spill all over him. His entire self was being enveloped in a divine glaze. From the surface of his skin to the very insides of his body and the depths of his Vital Spirit, the illumination of the stroke penetrated and radiated every thought within him. No secrets remained unknown before the enemy’s sight, allowing his foe to shape his designs around the revealed thoughts of his own.

The penetration of his enemy’s blow came with a scorching sensation that ignited the air around him. It melted the Protective Upstanding Qi that shielded him from all fronts, dwarfing even the actual blows of the sword itself.

The Vairocana Swordplay!

Ji Shan believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that this sword art was capable of killing most enemies when cast to its extreme! Yet, standing before Vairocana Swordplay, he felt as weak as a shaved lamb. He felt like he was no more than a small, puny target of his opponent!

The thought barely crossed his mind when his heart seized, putting him on high alert. The Apertures around his body unsealed. In his mind was the image of the Vajra of Illumination, a sobriquet of the Vairocana Buddha, one of the many Dharmic Forms, that was cultivated by disciplines of the Jin Gang Temple.

The golden body chipped away to reveal the white flesh underneath, manifesting the 32 physical characteristics of Buddha. Ji Shan’s soul instantly turned clear and bright when the body appeared.

Not only was there a blow from such divine a discipline of the blade from one’s Vital Spirit and physical body, the strokes of the Vairocana Swordplay could also unleash undetectable attacks and damages imbued with scorching heat. This depicted the advent of the Vairocana Buddha himself!

“What a terrifying discipline of swordsmanship indeed!”

Ji Shan pursed his lips solemnly with a solemn expression, integrating his mind and body with his Buddhist Commandment Blade.

“So what if you can tell the reactions of my body and Vital Spirit?”

“I’ll fight you head-on frankly and squarely!”

Ji Shan raised his blade, which was entwined with swirling Buddha light. There were not many changes in his blade and there was no sword light that attempted to ambush Meng Qi from other directions. His blade was courageous and aggressive as it hacked Meng Qi fearlessly.

The blade cut through the temptation of goddesses as well as the brilliant and varied desires between men and women!

The blade cut through the Evil Spirits that obstructed his path and hampered the road to paramita!

The blade cut through the demonizing of Buddha in the outside world and the distortion of the true teachings of Buddha!

The light of the Grand Sun that illuminated their surroundings split apart. It became hard for the light to come close to him. The sea of flames divided in half, sending waves rippling in opposing directions. Vajra-like wisdom cut through all things. With bold and powerful insight, Jin Shan used a useless ‘siege’ which blocked Meng Qi’s strike and sent a crisp clang resounding in the air!

Meng Qi had once seen an exquisite change of the blade in the hands of Zhen Yong, the Shaolin traitor – the bladesmanship that cut through all three thousand threads of worries. However, it was completely different from Ji Shan’s bladesmanship.

Ji Shan’s skill with his blade was strong, firm, definite, daring, ferocious, and sharp!

The glimmer of his blade shone coldly, arcing in a swing. With an absolute clarity of mind, he severed the aura of the sword striking at him, shattering “Wisdom”.

“Exterminate Exterior Devils; guard the Teachings of Buddhism!”

Ji Shan thrust his blade again and again with the ferocity and fearlessness of exterminating Exterior Devils. Body, soul, heart, desire, Qi, and Buddhist Commandment Blade became complete as if Vajra had manifested. The blade hacked Meng Qi, making it as if he could only attack as a means of defending himself.

Ji Shan exhaled and began opening his mouth to recite the Tantra mantra to complement Exterminating External Devil Bladesmanship. A faint golden glow surfaced, bouncing off the saber radiance and splitting the sword art!

“Cut through the Evil Spirits that throw minds into disorder!”

Ji Shan wielded his blade at an angle, resulting in a layer of golden yellow taking over the skies. Meng Qi’s sword, Flowing Fire, swatted and blocked blows from left and right. Flickers of flames were sent flying all around like a sunset in the evening.

“Cut through the distorted teachings from the outside world!”

Ji Shan once again slashed with his blade without fanfare, relying purely on utter fearlessness and ferociousness as it tore apart all sorts of techniques. With sword light supporting him, Meng Qi wielded his sword to form a circle. The scorching Grand Sun fell upon them, bringing with it an endless series of explosive sounds that sent waves rolling. The force from the impact spread all over. Meng Qi had barely managed to block Ji Shan’s attack.

“Cut through the Buddha and try to confuse ‘me’!”

Ji Shan’s voice was like Hong Zhong that shocked Meng Qi’s Vital Spirit. The Buddhist Commandment Blade, like a Buddha Aura falling from the sky, extinguished the sea of flames and snuffing the sword light. All that was left the red jade.

Clank!

Meng Qi blocked the attack with his sword wielded parallel to his chest. Flames flared once again as he obstructed Ji Shan’s blade with much difficulty.

Ji Shan quickly gained the upper hand without giving Meng Qi any chance to breathe. When he saw the latter continuing to ‘retreat’ and make only defensive moves, he almost unleashed his killing technique, Exterminating External Devil Bladesmanship. He was going to secure a victory in one fell swoop. Yet, suddenly, he realized his own Qi movement had become somewhat abnormal!

His physical body, Vital Spirit, mental, soul, blade, and Inner World were originally connected, inferring a bold and powerful fearlessness. They were the roots of his Exterminating External Devils Bladesmanship, harmonious inside and outside!

But in this very moment, he could no longer feel the connection between his body and blade. Flaws had emerged in his firmness, ferociousness, and fearlessness!

“What’s going on?”

Qi movement tugged at him, pulling him forward. Ji Shan instantly discovered what had gone wrong. He did not know since when a nick the size of a rice grain had appeared on the edge of his blade.

“To think that a nick would appear on a Buddhist Commandment Blade on the level of a Precious Weapon!”

This was akin to a bad apple spoiling the whole bunch, or a speck of ink on a spotless white paper. It had lost all resemblance of harmony!

“This…!” Countless scenarios crossed Ji Shan’s mind, all of them featuring him battling Meng Qi earlier. It seemed as if his opponent’s soul had been shaken by his blade and was forced into retreating again and again but each time their weapons clashed, Meng Qi had repeatedly rammed his sword into the same spot. He did it over and over until he created a nick in the blade!

“He’d done it on purpose!”

Ji Shan felt ill at ease. There was a flaw in his fearlessness and his wielding of the blade became somewhat sluggish. Meng Qi laughed brightly. His sword, which he had suppressed to its extreme, finally erupted!

Boom!

With the ringing of the enormous explosion resonating through the air, flames erupted like waves with its heat melting a layer off the ground.

Meng Qi’s sword morphed into the Grand Sun and charged straight at Ji Shan’s chest.

Ji Shan brandished his blade with great difficulty in an attempt to block the sword but he had lost his immense firmness and fearlessness earlier. Those feelings were like a piece of glazed tile – once there was a flaw in them, it would be close to impossible to repair them!

Thud!

Ji Shan’s blade collided with Meng Qi’s sword but what resounded was not the sound of gold and iron colliding. Instead, a terrible explosion rang out as the red sunlight engulfed Ji Shan whole.

Ji Shan fell to the bottom of the sea of flames. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Meng Qi struck him from high above.

He transformed his left hand into a palm knife and wielded a sword in his right hand. The saber momentum was so heavy that it caused distortions in the void. His sword light was burning as it illuminated everything.

Detecting an inexplicable premonition of danger, Ji Shan brandished his blade with his movements alternating between a great speed and sluggishness. His blade trembled continuously, every shudder cutting off all kinds of worries. He counted with fingers on his left hand as it surfaced with a dark golden glow. Then, he pointed his finger with the will of conquering every obstacle before him.

Layers of misty golden yellow glow appeared all around them as if they were in the Womb Realm. This was admittedly Vajra!

Before the Vajra Realm, Meng Qi’s palm knife and sword abruptly collided with each other!

Thud!

Boom!

Kaboom!

The indescribable ringing of the explosion from a distance pierced the ears of Zhao Qian and Wei Gao. It sent such massive shockwaves that their Vital Spirits trembled. Their minds were buzzing and it was like a layer of white had shrouded their visions as if they had been blinded by the light. Even though they were so far away from the battleground, they could still feel the heat blowing in their faces and the sensation of their hairs curling.

The descent of the Grand Sun had destroyed the entire world!

Soon after, when Zhao Qian’s vision recovered, he saw that Quicksand Town appeared to have collapsed entirely. There was a large pit that had emerged on the ground. The deeper he looked into the pit, the more dazzling it was. That was because the sand had melted to form glazed glasses that reflected the sunlight!

The bottom of the pit was flat, with a depth of about five or six feet. Ji Shan was lying there with his Lama’s red robe in tatters.

His mouth and nose were overflowing with blood. His injuries did not appear to be too severe but only because he had fought with every shred of his power and his opponent did not viciously seek for his demise.

He took flight, flying upward to look at the floating Meng Qi. He shouted, while suppressing his hatred, anger, and grief,

“You only won on the virtue of your blade being sharper than mine!”

How could a nick in his blade be created simply after several collisions in the same spot if Meng Qi’s sword was not greatly superior to his blade? How could he have shown such great flaw and gave Meng Qi an opening to take advantage of otherwise?

Meng Qi paid him no mind and looked at the bottom of the pit instead. That was the real reason he did not make any follow-up attacks.

There was an underground creek lying at the bottom of the pit. However, it had evaporated in the presence of the ‘Falling Sun’ earlier and there was no longer any water to fill it. Lying in the shadow-covered center of the creek was a skeletal hand.

Meng Qi had found the skeletal hand to be incredibly familiar. In its pitch-blackness was hints of white. The hand was shrouded with feelings of immortality.

It was the other skeletal hand of Netherworld!

However, the most obvious difference in this hand compared to the one in his possession was that this skeletal hand was anything but ordinary!

The light all around seemed to be fading as far as his eyes could see. He saw a bloody yellow river flowing from void to void. The stream of muddy, depraved, sinister, detached, and contradicting feelings merged into one.

The power of this skeletal hand had yet to be sealed!

Before any ideas could come to Meng Qi, he saw the shadows around the skeletal hand squirm and distort. They pulled away from the ground as if trying to take a human shape.

“It’s a master from Life-changing Sect?”

“Furthermore, a master who’s qualified to use Netherworld’s skeletal hand?”

Completely ignoring Ji Shan, Meng Qi turned around and flew away while relaying his voice.

“What makes a true master is one who knows how to put his strong points to good use.”

His words left Ji Shan dumbfounded. When he turned to look at the nefarious and cold shadow underneath, he also fled in a hurry.

A wise man knew better than to fight when the odds were against him. Similarly, a wise monk knew better than to do such reckless things!

However, he vowed to take revenge on the mysterious swordsman who had just injured him!

This was, in fact, the first time he had suffered in the hands of a peer.

Zhao Qian and Wei Gao dared not approach after seeing what had happened. Taking a detour, they fled like the other two.

Meng Qi flew a total of a few hundred miles before he dared to breathe. When he turned to look behind him, he saw shadows shrouding Quicksand Town but they soon disappeared.

“So Life-changing Sect has joined the fight for Buddha’s Palm…”

“Furthermore, they even sent someone with Netherworld’s bones. I wonder how many of his bones they’re bringing with them…”

“Just what were they planning, burying themselves with Netherworld’s bones in the ground? Their hiding method was so curious too… Even though they can’t make a move for the time being, but they’ve hidden exceedingly well. They can’t be detected even after sensing the Qi movement and the world. They give off only a sinister feeling…”

“Did Jiuniang fall into their hands?”

Many questions surfaced to his mind. He dared not make any delays and made a quick detour before heading for the entrance of the Immortals in Immensity Sea.

When he saw the skeletal hand earlier, he finally understood why Life-changing Sect no longer attached any importance to the skeletal hand that he owned.

He predicted that they had obtained them separately as there were no powers that had surfaced. They likely suspected that the skeletal hand in his possession was not genuine but did not have the means of confirming it. Thus, they displayed a similarly strange attitude.

He had not gone far when he suddenly smelled a faint trace of blood.

His heart seized and he carefully searched his surroundings, where he found several pieces of bloody flesh covered by gravel. They were surging with vigor. He knew at a glance that they belonged to an Exterior expert.

“That’s part of the heart, that’s a section of the spine… The rest is gone…” From the looks of the remains, Meng Qi made an initial deduction that the owner of these fleshy bits had already died. Fortunately, it did not seem to be anyone that he knew.

“Looks like an Exterior expert had fallen this time…” Meng Qi’s expression turned grim. Xue Lengzhao’s warning suddenly rang in his mind: “If you’re late, things might take a turn for the worse.”

“Could this be what she meant? What exactly are Snow Mountain Sect, Jin Gang Temple, and Ashura Temple working together on…”

Meng Qi searched around but found no more clues. He solemnified his spirit and rushed to the entrance of the Immortals. He put on his mask and took out his Eyes of the Primeval to open the door to Azure Heaven.

He felt a heavy atmosphere just as he landed in the Azure Palace. Primogenitor Lingbao was wearing a mask and a loose grey robe. He waited at the door, carrying his Green Duckweed Sword.

“Follow me.” He turned around and started going inside.

Being the current master of Azure Palace, he could naturally detect visitors at once. Thus, he waited at the door for Meng Qi.

Meng Qi followed Primogenitor Lingbao as the latter made a turn into a hall. He saw a dark yellow hassock lying on the floor, where four members of the Immortals were sitting cross-legged upon. They were Longevity Immortal Venerable, Primogenitor Nanhua, Matriarch Lishan, and someone that Meng Qi had not met yet.

“Immortal Taiyi,” Primogenitor Lingbao said, making the introduction.

Immortal Taiyi, not Primogenitor Taiyi.

The four members felt ill at ease upon laying eyes on Heavenly Primogenitor but being powerful masters, they instantly dispelled such feelings.

Once Meng Qi took his seat, Primogenitor Lingbao said, “Do all of you wish to participate in the fight for Buddha’s Palm?”

“Yes,” Meng Qi answered concisely, maintaining the dignified manner of Heavenly Primogenitor.

The other four nodded in agreement.

Primogenitor Lingbao nodded. “There are only Exterior experts stationed in Fish Sea and Tan Han. Disguise is impossible. Thus, please reveal your identities now lest we accidentally attack one another. I’ll take the lead.”

This was a round of introductions meant specifically for Meng Qi.