The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Flickers of twinkles adorned the gloomy night sky that enveloped Lake Bosten. The quiet city was but a mere shadow of its formerly thriving self. Nothing but lonesome shadows of vagrants or tramps would appear every now and then on the desolate streets.

“It appears that the two suspicious people are actually waiting for Master Su,” said Immortal Yunhe. Clad in a linen Taoist frock, he held in his hand a Luo Pan and a Taoist Feng Shui compass. Jiang Zhiwei was by his side and together they flew stealthily in the night sky.

Unaware of the presence of the two earlier, Jiang Zhiwei was startled at the revelation. “Immortal,” she asked in bewilderment, “Why didn’t you inform me of this earlier? I could have tried to identify them…”

“I have been watching everyone wandering to and fro from your lodgings every day. Surely you do not expect me to have you ascertain their identity one by one? Moreover, these strangers have been assuming different cloaks of disguise. They would have escaped my notice if I had not been meticulously storing the aura and breath of every passing stranger into my Luo Pan,” explained the Immortal calmly, stroking his white beard.

He had not come out of the Plenitude Gate to wander around today. Thus he would not have noticed the actions of the two strangers if he had not first forewarned Jiang Zhiwei of the two strangers’ aura on his Luo Pan, and have discovered their inopportune disappearance from the vicinity, coupled with the mark left by Meng Qi.

Dwelling on the subject no further, Jiang Zhiwei set her gaze into the distance. “Where have they gone, Immortal?”

“They have vanished from this point. A magical formation or a barrier, a conjuration or an effect of a magical artifact might have separated the space or dimension or this area,” he said. The sign of the Eight Diagrams appeared in his eyes, spinning and circling. One would be nauseated and sick if they were to have looked in his eyes.

The Immortal channeled his powers to survey his surroundings. Suddenly, he sensed changes in the fabric of space and the dimension around him!

Clouds of white blossomed and rose, forming a flat plane. Pale shafts of sunlight pierced through the mist, illuminating the flakes of dust that sparkled like diamonds in the air. Everything around him was filled with the ambiance of a heavenly paradise.

“Mistress Su Fairyland!” The Immortal gasped in terror.

Even in the ages of the ancient times, the illustrious name and distinct nature of the Mistress Su Fairyland had been widely notorious!

Jiang Zhiwei felt the nature of her surroundings deviate from its natural order. A murky overcast clouded her senses, impeding her attunement with the energies of nature itself.

Glossy and warm sunlight streamed around her as the faint singing of hymns rang through her ears. Out of the white foggy clouds, a woman came forth, approaching them.

A white shawl sprawled over her head, leaving nothing save for her fair hands and unseen face. Her fair and fresh appearance mesmerized Jiang Zhiwei like the heavenly grace of a true fairy of the Heavens, rendering Zhiwei helpless and meek that she was nearly lost and mystified, losing her will to draw her sword. Her beauty rivaled even nature’s, its law and order bending in the wake of her delicate steps, rippling in each step she took.

“This sensation…”

“The Mystic Fairy!”

“The true Mystic Fairy herself!”

Mystic Fairy cultivated her eternal existence via Nirmanakaya, the ceaseless manifestation. For ages, her physical manifestations have walked the Jianghu in her stead and the mortals assuming her manifestation would return to her when the time came and merge with the Fairy as one, many knew not of the secrets of Mystic Fairy’s cultivation, thus the unknown proof of her mysterious strength and powers. Owing to her mysterious secrecy, Mystic Fairy and her manifestations had not been listed amongst the warriors of the Terrestrial Rankings. Yet, before Jiang Zhiwei, Mystic Fairy approached with the crushing stature and aura of one who was Half-Step from the Dharmakaya, as if she wielded the natural law and order of the entire realm of Mistress Su Fairyland at her fingertips!

“I did not expect this.” The soft and lovely voice of Mystic Fairy rang through their ears like a beautiful song. “There has been such a practitioner of magical talismans and charms and yet so close to the levels of a Dharmakaya have been assisting Su Meng. It is fortunate I have not been reckless.” The air vibrated as she spoke, the shafts of sunlight glimmering in the rippling air.

Immortal Yunhe replied with equal calmness, “And I have not expected that the legacy of Mystic Fairy of the Ninth Heaven endures still. Were the two skulking strangers here to dispense your bidding?”

“No, they are not my minions,” said Mystic Fairy silkily. “Yet not far off. How would Thunder God has known to come here, if I have not disclosed on purpose that Su Meng has appeared in Lake Bosten? How would he have the Yin-Yang Separation Handkerchief, if I have not been purportedly careless and have supposedly fallen for his deception? And yet, without him, I could not have reached Howling Lunar Hound and have found the trails of Su Meng.”

Taking in the graceful and yet ominous words of Mystic Fairy, Jiang Zhiwei took a deep breath and steeled herself. She drew her sword defiantly.

She aimed to direct her strike not at Mystic Fairy, but at her connection to Mistress Su Fairyland. With Immortal Yunhe holding her back, she would destroy the restraints of the Fairyland so that they could rush to save Meng Qi.

“Now that we know that the Yin-Yang Separation Handkerchief is behind everything, we will be able to find any traces to destroy the severance of the space and dimension!”

“Long have I been away from this realm that I have overlooked your involvement and have been careless,” sighed Immortal Yunhe.

He had barely finished when blueish-purple flames began to erupt in mid-air. From the flames emerged a phoenix. It hurled itself at Mystic Fairy, the searing flames that blazed in its wake razed the white clouds that idled lazily around and set the surrounding on fire. A great inferno burned like the scorching depths of hell itself, sparing not even the voids of chaos!

Thick tendrils of ivy began to break from the earth at the same time, and the Sword Qi of Jiang Zhiwei’s blows pierced the air around them. Shades of dark, burnished amber grew around the Mystic Fairy, restricting her with the force of the Earth!

The cunning Immortal had unleashed his hidden ace with such impeccable timing and swiftness. With himself acting as the Element of Water, he had conjured the magical formation of the Five Elements!

Mystic Fairy conjured a bamboo rod. At its tip were nine luscious leaves of emerald green, blooming of divine transcendence. She pointed the rod forward like a magic wand and undid the Immortal’s sorcery. The blazing phoenix fell to the ground in a splash of water and the thick ivy began to wane and wither. The bonds that held her had been quashed with just a mere flick like a walk in the park as the manifestation of Mistress Su Fairyland began to strengthen with renewed vigor.

“A divine weapon!” The Immortal gasped in horror.

A talisman flew from his grasp, bright with turbid colors. The ancient runes on the talisman shone as bright as sparkling stars, its magic subduing the effects of the Fairyland’s manifestation on Nature itself. Darkness descended around them, concealing the dangers and perils that lurked.

“The Primordial Charm of Purity!” Mystic Fairy cried. “The legacy of the Plenitude Immortal Venerable!”

Jiang Zhiwei repressed her contempt for Mystic Fairy. Summoning her will and concentrating on her attacks, she unleashed the most invincible of techniques she learned from Sword Washing Pavillion. She endured the weakening effects of the Fairyland weighing down on her and turned into a gleaming flash. Keen and destructive, the flash of light struck at the edges of the manifestation of the Fairyland.

In the actual dimension outside, the peacefulness of the night continued, belying the sinister perils that were in motion. In the shadows stood a figure: the manifestation of Mystic Fairy! The one whom Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi had met earlier!

Floating in the darkness of the night, she looked down at the supposedly silent courtyard of the house Meng Qi was in, waiting patiently for her opportunity to seize him.

Her schemes would have borne fruit by now if it were not for the inauspicious presence of Immortal Yunhe.

……

In the dimension of the Yin-Yang Separation Handkerchief.

The masked Thunder God from the Ninth Heaven unsealed the apertures throughout his body. Clad in dark robes of black, a sudden brightness enveloped him as he shone radiantly. Purple bolts of electricity danced around him, forming the silhouette of a great giant behind his back. The bronze-copper skin of the giant’s muscular torso was lined with ancient runic symbols of the Seal of Thunder. Under his feet, he rode on two dragons formed by purple lightning bolts, their eyes crackling fiercely with sparkles of electricity. Imperious and majestic the giant towered over them with his large saber in his grasp.

Countless runes of the Seal of Thunder were imprinted on his skin all around him. They were spread all across his body like leaves on the many branches and boughs of a tree as if he was the very manifestation of thunder and lightning!

The energies of nature around him began to simmer and boil around Meng Qi as the Dharmic Form of Thunder God took shape. The energies answered to his call no more, instead, they seemed to have enhanced the surging aura of the silhouette of Thunder God, suffusing him with more electricity.

The powers of the Dharmic Form that twisted even the fabrics of nature’s order!

The Seven Purple Thunderstrikes technique was one of the legacies of Thunder God. The wielder of the technique was accorded the power to smite his foes with lightning equal to the Judgement of Heaven. Yet, as Meng Qi summoned the Purple Thunder Force and tried to imbue the forces of lightning into his saber, he could only do so with tremendous difficulty as if the elements of Lightning have begun to defy his will.

Suddenly, the imprint of the Seal of Thunder shone brightly at the back of his hand. Its purple radiance tore handsomely through the night with grandeur.

Meng Qi felt the energies of nature around him bubble joyously in response. The restrictions that he had suffered moments ago had been lifted! He could now summon forth the powers of the lightning as he used his saber!

Before him, the eyes of Thunder God from the Ninth Heaven gleamed with malice and greed as he witnessed the Seal of Thunder burning brightly and bowing to Meng Qi’s will.

By his side, the figure with a dog’s head howled loudly into the night. His body convulsed and swelled until he grew into a thirty-feet giant hound, the corded sinews of its limbs and throbbing veins pulsed with explosive power.

Ferociously, the giant hound bared its white, sharp pointy fangs at Meng Qi and snapped savagely at him.

The menacing jaws that threatened to swallow him whole were dark and distant like a bottomless abyss, able to swallow even the stars and moons of the cosmos!

“What a monster!” The giant hound’s frightening howl reverberated deeply in his ears, shaking his senses and sent a crippling tremor, nearly incapacitating his Vital Spirit. He would have collapsed if he had not conjured the Dharmic Form of the Primeval earlier.

Meng Qi fully grasped the dangers that encircled him, understanding fully his present plight.

He had once experienced such overwhelming odds. He was fighting for his life against the Shadow Cold Palm, the Flame-scorching Devil and the Soul-losing Flute then. Yet, it was different this time; his foes were much stronger!

Green Cultivator was, therefore, levels above him, yet he was suffering from the risk of seizures and had not the ability to maintain his strength for extended durations. Flame-scorching Devil and Soul-losing Flute were lesser than he was. Most of all, his foes were not united in their fight against him, allowing him to exploit the chinks of their fragile rapport and defeat them all.

Whereas this time, both Thunder God and Howling Lunar Hounds were competent warriors above the first step of the Celestial Ladder. Their levels and powers outvied his tremendously. With no hidden illnesses that lurked, his foes were at their best, having extensive experience of traversing the perilous rapids of the Jianghu and were well-versed students in the art of dealing death. Meng Qi could sense that his foes shared a closely-knit bond, depriving him of any weaknesses to exploit.

In the face of certain death, Meng Qi had only one thought.

He would have to kill one of them as best and as swiftly as he could no matter the price and odds!

Even a brief moment of doubt would allow his foes to attack him on all fronts and quickly overwhelm him! His foes would surely leave him no opening to use the Reincarnation Talisman!

Meng Qi understood well that his chances of survivability would thin severely as time flowed by. Meng Qi divested himself of any expectation of help. He steeled himself with the resolve to survive and lunged at Thunder God, wishing to force a crack on his sealed fate with sword and steel!

Tongues of burning blazes spewed from the tip of Flowing Fire, burning even the air around them and throwing them into a hell of flames that threatened to swallow them all in a blaze of defiance. In the midst of the flames rose Meng Qi’s Dharmic Form which bore the semblance of the burning sun. The bright illumination of the sun and the aura of Meng Qi’s blows with his sword stabbed every corner of the isolated dimension they were in, dispersing all darkness and gloom, leaving Thunder God no avenues of escape and concealment.

Thunder God and Howling Lunar Hound positioned themselves around Meng Qi, trying to assault him from both fronts. The Dharmic Forms of their conjuration took shape behind them, blending with nature and harnessing its powers. The manic gleam of Thunder God’s eyes diminished instantly, being replaced with a deep and distant stillness like the calm before a storm.

Howling Lunar Hound opened its jaw wide and lurched at Meng Qi from behind as if to swallow him whole.

As if on cue, Thunder God sprang into action, swinging his large saber at Meng Qi. The Dharmic Form of Thunder God moved, slashing at Meng Qi as well with his saber. Both blades of thunder and lightning hewed upon Meng Qi with calamitous destructiveness, as if they bore the force of a thousand blows!

Boom!

A huge and deafening explosion burst as purple lightning bolts struck merciless on Meng Qi and converged on the point at which he stood. Terrible and daunting was the explosion that it distorted and warped the fabrics of Nature, momentarily disrupting its order. Plumes of fire clouds rose into mid-air before Thunder God in the shape of a mushroom.

The wrath of thunder that tore the earth asunder!

Boom!

The cataclysmic force of the purple lightning ripped through the hell of fire, shattering the silhouette of the great sun into cinders.

The silhouette of the inferno and the burning sun had dissipated into nothingness with such ease! Both the Thunder God and the Howling Lunar Hound were startled by the infirmity of the conjuration. Impossible!

“A gambit!”

A deceptive illusion conjured by Meng Qi using his Eight Nine Mysteries technique!

Meng Qi had earlier dodged the flurry of assault dispensed by Thunder God and Howling Lunar Hound. High up above them, he floated in the air. His body glowed in gold as he felt the tremor of his foes’ earlier attacks.

He spun in the air, tossing Heaven Inflicted Pain up above his head. In his hand, he held a set of prayer beads that looked like beads of eyes.

The nine prayer beads twinkled brightly. Piercing shafts of light shone from nine eyes of the beads, dazing all that have seen it, leaving them helpless and mesmerized.

A gloom of darkness stood between Howling Lunar Hound and Meng Qi. Visions and images appeared before the Hound, assailing him with a phantasm of concupiscent nature.

The giant hound stopped in its tracks, bewildered and perplexed.

At this, a third eye, upright and straight, opened at the top of Meng Qi’s forehead.

“The Nine-eyed Samsara Beads and the Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Earth!”

Meng Qi had elected to first slay Howling Lunar Hound. His greater powers and acute sense of smell had presented himself as the greater threat to Meng Qi. Moreover, Meng Qi had predicted that Thunder God, given his past bouts with Meng Qi, would surely employ the use of his magical artifacts at the first notice to dispel his attacks!

Witnessing Meng Qi’s ploy, Thunder God could sit still no further. He crushed in his hands the hidden item in his left hand. The air shimmered and quivered around him. With a great bellow, he conjured a strong gale of sandy hue that rushed at Meng Qi!

What a series of hair-singeing exchange of blows when the drama had just begun!